From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 3 20:06:00 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6405xm04197; Thu, 3 Jul 2003 20:06:00 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 20:06:00 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307040006.h6405xm04197@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #551 TELECOM Digest Thu, 3 Jul 2003 20:06:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 551 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround (Ed Gibbs) Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround (SayNoToCros) Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround (G Breuckman) Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround (Geoff Welsh) Re: Telephone History From Another Newsgroup (William Warren) Re: Two Longs and a Short (John Beaman) Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? (Jim Hopkins) Re: The Many Paradoxes of Broadband (Dave Smith) Re: Voice Over IP For the Home User - Prices Drop! (John Bartley) Re: Voice Over IP For the Home User - Prices Drop! (Rovilio Rangas) Vonage/Cisco ATA - Incoming Calls (Pierrot) Re: Virtual Long Distance Telecommunication Facility Tour (Walt Howard) Re: U.S. Weighs Suspending WorldCom Contracts (Justin Time) Scamming Spammer Agrees to Repay Victims (Justin Time) Looking For Radio Shack Duofone System 411 Phones Help? (Darren Kizer) Re: Joy! - Usenet SPAMMER Finally Identified!!! (JDS) 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: egibbs@my-deja.com (Ed Gibbs) Subject: Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround Date: 3 Jul 2003 04:36:42 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Quite honestly, Ed, most people do not > have a clue what to do, as I am sure you know. You pushed this much > further than most people would even bother with. PAT] Well, I seem to have stumbled on a procedure that works for correcting MCI billing issues -- file a complaint with the FCC, file a complaint with the MCI Ethics Officer, threaten a PUC complaint, and mention that there may be SEC issues involved as well. That seemed to cause someone in authority to have a bad enough day that their interests aligned with mine in wanting to make it go away. That's probably *NOT* the procedure that MCI would want to have the majority of their mis-billed customers follow, but it worked in this case. The Ethics Officer is a good point of contact to remember for future use when someone in a company does something you believe to be unethical or illegal. First, they are what is known as a "Jailable Company Official." That means their personal liberty is on the line if they are made aware that the company may have done something wrong and they don't investigate and correct it. Second, they usually have to report ethics complaints and their resolution to both top management and outside auditors, at least in summary form. Third, their communica- tions are pretty tightly controlled and recorded; they can't just delete your email unread, they need to respond and their response will be recorded and available to auditors. At any rate, it appears that there are honest and decent people working for MCI; you just have to try hard to find them. ------------------------------ From: SayNoToCrossposters Subject: Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround Organization: Comcast Online Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 12:25:56 GMT Dave Phelps wrote in message news:telecom22.550.8@telecom-digest.org... > In article , TELECOM Digest Editor > noted in response to egibbs@my-deja.com: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa's mother uses the same lawyer >> as I have consulted in the past. Lawyer does say the fastest way to >> conclude this matter is to send a check to MCI for the amount >> suggested by the Billing Department (was it $7.53 ?) with the check >> plainly marked, 'payment in full and complete satisfaction of any >> indebtedness', and to make sure they cannot later appeal that by >> saying checks are run automatically without reading them through a >> central remittance processing place with no authority to resolve >> anything, DO NOT mail the check to the specified remittance post >> office box. Be certain the check is in the proper context to avoid >> that excuse by MCI. Mail it by certified mail (so YOU get back the >> green card proof later on) to one of the responsible employees >> there (ethics officer, agency supervisor whose name you tried to >> reach, etc.) Include abridged copies of your file to date. If they >> then cash that check you have proof in full of your intentions, >> etc. That, says lawyer, will fulfill your obligations. I would add >> to that, afterward then go wash your hands and use some strong >> mouthwash to get rid of the bad taste and the filth on your hands. >> PAT] > I was under the impression that a check cannot legally contain a > binding contract, with cashing it equivalent to an agreement to the > contract. > I actually get these all the time from AT&T usually, but I've never > actually tried to cash one. I probably should, after putting a PIC and > 2PIC lock on my account. > Dave Phelps > DD Networks > www.ddnets.com > deadspam=tippenring Actually a check in and in itself IS a binding contract. Notice the way the long distance carriers make you endorse the checks they put in the mail ... that is one way they bind you into a contract. ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround Date: Wed, 02 Jul 2003 23:20:26 -0500 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , Dave Phelps wrote: > I actually get these all the time from AT&T usually, but I've never > actually tried to cash one. I probably should, after putting a PIC and > 2PIC lock on my account. Doesn't work with MCI :( My two lines had PIC locks on them, MCI tried to grab the lines and bill me anyway, even though they were never connected to them and were not supplying any services. After (I thought) I had all that straightened out, six months later they billed me again. They explained, "we never got a disconnect notice from your telco." I said, "that's because you were never connected in the first place." Grumble ... -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 12:52:47 -0400 Organization: Bell Sympatico Ed Gibbs wrote: > First, I got an email response from MCI's Chief Ethics Officer (how'd > you like to have THAT on your resume?). It's debatable as to whether it's a step up or down from his last position as Iraqi Information Minister. Among other things, I steer telcom for the company that employs me and I have avoided doing business with MCI in our U.S. offices primarily because of the stories I've read here. I can't help but wonder whather MCI realizes the damage that it does to itself when it treats customers this way -- are there really an infinite number of suckers^h^h^h^h^h^h^hfuture customers to keep them in business?!? Geoffrey Welsh This address is not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Unsolicited bulk mail is spam, no matter what regulations (real or imagined) it complies with! FIGHT SPAM AND SCAMS: DISCONNECT CHINA FROM THE INTERNET! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 09:33:51 -0400 From: William Warren Subject: Re: Telephone History From Another Newsgroup Julian Thomas wrote: > Charles Richmond wrote: >> If you are careful and remember how fast the clicking went by >> when you dialed a phone, you could "dial" the entire number with >> the switch hook ... [snip] This was the standard defense against the fools who paid good money to "lock" the dial on their telephones, using one of those cheesey "locks" that they sold at Radio Shack. The trick was to keep the pulses evenly paced: the exchange would count them correctly, even as slow as 6 PPS, if they were consistent.Of course, some pheepers would simply pound out ten pulses and tell the operator they had manual service, but I thought that was cheeting. I remember a debate I once had with an MIT graduate student, about whether it was more efficient to pick (and discard) the lock, thus saving further effort, or to use the switchhook, thus preventing the phone's owner taking action until the bill arrived. We compromised, and agreed that using MITRE's open trunks was the most effective "real world" solution, despite the long-term effect on Federal taxation rates: I had argued that putting a "T" on the campus pay phones was preferable, but he convinced me that the risk/reward ratio didn't favor poor students. Bill P.S. I think one of the "mistakes" you're refering to was that the operator didn't dial "rate&route". The other is that she exceeded the "number of links in tandem" rule. Also, every step office I worked in would simply reset on pulse 11, since customers would sometimes abandon a call just after dialing operator. Do I win a prize? William Warren (Remove ".notme" from my address if you want to email me) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have no prizes to give away. Regards (1) 'rate & route' the originating operator may have had the info in a flip chart at her disposal and she was looking in there (doubtful), or maybe she did call 'rate & route' (in those days at least) it was 815 plus 161 [which translated to Morris, IL where the Rate & Route Bureau was located] but she chose to split the connection while talking to her [leaving her customer in silence] but that is also, IMO, doubtful. Most operators chatted with Rate & Route on an open line; they did not care if the susbscriber overheard them or not; I imagine the caller would have heard rate & route inform the operator on the 'mark sense' on the paper ticket; ticket would have been marked 'other place' and the original story writer would have heard that commentary and probably included it in his account. For (2), 'links in tandem': We were told Philadelphia operator 'dialed' Cleveland, then Chicago, then Minneapolis in that order and then onward. That might have been true in the 1930's era (that many links -- not the 'dialing' part) but by 1950 the long distance network was sufficiently put together so the Philadelphia operator would have most likely did a 'long haul' from Philly to Chicago (at least) if not to Minneapolis. I dunno about all the wee-tiny places further down the line. If she 'dialed' those places [for example, Cleveland is 216 plus 121 for 'inward', etc] then the number of links thing is not quite accurate. It would been more 'long haul'. If the number of links in the chain required was accurate and the sailor was off in his recollection of the year (maybe twenty years earlier) then the statement about operator 'dialed' Cleveland, then 'dialed' Chicago, etc would have been wrong. Philly would not have 'dialed' anything, she would have plugged in on the board to a long-lines circuit which in turn lighted a jack in the next city in the chain. Maybe the author of this story was getting parts of two different eras mixed up. Let us assume the story was *intended to be* the early 1950's era. For (3): In the 1950's era, even the tiniest of manually serviced towns had precise phone numbers. 'Two longs and a short' would have not been valid anytime as a 'phone number' from the middle-late 1920's onward. There would have been some legitimate two, three or four digit number in any small town in the 1950's. It could have been (most likely was) a party line such as the form (number)-J or (number)-R but there would have been *some number*. The proper ringing cadence may have been two longs and a short, but that is not important. Even in the early television series with Andy Griffith and Ronnie Howard about the sheriff of the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina where the folksy telephone operator connected everyone by name, there was that one show where the operator decided to 'play by the rules' and require an actual telephone number to make a connection. Do you remember it? The phone number for the "sheriff's office in the courthouse" was number '309' as Ronnie Howard had to tell her one day when calling his 'father' the Sheriff at his office. For (4): If the story was invented in the middle 1980's as I suspect by someone who got his eras in telephony mixed up, then his report of Philadelphia's arrogant and snotty (yet courteous, polite) attitude toward the subscriber and the small town operator in Columbia would have been correct *for that era*. By 1980 there had been sufficient networking and 'modernization' in bigger cities like Philadelphia, that the small town operators were getting, well, sick of the attitudes of operators in bigger cities. As Lily Tomlin explained it in one of her routines, "you knew things in the world were starting to go to hell the day they started hiring racially diverse ladies to work down at the telephone company." (Lily did not say 'racially diverse', I think her term was 'colored ladies'). At any event, during the civil unrest of the 1960's as Bell worked frantically to clean their own houses and into the 1970's as they began to 'get with the times' and employ black ladies as operators, there were many, many older ladies in small towns who had been operators from before their sisters in large cities had even been born; certainly they had been operators when *everything* was manual service which the younger racially diverse ladies had known nothing about. So as many of the younger, often times racially diverse operators in large cities would handle their customer subscribers, the small town operators (overwhelmingly white, God Fearing Baptist Church ladies) would cringe on hearing their big city sisters handling calls inbound to them there in small town USA. A Traffic Department GCO (Group Chief Operator) said to me once, several years ago, "Would you believe the company used to make everyone (operators, customer service people, *everyone*) go through at least 6-8 weeks of intensive training before *anyone* was ever allowed to answer phones at Bell or work with or respond to customers (such as an operator)." That's a bygone era now ... even in 1980. Lily Tomlin was not too far off in her assessment of life, neither was our story teller in describing Philadelphia's tense attitude versus Columbia's more 'laid back' way of doing things. Very 1980-ish. The entire story was 1980-ish. A lot like me, right Joey? For (5): Columbia says to Philadelphia: "Don't worry about it, *I* will just charge the call to their house". Uh, uh. Inward operators (which Columbia would have been in this context) did not charge anybody for anything. They did not write up tickets. All they did was plug in on their boards. *Originating* operators wrote up the tickets either as 'paid', 'collect' or 'third-party' or 'coin'. Philly was tense because she thought the 'company' was going to get cheated; Columbia knew better, as small town operators always did. *Assuming* that Philly got the ticket made up correctly, and got it into the billing system correctly, then Bob Pence would have gotten charged for the call, even if the routine or routing was not quite like Philadelphia had been taught. A very interesting story, but for those (1 through 5) points which cast some doubts on the whole thing. Probably mostly true, given how 'non-telco people' try to explain telco history to the rest of us. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 08:38:37 -0500 From: John Beaman Subject: Re: Two Longs and a Short Pat, What an amusing story. It was slightly before my time, but as a former resident of Bath, South Dakota, I bet I am the only one on this mailing list who's been to Columbia. I have cousins who live there. As small as Columbia is (one bank, one bar, post office, school), Bath is even smaller. Currently, all Bath has is the post office. You know a town is small if they don't have a bar. John Beaman Telecom Specialist Voice Telecommunications Services Department. Good Samaritan National Campus 605-362-3331 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are correct. Even Liberty, Kansas and Dearing, Kansas (two rural towns that are 'suburbs' of 'big city Independence') each have one bar even though their combined population is less than 500 people. I guess they have those two road houses on the highway since people coming from Coffeyville north to Independence may get thirsty on the way. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jim Hopkins Subject: Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 21:02:21 GMT What you're probably talking about is the waveguide research done at Bell Labs and other places from the 1930's up until about 1975. Several different systems were developed that showed great promise for long-distance, extremely broad bandwith transmission systems. This use of waveguide basically had a piece of waveguide all the way between two terminals - cities, if you want to look at it that way - with possibly some repeater stations in the middle. By the 1970's, though, fiber optic systems were being developed that matched or exceeded the bandwidth of waveguide systems and were easier to install and maintain, and more reliable. So it was fiber, not coaxial cable, that replaced waveguide. The other posters who responded that waveguide wasn't obsolete were undoubtedly speaking about its use as a transmission line between a microwave transmitter or receiver and an antenna. And in that case, they're absolutely correct. It's not obsolete and there's no way that coax could replace it. Jim amr wrote in message news:telecom22.549.2@telecom-digest.org: > I heard that Waveguide became obsolete, and coaxial replaced it. > Is that right? > What is the limitation for that? ------------------------------ From: Dave Smith Subject: Re: The Many Paradoxes of Broadband Date: Wed, 02 Jul 2003 23:52:59 -0400 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Reply-To: dave.smith@devnull.gov In most cases, we are only turning on DSL where we have competition from cable modems and we don't want to lose market share. Most areas are DSL ready but will be kept off until we get laws passed that will prevent those ISP leeches from offering DSL over our infrastructure. Monty Solomon wrote: > Andrew Odlyzko > Digital Technology Center, University of Minnesota, > Preliminary version, June 27, 2003 > Abstract. There is much dismay and even despair over the slow pace > at which broadband is advancing in the United States. This slow pace > is often claimed to be fatally retarding the recovery of the entire IT > industry. As a result there are increasing calls for government action, > through regulation or even through outright subsidies. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'ISP Leach'? Are you speaking about companies like AOL which although an ISP, also resells broadband to its customers? Or companies like TerraWorld, which is an ISP and also resells SBC broadband, but has to give the (broadband) customer up in order to convert the customer over to Prairie Stream for telco since SBC flatly refuses to allow any 'competitor' phone companies to have access to their DSL features? Just curious who you feel are the leaches. PAT] ------------------------------ From: 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) Subject: Re: Voice Over IP For the Home User - Prices Drop! Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 15:38:48 GMT On 1 Jul 2003 11:30:14 -0700, randy@rcisys.ne.client2.attbi.com (Randy) wrote: > This is just an FYI: > As of July 1, 2003, the monthly cost of phone service with > www.packet8.net was lowered! > > They now offer unlimited PSTN use for $20.00 a month! My wife uses > this phone service to call her friends out-of-state for no additional > charge at all! We picked a number local to our friends in Florida... > They call the local number and we get the call, over 1,000 miles away! > I like to test out the new technology (when it is affordable to me) > and I can tell you, this is a pretty cool little thing. I have seen > reviews here for Vonage and others. So, I wanted to share what I > found so others can check it out. > I liked this one because of the low startup rate, easy use and the > hardware is given to you once you sign up! > Anyhow, decide for yourself. > If you try it out, enter coupon code RCI and get $20 off of the > startup costs! So, I asked a few questions by e-mail to packet8.net, and got this reply: ------------------------------- Hello John, Our website needs updating. See comments below. > 1. Your web site offers "Free- Desktop terminal adapter with select > plans" but those plans are not specified. Which plans get the free TA? All Plans come with a free DTA!!! > 2. How do we feed dial tone and ring current to other phones in the > house? We can disconnect the ILEC's wiring at the external demarc. I wouldn't recommend doing that. P8 works as a second phone line. Until we support 911 and FAX, keep your primary carrier, just eliminate their Long Distance Service. Packet8 does work with cordless phones w/multiple base stations. > 3. Is number portability available? We have a number in the 503-NNX > exchange we would like transferred to this service. That's in CLLI PTLDOR69DS1 in the Portland switches on SW Stark, downtown Portland. Currently, we do not support number portability. > Thank you. (Thank you for your inquiry) Packet8 Customer Support 888-898-8733 Having free LD with our celfons, I don't think we're going to subscribe. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: rovilio_rangas@yahoo.com (Rovilio Rangas) Subject: Re: Voice Over IP For the Home User - Prices Drop! Date: 2 Jul 2003 21:48:19 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I've tried making calls with both Packet8 and Vonage and think Packet8 is the better deal. If you enter 'STAR' as the coupon code when you sign up at www.packet8.net you will save $20 on signup. ------------------------------ From: pierrot@verizon.net (Pierrot) Subject: Vonage/Cisco ATA - Incoming Calls Date: 3 Jul 2003 13:41:40 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Consumer Reports (June 2003) says that during one of their test trials approximately 25% of incoming calls rang busy while calling a Vonage/Cisco ATA phone, even though the line was available. On the second attempt most of the calls went through. Have you heard this before ? Was it due to the DSL/Cable ISP used ? Pierre [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We have gone through this before here, in recent days. What does the magazine mean by 'rang busy'?. That phrase to me implies the caller hears a 'busy signal'. I have never heard a 'busy signal' on my Vonage phone. A couple times my incoming calls were transferred (inappropriatly, I thought) to Voicemail. But I always later on got the voicemail messages. For my money, I still think Vonage is a good deal. Anyone who wants to try out Vonage for a month of free service (the *second month* is the 'free month') can send me email and ask for an e-coupon. Send me email marked 'not for pub' and ask for a test drive on Vonage. PAT] ------------------------------ From: howard@rumba.ee.ualberta.ca (Walt Howard) Subject: Re: Virtual Long Distance Telecommunication Facility Tour Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 05:43:57 +0000 (UTC) Organization: A poorly-installed InterNetNews site In article , KiloDelate wrote: > In article , palee@riteaid.com > says: >> A electronic (stroboscopic) flash is accompanied by static discharge >> and a miniscule electromagnetic pulse [EMP]. Theoretically, it's >> possible to disrupt electronics with either of these phenomena. > Do you think the upcoming generation of white LED's might solve this > problem? They're relatively low current devices and bright as all > hell. Coupled with a UV filter it would eliminate the need to shield > EPROM's etc. No. I don't have the numbers handy, but the light put out by a flashbulb or electronic flash in a millisecond or two is orders of magnitude greater than that put out by the best of the LEDs in the same time. LEDs aren't quite ready yet to replace photofloods, which are used in several-second-exposure-time photography, although that might be partly a problem with the spectrum of their light. LEDs have higher efficiency than standard incandescent lights, but not better than arc lights, strobes, or flashbulbs. To get them as bright as flashbulbs, they'll have to work miracles in getting the heat out of their tiny selves. I don't think they put out enough UV to worry about. Ob telecom: The LEDs aren't bright enough for optical long-lines either. Laser diodes are used, although for reasons in addition to brightness. Walt Howard /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign InterNet: whoward@ieee.org \ / No HTML or M$Word in mail or news! BellNet: +1 780 492 7262 X / \ ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: U.S. Weighs Suspending WorldCom Contracts Date: 3 Jul 2003 05:45:55 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ OneNetNut wrote in message news:: > Chuckle. The problem these yahoos keep forgetting is that there are > very few carriers out there with the network coverage and bandwidth in > place to offer the kinds of services the government needs. So lets > say they decide to kick WorldCon out. Who do they propose to take > over the stuff they are doing? The contracts they are probably referring to would be the FTS2001 contracts. MCI replaced AT&T as the second carrier on the network. The other carrier, the "B" carrier on the FTS2000 contract, is Sprint. Recently some changes have been made and now Qwest is offering data services, but I haven't been monitoring this particular contract vehicle for quite a while so I'm not up to speed on all the changes and carriers that are authorized to offer services under this government-wide contract. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Scamming Spammer Agrees to Repay Victims Date: 3 Jul 2003 05:54:49 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ WASHINGTON (AP) - An e-mail spam operation that promised people cash for stuffing envelopes at home will refund more than $200,000 to settle federal charges that it deceived consumers, regulators said Wednesday. The Federal Trade Commission had accused the operation of using spam to sell consumers letters and pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelopes for a $40 fee. The operation told consumers they would earn $2 for every envelope stuffed, but people who paid the fee did not receive envelopes. Consumers who paid for the business opportunity with Stuffingforcash.com Inc., Sound Publications Inc. or Mailmax Inc., but did not receive the promised supplies or income, can file for a refund online by using a complaint form at www.ftc.gov, the FTC said. Consumers will be required to provide proof they were victims. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6226220.htm Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: Darren Kizer Subject: Looking For Radio Shack Duofone System 411 Phones Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 13:58:03 -0400 I need Radio Shack Duofone System 411 phones new or used. Darren ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Joy! - Usenet SPAMMER Finally Identified!!! From: JDS Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 20:28:04 GMT One should be careful about acting on information like this. Surely a spammer would not hesitate to add identity theft to his list of sins. Anyway, see http://www.rahul.net/falk/Rep/ for more info. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #551 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jul 5 00:28:43 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h654Shn12033; Sat, 5 Jul 2003 00:28:43 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2003 00:28:43 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307050428.h654Shn12033@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #552 TELECOM Digest Sat, 5 Jul 2003 00:28:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 552 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter EPIC Alert 10.14 (Monty Solomon) What's So Great About Satellite Radio? (Monty Solomon) What's on HDTV? (Monty Solomon) USA vrs Microsoft - Status Report on Microsoft's Compliance (M Solomon) FCC-Mobile Telcos Can't Delay Customer Switching (Monty Solomon) Liberty Media Buys QVC From Comcast (Monty Solomon) A Chat Room Like No Other (Monty Solomon) A Safer System for Home PC's Feels Like Jail to Critics (Monty Solomon) Spam Wars (Monty Solomon) FCC Rules on LNP Issues (Joseph) Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? (Dana) Re: Telephone History From Another Newsgroup (Julian Thomas) Re: The Many Paradoxes of Broadband (Dave Smith) Re: NEC Unveils Methanol-Fueled Laptop (Tom Betz) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Tom Betz) PIC/2PIC Freeze was Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Dialaround (Reader) "The Internet, Another Innovative Product From Microsoft ..." (Joe) Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround (J 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: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 22:45:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 10.14 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 10.14 July 3, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.14.html ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] High Court Upholds Library Filtering, Strikes Down Sodomy Ban [2] EPIC Urges Opt-In for FCRA Affiliate Sharing [3] National "Do-Not-Call" Telemarketing Registry Launches [4] ICANN Discusses WHOIS and New Top-Level Domains [5] Recent Reports: Video Surveillance; Internet Privacy Policies [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Bookstore: "Emma Goldman: Made for America" [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.14.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 22:49:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: What's So Great About Satellite Radio? We went to four programmers from XM and four from Sirius and asked them. By Michael Gaughn We went to four programmers from XM and four from Sirius and asked them the same question: With listeners able to choose between things like CD megachangers, digital music servers, DVD music videos, and traditional radio, what does satellite radio have to offer? The programmers showed such passion and dedication in their responses that we decided to publish extended versions of their interviews online. http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?section_id=2&article_id=455 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 22:53:07 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: What's on HDTV? And Where to Get It By Michael Antonoff With the number of high-definition TV programs increasing, the price of high-def sets plummeting, and shows now available over the air, by satellite, and through cable, 2003 is shaping up to be HDTV's breakthrough year. To help you take the HDTV plunge, we've put together this guide to programming on network TV, cable, and satellite, plus a listing of local broadcast channels and cable systems around the country. http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?section_id=2&article_id=446 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 23:01:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. v. Microsoft - Joint Status Report on Microsoft's Compliance http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/microsoft/usms70303statrpt.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 23:13:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC-Mobile Telcos Can't Delay Customer Switching WASHINGTON, July 3 (Reuters) - U.S. mobile telephone companies cannot hold up customers from switching carriers and keeping their telephone number even if they still owe money on their bills, U.S. communications regulators said on Thursday. To promote competition, the Federal Communications Commission last year ordered carriers to allow customers to switch but keep their number starting Nov. 24, 2003. But the industry demanded the agency address several issues to avoid potential chaos in the process. The agency said on Thursday carriers like Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ)(LSE:VOD) and Sprint PCS (NYSE:PCS) will have to process the transfer of a customer and telephone number when a valid request is made even if accounts or fees are due. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34734191 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 23:15:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Liberty Media Buys QVC From Comcast By BILL BERGSTROM AP Business Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Liberty Media Corp. has agreed to buy Comcast's majority stake in the lucrative shopping channel QVC for $7.9 billion, the companies said Thursday. Liberty, which already owns 42 percent of the electronic shopping service that reaches more than 85 million U.S. homes, told Comcast in March that it wanted to end the joint ownership and negotiate a sale to one party or the other. Comcast executives sharpened their pencils to decide whether to sell their 57 percent stake in QVC, a major revenue producer for the nation's largest cable company, said Brian L. Roberts, president and chief executive officer. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34738954 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 22:13:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Chat Room Like No Other How to assume a 3-D online identity that lets you put on a happy-or angry-face By Steven Johnson DISCOVER Vol. 24 No. 7 (July 2003) I am learning how to smile again. I've also been working hard at scowling, frowning, and rolling my eyes dismissively. And I'm getting better and better at it-revealing my true emotions. In the real world it all comes quite naturally, without thought. But in the world I've traveled to, I have to think about my emotions in order to show them. I'm practicing with an electronic version of me-my avatar, to use the lingo-that lives in a new online virtual world. It's called There (go to There.com for a quick look). There is a testing ground for one of today's most interesting experiments in communication, one that harks back to where we were just a little more than 100 years ago, when a technology first appeared that convincingly fooled our eyes into seeing the illusion of motion in a series of still images. We are exploring a comparable threshold point in our perceptual systems today-only this time, the illusion at stake is that of emotion. At There we can build online representatives of ourselves, then meet other online versions of other people in the same virtual space and-this is the magic-express a wide range of human feeling, from anger to love, from boredom to sarcasm. http://www.discover.com/July_03/feattech.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 22:59:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Safer System for Home PC's Feels Like Jail to Some Critics By JOHN MARKOFF SAN FRANCISCO, June 29 - Your next personal computer may well come with its own digital chaperon. As PC makers prepare a new generation of desktop computers with built-in hardware controls to protect data and digital entertainment from illegal copying, the industry is also promising to keep information safe from tampering and help users avoid troublemakers in cyberspace. Silicon Valley - led by Microsoft and Intel - calls the concept "trusted computing." The companies, joined by I.B.M., Hewlett-Packard, Advanced Micro Devices and others, argue that the new systems are necessary to protect entertainment content as well as safeguard corporate data and personal privacy against identity theft. Without such built-in controls, they say, Hollywood and the music business will refuse to make their products available online. But by entwining PC software and data in an impenetrable layer of encryption, critics argue, the companies may be destroying the very openness that has been at the heart of computing in the three decades since the PC was introduced. There are simpler, less intrusive ways to prevent illicit file swapping over the Internet, they say, than girding software in so much armor that new types of programs from upstart companies may have trouble working with it. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/30/technology/30SECU.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So Hollywood is going to refuse to make their products available on line unless the computer makers tamper with my computer? Hey Hollywood, hey music industry, don't go away mad; just GO AWAY. You are not really wanted here in our 'neighborhood' anyway. The general public should tell the *computer industry* we won't buy any more of their products if they give in to Hollywood. To read NY Times articles on line use our group name 'telecomdigest' and group password 'telecomdigest' to avoid spam, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 23:33:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Spam Wars The proliferation of junk e-mail is threatening to overwhelm the Internet. Software companies are rushing to build defenses-but will the new technologies do more harm than good? By Evan I. Schwartz July/August 2003 Technology Review http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/schwartz0703.asp ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: FCC Rules on LNP Issues Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 15:49:07 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com by Heather Forsgren Weaver July 03, 2003 12:47 PM EST WASHINGTON The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau on Thursday clarified that carriers will not be liable for 911 information that is not properly relayed to public-safety answering points while a customer is porting a telephone number from wireline to wireless or vice versa. Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission will not allow wireless carriers to impose out-porting restrictions on customers wishing to leave. In other words, a carrier cannot prevent a subscriber from churning if they have an outstanding balance. http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=14166 Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group ------------------------------ From: Dana Subject: Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 18:00:50 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Jim Hopkins wrote in message news:telecom22.551.7@telecom-digest.org: > What you're probably talking about is the waveguide research done at > Bell Labs and other places from the 1930's up until about > 1975. Several different systems were developed that showed great > promise for long-distance, extremely broad bandwith transmission > systems. This use of waveguide basically had a piece of waveguide all > the way between two terminals - cities, if you want to look at it that > way - with possibly some repeater stations in the middle. This sounds very interesting, do you by chance remember what they were calling it? I would think that running waveguide between two cities/communities would be very cost prohibitive, not even thinking about the real estate that would be needed either above or below ground. > By the 1970's, though, fiber optic systems were being developed that > matched or exceeded the bandwidth of waveguide systems and were > easier to install and maintain, and more reliable. So it was fiber, > not coaxial cable, that replaced waveguide. > The other posters who > responded that waveguide wasn't obsolete were undoubtedly speaking > about its use as a transmission line between a microwave transmitter > or receiver and an antenna. And in that case, they're absolutely > correct. It's not obsolete and there's no way that coax could > replace it. Jim amr wrote in message news:telecom22.549.2@ telecom-digest.org: > I heard that Waveguide became obsolete, and coaxial replaced it. > Is that right? What is the limitation for that? ------------------------------ From: Julian Thomas Subject: Re: Telephone History From Another Newsgroup Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 22:15:38 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com In , on 07/03/03 at 09:33 AM, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to William Warren and may have used oatmeal boxes, old string, and new, used, and recycled electrons to say (at least in part): > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have no prizes to give away. Regards (1) > 'rate & route' the originating operator may have had the info in a flip > chart at her disposal and she was looking in there (doubtful), or maybe > she did call 'rate & route' (in those days at least) it was 815 plus 161 > [which translated to Morris, IL where the Rate & Route Bureau was > located]. Interesting (but irrelevant) trivia - Morris, Ill is where the first ESS installation went in in the late 1950's. Julian Thomas: jt@jt-mj.net http://jt-mj.net In the beautiful Finger Lakes Wine Country of New York State! Boardmember of POSSI.org - Phoenix OS/2 Society, Inc http://www.possi.org My software never has bugs. It just develops random features. ------------------------------ From: Dave Smith Subject: Re: The Many Paradoxes of Broadband Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 23:44:23 -0400 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Reply-To: dave.smith@devnull.gov > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'ISP Leach'? Are you speaking about > companies like AOL which although an ISP, also resells broadband to > its customers? Or companies like TerraWorld, which is an ISP and > also resells SBC broadband, but has to give the (broadband) customer > up in order to convert the customer over to Prairie Stream for > telco since SBC flatly refuses to allow any 'competitor' phone companies > to have access to their DSL features? Just curious who you feel are > the leaches. PAT] All ISPs and CLECs that don't have their own networks are leeches. We are going to build out fiber and shut down the copper and all the blood-suckin leeches will be skrewd. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well if you are that offended by ISP's and CLEC's which do not have their own networks, why do you continue to lease your facilities to them? That would promptly end the problem would it not? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: NEC Unveils Methanol-Fueled Laptop Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 15:02:28 +0000 (UTC) Organization: XOme Quoth Mark Atwood in news:telecom22.550.7@telecom-digest.org: > I wonder how the FAA (and other national equivalents) will feel about > this. > OTOH, they do serve vodka (which is pretty much 100% ethanol). Uh, no. 100 proof vodka is 50% ethanol. ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 15:05:58 +0000 (UTC) Organization: XOme Quoth tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) in news:telecom22.549.5@telecom-digest.org: > Which, of course, points out that anyone with an email address good > for a day or two can put any number they want on the do not call list > (not that I consider that a bad thing :-). And as has been little noted in the news, except by Eric Corley on this week's WBAI radio show "Off The Hook", anyone with an e-mail address can REMOVE any number they want from the do not call list. THAT I consider a VERY bad thing. Listen to/download a copy of the program discussing this issue at . ------------------------------ From: News Reader Subject: PIC/2PIC Freeze was Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Dialaround) Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 11:52:19 -0400 Hi, Two quick questions: 1. What's 2PIC? -- this is the first time I've heard the term. I am familiar with concept of freezing the PICC. 2. How does one freeze both these things? ----- Original Message ----- Dave Phelps wrote: > I actually get these all the time from AT&T usually, but I've never > actually tried to cash one. I probably should, after putting a PIC and > 2PIC lock on my account. ------------------------------ Subject: The Internet, Another Innovative Product From Microsoft From: Joe Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 22:16:09 GMT Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen. Get ready for Microsoft's latest innovation! Shared Internet Browsing! http://join.msn.com/?page=features/browse&pgmarket=en- us&RU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket %3den-us "... an exclusive breakthrough technology" And if you believe that ... Microsoft marketing is trying to sell MSN Internet Service by claiming that shared Internet browsing is an exclusive breakthrough technology. In fact, it is not breakthrough technology. Once again Microsoft is playing catch-up while pretending to innovate. Shared Internet browsing is a technology Microsoft is removing from Windows (through NetMeeting) and placing it in the next monopoly target, Internet communications. Microsoft could easily put this technology in Internet Explorer for all Windows users to enjoy. Shared Internet browsing will be commonplace shortly. It has been doable through NetMeeting for years. There are innexpensive programs already on the market to do the same. http://www.matthewssoftware.com/BrowserFor2/ Have a nice day anyway. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 04 Jul 2003 11:19:19 -0600 Subject: Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Wed, 2 Jul 2003 12:49:23 -0400 (EDT), Pat wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa's mother uses the same lawyer as I > have consulted in the past. Lawyer does say the fastest way to conclude > this matter is to send a check to MCI for the amount suggested by the > Billing Department (was it $7.53 ?) with the check plainly marked, > 'payment in full and complete satisfaction of any indebtedness', and > to make sure they cannot later appeal that by saying checks are run > automatically without reading them through a central remittance processing > place with no authority to resolve anything, DO NOT mail the check to > the specified remittance post office box. Be certain the check is in > the proper context to avoid that excuse by MCI. Mail it by certified > mail (so YOU get back the green card proof later on) to one of the > responsible employees there (ethics officer, agency supervisor whose > name you tried to reach, etc.) Include abridged copies of your file > to date. If they then cash that check you have proof in full of your > intentions, etc. That, says lawyer, will fulfill your obligations. I > would add to that, afterward then go wash your hands and use some > strong mouthwash to get rid of the bad taste and the filth on your > hands. PAT] While this will probably work in this particular case, since there is no prior written agreement between the two parties, I strongly advise anybody who's thinking "hey, this sounds like a great way to avoid paying off my credit cards. Cut them a cheque for $50 with that "complete satisfaction" phrase on it, and voila!, I can wipe out the remaining $10,000 balance!" that most companies have wised up to this trick. Check the fine print of any written agreement you have ahead of time -- many of them now specifically forbid this little trick. Had Mr. Gibbs and MCI a previous written contract, he would be best advised to check that contract carefully for similar language, as it would void this option entirely. -- Joey Lindstrom [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That old 'paid in full' trick will NOT work when used out of context. There has to be some basis, or context to use it. You would NEVER send your payment through some central remittance processing place. Preferably your payment should be send by registered mail preferably to the company's attorney or some other responsible employee so someone has to *actually read* the check and the correspondence first. If you ignore those simple requests, then any judge who later on has to deal with the matter is surely going to rule for the litigant as a matter of fairness. 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 #552 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jul 5 23:16:36 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h663GaJ02765; Sat, 5 Jul 2003 23:16:36 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2003 23:16:36 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307060316.h663GaJ02765@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #553 TELECOM Digest Sat, 5 Jul 2003 23:16:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 553 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Website Turns Tables on Government Officials (Monty Solomon) Pioneer Offers DVD Recorders With TiVo (Monty Solomon) E-Mail Mobs Materialize All Over (Monty Solomon) Wi-Fi at Logan (Monty Solomon) Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround (OneNetNut) PIC Freezes, was Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Dialaround (Stan Cline) Re: PIC/2PIC Freeze was Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA Dialaround)(Phelps) Re: The Internet Another Innovative Product From Microsoft (R Squirrel) Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? (Jim Hopkins) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Nobody) Re: A Safer System for Home PC's Feels Like Jail to Critics (Squirrel) Re: A Safer System for Home PC's Feels Like Jail to Critics (J 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: Sat, 5 Jul 2003 00:28:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Website Turns Tables on Government Officials By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff, 7/4/2003 Annoyed by the prospect of a massive new federal surveillance system, two researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are celebrating the Fourth of July with a new Internet service that will let citizens create dossiers on government officials. The system will start by offering standard background information on politicians, but then go one bold step further, by asking Internet users to submit their own intelligence reports on government officials -- reports that will be published with no effort to verify their accuracy. 'It's sort of a citizen's intelligence agency,' said Chris Csikszentmihalyi, assistant professor at the MIT Media Lab. He and graduate student Ryan McKinley created the Government Information Awareness (GIA) project as a response to the US government's Total Information Awareness program (TIA). http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/185/business/Website_turns_tables_on_government_officials+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2003 01:04:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Pioneer Offers DVD Recorders With TiVo New Integrated Devices Redefine Home Media Center Pioneer Electronics is debuting its line of DVD recorders featuring the TiVo service: The DVR-810H and DVR-57H. These new recorders offer consumers the control provided by the TiVo service integrated with advanced DVD recording for the option of short-term storage on a hard drive or long-term archival of broadcast programming on DVD-R/RW discs. http://www.skyretailer.com/viewskyretailer.cfm?ReleaseID=387#Story2 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2003 11:20:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: E-Mail Mobs Materialize All Over By Leander Kahney Inexplicable "flash mobs" are starting to form all over. Begun in New York City, the gatherings are popping up in San Francisco, Minneapolis and suburban New York City, just north of the city. There also is talk of launching a similar group in London. Flash mobs are performance art projects involving large groups of people. Mobilized by e-mail, a mob suddenly materializes in a public place, acts out according to some loose instructions, and then melts away as quickly as it formed. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,59518,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2003 14:30:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Wi-Fi at Logan Massport plans wireless Net system for 3 domestic terminals at Logan By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 7/5/2003 Officials managing Logan International Airport in Boston have launched a multimillion-dollar project to deploy high-speed wireless Internet service throughout Logan's three domestic terminals, aiming to have the system operating by next June. The Massachusetts Port Authority's request Thursday for competitive proposals envisions a single company or venture designing, building, and operating WiFi and other wireless Net systems in terminals B, C, and D, then making the system available to commercial wireless providers and airlines. Massport said it may add its international terminal E to the project if vendors are interested. Terminal A is undergoing reconstruction through 2005. The winning contractor would pay Massport a minimum annual fee plus a share of annual revenues, at rates to be determined through competitive bidding. The plan calls for the network to be fully operating by June 1, several weeks before thousands of visitors are expected in Boston for the Democratic National Convention, the MacWorld computer convention, and the typically busy summer tourist season. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/186/business/Massport_plans_wireless_Net_system_for_3_domestic_terminals_at_Logan+.shtml ------------------------------ From: OneNetNut Subject: Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2003 01:40:59 -0500 On 1 Jul 2003 05:04:03 -0700, egibbs@my-deja.com (Ed Gibbs) wrote about his experiences recently. I did some checking with some folks both inside and outside of MCI to get the scoop on this. It seems that this is old news. MCI already ID'd the problem and has put procedures in place to credit folks who were affected. Not sure if the original poster was affected before they zeroed in on it or not. Problem was corrected though and affected customers are getting refunds or adjusted invoices. ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: PIC Freezes was Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Dialaround Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2003 04:12:06 -0400 Organization: Roamer1 Communications - Dunwoody, GA, USA Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 23:20:26 -0500, Gary Breuckman wrote: > In article , Dave Phelps > wrote: >> I actually get these all the time from AT&T usually, but I've never >> actually tried to cash one. I probably should, after putting a PIC and >> 2PIC lock on my account. > Doesn't work with MCI :( It won't work with most other carriers either -- the last checks I got (which were a couple of years ago; switching to and staying with small switchless resellers does wonders for reducing LD-related junk mail) contained language that authorized the LD carrier to actually **undo PIC freezes** for the purpose of completing the PIC change authorized by endorsement and cashing of the check! LD carriers can also undo PIC freezes for purposes of switching the underlying carriers of customers billed by switchless resellers -- I saw that happen once when a small reseller I used switched from (IIRC) MCI to Global Crossing in my area. 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: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: PIC/2PIC Freeze was Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Dialaround) Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2003 19:28:31 -0500 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , SLCUUVKKQKKI@spammotel.com says: > Hi, > Two quick questions: > 1. What's 2PIC? -- this is the first time I've heard the term. I am > familiar with concept of freezing the PICC. > 2. How does one freeze both these things? PIC selects your LD carrier. 2PIC selects your local toll carrier. 2PIC may be an Ameritech-only term since I've only seen it on order forms. It wouldn't be the first Ameritech-only term I've seen. Anyone ever heard of ADTS-E? It stands for something like Advanced Digital Trunk Service-Enhanced. The only people that have ever heard of it are the marketing people. All the real phone people call it a trunk-side T1. Dave Phelps DD Networks www.ddnets.com deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: redsquirrel@iceteks.com (Red Squirrel) Subject: Re: The Internet, Another Innovative Product From Microsoft Date: 5 Jul 2003 16:51:39 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Gee, when will Microsoft learn IE is dangerous. They should remove all those security flaws instead of adding more "features" that will probably introduce new flaws. The code above is all it takes to crash IE, scarry, ain't it. Just shows a simple flaw that could easly be fixed. ------------------------------ From: Jim Hopkins Subject: Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2003 16:06:59 GMT I don't think it ever had a common designation like 'N' or 'O' or 'A' or any of the rest of that alphabetr soup of carrier systems. Here's some of what was said about it in Chapter 6 of "Engineering and Science in the Bell System - Communications Sciences": "Waveguide research at Bell Laboratories was stimulated by two theoretical predictions that were considered remarkable in their day. The first was that radio waves could propagate in hollow metal tubes with no return conductor. The second was that certain waves having a special configuration of electromagnetic waves could propagate through cylindrical metal tubes with attenuations that would approach zero as their frequency was indefinitely increased. The experimental and theoretical explorations that followed were greatly aided by the rapid advance in techniques of generating and detecting ever-higher microwave frequencies. By-products of the developing technology were quickly applied to wartime radar and, subsequently, to microwave radio-relay systems. Eventually much effort was devoted to the realization of the predicted low losses for the circular electric wave. Problems of mode conversion due mainly to random deviations in straightness of waveguide were solved, and the engineering feasibility of ultrabroadband long-distance transmission systems using circular electric waves at millimeter wavelengths was demonstrated." The chapter goes on to detail some of the research, including construction, in 1935, of a 1250 foot circular waveguide system operating at 3.75 GHz, and research in the 1950's on a circular waveguide system that would use 5-cm diameter pipe and operate at around 60 GHz. The problems to be solved were mode conversion (changing from the circular electric wave) caused by bends and irregularities in the waveguide. These were solved by several ingenious methods of attenuating the unwanted modes using dielectrics or engineered-in irregularities such as corrugation. The feasibility of the system was finally proven with a test setup of 150 meters of waveguide and a metallic plate at the far end that would reflect a pulsed signal introduced at the near end. This test rig was used to simulate a waveguide length of up to 65 km and the predicted low attenuation was confirmed. The chapter ends with: " ...In the mid 1960's, the TE-01 waveguide system activity was transferred to an experimental development organization charged with refinement, manufacture, and installation of a system of considerable length that could be used in a field trial for final evaluation of its practicality. This evaluation was completed in 1975, and the verdict was that the TE-01 system was a success. It had the predicted low losses, only 5 percent above Schelkunoff's theoretical heat loss based on dc conductivity of copper. And it could handle ultrabroadbands of information (from 38 to 120 GHz). But like a jumbo jet airplane, it was efficient only if heavily loaded. Moreover, the technological competitor on the horizon at that moment was the optical fiber, which could be economical on low-traffic routes and easily augmented to handle the full range of communications needs in a more flexible and cost efficient way." And the rest is history. TE-01 wasn't a designation for the syatem, but rather the designation for the electromagnetic mode of the waves. As far as the cost of the system, I agree, I think it would be a lot more expensive to install than either copper cable or fiber cable, although I don't think that the cost of the easement to install it would be much greater, if any. I think the cost difference would be mostly in labor and in manufacturing cost of the waveguide. This stuff would probably have been a lot more precise and hard to build than the elliptical waveguide we see a lot of in microwave systems today, and that stuff is frightfully expensive compared to copper cable. Jim Dana wrote in message news:telecom22.552.11@telecom-digest.org: > Jim Hopkins wrote in message > news:telecom22.551.7@telecom-digest.org: >> What you're probably talking about is the waveguide research done at >> Bell Labs and other places from the 1930's up until about >> 1975. Several different systems were developed that showed great >> promise for long-distance, extremely broad bandwith transmission >> systems. This use of waveguide basically had a piece of waveguide all >> the way between two terminals - cities, if you want to look at it that >> way - with possibly some repeater stations in the middle. > This sounds very interesting, do you by chance remember what they were > calling it? I would think that running waveguide between two > cities/communities would be very cost prohibitive, not even thinking > about the real estate that would be needed either above or below > ground. >> By the 1970's, though, fiber optic systems were being developed that >> matched or exceeded the bandwidth of waveguide systems and were >> easier to install and maintain, and more reliable. So it was fiber, >> not coaxial cable, that replaced waveguide. > The other posters who >> responded that waveguide wasn't obsolete were undoubtedly speaking >> about its use as a transmission line between a microwave transmitter >> or receiver and an antenna. And in that case, they're absolutely >> correct. It's not obsolete and there's no way that coax could >> replace it. > Jim > amr wrote in message news:telecom22.549.2@ > telecom-digest.org: >> I heard that Waveguide became obsolete, and coaxial replaced it. >> Is that right? What is the limitation for that? ------------------------------ From: Nobody Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Reply-To: nobody@nowhere.now Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2003 18:58:19 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Cast my vote for "I don't care"! I PAY for my phone line for MY convenience. Unfortunately, MY phone number has become "open-season" for these jerks. When they ring my number, they are "virtual trespassing" in my home. I don't want them to call, I've told them repeatedly to stop yet they continue to pester me. While telemarketers may try to find little faults with this system (in an attempt to invalidate it), it is only for their own greedy self-intersts. They don't give a F*** about how much they constantly annoy us. While it is certainly your right to find minor flaws with the donotcall.gov Website, letting these greedy jerks continue to harass us on a daily basis is not an option either. It has been proposed that the telemarketers use an opt-in list but they don't want that because few people (if any) would actually voluntarily sign-up to be harassed. The donotcall.gov effort is clearly the best we can hope for. On Fri, 4 Jul 2003 15:05:58 +0000 (UTC), Tom Betz wrote: > Quoth tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) in > news:telecom22.549.5@telecom-digest.org: >> Which, of course, points out that anyone with an email address good >> for a day or two can put any number they want on the do not call list >> (not that I consider that a bad thing :-). > And as has been little noted in the news, except by Eric Corley on > this week's WBAI radio show "Off The Hook", anyone with an e-mail > address can REMOVE any number they want from the do not call list. > THAT I consider a VERY bad thing. > Listen to/download a copy of the program discussing this issue at > . ------------------------------ From: redsquirrel@iceteks.com (Red Squirrel) Subject: Re: A Safer System for Home PC's Feels Like Jail to Some Critics Date: 5 Jul 2003 16:54:21 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ That's scary. How would they do this? A built-in user-proof firewall inside network cards or something? Whatever they do, I hope it won't affect home built PCs. Yet another reason to build your own. :) ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: A Safer System for Home PC's Feels Like Jail to Some Critics Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2003 14:50:35 -0700 In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > Without such built-in controls, they say, Hollywood and the music > business will refuse to make their products available online. Deal. Hollywood, don't let the door whack your butt as you leave. 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: Yeah, but John, you know as well as I that they are only bluffing. Like yourself, I really wish they would get lost and stay lost. Ditto the music industry. None of those people have any business at all being here on the net; they should not be around at all given the amount of control they want over their output, and not a one of them is smart enough to figure out how to get the best of both worlds; ie. the rapid and comprehensive transfer of files over the net *and* get legitimatly paid for it without having to harass the rest of us in the meantime. So many of the new netizens in recent years have such very peculiar ideas about things around here. I guess for them it is simply easier to put their stuff all over the sidewalk with the rest of us then harass the people who try to examine their stuff. They are only bluffing about leaving; they'll be around, unfortunatly, until Hell freezes over, and I am not referring to Hell, Michigan. 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 #553 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jul 6 17:12:53 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h66LCqF25043; Sun, 6 Jul 2003 17:12:53 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 17:12:53 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307062112.h66LCqF25043@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #554 TELECOM Digest Sun, 6 Jul 2003 17:13:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 554 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Craw-Kan Phones Shut Down (Lisa Minter) Firms Finding Profit in Consumer Data / Some Use Tactics (Monty Solomon) Comcast Signs on Power Lobbyists (Monty Solomon) Ambush TV/Pranks May Be Funny; Victims Get Last Laugh (Monty Solomon) Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (Monty Solomon) Re: A Safer System for Home PC's Feels Like Jail to Critics (nuther Bob) Re: A Safer System for Home PC's Feels Like Jail to Critics (J Higdon) Re: Wi-Fi at Logan (dold@Wi-FiXatXL.usenet.us.com) Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? (Eric Tappert) Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes ('nuther Bob) Re: Telephone History From Another Newsgroup (Gail M. Hall) PICs, Freezes, Validations/Verifications, etc (Mark J Cuccia) Re: PIC/2PIC Freeze was Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Dialaround)(Doug) 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, 6 Jul 2003 10:43:14 PDT From: Lisa Minter Subject: Craw-Kan Phones Shut Down Crawford County, Kansas - (Story taken in part from Independence Sunday Reporter, July 6): Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton and her deputies had their hands full just before the Independence Day Holiday. Craw-Kan Communications System (what was formerly known as the Crawford County Telephone Cooperative) was out of order all of one day and part of the next. According to Sheriff Horton, Craw-Kan's entire system crashed for no apparent reason, killing phone service to the rural areas of Crawford County for all of one day, then again for part of another day. The rural county of 36,000 consists of Pittsburg, a university town of 18,000 served by Southwestern Bell and a dozen or so other small towns and villages (the largest of which is Girard, the county seat with a population of about 2500) which are served by the rural telephone cooperative (now Craw-Kan). The telephone technician, attempted several times to reboot the system without success which continued to crash periodically throughout the remainder of the day and part of the next day. Horton instructed the deputies to go to the various town offices thoughout the county to relay any complaints by radio, and residents were expected to walk to the town hall or village office to seek any assistance required on an emergency basis. Most of the towns in Crawford County are too small to have any police force of their own except for Girard and Pittsburg with their own police departments. Horton's four deupties served the small towns of Arcadia, McCune and Walnut by radio from the town offices. The phone system got repaired and back on line early the next morning. Although telephones in Pittsburg are 620-231 and 620-232, in other parts of the county they are 620-226, 620-754 and 620-763. Lisa Minter ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 12:11:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Firms Finding Profit in Consumer Data / Some Use Tactics Some use tactics to circumvent privacy pledges By Jonathan Krim, Washington Post, 7/6/2003 To parents interested in buying the popular Hooked on Phonics learn-to-read programs, the company made a firm promise on its website: It would never sell or rent their personal information to other marketers. But that pledge was empty. In the pages of a marketing trade publication, Gateway Learning Corp., the product's California-based parent company, was advertising to rent the list of Hooked on Phonics buyers to other marketers. At a price of $95 per 1,000 names, companies could arrange to have unsolicited advertising sent to 105,936 people who bought Hooked on Phonics in the past year. Included in the information made available to other marketers: ages of the buyers' children. After inquiries from The Washington Post, the company changed its privacy policy and is no longer promising to keep such data from being offered to others. A company spokeswoman said the firm was simply slow to update its policy. Previous customers would be notified of the change and offered the chance to remove themselves from the list, she said. Hooked on Phonics is one example of retailers, marketers, and an array of service providers expanding their collection and use of consumers' e-mail addresses and other personal information, despite broad assurances to protect individual privacy and honor consumers' choices about how much marketing they want to receive. Many firms use tactics designed to hide their intent to gather and profit from the data they collect, information that grows in value as more and more people use the Internet for information and shopping. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/187/business/Firms_finding_profit_in_consumer_data+.shtml [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Although the company promised never to sell or rent their list, they never promised not to spam their list. That does make a difference, technically. They never surrendered the list to anyone to obtain personal data (such as credit card numbers and names) from. All they did was mail to the list themselves. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 12:48:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Signs on Power Lobbyists By LARA JAKES JORDAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, is hiring some of the most politically connected lobbyists in the capital as important policy decisions that will affect the industry near. Over the past four months, the Philadelphia-based company has hired an adviser to Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, the former chief of staff to retired House Republican leader Dick Armey and the counsel to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., whose committee has jurisdiction over broadcast, cable and satellite questions. Additionally, the sister-in-law of White House chief of staff Andrew Card is a Comcast consultant. Comcast executives said the hires simply represent an effort to enhance the company's image since it became the top cable provider in November with its $29 billion acquisition of AT&T Broadband. They acknowledge the company will step up its role as Washington oversees regulation of new technology and business operations in the cable industry. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34745900 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 11:47:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Ambush TV / Pranks May Be Funny, but Victims May Get Last Laugh (AP) By ABCNEWS.com June 27 - The original Candid Camera was never like this. Today's reality shows are pulling pranks on people that are more daring, more outrageous, and scarier than ever before - and everyone is fair game. In the jargon of the new TV trend, you can be the subject of a scare tactic, you can be "Ex'd," and you can be "Punk'd" - like celebrity Justin Timberlake was. The pop idol was visibly shaken when he believed he was being evicted from his home for failing to pay back-taxes - a prank set up by the MTV show Punk'd. In an episode of Scare Tactics, a young woman camping in the woods with friends is terrified after seeing a masked man with a machete peer into the cabin. She's upset and frightened - and then, her friends not only tell her it's all a joke, they also tell her she's on a reality television show. http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/entertainment/062703_ent_ambush_tv.html [Lisa Minter note: I think those shows are all mean and hateful. I am told many people refuse to sign off giving permission for that junk to be shown on television. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 12:34:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues By David Kravets, Associated Press, 7/6/2003 SAN FRANCISCO -- Courthouses have long been considered stodgy institutions, foreign to the public they serve. The Internet has made them a little less detached, offering the ability to pay tickets, attend traffic school, even monitor dockets online. But most of the documents available at the courthouse are not online, either for lack of funding and technology or due to concerns that not all public records should be so easily available. As state court officials across the nation ponder whether and how to make courthouses Internet-friendly, policy makers from California to New York are shielding many otherwise readily available records from cyberspace. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/187/nation/Online_court_records_raise_privacy_issues+.shtml [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Privacy' has no place in the same sentence as 'open and public judicial proceedings'. Here in the USA we have a system of open and public trials. Anyone is invited to walk in the courthouse and watch the trials going on. Would you want it any other way? There are exceptions of course, but generally we do not have secret trials in the middle of the night with people then shipped off to prisons, etc. I would not want that. If we are free to observe and discuss trials then we are free to publish about them afterward, which includes the right to exchange the transcripts and our discussions in various forums. Why would anyone here in the USA want otherwise? Do not get put on trial (rightfully or wrongly) if you do not want the community (whose representatives put you on trial) to know about what took place. PAT] ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: A Safer System for Home PC's Feels Like Jail to Some Critics Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 02:55:45 GMT On Fri, 4 Jul 2003 22:59:28 -0400, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Monty Solomon : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So Hollywood is going to refuse to make > their products available on line unless the computer makers tamper > with my computer? Hey Hollywood, hey music industry, don't go away > mad; just GO AWAY. You are not really wanted here in our 'neighborhood' > anyway. The general public should tell the *computer industry* we > won't buy any more of their products if they give in to Hollywood. I'm sure this has little to do with Hollywood. Intel and Microsoft do not care about Hollywood unless there is profit involved. Intel is no doubt looking for a feature to sell. MS is looking for a way to wrap up software licensing even tighter. > To read NY Times articles on line use our group name 'telecomdigest' > and group password 'telecomdigest' to avoid spam, etc. PAT] Thanks. Bob ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: A Safer System for Home PC's Feels Like Jail to Some Critics Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 08:12:34 -0700 In article , > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Noted in response to John Higdon: > Yeah, but John, you know as well as I that they are only > bluffing. Like yourself, I really wish they would get lost and stay > lost. Ditto the music industry. None of those people have any > business at all being here on the net; they should not be around at > all given the amount of control they want over their output, and not > a one of them is smart enough to figure out how to get the best of > both worlds; ie. the rapid and comprehensive transfer of files over > the net *and* get legitimatly paid for it without having to harass > the rest of us in the meantime. So many of the new netizens in > recent years have such very peculiar ideas about things around here. > I guess for them it is simply easier to put their stuff all over the > sidewalk with the rest of us then harass the people who try to > examine their stuff. They are only bluffing about leaving; they'll > be around, unfortunatly, until Hell freezes over, and I am not > referring to Hell, Michigan. PAT] Hollywood and the music industry want to turn all of computing into a closed, dedicated system to distribute entertainment on strict terms to be dictated by the copyright cartel. This is their dream. Unfortunately, Bill Gates and Intel and a few dumb bunnies in Congress are more than happy to bend over. Bill sees bucks and a side benefit of derailing Linux. "Trusted computing" would lock out all OSes that are not strictly controlled by the copyright cartel. We would never allow any other industry to even begin to think about such nonsense. Even the computer software program companies never suggested that the hardware be closed off to prevent copying or use of their products in ways not envisioned by the authors. But for some reason, manufacturers, software and hardware designers, and even the worlds's biggest CPU manufacturer are collaborating with Federal legislators in an attempt to seal off the control of technology so that only major multi-national corporations who specialize in entertainment can decide the future of personal computing. If this is the price we have to pay to be entertained at home in the future, I'm not willing to pay it. If the copyright cartel wants to create its own, non-interoperable devices to be used for home entertainment, then fine. But as far as I am concerned, they are not welcome in the world of general computing or on the Internet as long as they believe they must control it all. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: dold@Wi-FiXatXL.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Wi-Fi at Logan Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 17:43:25 UTC Organization: a2i network Monty Solomon wrote: > Officials managing Logan International Airport in Boston have launched > a multimillion-dollar project to deploy high-speed wireless Internet > service throughout Logan's three domestic terminals, aiming to have > the system operating by next June. That would put them at least a year behind Dallas-Fort Worth, and Fort Lauderdale, who already have free WiFi in the terminals. ------------------------------ From: Eric Tappert Subject: Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 18:42:49 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet Folks, The system was called "WT-4" and provided 57 radio channels, each carrying a DS-4 digital signal over two tubes (a four wire system). The system was field trialed in New Jersey in 1975 between Netcong and Long Valley (8.7 miles, only twelve channels were equipped). Total system capacity was 238,000 voice channels. Depending on terrain, repeaters were required at 30-37 mile intervals. Some interesting devices were used in the system, including IMPATT oscillators where the IMPATT diode was bonded with gold to a diamond heat sink, handling a power density of 2 Megawatts/square inch. Fortunately, the diode was only 0.001 square inches, but 2 watts in that area is still a challenging problem. In any event, Long Lines couldn't find any two places that needed 238,000 circuits between them, and if they could they certainly wouldn't put all of them in the same trench. The waveguide placement was also problematical as the bend radii and other mechanical arrangements were rather exacting. Of interest was the mechanical "mouse" used to tmeasure the physical dimensions of the inside of the waveguide. It had a hook on the back end, to which a long string was attached in case the batteries went dead between access points. In any event, in 1976 the system was documented and put on the shelf. Fiber progress was such that it would be the medium of choice when, finally, the capacity was needed. Check out "A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System, Transmission Systems" published in 1985 for more details. E. Tappert On Sat, 05 Jul 2003 16:06:59 GMT, Jim Hopkins wrote: > I don't think it ever had a common designation like 'N' or 'O' or 'A' > or any of the rest of that alphabetr soup of carrier systems. Here's > some of what was said about it in Chapter 6 of "Engineering and > Science in the Bell System - Communications Sciences": > "Waveguide research at Bell Laboratories was stimulated by two > theoretical predictions that were considered remarkable in their > day. The first was that radio waves could propagate in hollow metal > tubes with no return conductor. The second was that certain waves > having a special configuration of electromagnetic waves could > propagate through cylindrical metal tubes with attenuations that would > approach zero as their frequency was indefinitely increased. The > experimental and theoretical explorations that followed were greatly > aided by the rapid advance in techniques of generating and detecting > ever-higher microwave frequencies. By-products of the developing > technology were quickly applied to wartime radar and, subsequently, to > microwave radio-relay systems. Eventually much effort was devoted to > the realization of the predicted low losses for the circular electric > wave. Problems of mode conversion due mainly to random deviations in > straightness of waveguide were solved, and the engineering feasibility > of ultrabroadband long-distance transmission systems using circular > electric waves at millimeter wavelengths was demonstrated." > The chapter goes on to detail some of the research, including > construction, in 1935, of a 1250 foot circular waveguide system > operating at 3.75 GHz, and research in the 1950's on a circular > waveguide system that would use 5-cm diameter pipe and operate at > around 60 GHz. The problems to be solved were mode conversion > (changing from the circular electric wave) caused by bends and > irregularities in the waveguide. These were solved by several > ingenious methods of attenuating the unwanted modes using dielectrics > or engineered-in irregularities such as corrugation. >>> What you're probably talking about is the waveguide research done at >>> Bell Labs and other places from the 1930's up until about >>> 1975. Several different systems were developed that showed great >>> promise for long-distance, extremely broad bandwith transmission >>> systems. This use of waveguide basically had a piece of waveguide all >>> the way between two terminals - cities, if you want to look at it that >>> way - with possibly some repeater stations in the middle. >> This sounds very interesting, do you by chance remember what they were >> calling it? I would think that running waveguide between two >> cities/communities would be very cost prohibitive, not even thinking >> about the real estate that would be needed either above or below >> ground. >>> By the 1970's, though, fiber optic systems were being developed that >>> matched or exceeded the bandwidth of waveguide systems and were >>> easier to install and maintain, and more reliable. So it was fiber, >>> not coaxial cable, that replaced waveguide. > The other posters who >>> responded that waveguide wasn't obsolete were undoubtedly speaking >>> about its use as a transmission line between a microwave transmitter >>> or receiver and an antenna. And in that case, they're absolutely >>> correct. It's not obsolete and there's no way that coax could >>> replace it. >>> I heard that Waveguide became obsolete, and coaxial replaced it. >>> Is that right? What is the limitation for that? Oops, WT-4 used just one waveguide, separating directions with FDM. One direction used 40 - 74.4 GHz, the other direction used 75.5 - 110 GHz. Sorry about that. E. Tappert ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 03:04:16 GMT I'm new here, so I gotta ask ... How come the moderator -- Pat aka Lisa -- posts "TELECOM Digest Editor's Note:"s in the original post instead of just doing a followup with his opinions like most every other moderator? Certainly comments on the post like " I let this through even though it's lightly off topic because..." would be appropriate to put in the original post. But, I think threads would be easier to follow and respond to if the moderator's opinions on the issues were posted in the normal way. Bob [Lisa Minter note: I just do it the way I was taught when I started helping here. New, original postings by myself go out as new messages. For example the first message in this issue about the phone outage. Other comments go below whatever the person said, but separated from it and identified as my own comments. Because I am only temporarily helping here, I am not permitted to refer to myself as 'TELECOM Digest Editor', and must sign the notes with my own name. Lisa M.] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa speaks correctly. That is how I taught her. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Telephone History From Another Newsgroup Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 00:31:14 -0400 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 16:39:27 -0400, in comp.dcom.telecom message , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in respnse to Julian Thomas : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not a bad story, but you long time > (ancient, actually) telephone people read the story again and try to > tell me *at least* one thing wrong in the tale. If you are really an > expert you'll find two things wrong. Find a third thing wrong and you > are a genius like me, despite my deseased brain. PAT] In the story, the caller did not know the phone number, and even the local operator just said, "It's two longs and a short." I'm not an old telephone person, but I do know that when my parents had their old crank-it-yourself phone, the phone company did assign "numbers". In our case, two longs were X, so our phone number was 17FX. The 17 was the line for our road. The F meant "farmers" line, and X, being Roman numeral for 10 was two longs. One long was assigned the number 5. Back then we didn't have a set number of digits in our numbers. I remember at one house we lived, our number was 1725. By that time they had taken out the F because it wasn't a farmers' line any more. The 17 was still the line number for the line on our road. Two shorts was assigned the number 2, and a long was assigned the number 5. Our ring then was two shorts and a long. Later, our ring became just 2 shorts, so our number was 172. When they upgraded in the 1950's to the kind of system they had in town, where just picking up the handpiece alerted the operator you wanted to call someone, they were already getting ready for dialing. They put in a new modern phone with the dial covered. A few years later, they had installed the dialing system, and the phone man came out and uncovered the dial. I don't remember what year it was, but eventually they set everyone up with 7-digit numbers. Eventually we heard the rings for only half the people on our line. Over the years they had fewer and fewer people on one party line. Now I am told that everyone there has a private line. Now there is an ISP in town, and a lot of folks in town and in the country have dialup Internet service. I vaguely remember the first long-distance call I made myself. We still had the manual phone. To get "Central" (what we called the Operator back then), we cranked the phone one ring. It didn't matter if it was short or long. One ring meant "Central". I don't remember if I had to tell her my number or not. We were on a party line with LOTS of parties on it, so I suspect we would have to tell the operator what number we were calling from. I did have to give the number for the party I was calling. I also don't have any memory for how many operators our operator had to go through to get to my party. Operators were able to dial direct for quite some time before customers could, but I don't know what year that happened in our area. In the late 1950s, the whole country was getting ready for direct dialing service and established 7-digit numbers for everyone. When I went to Lawrence, KS, in 1959, direct dialing was already established there, and there were instructions in the phone book for how to dial the area code and then the 7-digit number. It didn't take long for other parts of the country to get direct dialing. In a quieter way, mailing addresses have been updated in this country. My parents bought their last house around 1956 or so, but they had three different addresses. At first, anyone living on that road could have their address as just the name of the route, no box numbers or house numbers. The mail carrier knew who everyone was. Later, they gave everyone on that route a box number, so the address was [name of route] Route, Box nnnn, for however many numbers they needed for the mailboxes. Later they changed to city type addresses. Instead of "Route", the road was named a "Road" or something similar, and each house was given a house number. They left plenty of numbers unused between houses just in case properties became subdivided later on. Now the form of the address is nnnnn [name] Road (or Drive or whatever). I wondered if the postal service got their idea of standardizing addresses from the phone companies. Gail in Ohio USA [TELECOM Digest Editors's Note: Actually it was the other way around. Telco got the idea from the postal service, which had been imposed on by police/fire authorities to come up with a system to 'pinpoint' every dwelling place everywere with some (supposedly, at least to local authorities) logical numbering system so that fire and police could very quickly find who wanted whatever. When the postal service (or post office) implemented the one mprovement

lan about 1963, they began 'thinking about' how to handle the Rural Routes which were becoming more and more obsolete in our nation. Now everything is (at least formally) a County Road (number) with a house number thereon. When Independence had manual phone service until 1959 or maybe 1960 we had one, two, three or four digit numbers. The switchboard was located at 6th and Maple Streets in the SWB Telco building. When the town 'went dial in style' (as the advertisements beforehand all told, since Princess Phones were just coming into vogue) everyone's phone number was swapped out for EDison 1-(same number) with zeros prepended as needed to make an even seven digits; i.e. phone number '123' became EDison 1-0123, as needed. About five years later, EDison-1 was dropped for 331 which it still is. The general public still gives their number as four digits; instead of saying 'my phone number is 331-0123' they mostly say 'my number is oh-one-two-three' and everyone seems to understand that. Then in recent years when 330 and 332 were added for some specialized numbers like cell phones and the city hall centrex people just added 330 or 332 as needed for those few numbers. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 01:18:54 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: PICs, freezes, validations/verifications, etc Dave Phelps wrote: > SLCUUVKKQKKI@spammotel.com says: >> What's 2PIC? -- this is the first time I've heard the term. I am >> familiar with concept of freezing the PICC. > PIC selects your LD carrier. 2PIC selects your local toll carrier. > 2PIC may be an Ameritech-only term since I've only seen it on order > forms. Here in BellSouth territory, I've heard the business office service reps refer to a PIC and PIC-Freeze, as well as the L-PIC and L-PIC-freeze. The L-PIC is your primary in-tra-LATA toll-carrier, the so-called and oxymoronic "Local/Toll" carrier (how can something be local and toll at the same time! :). The PIC is your in-ter-LATA toll-carrier, the so-called "Long Distance" carrier. There is also a third "PIC" which also can be "frozen" in some areas. I know that there is a freeze available here in Louisiana -- The LSP (Local Service Provider) -- i.e. your LEC or CLEC, aka your "dial tone" provider ... sometimes your "loop" provider. And this may or may not include "bundlers" and "resellers" as well. Here in Louisiana, you can even get your LSP "frozen" so that some other LEC/CLEC/etc in the area supposedly can't come around and "slam" you away. As for multiple types of PICs and such ... in *some* situations (it used to be this way with 'traditional' style telco-owned c.o.switch-coin-control payphones of the later 1980s and most of the 1990s), there could be different PICs (at least on the in-ter-LATA and international/overseas side) as to 1+/011+ vs. 0+/01+. It used to be that AT&T was the *only* PIC for the in-ter-LATA/international (coin-sent-paid) side (i.e., 1+/011+) while the "special billing" side (card/collect/3d-pty/etc) on 0+/01+ for in-ter-LATA and international/overseas, was PIC'd according to the property-owner or contracted party for location of the telco-owned payphone. In-tra-LATA services at that telco payphone, both 1+ coin-sent-paid, as well as 0+ special billing, has always seemed to be PIC'd to the incumbent LEC as the provider. Of course, one could always place card/collect/etc. type calls from these phones via the carrier of choice, with 950-xxxx and 1-800/888/877/etc. card/operator platform dial-up access numbers, or the more archaic 101-XXXX+0+/01+ access method, bypassing any telco/property-owner chosen defaulted 0+/01+ PICs on the line. NOTE: AT&T *NO LONGER* provides 1+/011+ coin-sent-paid "traditional c.o.switch/ OSPS-ACTS coin-control services for about a year now. If you are at a telco-owned traditional c.o.switch-coin-controlled payphone, and you want to place *AT&T* 1+/011+ coin-sent-paid calls, you are S/O/L these days. However, local telco may still do in-tra-LATA TOPS-ACTS 1+ coin-sent-paid calling, as well as local c.o.coin-sent-paid calling; It looks like the damed private payphones/ COCOTs have won! :( As for PIC-validation or verification: 1-700-555-4141 (and a few other different last four digits in some cases), to verify/validate your in-ter-LATA / international/overseas toll PIC; (in Canada it is simply your "toll PIC" because LATAs don't apply in Canada). (1)+(Home/Adjacent-NPA)+700-4141, to verify/validate your in-tra-LATA toll PIC, (This applies to the US *Only*); (In MOST parts of the US, it is your HOME area code, but there are a few cases, such as parts of California and Illinois, where the 700 local c.o. code prefix was assigned already as a POTS/geographic use local c.o.code in that area code/NPA region in question, thus one must use a partiuclar adjacent area's NPA code to call 700-4141 to validate your L-PIC; check with your local telco business office if in the Chicago or Los Angeles areas to find out for certain). And the third, the LSP (Local Service Provider) PIC validation/ verification umber is *supposedly* going to be: (1)+(home/adjacent-NPA)+555-0055. This is *NOT* yet in actual working operation yet. But that 555-0055 number has been "reserved" for this purpose in the FUTURE. This number does *NOT* yet work for this purpose. If you attempt it right now, you will either go "no-where" (vacant code recording), or you might reach your local/toll Directory Assistance (information) provider "as if" you had dialed (1)+(NPA)+555-1212, and thus be charged (what these days has become) QUITE an exhorbitant fee/cost! :( mjc ------------------------------ From: Doug Subject: Re: PIC/2PIC Freeze was Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Dialaround) Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 08:22:09 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Verizon calls their local toll carrier "LPIC" in their CSR's. Doug in Delaware Dave Phelps wrote in message news:telecom22.553.7@telecom-digest.org: > In article , > SLCUUVKKQKKI@spammotel.com says: >> Hi, >> Two quick questions: >> 1. What's 2PIC? -- this is the first time I've heard the term. I am >> familiar with concept of freezing the PICC. >> 2. How does one freeze both these things? > PIC selects your LD carrier. 2PIC selects your local toll > carrier. 2PIC may be an Ameritech-only term since I've only seen it on > order forms. > It wouldn't be the first Ameritech-only term I've seen. Anyone ever > heard of ADTS-E? It stands for something like Advanced Digital Trunk > Service-Enhanced. The only people that have ever heard of it are the > marketing people. All the real phone people call it a trunk-side T1. > Dave Phelps > DD Networks > www.ddnets.com > deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ 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 #554 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 7 21:34:11 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h681YBQ09855; Mon, 7 Jul 2003 21:34:11 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 21:34:11 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307080134.h681YBQ09855@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #555 TELECOM Digest Mon, 7 Jul 2003 21:34:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 555 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Re: Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes (Gail M. Hall) Re: Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes ('nuther Bob) Article About Verizon Repair (Sm704) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (Steven J. Sobol) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (John Bartley K7AAY) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Tom Betz) Maybe You Know Where I Can Find (Jo Frykman) Telephone Votes Sent to Wrong Number (Gail M. Hall) Re: Wi-Fi at Logan ('nuther Bob) Re: Ambush TV/Pranks May Be Funny; Victims Get Last Laugh (Justin Time) Re: Vonage/Cisco ATA - Incoming Calls (Pierrot) The Future Was so Bright (Monty Solomon) Re: Craw-Kan Phones Shut Down (John Bartley K7AAY) 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: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 17:08:20 -0400 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 03:04:16 GMT, in comp.dcom.telecom message , 'nuther Bob wrote: > I'm new here, so I gotta ask ... > How come the moderator -- Pat aka Lisa -- posts "TELECOM Digest > Editor's Note:"s in the original post instead of just doing > a followup with his opinions like most every other moderator? > Certainly comments on the post like " I let this through > even though it's lightly off topic because..." would be > appropriate to put in the original post. But, I think threads > would be easier to follow and respond to if the moderator's opinions > on the issues were posted in the normal way. Telecom Digest is the only group outside of our old Cleveland Free-Net where moderators do this. I wonder if this was an earlier custom that was later changed for most usenet groups later on. On Free-Net, many of the SIGs (Special Interest Groups) were run by people who were knowledgeable (or supposedly so) about the topic of the group. We had a Law SIG run by an attorney, an IRS SIG run by people from the local IRS office, a library reference SIG moderated by people from the local library reference desk. So it was common for people to post to the moderated group and get an answer added by the moderator. It appeared when the message was "approved" by the moderator. Some of our SIGs, like the Medical SIG and Law SIG also provided for blocking out the e-mail addresses of the posters. The people posting could ask about controversial things or embarrassing things and remain anonymous. TELECOM Digest, as far as I know, started out and still is a mailing list that at some point in its history was "gatewayed" to . I have no idea what software was used when this group started out. But it's logical to me that the format and "atomosphere" has remained fairly consistent throught all the changes in software and hosts. > [Lisa Minter note: I just do it the way I was taught when I started > helping here. New, original postings by myself go out as new messages. > For example the first message in this issue about the phone outage. > Other comments go below whatever the person said, but separated from > it and identified as my own comments. Because I am only temporarily > helping here, I am not permitted to refer to myself as 'TELECOM Digest > Editor', and must sign the notes with my own name. Lisa M.] > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa speaks correctly. That is how I > taught her. PAT] Because my introduction to newsgroups and mailing lists started out with many of them using this format, it doesn't seem strange to me. I can see, though, that other people would find it "different" and wonder why it's done this way here. Gail in NE Ohio USA ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 03:40:31 GMT On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 03:04:16 GMT, 'nuther Bob wrote: > I'm new here, so I gotta ask ... > [Lisa Minter note: I just do it the way I was taught when I started > helping here. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa speaks correctly. That is how I > taught her. PAT] LOL ... that really explains it. BTW -- am I really supposed to believe that two different moderators passed this post from one to the other so that they both could comment on it ? This "Lisa Minter" thing is really supposed to be a "see right through it, that makes it funny" type joke, right ? (Just checking, like I said, I'm new here). Bob [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You really are new here. That much is obvious. One moderator did not 'pass this post on from one to the other'. Lisa sits here in my home working on the Digest and other matters of her own choosing on the computer. Lisa and/or her mother are here in my home three or four times daily, mainly to attend to me; my housekeeping, my meals and my personal needs. Since my brain aneurysm on November 29, 1999 I have needed some degree of personal care. (An aneurysm is similar to a stroke; but not exactly the same. When it occurs in the brain region it results in severe neurological damage. I am not paralyzed; I do get up and down and hobble around; even go outside a block or two by myself. None the less, Lisa and/or her mother are good people to have around, especially since I did not die on the spot post-aneurysm as about 75 percent of the victims of same do. There are many times I honestly feel I would have been better off dying when it happened, rather than simply be in a coma- state for nearly three months afterward. Much of this has been told time and again in the Digest to the point where most people, including myself, are getting bored with it. The last housekeeper I had here was NOT a computer person. Lisa, on the other hand took an interest in my computers from the first day she saw them. I let her 'dive right in', and learn them as she goes along, just as I did for many other people in my past including the late moderator of rec.radio.broadcasting (airwaves.com) and others. Lisa sees the mail here, works on it as I have instructed her, and quite freqently gets a puzzled look on her face until I ask her what is wrong, and then either type in the answer myself, or tell her what to type or whatever. For an answer to your question, read the other comments in this issue posted by Gail Hall. That explains why things are done here as they are, mainly because this is *not* a Usenet product, it is first and foremost a private mailing list. Now that I have aired out my own soiled underwear and bedsheets once again, to the tedium of the other long time regulars here, do you have any futher questions or comments, Sir--uh? Any further laughs? PAT] ------------------------------ From: rain409@hotmail.com (Sm704) Subject: Article About Verizon Repair Date: 6 Jul 2003 15:39:06 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Here's an article someone wrote to the local newspaper's editorial section about Verizon's repair service. Mind you, I agree with every word in this article. It's all 100% true. ------------------------------ Title: Out-of-service phone took four days to fix On June 24, a Tuesday, at 6:30 a.m., my neighbor reported to Verizon that our phone was out-of-service. They said that repair would be done between the day we reported it and Friday at 5 p.m. I stayed home on Tuesday and Wednesday waiting for a service man to show up. Wednesday morning, a Verizon repair truck was working on a house two houses from mine. I asked the repairman if he had a work order for my house and he said he had none. He said he could not call into his office, as they have no more phones in their trucks, and that all work was done by computers and that he had to report back. I was told that even if you needed your phone for medical purposes it did not matter to Verizon and it would still take four days to repair. Finally on a Friday, we got our service back. It should never take four days to get your service back. Verizon should change its slogan of "We are working for you." I guess it's time for a service change. - William Morrissey Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette - 7/5/2003 ------------------------------ From: Steven J. Sobol Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 23:21:27 -0000 Organization: JustThe.net LLC From Monty Solomon (monty@roscom.com): >> As state court officials across the nation ponder whether and how to >> make courthouses Internet-friendly, policy makers from California to >> New York are shielding many otherwise readily available records from >> cyberspace. > Yes. Putting public records on the Internet is a violation of privacy! Whatever. GMAFB. Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge, JustThe.net "Microsoft must think they're a navy, they open so many ports." --Ben Scott on the ISP-TECH mailing list, 18 June 2003 ------------------------------ From: 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 16:31:43 GMT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Privacy' has no place in the same > sentence as 'open and public judicial proceedings'. Yes, it does. Making all details regarding participants in civil matters exposes them to identity theft. If you have ever filed for bankruptcy, your SSN, full name and address are now part of the court record. May I please have your SSN, full name and address, and post that on the web for all the world to see? Kinda puts a different light on the issue. Things change. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Putting those records on the Internet does nothing a dedicated snooper could not do by sitting down at your local courthouse and copying the files by hand. Your problem obviously is with the idea of having an open judicial system in this country. The Internet has added nothing except the convenience of automated reporting to a system that was around from even before my time. If you want to complain about something, then complain how people's morals and ethics in the handling of 'sensitive' information have not kept pace with the speed of technology, but don't blame the technology. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 17:40:40 UTC Organization: Anything Nobody wrote in news:telecom22.553.10@telecom- digest.org: > While it is certainly your right to find minor flaws with the > donotcall.gov Website, Minor flaws? MINOR flaws? Okay, so I guess you won't mind if I find out what your phone number is and de-list it without bothering to tell you. And you won't mind if I set up a bot that will check ever couple of weeks to see whether you've re-listed your number and automatically de-list you again. The way AT&T has set up this site for the FTC, there's nothing to stop me (or anyone else, including a telemarketing sleaze) from doing that. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here again, we have a case of getting into things not your own (someone else's phone number) and forging a document or three for your own interests, then blaming *your own dishonesty* on the 'flaws' in someone else's work. While far from perfect, the way the web site is set up now is you go there and enter both the phone number to be listed *AND* a valid email address for yourself. You then recieve back *in email, almost immediatly* a request to confirm what you have done. You must click on the link provided at that point and proceed to 'verify' your entry. And your IP address is noted at the same time for their logs. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jo Frykman Subject: Maybe You Know Where I Can Find Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 15:52:17 -0400 Hi -- here's a bold and assumptive question - but I am aggressive!! I just started as a sales rep for a company that offers hosting -- and since Sprint has announced they are closing their center, I want to find out how I can get a list of their customers and their contact info so I can try and get them to use our hosting center. Do you have any ideas? I hope you don't mind this kind of question, and I apologize ahead of time if this is an absurd email !! Thanks, JB Frykman [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why don't you simply ask Sprint to sell it to you. They probably would. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Telephone Votes Sent to Wrong Number Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 17:08:18 -0400 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net I'm amazed I haven't seen mention of this story yet. The other night on our local news, they intereviewed an elderly woman who lives in Ashtabula, OH, if I remember right. I don't know if the story is still on the channel's web site. I did see the report on WKYC Channel 3 in Cleveland. NBC has a TV program called FAME, where different people perform. (I haven't watched it myself.) Watchers are invited to call in their votes for the best performer. The lady, who has a residential line nowhere near where this program is aired, started getting calls from people wanting to vote for their choices. Her number was nothing like the number they advertised. She reported the problem to her phone company, and they couldn't explain why this was happening. Even during the interview, her phone was ringing constantly. No sooner would she hang up from one call, the phone would ring with another caller wanting to vote. By the time we saw this on TV, the report had been sent to NBC or the producers of the show, and they couldn't explain it. Amazingly, the problem was not solved by the next time the show aired. This lady was a good sport, so she started just writing down the votes and reporting her counts to NBC. I hope they pay her some BIG $$$ for her trouble. She stayed up till 3:00 a.m. till after the show was aired on the West Coast because calls came from there, too. She said when she got really tired, she did unplug her phone and go on to bed. The reporters on the local news said that NBC and the show's producers were blaming the "contractor" for the phone service for the problem. If that is true, I hope that contractor is required to pay a big fine for causing so much inconvenience to a residential phone subscriber who had not contracted to take those calls. I hope they pay the lady well, too. She should not have to unplug her phone to get a good night's sleep. After all, unplugging her phone means that people really needing to call her can't get through. Why would it take more than a day to find where that lady's number is entered into the contractor's system? Computers have had Find functions for years and years. And most big phone systems are run by computers, aren't they? Even scarier is the idea that some rogue company (psychoterrorists?) with a computer could start redirecting calls from anywhere to anyone's residential line and deny them the use of their phone. I have had only one time when a telemarketer's computer got stuck on our line and kept calling us over and over. We had to unplug our phone for a while to get it to stop. Gail in Ohio NE USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What may have happened to her is what happened to me once many years ago. I had an office in downtown Chicago with a single line and the phone number 312-Webster-9-4600. It took me a while to figure it out. The phone was ringing almost constantly and the people were getting the same wrong number. They all wanted something at Sears, Roebuck. The Sears State Street store downtown was 312-WABash-2-4600. Same last four digits but where I had a single line phone with one number, Sears State Street (main headquarters for Chicago at that time) had a big five-position cord board which literally rocked around the clock with incoming calls to their credit and customer service offices. Once I took a few minutes to analyze it (as I had to do if I was going to get any peace and quiet that day) I started asking the callers 'what number are you calling from?' and *every single one of the calls* was coming from the Beverly CO on the southwest side of Chicago. I reported that to a contact at Illinois Bell's Repair Bureau. They looked into it and got back to me to say that "early this morning (this was in the early 1970's) the Beverly office was cut over to ESS from crossbar; some fool there got his translations wrong. For some reason he had 312-922 set to ring on 312-939; and we have now cured it; thanks for letting us know." Now Gail, ESS is all old-hat; no more conversions like that anywhere I do not think, but the problem is somebody with some translation errors somewhere in this great land of ours, wherever NBC reaches with its signal and requests for people to 'vote'. You are not going to get anywhere talking to the old lady or the people at her telephone company. Calls to 700,800,900 and a few other 'area codes' are most likely translated into some other number and sent on their way. To get to the bottom of this matter, either her local telco (as the recipient of the calls, as a courtesy to the old lady) or the old lady herself, posing as an Ernestine-style phone operator should demand to know what number the caller was calling from, and make a list of those numbers, then look for commonalities in all of them. Same central office serving all of them from somewhere? Same geographic community where all the traffic gets forwarded through one toll switcher, etc? You are going to find something in common between all those excited callers who are trying to vote. NBC (or Fox, any of the networks) has such a humongous volume of viewers in *any* city that a 'contest' or 'voting' is going to stir up a huge number of viewers, thus a huge number of end-calls winding up with the old lady. Now maybe two or more central offices are involved since the same 'contractor' might have gone through them, but its not as likely. I think what you will find is that some one central office or perhaps some toll switcher like AT&T's machines was programmed incorrectly on how to handle those calls. Mainly though you have to begin on any of these affairs (some huge number of almost constantly ringing wrong numbers) is begin by finding out WHO is calling, and then finding something in common between them. What telco should have done, IMO, was began intercepting all of the old lady's inbound traffic, interogated the callers, and passed along to her what little if any was actually her traffic then inter-company billed the telco which made the error, for further chargeback to the responsible 'contractor' if there was such and not just a telco itself. PAT] ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: Wi-Fi at Logan Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 03:48:01 GMT On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 17:43:25 UTC, dold@Wi-FiXatXL.usenet.us.com wrote: > That would put them at least a year behind Dallas-Fort Worth, and Fort > Lauderdale, who already have free WiFi in the terminals. Nonsense. By the time they do three iterations of the specs, rebid it three times, redesign it again to meet union objections, find a defeated ex-politico to manage it at twice the going rate, then implement it, screw it up, finally correct it, eventually produce something that does half of what it was supposed to do originally -- it will be at least 5 years behind everyone else in both delivery and capabilities. Obviously you don't know Massport very well. Bob ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Ambush TV / Pranks May Be Funny, but Victims May Get Last Laugh Date: 7 Jul 2003 05:54:16 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Monty Solomon wrote in message news:: > (AP) By ABCNEWS.com > June 27 - The original Candid Camera was never like this. Today's > reality shows are pulling pranks on people that are more daring, more > outrageous, and scarier than ever before - and everyone is fair game. > In the jargon of the new TV trend, you can be the subject of a scare > tactic, you can be "Ex'd," and you can be "Punk'd" - like celebrity > Justin Timberlake was. > The pop idol was visibly shaken when he believed he was being evicted > from his home for failing to pay back-taxes - a prank set up by the > MTV show Punk'd. > In an episode of Scare Tactics, a young woman camping in the woods > with friends is terrified after seeing a masked man with a machete > peer into the cabin. She's upset and frightened - and then, her > friends not only tell her it's all a joke, they also tell her she's > on a reality television show. > http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/entertainment/062703_ent_ambush_tv.html > [Lisa Minter note: I think those shows are all mean and hateful. I am > told many people refuse to sign off giving permission for that junk > to be shown on television. Lisa M.] To quote my parents from years past - "Some people have all their taste in their mouths." Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: pierrot@verizon.net (Pierrot) Subject: Re: Vonage/Cisco ATA - Incoming Calls Date: 7 Jul 2003 06:04:08 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Pat, You would not hear a busy signal on your Vonage line. It would be the people trying to call you. And it is real difficult to find out how many people got a busy signal (and not your voice mail) while atempting to call you. Pierre > phrase to me implies the caller hears a 'busy signal'. I have never > heard a 'busy signal' on my Vonage phone. pierrot@verizon.net (Pierrot) wrote in message news:: > Consumer Reports (June 2003) says that during one of their test trials > approximately 25% of incoming calls rang busy while calling a > Vonage/Cisco ATA phone, even though the line was available. On the > second attempt most of the calls went through. > Have you heard this before ? Was it due to the DSL/Cable ISP used ? > Pierre > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We have gone through this before here, > in recent days. What does the magazine mean by 'rang busy'?. That > phrase to me implies the caller hears a 'busy signal'. I have never > heard a 'busy signal' on my Vonage phone. A couple times my incoming > calls were transferred (inappropriatly, I thought) to Voicemail. But > I always later on got the voicemail messages. For my money, I still > think Vonage is a good deal. Anyone who wants to try out Vonage for > a month of free service (the *second month* is the 'free month') can > send me email and ask for an e-coupon. Send me email marked 'not for > pub' and ask for a test drive on Vonage. PAT] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I have called *myself, my own Vonage number* (both of them actually) from independent, non-Vonage related telephones. For example from *my* cell phone to my Vonage number; from *my* wired line phone to my Vonage number; from my friend's cell phone to my Vonage phones. In all those at random tests, where both the 'calling phone' and the Vonage phone were in my direct visual and audible supervision (on the same desk, in the same room), *never once* did I (as the 'caller') ever hear a 'busy signal'. On two occassions Vonage did not ring, either, for whatever reason! But I did recieve a message (from myself to myself) in voicemail later on. See the second above this paragraph. I still gladly give out e-coupons for a free month of Vonage service if you just ask for one. And as soon as you register your number for '911 service' then you could get rid of your landline phone entirely if you wanted to. I don't have any love lost for Southwestern Bell in case you had not noticed. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 09:36:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Future Was so Bright Wired's techno-idealism jolted America before it flamed out. Gary Wolf's new book vividly recalls the magazine's wild and woolly saga, but leaves the big question hanging: Was it right? By Andrew Leonard July 7, 2003 | "We are here to sell the whole culture," Kevin Kelly, Wired magazine's executive editor, told me, as he snatched hurried bites of a sandwich during a typically frenetic work day. The time was January, 1994; the place was Wired's first offices, on Second St. in San Francisco, overlooking the entrance to South Park, soon to become ground zero of the Internet economy. And the attitude? The attitude was all Wired: intelligent and arrogant, with a liberal dash of hype. I was a reporter for a local free weekly assigned to do a feature on the magazine, then barely a year old, but already sending fibrillations through the global media nervous system. Before I made my way to Kelly's office, I had to struggle through camera crews from Germany and CNN, and avoid being swamped by the confidence of the staffers strutting about with all the poise of digitally anointed true believers. The Internet was poised to break mainstream, the Web was just beginning to penetrate public awareness, and Wired was in the right place at the perfect time -- covering, participating, and aiming to profit from, the "revolution." http://www.salon.com/tech/books/2003/07/07/wired/ ------------------------------ From: 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) Subject: Re: Craw-Kan Phones Shut Down Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 16:24:29 GMT No RACES/ARES activity in support of emergency communications? On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:43:14 PDT, Lisa Minter wrote: > Crawford County, Kansas - (Story taken in part from Independence > Sunday Reporter, July 6): Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton and her > deputies had their hands full just before the Independence Day > Holiday. Craw-Kan Communications System (what was formerly known as > the Crawford County Telephone Cooperative) was out of order all of one > day and part of the next. According to Sheriff Horton, Craw-Kan's > entire system crashed for no apparent reason, killing phone service to > the rural areas of Crawford County for all of one day, then again for > part of another day. The rural county of 36,000 consists of Pittsburg, > a university town of 18,000 served by Southwestern Bell and a dozen or > so other small towns and villages (the largest of which is Girard, the > county seat with a population of about 2500) which are served by the > rural telephone cooperative (now Craw-Kan). The telephone technician, > attempted several times to reboot the system without success which > continued to crash periodically throughout the remainder of the day > and part of the next day. > Horton instructed the deputies to go to the various town offices > thoughout the county to relay any complaints by radio, and residents > were expected to walk to the town hall or village office to seek any > assistance required on an emergency basis. Most of the towns in > Crawford County are too small to have any police force of their own > except for Girard and Pittsburg with their own police departments. > Horton's four deputies served the small towns of Arcadia, McCune and > Walnut by radio from the town offices. The phone system got repaired > and back on line early the next morning. Although telephones in > Pittsburg are 620-231 and 620-232, in other parts of the county they > are 620-226, 620-754 and 620-763. > Lisa Minter Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. [Lisa Minter note: There were three or four amateur radio operators and citizen band radio operators who also volunteered to help as needed, and were prepared to get into relay service full time as of the next morning if the phones had not come back up, which they did. Remember, we do not have big city conditions here. The Crawford Sheriff said on a 'busy day' there are *TWO* calls to 911, it averages out to point five (.5) calls per day usually, not like Tulsa or Wichita where the 911 dispatchers get a hundred calls in a day's time. Lisa M.] [TEL Ed: Or Chicago, where the volume is more like 100 calls per hour, or a couple thousand per 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! 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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 #555 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jul 8 20:31:02 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h690V1q04824; Tue, 8 Jul 2003 20:31:02 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 20:31:02 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307090031.h690V1q04824@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #556 TELECOM Digest Tue, 8 Jul 2003 20:30:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 556 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter "Transition Wizard" Package Includes Spyware (Richard Harris) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (John McHarry) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues ('nuther Bob) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (Dave Garland) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (John Higdon) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (Steven J. Sobol) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (J Kelly) RFID on Your Wrist - Speedpass-Enabled Timex Watch (Monty Solomon) RFID Site Security Gaffe Uncovered by Consumer Group (Monty Solomon) Adobe Acrobat and PDF security: No Improvements For 2 Years (M Solomon) Lauren Weinstein - RFID - 7/9/03 Coast to Coast AM (Monty Solomon) Re: Wi-Fi at Logan (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Steven J. Sobol) Re: Telephone Votes Sent to Wrong Number (Ken Becker) Re: Vonage/Cisco ATA - Incoming Calls (Seises de Corazones) Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround (Ed Gibbs) Siemens Rolm Mod 10 CBX 9000 Complete w/Phonemail for Sale (Ed Dibeler) How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! (Freespeechstore) So I am Spamming; I Have an Important Question (Jake Dempsey) 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: Richard Harris Subject: "Transition Wizard" Package Includes Spyware Organization: Comcast Online Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 22:51:18 GMT 7-8-03 Brian Roberts President, CEO C/O Comcast 1500 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19102 Dear Brian, I wanted to make you aware of an error that was committed by Comcast when it misrepresented the nature of its "Transition Wizard," to every Attbi customer who was being migrated from Attbi to Comcast. The piece of software which your company implored everyone on the AT&T system to download, in your company's description, was to make the transition smoother. However, unannounced, but also contained in the wizard, was another bit of code (software) which purposefully attacked/affected every one of your new customer's browsers. Microsoft tech support called it "virus like," as did Joanne in your customer service facility in Denver. Every computer/internet expert (many in Boulder) informed me that Comcast intended to use this new add-on as a spy to report, possibly for marketing goals, on people's browsing habits. While your customer service department and tech support department act/acted like Bevis and Butthead at every turn of my attempting to unravel my computer and consumer problem, it seems QWEST was/is seizing this opportunity by offering fantastic deals to all Comcast telephone subscribers and soon internet subscribers. All Comcast had to do was admit their mistake and honestly attempt to right it. Instead the problem grows (look at the internet chat-rooms and newspaper articles in the next week) and the company's credibility plummets day after day on the internet. Don't you folks understand, you are like a utility, trust is essential! Comcast destroyed that trust and does not want to fix it. I demand all customers be notified of the problem, immediately, and a fix of some sort be offered to all. You need to hire some people whose heads are out of the sand. Finally, I would like to see a public apology for Comcast's betrayal of the public trust. Richard Harris ra.harris@comcast.net CC by Mail to Boulder City Council BBB Denver Post ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 20:16:14 -0400 Monty Solomon wrote: > By David Kravets, Associated Press, 7/6/2003 > SAN FRANCISCO -- Courthouses have long been considered stodgy > institutions, foreign to the public they serve. The Internet has made > them a little less detached, offering the ability to pay tickets, > attend traffic school, even monitor dockets online. But most of the > documents available at the courthouse are not online, either for lack > of funding and technology or due to concerns that not all public > records should be so easily available. > As state court officials across the nation ponder whether and how to > make courthouses Internet-friendly, policy makers from California to > New York are shielding many otherwise readily available records from > cyberspace. > http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/187/nation/Online_court_records_raise _privacy_issues+.shtml > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Privacy' has no place in the same > sentence as 'open and public judicial proceedings'. Here in the USA > we have a system of open and public trials. Anyone is invited to > walk in the courthouse and watch the trials going on. Would you want > it any other way? There are exceptions of course, but generally we > do not have secret trials in the middle of the night with people > then shipped off to prisons, etc. ... PAT speaks wisely here. If a court record is "public", and most are, there should be no restriction against putting it on the 'net. Those who oppose doing so likely have an economic interest in selling the information to those interested enough to pay. Sure, there is a lot of dirt and allegations in court records, but those interested in digging it out can do so now. ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 02:18:40 GMT On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 16:31:43 GMT, 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) wrote: > May I please have your SSN, full name and address, and post that on > the web for all the world to see? Ah yes, that would be the "SSN that is *not* to be used for identification purposes", right ? Bob ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Date: 8 Jul 2003 03:58:30 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126) <6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com> wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Privacy' has no place in the same >> sentence as 'open and public judicial proceedings'. > Yes, it does. > Making all details regarding participants in civil matters exposes > them to identity theft. > If you have ever filed for bankruptcy, your SSN, full name and address > are now part of the court record. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Putting those records on the Internet > does nothing a dedicated snooper could not do by sitting down at your > local courthouse and copying the files by hand. Your problem obviously > is with the idea of having an open judicial system in this country. I agree with the original poster. The difference is in the one case your information is available to a local resident, and there would probably be some sort of audit trail regarding access to records (I can't say for sure, I've never done it). In the other case you're making the information available to anyone in the world with a web browser, with no accountability. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So then your complaint is not with the concept of open and public trials here in the United States as with some of our readers, but rather, with the speed and relative anominity with which the Internet has become famous in recent years? You probably would agree it is not desirable for everyone to have all the information they want. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 23:59:34 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) wrote: > Making all details regarding participants in civil matters exposes > them to identity theft. True. The obvious solution is to forbid use of SSN as an identifier (remember when SS cards had the legend "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION"?), and hold reporting agencies responsible for accuracy. Give them some reasonable amount of time to investigate and correct a reported problem, like 30 days. If errors (e.g. due to identity theft) haven't been corrected by then, make them liable for all subsequent real and consequential damages due to the erroneous information. Then the onus of ascertaining identity would be placed where it belongs, on the credit issuers and reporters. Of course, the financial industry would hate it. Which is why it won't happen. ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 08:06:09 -0700 In article , 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Privacy' has no place in the same >> sentence as 'open and public judicial proceedings'. > Yes, it does. > Making all details regarding participants in civil matters exposes > them to identity theft. > If you have ever filed for bankruptcy, your SSN, full name and address > are now part of the court record. And that is a public record. "Public" means that it can be seen by the public. It does not mean "sort of public" and that one must jump through hoops first, such as traveling to a court house clerk's office, or waiting in line, or whatever. Those methods of viewing court records were a function of a lack of better technology, not devised as a method for making access to public records "semi-restricted". > May I please have your SSN, full name and address, and post that on > the web for all the world to see? Anyone can already get all of that information and more on anyone else by using the web. Where have YOU been? > Kinda puts a different light on the issue. > > Things change. They already have. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Putting those records on the Internet > does nothing a dedicated snooper could not do by sitting down at your > local courthouse and copying the files by hand. Your problem obviously > is with the idea of having an open judicial system in this country. The > Internet has added nothing except the convenience of automated reporting > to a system that was around from even before my time. If you want to > complain about something, then complain how people's morals and ethics > in the handling of 'sensitive' information have not kept pace with the > speed of technology, but don't blame the technology. PAT] I couldn't agree more. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Steven J. Sobol Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 18:17:34 -0000 Organization: JustThe.net LLC From John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126) (6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com): >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Privacy' has no place in the same >> sentence as 'open and public judicial proceedings'. > Yes, it does. > Making all details regarding participants in civil matters exposes > them to identity theft. So don't place the critical stuff like SSN's online. Everything else belongs online. > May I please have your SSN, full name and address, and post that on > the web for all the world to see? The names and addresses in most court cases are already archived and publically available. Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge, JustThe.net "Microsoft must think they're a navy, they open so many ports." --Ben Scott on the ISP-TECH mailing list, 18 June 2003 ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 16:17:38 -0500 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Reply-To: usenet200306@screamingelectron.net On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 16:31:43 GMT, 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) wrote: >[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Putting those records on the Internet >does nothing a dedicated snooper could not do by sitting down at your >local courthouse and copying the files by hand. Except now a snoop can do it from 2000 miles away, where nobody can see him, and go through the court records from hundreds of courthouses in one day, making it much easier to steal the identities of dozens, maybe hundreds, of people. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Snoops could and did do it from 2000 miles away before also, but it took longer than one day to steal all the identities. They had to write letters in snail mail to the various courthouse clerks (no secret where the clerks were located) and in their letter(s) they would invoke the Freedom of Information Act, specify the desired file, offer to pay the appropriate copying costs, and wait a few days for the mail to get to the clerk, get acted upon, and returned to them. The routine has been around for many, many years. All that has changed is the technology. But Uncle Sam is no dummy, and he knows that many people who are *too lazy* or *too dumb* to go to a lot of effort to break the law will be prompted or encouraged to do so as the 'system' gets easier to use. That may be why Trans Union for one instance, has picture posters of a very angry looking Uncle Sam with his lips pursed and his finger across his lips staring down at terminal operators in many offices where credit reports are 'pulled' on behalf of corporate clients. Are you familiar with the kind of ink and coloring that is used so that from any angle in a room when you look at a picture it appears the eyes are following you around the room? Whenever you look up at one of those posters, it appears Uncle Sam is looking right at you. It gives some people creeps when they see that picture poster looking right at them. And superimposed on this stern staring face is the message, "Uncle Sam wants YOU to keep the trust. (fingers across lips). YOU have been entrusted by your employer to correctly handle sensitive personal information. Under the law, if you violate that trust placed in you by your employer and the United States, you could be sent to prison for up to ten years!" It then continues in somewhat smaller print, "NEVER discuss your work outside of your work place. NEVER allow anyone on the telephone who claims to be an 'important officer at your company' to trick you into revealing things like your terminal password or details which are printed out on your terminal. No superior employee is going to ask you to jeopardize yourself by violating the trust you have been given; IMMEDIATLY tell your supervisor of any requests recieved like that from a co-worker or on the telephone. If you ever want to speak to us in total confidence regarding your company, a co-worker or a person who has claimed to be your 'friend', you may call us 24 hours per day at 800-(some number). As long as YOU keep the trust, we will protect your privacy also." It was signed by some person at the Federal Trade Commission, with an address, etc. Your complaint needs to be with the people who break the law, not the people who have improved on the data transfer mechanism. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 21:43:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RFID on Your Wrist - Speedpass-Enabled Timex Watch http://www.speedpass.com/news/article.jsp?id=51 http://www.timex.com/speedpass/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 02:08:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RFID Site Security Gaffe Uncovered by Consumer Group CASPIAN asks, "How can we trust these people with our personal data?" CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) says anyone can download revealing documents labeled "confidential" from the home page of the MIT Auto-ID Center web site in two mouse clicks. The Auto-ID Center is the organization entrusted with developing a global Internet infrastructure for radio frequency identification (RFID). Their plans are to tag all the objects manufactured on the planet with RFID chips and track them via the Internet. Privacy advocates are alarmed about the Center's plans because RFID technology could enable businesses to collect an unprecedented amount of information about consumers' possessions and physical movements. They point out that consumers might not even know they're being surveilled since tiny RFID chips can be embedded in plastic, sewn into the seams of garments, or otherwise hidden. http://www.nocards.org/press/pressrelease07-07-03_1.shtml ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Adobe Acrobat and PDF Security: no Improvements For 2 Years Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 11:58:00 -0400 Adobe Acrobat and PDF security: no improvements for 2 years. Software released in 2003 contains vulnerabilities disclosured in 2001 July 8, 2003 SUMMARY ====================================================================== In early 2001, we have discovered a serious security flaw in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Acrobat Reader. In July, 2001, we've briefly described it in "eBook Security: Theory and Practice" speech on DefCon security conference. Since there was no reaction from Adobe (though Adobe representative has attended the conference), we have reported this vulnerability to CERT in September, 2002 (after more than a year), still not disclosing technical details to the public. Only in March, 2003, CERT Vulnerability Note (VU#549913) has been published, and after a week, Adobe has responded officially (for the first time) issuing the Vendor Statement (JSHA-5EZQGZ), promising to fix the problem in new versions of Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader software expected in the second quarter of 2003. When these versions became available, we have found that though some minor improvements have been made, the whole Adobe security model is still very vulnerable, and so sent a follow-up to both CERT and Adobe. Both parties failed to respond. Below is the full story. http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/vulnwatch/2003-q3/0011.html ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Lauren Weinstein - RFID - 7/9/03 Coast to Coast AM Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 18:06:33 -0400 Lauren Weinstein -Electronic Tracking- vortex.com Lauren Weinstein (vortex.com), the creator of the PRIVACY Forum, will be discussing new developments and implications for tracking technology such as Auto ID and Darpa. http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2003/07/09.html http://www.coasttocoastam.com/guests/12.html ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 11:58:55 -0600 Subject: Re: Wi-Fi at Logan Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 21:34:11 -0400 (EDT), 'nuther Bob wrote: > On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 17:43:25 UTC, dold@Wi-FiXatXL.usenet.us.com wrote: >> That would put them at least a year behind Dallas-Fort Worth, and Fort >> Lauderdale, who already have free WiFi in the terminals. > Nonsense. By the time they do three iterations of the specs, rebid it > three times, redesign it again to meet union objections, find a > defeated ex-politico to manage it at twice the going rate, then > implement it, screw it up, finally correct it, eventually produce > something that does half of what it was supposed to do originally -- it > will be at least 5 years behind everyone else in both delivery and > capabilities. Obviously you don't know Massport very well. You've missed, I think, another important point. The original message about this spoke of "revenues" and how they would be shared between the airport, the company putting the system in, and so on. This, to me, sounds like a user-pays system. The writer to whom you are replying indicates that the Texas airport Wi-Fi systems are "free". So Massport will be five years behind the times and will charge for services other airports offer for free. Is this painting a better picture of Massport? :-) (Given these ridiculous airport charges that they add to your ticket or, better yet, demand from your pocket before you get on the plane - which is fun if you're flying internationally and aren't carrying any "local" currency - a service like this *SHOULD* be free. We've paid for it already, dammit!) -- Joey Lindstrom ------------------------------ From: Steven J. Sobol Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 18:18:48 -0000 Organization: JustThe.net LLC From Tom Betz (tbetz@pobox.com): > Minor flaws? MINOR flaws? > Okay, so I guess you won't mind if I find out what your phone number > is and de-list it without bothering to tell you. > And you won't mind if I set up a bot that will check ever couple of > weeks to see whether you've re-listed your number and automatically > de-list you again. > The way AT&T has set up this site for the FTC, there's nothing to stop > me (or anyone else, including a telemarketing sleaze) from doing that. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here again, we have a case of getting > into things not your own (someone else's phone number) and forging a > document or three for your own interests, then blaming *your own > dishonesty* Pat is so far wrong here that he's not even in the same area code as Tom ... Tom wasn't claiming he'd do such a thing. Reasonable steps need to be taken to lock down the data. Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge, JustThe.net "Microsoft must think they're a navy, they open so many ports." --Ben Scott on the ISP-TECH mailing list, 18 June 2003 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 22:24:04 -0400 From: Ken Becker Subject: Re: Telephone Votes Sent to Wrong Number Gail M. Hall wrote: > I'm amazed I haven't seen mention of this story yet. > The other night on our local news, they intereviewed an elderly woman > who lives in Ashtabula, OH, if I remember right. I don't know if the > story is still on the channel's web site. I did see the report on > WKYC Channel 3 in Cleveland. > NBC has a TV program called FAME, where different people perform. (I > haven't watched it myself.) Watchers are invited to call in their > votes for the best performer. > The lady, who has a residential line nowhere near where this program > is aired, started getting calls from people wanting to vote for their > choices. Her number was nothing like the number they advertised. She > reported the problem to her phone company, and they couldn't explain > why this was happening. Even during the interview, her phone was > ringing constantly. No sooner would she hang up from one call, the > phone would ring with another caller wanting to vote. > By the time we saw this on TV, the report had been sent to NBC or the > producers of the show, and they couldn't explain it. Amazingly, the > problem was not solved by the next time the show aired. > This lady was a good sport, so she started just writing down the votes > and reporting her counts to NBC. > I hope they pay her some BIG $$$ for her trouble. She stayed up till > 3:00 a.m. till after the show was aired on the West Coast because > calls came from there, too. > She said when she got really tired, she did unplug her phone and go on > to bed. > The reporters on the local news said that NBC and the show's producers > were blaming the "contractor" for the phone service for the problem. > If that is true, I hope that contractor is required to pay a big fine > for causing so much inconvenience to a residential phone subscriber > who had not contracted to take those calls. I hope they pay the lady > well, too. She should not have to unplug her phone to get a good > night's sleep. After all, unplugging her phone means that people > really needing to call her can't get through. > Why would it take more than a day to find where that lady's number is > entered into the contractor's system? Computers have had Find > functions for years and years. And most big phone systems are run by > computers, aren't they? > Even scarier is the idea that some rogue company (psychoterrorists?) > with a computer could start redirecting calls from anywhere to > anyone's residential line and deny them the use of their phone. > I have had only one time when a telemarketer's computer got stuck on > our line and kept calling us over and over. We had to unplug our > phone for a while to get it to stop. > Gail in Ohio NE USA --- Big snip of Pat's stuff --- Chances are that this isn't quite like your experience, Pat. Quite often with toll free calls the call the to (800)-type number is forwarded to a POTS phone, usually at a business. These forwards can be rigged to move around the world as the hours pass by (calls during the day go to Indiana, say, calls at night go to India), can roll over to additional numbers if the volume picks up, and so on. Chances are that whoever arranged for the voting numbers either gave the operator/what have you the wrong number or there 'twas a slip twixt ear and finger and it got mistyped. However, this kind of stuff is so obvious it's a wonder that it couldn't be cleared up in a couple of minutes, certainly not a couple of days. Contractor, my butt: NBC is responsible. They hired the contractor so they're responsible for the contractor's expertise, or lack thereof. They owe the lady maybe 3x minimum wage for her time and hassle. Let's hope they do the right thing, ASAP. Ken Becker ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Vonage/Cisco ATA - Incoming Calls From: Seises de Corazones Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 04:38:04 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I have called *myself, my own > Vonage number* (both of them actually) from independent, non-Vonage > related telephones. For example from *my* cell phone to my Vonage > number; from *my* wired line phone to my Vonage number; from my friend's > cell phone to my Vonage phones. In all those at random tests, where > both the 'calling phone' and the Vonage phone were in my direct visual > and audible supervision (on the same desk, in the same room), *never > once* did I (as the 'caller') ever hear a 'busy signal'. On two > occassions Vonage did not ring, either, for whatever reason! But I did > recieve a message (from myself to myself) in voicemail later on. My brother and I both have Vonage and sometimes (10-20%) when we call each other, the other end only rings once. BUT it is one continuous ring until the other side either answers, or it gets transferred to voicemail. This happens both when I call him or he calls me. "Hey, you answered after just one ring." "It rang a few times." "No, just once." Has anybody else experienced this when calling from one Vonage number to another? > See the second above this paragraph. I still gladly give out e-coupons > for a free month of Vonage service if you just ask for one. And as > soon as you register your number for '911 service' then you could get > rid of your landline phone entirely if you wanted to. I don't have any > love lost for Southwestern Bell in case you had not noticed. PAT] Unless you have DirecTV and Tivo, which "phones home" once a month and uses the number it's calling from to verify account information, including physical location. Vonage doesn't handle this. Their website has said the "anticipate a solution shortly" for several months. Ted Rathkopf ------------------------------ From: egibbs@my-deja.com (Ed Gibbs) Subject: Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround Date: 8 Jul 2003 04:42:51 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ OneNetNut wrote in message news:: > On 1 Jul 2003 05:04:03 -0700, egibbs@my-deja.com (Ed Gibbs) wrote > about his experiences recently. > I did some checking with some folks both inside and outside of MCI to > get the scoop on this. It seems that this is old news. MCI already > ID'd the problem and has put procedures in place to credit folks who > were affected. Not sure if the original poster was affected before > they zeroed in on it or not. Problem was corrected though and > affected customers are getting refunds or adjusted invoices. It is old news -- my problem began at the end of May. But as of June 26th they were still sending out incorrect bills. And as of July 1st the MCI billing department was aware of the problem, would tell me the correct charges, but would simply not send me a corrected bill. I have now received an invoice showing a full credit for the charges and zero balance due. But I had to raise holy hell in MCI's top management to get it. I will be saving that invoice, and all of the correspondence related to this case forever, just in case it pops up again in 6 months or 3 years, as I have read sometimes happens. I don't believe that any of this was really intentional on the part of MCI. I believe that the initial cause was a technical issue with Verizon equipment, just as MCI says. That isn't MCI's fault, though I could argue that since it appears to be a wide-spread issue it should have been caught with proper testing before they rolled the 101-0987 service out. It certainly wasn't my fault either, as I don't even have Verizon as a carrier. It is what happened afterward that drove me crazy. I expected to find people who would help me resolve the issue in MCI's customer service and billing departments. Instead I seemed to run into a never ending string of low-level employees and their managers who, in my opinion, sought to use the problem to make their own numbers look good without caring how they did it. They tried everything from telling me I had to switch my LD to MCI or they would bill me for the incorrect charges, to telling me the calls would be re-rated when they were not, to sending out a bill that that they knew was incorrect, to trying to maximize collection on that incorrect bill by having me make a partial payment without re-rating the calls. I really do believe that MCI's top management is trying to change the culture at MCI. Having had some personal experience with corporate culture change I know that it is not easy or quick. Unfortunately it usually flows from top to bottom, which means that the lower level people the ones who deal with the customer directly or manage those who do are usually the last to get it. Based on my personal experience I don't believe they've gotten it yet. At any rate my problem is solved, at least for now. I just wonder how many other people are still "trapped in a maze of twisty little passages." Ed Gibbs ------------------------------ From: ed@dibeler.com (Edward Dibeler) Subject: Siemens Rolm Mod 10 CBX 9000 complete w/phonemail for sale Date: 8 Jul 2003 05:42:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Rolm Mod-10 For Sale. Taking ANY offers. Inventory below with hardware report. PBX software release is 9005.6.80, phonemail release is 6.0. ed@dibeler.com 954.781.6536 Ext 102 Qty Model Description 1 9751010 10AC Phone System 1 Phonemail 6 SP 7654 Voicemail system 130+ RP400 Tan Display phone 10+ RP240 Tan basic phone 25+ Phone manuals Full feature description 25+ Phone guides Quick check feature breakdown 2 Attendant Console Operator Console Digital Ports Analog Ports DID Ports Trunk Ports T1 Ports 176 72 16 32 1 CBX/9000 INTERACTIVE CONFIGURATION INTERFACE 11:20:35 ON Friday 6/13/2003 COMMAND: LI MAPP LL ERROR: MNEMONIC IS NOT KNOWN - PLEASE RE-ENTER NOUN: MAP ALL HWMAP DISTRICT PAD TYPE SL TYPE Card address Card type Description DS 01/0101 UNI 1 RLI 16 ports digital DS 01/0102 UNI 2 ATI 8 ports analog DS 01/0103 UNI 3 DID8 8 ports DID DS 01/0104 UNI 4 RLI 16 ports digital DS 01/0105 UNI 5 RLI 16 ports digital DS 01/0106 UNI 6 RLI 16 ports digital DS 01/0107 UNI 7 ATI 8 ports digital DS 01/0108 UNI 8 COT 8 ports trunk DS 01/0109 UNI 9 COT 8 ports trunk DS 01/0110 UNI 10 ACC 1 port AT console DS 01/0111 UNI 11 DTR Dual tone receiver DS 01/0112 SLCSM 12 SLCSM Slave clock sync module DS 01/0113 UNI 13 VAC ???? DS 01/0114 UNI 14 T1 24 digital channels trunk DS 01/0115 UNI 15 TONE Tone sender DS 01/0116 UNI 16 ADC Advanced diagnostics DS 01/0117 TCL 17 TCL TDM controller DS 01/0118 SMIOC 18 SMIOC System monitor input/output DS 01/0121 CPU 21 CPU Central processing unit DS 01/0123 PDC 23 PDC Peripheral Device Controller DS 01/0124 DISK 24 DISK Disk drives DS 01/0201 UNI 1 COT 8 port trunk DS 01/0202 UNI 2 COT 8 port trunk DS 01/0203 UNI 3 RLI 16 ports digital DS 01/0204 UNI 4 RLI 16 ports digital DS 01/0205 UNI 5 RLI 16 ports digital DS 01/0206 UNI 6 ATI 8 ports analog DS 01/0207 UNI 7 ATI 8 ports analog DS 01/0208 UNI 8 CONF conference DS 01/0209 UNI 9 ATI 8 ports analog DS 01/0210 UNI 10 RLI 16 ports digital DS 01/0211 UNI 11 RLI 16 ports digital DS 01/0212 UNI 12 ATI 8 ports analog DS 01/0213 UNI 13 DID8 8 ports DID DS 01/0214 UNI 14 ATI 8 ports analog DS 01/0215 UNI 15 RLI 16 ports digital DS 01/0216 UNI 16 RLI 16 ports digital DS 01/0217 UNI 17 ATI 8 ports analog DS 01/0218 UNI 18 OPS8 8 ports off premise stations DS 01/0219 UNI 19 ATI 8 ports analog DS 01/0220 UNI 20 VAC ??? DS 01/0225 TXP 25 TXP TDM expander COUNT = 42 HARDWARE MAP RECORDS ------------------------------ From: freespeechstore@aol.com (Freespeechstore) Date: 08 Jul 2003 15:41:02 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! http://freespeechstore.com/public/223_How_Bell_Canada_Handles_Death_Threat s_Through_Its_Server!.htm You will have to cut and paste. ------------------------------ From: JakeD@rosestudios.com (Jake Dempsey) Subject: So I am Spamming; I Have an Important Question Date: 8 Jul 2003 14:10:23 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ You may see this in other news groups, but I am wondering if if the dialtone providers in Mexico use the same standards as we do in the US. WE have a CTI product we would like to market in Mexico, but it will not work if the caller ID and DTMF tones and hangup signals aren't built the same. Any clues? ------------------------------ 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 #556 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 10 02:27:49 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6A6Rnj27572; Thu, 10 Jul 2003 02:27:49 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 02:27:49 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307100627.h6A6Rnj27572@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #557 TELECOM Digest Thu, 10 Jul 2003 02:28:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 557 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Google Cache Raises Copyright Concerns (Monty Solomon) Wi-Fi Group Approves New Standard (Monty Solomon) Court Backs Thumbnail Image Linking (Monty Solomon) Bad News for [ATTBI/Comcast] Transition Wizard Users (Monty Solomon) McDonald's Serves up Wireless Web Access (Monty Solomon) AOL Updates Terms of Service (Monty Solomon) Wal-Mart Cancels 'Smart-Shelf' Trial (Monty Solomon) Motorola M12+ Timing Oncore GPS Timing Module (Monty Solomon) America Online Enhances Premium Voice Services (Monty Solomon) AT&T Executes Next Phase of WiFi Strategy; Offer Remote Access (Solomon) Re: Wi-Fi at Logan ('nuther Bob) Historical Autovon Recordings (Christopher R. Sabine, MSW) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (John McHarry) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (John Higdon) Re: "Transition Wizard" Package Includes Spyware ('nuther Bob) Transition Wizard; Maybe it is Coincidence, Maybe Not (Richard Harris) Stuck With Some Cable (Rick Bestany) 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, 9 Jul 2003 21:29:06 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Google Cache Raises Copyright Concerns By Stefanie Olsen Staff Writer, CNET News.com Like other online publishers, The New York Times charges readers to access articles on its Web site. But why pay when you can use Google instead? Through a caching feature on the popular Google search site, people can sometimes call up snapshots of archived stories at NYTimes.com and other registration-only sites. The practice has proved a boon for readers hoping to track down Web pages that are no longer accessible at the original source, for whatever reason. But the feature has recently been putting Google at odds with some unhappy publishers. http://news.com.com/2100-1038-1024234.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Once again, I must remind those publishers such as NY Times who wish to use the Internet as their personal 'side- walk' to put things on display not to be so angry when people walk past and look at the displays and proceed to help themselves. I do not really expect Hollywood or the music publishers to know any better, but you'd think NYT would have caught on by now. Like court records and other proceedings you would prefer to have bought and paid for (if available at all) then DO NOT USE THE INTERNET. If you DO use the Internet then don't complain about how the stuff gets used. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 21:48:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Wi-Fi Group Approves New Standard By Richard Shim Staff Writer, CNET News.com Products that use the 802.11g standard received a clean bill of health from an influential industry group on Tuesday, further ensuring the popularity of the wireless networking technology. As expected, the recently finalized 802.11g standard was endorsed by the Wi-Fi Alliance, which said it had certified its first batch of products for interoperability. The announcement means that those products have passed tests that prove they are compatible with one another. Someone using an approved PC Card should be able, for instance, to walk into any cafe with an approved access point and seamlessly connect to the network. An access point is essentially a radio transmitter linked to a wireless network. Industry insiders saw the certification of products using the 802.11g standard by the Wi-Fi Alliance largely as a rubber stamp of approval, because products using 802.11g-based components have been on the market for some time, and the latest version of the specification was seen as stable. The Standards Board Review Committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) approved the 802.11g specification as a standard in mid-June. http://news.com.com/2100-1039-1023951.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 22:10:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Court Backs Thumbnail Image Linking By Stefanie Olsen Staff Writer, CNET News.com Search engines' display of miniature images is fair use under copyright law, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, but the legality of presenting full-size renditions of visual works is yet to be determined. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision is a partial win for defendant Arriba Soft -- an image search engine now known as Ditto.com -- in its case against photographer Leslie Kelly. Kelly sued Arriba Soft in April 1999 for copyright infringement when the company's software had recorded miniatures, or thumbnails, and full sizes of Kelly's digital photos and made them accessible via its search engine. The court ruled that use of thumbnail images in search engines is legal, confirming an earlier ruling by the same court from February 2002. But the court withdrew a previous decision on the display of full-size images, which it had deemed out of the bounds of fair use because it was likely to harm the market for Kelly's work. That part of the ruling held Arriba Soft liable for copyright infringement for opening a new window to display full-size images, a practice known as in-line linking or framing. Other visual search engines have used this technique, including Google, Lycos and AltaVista. The case is now ordered to go to trial. http://news.com.com/2100-1025-1023629.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 22:37:51 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Bad News for [ATTBI/Comcast] Transition Wizard Users Excerpt from http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/29881#7283711 Bad News for Transition Wizard Users Any Comcast user that actually installed the Transition Wizard has given Comcast permission to do the following; 1) arbitrarily open and read your email without your knowledge and/or consent; 2) perform a credit check on you and then share that info with whomever they choose; 3) Perform firmware upgrades to your cable modem at their discretion, regardless of who owns it. You also agreed not to participate in any future class action suits that may be brought against Comcast for whatever reason. You agreed to this and more when you clicked on the "I Agree" button during the initial installation phase. This was not your typical software EULA (End User License Agreement), but rather the new "Comcast Service Agreement" and that my friends, was probably the primary purpose of trying to ram that software down subscribers throats. I downloaded the software a few days ago with the intent of installing to see how many times it tried to phone home prior to 6/30. My suspicions were up immediately when they offered it. It would have been very simple, as pointed out elsewhere, to simply email instructions on how to make the change. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 23:21:23 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: McDonald's Serves up Wireless Web Access By Ina Fried Staff Writer, CNET News.com SAN FRANCISCO--Would you like Internet access with your fries? McDonald's is convinced that, for many people, the answer is yes. However, even as it expands the number of restaurants offering wireless Internet access, company executives admit they are still trying to figure out the dollars and cents that will make the move add up. On Tuesday, the company announced a second trial of Wi-Fi access, announcing it has equipped dozens of restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area with the gear its customers need in order to surf the Web while wolfing down some Chicken McNuggets. Earlier this year, the company began offering service at 10 restaurants in Manhattan. But McDonald's is still trying to figure out what to charge patrons who want to use the Internet and how to share that revenue with those that offer the Internet service. http://news.com.com/2100-1039-1023844.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 19:31:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AOL Updates Terms of Service AOL: Spam and chat don't mix By Jim Hu Staff Writer, CNET News.com America Online has released a revision of its terms of service agreement that expands the definition of spam beyond e-mail to include messaging and chat postings. Under the new terms of service -- AOL's first revision in five years -- the company says it will cancel memberships or prosecute members or others who send bulk messages through means other than e-mail. http://news.com.com/2100-1032-1024010.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 19:35:16 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Wal-Mart Cancels 'Smart-Shelf' Trial By Alorie Gilbert and Richard Shim Staff Writer, CNET News.com Wal-Mart Stores has unexpectedly canceled testing for an experimental wireless inventory control system, ending one of the first and most closely watched efforts to bring controversial radio frequency identification technology to store shelves in the United States. A Wal-Mart representative this week told CNET News.com that the retail giant will not conduct a planned trial of a so-called smart-shelf system with partner Gillette that was scheduled to begin last month at an outlet in Brockton, Mass., a Boston suburb. http://news.com.com/2100-1019-1023934.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 19:50:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola M12+ Timing Oncore GPS Timing Module Motorola Unveils Accurate GPS Timing Module to Offer Precision Timing Motorola's M12+ Timing Oncore Surpasses GPS Timing Industry Six Sigma Averages, Featuring Low Noise Performance of 2 NanoSeconds (2nS) FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT), the inventor of the low-cost, high performance Global Positioning System (GPS) timing module announced today the availability of the M12+ Timing Oncore. The new GPS timing module surpasses industry Six Sigma averages in accuracy by utilizing the latest timing algorithms developed by Motorola. An independent report from the United States Naval Observatory documents the results of extensive tests performed on the M12+ Timing Oncore and is available at www.motorola.com/gps . Banks, cellular network operators and airports are a few examples of the businesses that rely on accurate GPS timing for a variety of applications. Accurate GPS timing provides a fundamental building block needed to coordinate data and information flow securely through various systems, on a daily basis. By tagging data packets with a time and date stamp, it's transmission time and hence integrity can be monitored. Motorola's M12+ Timing Oncore enables industries that rely on GPS disciplined timing to have increased confidence in the accuracy and stability of their application. The product can be used in a system to monitor the accuracy of a clock over a certain length of time to become familiar with its patterns. By doing so, the customers' application can then readjust, reset and compensate for any potential timing errors that may occur within the clock. This is known as "disciplining" and Motorola's M12+ Oncore's low noise performance enables fast and accurate disciplining to occur. The low noise performance of 2 NanoSeconds (2nS) One Sigma holds tangible benefits in a clock disciplining application. The time taken to reach accuracy is substantially reduced, and 'held over' time extended, which allows the clock to 'free run' without support or maintenance which can provide better system performance while reducing costs. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34786973 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 08:55:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: America Online Enhances Premium Voice Services DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 9, 2003-- Continuing AOL's Fight Against Spam, Subscribers Can Reduce "Phone Spam" from Telemarketers, and Screen or Stop Calls from Unknown or Unwanted Callers AOL Listens to Members: AOL(R) Call Alert and AOL(R) Voicemail Users Will Be Able To Take Incoming Calls, or Redirect Callers to a Wireless Phone or Second Line Building on the convenience of America Online's popular suite of voice-related premium services, AOL is making several important enhancements to the AOL(R) Call Alert and AOL(R) Voicemail services that will make it even easier for members to manage incoming phone calls and important messages, and take greater control over their online and telephone privacy. Beginning this week, AOL Call Alert and AOL Voicemail subscribers will be able to take advantage of a new "telemarketing call reducer" feature that helps subscribers cut down on annoying telemarketing "phone spam" dialed by a computer. By selecting the "I Don't Know You" response, AOL Call Alert sends a special tone that will cause some telemarketing computers to think that the number dialed has been disconnected, making the computer drop the call and delete the number from its call list. If the caller is a person and not a computer, they will still hear the "I Don't Know You" message after the tone. In addition, later this summer, AOL Call Alert subscribers with a single phone line in the home will have the added option to answer calls while on the AOL service. When receiving an incoming call while on AOL, dial-up members using AOL Call Alert will have the ability to "answer the call" seamlessly while online. Members also will have the option to redirect the call to a wireless phone or another line in the home where they can take the call. And because the AOL Call Alert service is included with an AOL Voicemail subscription, these options will be available for AOL Voicemail users as well. To help AOL members have more control over their privacy, new privacy management features in both AOL Call Alert and AOL Voicemail now allow members connecting to AOL at any speed to screen or stop incoming calls with "private" or "unknown" numbers. Members can set preferences to accept all anonymous callers, block all anonymous callers or force anonymous callers to identify themselves before completing the call. They can also block specific callers from disturbing their online session. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34785549 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 08:58:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Executes Next Phase of WiFi Strategy; Offers Remote Access Corporation is First to Use GRIC's New Global WiFi Roaming Service to Support Business Customers BEDMINSTER, N.J., July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T will begin offering remote wireless access to its industry-leading virtual private network services from more than 2,000 access points in at least 20 countries in the fourth quarter, making it even easier for travelers to seamlessly access their secure corporate networks from hotels and airports worldwide. This is the next phase of AT&T's commitment to deliver global innovative solutions, such as WiFi access, at scale for businesses and consumers. AT&T is the first carrier to adopt a new WiFi (802.11b) access service from GRIC Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: GRIC) of Milipitas, Calif. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34785576 ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: Wi-Fi at Logan Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 00:44:12 GMT On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 11:58:55 -0600, Joey Lindstrom wrote: > So Massport will be five years behind the times and will charge for > services other airports offer for free. Is this painting a better > picture of Massport? :-) I think you've got it :-) It takes a *lot* of money to pay for all the patronage jobs down there -- they look for every revenue making opportunity there is and cut every corner they can. Bob ------------------------------ From: Christopher R. Sabine, MSW Subject: Historical Autovon Recordings Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 20:53:50 -0400 Hello folks. I'm just wondering if there are any recordings available of old switching equipment on the U.S. Military's Autovon System. I've always been curious about what those old telephone calls sounded like in terms of the switching equipment they used (ring, busy tones, etc.). I'm especially curious about the overseas Autovon switches, as I understand overseas countries used fundementally different switching equipment on their networks than did North America. Thanks, Chris. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 21:23:42 -0400 I think this is an argument for not making that information public at all, not for keeping it off the Internet. John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126 wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Privacy' has no place in the same >> sentence as 'open and public judicial proceedings'. > Yes, it does. > Making all details regarding participants in civil matters exposes > them to identity theft. > If you have ever filed for bankruptcy, your SSN, full name and address > are now part of the court record. > May I please have your SSN, full name and address, and post that on > the web for all the world to see? > Kinda puts a different light on the issue. > Things change.... ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 18:32:46 -0700 In article , jmeissen@aracnet.com wrote: > I agree with the original poster. The difference is in the one case > your information is available to a local resident, and there would > probably be some sort of audit trail regarding access to records (I > can't say for sure, I've never done it). In the other case you're > making the information available to anyone in the world with a web > browser, with no accountability. As someone who routinely accesses court records, I can tell you that there is no log kept of people who access those records. For a nominal charge, they will even make certified copies for you ... but you are not required to furnish any information about yourself. The records anywhere are available to anyone who can afford to hire someone to go the the clerk's office and pick up copies, or who can afford to travel there himself. All the web does is bring down the cost of searching and obtaining public records. For someone preparing a case (or defending against a legal action) this is a godsend. I'll say it again: information is public or it is not. If it is, then it needs to be available without impediment to anyone who wishes to access it. Welcome to a free society. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: "Transition Wizard" Package Includes Spyware Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 16:41:23 GMT On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 22:51:18 GMT, Richard Harris wrote: > 7-8-03 > Brian Roberts President, CEO > C/O Comcast > 1500 Market Street > Philadelphia, PA 19102 > Dear Brian, > I wanted to make you aware of an error that was committed by Comcast > when it misrepresented the nature of its "Transition Wizard," to every > Attbi customer who was being migrated from Attbi to Comcast. It may also apparently installs "manage ware" on your machine in order to allow for Comcast to remote manage your desktop. Take a look at this, pulled from ne.internet.services: >> The so-called "update wizard" that Comcast has been unnecessarily >> pushing on (Windows) customers downloads something called "support >> tools" in C:\TEMP, IIRC. The support tools package installs, among >> other things, TGCmd.exe, which starts at boot time. TGCmd.exe is a >> chunk of spyware that : : >> This information was confirmed by taking a Windows 98 machine that >> was not being used and installing the update wizard and the >> support tools and looking at the changes. Other software may be >> installed by the wizard and tools package, including VNC and >> Apache, depending on your OS version. Note the installation of *VNC*. If this is true ( I have not personally confirmed it), any user without a firewall is open to having their desktop "taken over" by Comcast through VNC. They are also open to invasion from external sources since VNC uses a simple un-encoded password and it known to have security holes. Bob ------------------------------ From: Richard Harris Subject: Transition Wizard; Maybe it is Coincidence, Maybe Not Organization: Comcast Online Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 00:18:44 GMT Maybe it is coincidence, maybe not. When I started my adventure (got pissed) with Comcast's transition wizard and their handling of the problems associated with its installation, I cancelled my Comcast phone service and transferred it from Comcast to Qwest. Qwest offered me a much cheaper rate and a $100 switching fee and I wanted to show some measure of protest. My Comcast phone service was supposed to be switched today. This evidently requires Comcast to release my telephone numbers. Qwest told me tonight that Comcast is refusing to release my phone numbers to them. Richard Harris ra.harris@comcast.com ------------------------------ From: rick@rickbestany.net (Rick Bestany) Subject: Stuck With Some Cable Date: 9 Jul 2003 10:09:33 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi, Thanks to an overzealous phone contractor, I am stuck with a 1000' foot spool of 50-pair, outdoor rated, non-gel filled telephone cable. It was ordered, vut, delivered and never used. I would like to recoup some of my losses and sell this cable. Can anyone give me an idea of a fair price, and how I would go about selling it? Already tried Ebay, and had no luck. Thanks, Rick Bestany Baltimore MD ------------------------------ 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 #557 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 10 04:07:08 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6A878006559; Thu, 10 Jul 2003 04:07:08 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 04:07:08 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307100807.h6A878006559@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #558 TELECOM Digest Thu, 10 Jul 2003 04:07:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 558 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Anonymous Remailer Pioneer Jailed (Marcus Jervis) Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround ('nuther Bob) Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround (Geoff Welsh) Re: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! (John Bartley K7AAY) Re: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! (Joey Lindstrom) Re: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! (Name Withheld) Re: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! (Steven J. Sobol) Dialogic-Type Boards? (Tommy) Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround (Steve Sobol) Siemens Hicom 300 E and Siemens Hicom 300 H (Edwin Loh) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (John David Galt) No NID, Phone Like Troubleshooting (KellBot) 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: Marcus Jervis Subject: Anonymous Remailer Pioneer Jailed Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 19:19:04 +0000 from- http://noisebox.dhs.org/remailer/gdbrown.html "An anonymous remailer is simply a computer connected to the Internet that forwards email or files to other addresses on the network. However, the dispositive function of a remailer is that it strips off the "header" part of the messages, which shows where the messages came from and who sent them. Thus, all the receiver of the message can tell about the messages origin is that it passed through the remailer. There are currently over one hundred publicly listed remailers worldwide. History: In 1988, Karl Kleinpaste created the first anonymous remailer. Mr. Kleinpaste saw the need for anonymity after visiting some of the more volatile discussion groups in which contributors did not wish to be identified, such as "alt.sexual.abuse.recovery." It took Kleinpaste only six hours to develop the first anonymous remailer. After developing the program, Kleinpaste offered the remailer to another newsgroup "rec.nude," which ultimately declined to use the software. Subsequently, Kleinpaste deployed what he dubbed as a "fire extinguisher," in efforts to quiet abusers of newsgroups to who complaints were filed. However, after being overwhelmed by the amount of abusers, he shut down that system. It was not until April 1993 that Kleinpaste reestablished his remailer, and then with a formidable list of forbidden uses. Around that same time, David Clunie, had developed an innovative anonymous posting system involving cryptography and offered it in October 1992. However, massive complaints led Clunie to ultimately shut the system down. The complaints were that Clunies anonymous server was taking up too much bandwidth in the South Pacific. Clunie denied the allegations, but nevertheless shut down the server in January of 1993. Consequently, Clunie immediately released his software into the public domain for everyone to use at their discretion. In November of 1992, the Internet was introduced to the most famous anonymous remailer of all, Johan Helsingius. Based upon the code written by Kleinpaste, Helsingius set up his own anonymous remailer, "anon.penet.fi" in his homeland of Finland. Although Helsingius originally had planned to limit the remailers use to Scandinavia, the pressure from the U.S. for a remailing service was too great. After caving into the demand for his service, Helsingius anonymous remailer rapidly became the most widely used remailer ever, with over 500,000 users and over 7,500 messages delivered each day." from- http://www.tuccille.com/scribble/nwatch/nw6.htm " ... America, too, is blessed with dissenters, including one who is in some personal peril for his stance. Karl Kleinpaste is something of an Internet pioneer he wrote the anonymous server software that, after modification, was used by the late, lamented anon.penet.fi before that service folded under police pressure. (Anonymous remailers let people send e-mail ... well ... anonymously, and receive replies the same way Big Brother tends to frown on such carryings-on. Anon.penet.fi was the most popular remailer before its recent demise.) While an accomplished programmer and computer professional, Kleinpaste is prone to the same errors as the rest of us when plumbing the mysteries of the 1040 form especially in 1991, when, he says, 'I did a Major Stupid'. Unlike most, though, Karl Kleinpaste actually went out and did his research, and though he doesn't oppose all taxes, he believes that he has legal grounds for challenging the income tax. I have a position on these matters that what I'm doing has the form of civil disobedience even though I've found the position I hold to be actually legally defensible and that by using such a form, I'm obligated to get some public view of my activities, which of course is why I put it all up on the Web pages. On his site, Kleinpaste has published a full record of his position, of his correspondence with the IRS and a warning against tussling with the tax man without proper preparation. Good advice considering the federales uneven record on listening to reasonable debate, but Karl is still free and documenting his travails on the Web. And as Karl goes, so go many online activists fighting the good fight with Web sites that function as combination phone banks and samizdat presses. Most would labor in anonymity, waiting for the occasional news snippet if technology hadn't tossed up such a powerful publication tool as the Internet." http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20030425kleinpastereg7p7.asp Perjury may cost tax rebel more time Friday, April 25, 2003 By Torsten Ove, Post-Gazette Staff Writer The government wants additional prison time for Karl Frank Kleinpaste, a former Carnegie Mellon University computer programmer who last year tried unsuccessfully to convince a jury that he didn't have to pay taxes. He represented himself, even to the point of cross-examining himself on the stand, but ended up convicted in November of willful failure to pay taxes, tax evasion and making false loan applications. Now the U.S. attorney's office is asking a federal judge to give him extra prison time for perjury and deliberately "flooding the court with frivolous filings ... designed to waste the time and resources of the court and the government." U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster will sentence Kleinpaste, of South Beaver, on May 23, although that date may not be certain because the sentencing has already been postponed three times. Kleinpaste, who formerly worked for Lycos Inc., was facing about three years behind bars, but now could get more. In his motion for a higher sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Conway blasted Kleinpaste for filing 47 pretrial motions with "no bases in law or in fact." Among the filings were some 100 pages of attempts to dismiss the indictment by arguing that U.S. District Court did not have jurisdiction, an affidavit claiming Kleinpaste is not a citizen of the United States, and a demand that Lancaster recuse himself from the case for not filling out a "declaration of impartiality" form Kleinpaste had prepared. Conway also cited Kleinpaste's "pleasure in bombarding the Internal Revenue Service with numerous nonsensical and ridiculous letters and other submissions." Kleinpaste had even sued the IRS and auditor Gavin Chafin, but the lawsuit was quickly dismissed. In addition to the filings, Conway said Kleinpaste should be punished for his long-term participation in tax fraud dating to 1994 and his attempts to convince others, on the radio and on his Web site, to stop paying their taxes. "By presenting arguments for not filing tax returns that he knew were incorrect," Conway said, "he risked misleading gullible individuals into believing that they also did not have to file their tax returns." Although Kleinpaste didn't belong to any tax protester group, most of his arguments parrot ideas commonly held by tax protesters, such as the claim that the IRS does not legally exist or that the income tax is voluntary. His trial was bizarre by any measure. He refused to hire a lawyer, electing to sit in the witness box and ask himself questions, then answer himself. He also told the jury he knew more about tax law than either the prosecutor or the judge. The jury deliberated about an hour before finding him guilty on all 10 counts. Also, April 19, 2003 article: http://www.post-gazette.com/neigh_west/20030419wdigestp9.asp http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/052303_nw_taxprotester.html PA Tax Protester Gets 30 Months in Prison (Pittsburgh-AP) - May 23, 2003 A tax protester who insisted that the Internal Revenue Service can't tax him was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for bank fraud and tax evasion. Former Carnegie Mellon University computer programmer Karl Kleinpaste in November was convicted for bank fraud and tax fraud dating to 1994. Federal prosecutors say Kleinpaste owes 189-thousand dollars in federal income tax. The bank fraud stems from Kleinpaste using copies of federal tax returns he didn't file in 1996 and 1997 to try to get a bank loan to build his home. As part of his sentence, Kleinpaste must file all of his delinquent tax returns when he is released from prison to serve five years' probation. He must also pay any taxes, interest and penalties. http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-tax-protester,0,6650719.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines Tax Protester Gets Federal Prison Time By JOE MANDAK Associated Press Writer May 23, 2003, 5:53 PM EDT PITTSBURGH -- A self-styled tax protester who became an Internet celebrity for his views on the federal government was labeled a "leech" by a federal prosecutor, then sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Friday. "He's been sucking off society for 10 years," Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Conway said of Karl Frank Kleinpaste, 44, of Beaver County, west of Pittsburgh. Conway said Kleinpaste "sends his children to public schools, he drives on public roads" but has not contributed "one penny" to support those or other federally subsidized services since 1994. Kleinpaste also was ordered to file any delinquent tax returns and pay any taxes, interest and penalties once he is released from prison and placed on five year's probation. Kleinpaste will remain free until he reports to prison in about a month. Kleinpaste was convicted in November of eight tax charges and two counts of bank fraud. The bank fraud charges were filed because Kleinpaste submitted copies of federal tax returns for 1996 and 1997 to get a loan, even though he didn't file returns for those years. Although prosecutors say Kleinpaste hasn't paid taxes since 1994, he was charged and convicted of not filing returns from 1995 to 1999, and for tax evasion from 1995 to 1997. Tax evasion is more serious than simply failing to pay taxes; prosecutors said Kleinpaste filed documents with his employers to keep them from withholding his taxes, then tried to hide his income in bank accounts controlled by his wife. The government said Kleinpaste evaded paying $139,000 in federal taxes on income of about $490,000 for 1995-1997 alone, and that he owes the government at least $190,000 in unpaid tax. Kleinpaste and his attorney, public defender Jay Finkelstein, refused comment after the sentencing. Kleinpaste said nothing in his defense during the 80-minute sentencing hearing. But Finkelstein argued that a long prison sentence wasn't suitable given Kleinpaste's background. A computer whiz who has worked for Carnegie Mellon University, Kleinpaste was once best known for developing an anonymous Internet server. The technology let people send sensitive e-mails and other messages without divulging their identity. "Despite the government's efforts to demonize him, he's an asset to the community," Finkelstein said. "This gentleman is not an asset to the community, your honor. He's a leech" and will likely resume not paying his taxes once he is released, Conway said. People who oppose the federal tax system typically use several arguments. Some argue the 16th Amendment, which empowers government to collect the tax, wasn't properly ratified. Some, like Kleinpaste, say those taxing powers are limited only to federal territories -- Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, or military bases -- not directly controlled by any of the 50 states. His ideas are spread and shared by like-minded individuals, often on the Internet he helped revolutionize. But U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster wasn't buying those ideas. "I don't know if you think you're a hero or a martyr to an oppressive government," Lancaster said. But not paying taxes "doesn't make you a martyr, it doesn't make you a hero. It makes you a criminal, so you're going to pay a criminal's price." ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 18:27:16 GMT On 8 Jul 2003 04:42:51 -0700, egibbs@my-deja.com (Ed Gibbs) wrote: > At any rate my problem is solved, at least for now. I just wonder > how many other people are still "trapped in a maze of twisty little > passages." Reminds me of a personal story something like yours ... On my phone bill I got some charges from AT&T. Something like $13 for a 2 minute out of state call. Since they are not my LD provider, I called them up. When I got a rep on the phone, they said "sorry sir, we're not your LD provider". I told them "I know that", so why am I getting billed ? "Someone used an AT&T calling card" they said. I said "Oh really", I said, I don't *have* an AT&T calling card because I'm *not* a customer !" They puzzled over this for a while but refused to waive the charges. Eventually I figured out what had happened. Years ago, I had a (guess how old this is) New England Telephone calling card. It was tied to AT&T for long distance service. I stopped using the card years ago. Apparently, my wife made a call from a pay phone in the next state to me at home. She punched in the old calling card number. Since the call was from one state to another, the local Verizon CO handed it off to AT&T for the LD service then back to Verizon to get to me. Even though I don't have AT&T any longer as a provider, and even though Verizon could have handled the entire call now that they do LD service, the card was still tied to AT&T somehow. Since I was not an AT&T customer, I paid "non customer" rates of something like $6 to connect and $3/minute. I called AT&T and bitched a little more about the "non-customer" rates. After all, how can I have a calling card with them if I'm not a customer ? I wasted a fair amount of time on the phone with them and eventually decide it was not worth the effort to continue. To make sure that it didn't happen again accidentally, I called both AT&T and Verizon and tried to get the calling card canceled, but they both insist that it doesn't exist. Bob ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 14:29:42 -0400 Organization: Bell Sympatico Ed Gibbs wrote: > Having had some personal experience with corporate > culture change I know that it is not easy or quick. ... or cheap, which is why I don't believe that 99% of the bigwigs who speak about commitment to things like culture change are sufficiently commited to the resources required to make their delcared public proclamations meaningful. Geoffrey Welsh This address is not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Unsolicited bulk mail is spam, no matter what regulations (real or imagined) it complies with! FIGHT SPAM AND SCAMS: DISCONNECT CHINA FROM THE INTERNET! ------------------------------ From: 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) Subject: Re: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 18:11:13 GMT Don't bother. Why? Requires login. 1. Upon registration and payment of $3.99, via a secured connection, all Users are entitled to twenty-four (24) hours of unlimited access to FreeSpeechStore.com, to include retrieval of speeches, data, etc. 2. Upon registration and payment of $40.00, via a secured connection, all Users are entitled to one (1) year or three hundred sixty-five (365) days of unlimited access to FreeSpeechStore.com, or the term of Business for the FreeSpeechStore.com, whichever is shorter, to include retrieval of speeches, data, etc. On 08 Jul 2003 15:41:02 GMT, freespeechstore@aol.com (Freespeechstore) wrote: http://freespeechstore.com/public/223_How_Bell_Canada_Handles_Death_Threats_Through_Its_Server!.htm > You will have to cut and paste. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 13:48:56 -0600 Subject: Re: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Tue, 8 Jul 2003 20:31:02 -0400 (EDT), freespeechstore@aol.com wrote: http://freespeechstore.com/public/223_How_Bell_Canada_Handles_Death_Threats_Through_Its_Server!.htm > You will have to cut and paste. You will have to bite me, spammer. Your site is a pay site, ergo your post is spam. Speaking of threats, I find it interesting that, like most spammers, threats are your method of choice in dealing with those who might call you on your behaviour. I refer to our email conversation earlier today, in which you threatened to report me to my ISP - and then followed through on it, telling them that I "threaten libel". If anyone is at all interested in seeing how this cretin operates, I invite you to read a full transcript of those conversations, at: http://www.interocitor.net/freespeechstore.html (I won't charge you to access the site, nor will I require that you answer a whack of nosy questions first). -- Joey Lindstrom ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 02:18:02 GMT From: Name Withheld at Reader's Request Subject: Re: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! This is SPAM plain and simple. In order to read material on that web page, you have to pay! You can post for free but pay to read. You can go to the freespeechstore.com and see for yourself PAT. You know I've been on your list for a number of years ... Ugh! > From: freespeechstore@aol.com (Freespeechstore) > Date: 08 Jul 2003 15:41:02 GMT > Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com > Subject: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! http://freespeechstore.com/public/223_How_Bell_Canada_Handles_Death_Threats_Through_Its_Server!.htm > You will have to cut and paste. ------------------------------ From: Steven J. Sobol Subject: Re: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 02:47:15 -0000 Organization: JustThe.net LLC From Freespeechstore (freespeechstore@aol.com): http://freespeechstore.com/public/223_How_Bell_Canada_Handles_Death_Threats_Through_Its_Server!.htm > You will have to cut and paste. Please ignore this troll. He's been flooding news.admin.net-abuse.email for days if not weeks now ... it's probably the same kook who used to go by the name Jamie and complained whenever someone posted something in that newsgroup that he didn't like. Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge, JustThe.net "Microsoft must think they're a navy, they open so many ports." --Ben Scott on the ISP-TECH mailing list, 18 June 2003 ------------------------------ From: tommynospam@yahoo.com (tommy) Subject: Dialogic-Type Boards? Date: 9 Jul 2003 12:56:25 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I'm looking for a Dialogic-type card that is a little less expensive than a Dialogic and was wondering if anyone had names of some of their competitors. I'm just looking for a PCI card, 2 telephone-line, that I can create custom voice applications in Linux. Thanks for the information. ------------------------------ From: Steven J. Sobol Subject: Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 02:48:24 -0000 Organization: JustThe.net LLC From Ed Gibbs (egibbs@my-deja.com): > I don't believe that any of this was really intentional on the part of > MCI. I'm sure it was intentional. > I really do believe that MCI's top management is trying to change the > culture at MCI. Bahahahaha. Forgive me if I don't share your optimism. :) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge, JustThe.net "Microsoft must think they're a navy, they open so many ports." --Ben Scott on the ISP-TECH mailing list, 18 June 2003 ------------------------------ From: edwinloh9168@yahoo.com (Edwin Loh) Subject: Siemens Hicom 300 E and Siemens Hicom 300 H Date: 8 Jul 2003 20:39:21 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I am interested in technical information on the Siemens PBX Hicom 300 E and especially on Siemens PBX 300 H. Although these products are not currently being produced for larger-scale domestic use, I imagine there is a certain amout of information available here. I would really appreciate any help on this topic. Is it possible for me to merge the Hicom 300 E module and card to Hicom 300 H rack ? ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 23:43:15 -0700 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Speaking of lawsuits filed by scourges > of the earth, have you heard that the tobacco manufacturers of the USA > have filed suit to renege on the unpaid portions of the settlement > they had agreed to pay to various states on the premise that the > settlement was *supposed* to be used to promote anti-tobacco use > education and treatment of deseases related to tobacco use. It seems > that most states have squandered that money on everything *but* While the tobacco case is not directly on-topic here, it seems to be the first of a whole series of cases in which companies get blamed when customers use their products irresponsibly. The recent attempts to sue fast-food outlets for "food addiction" are similar. Where will this insanity end? Will you similarly cheer when cellular phones disappear from the marketplace because Ralph Nader persuades a jury to blame their manufacturers for half the world's auto-accident deaths? I think both you and Ralph need a dose of reality. Take a look at nomorescares.com and consumerfreedom.com before you call for any other whole industry to be sued into nonexistence. Now that we've started down this path, your favorite industry *can* be the next target. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: May I ask who is the 'you' in this context? *I* didn't approve of the tobacco lawsuit! The end result was the cost of *my* cigarettes went sky-high. *I* don't approve of any of those silly lawsuits. Not a single one of them! I was simply observing as a passer by in this world that one bunch of no-goods (state govern- ments) had sucessfully sued another bunch of no-goods (big tobacco) and that when the no-goods of the second part lost big time and started making payments to the first bunch raising the cost of their product sky high they then thought of a creative way to weasel out of the court judgment (which should have never been entered in the first place were not the courts usually tools of oppressive governments) ... I will suggest a plague on both their houses! And I know I concluded that note by saying that regards suing tobacco companies, I personally would not have the required Brass Parts, ditto the Big Mac Company or the Booger Kings of the World for serving coffee that was 'too hot'. I am sorry you somehow thought that *I* was advocating that nonsense. And I speak as a person who first bought/used cigarettes when they were *twenty-four cents* per pack at Walgreens, but if you bought them in a mechanical vending machine the machines could not accept pennies nor make change so you had to put a quarter in the machine and in the pack of cigarettes dispensed the tobacco people slipped a penny back to you stuck in the cellophane wrapper, along with a book of matches. I began smoking as an intelligent young man of 12 when I realized how glamorous and sophisticated it made me appear. Some nearly fifty years later, after more than two months comotose in Stormont Vail Medical Center in Topeka followed by a month of intense therapy (three months with no cigarette at all!), the minute I first went out of the hospital was 'light up time' once again, just as I sit here now with a smoldering ashtray nearby. Those things *are* extremely addictive, but I would not have the nerve to sue. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dorkfish@fishtop.com (KellBot) Subject: No NID, Phone Like Troubleshooting Date: 9 Jul 2003 06:27:58 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I live in a rental house with exceptionally shoddy wiring. And our phone line is on the fritz. I called Verizon and my landlord. Verizon said they'd get someone out by Friday (when I called Monday) and my landlord said she'd have someone take a look at it. My landlord is a flake. So we're trying to figure this out ourselves. I have a basic knowledge of wiring, I've setup residential ethernet. We have no NID from the phone company. Our phone line goes from the telephone pole, across our backyard, and into the "basement" (crawlspace under the house). From there it splits into two solid copper wires, and connects to a dusty, rusty box where it turns into four wires, which then connect to another dusty scary box with a large knob in the middle. Currently our phone line gives us crackling noises, though sometimes it drops off, and sometimes we get a few seconds of dialtone. I realize I've done a pretty poor job of explaining this, but if anyone thinks they might recognize what the heck is going on, I can draw up a diagram that explains the situation better. Thanks so much, kelly [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your imaginary 'Demarc' or Network Interface is where the wires from the pole attach to the wires which enter your property at the basement crawl space. If you can attach a telephone to the two wires from the pole at that spot, then if you cannot get satisfactory dial tone there, it is telco's problem. If you *can* get dialtone at that place (basement crawl space where telephone pole wires first connect) then it becomes your problem (or actually the landlord's problem). Assuming the worst, that the phone works okay at the place where the wires first enter the crawlspace, then if there are muliple dwelling places in this building, the landlord (or yourself) may be able to convince telco to absorb the repair cost and install an honest-to-God demarc somewhere. Not all telephone people are stingy and niggardly ogres. Some will approve doing the required work at no expense to you if they can be convinced it goes way back pre-divestiture and never had been dealt with previously. 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 #558 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 10 23:50:48 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6B3om623093; Thu, 10 Jul 2003 23:50:48 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 23:50:48 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307110350.h6B3om623093@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #559 TELECOM Digest Thu, 10 Jul 2003 23:51:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 559 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter CDT Headline: Senate Committee Zeros Out TIA Funds (Monty Solomon) WiFi Re-Connection Couldn't Be Performed With Long Distance (J Marechal) Shareholders Approve Amendment To Increase Communications (Eworldwire) Re: McDonald's Serves up Wireless Web Access (Clarence Dold) Problem "Registering" my Siemens 2410 - 2.4GHz Handsets (Response 2002) Connecting 3Com NBX to E1 from PSTN (Eric Liong) Re: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (Barry Margolin) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (John Higdon) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (Herb Stein) Re: Stuck With Some Cable (John Hines) Must Be a Newbie Spammer (Dave Phelps) Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA Dialaround ('nuther Bob) Re: No NID Phone Like Troubleshooting {'nuther Bob) 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, 10 Jul 2003 21:08:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: CDT Headline: Senate Committee Zeros Out TIA Funds From: CDT Info Subject: CDT Headline: Senate Committee Zeros Out TIA Funds, House Approves Limits on TIA Deployment Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 08:23:53 -0400 Senate Committee Zeros Out TIA Funds, House Approves Limits on TIA Deployment On Wednesday, July 9, the Senate Appropriations Committee, in considering the FY '04 Defense Appropriations bill, zeroed out funds for DARPA's Total Information Awareness program. On Tuesday, July 8 the House of Representatives voted in its version of the same bill to bar government agencies from deploying or implementing any component of TIA without Congressional notification and authorization. July 10, 2003 House amendment on TIA, July 8, 2003 http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2003/defapp-tia.html More on Data-mining: http://www.cdt.org/security/usapatriot/datamining.shtml ------------------------------ From: jean.marechal@caramail.com (Jean Marechal) Subject: WiFi Re-Connection Couldn't be Performed With Long Distance Date: 10 Jul 2003 02:33:00 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I'm using a WiFi Ad-hoc connection between a PDA (Toshiba e740) and a PC equipped with a PCMCIA XI-325H. When the connection is on, it works fine. But, each time connection is lost because distance between the PDA and the PC is too long, I can't re-establish the connection without bringing the two devices close together. Does anybody have an explanation? And a specific configuration of the devices that avoids to come and go each time the connection is lost? Thanks. Jean Marechal ------------------------------ From: Eworldwire Subject: Shareholders Approve Amendment To Increase Advanced Communications Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 12:12:31 -0400 ATTN: TELECOM EDITORS AND WRITERS Shareholders Approve Amendment To Increase Advanced Communications Technologies, Inc. Authorized Common Stock New York/EWORLDWIRE/July 10, 2003 --- Advanced Communications Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:ADVC) ("ACT" or the "Company") today announced that its shareholders approved, by majority vote, an amendment to the Company's Articles of Incorporation to increase its authorized common stock to 5,000,000,000 shares, as reported during a special meeting of the shareholders held in New York yesterday. About Advanced Communications Technologies Inc. Advanced Communications Technologies Inc. ("ACT") owns the exclusive marketing and distribution rights throughout the North and South American markets to SpectruCell, a software-defined radio (SDR) multiple protocol wireless system that is currently under development, consisting of hardware and software that enables network providers to install a single base station and configure it to any or all protocols. This release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such statements are reasonable, no assurances can be given that they will prove correct. The Company remains exposed to risk factors that include the completion, marketability and availability of the SpectruCell product, the availability of qualified personnel, market competition, meeting time critical requirements and others. Statements made herein are not a guarantee of future corporate or stock performance. HTML: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/wr/071003/1496.htm PDF: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/pdf/071003/1496.pdf ONLINE NEWSROOM: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/1376.htm LOGO: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/1376.htm CONTACT: Wayne I. Danson President 646-227-1600 Copyright 2003 Eworldwire, All rights reserved. Press Release Distribution By EWORLDWIRE http://www.eworldwire.com (973)252-6800. Journalists: Log in and modify your settings at - http://media.eworldwire.com/media_signup.php For Media Questions: http://www.eworldwire.com/forthemedia.htm ------------------------------ From: dold@McDonaldXs.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: McDonald's Serves up Wireless Web Access Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 16:18:20 UTC Organization: a2i network Monty Solomon wrote: > But McDonald's is still trying to figure out what to charge patrons > who want to use the Internet and how to share that revenue with those > that offer the Internet service. The web site, and this article, both indicate "In San Francisco, McDonald's plans to charge $4.95 for two hours," I'ts free if you buy a happy meal, I think ... That doesn't sound like too bad of a model, although it might be a bit of a hassle. It would seem like a better idea to make it 1/2 hour for free, and two hours with a happy meal. If they already have the timing equipment in place, that shouldn't be a problem. That's the way http://www.stayonline.net works (except two weeks instead of two hours in their hotel applications). Share the revenue? You really think people are going to stay in MacDonalds past the initial two hours? Or is that a one-time two hours, and then you are banned for life with that MAC? (no pun). The normal rates for Wayport are not attractive. My company has a deal with T-Mobile, $19.95 per month nationwide, unlimited, but I'm not buying. Too many free spots. Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ From: response_2002@yahoo.com (response 2002) Subject: Problem "Registering" my Siemens 2410 - 2.4GHz Handsets Date: 10 Jul 2003 09:41:27 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi Friends, I am having a problem "registering" my Siemens 2410 - 2.4GHz handsets. I bought (end 2000 - early 2001) the single line Siemens 2410 2.4GHz phone and three additional handsets along with it. They all were working fine till last week. Last week one of my handset started flashing "Please Register" message for absolutely unknown reasons. I tried registering it by punching in the system PIN "0000" (factory default - and I have not changed it) but nothing happened. The handset tries to register (or so it seems) 'cause I get the message "Registering Base Station 1" and after sometime I get back the "Please Register" message again. Hoping that it'll help, I went ahead and un-registered the other three handsets as well (big mistake). Now I can not register any of the handsets. I have powered down and up all four handsets and the base with no change in result. How can I varify the system PIN when none of my handsets show the "system options" in the menu? Any one encountered this problem and fixed it? Please help me ... at this time I have no phone available to me. Siemens customer service is completely useless. If possible, please respond to my email. Thanks. SP ------------------------------ From: eliong@cura.net (Eric Liong) Subject: Connecting 3Com NBX to E1 From PSTN Date: 10 Jul 2003 12:50:15 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Does anybody have experience with an NBX-100 which operates internally on VoIP, and is connected to an E1 line from the public system (Ericsson)? Is it technically possible to have Direct In-Dialing and Caller-id on the NBX? Thanks, Eric ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: How Bell Canada Handles Death Threats! Date: 10 Jul 2003 20:44:55 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Joey Lindstrom wrote: > On Tue, 8 Jul 2003 20:31:02 -0400 (EDT), freespeechstore@aol.com wrote: http://freespeechstore.com/public/223_How_Bell_Canada_Handles_Death_Threats_Through_Its_Server!.htm > Speaking of threats, I find it interesting that, like most spammers, > threats are your method of choice in dealing with those who might call > you on your behaviour. I refer to our email conversation earlier > today, in which you threatened to report me to my ISP - and then > followed through on it, telling them that I "threaten libel". To quote from His "Update Wall of Shame" page,"This is a web site/database where any kind of data, both pro and con, to include: articles, letters, complaints, compliments, information, spam reports, virus alerts, opinions, etc., about any subject can be recorded for future reference and/or a future search by any and all interested parties worldwide. " Posting is free. Maybe you could post your correspondence information on his own website. :-) John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: 10 Jul 2003 20:58:18 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , John David Galt wrote: > While the tobacco case is not directly on-topic here, it seems to be > the first of a whole series of cases in which companies get blamed > when customers use their products irresponsibly. The recent attempts > to sue fast-food outlets for "food addiction" are similar. Where will > this insanity end? Will you similarly cheer when cellular phones > disappear from the marketplace because Ralph Nader persuades a jury to > blame their manufacturers for half the world's auto-accident deaths? > I think both you and Ralph need a dose of reality. While I agree that we probably have way too many lawyers, and there are far too many frivolous and downright ridiculous lawsuits, you can't really compare the tobacco industry with cell phone manufacturers or fast food companies. Not unless we discover that McDonalds has been lacing their hamburgers with addictive substances or that cell phone manufacturers have been suppressing evidence of direct correlation between usage and brain tumors. While I neither supported nor opposed the tobacco lawsuit, the fact remains that the tobacco company marketed cigarettes as healthy and health-improving products throughout the 50's and 60's in spite of their own research, and throughout the latter part of the 20th century continually denied any knowledge of addictive or cancer-causing effects of their products. john- ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Organization: Level(3) Communications, Woburn, MA Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 21:13:16 GMT In article , Pat wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Putting those records on the Internet > does nothing a dedicated snooper could not do by sitting down at your > local courthouse and copying the files by hand. The difference is in scale. By hand, it would take an impractically long time or too many people to get lots of people's records. But when the records are on a publically-available Internet site, it's simple to write a program that grabs thousands of them. It's like the difference between junk postal mail and spam: the economics of postal mail prevent it from becoming as voluminous, or used for such unattractive products, as junk email. That's why junk mail is at worst a minor annoyance, while spam is a serious problem. Barry Margolin, barry.margolin@level3.com Level(3), 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: Have you ever read the speech given in Germany in 1991 at the IBM convention? Look in our archives under the special report 'Informing Ourselves to Death'. Maybe I will reprint it here again soon, as it seems to be needed. There are lots of social illnesses which have arisen in the past decade which I think can be directly attributed to the internet and the information overload we must deal with. I cannot imagine that the 'inventors' of the internet, or the guys who made it what it is today ever intended to see the information flood get so *out of control* as it has. I do not think they were malicious in any way; it just never occurred to them all the ways people would think of to use this medium. I think I will reprint that speech from the IBM 1991 program. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 08:06:59 -0700 In article , John McHarry wrote: > I think this is an argument for not making that information public at > all, not for keeping it off the Internet. So, you would advocate having our legal processes in secret? Just think of all the deals that could be made behind closed doors, then! And then, if you made a rukus, the government could just whisk you off to a late-night secret "trial" and throw you in the hoosgow ... with no one the wiser. Sarcasm aside, I think that I would rather see our legal processes conducted in the light of day. Judges are quite capable of sealing records when it is truly appropriate. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 21:56:50 -0500 John Higdon wrote in message news:telecom22.557.14@telecom-digest.org: > In article , jmeissen@aracnet.com > wrote: >> I agree with the original poster. The difference is in the one case >> your information is available to a local resident, and there would >> probably be some sort of audit trail regarding access to records (I >> can't say for sure, I've never done it). In the other case you're >> making the information available to anyone in the world with a web >> browser, with no accountability. > As someone who routinely accesses court records, I can tell you that > there is no log kept of people who access those records. For a nominal > charge, they will even make certified copies for you ... but you are > not required to furnish any information about yourself. > The records anywhere are available to anyone who can afford to hire > someone to go the the clerk's office and pick up copies, or who can > afford to travel there himself. All the web does is bring down the > cost of searching and obtaining public records. For someone preparing > a case (or defending against a legal action) this is a godsend. > I'll say it again: information is public or it is not. If it is, then > it needs to be available without impediment to anyone who wishes to > access it. > Welcome to a free society. John is exactly right. It's a public record and the fact that it was difficult to access a few years ago is not a reason to lock it up now. Did my taxes pay for it? Then I'm entitled to a copy. > John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS > +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Stuck With Some Cable Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 09:08:23 -0500 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org rick@rickbestany.net (Rick Bestany) wrote: > I would like to recoup some of my losses and sell this cable. Can > anyone give me an idea of a fair price, and how I would go about > selling it? Already tried Ebay, and had no luck. Probably a local scrap metal dealer. In this day and age, I'd guess that if it didn't sell on Ebay, that is your best bet. Copper is valuable. The stuff probably isn't worth the shipping cost any more. ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Must be a Newbie Spammer Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 23:31:45 -0500 Organization: www.tippenring.com A spammer actually replied to one of my spamcop reports. Here's what he had to say. The ISP's note is below that. My reply is at the bottom. It won't do any good, but I feel better. I certainly wouldn't encourage anyone to sign up nats@silvermultimedia.net for tons of spam. From: N Silverman To: <326775375@reports.spamcop.net> Cc: Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 2:18 AM Subject: *****SPAM***** [SpamCop id:326775375 (208.202.132.202)] Once again, filthy dirty lies ... munged subjects and headers do not allow us to prove optioned in mail... all complaints from SpamCop are refused till we receive accurate header info pertaining to the subject and body of the message given. ALL MAIL IS OPTIN ... end of story. Admin > Dear Valued Client: > The attached complaint has been registered with Globix concerning a > possible violation of the Globix Acceptable Use Policy. As you > should know, it is against Globix policy for a client to send > unsolicited e-mail (SPAM) from our network or to promote a site on > our network utilizing unsolicited e-mail. > To assist you in determining the validity of the complaints and > source of any violation, a copy of the complaint has been attached > hereto. It is the responsibility of each Globix client to resolve > these issues by either removing the complainant from any e-mailing > lists which you may have or assuring that your users do not continue > to make unsolicited contacts in the future. > If you have any > questions concerning this matter please feel free to contact | our > support center at 1-877-2-GLOBIX. | | It is not necessary to > respond unless you are unable to resolve the issue | for some > reason. Any response should be emailed to support@globix.net to | > raise a *new* ticket. > Thank you for your prompt attention to > this matter. > Regards, | Globix Support Center | 1-877-2-GLOBIX > -------- Original Message -------- > From 326775376@bounces.spamcop.net Tue Jul 8 02:30:56 2003 > Received: from hq.globix.net (hq.globix.net [209.10.70.247]) by > ash.nyc1.globix.net (8.9.3/8.9.3/N) with ESMTP id CAA25398 for > ; Tue, 8 Jul 2003 02:25:33 -0400 (EDT) > Received: from saruman.julianhaight.com (saruman.julianhaight.com > [216.127.43.87]) by hq.globix.net (Postfix) with SMTP id C4F456A01 > for ; Tue, 8 Jul 2003 02:25:32 -0400 (EDT) > Received: (qmail 21552 invoked from network); 8 Jul 2003 06:26:02 > Received: from pippin.julianhaight.com (HELO spamcop.net) > (216.127.43.91) | by saruman.julianhaight.com with SMTP; 8 Jul 2003 > 06:26:02 -0000 | > Received: from [24.207.150.107] by spamcop.net with > HTTP; Tue, | 08 Jul 2003 06:26:50 GMT From: 326775376@reports.spamcop.net > To: abuse@globix.com > Subject: [SpamCop (http://www.exotic-mail.com/rem/) id:326775376] > *****SPAM ***** Not so innocent teens | Precedence: list | Message-Id: > <326775376@admin.spamcop.net> | Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 04:26:29 > -0400 EST | X-Spamcop-Sourceip: 208.202.132.202 | X-Mailer: > Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; Crazy Browser | > 1.0.5) via http://spamcop.net/ v1.3.3 | | - SpamCop V1.3.3 - | This > message is brief for your comfort. Please follow links for details. > > http://spamcop.net/w3m?i=z326775375zddb228d167d89f2e55cc9df0c2606399z > Email from 208.202.132.202 / Mon, 07 Jul 2003 04:26:29 -0400 EST | > > http://spamcop.net/w3m?i=z326775376zb378a6915d635f9dc5f726863c38f404z > Spamvertised website: http://www.exotic-mail.com/rem/ > Additional links on www.exotic-mail.com: > http://www.exotic-mail.com/rem/ > http://www.exotic-mail.com/mailx/dirty/dirtyc.htm > http://www.exotic-mail.com/mailx/dirty/dirtyb.htm > http://www.exotic-mail.com/rem/ is 208.202.132.232; Tue, 08 Jul 2003 > 06:26:41 GMT "Once again filthy dirty lies" huh? Let me define opt-in for you, since obviously you've been reading the wrong dictionary. Opt-in is NOT when you add a million addresses to your spam list and anyone that doesn't opt out has "opted in". Opt-in is where someone actually signs up to receive email, and you send a confirmation to the email address that was entered, requiring a reply from that email address to confirm a subscription before adding that email address to your list. You, sir, have done NO SUCH THING. As far as munged headers, it is irrelevant! You shouldn't send spam! I will guarantee you that I didn't sign up for your list, because I haven't used the email that received your spam for about 2 years! Do you even know how to read headers? The only munged portion is the TO: field. You couldn't prove opt-in email anyway. No matter what the TO: field showed, you would claim that address was opted-in anyway. Consider this a request by everyone to totally purge your spam list and GET A REAL JOB! Dave Phelps DD Networks www.ddnets.com deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: MCI/Worldcom/Telecom-USA's Latest 101-XXXX+ Dialaround Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:08:13 GMT On Wed, 9 Jul 2003 14:29:42 -0400, Geoffrey Welsh wrote: >> Having had some personal experience with corporate >> culture change I know that it is not easy or quick. > ... or cheap, which is why I don't believe that 99% of the bigwigs > who speak about commitment to things like culture change are > sufficiently commited to the resources required to make their delcared > public proclamations meaningful. Plueeze, don't get me started. It's the entire corporate management structure that doesn't, and never will, work. Have you ever sat in on a Board of Directors meeting? We'll start there. Who are these people ? It's the buddy system for the very well-to-do with little to do. Out of 12 directors, 3 will barely have a clue what the company does, 3 will have someplace else they need to be, 3 will be trying to understand company matters that are beyond their grasp and 3 will actually have a clue. These brainless wonders run around in their world of fluff talking about global directions, maturing economies, and philosophical crap that doesn't matter diddly squat. The _best_ they will do is give the Pres/CEO some general direction. Something specific like "expand markets, make money". The Pres/CEO will bounce the directive to his second layer with a "you'd better or else" attached. Those folks will bounce it down a level more, etc, etc, etc. Unfortunately the folks at the top usually have a financial interest or are being measured that way for their next fat bonus, so they send the directive on with a "and do it for 10% less". As it filters down, it gets to people who might actually be able to make a difference, but all they get is the "cut 10%" and "work longer hours". The great "meaning" of the message was long ago lost by people tailoring it to cover their own butts and salaries. Well, I could go on. The problem is unfortunately native to the large corporate beast. Don't expect a change soon. Bob ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: No NID, Phone Like Troubleshooting Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:21:20 GMT On 9 Jul 2003 06:27:58 -0700, dorkfish@fishtop.com (KellBot) wrote: > Your imaginary 'Demarc' or Network Interface is where the wires from > the pole attach to the wires which enter your property at the > basement crawl space. If you can attach a telephone to the two wires > from the pole at that spot, then if you cannot get satisfactory dial > tone there, it is telco's problem. If you *can* get dialtone at that > place (basement crawl space where telephone pole wires first > connect) then it becomes your problem (or actually the landlord's > problem). To add in the practical issues: Go to Radio Shack, Home Depot, some place that sells phone jack. Buy a device (jack) that has screw terminals on one side and a modular jack on the other. The best choice is usually the type of jack that is designed to be screwed to a base board. Hook up two wires to the red and green terminals on the jack. Attach the other end of these wires to the two wires at the first entry point as described above. Disconnect the wires leading to the rest of the building. Plug a *known good* phone to the modular jack and listen for dialtone. Don't use a cordless phone. But a cheap hard wired phone at Kmart or someplace similar and use that for testing. The simpler the better. As mentioned above -- if the phone is clear, you have a building problem. If it is dirty, you need the telco to fix it. If it is a building problem, disconnect your jack and reconnect the building wiring. Move to the next connection box and repeat the process. If it is still clean, move to the next point. Eventually you will identify where the problem is, and you can decide it you can fix it or not. FYI -- plain telephone wiring is very simple. Only the red/green wires do anything in a single line environment (or whatever colors you find hooked up). Just two wires. You can connect a phone anywhere on the line to test. Be aware that there *is* significant voltage in the wires. Don't let them touch each other. Don't touch both at the same time, particularly if you have any cuts on your fingers. Wear rubber shoes and don't touch concrete walls, water/gas/oil pipes, other wiring, etc -- or metal ladders touching any of that stuff -- as you work. If you don't know anything about electricity and safe wiring, don't do this job. Bob ------------------------------ 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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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 #559 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jul 11 00:32:33 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6B4WXm27275; Fri, 11 Jul 2003 00:32:33 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 00:32:33 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307110432.h6B4WXm27275@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #560 TELECOM Digest Fri, 11 Jul 2003 00:32:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 560 Inside This Special Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Informing Ourselves to Death (Neil Postman via Bill Pfeiffer) 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, 10 Jul 2003 23:56:08 EDT From: Neil Postman via Bill Pfeiffer Subject: Informing Ourselves to Death This reprint from TELECOM Digest in January, 1994 is worth looking at again these days, especially in view of the recent controversy over court records on the internet. When Bill was alive and editing the Airwaves Journal and Usenet's rec.radio.broadcasting news group he was also an occassional contributor to TELECOM. Enjoy this reprint from our archives, and give some serious thought to what it says. Remember also, in 1994 when I Bill first submitted it we had very little spam compared to today. And in 1990, when Postman gave his speech, spam was almost unheard of, nor any of the various illnesses we see now on the internet daily. When I first printed this in 1994, a couple readers wrote me to say specifically that 'Postman is a crazy person' and his comments were 'way out in left field'. Read it again and tell me if that is still the case, if it ever was. PAT Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa14345; 26 Jan 94 16:38 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA02127; Wed, 26 Jan 94 12:27:59 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA02117; Wed, 26 Jan 94 12:27:57 CST Date: Wed, 26 Jan 94 12:27:57 CST From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <9401261827.AA02117@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Subject: Informing Ourselves to Death Awhile back, I sent out a transcript of a speech made by Vice-President Gore discussing the 'superhighway' concept going around these days. A response was received from Bill Pfeiffer, passing along an interesting alternative viewpoint to that of the White House, and I thought you would be interested in seeing it. PAT From: rrb@deja-vu.aiss.uiuc.edu (Bill Pfeiffer) Subject: Rebuttle (of sorts) to Gore's Speech Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 18:12:41 -0600 (CST) Dear TELECOM: Here is a file of a speech by Neil Postman who has a slightly different perspective on the Information Superhighway. Bill Pfeiffer Editor AIRWAVES RADIO JOURNAL (info@airwaves.chi.il.us) Source: Neil Postman, German Informatics Society, 11 Oct 90, Stuttgart Following speech was given at a meeting of the German Informatics Society (Gesellschaft fuer Informatik) on October 11, 1990 in Stuttgart, sponsored by IBM-Germany. INFORMING OURSELVES TO DEATH ____________________________ by Neil Postman The great English playwright and social philosopher George Bernard Shaw once remarked that all professions are conspiracies against the common folk. He meant that those who belong to elite trades - physicians, lawyers, teachers, and scientists - protect their special status by creating vocabularies that are incomprehensible to the general public. This process prevents outsiders from understanding what the profession is doing and why - and protects the insiders from close examination and criticism. Professions, in other words, build forbidding walls of technical gobbledegook over which the prying and alien eye cannot see. Unlike George Bernard Shaw, I raise no complaint against this, for I consider myself a professional teacher and appreciate technical gobbledegook as much as anyone. But I do not object if occasionally someone who does not know the secrets of my trade is allowed entry to the inner halls to express an untutored point of view. Such a person may sometimes give a refreshing opinion or, even better, see something in a way that the professionals have overlooked. I believe I have been invited to speak at this conference for just such a purpose. I do not know very much more about computer technology than the average person - which isn't very much. I have little understanding of what excites a computer programmer or scientist, and in examining the descriptions of the presentations at this conference, I found each one more mysterious than the next. So, I clearly qualify as an outsider. But I think that what you want here is not merely an outsider but an outsider who has a point of view that might be useful to the insiders. And that is why I accepted the invitation to speak. I believe I know something about what technologies do to culture, and I know even more about what technologies undo in a culture. In fact, I might say, at the start, that what a technology undoes is a subject that computer experts apparently know very little about. I have heard many experts in computer technology speak about the advantages that computers will bring. With one exception - namely, Joseph Weizenbaum - I have never heard anyone speak seriously and comprehensively about the disadvantages of computer technology, which strikes me as odd, and makes me wonder if the profession is hiding something important. That is to say, what seems to be lacking among computer experts is a sense of technological modesty. After all, anyone who has studied the history of technology knows that technological change is always a Faustian bargain: Technology giveth and technology taketh away, and not always in equal measure. A new technology sometimes creates more than it destroys. Sometimes, it destroys more than it creates. But it is never one-sided. The invention of the printing press is an excellent example. Printing fostered the modern idea of individuality but it destroyed the medieval sense of community and social integration. Printing created prose but made poetry into an exotic and elitist form of expression. Printing made modern science possible but transformed religious sensibility into an exercise in superstition. Printing assisted in the growth of the nation-state but, in so doing, made patriotism into a sordid if not a murderous emotion. Another way of saying this is that a new technology tends to favor some groups of people and harms other groups. School teachers, for example, will, in the long run, probably be made obsolete by television, as blacksmiths were made obsolete by the automobile, as balladeers were made obsolete by the printing press. Technological change, in other words, always results in winners and losers. In the case of computer technology, there can be no disputing that the computer has increased the power of large-scale organizations like military establishments or airline companies or banks or tax collecting agencies. And it is equally clear that the computer is now indispensable to high-level researchers in physics and other natural sciences. But to what extent has computer technology been an advantage to the masses of people? To steel workers, vegetable store owners, teachers, automobile mechanics, musicians, bakers, brick layers, dentists and most of the rest into whose lives the computer now intrudes? These people have had their private matters made more accessible to powerful institutions. They are more easily tracked and controlled; they are subjected to more examinations, and are increasingly mystified by the decisions made about them. They are more often reduced to mere numerical objects. They are being buried by junk mail. They are easy targets for advertising agencies and political organizations. The schools teach their children to operate computerized systems instead of teaching things that are more valuable to children. In a word, almost nothing happens to the losers that they need, which is why they are losers. It is to be expected that the winners - for example, most of the speakers at this conference - will encourage the losers to be enthusiastic about computer technology. That is the way of winners, and so they sometimes tell the losers that with personal computers the average person can balance a checkbook more neatly, keep better track of recipes, and make more logical shopping lists. They also tell them that they can vote at home, shop at home, get all the information they wish at home, and thus make community life unnecessary. They tell them that their lives will be conducted more efficiently, discreetly neglecting to say from whose point of view or what might be the costs of such efficiency. Should the losers grow skeptical, the winners dazzle them with the wondrous feats of computers, many of which have only marginal relevance to the quality of the losers' lives but which are nonetheless impressive. Eventually, the losers succumb, in part because they believe that the specialized knowledge of the masters of a computer technology is a form of wisdom. The masters, of course, come to believe this as well. The result is that certain questions do not arise, such as, to whom will the computer give greater power and freedom, and whose power and freedom will be reduced? Now, I have perhaps made all of this sound like a wellplanned conspiracy, as if the winners know all too well what is being won and what lost. But this is not quite how it happens, for the winners do not always know what they are doing, and where it will all lead. The Benedictine monks who invented the mechanical clock in the 12th and 13th centuries believed that such a clock would provide a precise regularity to the seven periods of devotion they were required to observe during the course of the day. As a matter of fact, it did. But what the monks did not realize is that the clock is not merely a means of keeping track of the hours but also of synchronizing and controlling the actions of men. And so, by the middle of the 14th century, the clock had moved outside the walls of the monastery, and brought a new and precise regularity to the life of the workman and the merchant. The mechanical clock made possible the idea of regular production, regular working hours, and a standardized product. Without the clock, capitalism would have been quite impossible. And so, here is a great paradox: the clock was invented by men who wanted to devote themselves more rigorously to God; and it ended as the technology of greatest use to men who wished to devote themselves to the accumulat- ion of money. Technology always has unforeseen consequences, and it is not always clear, at the beginning, who or what will win, and who or what will lose. I might add, by way of another historical example, that Johann Gutenberg was by all accounts a devoted Christian who would have been horrified to hear Martin Luther, the accursed heretic, declare that printing is "God's highest act of grace, whereby the business of the Gospel is driven forward." Gutenberg thought his invention would advance the cause of the Holy Roman See, whereas in fact, it turned out to bring a revolution which destroyed the monopoly of the Church. We may well ask ourselves, then, is there something that the masters of computer technology think they are doing for us which they and we may have reason to regret? I believe there is, and it is suggested by the title of my talk, "Informing Ourselves to Death". In the time remaining, I will try to explain what is dangerous about the computer, and why. And I trust you will be open enough to consider what I have to say. Now, I think I can begin to get at this by telling you of a small experiment I have been conducting, on and off, for the past several years. There are some people who describe the experiment as an exercise in deceit and exploitation but I will rely on your sense of humor to pull me through. Here's how it works: It is best done in the morning when I see a colleague who appears not to be in possession of a copy of {The New York Times}. "Did you read The Times this morning?," I ask. If the colleague says yes, there is no experiment that day. But if the answer is no, the experiment can proceed. "You ought to look at Page 23," I say. "There's a fascinating article about a study done at Harvard University." "Really? What's it about?" is the usual reply. My choices at this point are limited only by my imagination. But I might say something like this: "Well, they did this study to find out what foods are best to eat for losing weight, and it turns out that a normal diet supplemented by chocolate eclairs, eaten six times a day, is the best approach. It seems that there's some special nutrient in the eclairs - encomial dioxin - that actually uses up calories at an incredible rate." Another possibility, which I like to use with colleagues who are known to be health conscious is this one: "I think you'll want to know about this," I say. "The neuro-physiologists at the University of Stuttgart have uncovered a connection between jogging and reduced intelligence. They tested more than 1200 people over a period of five years, and found that as the number of hours people jogged increased, there was a corresponding decrease in their intelligence. They don't know exactly why but there it is." I'm sure, by now, you understand what my role is in the experiment: to report something that is quite ridiculous - one might say, beyond belief. Let me tell you, then, some of my results: Unless this is the second or third time I've tried this on the same person, most people will believe or at least not disbelieve what I have told them. Some- times they say: "Really? Is that possible?" Sometimes they do a double-take, and reply, "Where'd you say that study was done?" And sometimes they say, "You know, I've heard something like that." Now, there are several conclusions that might be drawn from these results, one of which was expressed by H. L. Mencken fifty years ago when he said, there is no idea so stupid that you can't find a professor who will believe it. This is more of an accusation than an explanation but in any case I have tried this experiment on non- professors and get roughly the same results. Another possible con- clusion is one expressed by George Orwell - also about 50 years ago - when he remarked that the average person today is about as naive as was the average person in the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages people believed in the authority of their religion, no matter what. Today, we believe in the authority of our science, no matter what. But I think there is still another and more important conclusion to be drawn, related to Orwell's point but rather off at a right angle to it. I am referring to the fact that the world in which we live is very nearly incomprehensible to most of us. There is almost no fact - whether actual or imagined - that will surprise us for very long, since we have no comprehensive and consistent picture of the world which would make the fact appear as an unacceptable contradiction. We believe because there is no reason not to believe. No social, political, historical, metaphysical, logical or spiritual reason. We live in a world that, for the most part, makes no sense to us. Not even technical sense. I don't mean to try my experiment on this audience, especially after having told you about it, but if I informed you that the seats you are presently occupying were actually made by a special process which uses the skin of a Bismark herring, on what grounds would you dispute me? For all you know - indeed, for all I know - the skin of a Bismark herring could have made the seats on which you sit. And if I could get an industrial chemist to confirm this fact by describing some incomprehensible process by which it was done, you would probably tell someone tomorrow that you spent the evening sitting on a Bismark herring. Perhaps I can get a bit closer to the point I wish to make with an analogy: If you opened a brand-new deck of cards, and started turning the cards over, one by one, you would have a pretty good idea of what their order is. After you had gone from the ace of spades through the nine of spades, you would expect a ten of spades to come up next. And if a three of diamonds showed up instead, you would be surprised and wonder what kind of deck of cards this is. But if I gave you a deck that had been shuffled twenty times, and then asked you to turn the cards over, you would not expect any card in particular - a three of diamonds would be just as likely as a ten of spades. Having no basis for assuming a given order, you would have no reason to react with disbelief or even surprise to whatever card turns up. The point is that, in a world without spiritual or intellectual order, nothing is unbelievable; nothing is predictable, and therefore, nothing comes as a particular surprise. In fact, George Orwell was more than a little unfair to the average person in the Middle Ages. The belief system of the Middle Ages was rather like my brand-new deck of cards. There existed an ordered, comprehensible world-view, beginning with the idea that all knowledge and goodness come from God. What the priests had to say about the world was derived from the logic of their theology. There was nothing arbitrary about the things people were asked to believe, including the fact that the world itself was created at 9 AM on October 23 in the year 4004 B. C. That could be explained, and was, quite lucidly, to the satisfaction of anyone. So could the fact that 10,000 angels could dance on the head of a pin. It made quite good sense, if you believed that the Bible is the revealed word of God and that the universe is populated with angels. The medieval world was, to be sure, mysterious and filled with wonder, but it was not without a sense of order. Ordinary men and women might not clearly grasp how the harsh realities of their lives fit into the grand and benevolent design, but they had no doubt that there was such a design, and their priests were well able, by deduction from a handful of principles, to make it, if not rational, at least coherent. The situation we are presently in is much different. And I should say, sadder and more confusing and certainly more mysterious. It is rather like the shuffled deck of cards I referred to. There is no consistent, integrated conception of the world which serves as the foundation on which our edifice of belief rests. And therefore, in a sense, we are more naive than those of the Middle Ages, and more frightened, for we can be made to believe almost anything. The skin of a Bismark herring makes about as much sense as a vinyl alloy or encomial dioxin. Now, in a way, none of this is our fault. If I may turn the wisdom of Cassius on its head: the fault is not in ourselves but almost literally in the stars. When Galileo turned his telescope toward the heavens, and allowed Kepler to look as well, they found no enchantment or authoriza- tion in the stars, only geometric patterns and equations. God, it seemed, was less of a moral philosopher than a master mathematician. This discovery helped to give impetus to the development of physics but did nothing but harm to theology. Before Galileo and Kepler, it was possible to believe that the Earth was the stable center of the uni- verse, and that God took a special interest in our affairs. Afterward, the Earth became a lonely wanderer in an obscure galaxy in a hidden corner of the universe, and we were left to wonder if God had any interest in us at all. The ordered, comprehensible world of the Middle Ages began to unravel because people no longer saw in the stars the face of a friend. And something else, which once was our friend, turned against us, as well. I refer to information. There was a time when information was a resource that helped human beings to solve specific and urgent problems of their environment. It is true enough that in the Middle Ages, there was a scarcity of information but its very scarcity made it both important and usable. This began to change, as everyone knows, in the late 15th century when a goldsmith named Gutenberg, from Mainz, converted an old wine press into a printing machine, and in so doing, created what we now call an information explosion. Forty years after the invention of the press, there were printing machines in 110 cities in six different countries; 50 years after, more than eight million books had been printed, almost all of them filled with information that had previously not been available to the average person. Nothing could be more misleading than the idea that computer technology introduced the age of information. The printing press began that age, and we have not been free of it since. But what started out as a liberating stream has turned into a deluge of chaos. If I may take my own country as an example, here is what we are faced with: In America, there are 260,000 billboards; 11,520 newspapers; 11,556 periodicals; 27,000 video outlets for renting tapes; 362 million tv sets; and over 400 million radios. There are 40,000 new book titles published every year (300,000 world-wide) and every day in America 41 million photographs are taken, and just for the record, over 60 billion pieces of advertising junk mail come into our mail boxes every year. Everything from telegraphy and photography in the 19th century to the silicon chip in the twentieth has amplified the din of information, until matters have reached such proportions today that for the average person, information no longer has any relation to the solution of problems. The tie between information and action has been severed. Information is now a commodity that can be bought and sold, or used as a form of entertainment, or worn like a garment to enhance one's status. It comes indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, disconnected from usefulness; we are glutted with information, drowning in information, have no control over it, don't know what to do with it. And there are two reasons we do not know what to do with it. First, as I have said, we no longer have a coherent conception of ourselves, and our universe, and our relation to one another and our world. We no longer know, as the Middle Ages did, where we come from, and where we are going, or why. That is, we don't know what information is relevant, and what information is irrelevant to our lives. Second, we have directed all of our energies and intelligence to inventing machinery that does nothing but increase the supply of information. As a consequence, our defenses against information glut have broken down; our information immune system is inoperable. We don't know how to filter it out; we don't know how to reduce it; we don't know to use it. We suffer from a kind of cultural AIDS. Now, into this situation comes the computer. The computer, as we know, has a quality of universality, not only because its uses are almost infinitely various but also because computers are commonly integrated into the structure of other machines. Therefore it would be fatuous of me to warn against every conceivable use of a computer. But there is no denying that the most prominent uses of computers have to do with information. When people talk about "information sciences," they are talking about computers - how to store information, how to retrieve information, how to organize information. The computer is an answer to the questions, how can I get more information, faster, and in a more usable form? These would appear to be reasonable questions. But now I should like to put some other questions to you that seem to me more reasonable. Did Iraq invade Kuwait because of a lack of information? If a hideous war should ensue between Iraq and the U. S., will it happen because of a lack of information? If children die of starvation in Ethiopia, does it occur because of a lack of information? Does racism in South Africa exist because of a lack of information? If criminals roam the streets of New York City, do they do so because of a lack of information? Or, let us come down to a more personal level: If you and your spouse are unhappy together, and end your marriage in divorce, will it happen because of a lack of information? If your children misbehave and bring shame to your family, does it happen because of a lack of information? If someone in your family has a mental breakdown, will it happen because of a lack of information? I believe you will have to concede that what ails us, what causes us the most misery and pain - at both cultural and personal levels - has nothing to do with the sort of information made accessible by computers. The computer and its information cannot answer any of the fundamental quest- ions we need to address to make our lives more meaningful and humane. The computer cannot provide an organizing moral framework. It cannot tell us what questions are worth asking. It cannot provide a means of understanding why we are here or why we fight each other or why decency eludes us so often, especially when we need it the most. The computer is, in a sense, a magnificent toy that distracts us from facing what we most needed to confront - spiritual emptiness, knowledge of ourselves, usable conceptions of the past and future. Does one blame the computer for this? Of course not. It is, after all, only a machine. But it is presented to us, with trumpets blaring, as at this conference, as a technological messiah. Through the computer, the heralds say, we will make education better, religion better, politics better, our minds better - best of all, ourselves better. This is, of course, nonsense, and only the young or the ignorant or the foolish could believe it. I said a moment ago that computers are not to blame for this. And that is true, at least in the sense that we do not blame an elephant for its huge appetite or a stone for being hard or a cloud for hiding the sun. That is their nature, and we expect nothing different from them. But the computer has a nature, as well. True, it is only a machine but a machine designed to manipulate and generate information. That is what computers do, and therefore they have an agenda and an unmistakable message. The message is that through more and more information, more conveniently packaged, more swiftly delivered, we will find solutions to our problems. And so all the brilliant young men and women, believing this, create ingenious things for the computer to do, hoping that in this way, we will become wiser and more decent and more noble. And who can blame them? By becoming masters of this wondrous technology, they will acquire prestige and power and some will even become famous. In a world populated by people who believe that through more and more information, paradise is attainable, the computer scientist is king. But I maintain that all of this is a monumental and dangerous waste of human talent and energy. Imagine what might be accomplished if this talent and energy were turned to philosophy, to theology, to the arts, to imaginative literature or to education? Who knows what we could learn from such people - perhaps why there are wars, and hunger, and homelessness and mental illness and anger. As things stand now, the geniuses of computer technology will give us Star Wars, and tell us that is the answer to nuclear war. They will give us artificial intelligence, and tell us that this is the way to self-knowledge. They will give us instantaneous global communicat- ion, and tell us this is the way to mutual understanding. They will give us Virtual Reality and tell us this is the answer to spiritual poverty. But that is only the way of the technician, the fact-mongerer, the information junkie, and the technological idiot. Here is what Henry David Thoreau told us: "All our inventions are but improved means to an unimproved end." Here is what Goethe told us: "One should, each day, try to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it is possible, speak a few reasonable words." And here is what Socrates told us: "The unexamined life is not worth living." And here is what the prophet Micah told us: "What does the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God?" And I can tell you - if I had the time (although you all know it well enough) - what Confucius, Isaiah, Jesus, Mohammed, the Buddha, Spinoza and Shakespeare told us. It is all the same: There is no escaping from ourselves. The human dilemma is as it has always been, and we solve nothing fundamental by cloaking ourselves in technological glory. Even the humblest cartoon character knows this, and I shall close by quoting the wise old possum named Pogo, created by the cartoonist, Walt Kelley. I commend his words to all the technological utopians and messiahs present. "We have met the enemy," Pogo said, "and he is us." ------------------- [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My sincere thanks to Bill for passing along this article to us. It certainly does give us something to meditate upon as we travel down the 'information superhighway' so highly touted by the present occupant of the White House and his staff. PAT] ========================== TELECOM Digest Editor's 2003 Note: Bear in mind all the above was first delivered by Postman in 1990 and reported here in this Digest in 1994 when President Clinton was in the White House. 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 #560 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jul 11 16:21:10 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6BKLAt03730; Fri, 11 Jul 2003 16:21:10 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 16:21:10 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307112021.h6BKLAt03730@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #561 TELECOM Digest Fri, 11 Jul 2003 16:21:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 561 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Search Engine Personalization: An Exploratory Study (Monty Solomon) Apple's iSight, Good And Bad (Monty Solomon) A Copyright Cold War? (Monty Solomon) Expressiveness and Conformity in Internet-Based Polls (Monty Solomon) The "Grey Digital Divide": Perception, Exclusion, Barriers (M Solomon) With iChat, Who Needs a Phone? (Monty Solomon) Apple's Mac Gets Addictive Over Time (Monty Solomon) Gillette, Wal-Mart Drop Plan For Radio ID Chips (Monty Solomon) Kensington WiFi Finder (Monty Solomon) Hackers Hijack PC's for Sex Sites (Monty Solomon) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List ('nuther Bob) Paid Hotspots, was Re: McDonald's Serves up Wireless (Danny Burstein) Re: Problem "Registering" my Siemens 2410 - 2.4GHz Handsets (M Sullivan) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (John David Galt) Re: CDT Headline: Senate Committee Zeros Out TIA Funds (Nathan Tenny) Re: Must be a Newbie Spammer (Matt Simpson) Digital Cellphones Friendly to the Hearing Impaired (The Old Bear) 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, 11 Jul 2003 02:49:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Search Engine Personalization: An Exploratory Study by Yashmeet Khopkar, Amanda Spink, C. Lee Giles, Prital Shah, and Sandip Debnath Abstract Web search engines are beginning to offer personalization capabilities to users. Personalization is the ability of the Web site to match retrieved information content to a user's profile. This content can be set explicitly by the user or derived implicitly by the Web site using such user profile information as zip code, birth date, etc. In this paper we report findings from a study qualitatively and quantitatively assessing the current state of personalization on 60 search engine Web sites and the personalization features available. We examined: (1) how many search engines Web sites currently offer personalization features; and, (2) the type of features that can be personalized. Findings show that: (1) eight (13 percent) of the 60 search engines, including Yahoo, AOL, Lycos, Excite and Netscape, enabled some level of personalization; and, (2) personalization features are largely related to e-mail, business and financial information, searching of a reference tool, such as yellow pages, entertainment listings, sports, and news headlines. The breadth and depth of personalization features varied across search engines, with a mean number of two personalization features per site. "My Yahoo" had the most extensive personalization feature capability. Our findings show that despite the high level of interest in Web personalization, most search engine Web sites currently offer no or limited personalization features. http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_7/khopkar/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 02:44:40 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple's iSight, Good And Bad Ten O'Clock Tech Arik Hesseldahl, 07.10.03, 10:00 AM ET NEW YORK - Lonely are those who are lucky enough to own Apple Computer's latest computer accessory, the iSight digital video camera. There are only so many people with whom one can actually try it out. But their ranks are growing. We used a PowerMac G4 in New York to check in with an old grad school chum in San Francisco, and gave each other's respective iSight cameras a fair workout. The results, at least on our end, were at times impressive and also frustrating. Our iSight was attached to an Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) G4 tower connected to the Internet via a DSL line while our friend used his on a Powerbook that was linked to a broadband connection in his home via an Apple-made Airport wireless networking hub. The details of the types of network connections we used may be important, as you'll see presently. The iSight camera connects to Macs via the Firewire port and works only with Apple's Mac OS X version 10.2.5 or higher. For the videoconferencing feature to work, you need to be connected to a broadband Internet connection like a DSL line, cable modem or other fast connection like the office T1. Audio-conferencing requires a 56k modem connection at least. http://www.forbes.com/2003/07/10/cx_ah_0710tentech.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 02:52:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Copyright Cold War? A copyright cold war? The polarized rhetoric of the peer-to-peer debates by John Logie Abstract Participants in the United States' ongoing debates over peer-to-peer transfers of potentially copyrighted files have regularly trafficked in the rhetoric of warfare. While it is easy to understand how copyright holders would view peer-to-peer file transfers as a kind of attack, the rhetorical turn toward the discourse of military conflict has radiated throughout the debate. Individuals from across the spectrum of opinions on peer-to-peer file transfers both accept and reproduce the positioning of this public policy debate as a life-or-death struggle. The weaknesses of this comparison are illustrated through reference to the history of the Cold War, often cited as a model for the post-Napster period. Further, the relative immaturity of the peer-to-peer debate is demonstrated through reference to rhetorical analysis techniques suggested by stasis theory. This article concludes by suggesting ways in which the currently stalemated debate might be revitalized by principled interventions from scholars and concerned citizens. http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_7/logie/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:05:19 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Expressiveness and Conformity in Internet-Based Polls by Sebnem Cilesiz and Richard Ferdig Abstract This paper reports a research study that examined whether people are expressive and whether they conform to external opinion in Internet Based Opinion Polls. Four versions of an opinion poll via the Internet were administered to 69 college students. Specific conditions to operationalize expressiveness and conformity are explained in the paper. The results suggest that social science findings regarding interpersonal relations do not necessarily apply to Internet environments. The major implication of the study is that poll data collected via the Internet constitute reliable information. http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_7/cilesiz/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:07:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The "Grey Digital Divide": Perception, Exclusion and Barriers The "grey digital divide": Perception, exclusion and barriers of access to the Internet for older people by Peter Millward Abstract Focussing upon the elderly, this article utilises data discovered as researcher for Age Concern in Wigan (U.K.) and examines the feelings of older people toward the Internet. It explores the reasons why some clients and volunteers choose to use the Internet, whilst others do not, relating these perspectives to the organisations, alongside broader national (U.K.) and EU, commitments to reduce the digital divide. The article argues that for the elderly Internet usability is based upon more than availability of technology. Instead a lack of Web skills among the elderly leads to an opinion that information and communication technologies are for the young, leading to a long-term damage lack of interest in using the Internet. http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_7/millward/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:42:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: With iChat, Who Needs a Phone? BYTE OF THE APPLE By Alex Salkever Apple's latest tech wizardry makes voice calling over the Net a snap. That could be a push off a cliff for today's telecom giants. Give Steve Jobs credit. For a man who heads a comparatively small technology company, he sure knows how to alter the tech landscape. The exuberant and often exasperating CEO of Apple Computer (AAPL ) gave the music industry its groove back in April when he introduced a powerful one-two punch of iTunes and the online Apple Music Store. With 99-cent downloads, Jobs also handed music lovers what they wanted: high-quality downloads, a fair price, a good selection, and the right to do what they see fit with their music. With 5 million paid downloads in two months and a version for Microsoft (MSFT ) Windows users on the way, it's easy to see why music industry execs are dancing in their boardrooms. While the record labels have been a lucky benefactor of Jobsian innovation, the phone companies are about to get whacked by Jobs's quest to give Apple users something else they want. I'm talking about the latest beta version of iChat. Released in late June at Apple's World Wide Developers Conference, the new version lets iChat users go beyond typed text messaging to actual voice conversations over the Net. All you need is a Mac running OS X, a decent external microphone, and a connection of 28 kilobits per second or so. A broadband link isn't necessary. (This version also lets iChat users establish on-the-fly video calls with others on the iChat system, but the video isn't nearly as impressive as the voice capability.) I tried talking to someone in Amsterdam who was on a narrowband connection. He couldn't do much else on the computer when he was talking, but the iChat connection held up very well. On all broadband links, iChat has worked without a hitch for me. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2003/tc2003079_0737_tc056.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:54:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple's Mac Gets Addictive Over Time By Mark Kellner THE WASHINGTON TIMES When does a computing platform border on an addiction? When it's Apple's Macintosh. During the past several weeks, I have discovered even more reasons for keeping a Mac as my primary computer. http://washingtontimes.com/technology/20030707-101136-9825r.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:56:19 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Gillette, Wal-Mart Drop Plan For Radio ID Chips Plan had raised concerns over privacy of consumers By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff, 7/10/2003 Customers at the Wal-Mart store in Brockton won't be getting miniature radio transmitter chips with their Gillette Mach 3 razors, after all. Boston-based Gillette Co. and giant retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have backed away from plans to test the controversial chips at the Brockton Wal-Mart store. ''We didn't do the test, and we're not going to,'' said Wal-Mart spokesman Tom Williams. Williams said the decision reflected a change in business strategy, rather than a reaction to an Internet-based campaign against the technology, known as radio frequency identification, or RFID. Privacy advocates were concerned that the technology would be used to track consumers' purchases without their knowledge or consent. http://www.boston.com:80/dailyglobe2/191/business/Gillette_Wal_Mart_drop_plan_for_radio_ID_chips+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 04:07:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Kensington WiFi Finder http://www.kensington.com/html/3720.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 04:18:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hackers Hijack PC's for Sex Sites By JOHN SCHWARTZ More than a thousand unsuspecting Internet users around the world have recently had their computers hijacked by hackers, who computer security experts say are using them for pornographic Web sites. The hijacked computers, which are chosen by the hackers apparently because they have high-speed connections to the Internet, are secretly loaded with software that makes them send explicit Web pages advertising pornographic sites and offer to sign visitors up as customers. Unless the owner of the hijacked computer is technologically sophisticated, the activity is likely to go unnoticed. The program, which only briefly downloads the pornographic material to the usurped computer, is invisible to the computer's owner. It apparently does not harm the computer or disturb its operation. The hackers operating the ring direct traffic to each hijacked computer in their network for a few minutes at a time, quickly rotating through a large number. Some are also used to send spam e-mail messages to boost traffic to the sites. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/11/technology/11HACK.html [Lisa Minter note: When reading NY Times articles, feel free to use our group login name 'telecomdigest' and group password 'telecomdigest' . Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:57:04 GMT On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 23:43:15 -0700, John David Galt wrote: > While the tobacco case is not directly on-topic here, it seems to be > the first of a whole series of cases in which companies get blamed > when customers use their products irresponsibly. The recent attempts > to sue fast-food outlets for "food addiction" are similar. Where will > this insanity end? Will you similarly cheer when cellular phones > disappear from the marketplace because Ralph Nader persuades a jury to > blame their manufacturers for half the world's auto-accident deaths? There are two different issues here. One is foolish, unmerited, law suits. Individuals need to be responsible for their own actions. The second issue is legitimate lawsuits and the fact that *companies* need (also) to be held responsible for their action. Now, I agree with you on the "fast food" case. However, the tobacco cases fall into two distinct categories. One category is lawsuits by people who started smoking *after* the government started printing (requiring) warning labels. These suits go nowhere -- correctly, IMHO. The other category are lawsuits from people who started smoking much earlier. The tobacco companies had a clear and detailed plan for hiding the effects and addiction related to smoking. It was well documented in their records. When companies knowingly sell products that harm the public, they should be held responsible. As another example, one case that appears to be frivolous on the surface was the McDonalds spilt coffee/burn case. At first glance, it looks like another foolish "blame the company for my actions" suit. However, if you read the testimony from MCDonalds own witnesses, it becomes clear that it's a case of a company taking specific actions that they knew were harmful to the public. (I can post a few facts/testimony if you care). Despite over 700 previous claims, McDonalds continued to sell dangerously hot coffee. Again, companies have to be held responsible for their actions, just as individuals must. Bob [Lisa Minter note: How is coffee supposed to be served, if not really hot? That's how I like to drink mine. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Paid Hotspots, was Re: McDonald's Serves up Wireless Web Access Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 04:00:49 +0000 (UTC) Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In dold@McDonaldXs.usenet.us.com writes: [ snip ] > My company has a deal with T-Mobile, $19.95 per month nationwide, > unlimited, but I'm not buying. Too many free spots. With the discloure that I'm an early Omnipoint customer who liked the company so much I followed Victor Kiam's exammple, this specific offering by T-Mobile may be worth a looksee by some folk. Anyone with a t-mobile cellphone account can get this same $20/month unlimited "hotspot" access. Which lets you use quite a few spots nationwide such as an ever increasing percentage of Starbucks and Kinkos and lots and lots of others. NOTE that these are NOT wide area nets. You have to either be in the store, or in the parking lot, or within a hundred or so feet of one of them. But for many people this may be a good tradeoff. Incidentally, another (kind of) paid option in NYC is the recent installation by Verizon of base stations on a couple of hundred pay phones. If you have a VZ DSL account in NYC, you can hook up, for no additional charge, to one of these wireless points. And, as a side note, there are many public and free mini nets in NYC. For example, a half dozen parks (more on the way) have 802.11 access in them. There are also a significant number of people who've joined in on this concept and have set up their own public points of presence. (And, for better or worse, there are many more who left the defaults when setting up their systems, so anyone walking down the block can patch in). Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Problem "Registering" my Siemens 2410 - 2.4GHz Handsets Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 05:16:02 GMT [This followup was posted to comp.dcom.telecom and a copy was sent to the cited author.] On 10 Jul 2003 09:41:27 -0700, response 2002 posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > Hi Friends, > I am having a problem "registering" my Siemens 2410 - 2.4GHz handsets. > I bought (end 2000 - early 2001) the single line Siemens 2410 2.4GHz > phone and three additional handsets along with it. They all were > working fine till last week. > Last week one of my handset started flashing "Please Register" message > for absolutely unknown reasons. I tried registering it by punching in > the system PIN "0000" (factory default - and I have not changed it) > but nothing happened. The handset tries to register (or so it seems) > 'cause I get the message "Registering Base Station 1" and after > sometime I get back the "Please Register" message again. With the Siemens wireless phones, you need to have the base station set to register a new handset, on its menu, at the same time as the handset (one at a time) is set to register with a base station, on its own menu. You can (re)set the system PIN from the base station first. You can't register a unit that is already registered on the base station, so you will have to delete any handsets from the base station that need to be re-registered. > How can I varify the system PIN when none of my handsets show the > "system options" in the menu? Any one encountered this problem and > fixed it? Set the system PIN on the base station. Delete all problem mobiles from the base station menu and they will be deregistered, and as a result will be capable of registration anew. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 09:03:10 -0700 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society jmeissen@aracnet.com wrote: > While I agree that we probably have way too many lawyers, and there > are far too many frivolous and downright ridiculous lawsuits, you > can't really compare the tobacco industry with cell phone > manufacturers or fast food companies. Not unless we discover that > McDonalds has been lacing their hamburgers with addictive substances > or that cell phone manufacturers have been suppressing evidence of > direct correlation between usage and brain tumors. > While I neither supported nor opposed the tobacco lawsuit, the fact > remains that the tobacco company marketed cigarettes as healthy and > health-improving products throughout the 50's and 60's in spite of > their own research, and throughout the latter part of the 20th century > continually denied any knowledge of addictive or cancer-causing > effects of their products. Those statements were never intended to fool anyone, and probably didn't; the tobacco executives were just covering their anatomy. Everyone has known since the Attorney General's warning in the sixties, at least, that tobacco causes cancer. The real problem is the busybody attitude that says if a product carries risks to the user, it should be banned. I say bah humbug! Everything we do in life carries risks and rewards. As adults, each of us is entitled to decide these tradeoffs for himself. No group, including "society", has any business taking that option away from any one of us. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, you mean you do not believe the old adage that 'if it saves one person's life, it will worth it' ? Neither do I. PAT] ------------------------------ From: n_t_e_nn_y_@q_ual_c_o_m_m_.c_o_m (Nathan Tenny) Subject: Re: CDT Headline: Senate Committee Zeros Out TIA Funds Date: 11 Jul 2003 09:39:00 -0700 Organization: QUALCOMM Incorporated Reply-To: ntenny+r@qualcomm.com May I respectfully suggest that people posting on the "Total Information Awareness" program in this forum might want to spell it out? I just about had a heart attack when I saw this subject line and thought that the Telecommunications Industry Association had been defunded. (On reflection, I'm not sure it *gets* gummint funding, but the reflection followed the panic.) Nathan Tenny | When the world ends, there'll be no more Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA | air. That's why it's important to pollute | the air now. Before it's too late. | -- Kathy Acker [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't believe there will be any (or many) follow messages on 'Total Information Awareness' in this forum, but I'll suggest your idea anyway. PAT] ------------------------------ From: news01@jmatt.net (Matt Simpson) Subject: Re: Must be a Newbie Spammer Date: 11 Jul 2003 10:20:33 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Dave Phelps wrote in message news:: > A spammer actually replied to one of my spamcop reports. Here's what > he had to say. I received a response to a spamcop complaint once that I wish I'd saved because it was priceless. The poor spammer seemed genuinely shocked that I had reported her to an outside agency. Nobody had ever done that before. She only sent her spam (ok .. she didn't call it spam) to people that she thought really wanted to receive it. Many of them were profusely grateful to receive it. A few others were less grateful, and she had even received some hostile responses. And she supposed these poor bitter souls needed an outlet to vent their frustrations, and in a small way she was making the world a better place by providing an outlet for these people's anger. But nobody had EVER reported her to a third-party before, and she was amazed beyond belief that I had been so bothered by her spam that I had felt the need to take that step. It was hysterical. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is really how it is for many of the newbie spammers. They honestly, truthfully see nothing wrong in what they are doing and cannot imagine why anyone would be so offended. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:35:49 -0400 From: The Old Bear Subject: "Digital Cellphones Friendly to the Hearing Impaired" As summarized in NewsScan for July 11, 2003: DIGITAL CELLPHONES FRIENDLY TO THE HEARING-IMPAIRED Up until now, digital cell phones have been exempt from certain of the FCC rules governing analog devices, but now the Commission has decided that by 2008 mobile phone manufacturers will have to offer at least some phones that work well for people who wear hearing aids. About one out of every ten people is hearing-impaired, and current cell phones emit some radio frequencies that interfere with hearing aids. Tom Wheeler, head of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) says the new FCC mandates are unnecessary, and suggests that a better solution would have been based on the European approach, which is focused on modifying hearing aids rather than cell phones to solve the problem. source: Dow Jones/AP (10 Jul 2003) http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6274578.htm ------------------------------ 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 #561 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jul 12 19:48:55 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6CNmsu23438; Sat, 12 Jul 2003 19:48:55 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 19:48:55 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307122348.h6CNmsu23438@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #562 TELECOM Digest Sat, 12 Jul 2003 19:49:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 562 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Missouri Sues AT&T, SBC, WorldCom on Telemarketing (Monty Solomon) AOL Selling CDs, DVDs Direct, not Through Amazon (Monty Solomon) Credit Scoring Disputed / State Official Questions Use (Monty Solomon) A Web Site Causes Unease in Police (Monty Solomon) Re: No NID, Phone Line Troubleshooting (KellBot) Re: Problem "Registering" Siemens 2410 - 2.4GHz Handsets (Ron Chapman) Re: McDonalds Lawsuit (temp7@thewolfden.org) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List ('nuther Bob) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Ron Bean) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy (Charles Cryderman) Interesting AT&T Film (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? (AES/newspost) Re: Must be a Newbie Spammer (Dave Phelps) Re: A Copyright Cold War? (Chuk Gleason) Re: Ambush TV/Pranks May Be Funny, but Victims Get Last Laugh (Robinson) Re: New 118 Directory Enquiries (Marcus Kern) Panasonic KX-FMC230 Fax Not Sending or Receiving (Les) 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, 11 Jul 2003 20:41:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Missouri Sues AT&T, SBC, WorldCom on Telemarketing WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - Missouri Attorney General Jeremiah Nixon filed federal lawsuits on Thursday to stop AT&T Corp.(NYSE:T), SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and WorldCom Inc. (PK:WCOEQ) from marketing services to customers who ask not to be called. The lawsuits alleged that the three local and long-distance telephone carriers with using high-pressure sales tactics to sell products and denied or interfered with requests by consumers in the state to be placed on a do-not-call list. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34825367 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 20:52:22 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AOL Selling CDs, DVDs Direct, Not Through Amazon NEW YORK, July 11 (Reuters) - America Online said on Friday it is now selling DVDs and CDs directly as part of its push into digital music, ending a temporary link it had with Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) until it was able to do so itself. An AOL spokeswoman said the Internet division of AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:AOL) had been using Amazon on an interim basis to sell CDs and DVDs. She added that its pacts with the online retailer are still ongoing. The step to sell physical CDs and DVDs is part of AOL's efforts to get a bigger share of the digital music pie as it seeks out new sources of revenue to help in the online unit's turnaround and offset the shrinkage in its dial-up Internet service and the slump in ad spending from the dot-com heyday. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34824485 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 22:48:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Credit Scoring Disputed / State Qfficial Questions Use For Home By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 7/11/2003 State Inspector General Gregory Sullivan said yesterday he intends to verify the alleged correlation between a consumer's credit rating and his likelihood of filing insurance claims, which is at the crux of regulations proposed by the Romney administration that would allow insurers to use credit scores in setting rates for homeowner's and renter's insurance. Sullivan said he will appear at a hearing on the proposed regulations today and ask Insurance Commissioner Julianne M. Bowler to turn over all information she has gathered on credit scoring and postpone any action on the regulations until he has had a chance to do his own investigation. The inspector general, who has subpoena power, said he may also seek documents from the credit scorers themselves. The credit-scoring regulations also drew the ire of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who sent a letter to Bowler expressing his opposition to her regulations and the use of credit scores in setting insurance rates. He said Massachusetts should follow the lead of Hawaii and Maryland in banning the use of credit scores by insurance companies. http://www.boston.com:80/dailyglobe2/192/business/Credit_scoring_disputed+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 11:41:40 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Web Site Causes Unease in Police By ADAM LIPTAK William Sheehan does not like the police. He expresses his views about what he calls police corruption in Washington State on his Web site, where he also posts lists of police officers' addresses, home phone numbers and Social Security numbers. State officials say those postings expose officers and their families to danger and invite identity theft. But neither litigation nor legislation has stopped Mr. Sheehan, who promises to expand his site to include every police and corrections officer in the state by the end of the year. Mr. Sheehan says he obtains the information lawfully, from voter registration, property, motor vehicle and other official records. But his provocative use of personal data raises questions about how the law should address the dissemination of accurate, publicly available information that is selected and made accessible in a way that may facilitate the invasion of privacy, computer crime, even violence. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/12/national/12NET.html [Lisa Minter note: When reading NY Times articles, users are invited to use our group login name 'telecomdigest' and our group password for same 'telecomdigest'. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: dorkfish@fishtop.com (KellBot) Subject: Re: No NID, Phone Line Troubleshooting Date: 11 Jul 2003 12:25:21 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Yeah, one of my roomates found out the hard way that there *is* some voltage in the wires. We also decided against working on them during a thunderstorm. This is what we go to college to learn, right :P Verizon guy came out today (on time! I was shocked), attatched the wire to the side of the house (it was just lying on the ground before) and installed a NID. Works beautifully now. Now I just have to figure out the best way to hook up a new jack. We only have one right now, and it'd be nice to have another ... shouldn't be hard, just a little inconvenient. Thanks for the help :) 'nuther Bob wrote in message news:... > Be aware that there *is* significant voltage in the wires. Don't let > them touch each other. Don't touch both at the same time, particularly > if you have any cuts on your fingers. Wear rubber shoes and don't > touch concrete walls, water/gas/oil pipes, other wiring, etc -- or > metal ladders touching any of that stuff -- as you work. If you don't > know anything about electricity and safe wiring, don't do this job. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 17:15:45 -0400 From: Ron Chapman Subject: Re: Problem "Registering" my Siemens 2410 - 2.4GHz Handsets In article , Michael D. Sullivan wrote: > With the Siemens wireless phones, you need to have the base station > set to register a new handset, on its menu, at the same time as the > handset (one at a time) is set to register with a base station, on its > own menu. You can (re)set the system PIN from the base station first. I have a Siemens 24something, the original but without the answering machine. The base is just a black box -- no display, no buttons, no controls whatsoever. There is no way to do anything from the base; absolutely everything is done from handsets that recognize the base. Without that, nothing can be done. So if the original question came from someone in that position, what now? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 16:26:09 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: McDonalds Lawsuit From: Reply-To: temp7@thewolfden.org 'nuther Bob wrote about Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List on Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:57:04 GMT: > ...As another example, one case that appears to be frivolous on the > surface was the McDonalds spilt coffee/burn case. At first glance, > it looks like another foolish "blame the company for my actions" > suit. However, if you read the testimony from MCDonalds own > witnesses, it becomes clear that it's a case of a company taking > specific actions that they knew were harmful to the public. (I can > post a few facts/testimony if you care). Despite over 700 previous > claims, McDonalds continued to sell dangerously hot coffee. Again, > companies have to be held responsible for their actions, just as > individuals must. > [Lisa Minter note: How is coffee supposed to be served, if not really > hot? That's how I like to drink mine. Lisa M.] Surely you can you accept that its possible for coffee to be too hot? What if it was served so hot that it gave you third degree burns on your lips when you tried to drink it, and required whirlpool treatments, skin grafting, and left you disabled for several weeks, as it did on the plaintiff's legs when she spilled it? What if they knowingly served it much too hot to drink immediately, assuming you'll let it sit for 5 minutes before drinking it, but never bother to tell you this? Did you know McDonalds testified it knew it's coffee is "not fit for consumption" as sold because of how hot it (still) is? I can't find the legal summary I read while bored one day, but there are all sorts of web sites that talk about this. It's not as silly as it first sounds, whether or not you agree with the final outcome. Not that most people would waste the time to actually find that out. http://www.newsaic.com/casecivil.html http://www.vanfirm.com/mcdonalds-coffee-lawsuit.htm http://www.newsaic.com/ftvseinfeld00e.html http://www.stellaawards.com/stella.html etc... ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 22:53:02 GMT On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 09:03:10 -0700, John David Galt wrote: > Those statements were never intended to fool anyone, and probably > didn't; the tobacco executives were just covering their anatomy. > Everyone has known since the Attorney General's warning in the > sixties, at least, that tobacco causes cancer. First of all, the only suits that have been effective have been those regarding smokers who started before the SG started requiring warning labels. The only reason they have been effective is that the tobacco companies *knowingly hid* information regarding health problems and took *specific actions* to hide this information. Do you think the tobacco companies would have settled if they thought they could have beaten the lawsuits ? Of course not. That's why they still fight 100% of them and deny responsibility. (And if someone continues to smoke with the current warnings in place, I agree that the tobacco company should prevail). > The real problem is the busybody attitude that says if a product > carries risks to the user, it should be banned. I say bah humbug! > Everything we do in life carries risks and rewards. As adults, each > of us is entitled to decide these tradeoffs for himself. No group, > including "society", has any business taking that option away from any > one of us. That's not the issue at all. That's not the reason the tobacco companies paid off. Lots of products are risky. Take a stroll through the insecticide department at Kmart. There's stuff in there that will blind you with a small spill in the eye. Companies just have to act responsibly. The tobacco companies didn't. Bob ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 21:21:27 -0500 From: Ron Bean Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List 'nuther Bob writes: > As another example, one case that appears to be frivolous on the > surface was the McDonalds spilt coffee/burn case. There should be a variant of Godwin's Law related to this case ... > [Lisa Minter note: How is coffee supposed to be served, if not really > hot? That's how I like to drink mine. Lisa M.] It was *much* too hot to drink. If it was hot enough to cause burns, what do you think would have happened if she had managed to actually drink some of it? ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 11:05:31 -0400 Organization: Bell Sympatico > [Lisa Minter note: How is coffee supposed to be served, if not really > hot? That's how I like to drink mine. Lisa M.] It would seem obvious to me that no beverage meant for drinking should be served hot enough to cause third degree burns. See Geoffrey Welsh This address is not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Unsolicited bulk mail is spam, no matter what regulations (real or imagined) it complies with! FIGHT SPAM AND SCAMS: DISCONNECT CHINA FROM THE INTERNET! [Lisa Minter note: Well, I guess that may have been too hot. What I do (when I walk over to McDonalds, and elsewhere) with a cup of coffee is first barely touch it to my lips and if it is too hot, sit it back down on the table for a couple minutes. I *expect* it to be quite hot, and I never order it 'to go' when in a car or somewhere there could be a sudden stop causing it to spill. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: Charles Cryderman Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 16:29:03 -0400 Master John McHarry wrote: > I think this is an argument for not making that information public > at all, not for keeping it off the Internet. Then Master John Higdon followed up with: > So, you would advocate having our legal processes in secret? Just > think of all the deals that could be made behind closed doors, then! > And then, if you made a rukus, the government could just whisk you > off to a late-night secret "trial" and throw you in the hoosgow > ... with no one the wiser. To the second John I say: I think you missed what the first John was talking about. What I believe he was referring to was the SSN and other information of that nature shouldn't be on the net. Then John number two stated: > Sarcasm aside, I think that I would rather see our legal processes > conducted in the light of day. Judges are quite capable of sealing records > when it is truly appropriate. I agree that it is better to have a very open judicial system, but I disagree on the second part. Judges should never be permitted to seal any record of the courts unless it relates to crimes toward children, then only identifiable information pertaining to the child or children involved in the case. To many cases are being settled and then sealed, denying the rest of the citizenry their rightful information. If you think about it how many hazard products would have been taken off the shelve had the companies that manufactured them not been able to seal off the court records in effect hiding their transgressions. Chip Cryderman ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 19:24:46 -0700 From: Name Withheld at Reader Request Subject: Interesting AT&T Film [ PAT - Please do not publish my email address, thanks] While going through Bell System films at archive.org, I found http://www.archive.org/movies/movies-details-db.php?collection=prelinger&collectionid=19351 The first minute or two is boring, but it gets more interesting, at about the 8:00 - 8:30 mark, you can see the punched tape that call data was collected on with a short (basic) discussion about what's represented. Lincoln ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 12:31:18 -0700 Another intermediate step, between the TE01 circular mode and fiber approaches, was a lot of research at Bell Labs and elsewhere on periodic optical lensguides -- repeated sequences of long-focal-length lenses in the range of 10 cm diameter spaced on the order of hundreds of meters apart (I'm recalling these dimensions from memory) which periodically refocused a laser beam, allowing transmission over long distances with very low optical losses. This concept emerged from the work of Fox, Li, Boyd, Kogelnik, and others at the beginning of the 1960s on optical resonators for lasers, and is documented in numerous papers in the BSTJ of that era. Reflection losses at the lens surfaces were one of the main sources of attenuation in these lensguides, even with good optical coatings. This led to the invention and development of the intriguing concept of a "gas lens". Take a piece of cooled metal pipe say 10 cm in inner diameter and a meter long; inject hot air in the center and let it flow out the ends; and the radial distribution of temperature and optical density across the pipe will create a weak axially distributed lens that is essentially lossless and optically quite good. Calculating the relationship between the power associated with amount of hot gas flow needed and the optical power of the lens leads to the interesting figure of merit for such a lens of "diopters per kilowatt". I believe that the work on this concept went so far as testing (successfully) an underground line some hundreds of meters long at Holmdel, before the whole idea was abruptly killed off by the development of truly low-loss optical fibers by Corning researchers in the early 1970s. ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Must be a Newbie Spammer Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 01:03:35 -0500 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , news01@jmatt.net says... > I received a response to a spamcop complaint once that I wish I'd > saved because it was priceless. The poor spammer seemed genuinely > shocked that I had reported her to an outside agency. Well, the exchange is ongoing. This one is quite funny too. I think I'll post the whole thing on my website in a week or so when the spammer gets tired of hearing from me. The spammer actually reported *me* to the FTC for spamming. LOL. He also accused me, wrongly, of being a spamcop deputy. I wish I had the time. I'd love to harrass more spammers. He still hasn't answered my original question of how my unused-for-2-years email address ended up on his "double opt-in" list. This guy apparently is affiliated somehow with a place called EVN Inc, and I guess he sent my response to them, and they responded as well. They actually included in the email a terms and conditions paragraph that said I'm not allowed to make public this email, confidential, blah blah. I explained that since we had no contractual agreement, I have no duty to honor his "terms and conditions". I'm going to send them the link when I put it up. I guess I should have said that my "terms and conditions" include sending a bill for $10.00 to everyone that sends me spam, to recoup my cost of processing it. This is the most fun I've ever had with spam! Dave Phelps DD Networks www.ddnets.com deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: Chuk Gleason Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 18:54:10 -0400 Subject: Re: A Copyright Cold War? I've had it credited to late-19th/early 20th century journalist Ambrose Bierce: Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage. So true, in so many other areas than politics. In the case of the current copyright issues, I feel that the copyright owners will, by winning the battles, lose the war. Their strident, shrieking mania actually distances them from the mainstream; the mainstream man in the street (or, this one at least) sees them as money grubbing, grasping harpies with only the industry's interests at heart. I'm sorry, that's an insult to harpies. More's the pity, there ain't anybody big enough to knock some sense into their heads like their mama's should. Chuk Gleason Cary, NC A Copyright Cold War? (Monty Solomon) > > Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 02:52:18 -0400 > From: Monty Solomon > Subject: A Copyright Cold War? ..................... > Abstract > Participants in the United States' ongoing debates over peer-to-peer > transfers of potentially copyrighted files have regularly trafficked > in the rhetoric of warfare. While it is easy to understand how > copyright holders would view peer-to-peer file transfers as a kind of > attack, the rhetorical turn toward the discourse of military conflict. ------------------------------ From: Paul Robinson Organization: Elusive-Butterfly.net Subject: Re: Ambush TV / Pranks May Be Funny, but Victims May Get Last Laugh Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 01:12:49 GMT > [Lisa Minter note: I think those shows are all mean and hateful. I am > told many people refuse to sign off giving permission for that junk > to be shown on television. Lisa M.] I saw an episode of one of those shows, and in the show they moved the guy's car, put in a shell that looked just like it, then destroyed the shell to make him think his car had been wrecked. It kind of dawned on me later when he found out it was just a prank that he was cool about it, because I realized when they moved his car without his permission they committed the crime of *Felony Auto Theft* and that the entire crew was probably also guilty of *conspiracy to commit felony auto theft*. If the guy had been mad enough to prosecute they might have been looking at jail time. Paul Robinson "Above all else... We shall go on..." "...And continue!" "If the lessons of history teach us anything it is that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us." ------------------------------ From: mkern@o2.co.uk (Marcus Kern) Subject: Re: New 118 Directory Enquiries Date: 12 Jul 2003 15:40:52 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ > So you wondered who's behind all those different 118 directory enquiry > numbers in the UK and how much they cost ? Well, I find this mighty > confusing which is why I'm trying here to make some sense of it here: > http://www.marcuskern.com/info/118.htm > There are literally hundreds of 118 numbers and providers. I've only > fished out a few that I felt were worth mentioning. > Over time I'm aiming to get more and more useful information about the > available directory enquiries together here. If you like to help with > your comment (good or bad) please e-mail me at 118@marcuskern.com. > Currently the list is for National (UK) directory enquiries only. > Check it out: > http://www.marcuskern.com/info/118.htm > Cheers, > Marcus The site has been updated with the latest changes on all 118 providers: http://www.marcuskern.com/info/118.htm ------------------------------ From: leskahuna@yahoo.com (Les) Subject: Panasonic KX-FMC230 Fax Not Sending or Receiving Date: 12 Jul 2003 15:58:45 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi, Not sure what's wrong with my fax with built in 900 mhz cordless phone. The phone works fine as well as the copy function. However, it will not send any faxes both automatically or manual mode. If I do it automatically, the paper feeds through and saves it in the memory and keeps trying to send it but keeps failing. If I do it manually, by turning on the speaeker phone, dialing the #, and pressing start after hearing the fax tone on the other side, it starts the hand shake and the LCD will read "OTHER FAX NOT REPLY" although I know the fax machine is working. It will not receive from other machines as well and just hangs up. Anyone know what's wrong? Thanks, Lester ------------------------------ 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 #562 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jul 13 17:27:53 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6DLRr425524; Sun, 13 Jul 2003 17:27:53 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 17:27:53 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307132127.h6DLRr425524@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #563 TELECOM Digest Sun, 13 Jul 2003 17:28:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 563 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Cellular Wiretaps: Local Police Do it, Too (Danny Burstein) Walk-By Hacking (Monty Solomon) Is VOIP Ready For Prime Time? (Monty Solomon) Cards Conjure Fears of 1984 (Monty Solomon) Re: A Web Site Causes Unease in Police (J Kelly) Re: A Web Site Causes Unease in Police (Dave Phelps) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List ('nuther Bob) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Richard Johnson) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Tom Betz) Re: Panasonic KX-FMC230 Fax Not Sending or Receiving (Gail M. Hall) Re: Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes (John R. Levine) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Panasonic KX-FMC230 Fax Not Sending or Receiving (Robert Bonomi) Voice Mail System For 4-Line Phone? (Sep) 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: Cellular Wiretaps: Local Police do it, Too Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 03:48:49 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC [Submitters note: the story refers to the continuing, and very extended and delayed, investigation into a fire at a Seton Hall dormitory which killed three students back on 19-Jan-2000] Seton fire suspects' cell phones were tapped Authorities notify Ryan, LePore and his parents of conversations intercepted in 2001 Saturday, July 12, 2003 BY BRIAN T. MURRAY Star-Ledger Staff Investigators in the fatal Seton Hall University dormitory fire wiretapped the cell phones of the two suspects in the case, along with the home phone of one suspect's family, according to Superior Court notification letters sent to the family members and friends whose conversations were picked up in the eavesdropping. The wiretapping of Sean Ryan and Joseph LePore, both of Florham Park, was done in addition to the placement of electronic eavesdropping devices in LePore's home. State Police and investigators with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, acting on a warrant, entered the LePore house on Wednesday to retrieve the bugs. Ryan, LePore and their families were unaware of the wiretapping until "Inventory Notices" were delivered by certified mail to family and friends of the suspects on Thursday, according to attorneys. Signed by Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Falcone on Tuesday, the notices explained that the judge authorized the wiretaps on July 3, 2001, and that he sealed the tapes of the intercepted conversations after the wiretapping ended weeks later. [ snippety snip, rest of story, available for the moment, at: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-4/105798819131370.xml an earlier story whcih talks about the "bugs" in the home: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-4/105781774621520.xml Comment: nothing in the story describes the actual mechanism of the "wiretap". Options certainly include a direct feed from the cellular company's MTSO or a "cloned" phone. Anyone know specifics? _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 12:28:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Walk-By Hacking By ERIK SHERMAN "We've got 12 ... wait, 13. Another just came in!" On the hunt for 30 seconds, Gary Morse is jazzed. We've walked about 45 feet down Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, and he has been counting the number of chirrups coming from the speaker of his hand-held computer. Each represents potential prey: wireless networks in the offices and apartments above us. So far, we have had more than a dozen chances to sneak Internet access, reap user ID's and passwords and otherwise peer into the private affairs of individuals and businesses. Morse is an expert -- president of Razorpoint Security Technologies Inc., a computer security consulting firm that helps companies find their weak spots and fix them -- and a self-described 'professional hacker.' He knows dozens of tricks to ease his way into any of the networks he has found. Most users don't realize that left untended, the wireless technology that can quickly connect computers will literally broadcast every bit of transmitted information to anyone with a computer and a $40 wireless networking card. The software package running on Morse's hand-held is called Kismet, from a Turkish-derived word meaning fate. The program uses the wireless card like a police band scanner, noting each wireless network that makes its presence known. "I could put it in my pocket and record all the networks without anyone seeing," he says. The program is available to security experts and would-be hackers for a perfectly legal and free download. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/13/magazine/13HACKING.html [Lisa Minter note: To read articles in NY Times, readers here are invited to use the group login name 'telecomdigest' and the group password 'telecomdigest' in order to protect personal privacy and partially avoid spam. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 12:52:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Is VOIP Ready For Prime Time? By Ben Charny Staff Writer, CNET News.com Internet phone calling is poised for a major boost as cable giants get into the game, but some of the biggest players are holding back. While still just a trickle, early defectors to voice over IP (VOIP) represent the vanguard in a trend that some analysts believe could soon roil the communications industry. Independent VOIP providers such as Vonage and 8x8 are beginning to steal consumers from tradition phone operators with flat-rate VOIP plans that cost between $20 and $40 a month for local and long distance calls. Even as momentum for VOIP mounts, however, some of the biggest cable companies have begun to suggest that the technology isn't yet ready for the masses. ... http://news.com.com/2100-1037-1024883.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 21:44:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cards Conjure Fears of 1984 By Stephan Ohr EE Times Critics were up in arms earlier this year when Philips Semiconductors announced prematurely that a potential customer, clothing maker Benetton, would use its RFID tags to track inventories on department store shelves. But the flap over the privacy consequences of identification technology at the retail level may have been just a warm-up. http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030707S0040 ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: A Web Site Causes Unease in Police Date: 12 Jul 2003 17:32:26 -0700 Organization: Newsguy News Service [http://newsguy.com] How is this any different that having Court Records online? This is just like some cases in Iowa where property tax info was posted online, sometimes including pictures and drawings of the interiors of houses. But of course, certain public employees properties were excluded from the website for "privacy" reasons. If some peoples personal info is okay to post, then *everybodies* should be fair game. In article , Monty says ... > By ADAM LIPTAK > William Sheehan does not like the police. He expresses his views about > what he calls police corruption in Washington State on his Web site, > where he also posts lists of police officers' addresses, home phone > numbers and Social Security numbers. > State officials say those postings expose officers and their families > to danger and invite identity theft. But neither litigation nor > legislation has stopped Mr. Sheehan, who promises to expand his site > to include every police and corrections officer in the state by the > end of the year. > Mr. Sheehan says he obtains the information lawfully, from voter > registration, property, motor vehicle and other official records. But > his provocative use of personal data raises questions about how the > law should address the dissemination of accurate, publicly available > information that is selected and made accessible in a way that may > facilitate the invasion of privacy, computer crime, even violence. > http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/12/national/12NET.html > [Lisa Minter note: When reading NY Times articles, users are invited > to use our group login name 'telecomdigest' and our group password for > same 'telecomdigest'. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: A Web Site Causes Unease in Police Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 20:53:26 -0500 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , monty@roscom.com says: > By ADAM LIPTAK > William Sheehan does not like the police. He expresses his views about > what he calls police corruption in Washington State on his Web site, > where he also posts lists of police officers' addresses, home phone > numbers and Social Security numbers. I don't see the problem with someone taking any public information and consolidating it into any form he wants. After all, it is *publicly* available information. Same thing with that college student whose successful project has been to map communications infrastructure. He's now being interviewed by government officials about his information. The problem is, it's public info. You can't tell people what they can and can't do with public information. The real solution, in this case for example, is to not make police officers' home addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, etc. public. I would be truly perturbed if my employer made my information public. It would be completely different if this person was making this information public, after aquiring it from other non-public sources. Then he could be in big trouble. However, that's not the case apparently. If I were the police officers, I would consider a class-action against the organization that publicized the information in the first place. It's a classic case of "don't kill the messenger." Dave Phelps DD Networks www.ddnets.com deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 03:25:04 GMT On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 11:05:31 -0400, Geoffrey Welsh wrote: > It would seem obvious to me that no beverage meant for drinking should > be served hot enough to cause third degree burns. See > See, now you're forcing me to post the details :-) First, McDonalds requires all franchises to do everything by the book. Exactly the same, no exceptions. The book said that they had to keep the coffee between 180 and 190 degrees. This is scalding hot. Temperatures above 140 degrees are considered dangerous to skin. McDonalds *own* expert testified to that fact. He also testified that they knew this, but they had no intention of changing their rules. The plaintiff suffered *third degree* burns over 6% of her body. She was in the hospital 6 days and required skin grafts. She initially only asked that McDonalds cover her medical bills. They refused. She then contracted an attorney and sued. What lost the case for MCDonalds, IMHO, is the fact that they had 700 reported claims for burns from coffee according to the companies own records. In other words, the plaintiff was the 701st time McDonalds had been made aware of the issue -- yet they continued to engage in the behavior. In fact, the trial judge, in pronouncing the judgement, called McDonalds conduct "reckless, callous and willful". Bob ------------------------------ From: Richard Johnson Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 01:21:48 -0600 Organization: Whirlpools Suck the Breath Out of You Reply-To: rnews@river.com In article , PAT wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here again, we have a case of getting > into things not your own (someone else's phone number) and forging a > document or three for your own interests, then blaming *your own > dishonesty* on the 'flaws' in someone else's work. While far from > perfect, the way the web site is set up now is you go there and enter > both the phone number to be listed *AND* a valid email address for > yourself. You then recieve back *in email, almost immediatly* a > request to confirm what you have done. You must click on the link > provided at that point and proceed to 'verify' your entry. And your > IP address is noted at the same time for their logs. PAT] Sadly, aggressive teleslimers, like spammers and other crooks, are unlikely to be swayed by arguments that they 'play nice.' The smarter among them will use open proxies to launder their confirmations. Others won't care, as the job will be outsourced to users of dialup ISPs in India or similar places outside the jurisdiction of the FTC. All they need is plausible deniability. The fact remains that AT&T's donotcall.gov site is poorly designed for its stated purpose. It is not even close to secure enough to prevent such likely attacks. An email address requirement does nothing to enhance the security. The requirement is, in fact, perhaps worthy of mention on . This leads me, as a present paranoid security profesional who in the past worked for a company in the privacy violation industry, to suspect other reasons for the email address requirement. The gathering of email addresses associated with phone numbers, from those too naive to use throwaway email addresses (the majority of users, still), will provide a data goldmine for epending and similar nefarious marketer purposes. Who controls the list? Follow the money. Richard To reply via email, make sure you don't enter the whirlpool on river left. My mailbox. My property. My personal space. My rules. Deal with it. http://www.river.com/users/share/cluetrain/ ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 23:54:58 UTC Organization: XOme Quoth Tom Betz in news:telecom22.555.6@telecom-digest.org: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here again, we have a case of getting > into things not your own (someone else's phone number) and forging a > document or three for your own interests, then blaming *your own > dishonesty* on the 'flaws' in someone else's work. MY DISHONESTY? I wouldn't do such a thing; but I'm justifiably suspicious of the telemarketer scum. Just ask anyone who's tried to enforce the laws against junk faxing to what lengths fax spammers will go to forge documentation "proving" that plaintiffs requested their junk faxes. Fortunately, the day after that radio show I mentioned aired, the "unlist my phone number" option mysteriously disappeared from the donotcall.gov site. And good riddance to it. ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Panasonic KX-FMC230 Fax Not Sending or Receiving Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 20:45:38 -0400 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On 12 Jul 2003 15:58:45 -0700, in comp.dcom.telecom message , leskahuna@yahoo.com (Les) wrote: > Hi, > Not sure what's wrong with my fax with built in 900 mhz cordless > phone. The phone works fine as well as the copy function. However, > it will not send any faxes both automatically or manual mode. If I do > it automatically, the paper feeds through and saves it in the memory > and keeps trying to send it but keeps failing. If I do it manually, > by turning on the speaeker phone, dialing the #, and pressing start > after hearing the fax tone on the other side, it starts the hand shake > and the LCD will read "OTHER FAX NOT REPLY" although I know the fax > machine is working. It will not receive from other machines as well > and just hangs up. > Anyone know what's wrong? I don't have your type of fax, and I don't know why yours is acting that way. But I had a problem using my Sharp fax on our line that has extensions connected to it. It worked fine on a line that had nothing else connected to it. I wonder if your phone line has more than one phone attached to it and if that might be the cause of your problem. Just why mine acted that way I don't know. Were sounds from the other phones or the answering machine disturbing the perception of the fax? When on a line by itself, I could use an answering machine with the fax machine. It was set up so you could plug in the answering machine to the wall, and hook the fax to the answering machine. But it apparently didn't like stuff "on the side." I've had that fax machine for several years, so I suspect that phone lines now have features and sounds on them that my fax doesn't understand. I no longer have it connected. I got too much junk! And I am no longer running the business that I needed the fax for. Also, the phone part had no way of turning off the ringer. Since it was just a fax, I didn't want to have it ringing in the night, etc. Your set sounds like a nice idea -- if it would work. It would be nice to have a fax machine with a cordless phone. A person doesn't want to have to have the computer on all the time, especially in stormy weather. I hope someone knows the answer to your problem! Gail in Ohio USA ------------------------------ Date: 13 Jul 2003 03:55:35 -0000 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Telecom Digest is the only group outside of our old Cleveland Free-Net > where moderators do this. I wonder if this was an earlier custom that > was later changed for most usenet groups later on. It's an old custom, but Telecom is hardly the only place with actual live editors that add notes. Drop by comp.compilers sometime, for example. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 330 5711 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 03:57:18 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126) <6212hgk{invert}@ newsguy.com> by saying to him: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Privacy' has no place in the same >> sentence as 'open and public judicial proceedings'. > Yes, it does. > Making all details regarding participants in civil matters exposes > them to identity theft. > If you have ever filed for bankruptcy, your SSN, full name and address > are now part of the court record. > May I please have your SSN, full name and address, and post that on > the web for all the world to see? > Kinda puts a different light on the issue. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Putting those records on the Internet > does nothing a dedicated snooper could not do by sitting down at your > local courthouse and copying the files by hand. Your problem obviously > is with the idea of having an open judicial system in this country. The > Internet has added nothing except the convenience of automated reporting > to a system that was around from even before my time. If you want to > complain about something, then complain how people's morals and ethics > in the handling of 'sensitive' information have not kept pace with the > speed of technology, but don't blame the technology. PAT] Well, in fact, Pat, it does. Hi. Nice to be back. :-) It's two or maybe three orders of magnitude easier to collect information posted to the net than it would be if you had to drive, in person, to 104 county courthouses all over Florida to get a bunch of information like this... and that *does* make it a different thing. A difference in degree *becomes* a difference in sorts, when it gets large enough. And brushing the topic off isn't going to help much. As long as people keep using SSN as an authenticator, which it's not intended to be. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But people did not 'drive around to 104 different county courthouses all over Florida' to get records. Interchange of records is done through cooperative snydicates of record collectors. Let's say I here in Kansas want records from Florida. You in Florida want records from Kansas. *I* pull the *Kansas* records and sent copies to you. *You* pull the *Florida* records and send them to me. We both send our records to someone in New York and California and someone in those places sends their records to us. Now all of us record collectors (refer to us as 'credit bureaus' for example) have all the records. All any of us did was go to our own courthouse locally, and make dozens of copies to send around. The syndicate of record collectors have been organ- ized for many, many years even back in pre-computer days. 'Trans- Union Credit Information Corporation' for example began its life back in about 1920 as the 'Chicago Credit Bureau'. And no one had to drive from one courthouse to another. Record collecting and dissemination is a very old industry. If I need ten of your records and you need only nine of my records then you pay me in net for one record. Or what we actually do is make an annual settlement of the differences, etc. And we charge each other the 'wholesale' rate for record retrieval and copying so we can each charge our clients the 'retail' rate and make a profit at it. Nothing new is happening, but I agree it has gotten a lot easier to maintain the records. Like all pre-computer days large offices with thousands of clerks shuffling papers around (telco for example or Amoco/Diners Club credit card) now they *in general* need fewer employees on the payroll to do the same job. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Online Court Records Raise Privacy Issues Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 03:58:50 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Steven J Sobol said to him: >> Making all details regarding participants in civil matters exposes >> them to identity theft. > So don't place the critical stuff like SSN's online. Everything else > belongs online. The problem isn't that the SSN is online ... .... it's that it's *critical*. Responding now to TELECOM Digest Editor: > Your complaint needs to be with the people who break the law, not the > people who have improved on the data transfer mechanism. PAT] Well, perhaps. But there are ethical considerations that are incumbent upon you as a systems designer when you create computer systems -- and while some of them surely amount to "bad things will be easier", and that doesn't move the "bad" from the doers to you -- that doesn't make the fact that more bad may happen something you're completely immune from responsibility for, either. ACM has a set of programmer ethics on this topic: http://www.acm.org/serving/se/code.htm Sure, we should "get" the crooks. But we should also make sure we're not making their job gratuitously easier. John Higdon said: > In article , John McHarry > wrote: >> I think this is an argument for not making that information public at >> all, not for keeping it off the Internet. > So, you would advocate having our legal processes in secret? Just > think of all the deals that could be made behind closed doors, then! > And then, if you made a rukus, the government could just whisk you off > to a late-night secret "trial" and throw you in the hoosgow ... with > no one the wiser. Aw, cmon; John. Spare the reductio ad absurdum; that's not what John said. Haven't you mellowed at all in ten years? ;-) Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And I strongly suggest you all go back and read again, carefully the special issue (560) of TELECOM Digest on Friday (reprinted from the Digest in 1994) of the speech given in 1990 -- just as we were starting to really get into public computing big time -- by Neil Postman to the German IBM convention. Remember, all tehnology has good points and bad points; a trade off. Computers are supposed to make the world a better place, right? After you re-read that speech, then step in front of a mirror and peek at your enemy. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Panasonic KX-FMC230 Fax Not Sending or Receiving Organization: Not Much From: bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 13:18:49 GMT In article , Les wrote: > Not sure what's wrong with my fax with built in 900 mhz cordless > phone. The phone works fine as well as the copy function. However, > it will not send any faxes both automatically or manual mode. If I do > it automatically, the paper feeds through and saves it in the memory > and keeps trying to send it but keeps failing. If I do it manually, > by turning on the speaeker phone, dialing the #, and pressing start > after hearing the fax tone on the other side, it starts the hand shake > and the LCD will read "OTHER FAX NOT REPLY" although I know the fax > machine is working. It will not receive from other machines as well > and just hangs up. > Anyone know what's wrong? It's *BROKEN*. The problem appears to be obvious. The fax processing logic cannot 'hear' the incoming audio. ------------------------------ From: sep@riotech.com (Sep) Subject: Voice Mail System For 4-Line Phone? Date: 13 Jul 2003 06:21:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I have a small business with 10 4-line phones that support up to 12 or so extensions. So I have what I need to answer multiple lines, transfer calls, etc. What I'm missing is to be able to have voice mailboxes for a few individuals, so when someone calls and asks to be transferred to someone's voicemail, I could do that. Is this possible? Right now all I can do is write down a message on a stickynote :( Your advice is much appreciated. -Sep ------------------------------ 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 #563 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 14 16:40:00 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6EKdx014944; Mon, 14 Jul 2003 16:40:00 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 16:40:00 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307142040.h6EKdx014944@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #564 TELECOM Digest Mon, 14 Jul 2003 16:40:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 564 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Re: McDonalds Lawsuit (Dana) Re: Cellular Wiretaps: Local Police do it, Too (Dana) Re: Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes (Steven J. Sobol) Re: Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes (Gail M. Hall) The Sound of Silence (Monty Solomon) Privacy Rights Under Threat by Lawmakers (Monty Solomon) A Virginia Law Aids Identity Theft Victims (Monty Solomon) Pleasure Hunt/'Geocaching' Buccaneers Pursue Hidden Bounty (M Solomon) 411 Calling ME? (News Reader) Re: Voice Mail System For 4-Line Phone? (Dave Phelps) Re: Voice Mail System For 4-Line Phone? (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Voice Mail System For 4-Line Phone? (A Beilby) Valcom Digital Feedback Eliminator (Paging System) (KI7G) Re: Sprint Predicts End Of Universe! (Rovilio Rangas) 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: Dana Subject: Re: McDonalds Lawsuit Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 12:19:01 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com wrote in message news:telecom22.562.7@telecom-digest.org: > 'nuther Bob wrote about Re: Glitches Hit > FTC 'Do-not-Call' List on Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:57:04 GMT: >> ...As another example, one case that appears to be frivolous on the >> surface was the McDonalds spilt coffee/burn case. At first glance, >> it looks like another foolish "blame the company for my actions" And it was. The lady spilled hot coffee on herself while trying to put the cream and sugar in. The big question is why she was doing that in her lap, vice on the floor of the vehicle, especially since she was the passenger. >> [Lisa Minter note: How is coffee supposed to be served, if not really >> hot? That's how I like to drink mine. Lisa M.] > Surely you can you accept that its possible for coffee to be too hot? Surely you can accept that people should be responsible for their own well being. > What if it was served so hot that it gave you third degree burns on > your lips when you tried to drink it Everyone with common sense knows they have to let the coffee cool off a little before they drink it. ------------------------------ From: Dana Subject: Re: Cellular Wiretaps: Local Police do it, Too Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 13:47:49 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Danny Burstein wrote in message news:telecom22.563.1@telecom-digest.org: > Comment: nothing in the story describes the actual mechanism of the > "wiretap". Options certainly include a direct feed from the cellular > company's MTSO or a "cloned" phone. Anyone know specifics? Why? ------------------------------ From: Steven J. Sobol Subject: Re: Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 23:07:18 -0000 Organization: JustThe.net LLC From John R. Levine (johnl@iecc.com): >> Telecom Digest is the only group outside of our old Cleveland Free-Net >> where moderators do this. I wonder if this was an earlier custom that >> was later changed for most usenet groups later on. > It's an old custom, but Telecom is hardly the only place with actual > live editors that add notes. Drop by comp.compilers sometime, for > example. Or rec.radio.broadcasting. I generally just follow up to posts in threads in which I'm interested in, but I occasionally pull a Townson here and there. :) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge, JustThe.net "Microsoft must think they're a navy, they open so many ports." --Ben Scott on the ISP-TECH mailing list, 18 June 2003 [Lisa Minter note: Dear Nerd in Charge, exactly what do you do when you 'pull a Townson here and there'? Please advise how that works. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Question About TELECOM Digest Editor's Notes Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 14:50:45 -0400 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On 13 Jul 2003 03:55:35 -0000, johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) wrote: >> Telecom Digest is the only group outside of our old Cleveland Free-Net >> where moderators do this. I wonder if this was an earlier custom that >> was later changed for most usenet groups later on. > It's an old custom, but Telecom is hardly the only place with actual > live editors that add notes. Drop by comp.compilers sometime, for > example. You're right! I meant to insert "that I have seen" but somehow let that go by without inserting it. The closest I ever got to programming for computers was writing WordPerfect macros and a few scripts for Procomm. I doubt if *real* programmers call that "programming"! I am the kind that has trouble figuring out how to get my voice mail messages from my cell phone provider. I think I'm going to ask them to just take it off because any messages I have been able to retrieve are either wrong numbers or spam, er I mean telemarketers' pitches. I tried the newsgroup for my service, but most of the messages were way over my head. So I'll just take your word about the comp.compilers group. Thanks for pointing out my error! Gail in Ohio USA ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 09:07:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Sound of Silence Shhh! Bose's new noise-cancellation headset is the first to mute the outside world without adding an annoying hiss of its own. By Simson Garfinkel Gadget Master July 9, 2003 Hearing is believing. Or rather, with the new Bose QuietComfort 2 headsets, it's not hearing that's believing. Slip on this headset, turn on the power to activate the QC2's noise canceling circuitry, and you'll suddenly hear less of the background noise around you. Less ventilation equipment, less street noise, less people talking in the background-less everything. Keep the headset on, and you'll soon start to notice your breathing and your beating heart. It's as if someone behind your back reached out, found the volume control for the world, and turned it way, way, down. http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_garfinkel070903.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 20:23:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Privacy Rights Under Threat by Lawmakers By Dan Gillmor Mercury News Technology Columnist In the constant battle to preserve what's left of our privacy and roll back some of the invasions we've already suffered, one reality is all too clear: Elected officials are not on our side. Last week brought the latest perversion of the public will, the cowardly refusal of the California Legislature to enact even modest improvements in financial privacy. The voters will do it instead, in a ballot measure next year. Meanwhile, state and federal lawmakers are almost totally oblivious to future threats, including some that should be dealt with before they cause trouble. For example, retailers will soon be installing little identifying radios, a technology known as RFID, into items they sell, enabling a host of new privacy invasions that could make the status quo seem benign. We all understand why lawmakers hold the public good, and will, in such contempt. They tend to vote on behalf of their financial benefactors. Commercial interests see our privacy as a barrier to their business. Game over? No. We have to care enough to take matters into our own hands. Pressuring politicians is vital, but it's plainly not enough. We'll need to do a little multitasking to retrieve our right to be left alone. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6293890.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 22:25:39 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Virginia Law Aids Identity Theft Victims By Michael D. Shear, Washington Post, 7/13/2003 RICHMOND, Va. -- Federal and state police put the handcuffs on 32-year-old Angel Gonzales in front of his wife and two young children just as the neighborhood school bus pulled up. "We're taking your father to jail," they told his 6-year-old daughter, walking Gonzales to the cruiser as his neighbors gawked. The police had nabbed Gonzales, who lives in the Tidewater area of Virginia, on a Las Vegas fugitive warrant on cocaine charges. The warrant said he was armed and dangerous. Ambur Daley, 27, was arrested in a North Carolina airport as she returned from visiting her grandmother in Canada. The Staunton, Va., resident was booked, fingerprinted, and kept overnight in jail, accused of writing bad checks. In fact, neither Daley nor Gonzales had done anything wrong. The crimes they were accused of were committed by phantoms -- identity thieves who have stolen their names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and telephone numbers. Dependent on electronic records in databanks, police across the nation were chasing the wrong people. Both now have a Virginia Identity Theft Passport, the first two victims to participate in a program aimed at giving people such as Daley and Gonzales a fighting chance in convincing police of their innocence. A state law creating the program took effect July 1. Issued by a judge and bearing the seal of Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore, the passport is intended to aid Virginia residents who are the victims of identity theft. http://www.boston.com:80/dailyglobe2/194/nation/A_Virginia_law_aids_identity_theft_victims+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 22:55:00 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Pleasure Hunt / 'Geocaching' Buccaneers Pursue Hidden Bounty Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, July 11, 2003 Dave Grenewetzki, 52, was on bended knee, rooting through bushes in downtown San Rafael, and eliciting bewildered looks from nearby beauty-school students. With a global positioning system unit in one hand, he appeared to be either a tech-savvy bag man or an obsessed arborist. He was neither. He was digging for treasure that was hidden by his friend Don Forman, using only the treasure's GPS coordinates - its longitude and latitude - and a clue: "Think about some of the old rock & roll music and the lyrics. You might get an Education." Forman stood by, tight-lipped. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/07/11/CC281007.DTL ------------------------------ From: News Reader Subject: 411 Calling ME? Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 08:54:39 -0400 So here's a new one ... at 7:12 am (thanks for waking me up!), I got a call from 413-773-1426. The caller ID name info said "Bell Atlantic." I didn't answer the call, and at first I thought maybe it was a cell phone or something. I didn't recognize the number, but I decided to call it back about an hour later even though it was long distance (I'm in 617-776-xxxx). I was greeted with "Bell Atlantic Nationwide 411, city and state please?" So, out of curiosity ... 1. Why did 411 call me? 2. Why did it show up as this "regular" 10-digit (non-411) number? 3. How am I going to be charged for this call? As a regular toll call? As a 411 call? Verizon is my LEC, [a reseller of] Sprint is my LD provider -- but I'm not sure who would handle an in-state toll call (413 is Western MA and I'm in the Boston area). 4. Why is it still "Bell Atlantic" (both on the Caller ID and on the 411 voice greeting)? I really wonder what I would have gotten if I had answered the call ... [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You probably would have recieved a wrong number call from some directory operator/clerk making a personal outgoing call (but dialed the wrong number). Calls to '411' are treated (just like '611' used to be where it did or still exists) as internal 'speed dial' numbers. They are translated into some seven or ten digit number which terminates on an ACD (automatic call distributor) then distributed around the room to available clerks to take the calls. So you dial 411 or 1-411 or whatever, the central office translates it into XXX-XXXX; it hits the ACD for that subscriber (in this case telco itself) and gets routed to an available 'operator' for DA services. 611 is done the same way. So is zero, or the 'oh' operator. I had an *identical* experience several years ago. I had called in to repair service on 611 to report something I wanted changed/fixed. The person took the order and said if it was needed, someone would call me back later. I then went out. When I returned home later I found a call on the caller-ID from 'Illinois Bell' at some local seven digit number. I dialed the number back; some lady answered saying 'Repair Service, how may I help you?' I asked for my contact person, talked to them, the task soon got finished. But the catch was, about ten minutes later I got a *very nasty* call from a supervisor in repair who reamed me out good then told me I was *never again* to 'override the repair service process' by calling in on a direct number like that. "You, sir, are only to dial 611 when you want something from us. Never call direct to a repair service clerk like that again." When I explained all I had done was return a call I saw on my caller-ID unit she had nothing more to say! I strongly suspect this is what happened to you. If you personally know or knew some directory person who might have been trying to call you on some personal matter, that person tried to call you from their 'office' on a company telephone. Telco 'encourages' employees to use pay phones in the lunchroom to make personal calls, but not all telco employees follow the rules obviously, and they can make outside calls from their work stations. That is how you got that (albiet, apparently wrong number) call. If you had 'returned the call' normally, by dialing 411 or 555-1212 or whatever applies, then you would have been billed at normal rates for an information call. By dialing the seven/ten digit number, you will be billed at normal seven/ten digit call rates, plus which you will always bypass the ACD and get the person who sits at that work station. Ditto with 555-1212, it is just translated and sent to wherever telco sends those calls, at directory assistance rates. I would doubt that telco even knows those work station phones (presum- ably for *inbound only* calls register their own caller ID when making outbound calls or that they are saying 'Bell Atlantic' or whatever. I seriously doubt also that the person was calling you on any official company business. Does that explain it? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Voice Mail System For 4-Line Phone? Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 19:44:26 -0500 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , sep@riotech.com says: > I have a small business with 10 4-line phones that support up to 12 or > so extensions. So I have what I need to answer multiple lines, > transfer calls, etc. What I'm missing is to be able to have voice > mailboxes for a few individuals, so when someone calls and asks to be > transferred to someone's voicemail, I could do that. Is this > possible? Right now all I can do is write down a message on a > stickynote :( > Your advice is much appreciated. > -Sep If the LEC voicemail offering won't do what you want, then you're in the market for a phone system, I would think. I'm surprised you don't have a lot of problems with those phones. I'm actually surprised they still ring. You must be close to the central office. Dave Phelps DD Networks www.ddnets.com deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Voice Mail System For 4-Line Phone? Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 14:17:14 -0400 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com sep@riotech.com (Sep) posted on that vast internet thingie: > I have a small business with 10 4-line phones that support up to 12 or > so extensions. So I have what I need to answer multiple lines, > transfer calls, etc. What I'm missing is to be able to have voice > mailboxes for a few individuals, so when someone calls and asks to be > transferred to someone's voicemail, I could do that. Is this > possible? Right now all I can do is write down a message on a > stickynote :( > Your advice is much appreciated. I can't promise how it would integrate with your system but the Panasonic KX-TG4000b has some nice voicemail features, but for cordless phones. (note: it ONLY creates a voicemail box when a cordless unit is registered to the base). Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Vtech 5.8Ghz EnGenius NEW EP490 4line (the longest range), Panasonic cordless, Twinhead notebooks, WatchGuard firewall, Okidata, Polycom! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: beilby@cuic.ca (A Beilby) Subject: Re: Voice Mail System For 4-Line Phone? Date: 14 Jul 2003 11:19:55 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ sep@riotech.com (Sep) wrote in message news:: > I have a small business with 10 4-line phones that support up to 12 or > so extensions. So I have what I need to answer multiple lines, > transfer calls, etc. What I'm missing is to be able to have voice > mailboxes for a few individuals, so when someone calls and asks to be > transferred to someone's voicemail, I could do that. Is this > possible? Right now all I can do is write down a message on a > stickynote :( > Your advice is much appreciated. > -Sep I had an office with IBM 412 (4 line sets, not requiring a keysystem), but they can't give you a voicemail per extension. You can get a group voicemail from your carrier ( eg the the main number has a prompted menu asking people to choose who they want to leave a message for) for a few bucks extra per month, but this only really works for out of hours messages. In theory you can connect an answer machine to one of the 4 lines ( or even a separate 5th line), so that when you want to forward a call to voicemail, you transfer to the external number of line 4. We opted for a third party virtual voicemail messaging service where a company ( eg Tigertel, Unite) give you a local external phone number that acts as a message box. It can then receive faxes and messages, and still be retrieved remotely, and will also allow others in the office to transfer the call. You then set the extn to forward offsite to the external number. It costs around $15/mth/mailbox, but is okay if you only have 2-3 people who need VM. We got bigger, and moved to an Avaya Merlin with built-in voicemail! Hope that helps. Alex Beilby ------------------------------ From: KI7G Subject: EBay Auction: Valcom Digital Feedback Eliminator (Paging System) Organization: Comcast Online Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 15:21:51 GMT http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3035179815&category=3309&rd=1 Description: Valcom's Digital Feedback Eliminator is PA system that works through your company's telephone system. It records and saves the annoucement then rebroadcasts over a speaker system eliminating the need to move speakers or telephones for a quick, easy, cost-effective solution. Automatically Adjusts The Output Level To A Consistent Volume Even When The Recording Voices Vary From Low To High Stacks Messages - Records A Page While Playing A Recorded Page Eliminate Feedback To All Zones With Only One Unit High-Fidelity - Sounds Like A Natural Voice Not Like A Recording Solid State Design - No Moving Parts To Break LED Indicators For Play, Record, Busy, Power Dipswitch Programmable Features: - Pre-Announce Alert Tone - Priority Override (Real Time Or Delayed) - DTMF Message Cancel Real Time Background Music With Volume Control Two Audio Outputs: 8 or 600 ohms loop Screw Terminal Connections Access By Loop Start trunk Port, C.O. Port, This unit is currently priced new at $542.00. see: http://www.optiontelecom.com/Paging-Enhancements.htm ------------------------------ From: rovilio_rangas@yahoo.com (Rovilio Rangas) Subject: Re: Sprint Predicts End Of Universe! Date: 13 Jul 2003 20:34:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I've tried making calls with both Packet8 and Vonage and think Packet8 is the better deal. If you enter 'STAR' as the coupon code when you sign up at www.packet8.net you will save $20 on signup. ------------------------------ 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 #564 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 14 22:58:14 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6F2wE917026; Mon, 14 Jul 2003 22:58:14 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 22:58:14 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307150258.h6F2wE917026@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #565 TELECOM Digest Mon, 14 Jul 2003 22:58:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 565 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Overture Proves Search Skeptics Wrong (Monty Solomon) Yahoo to Buy Overture For $1.63 Billion (Monty Solomon) AOL and TiVo Unite on Remote Programming (Monty Solomon) AOL 9 to Include Web Log Tools (Monty Solomon) Finders, Keepers (Monty Solomon) New Kind of Snooping Arrives at the Office (Monty Solomon) Reselling High-Speed Internet (Monty Solomon) Led by Intel, True Believers in Wi-Fi Say It Will Endure (Monty Solomon) Re: Walk-By Hacking (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: McDonalds Lawsuit (temp7@thewolfden.org) Info on KSU Please (Robert R Kircher, Jr.) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Jay R. Ashworth) 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, 14 Jul 2003 20:34:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Overture Proves Search Skeptics Wrong By Lisa M. Bowman Staff Writer, CNET News.com When Internet entrepreneur Bill Gross first launched paid search engine Overture Services in 1998, he was greeted with dozens of questions, most of them hinting at whether he had lost his mind. Why are you starting a search engine now? How are you going to blend paid search engine results with unpaid? And how are you going to make any money off of one- or two-cent clicks? "They were all very, very skeptical," Gross said of his detractors. "People definitely thought we were crazy." Five years later, Gross can point to Overture as a powerful rebuttal to critics of his Idealab incubator, which spawned such dot-com investment failures as eToys and cosmetics e-tailer Eve.com. On Monday, Yahoo bought Overture for $1.63 billion, in the biggest endorsement yet of the paid search model as not only a viable, but a desirable, method of spinning hits into cash on the Web. http://news.com.com/2100-1024-1025687.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:18:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Yahoo to Buy Overture For $1.63 Billion By Stefanie Olsen and Margaret Kane Staff Writer, CNET News.com Yahoo announced on Monday its plan to buy search company Overture Services in a $1.63 billion deal, bolstering its position against rivals Google and Microsoft in the booming market for Web search advertising. The deal calls for each share of Overture stock to be exchanged for $4.75 in cash and 0.6108 of a Yahoo share, which values each share of Overture at $24.63, roughly a 15 percent premium over Overture's Friday closing price. Yahoo said the deal will allow it to expand its pay-for-performance search business and to expand contextual advertising throughout its network. Overture specializes in selling advertising links that accompany search results on sites such as Yahoo and MSN. It's a market into which search rival Google has been making inroads. But Overture had been fighting back against Google, making acquisitions designed to help it offer a broader array of search services. Yahoo has also been getting more competitive about search, recently acquiring Inktomi, an algorithmic search company that competes more directly with Google. In a conference call Monday morning, Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Terry Semel said the combined companies represent the largest player in the Internet advertising sector and that the deal gives Yahoo a greater ability to market itself to small and medium-size advertisers. http://news.com.com/2100-1030-1025394.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:34:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AOL and TiVo Unite on Remote Programming By Matt Hines Staff Writer, CNET News.com America Online and digital video recorder (DVR) maker TiVo detailed a new partnership under which TiVo users can program their machines remotely via AOL's online network. To take advantage of the offer, users must subscribe to both AOL and TiVo's existing online services. TiVo's DVR service enables consumers to pause live television shows and to program their recorders to store future shows. Consumer electronics companies such as Pioneer Electronics, Sony Electronics and Toshiba have licensing agreements with TiVo to use its service in their products. AOL is one of the original investors in TiVo. The partnership is an example of increased efforts by electronics manufacturers to build networking capabilities into new products. While TiVo originally marketed its flagship Series 2 recorder as the center of a home-entertainment network, the company is now treating the hardware as just one component of that network. Other consumer-oriented products, such as Sony's RoomLink device and Cisco's Linksys Wireless B media adapter, also offer consumers increased networking among home devices. AOL and TiVo will offer the remote capabilities free to AOL users who also subscribe to TiVo's basic programming service. Earlier this year, TiVo introduced a similar program that lets users schedule same-day recordings over the Web. That package, Home Media Option, is available for a one-time fee of $99. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-1025562.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:39:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AOL 9 to Include Web Log Tools By Matthew Broersma Special to CNET News.com America Online will integrate Web log software into the next version of its service this summer, giving its 34 million subscribers a way into the increasingly popular medium. The online personal journals known as Web logs, or "blogs," have taken off in popularity over the past few months. AOL's software will take advantage of recent developments in the technology to allow people to "audioblog" over the telephone. Subscribers will also be able to update their blogs, which typically include references and links to other Web sites and blogs, via AOL Instant Messenger. The company is calling the tool "AOL Journals," because it said its users find the term "blog" confusing. It plans to introduce the tool as part of AOL 9, the next version of its Internet service, which will be available in preview form this summer. The tool will let users update their blog by phone, over an instant-messaging connection, or by the more familiar method of filling out a form on a Web page. http://news.com.com/2100-1032-1025573.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:55:23 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Finders, Keepers Lost love letters, photographs, and to-do lists become fascinating slices of life in the hands of Found magazine creator Davy Rothbart By Joan Anderman, Globe Staff, 7/14/2003 http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/195/living/Finders_keepers+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:57:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Kind of Snooping Arrives at the Office By MARCI ALBOHER NUSBAUM Corporate executives are becoming increasingly aggressive about spying on their employees, and with good reason: now, in addition to job shirkers and office-supply thieves, they have to worry about being held accountable for the misconduct of their subordinates. Even one offensive e-mail message circulated around the office by a single employee can pose a liability risk for a company. Not only that, but a wave of laws -- including the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the anticorruption and corporate-governance Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 -- have imposed new record-keeping and investigative burdens on companies. Not complying with some laws can result in the personal liability of officers and directors. As a result, employers have stepped up their surveillance of employees, often using stealth techniques to peer deep into their computer use. As of 2001, more than a third of all American workers with access to computers, or 14 million in all, were being monitored in one way or another, according to the Privacy Foundation, a Denver research group; with added pressure on executives to oversee their employees' electronic activities, experts predict that those numbers will grow. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/13/business/yourmoney/13EXLI.html [Lisa Minter note: To read NY Times articles without giving up your privacy, you may wish to use our group login name 'telecomdigest' and the group password 'telecomdigest'. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 22:00:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Reselling High-Speed Internet By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff, 7/14/2003 Millions of us buy Avon cosmetics or Tupperware bowls from our neighbors. Why not our Internet access? A company in Seattle thinks it has figured out a way to turn high-speed Internet users into digital entrepreneurs, while earning a pretty penny for itself. Most of the nation's 40 million broadband users have more bandwidth than they know what to do with. Consider the typical DSL connection -- 1.5 megabytes of download speed and 128 kilobits for uploading. Actually, this is still too slow for heavy multimedia uses like high-quality video. But for the e-mailing and Web surfing that consume most of our online hours, it's an embarrassment of riches. E-mail doesn't need much download speed, and even Web surfing isn't too bad on a slow connection. That's why a single broadband connection can easily serve a two- or three-computer household. That's fine with cable modem and DSL companies, which will happily sell you cheap routers that share a single broadband connection with multiple PCs or Macs. But then along came WiFi to complicate everything. The wireless networking technology lets you pull up to 54 million bits of data per second out of thin air. The cable and DSL providers don't mind if you get a wireless router and connect every computer in your house. But WiFi has a range of up to 300 feet. So the homes or apartments on either side of your own can share your broadband connection. And suddenly, the broadband company finds itself serving three households, while collecting a subscription fee from just one. http://www.boston.com:80/dailyglobe2/195/business/Reselling_high_speed_Internet+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 22:08:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Led by Intel, True Believers in Wi-Fi Say It Will Endure By JOHN MARKOFF SUN VALLEY, Idaho, July 11 - Is the Wi-Fi boom about to bust? Even though that has lately become the fashionable view, the answer is probably no. Critics argue that there are too many competitors trying to deliver high-speed wireless connections to the Internet. Prices for most commercial Wi-Fi services are too high, they say, and free or subsidized operations abound, including those like the one McDonald's started rolling out last week at its fast food restaurants in San Francisco. [Page C7.] All this will make it practically impossible, the skeptics insist, for anyone to build a profitable business in Wi-Fi, a short-range wireless radio technology that frees personal computers from their physical tethers to the Internet. But a number of true believers in Wi-Fi were present at this mountain resort during an annual conference, organized by the investment banker Herbert Allen, that brings together technology, media and entertainment industry leaders. The Intel Corporation in particular is betting a lot of money on Wi-Fi. And that may be exactly what the new technology needs to succeed. Intel's two top executives, Craig R. Barrett and Andrew S. Grove, were here this year to preach the virtues of Wi-Fi, in the belief that it will be a powerfully disruptive force in the telecommunications industry. It has certainly been a disruptive force at Intel. The industry and analysts have focused their attention on the current frenzy to build wireless Internet locations, known as hot spots, at airports, coffeehouses and hotels. But Intel has a much bolder wireless plan: it wants to close the so-called last-mile gap between homes and the Internet backbone with cheap, super-fast connections so that businesses can deliver interactive entertainment and a host of other digital products and services right into America's living rooms and dens. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/14/technology/14WIFI.html [Lisa Minter note: To read NY Times articles in privacy, telecom users are invited to use our group login name 'telecomdigest' and our group password 'telecomdigest'. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Walk-By Hacking Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:01:13 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Monty Solomon said to him: > The software package running on Morse's hand-held is called Kismet, > from a Turkish-derived word meaning fate. The program uses the > wireless card like a police band scanner, noting each wireless network > that makes its presence known. "I could put it in my pocket and > record all the networks without anyone seeing," he says. The program > is available to security experts and would-be hackers for a perfectly > legal and free download. One of the few times I've regretted having a Palm. Does anyone know if there is any netstumbler-like software for the Xircom 802.11 adapter for the Palm? I haven't been able to find anything, and it makes a handy diagnostic tool ... Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 16:51:35 CDT Subject: Re: McDonalds Lawsuit From: Reply-To: temp7@thewolfden.org Dana wrote regarding Re: McDonalds Lawsuit on Sun, 13 Jul 2003 12:19:01 -0800 > wrote: >> Surely you can you accept that its possible for coffee to be too hot? > Surely you can accept that people should be responsible for their > own well being. Only if the deck isn't stacked against the consumer from the start. Of course, this was partially the point of the lawsuit. At which point does common sense on the part of the consumer become overridden by a lack of common sense on the part of the producer. If I believed you that it's completely the responsibility of the consumer, I'd be checking my coffee for all sorts of unexpected "additives" with a chemical analysis kit. But consumers have a right to be sold what they bought, and coffee is sold to be drunk. >> What if it was served so hot that it gave you third degree burns on >> your lips when you tried to drink it > Everyone with common sense knows they have to let the coffee cool > off a little before they drink it. Ignoring the fact that I buy coffee to drink it and not to watch it cool on the floor of my car, your response is still nonsense because no matter how long you typically wait for it to cool, I can still make it hot enough to burn you when you finally do. (Besides, by your argument above, if it's hot enough to give 3rd degree burns, then I'm not even going to try moving it into the car, lest I spill. I'm going to let it sit in the drive-thru window for 5 minutes and make everyone else wait behind me till it cools.) ------------------------------ From: Robert R Kircher, Jr. Subject: Info on KSU Please Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 18:15:15 -0400 I was just given a Northwestern Bell Integra 412 KSU unit and asked if I could do anything with it. Apparently it was left behind by a tenant in one of our buildings and now has been give to me. I have know idea how old it is but it appears to be a 4 CO line 12 extension system. I can't find much on the web via google so I was wondering if someone here could point me in the right direction. TIA Rob ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 20:57:45 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Richard Johnson said to him: > The fact remains that AT&T's donotcall.gov site is poorly designed for > its stated purpose. It is not even close to secure enough to prevent > such likely attacks. An email address requirement does nothing to > enhance the security. The requirement is, in fact, perhaps worthy of > mention on . > This leads me, as a present paranoid security profesional who in the > past worked for a company in the privacy violation industry, to > suspect other reasons for the email address requirement. > The gathering of email addresses associated with phone numbers, from > those too naive to use throwaway email addresses (the majority of > users, still), will provide a data goldmine for epending and similar > nefarious marketer purposes. > Who controls the list? Follow the money. "do not call DOT GOV". An agency of the US Government *doesn't* have administrative control over the project? Excuse me, I have to go call Peter Jennings ... Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ 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 #565 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 16 00:50:52 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6G4oqS23077; Wed, 16 Jul 2003 00:50:52 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 00:50:52 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307160450.h6G4oqS23077@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #566 TELECOM Digest Wed, 16 Jul 2003 00:51:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 566 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Book Review: "Computer and Intrusion Forensics" George Mohay (Rob Slade) Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? (Walt Howard) Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs (CMM) Wierd Nextel Question (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (AES) Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. (PMG) Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Reply Passed Back? (Linc Madison) Re: Voice Mail System For 4-Line Phone? (Pete Romfh) I Enjoyed Visiting Your Web Site (Joe F. Drennan) 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: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 07:59:12 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Computer and Intrusion Forensics" George Mohay et al BKCMINFO.RVW 20030605 "Computer and Intrusion Forensics", George Mohay et al, 2003, 1-58053-369-8, U$79.00 %A George Mohay %A Alison Anderson %A Byron Collie %A Olivier de Vel %A Rodney McKemmish %C 685 Canton St., Norwood, MA 02062 %D 2003 %G 1-58053-369-8 %I Artech House/Horizon %O U$79.00 800-225-9977 fax: +1-617-769-6334 artech@artech-house.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580533698/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580533698/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580533698/robsladesin03-20 %P 395 p. %T "Computer and Intrusion Forensics" The traditional data recovery aspect of computer forensics has been covered by Kruse and Heiser in "Computer Forensics" (cf. BKCMPFRN.RVW), and by Caloyannides in "Computer Forensics and Privacy" (cf. BKCMFRPR.RVW) (and somewhat less ably by Casey [cf. BKCMCRIN.RVW], Kovavish and Boni [cf. BKHTCRIH.RVW], Icove, Seger, and VonStorch [cf. BKCMPCRM.RVW], Marcella and Greenfield [cf. BKCYBFOR.RVW], van Wyk and Forna [cf. BKINCRES.RVW], and Mandia and Procise [cf. BKINCDRS.RVW]). So far network forensics has only been specifically dealt with in the not-terribly-useful "Hacker's Challenge," by Schiffman (cf. BKHKRCHL.RVW). "Computer and Intrusion Forensics" is the first attempt to bring both topics into a single book. (It is intriguing to note that Eugene Spafford, who wrote the foreword, is a pioneer of the "third leg": software forensics, which the book does not cover.) Chapter one is an introduction to computer and network (intrusion) forensics, pointing out the ways that computers can be involved in the commission of crimes and the requirements for obtaining and preserving evidence in such cases. While the material provides a good foundation, the text is inflated in many places, and could benefit from stricter adherence to the topic and more focused writing. (One illustration shows a pattern of concentric rings indicating that the set of productive activities encompasses all legal endeavors which, in turn, encompasses all approved actions. I suspect that a great many legal and even approved activities are unproductive--while no doubt a number of illegal activities would be approved, at times.) "Current Practice," in chapter two, is a broad overview of the concerns, technologies, applications, procedures, and legislation bearing on digital evidence recovery from computers. In fact, this single chapter is the equivalent of, and sometimes superior to, a number of the computer forensics books mentioned above. However, the breadth of the discussion does come at the expense of depth. This content is quite suitable for the information security, or even legal, professional who needs to understand the field of computer forensics, but it does not have the detail that a practitioner may require. Although chapter three is supposed to deal with computer forensics in law enforcement (and there is a brief section on the rules of evidence), it is primarily a reiteration (and some expansion) of the procedures for data recovery and the software tools available for this task. Forensic accounting, and the algorithms that can be used to detect fraud, are outlined in chapter four, but very little is directly relevant to computer forensics as such. Case studies, demonstrating the techniques discussed earlier and some that are not, are described in chapter five. Intrusion forensics concentrates on intrusion detection systems (IDS), although it does not provide a very clear or complete explanation of the distinctions in data collection (host- or network-based) or analysis engines (rule, signature, anomaly, or statistical). Chapter seven finishes off the book with a list of computer forensic research which is being, or should be, undertaken. While the computer forensic content is sound, and it is heartening to see other fields being included, the very limited work on network forensics is disappointing. This text is a useful reference for those needing background material on forensic technologies, but breaks no new ground. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2003 BKCMINFO.RVW 20030605 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu And the tubby beard went on. http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ From: howard@rondo.ee.ualberta.ca (Walt Howard) Subject: Re: Are Waveguides Obsolete? Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 05:27:41 UTC Organization: A poorly-installed InterNetNews site In article , Jim Hopkins wrote: > [ Excellent article about RF waveguide from a Bell System publication > is snipped ] And the conclusion was that optic fiber could also provide great bandwidth and low loss at significantly lower cost. The irony of that is that optic fiber is also a waveguide, for shorter wavelengths. Much of the scientific and engineering effort that Bell Labs and others put into waveguides made of copper pipe has been a great help in explaining how optic fiber works and how to make practical use of it. There are certainly significant differences between RF waveguide and optic fiber, but there is more similarity than many folks might guess. So, in a sense, waveguide never became obsolete. It just changed materials to go to amazingly high frequencies. Walt Howard /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign InterNet: whoward@ieee.org \ / No HTML or M$Word in mail or news! BellNet: +1 780 492 7262 X / \ ------------------------------ From: mihaiyx@yahoo.com (CMM) Subject: Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs Date: 15 Jul 2003 13:33:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi, I just moved into a house (probably about 50 years old) and I found out that the phone plugs are the old type (Bell, 4 hole / 4 wire plugs). Is there any way to switch to regular RJ11 phone jacks, can I use any type of converter, or if I could connect regular phone jacks directly to the wires that would be even better. Any ideas? Thanks. CMM [Lisa Minter note: At Radio Shack you can purchase as many of the modern RJ11 phone covers as needed. Remove the old cover plates and connect the new covers wire for wire (red to red, green to green, etc). Then when you plug in your newer style modular plug style phones, they should work just fine. If by chance you find that you cannot 'cut' dial tone with one or more of the phones, try swapping the red and green wires on the new face plates. The wires should match up with red/green for one pair and black/yellow for any second pair you may have. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: chsvideo@hotmail.com (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) Subject: Wierd Nextel Question Date: 14 Jul 2003 20:47:28 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hello, I have a wierd question, but first background: My employer provides a Nextel phone (currently an i1000plus, soon to be an i90c because of other issues, but I digress). As far as I am aware (at least until tonight), we do not have any kind of text messaging enabled on the account to which my phone is assigned. Tonight I got a "Message Mail" notification [ I guess there is some kind of text functionality enabled, after all ] with the following text on the screen: 1)2129495E-030152223| (213)702-00xx|Please call Charles (213)702-00xx---0.94748690.2625618 8:17P 7/14 (I tried googling the phone number and came up with no results) I have no intention of calling "Charles" since I don't know anyone in the 213 NPA, let alone anyone who has my cell #, and I put enough minutes on my phone as it is, but I'm curious -- 1) Is this cellspam, some kind of scam, or what? 2) What do the block of numbers at the beginning and end of the message mean, and 3) how can people I want send messages to my phone like this? Thanks Lincoln ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:35:22 -0700 > Stanley settled back into the couch, and Richard Johnson > said to him: >> The fact remains that AT&T's donotcall.gov site is poorly designed for >> its stated purpose. It is not even close to secure enough to prevent >> such likely attacks. An email address requirement does nothing to >> enhance the security. The requirement is, in fact, perhaps worthy of >> mention on . It's always seemed absolutely obvious to me that the whole idea of "do not call" lists is an especially dumb way of addressing the problem. If the basic legislative requirement were simply that telemarketing calls [1] had to be made using a Caller-ID number that appeared to come from some specific distinctive "area code" -- e.g., (333) xxx-xxxx [2,3] -- it would become trivial for anyone who wished to totally block all telemarketing to any of their phone numbers, at minimal cost [4] and with no need to ever update any "do not call" lists. The _only_ reason for not adopting this trivially simple scheme is that it would work [4]. -------- [1] There's of course a problem in defining just what is legally a "telemarketing call" -- but that's exactly the same problem for any anti-telemarketing legislation, using do not call lists or whatever. [2] There is nothing either illegal or impractical in doing this; it would be trivial to implement; and the cost to the telemarketer would be trivial -- certainly less than continually checking and updating do not call lists. [3] And note that there'd be no "free speech" problems involved. Telemarketers could freely call anyone they want -- they just wouldn't be able to get through to most people. [4] Radio Shack would sell "333-blockers" that you plug into your incoming residential line for, what?, maybe $10 apiece; cell phones would come with it built in. [5] Telemarketers would hate it, because it would work. Phone companies would hate it because they'd lose the telemarketing business. Telemarketing companies and phone companies have, of course, much more ability than ordinary consumers to bribe -- er, sorry, to "lobby" -- members of Congress and other politicians. ------------------------------ From: PMG Subject: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 22:43:35 +1000 Organization: Ihug Limited Can anyone tell me when Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. lost it's separate identity (subsumed into US West, I beleive)? Any background on the company would also be appreciated - I haven't had much luck with Google. PMG. ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Reply Passed Back? Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 23:57:45 -0700 Organization: MindSpring Enterprises The boyfriend of a friend of mine was recently in an automobile accident. Most of his injuries were relatively minor (considering he was struck by a drunk driver at 80 mph), but his larynx ("voice box") was ruptured. He is currently unable to speak, and it is not yet clear to what extent the larynx will heal. As my friend and her boyfriend are currently on opposite coasts, they would very much like to be able to communicate by telephone. The TDD relay service would be an obvious piece in the puzzle, but I am wondering if the following setup is possible, both in the end-user TDD hardware and in the TDD relay service. Person A types on the TDD, with the relay operator reading the text aloud for Person B on the other end. Howver, Person B speaks directly to Person A without going through the relay operator. (Since Person A can still hear normally, there is no need to use the relay operator in the other direction.) The specifics of this accident aside, there are certainly other people who are speech-impaired but not hearing-impaired. Any pointers as to what TDD units support this scheme, or whether such an arrangement is likely to be familiar/routine for the relay operator, are appreciated. Please use the e-mail address below, or reply to the Digest. Linc Madison * North American Area Codes & Splits * San Francisco, CA E-mail replies to: (rhymes with) Telecom bat LincMad bot Com [Lisa Minter note: First, let me say I am really sick at heart to hear about this incident involving your friend. Please pass along my condolences. There really should be a special place in Hell for drunken drivers. Has the drunk even yet gotten sober enough to understand what a serious thing he did? If he does know, does he have any remorse at all? I hope he will be severely punished by the court for what he did. Second, the various instant messenger things have largely replaced the older style TTY machines. Yahoo, for example, especially because it is free has a large number of hearing/speech impaired users in one of its groups communicating by instant messenger and the group chat things, with cams, etc. Third, what you ask for is possible. Either party can initiate the call, but the person *using the TTY machine* should be the one to communicate *using the machine* to the TTY operator that he is capable of hearing. If the TTY operator is tipped off on that early on in the conversation it not only saves time for the operator but makes the call easier to handle as well. Expect at the start of the call that a few seconds or a minute will be wasted while the operator acclimates him/herself since it is not the usual proceedure. Patrick just made a helpful suggestion also: If both parties have computers and Yahoo Instant Messenger, then let your newly handicapped friend also get some inexpensive phone service (such as Vonage), then he calls her (they can talk a *long* time for very little money) and while he types on the screen, she can talk voice back to him. If they have cams attached, so much the better, and more private. Despite the rather rigid rules of all TTY systems regards privacy in communications, it still is awkward and inconsiderate of the sensibilities of the TTY operator to conduct certain kinds of conversations using a middle person in the conversation. The instant messengers, cameras and a Vonage or other *cheap* phone service would be a better alternative. Either way, Linc, pass along my condolences and I hope the guy recovers the use of his voice sometime soon! Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: Pete Romfh Subject: Re: Voice Mail System For 4-Line Phone? Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 06:59:27 -0500 Organization: Not Organized Sep wrote: > I have a small business with 10 4-line phones that support up to 12 > or so extensions. So I have what I need to answer multiple lines, > transfer calls, etc. What I'm missing is to be able to have voice > mailboxes for a few individuals, so when someone calls and asks to > be transferred to someone's voicemail, I could do that. Is this > possible? Right now all I can do is write down a message on a > stickynote :( > Your advice is much appreciated. > -Sep Take a look at some of the DataLabs products. They might fit your needs and are nominally priced. Info at: http://www.datalabs.net/products.htm Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet. promfh at Texas dot net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 16:12:43 EDT From: Joe F. Drennan Subject: I Enjoyed Visiting Your Web Site Hello, I visited your massis.lcs.mit.edu web site and I would like to trade reciprocal links with you. This should make both of our web sites more valuable to our visitors. You have so much in depth information! I've already added your web site's listing to my link directory. The listing is in the Discount Long Distance theme at this page: http://www.higher-ideals.com/links/discountlongdistance.html. My web site is: http://www.higher-ideals.com/. If you are interested in swapping links the url for information to add my link to your website is: http://www.higher-ideals.com/links/link-info.html Regards, Joe F. Drennan jdrennan@higher-ideals.com http://www.higher-ideals.com/ [Lisa Minter note: Thank you for your kind words, Joe. Although TELECOM Digest is not a discount long distance service, nor do we (as far as I know) promote any one long distance service over another, your placement of a link here is appreciated. With your message appearing in the Digest tonight, perhaps readers will visit and become aquainted with your higher ideals website as well. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ 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 #566 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 16 18:03:04 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6GM33T27577; Wed, 16 Jul 2003 18:03:04 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 18:03:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307162203.h6GM33T27577@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #567 TELECOM Digest Wed, 16 Jul 2003 18:03:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 567 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Man Charged in E-mail Stalking of Anchor (Monty Solomon) Motorola Reports Second-Quarter 2003 Financial Results (Monty Solomon) Intel Second-Quarter Revenue $6.8 Billion, Earnings Per Share (Solomon) Deconstructing the Defacer Challenge Hoax/FUD (Monty Solomon) New Motorola Chip Delivers Stereo Sound to TVs (Monty Solomon) Agere Systems Sceptre HP GPRS Chip Set and Software (Monty Solomon) Charter to Roll Out Souped Up Cable Box (Monty Solomon) Re: Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs (Joseph) Re: Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs (Herb Stein) Re: Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs (Pete Romfh) Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Passed Back? (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Passed Back? (John Bartley) Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Passed Back? (Hank Karl) Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Passed Back? (Pete Romfh) Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Passed Back? (Ben Schilling) 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, 16 Jul 2003 02:39:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Man Charged in E-Mail Stalking of Anchor By Rick Jervis Tribune staff reporter An Indiana man who thought a Chicago news anchor was talking to him through his television set and showered her with affectionate and obscene e-mails for two years will be among the first people charged under Illinois' cyberstalking law, officials said Saturday. A grand jury indicted Tonny Horne of South Bend last week on charges of cyberstalking and criminal trespassing. Horne, 32, had been sending e-mails to and leaving phone messages for Tamron Hall, a news anchor at WFLD-Ch. 32, the local Fox affiliate, said Chicago police spokesman Thomas Donegan. He was arrested June 16 outside the Fox studios at 205 N. Michigan Ave. after security personnel spotted him, Donegan said. Hall did not return phone calls requesting comment Saturday. Debra Juarez, Hall's news director, also declined to comment, citing company policy prohibiting her from talking about personnel issues. Officials said Horne will be one of the first suspects tried in Cook County under Illinois' cyberstalking law, enacted in 2001. The law makes it a felony to threaten another person via the Internet. If convicted, Horne could face 2 to 5 years in prison. http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0307130506jul13,1,2009477.story ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 03:15:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola Reports Second-Quarter 2003 Financial Results - Second-quarter sales of $6.2 billion, down 10 percent vs. the prior- year quarter - Second-quarter GAAP earnings of $.05 per share vs. a loss per share of ($1.02) in the prior-year quarter - Second-quarter earnings, excluding special items, of $.01 per share vs. earnings of $.02 per share in the prior-year quarter - Second-quarter positive operating cash flow of approximately $300 million - Ratio of net debt to net debt plus equity improved to 12.4 percent from 18.2 percent in the prior-year quarter - Third-quarter 2003 guidance: - Sales: $6.3 to $6.5 billion, flat to down 4 percent vs. the prior- year quarter - GAAP earnings per share: break-even to $.02 per share vs. $.05 per share in the prior-year quarter - Earnings per share, excluding special items: $.02 to $.04 per share vs. $.06 per share in the prior-year quarter - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34855817 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 03:15:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Intel Second-Quarter Revenue $6.8 Billion, Earnings Per Share Intel Second-Quarter Revenue $6.8 Billion, Earnings Per Share $0.14 SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 15, 2003--Intel Corporation today announced second-quarter revenue of $6.8 billion, up 1 percent sequentially and up 8 percent year-over-year. Second-quarter net income was $896 million, down 2 percent sequentially and up 101 percent year-over-year. Earnings per share were $0.14, flat sequentially and up 100 percent from $0.07 in the second quarter of 2002. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34856779 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 08:51:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Deconstructing the Defacer Challenge Hoax/FUD Richard Forno, Brian Martin On June 21, 2003, a small web site was created to harnass the competitive nature of the defacing community by holding a contest of computer vandalism. Several computer security companies took this event as an opportunity to whore themselves out to any media outlet that might listen; once again blowing an event of questionable origins and dubious consequences way out of proportion. Their claims ranged from the event being capable of disrupting internet traffic to it causing tens of thousands of defacements and posing a serious threat to internet security. Yet, rather than teach the public, industry, and policymakers anything about security, it taught us another lesson in the power of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) and the scare tactics that security companies will use to make a quick buck. Again. These folks have no clue about security. Or shame. Or both. http://www.infowarrior.org/articles/2003-03.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 08:55:48 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Motorola Chip Delivers Stereo Sound to TVs First Single-Chip TV Stereo Encoder Solves Entertainment Industry Problem CHANDLER, Ariz., July 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc.'s (NYSE:MOT) Semiconductor Products Sector has launched the industry's first single-chip, Multi-Channel Television Sound (MTS) stereo audio encoder designed to allow consumers to enjoy high-fidelity stereo and surround sound more easily on their televisions. The MC44C401 is a CMOS implementation of an advanced Broadcast Television Systems Committee (BTSC) compatible stereo encoder for manufacturers of set top boxes, VCRs, DVD players/recorders and other consumer electronics. This product solves an existing problem for entertainment providers, equipment manufacturers, and ultimately consumers. Until today, delivering high-fidelity stereo sound over a simple RF coaxial cable was too expensive. Since the majority of consumers rely on this method of interconnect, they had to settle for "mono" quality sound. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34864093 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 08:57:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Agere Systems Sceptre HP GPRS Chip Set and Software Agere Systems Announces GPRS Chip Set and Software That Significantly Improve Processing Power for Advanced Multimedia Mobile Phones ALLENTOWN, Pa., July 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Agere Systems (NYSE:AGR.A, AGR.B) today announced a new high-performance General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) hardware and software solution that delivers up to 10 times the processing power of previous Agere mobile terminal solutions. Using a new microprocessor core, this integrated chip set and software platform enables such advanced, high-speed multimedia and entertainment applications for GSM-based mobile phones as real-time audio and video streaming, digital photo imaging, MP3 music capabilities, MPEG4 video playback and interactive games. Agere's Sceptre(R) HP chip set provides a two-chip solution -- for integrating digital baseband, power management and mixed signal functions -- coupled with an ARM(R)946E-S embedded core, flexible cached memory system and DSP instruction set extensions running at 90 megahertz. This high-performance solution provides all of the power needed to handle wireless communications and applications processing without the need for a separate applications processor. Agere's chipset and software also offer advanced connectivity options for new mobile phone designs, including an on-chip USB controller, infrared (IrDA) capability, removable secure digital (SD) and multimedia memory cards (MMC), and Bluetooth(R) support. This flexibility allows users to easily exchange digital pictures, audio and other files between a mobile phone and such devices as PCs and PDAs. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34864095 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 09:03:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Charter to Roll Out Souped Up Cable Box By MAY WONG AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- In the cable industry's latest move to combat competition from satellite TV, Charter Communications Inc. will soon introduce its most feature-packed cable set-top box yet. The box, to be released in the fall, records programming onto a hard drive, has a built-in DVD player and can serve as a media center for digital photos and music. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34862848 ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 06:57:44 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On 15 Jul 2003 13:33:50 -0700, mihaiyx@yahoo.com (CMM) wrote: > I just moved into a house (probably about 50 years old) and I found > out that the phone plugs are the old type (Bell, 4 hole / 4 wire > plugs). Is there any way to switch to regular RJ11 phone jacks, can I > use any type of converter, or if I could connect regular phone jacks > directly to the wires that would be even better. Beside the suggestion that you change out the present four pin jacks with modern jacks you can also get four pin to modular adapters. Very often these can be obtained from Radio Shack as well. Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 10:04:14 -0500 CMM wrote in message news:telecom22.566.3@telecom-digest.org: > Hi, > I just moved into a house (probably about 50 years old) and I found > out that the phone plugs are the old type (Bell, 4 hole / 4 wire > plugs). Is there any way to switch to regular RJ11 phone jacks, can I > use any type of converter, or if I could connect regular phone jacks > directly to the wires that would be even better. > Any ideas? > CMM > [Lisa Minter note: At Radio Shack you can purchase as many of the > modern RJ11 phone covers as needed. Remove the old cover plates > and connect the new covers wire for wire (red to red, green to green, > etc). Then when you plug in your newer style modular plug style > phones, they should work just fine. If by chance you find that you > cannot 'cut' dial tone with one or more of the phones, try swapping > the red and green wires on the new face plates. The wires should > match up with red/green for one pair and black/yellow for any second > pair you may have. Lisa M.] I would add that if you can, find a source of the jacks that the phone company uses. The RS versions to be of rather poor quality. You don't want problems down the road caused be whacking them with a vacuum cleaner, yanking on the cord, etc. For a quick and dirty fix, there are adapters available, possibly even at Radio Shack. Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: Pete Romfh Subject: Re: Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 05:42:01 -0500 Organization: Not Organized CMM wrote: > I just moved into a house (probably about 50 years old) and I found > out that the phone plugs are the old type (Bell, 4 hole / 4 wire > plugs). Is there any way to switch to regular RJ11 phone jacks, can > I use any type of converter, or if I could connect regular phone > jacks directly to the wires that would be even better. > [Lisa Minter note: At Radio Shack you can purchase as many of the > modern RJ11 phone covers as needed. Remove the old cover plates and > connect the new covers wire for wire (red to red, green to green, > etc). Then when you plug in your newer style modular plug style > phones, they should work just fine. If by chance you find that you > cannot 'cut' dial tone with one or more of the phones, try swapping > the red and green wires on the new face plates. The wires should > match up with red/green for one pair and black/yellow for any second > pair you may have. Lisa M.] There were adapters made that converted from 4-pin to modular (RJ-11/12). You would probably find them at RadioShack or a phone supply shop. Or you could change them out as Lisa has suggested. Most likely 4-pins from that era use round mounts rather than single gang wall boxes so the face plates may be problematic. Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet. promfh at Texas dot net ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Reply Passed Back? Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 16:25:34 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Linc Madison said to him: > As my friend and her boyfriend are currently on opposite coasts, they > would very much like to be able to communicate by telephone. The TDD > relay service would be an obvious piece in the puzzle, but I am > wondering if the following setup is possible, both in the end-user TDD > hardware and in the TDD relay service. > Person A types on the TDD, with the relay operator reading the text > aloud for Person B on the other end. Howver, Person B speaks directly > to Person A without going through the relay operator. (Since Person A > can still hear normally, there is no need to use the relay operator in > the other direction.) [ Lisa: ] > Second, the various instant messenger things have largely replaced > the older style TTY machines. Yahoo, for example, especially because > it is free has a large number of hearing/speech impaired users in one > of its groups communicating by instant messenger and the group > chat things, with cams, etc. This was going to be my suggestion as well: AIM combined with NetMeeting (or perhaps NM can do both sides by itself). It's likely to be much more convenient than relay service, and quite a bit more private -- relay privacy policies are great, but you don't want to do phone sex through them. ;-) Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson [Lisa Minter note: Phone sex is indeed a problem for the relay services. I asked at one of the non-profit (state operated) relay services here in this area and was told the translators are free to help however they want in conveying messages 'of that sort' but the official rule is the translator is *not* required to either type 'certain words' or verbalize them in return. Now Linc never said the parties intended to have phone sex so I cannot claim that to be the case; but overall, privacy and discretion would say to use something like Yahoo, AOL, or MSN messenger services with cameras, with one of the suggested phone backups as needed also. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) Subject: Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Reply Passed Back? Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 18:27:25 GMT TDD is such an ancient protocol (Baudot at 45.5 baud, IIRC) that I hesitate at recommending it. If they are both at home, and are Windows users, well, there's NetMeeting which permits typed conversation as well as video, and voice for her to speak with him. INcluded free with Windows 98 & up. Lisa's suggestion of an IM client is good ... but, perhaps a universal IM client which works with any system would be better than a proprietary IM client which only works on Yahoo! Trillian is one such system http://www.trillian.cc/trillian/index.html as is GAIM http://gaim.sourceforge.net/about.php For when they are out and about, there are even IM clients for PalmPhones, much more personable than using SMS back-and-forth. http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=4784 This works a lot better for GPRS and CDMA2000/1xRTT phones because they are 'always on' for data. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl Subject: Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Reply Passed Back? Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 14:48:11 -0400 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ > [Lisa Minter note: ... > Patrick just made a helpful suggestion also: If both parties have > computers and Yahoo Instant Messenger, then let your newly handicapped > friend also get some inexpensive phone service (such as Vonage), then > he calls her (they can talk a *long* time for very little money) and > while he types on the screen, she can talk voice back to him. If they > have cams attached, so much the better, and more private. Despite the > rather rigid rules of all TTY systems regards privacy in communications, > it still is awkward and inconsiderate of the sensibilities of the TTY > operator to conduct certain kinds of conversations using a middle > person in the conversation. The instant messengers, cameras and a > Vonage or other *cheap* phone service would be a better alternative. Assuming both parties have computers, you may be able to make voice calls from an instant messenger client if you have a microphone and speakers (or a headset) on your computer. You may not even need to use a service like http://www.freeworldialup.com/ (which is free) to do this. [Lisa Minter note: If you attempt to make a voice call using Yahoo Messenger you are connected with that penny-per-minute long distance service using your computer microphone and headset, and you have to have an account with that long distance service to pay for it. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: Pete Romfh Subject: Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Reply Passed Back? Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 06:10:52 -0500 Organization: Not Organized Linc Madison wrote: > The boyfriend of a friend of mine was recently in an automobile > accident. Most of his injuries were relatively minor (considering he > was struck by a drunk driver at 80 mph), but his larynx ("voice > box") was ruptured. He is currently unable to speak, and it is not > yet clear to what extent the larynx will heal. > As my friend and her boyfriend are currently on opposite coasts, > they would very much like to be able to communicate by > telephone. The TDD relay service would be an obvious piece in the > puzzle, but I am wondering if the following setup is possible, both > in the end-user TDD hardware and in the TDD relay service. > Person A types on the TDD, with the relay operator reading the text > aloud for Person B on the other end. Howver, Person B speaks > directly to Person A without going through the relay > operator. (Since Person A can still hear normally, there is no need > to use the relay operator in the other direction.) > The specifics of this accident aside, there are certainly other > people who are speech-impaired but not hearing- impaired. Any > pointers as to what TDD units support this scheme, or whether such > an arrangement is likely to be familiar/routine for the relay > operator, are appreciated. Please use the e-mail address below, or > reply to the Digest. > Linc Madison * North American Area Codes & Splits * San > Francisco, CA E-mail replies to: (rhymes with) Telecom > bat LincMad bot Com > [Lisa Minter note: First, let me say I am really sick at heart to > hear about this incident involving your friend. Please pass along > my condolences. There really should be a special place in Hell for > drunken drivers. Has the drunk even yet gotten sober enough to > understand what a serious thing he did? If he does know, does he > have any remorse at all? I hope he will be severely punished by the > court for what he did. > Second, the various instant messenger things have largely replaced > the older style TTY machines. Yahoo, for example, especially because > it is free has a large number of hearing/speech impaired users in > one of its groups communicating by instant messenger and the group > chat things, with cams, etc. > Third, what you ask for is possible. Either party can initiate the > call, but the person *using the TTY machine* should be the one to > communicate *using the machine* to the TTY operator that he is > capable of hearing. If the TTY operator is tipped off on that early > on in the conversation it not only saves time for the operator but > makes the call easier to handle as well. Expect at the start of the > call that a few seconds or a minute will be wasted while the > operator acclimates him/herself since it is not the usual > proceedure. > Patrick just made a helpful suggestion also: If both parties have > computers and Yahoo Instant Messenger, then let your newly > handicapped friend also get some inexpensive phone service (such as > Vonage), then he calls her (they can talk a *long* time for very > little money) and while he types on the screen, she can talk voice > back to him. If they have cams attached, so much the better, and > more private. Despite the rather rigid rules of all TTY systems > regards privacy in communications, it still is awkward and > inconsiderate of the sensibilities of the TTY operator to conduct > certain kinds of conversations using a middle person in the > conversation. The instant messengers, cameras and a Vonage or other > *cheap* phone service would be a better alternative. > Either way, Linc, pass along my condolences and I hope the guy > recovers the use of his voice sometime soon! Lisa M.] Another alternative is a Text-to-voice device. One of my inlaws lost her ability to speak due to a neurologic disease 25 years ago. She had a laptop sized device (probably smaller now) that she would type words into (or touch keys for phrases) and the words would come out of a speaker. I helped interface it to her phone and added a speakerphone. She could call almost anyone and communicate with them easily. A few of the folks she called reacted badly to the "Robotic" voice but they were probably "buttheads in a present life". We also used email and TDD-relay to communciate with Nan until a few years ago when the disease also claimed the control of her hands. Then is was calls from her care-taker until her death early this year. Take a look at: http://www.hoise.com/vmw/02/articles/vmw/LV-VM-09-02-7.html http://www.kmdev.com/english/pages/english/products/myvoiceportable/myvoiceportable.htm There's also software that uses the sound card of a PC that reads what's typed. That could be linked to the phone and push the voice down the line. That can eliminate the relay as well. Technology can supplement varied abilities. It can't, however, provide the attitude and will to overcome problems. The person has to do that themselves. Often with the help of a few friends and the occasional geek. Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet. promfh at Texas dot net [Lisa Minter note: I wonder if Linc has suggested to his friends that they experiment with an artifial larnyx device? You are correct it does turn a lot like a robot but it is one way to use the telephone 'normally'. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: Ben Schilling Subject: Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Reply Passed Back? Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 10:20:49 -0500 Linc Madison wrote: -- snip -- > As my friend and her boyfriend are currently on opposite coasts, they > would very much like to be able to communicate by telephone. The TDD > relay service would be an obvious piece in the puzzle, but I am > wondering if the following setup is possible, both in the end-user TDD > hardware and in the TDD relay service. > Person A types on the TDD, with the relay operator reading the text > aloud for Person B on the other end. Howver, Person B speaks directly > to Person A without going through the relay operator. (Since Person A > can still hear normally, there is no need to use the relay operator in > the other direction.) -- snip -- The Wisconsin version of the relay system offers a Voice Carry Over call for just this sort of problem. Ben Schilling Telecomm Manager, Wis Insurance Comm 608-266-1615 ben.schilling@oci.state.wi.us ------------------------------ 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 #567 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 16 22:23:32 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6H2NWh28765; Wed, 16 Jul 2003 22:23:32 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 22:23:32 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307170223.h6H2NWh28765@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #568 TELECOM Digest Wed, 16 Jul 2003 22:23:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 568 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. (Marcus Jervis) Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. (Justin Time) Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. (Joseph) Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. (Robert Bonomi) Re: Wierd Nextel Question (Joseph) Re: Wierd Nextel Question (Justin Time) Re: Wierd Nextel Question (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Wierd Nextel Question (Ken Wheatley) Re: Wierd Nextel Question (Pete Romfh) Re: Wierd Nextel Question (Jay R. Ashworth) ATP First To Market With 512 MB MultiMediaCard (Eworldwire) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Ed Gibbs) MS03-026 Buffer Overrun In RPC Interface; Allows Code Execution (Monty) Peter T. Kirstein Recognized With Postel Award (Internet Society) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Ed Ellers) 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: Marcus Jervis Subject: Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 06:21:08 +0000 PMG wrote: > Can anyone tell me when Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. lost it's > separate identity (subsumed into US West, I beleive)? Any background > on the company would also be appreciated -- I haven't had much luck > with Google. Actually it became a separate identity. It lost it's Ma Bell identity. This was the same time (divestiture) when Bell was broken up into seven regional telcos. I believe it became a Baby Bell (US West) in January, 1984. Qwest, an upstart long distance carrier, bought US West using its inflated stock in July, 1999. I guess that is when US West was no longer a separate entity. ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. Date: 16 Jul 2003 06:53:46 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ PMG wrote in message news:: > Can anyone tell me when Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. lost it's > separate identity (subsumed into US West, I beleive)? Any background > on the company would also be appreciated - I haven't had much luck > with Google. > PMG. If I remember correctly they became part of Pacific Telesis which went through a couple of morphings before becoming part of either SBC, US West, Quest or Verizon. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 06:54:19 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 22:43:35 +1000, PMG wrote: > Can anyone tell me when Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. lost it's > separate identity (subsumed into US West, I beleive)? Any background > on the company would also be appreciated - I haven't had much luck > with Google. Pacific Northwest Bell was originally part of Pacific Telephone. Pacific Northwest Bell became USWest at the time of the Bell System divestiture in 1984. At that time all former Bell companies were split into "regional" companies. NYNEX, Bell Atlantic, Ameritech, Bell South, Southwestern Bell, USWest and Pacific Telesis. (I think that's all of them.) The only companies left from the original divestiture are Southwestern Bell (now known as SBC) and Bell South. Qwest took over the 14 state region that was USWest. Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. Organization: Not Much From: bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 00:31:29 GMT In article , PMG wrote: > Can anyone tell me when Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. lost it's > separate identity (subsumed into US West, I beleive)? Any background > on the company would also be appreciated - I haven't had much luck > with Google. As for history, AT&T had 22 "Bell Operating Companies", of which "Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company" was one. When things were broken up, in 1984 into the "Regional Bell Operating Companies", of which there were only *seven*, Pac Northwest Bell Telephone Company was one of the three BOCs that made up U.S. West. The other two being "Mountian Bell Telephone Company" ,and "Northwestern Bell Telephone Company." As the 22 "Bell Operating Companies" were 'merged' into the 7 RBOCs, the separate 'corporate' identity would have been technically lost at that time. The life of the _name_ as an 'operating identity' under the corporate umbrella of US West is an entirely different question. Given the pretty- much _immediate_ disappearance of "Northwestern Bell Telephone Company" (I lived in their territory at the time of the break-up), I'd expect that "Pacific Northwest Bell" suffered a similar fate. Pacific northwest Bell is mentioned separately in a FCC order from 1997. But that order was a resolution of an issue that had been apparently been 'under contest' for an *extended* period. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Wierd Nextel Question Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 06:43:46 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On 14 Jul 2003 20:47:28 -0700, chsvideo@hotmail.com (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) wrote: > 3) how can people I want send messages to my phone like this? One way is to go to the Nextel messaging site (Assuming that you have text messaging enabled on your phone.) http://nextelonline.nextel.com/index.shtml Or they can perhaps send a message to you by simply entering your 10 digit phone number. Most US carriers now have text messaging between carriers now. Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Wierd Nextel Question Date: 16 Jul 2003 06:51:47 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ chsvideo@hotmail.com (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) wrote in message news:: > Hello, > I have a wierd question, but first background: My employer provides a > Nextel phone (currently an i1000plus, soon to be an i90c because of > other issues, but I digress). As far as I am aware (at least until > tonight), we do not have any kind of text messaging enabled on the > account to which my phone is assigned. > Tonight I got a "Message Mail" notification [ I guess there is some > kind of text functionality enabled, after all ] with the following > text on the screen: > 1)2129495E-030152223| (213)702-00xx|Please call Charles > (213)702-00xx---0.94748690.2625618 8:17P 7/14 > (I tried googling the phone number and came up with no results) > I have no intention of calling "Charles" since I don't know anyone in > the 213 NPA, let alone anyone who has my cell #, and I put enough > minutes on my phone as it is, but I'm curious -- > 1) Is this cellspam, some kind of scam, or what? > 2) What do the block of numbers at the beginning and end of the > message mean, and > 3) how can people I want send messages to my phone like this? > Thanks > Lincoln First off, I have yet to see a Nextel that couldn't receive text messages, and that goes back 3 or 4 years to when the i1000 was new. You can send a text message to any Nextel user if you know their phone number by going to the Nextel web site. As far as the numbers, it appears as if they are message identifiers and they look suspiciously like the ones I get when I send a message to a Nextel user from the web site. You can probably verify that by going to the website and ask for the status of a message and keying in the numbers. It will tell you when your phone received its message. You are probably correct when you state it is spam. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 09:13:04 -0600 Subject: Re: Wierd Nextel Question Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Wed, 16 Jul 2003 00:50:52 -0400 (EDT), Lincoln J. King-Cliby wrote: > Tonight I got a "Message Mail" notification [ I guess there is some > kind of text functionality enabled, after all ] with the following > text on the screen: > 1)2129495E-030152223| (213)702-00xx|Please call Charles > (213)702-00xx---0.94748690.2625618 8:17P 7/14 > (I tried googling the phone number and came up with no results) > I have no intention of calling "Charles" since I don't know anyone in > the 213 NPA, let alone anyone who has my cell #, and I put enough > minutes on my phone as it is, but I'm curious -- > 1) Is this cellspam, some kind of scam, or what? Just before I left for work this morning, I was watching CNN and they reported a story (sorry, can't find a reference to it on their website, but maybe it'll appear later today) out of California that is quite similar to yours. IIRC, they mentioned that Nextel (only) subscribers in California received messages remarkably similar to yours. The phone number was different (it was a California number) and so was the name (it was a female name but I don't remember exactly what it was). People who picked up the phone and called the number found that it was an automated message machine, urging people to sign the recall petition (to remove Governor Gray-Out Davis from power) that's been going around, which might result in Californians electing The Terminator as a replacement. (Wow -- Californians actually making the right political choice? What a novelty that would be!) CNN went on to say that a Nextel spokesperson said that, because the message was POLITICAL (and not commercial), it did not violate any state laws against this sort of thing (are there any at all?). Personally, if I lived in California, I'd have been one of the first to sign that recall petition, but I'll be damned if I'll support this sort of tactic. It's just plain wrong to make recipients of your message pay for it -- it's WORSE than spam because the costs are even higher. Political parties should NOT be exempted from any law that the rest of us have to adhere to. Anyways, your message could be something very much like this. It has the same characteristics. YMMV. -- Joey Lindstrom ------------------------------ From: Ken Wheatley Subject: Re: Wierd Nextel Question Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 10:00:16 +0100 Organization: Unisys - Roseville, MN Lincoln J. King-Cliby wrote in message news:telecom22.566.4@telecom-digest.org: > Hello, > I have a wierd question, but first background: My employer provides a > Nextel phone (currently an i1000plus, soon to be an i90c because of > other issues, but I digress). As far as I am aware (at least until > tonight), we do not have any kind of text messaging enabled on the > account to which my phone is assigned. Nextel is iDEN and, as far as I know, iDEN does not supportb mobile originated short messages. It DOES support mobile terminated short messages. In effect the GSM standards are used for these. > Tonight I got a "Message Mail" notification [ I guess there is some > kind of text functionality enabled, after all ] with the following > text on the screen: > 1)2129495E-030152223| (213)702-00xx|Please call Charles > (213)702-00xx---0.94748690.2625618 8:17P 7/14 > 2) What do the block of numbers at the beginning and end of the > message mean, and If this is a proper Nextel notification then these are (should be?) understood by the iDEN handset to manipulate various MWIs message counts and so on. Maybe it's got corrupted and so hasn't done what it should on your phone? ------------------------------ From: Pete Romfh Subject: Re: Wierd Nextel Question Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 06:16:27 -0500 Organization: Not Organized Lincoln J. King-Cliby wrote: > Hello, > I have a wierd question, but first background: My > employer provides a Nextel phone (currently an i1000plus, > soon to be an i90c because of other issues, but I > digress). As far as I am aware (at least until tonight), > we do not have any kind of text messaging enabled on the > account to which my phone is assigned. > Tonight I got a "Message Mail" notification [ I guess > there is some kind of text functionality enabled, after > all ] with the following text on the screen: > 1)2129495E-030152223| (213)702-00xx|Please call Charles > (213)702-00xx---0.94748690.2625618 8:17P 7/14 > (I tried googling the phone number and came up with no > results) > I have no intention of calling "Charles" since I don't > know anyone in the 213 NPA, let alone anyone who has my > cell #, and I put enough minutes on my phone as it is, > but I'm curious -- > 1) Is this cellspam, some kind of scam, or what? > 2) What do the block of numbers at the beginning and end > of the message mean, and > 3) how can people I want send messages to my phone like > this? > Thanks > Lincoln Go to: http://messaging.nextel.com/ or address an email to: <10 digit phone #>@messaging.nextel.com and you're there. Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet. promfh at Texas dot net ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Wierd Nextel Question Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 16:22:32 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Lincoln J. King-Cliby said to him: > I have a wierd question, but first background: My employer provides a > Nextel phone (currently an i1000plus, soon to be an i90c because of > other issues, but I digress). As far as I am aware (at least until > tonight), we do not have any kind of text messaging enabled on the > account to which my phone is assigned. It's automatic. You have an email address, too; it's {10-digits}@page.nextel.net (I think...) > Tonight I got a "Message Mail" notification [ I guess there is some > kind of text functionality enabled, after all ] with the following > text on the screen: > 1)2129495E-030152223| (213)702-00xx|Please call Charles > (213)702-00xx---0.94748690.2625618 8:17P 7/14 > (I tried googling the phone number and came up with no results) > I have no intention of calling "Charles" since I don't know anyone in > the 213 NPA, let alone anyone who has my cell #, and I put enough > minutes on my phone as it is, but I'm curious -- > 1) Is this cellspam, some kind of scam, or what? Yes. It's been cropping up on the alt.cellular.nextel group as well; don't know if anyone's climbed the tree at Nextel yet (this is unsurprisingly difficult to do effectively). > 2) What do the block of numbers at the beginning and end of the > message mean, and Makes it look official. :-) > 3) how can people I want send messages to my phone like this? See above. :-) I have a small webform and CGI that I use to forge messages to www.hz.com so that the replies will go to my phone; I'd be glad to ship you a copy if you have a server to put it on -- Geof (@hz) has been saying for some years that he was going to set up a "registration" thing where you could send requests for receive-only devices like older cell-phones and alpha pagers from some other address ... but it hasn't happened yet. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Eworldwire Subject: ATP First To Market With 512 MB MultiMediaCard; Quadruples Capacity Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 16:18:48 -0400 ATP First To Market With 512 MB MultiMediaCard; Quadruples Capacity; Stores Large Amounts Of Digital Images, Music & Video SUNNYVALE, Calif./EWORLDWIRE/July 16, 2003 --- ATP Electronics Inc, an independent leader in memory products, today announced the introduction of its first to market 512MB MultiMediaCard: a postage stamp-sized flash memory card capable of storing large amounts of data, audio and video. The 512MB MultiMediacard quadruples current capacities, allowing consumers to store up to 15 hours of digitally compressed music, more than 160 minutes of MPEG-4 compressed video or more than 500 high-resolution digital images. The new card, which also can also be used in most portable devices that have a slot for SD memory cards, is the first 512Mbyte offered in the industry. ATP also manufactures 16,32, 64, 128 and 256MB MultiMediaCards. Kent Eisenberg, Product Marketing Manager, said, "We are pleased to announce the introduction of the very first 512Mbyte MultiMediaCard. This firmly establishes ATP as a leader in high-density memory solutions. MultiMediaCards offer a much more attractive price point than SecureDigital (SD) cards, since no licensing fees are required. Plus, MultiMediaCards were developed for all the leading open systems platforms. This technology is an open standard available to any company who wants to improve upon it or develop products for it." ATP's 512MB MultiMediaCard is targeted mainly at the growing demand for memory in audio players, digital cameras and new multi-function cell phones. The new generation mobile cell phones introduced this year are differentiated primarily by their exciting multimedia capabilities, including cameras, MP3 players, and internet messaging, which are expected to drive the requirement for removable flash storage cards. Eisenberg continued, "Our new 512MB MultiMediaCards will give cell phone owners more storage capacity so they can fully utilize these features." MultiMediaCards are also quite popular in stand-alone MP3 players as many players require the cards to store music. ATP plans to make the 512MB MultiMediaCard available to both OEM and retail channels, expecting to begin volume shipments in the next thirty days. Suggested retail pricing for the 512MB MultiMediaCard will be $299US. About ATP: ATP is a recognized leading manufacturer of top quality memory products, including high-capacity flash digital media solutions, and high-density memory modules for servers, workstations, desktop, mobile computing and embedded systems. With strictly regulated ISO 9001 certified facilities and advanced technologies in Flash and DRAM memory design, packaging, testing and qualification, ATP manufactures Best-in-Class memory products. For more information on ATP’s wide range of memory products, visit http://www.atpinc.com. HTML: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/wr/071603/1520.htm PDF: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/pdf/071603/1520.pdf ONLINE NEWSROOM: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/1568.htm LOGO: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/1568.htm CONTACT: Kent Eisenberg ATP Electronics Inc. 750 North Mary Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94085 PHONE. 408-732-5838 EMAIL: kente@us.atpinc.com http://www.atpinc.com WEBSITES: http://www.atpinc.com, http://www.atpinc.com/home/kente/index.htm Copyright 2003 Eworldwire, All rights reserved. ------------------------------ From: egibbs@my-deja.com (Ed Gibbs) Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: 16 Jul 2003 13:47:33 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Nobody wrote in message news:: > Cast my vote for "I don't care"! > I PAY for my phone line for MY convenience. > Unfortunately, MY phone number has become "open-season" for these > jerks. When they ring my number, they are "virtual trespassing" in my > home. A thought that occured to me during my recent escapade with MCI: Apparently a telco can charge non-subscribers anything they care to publish as a tariff if the non-subscriber uses their network, even unwittingly. Ok -- I own a telephone network. It runs from the network interface on the outside of my home to my phone. So I register as a telco and publish a tariff of $.01/year for my "friends and family plan," to which I immediately subscribe everyone I want to hear from. And my non-subscriber rates are $500 per minute. So if some telemarketer calls me and the call is routed over MY telco's network to my phone, do I get $500/minute for as long as I can keep them talking? Just one of those ideas that comes up in moments of frustration. But after reading about the guy who got rich with a bunch of pay phone lines in his basement and an auto-dialer calling 800 numbers, maybe it could work ...? Ed Gibbs ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: MS03-026 Buffer Overrun In RPC Interface Allows Code Execution Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 17:42:45 -0400 Title: Buffer Overrun In RPC Interface Could Allow Code Execution (823980) Date: 16 July 2003 Software: Microsoft(r) Windows (r) NT 4.0 Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Services Edition Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Impact: Run code of attacker's choice Max Risk: Critical Bulletin: MS03-026 Microsoft encourages customers to review the Security Bulletins at: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-026.asp http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/MS03-026.asp ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 11:42:04 -0400 From: Internet Society Subject: Peter T. Kirstein Recognized With Postel Award PETER T. KIRSTEIN RECOGNIZED WITH THE INTERNET SOCIETY'S POSTEL AWARD Kirstein noted for his foresight, persistence and innovation in Internet development Washington, D.C. July 16, 2003 - The Internet Society today announced that Internet pioneer Peter Kirstein is this year's recipient of the prestigious Jonathan B. Postel Service Award. A founding member of the Internet Society, Professor Kirstein is one of the pioneers of the Internet and was directly involved with its development and evolution. He was awarded the Postel Service Award in recognition of his foresight, persistence and innovation in navigating international technical and political complexities, and thus enabling the global propagation of the Internet. The Postel Award will be presented on July 16, during the 57th meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in Vienna, Austria. "The Internet Society is pleased to recognize Peter's significant contribution to the development of the Internet by awarding him this year's Postel Award," said Internet Society President/CEO Lynn St.Amour. "His commitment to the evolution and growth of the Internet, particularly during the 1970's, made possible the global infrastructure we have today. And, his efforts continue, most recently working in the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia regions." Steve Crocker, noted Internet authority and chair of this year's Postel award committee, commented on Kirstein's foresight in laying the groundwork for the Internet's global scope. "Peter Kirstein saw that the future of networking lay in international cooperation and interconnection, and deftly organized the steps to make it happen. He used both technical and personal skills and enabled many others to do magnificent work." In 1973, Kirstein established one of the first two international nodes of the ARPANET, playing a very active part in the ensuing SATNET activity, which covered five countries. His group continued to provide the principal Internet link between the UK and the US throughout the 1980's, during which time he was responsible for both the .UK and .INT domains. He continues to collaborate in US Defense Advanced Research Agency (DARPA) programs. He has led six European projects in computers and communications funded by the European Commission, and participated in twelve more. Currently, he is leading the Silk Project, which is providing satellite-based Internet access to the Newly Independent States in the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia. In June, he was awarded a Commander, Order of the British Empire, for his services to Internetworking research. He has chaired the International Collaboration Board, which currently involves six NATO countries, since 1983, and served on the Networking Panel of the NATO Science Committee (serving as chair in 2001). He has been on Advisory Committees for the Australian Research Council, the Canadian Department of Communications, the German GMD, and the Indian Education and Research Network (ERNET) Project. Kirstein went to the University of London as an undergraduate and obtained his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. Kirstein expressed his appreciation for the award and respect for Jon Postel 's work, explaining, "Postel's efforts to ensure the successful development and deployment of the Internet was an inspiration to us all. His stewardship of the RFC series was essential to the successful development of the Internet. His conscientious and painstaking operation of the Domain Name System and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority were indispensable to the international growth of the system. I am particularly pleased to be recipient of an award in his name, and feel greatly honored to be considered worthy of having my activities linked with his memorial." The Jonathan B. Postel Service Award was established by the Internet Society to honor those who have made outstanding contributions in service to the data communications community. The award is focused on sustained and substantial technical contributions, service to the community, and leadership. With respect to leadership, the nominating committee places particular emphasis on candidates who have supported and enabled others in addition to their own specific actions. The award is named after Dr. Jonathan B. Postel, who embodied all of these qualities during his extraordinary stewardship over the course of a thirty-year career in networking. He served as the editor of the RFC series of notes from its inception in 1969, until 1998. He also served as the ARPANET 'numbers Czar' and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority over the same period of time. He was a founding member of the Internet Architecture (nee Activities) Board and the first individual member of the Internet Society, where he also served as a trustee. Previous recipients of the Postel Award include Jon himself (posthumously and accepted by his mother), Scott Bradner, Daniel Karrenberg and Stephen Wolff. The award consists of an engraved crystal globe and $20,000. About ISOC The Internet Society (www.isoc.org) is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1991 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. With offices in Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. ISOC is the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) and other Internet-related bodies who together play a critical role in ensuring that the Internet develops in a stable and open manner. For over 12 years ISOC has run international network training programs for developing countries and these have played a vital role in setting up the Internet connections and networks in virtually every country connecting to the Internet during this time. Contact: Julie Williams Phone: (703) 464-7005, x111 Cell: 703-402-6715 E-mail: JWilliams@isoc.org ------------------------------ From: Ed Ellers Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Organization: Insight Broadband Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 13:34:51 GMT AES/newspost wrote: > If the basic legislative requirement were simply that telemarketing > calls [1] had to be made using a Caller-ID number that appeared to > come from some specific distinctive "area code" -- e.g., (333) > xxx-xxxx [2,3] -- it would become trivial for anyone who wished to > totally block all telemarketing to any of their phone numbers, at > minimal cost [4] and with no need to ever update any "do not call" > lists." Minimal? Caller ID costs extra, *per month.* I don't call that "minimal." ------------------------------ 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 #568 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jul 18 00:43:57 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6I4hu005362; Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:43:57 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:43:57 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307180443.h6I4hu005362@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #569 TELECOM Digest Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:44:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 569 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Overture Would Owe Yahoo on Merger Breakup - Filing (Monty Solomon) Microsoft Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings (Monty Solomon) TiVo Shares Dip on Subscriber Concern (Monty Solomon) BellSouth Pays 1.4 Million to Settle FCC Probe (Monty Solomon) MS03-026: Buffer Overrun In RPC Interface Allows Code (Monty Solomon) Cisco IOS Interface Blocked by IPv4 Packet (Monty Solomon) Cingular / Nokia 3300 Music Phone (Monty Solomon) Cablevision to Muscle Into Satellite TV Arena (Monty Solomon) EarthLink Widens Nationwide High-Speed Access Footprint (Monty Solomon) Nokia 2nd Qtr Results (Monty Solomon) Yahoo Japan Posts Strong Q1 on Auction, ADSL Demand (Monty Solomon) Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. (tadc@europa.com) Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. (Brandon Turok) Need Networking S/W and H/W Designers, Developers in India (Gri Vidi) Looking for SS7 Card (CTI Tech) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List ('nuther Bob) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Tim Keating) Re: Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs (Nitin Mehrotra) 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, 18 Jul 2003 00:27:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Overture Would Owe Yahoo on Merger Breakup - Filing LOS ANGELES, July 17 (Reuters) - Online advertising company Overture Services Inc. (NASDAQ:OVER) would owe Internet media company Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) $65 million if Yahoo's acquisition of Overture is broken up by another offer, according to documents filed with securities regulators on Thursday. A copy of the merger agreement between Yahoo and Overture was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday including the clause covering the break-up fee. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34894747 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:22:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings Strong Customer Adoption of Server Products Drives Fourth Quarter Revenue; Achieves Double Digit Revenue Growth in Each Business Segment In Fiscal Year 2003 REDMOND, Wash., July 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) today announced revenue of $8.07 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2003, an 11% increase over revenue of $7.25 billion for the same period in the prior year. Operating income for the fourth quarter came in at $2.19 billion, which included charges of $796 million primarily related to the settlement of the AOL Time Warner lawsuit. This is compared to operating income of $2.87 billion reported in the prior year period. Net income for the quarter was $1.92 billion, including $533 million in after-tax settlement charges, compared to $1.53 billion reported in the previous year, which included an after-tax charge for investment impairments of $806 million. Diluted earnings per share for the June 2003 quarter were $0.18, including an after-tax charge of $0.05 associated with the legal settlements. The prior year's diluted earnings per share were $0.14, including an after-tax investment impairment charge of $0.07. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34891559 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:23:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Tivo Shares Dip on DirecTV Subscriber Concern NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) - Shares of TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO) fell 11 percent on Thursday after DirecTV, its biggest distributor, reported slower-than-expected second-quarter growth in subscribers to its TiVo television recording service. Satellite TV provider DirecTV, a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp. (NYSE:GMH), on Wednesday warned that it may prove "challenging" to meet its own 2003 goals for adding users with digital video recorders (DVR), which are powered by TiVo. But it plans to increase spending on promotions to drive growth. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34891887 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:24:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: BellSouth Pays $1.4 mln to Settle FCC Probes WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:BLS) has agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle a probe that the company prematurely offered long-distance services and discriminated against rivals, federal regulators said on Thursday. The Federal Communications Commission said it had been investigating allegations that the No. 3 local telephone carrier marketed or sold long-distance services in six states without receiving the necessary approvals as required. The agency also said it was probing accusations that BellSouth had refused to offer long-distance telephone service to customers of competing local telephone carriers because there were not operational agreements with the rivals. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34892194 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 22:58:34 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: MS03-026: Buffer Overrun In RPC Interface Allows Code Title: Buffer Overrun In RPC Interface Could Allow Code Execution (823980) Date: 16 July 2003 Software: Microsoft(r) Windows (r) NT 4.0 Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Services Edition Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Impact: Run code of attacker's choice Max Risk: Critical Bulletin: MS03-026 Microsoft encourages customers to review the Security Bulletins at: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-026.asp http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/MS03-026.asp ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 23:47:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cisco IOS Interface Blocked by IPv4 Packet Document ID: 44020 Revision 1.3 Last Updated 2003 July 17 at 23:00 UTC (GMT) For Public Release 2003 July 17 at 6:10 UTC (GMT) http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20030717-blocked.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:05:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular / Nokia 3300 Music Phone Cingular Wireless Introduces The Nokia 3300 Music Phone for Consumers Who Can't Leave Their Music Behind - Jul 17, 2003 08:51 AM (PR Newswire) MP3 Player Allows On-The-Go Consumers To Not Miss A Beat ATLANTA, July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless and Nokia (NYSE:NOK) today announced the availability of the Nokia 3300 music phone in Cingular's GSM/GPRS markets. The dual-band (850/1900 MHz) Nokia 3300 music phone is designed with an integrated MP3 player to download, record and play back music, and the sturdy messaging keyboard is ideal for text messaging. The Nokia 3300 music phone is the optimum phone for consumers who place a premium on having music with them, wherever they go. Consumers can manage and transfer music files from their PC to a memory card in their phone using Nokia Audio Manager PC software and a DKU-2 data cable (both are included in the box), or simply listen to the built-in FM radio. The Nokia 3300 music phone supports polyphonic downloadable ring tones and Cingular Super Tones, which sound like real music tunes. Optimized game controls for more intense action make the Nokia 3300 music phone a virtual mobile entertainment center. Staying connected is an equally important feature on the new Nokia 3300 music phone, as sending and receiving text messages has never been easier. The device supports e-mail protocols including IMAP4 and POP3. Internet Service Provider profiles from Yahoo, SBC and BellSouth.net are preloaded in the device. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34882376 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 09:39:39 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cablevision to Muscle Into Satellite TV Arena By Kenneth Li NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - Cablevision Systems Corp. said it plans to launch a satellite on Thursday evening that will thrust the legendary cable family, the Dolans, into not one -- but two -- enemy territories. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34878689 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:11:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EarthLink Widens Nationwide High-Speed Access Footprint New and Expanded Wholesale Agreements Enable ISP to Provide Greater Choice to High-Speed Internet Customers in more than 7 Million New Households ATLANTA, July 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EarthLink, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELNK), one of the nation's largest Internet service providers, today announced it has expanded its high-speed access footprint to potentially serve upwards of 7 million additional households across the country. This effort will give consumers a greater choice for broadband service in over 70 new and expanded markets from Miami, Fla. to Monterey, Calif. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34883673 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:13:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nokia 2nd Qtr Results HELSINKI, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 2003-- Second quarter 2003 compared with the second quarter 2002: - Net sales were EUR 7 019 million (EUR 6 935 million in 2Q 2002), up by 1%. - Pro forma operating profit was EUR 858 million (EUR 1 260 million), down by 32%. This included a charge of EUR 399 million related to restructuring in Nokia Networks. Pro forma operating margin was 12.2% (18.2%). - Pro forma adjustments for the second quarter 2003 consisted of goodwill amortization of EUR 40 million. - Pro forma net profit was EUR 664 million (EUR 905 million), down by 27%. - Pro forma earnings per share (diluted) were EUR 0.14 (EUR 0.19). - Reported operating profit decreased by 33% to EUR 818 million (EUR 1 221 million). This also included the charge of EUR 399 million. - Reported net profit decreased by 28% to EUR 624 million (EUR 862 million) and reported earnings per share (diluted) decreased to EUR 0.13 (EUR 0.18). - Operating cash flow in the second quarter continued strongly at EUR 1.3 billion. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34879842 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:14:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Yahoo Japan Posts Strong Q1 on Auction, ADSL Demand TOKYO, July 17 (Reuters) - Yahoo Japan Corp (TOKYO:4689) reported upbeat quarterly profits on Thursday as its broadband Web access service and auction operations -- the top Internet portal's two earnings pillars -- continued to reel in subscribers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34879131 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 20:48:37 PDT Subject: Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. From: > As the 22 "Bell Operating Companies" were 'merged' into the 7 RBOCs, the > separate 'corporate' identity would have been technically lost at that > time. The life of the _name_ as an 'operating identity' under the > corporate umbrella of US West is an entirely different question. > Given the pretty- much _immediate_ disappearance of "Northwestern Bell > Telephone Company" (I lived in their territory at the time of the > break-up), I'd expect that "Pacific Northwest Bell" suffered a similar > fate. > Pacific northwest Bell is mentioned separately in a FCC order from 1997. > But that order was a resolution of an issue that had been > apparently been 'under contest' for an *extended* period. I have lived in PNW Bell territory pretty much all of my life. My imperfect memory recalls a gradual transition from Pacific Northwest Bell branding to USWest branding, over the course of several years. IIRC the USWest name first appeared on phone books. Later it was "Pacific Northwest Bell, a USWest company". Tad ------------------------------ From: Brandon Turok Subject: Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 00:25:24 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications PNB became part of US West during the 1984 Bell System divestiture. I believe US West stopped using the names PNB, Mountain Bell, and Northwestern Bell immediately after divestiture, although I may be wrong. Funny ... when I originally typed that, I typed Qwest, even thought I was thinking US West. Brandon Turok Southwestern Telephone Talk is cheap. We make it cheaper. http://www.swtelephone.com Tel: (877) 822-2555 Fax: (877) 888-9979 PMG wrote in message news:telecom22.566.6@telecom-digest.org: > Can anyone tell me when Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. lost it's > separate identity (subsumed into US West, I beleive)? Any background > on the company would also be appreciated - I haven't had much luck > with Google. ------------------------------ From: grividi@hotmail.com (Gri Vidi) Subject: Need Networking S/W and H/W Designers, Developers in India Date: 17 Jul 2003 02:19:42 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Greetings! We are looking for networking (layer 2 and 3) and telecom products designers (including architects) and developers for our R&D in Bangalore, India. If you are a hardware or software expert and interested, please contact me with your resume at grividi@hotmail.com. Thanks and best regards, -Gri GriVidi@hotmail.com ------------------------------ From: mailbox4terri@optonline.net (CTI Tech) Subject: Looking for SS7 Card Date: 17 Jul 2003 04:43:14 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ We are putting up and SS7 app that requires the following card from NMS but they need to build it an are saying that it will take 30 days to get: NMS TX3220 High Performance PCI Communication Platform with Quad V.35 Daughterboard (4 links) Does anyone know of a VAR or after market source for this? We need to start next week. ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 02:30:58 GMT On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:35:22 -0700, AES/newspost wrote: > It's always seemed absolutely obvious to me that the whole idea of "do > not call" lists is an especially dumb way of addressing the problem. If you think that's dumb, consider that 9 out of 10 bills on file to reduce SPAM will require an opt-out "do not email" list. This means that the gov't would be creating a massive directory of email addresses that off-shore spammers would obtain under the guise of "not spamming", then of course email to all of them. If it seems like our legislators are stupid, that's not the problem. They problem is that most of them are in the back pocket of the DMA and they really don't want to stop spam at all. Bob ------------------------------ From: Tim Keating Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 09:02:49 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:35:22 -0700, AES/newspost wrote: >> Stanley settled back into the couch, and Richard Johnson >> said to him: >>> The fact remains that AT&T's donotcall.gov site is poorly designed for >>> its stated purpose. It is not even close to secure enough to prevent >>> such likely attacks. An email address requirement does nothing to >>> enhance the security. The requirement is, in fact, perhaps worthy of >>> mention on . > It's always seemed absolutely obvious to me that the whole idea of "do > not call" lists is an especially dumb way of addressing the problem. > If the basic legislative requirement were simply that telemarketing > calls [1] had to be made using a Caller-ID number that appeared to > come from some specific distinctive "area code" -- e.g., (333) > xxx-xxxx [2,3] -- it would become trivial for anyone who wished to > totally block all telemarketing to any of their phone numbers, at > minimal cost [4] and with no need to ever update any "do not call" > lists. > The _only_ reason for not adopting this trivially simple scheme is > that it would work [4]. Except the Baby Bell wants 7 to 8$ a MONTH for the Caller ID service. OH what fun ... you propose a do not disturb tax!!! B.T.W. The household called is still disrupted by having someone to go the nearest Caller-ID box and look at the number ... (Note: I'm disgusted at how the Baby bells have played and profited from both sides of the telemarketing game. My phone is now on a 1st ring voice mail answer, with required mail box number entry before they can leave a message. I.E. The caller has to prove they're intelligent to leave a message. :-) . ------------------------------ From: Nitin Mehrotra Subject: Re: Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs Date: 18 Jul 2003 02:25:59 GMT Organization: Concentric Internet Services Another option, if you didn't want to mess around with the jacks, would be to get 4 prong to regular RJ-11 converters. Should be available at any hardware store or Radio Shack. A bit unsightly but perfectly functional. Nitin CMM wrote in message news:telecom22.566.3@telecom-digest.org: > Hi, > I just moved into a house (probably about 50 years old) and I found > out that the phone plugs are the old type (Bell, 4 hole / 4 wire > plugs). Is there any way to switch to regular RJ11 phone jacks, can I > use any type of converter, or if I could connect regular phone jacks > directly to the wires that would be even better. > Any ideas? > Thanks. > CMM > [Lisa Minter note: At Radio Shack you can purchase as many of the > modern RJ11 phone covers as needed. Remove the old cover plates > and connect the new covers wire for wire (red to red, green to green, > etc). Then when you plug in your newer style modular plug style > phones, they should work just fine. If by chance you find that you > cannot 'cut' dial tone with one or more of the phones, try swapping > the red and green wires on the new face plates. The wires should > match up with red/green for one pair and black/yellow for any second > pair you may have. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ 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 #569 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jul 19 13:20:52 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6JHKpu13590; Sat, 19 Jul 2003 13:20:52 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 13:20:52 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307191720.h6JHKpu13590@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #570 TELECOM Digest Sat, 19 Jul 2003 13:21:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 570 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Software Helps Police Draw Crime Links (Monty Solomon) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (John Hines) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (John R. Levine) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (AES/newspost) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (AES/newspost) Re: Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs (GlowingBlueMist) How to Handle Calls? Outside Sales, Mexico, Columbia (Anthropocentric) Anybody Know Anything About J2.com's Email-by-Phone? (Scott Perry) Re: Looking for SS7 Card (joe@obilivan.net) Questionable Universal Service Fund Practices (RCN) (Tom Saylor) RCN Charges Sales Tax on Internet Access (Tom Saylor) Request of Gartner's Report (ycm) 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, 18 Jul 2003 02:13:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Software Helps Police Draw Crime Links By Gareth Cook, Globe Staff, 7/17/2003 The Boston Police Department is rolling out a powerful new computer program built to find hidden connections among people and events almost instantly, allowing detectives to investigate murders, rapes, and other crimes far faster than they can today. Called 'Coplink', the program sifts through tens of millions of police records, from 911 calls to homicide investigations, to deliver a short list of potential leads in just seconds. The same kind of searching currently takes hours or even days of a detective's time -- when it is possible at all. Designed in an Arizona artificial intelligence lab, Coplink searches through arrest records, incident reports, and emergency phone calls to identify potential suspects and compile all possible leads on them, including past addresses, weapons they have owned, and even the arrest records of people with whom they have been stopped in a car. In Boston, it will search only through city police records, though it could later be expanded to stretch far more broadly. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/198/nation/Software_helps_police_draw_crime_links+.shtml ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 10:51:15 -0500 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org 'nuther Bob wrote: > On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:35:22 -0700, AES/newspost > wrote: >> It's always seemed absolutely obvious to me that the whole idea of "do >> not call" lists is an especially dumb way of addressing the problem. > If you think that's dumb, consider that 9 out of 10 bills on file to > reduce SPAM will require an opt-out "do not email" list. This means > that the gov't would be creating a massive directory of email > addresses that off-shore spammers would obtain under the guise of "not > spamming", then of course email to all of them. You'll find, like in the do not call laws, that political causes are exempted, so the do not call list turns into a free list for soliciting political funds. ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: 18 Jul 2003 12:09:42 -0400 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > If you think that's dumb, consider that 9 out of 10 bills on file to > reduce SPAM will require an opt-out "do not email" list. Actually, there's only one bill in Congress with a do-not-spam list, which is Schumer's. It's written so that the list would contain domains, not just addresses. (It was originally just addresses until I explained to them why that wouldn't work.) Listing every address at AOL or IBM would be nuts, but a single entry for aol.com or ibm.com could work, with reasonable enforcement rules which the Schumer bill also has. > This means that the gov't would be creating a massive directory of > email addresses that off-shore spammers would obtain under the guise > of "not spamming", then of course email to all of them. The plan is to distribute one-way hashes of the individual addresses, not the addresses themselves. That makes it easy to check if an address you already have is in the list without disclosing the address to anyone who doesn't already have it. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 330 5711 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 09:21:12 -0700 I originally wrote: >> If the basic legislative requirement were simply that telemarketing >> calls [1] had to be made using a Caller-ID number that appeared to >> come from some specific distinctive "area code" -- e.g., (333) >> xxx-xxxx [2,3] -- it would become trivial for anyone who wished to >> totally block all telemarketing to any of their phone numbers, at >> minimal cost [4] and with no need to ever update any "do not call" >> lists. >> The _only_ reason for not adopting this trivially simple scheme is >> that it would work [4]. and Tim Keating replied: > Except the Baby Bell wants > 7 to 8$ a MONTH for the Caller ID service. > OH what fun ... you propose a do not disturb tax!!! > B.T.W. The household called is still disrupted by having someone to > go the nearest Caller-ID box and look at the number ... to which I respond: 1) I believe the charge for receiving Caller ID is somewhat less than this in many areas, and will come down. 2) If Radio Shack can make and sell tabletop weather radios for $10 to $20 retail, they can make and sell for a similar price a gadget that can be inserted in your incoming phone line to automatically and completely blocks all incoming "333" calls -- or phone manufacturers can build a chip into your phones. WIth this approach, your phone never even rings in response to a "333" call -- which should be the real objective. ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 09:21:53 -0700 In article , 'nuther Bob wrote: > On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:35:22 -0700, AES/newspost > wrote: >> It's always seemed absolutely obvious to me that the whole idea of "do >> not call" lists is an especially dumb way of addressing the problem. > If you think that's dumb, consider that 9 out of 10 bills on file to > reduce SPAM will require an opt-out "do not email" list. This means > that the gov't would be creating a massive directory of email > addresses that off-shore spammers would obtain under the guise of "not > spamming", then of course email to all of them. > If it seems like our legislators are stupid, that's not the problem. > They problem is that most of them are in the back pocket of the DMA > and they really don't want to stop spam at all. Full agreement. ------------------------------ From: GlowingBlueMist Subject: Re: Old Bell 4 Hole Phone Plugs Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 13:01:04 -0400 Yes you can remove the old wall plugs and replace them with something more modern. American home phones normally use only two of the four wires anyway unless you have two lines comming into the house or an external transformer hooked to the other pair in order to provide low voltage to light a dial light (modern phones light up from the phone line voltages but some old phone instruments had to be supplied externally). CMM wrote in message news:telecom22.566.3@telecom-digest.org: > Hi, > I just moved into a house (probably about 50 years old) and I found > out that the phone plugs are the old type (Bell, 4 hole / 4 wire > plugs). Is there any way to switch to regular RJ11 phone jacks, can I > use any type of converter, or if I could connect regular phone jacks > directly to the wires that would be even better. > Any ideas? > Thanks. > CMM > [Lisa Minter note: At Radio Shack you can purchase as many of the > modern RJ11 phone covers as needed. Remove the old cover plates > and connect the new covers wire for wire (red to red, green to green, > etc). Then when you plug in your newer style modular plug style > phones, they should work just fine. If by chance you find that you > cannot 'cut' dial tone with one or more of the phones, try swapping > the red and green wires on the new face plates. The wires should > match up with red/green for one pair and black/yellow for any second > pair you may have. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: anthropocentric@hotmail.com (Anthropocentric) Subject: How to Handle Calls? Outside Sales Force, Mexico, Columbia, Etc. Date: 18 Jul 2003 13:48:15 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hello All, I work for a U.S. (Los Angeles) based company. We have outside salespeople working in the field all over the country: Seattle, New York, Houston, Cleveland, Etc. Because of the high turnover rate, we do not want to lose the valuable work they have done if they leave the company (meeting with customers, handing out materials, business cards, etc.) On their business cards, we list an 800 # and the Salesperson's personal extension. The calls come directly into our office in Los Angeles, which then forwards the calls to their local number (say, in Cleveland) (either their cell phone or office number). This way, if we "replace" a Salesperson, the new Salesperson can start where they left off; the new Salesperson will be assigned the OLD Salesperson's extension. if a customer calls, he/she will receive an answer from the new Salesperson in their location. We have expanded our outside sales force to Mexico and Columbia. What we would like to do is give customers a toll-free number that forwards the calls to the local Salesperson in their area. Obviously, it would be very stupid to route calls to L.A. and then back out to Columbia! (as our current setup would require). Also, I understand that toll-free number schemes vary from country to country. Is there any way to have a toll-free number that will work across all of Latin America? Any way to do this without requiring them to first call an access number, and THEN the actual phone number? (which combined is about 20 digits) Ideally, the toll-free number would look just like any other toll-free number in the country. Would I need a different toll free number for each country (columbia, mexico, etc.)? What's more, would I need a different toll-free number for each SALESPERSON? Could I get a phone number that can have multiple programmable (for forwarding) extensions? What's the best way to handle this!? I am thinking about just putting the Salesperson's personal, local, number on the business card and calling it quits. Again, ideally, I would put a local toll free number on the Salesperson's card which I could then forward to a different phone number of my choosing. Anyone have experience with this type of stuff? Anyone with experience in Columbia or Mexico? Please Help! Thanks! ------------------------------ From: scottperry@miraclevision.com (Scott Perry) Subject: Anybody Know Anything About J2.com's Email-by-Phone Reliability? Date: 18 Jul 2003 20:40:49 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I have been a loyal and satisfied fax customer of j2.com (formerly jfax and efax, see http://www.j2.com), for the last five years. Recently I've been toying with the possibility of making their Email-by-phone* service a primary communications link, to be regularly relied upon in my business communications setup, but after two days of testing out this part of the j2.com service, suddenly their incoming one dedicated 800 number for the US goes dead for the last several hours on Friday night. All of their other systems still seem to be up and running fine. Only their Email-by-phone service seems to be having trouble. Anybody here know anything about how reliable this part of J2.com is? Scott Perry Ann Arbor, Michigan * J2.com's Email-by-phone service is a paid-for service that enables voicemails received at a J2.com 'premier-paid-for' number, as well as emails received at any pre-designated email, to be listened to (emails are read out-loud by an automated reader). ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Looking For SS7 Card Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 23:09:48 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications CTI Tech wrote: > We are putting up and SS7 app that requires the following card from > NMS but they need to build it an are saying that it will take 30 days > to get: > NMS TX3220 High Performance PCI Communication Platform with Quad V.35 > Daughterboard (4 links) > Does anyone know of a VAR or after market source for this? We need to > start next week. Is that anything like being a day late and a dollar short? ------------------------------ From: Tom Saylor Subject: Questionable Universal Service Fund Practices (RCN) Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 12:06:19 -0400 Organization: 4YES RCN is charging the Universal Service Fund (USF) fee not only on state-to-state long distance, but also on the Federal Subscriber Line Charge, the Local Number Portability Charge, and port charges. This amounts to 'taxing the tax'. I have never seen this done before, even by Verizon. USF itself has always been questionable to me do to the fact that it is not clear how much the USF fee goes to the FCC and how much the phone company keeps it for itself, under the guise of another federal charge. But RCN is taking this to another level here by also applying the USF tax to other mandated charges, and local charges at that, not long distance. It was my understanding that USF was to be applied to long distance fees only. In our area, RCN is a CLEC that resells Verizon telephone lines. It also is a competitive cable provider, offering cable TV and high speed Internet via its own cable plant. Unlike former AT&T Cable/Comcast, its telephone service is not via the cable lines, but via reselled Verizon lines. Is taxing the tax for USF permissible? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This was happening for many, many years in Chicago. The old Illinois Bell was putting 'service charges' on taxes and a state tax on the federal tax. When they finally got called on the carpet for it and lost it in a court battle, Illinois Bell wound up having to refund to each customer something like *two cents* per line for *each month of service* going back several years. The way they effectively resolved it was by giving most customers of any long stand- ing credit for a month of telephone service. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tom Saylor Subject: RCN Charges Sales Tax on Internet Access Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 12:10:49 -0400 Organization: 4YES My RCN bill shows that they have applied State Sales Tax under High Speed Internet Access. This is rather interesting, considering that our state laws have exempted internet access from sales tax. I believe tat federal law prohibits states from taxing internet access, although I am unsure of current status of that law, since it was due to expire and may not have been renewed. The amount of tax is equivalent to a tax on the cable modem rental fee alone, not the full amount of access. Now that certainly sounds permissible, except for the fact that we don't rent our cable modem. We own our own box and the bill charges the cable modem rental fee, but then it is also refunded on each bill in another area. So why is RCN charging sales tax on something we are not paying? ------------------------------ From: ee_ycmaa@yahoo.com (ycm) Subject: Request of Gartner's Report Date: 19 Jul 2003 09:28:45 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi all, I am a marketing student doing some analysis on Wireless markets. Has anyone here got the Gartner's Report entitled "Hype Cycle for Mobile and Wireless Applications and Services, 2003". It is in pdf format. It is too expensive for me to buy one in Gartner. So just wanna see if anyone can help me. Thx ... thank you very much. Hansen ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #570 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 21 01:12:49 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6L5CnU21487; Mon, 21 Jul 2003 01:12:49 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 01:12:49 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307210512.h6L5CnU21487@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #571 TELECOM Digest Mon, 21 Jul 2003 01:13:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 571 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Article in NYTimes (iidesune) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List ('nuther Bob) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (John R. Levine) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Nathan Tenny) Re: How to Handle Calls? Outside Sales Force, Mexico (John R. Levine) Re: Cablevision to Muscle Into Satellite TV Arena (Tom Betz) SBC - What the Hell is Going on with AtHand.com ? (David) Re: Looking for SS7 Card (Julian Thomas) Re: RCN Charges Sales Tax on Internet Access ('nuther Bob) Re: RCN Charges Sales Tax on Internet Access (Gary Breuckman) Toll Stations, Party Lines; Other Remnants of Times Past? (Rick Miller) Re: Software Helps Police Draw Crime Links (Jay R. Ashworth) New CLIE Handheld Features More Power, Mobility, Intelligence (Solomon) A Miserable Weekend, For Sure (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: iidesune@netvision.net.il (iidesune) Subject: Article in NYTimes Date: 20 Jul 2003 01:48:55 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/20/business/20JMAR.html By Telecommuting, the Disabled Get a Key to the Office, and a Job Best, Yvonne http://www.intelli-mation.com [Lisa Minter note: Readers are invited to use the group password when reading NY Times: username 'telecomdigest' password 'telecomdigest'. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob" Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2003 15:17:12 GMT On 18 Jul 2003 12:09:42 -0400, johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) wrote: > Actually, there's only one bill in Congress with a do-not-spam list, > which is Schumer's. It's written so that the list would contain > domains, not just addresses. (It was originally just addresses until > I explained to them why that wouldn't work.) Listing every address at > AOL or IBM would be nuts, but a single entry for aol.com or ibm.com > could work, with reasonable enforcement rules which the Schumer bill > also has. Do you have any additional information on that bill? A bill number reference? I could not find anything on it at the cauce.org site and it should be there. It sounds like a workable opt-out approach, as long as it contains the "right to sue" provisions. Thanks, Bob >> This means that the gov't would be creating a massive directory of >> email addresses that off-shore spammers would obtain under the guise >> of "not spamming", then of course email to all of them. > The plan is to distribute one-way hashes of the individual addresses, > not the addresses themselves. That makes it easy to check if an > address you already have is in the list without disclosing the address > to anyone who doesn't already have it. > John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 330 5711 > johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl > Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 17:37:44 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and John R. Levine said to him: > The plan is to distribute one-way hashes of the individual addresses, > not the addresses themselves. That makes it easy to check if an > address you already have is in the list without disclosing the address > to anyone who doesn't already have it. Wow, a legislator who has a staffer with a clue? How in the Hell did that happen? Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ Date: 19 Jul 2003 18:16:54 -0000 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> If you think that's dumb, consider that 9 out of 10 bills on file to >> reduce SPAM will require an opt-out "do not email" list. Actually, only the Schumer bill in Congress has a do-not-spam list. The rest don't. Am I really the only one who takes the two minutes to see what the bills say? >> This means that the gov't would be creating a massive directory of email >> addresses that off-shore spammers would obtain under the guise of "not >> spamming", then of course email to all of them. Actually, the e-mail addresses in the list that Schumer proposes would be distributed as one-way hashes so you can tell whether an address you have is on the list, but you can't recover the addresses you don't already have from the list. Is it really that hard to check well-known facts before flaming? >> If it seems like our legislators are stupid, that's not the problem. >> They problem is that most of them are in the back pocket of the DMA >> and they really don't want to stop spam at all. I guess that since I actually went to the FTC's spam conference and talked to FTC and Senate staffers, my imagination is sadly limited by facts. But if you think that Schumer is in the DMA's pocket, you're living on another planet. I wouldn't disagree with that assessment of Rep. Sensenbrenner, though. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be http://iecc.com/johnl Sewer Commission "A book is a sneeze." - E.B. White, on the writing of Charlotte's Web ------------------------------ From: n_t_e_nn_y_@q_ual_c_o_m_m_.c_o_m (Nathan Tenny) Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: 19 Jul 2003 11:54:30 -0700 Organization: QUALCOMM Incorporated Reply-To: ntenny+r@qualcomm.com In article , John Hines wrote: > You'll find, like in the do not call laws, that political causes are > exempted, so the do not call list turns into a free list for soliciting > political funds. This was not my experience of living in a state with a do-not-call list, though admittedly that was a number of years ago when telemarketing was a much lesser problem. I'd be interested to know if there's anyone who actually had, firsthand, an experience of the form "My state instituted a do-not-call list and all I got was these lousy politicians". I understand the plausibility argument, but has it happened in practice? Nathan Tenny | When the world ends, there'll be no more Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA | air. That's why it's important to pollute | the air now. Before it's too late. | -- Kathy Acker ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: How to Handle Calls? Outside Sales Force, Mexico, Columbia Date: 19 Jul 2003 18:41:54 -0400 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Obviously, it would be very stupid to route calls to L.A. and then > back out to Colombia! (as our current setup would require). Maybe, maybe not. I pay 9 cents/min to call Bogota and 6 cents/min to call Mexico City. Rates have come down a lot in recent years. > Also, I understand that toll-free number schemes vary from country to > country. Right. > Is there any way to have a toll-free number that will work across all > of Latin America? Maybe. There are international toll-free numbers in country code 800 so you'd dial them as 00800 XXXX XXXX. Dunno if they're available in Colombia and Mexico. > Would I need a different toll free number for each country (Columbia, > Mexico, etc.)? Unless you can get an 00800 number, yes. Since most people have never heard of 00800 numbers, you might be better off with a more familiar domestic number anyway. > What's more, would I need a different toll-free number for each > SALESPERSON? Well, not if you got numbers that connected back to the current dispatch switch in the U.S. Hard to say what's available in each country. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 330 5711 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: Cablevision to Muscle Into Satellite TV Arena Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2003 16:41:00 UTC Organization: XOme Quoth Monty Solomon in news:telecom22.569.8@telecom- digest.org: > By Kenneth Li > NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - Cablevision Systems Corp. said it plans > to launch a satellite on Thursday evening that will thrust the > legendary cable family, the Dolans, into not one -- but two -- enemy > territories. This story is particularly amusing, considering the incredibly aggressive anti-satellite TV campaign that Cablevision has been shoving down subscribers' throats for at least the last two years. I haven't checked yet to see whether it's still running today... ------------------------------ From: David Subject: SBC - What the Hell is Going on with AtHand.com ? Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2003 20:50:47 GMT I mean how can http://www.athand.com/ be allowed to fester in a non-working state for two years? Are you guys trying to win the Olympics in incompetence? ------------------------------ From: Julian Thomas Subject: Re: Looking for SS7 Card Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2003 16:53:03 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com In , on 07/17/03 at 04:43 AM, mailbox4terri@optonline.net (CTI Tech) may have used oatmeal boxes, old string, and new, used, and recycled electrons to say (at least in part): > NMS TX3220 High Performance PCI Communication Platform with Quad V.35 > Daughterboard (4 links) > Does anyone know of a VAR or after market source for this? We need to > start next week. Google search for this turns up this link: http://www.hwforums.com/1525/messages/405.html Julian Thomas: jt@jt-mj.net http://jt-mj.net In the beautiful Finger Lakes Wine Country of New York State! Boardmember of POSSI.org - Phoenix OS/2 Society, Inc http://www.possi.org A flying saucer results when a nudist spills his coffee. ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: RCN Charges Sales Tax on Internet Access Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 00:50:16 GMT On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 12:10:49 -0400, Tom Saylor wrote: > The amount of tax is equivalent to a tax on the cable modem rental fee > alone, not the full amount of access. Now that certainly sounds > permissible, except for the fact that we don't rent our cable modem. > We own our own box and the bill charges the cable modem rental fee, > but then it is also refunded on each bill in another area. So why is > RCN charging sales tax on something we are not paying? If someone is charging you in one area of a bill and crediting you in another for the same thing, this indicates that they can't handle the situation properly in their billing system. So, they are doing what we'd call in the software business, a "workaround". Unfortunately, their workaround is to give you a fixed credit each month through some other mechanism. So, when they started adding tax, the fixed credit was no longer accurate. Call them up, ask them to adjust the credit. You might need to mention that it's illegal to charge you tax on a product or service that you are not paying for. I'm sure you can get it adjusted. Bob ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: RCN Charges Sales Tax on Internet Access Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2003 22:34:38 -0500 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , Tom Saylor wrote: > My RCN bill shows that they have applied State Sales Tax under High > Speed Internet Access. This is rather interesting, considering that our > state laws have exempted internet access from sales tax. I believe tat > federal law prohibits states from taxing internet access, although I am > unsure of current status of that law, since it was due to expire and may > not have been renewed. > The amount of tax is equivalent to a tax on the cable modem rental fee > alone, not the full amount of access. Now that certainly sounds > permissible, except for the fact that we don't rent our cable modem. We > own our own box and the bill charges the cable modem rental fee, but > then it is also refunded on each bill in another area. So why is RCN > charging sales tax on something we are not paying? It's taxed in Wisconsin, both in terms of dialup access and for highspeed (DSL/Cable/T1) services. -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ From: rickmillerenterprises@hotmail.com (Rick Miller) Subject: Toll Stations, Party Lines and Other Remnants of Times Past? Date: 20 Jul 2003 18:54:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Are there any still around? From what I read, most (if not all) Toll Stations are completely gone, but party lines were still around as of 2001 when I worked for a short time as a CCS operator for Verizon (the people you get when you dial '0') In fact, all long distance calls from party lines would come up on my screen, with only a blank prompt for "calling number", my prompt was "Number, please?" and the customer would give me the number that they are calling *from* which I would enter into the system so the proper person could be charged for the call. Of course, I would imagine that it would not stop dishonest people from giving the number of some *other* person on their line and sticking them with the bill. Do any party lines still exist? Also, here's something interesting - 617-637-1234 - it's the time-and-temperature number for Verizon in Boston. What is interesting about it is that you hear "static" in the background as it is ringing, and you can hear other people's calls "over" your call as your call rings in. Do any areas in the NANPA still use inband signalling? From my experience, a friend of mine in Michagan calls me, from his ordinary POTS phone, direct dialed, no caller-ID blocking, but he comes up as "out of area" on my Caller ID - not "private" but in fact, out of area? Does this mean that he does not have SS7, and still may have inband LD signalling? I apologize for my long post, but it's my first time posting to this group, mainly I've been lurking in the background, slowly absorbing the wealth of knowledge that is to be had here! Thanks! -Rick ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Software Helps Police Draw Crime Links Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 17:34:08 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Monty Solomon said to him: > Called 'Coplink', the program sifts through tens of millions of > police records, from 911 calls to homicide investigations, to deliver > a short list of potential leads in just seconds. The same kind of > searching currently takes hours or even days of a detective's time -- > when it is possible at all. This is sort of the baby version of TIA, which, of course, Congress has shot down, probably permanently. And it's similar to the conversation we were having the other day about local records access -- when the universe of data which can be correlated gets *big enough*, the issue changes not merely in degree, but in type -- becoming a civil liberties issue. Now, admittedly, on this particular issue, it's mostly because such systems false positive more frequently than is considered acceptable for a system whose outputs may deprive people of their liberty and repuatation... but now we're veering off into territory that is more properly that of RISKS Digest than TELECOM. And, as you may expect, RISKS has been there before. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2003 23:36:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New CLIE Handheld Features More Power, Mobility and Intelligence Leap in Handheld Sophistication Takes Multimedia Capabilities to the Max SAN FRANCISCO, July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Having defined the "multimedia handheld" category, Sony is now shaping a new chapter based on the notion of a "personal entertainment communicator." Unveiled in the U.S. today by Masanobu Yoshida, president of Sony Corporation's Handheld Computing Company, and Mark Viken, senior vice president of Sony Electronics' IT Products Division, the new CLIE PEG-UX50 handheld device integrates both Wi-Fi(R) (IEEE 802.11b) and Bluetooth(TM) wireless technologies. The device represents the first of many Sony handheld devices that will enable users to access Web-based content and to communicate via the Internet. It also incorporates many of the hallmark features that helped to set CLIE handhelds apart, including an integrated digital camera, voice recorder, digital audio player and high-resolution color screen. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34902947 ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: A Miserable Weekend, For Sure Date: Sunday, 20 Jul 2003 23:30:00 CDT What did NOT go wrong this weekend? First of all, it has been HOT. Hot as hell all week; temperature in the upper nineties and heat index in the lower hundreds every day this past week. Overnight it gets *slightly* cooler. Cooling supposed to start sometime Tuesday. Saturday and Sunday were no exceptions. Air conditioner running around the clock, 24/7 which means a humongous electric bill this month. Two friends of Lisa's came into town Friday night; were going to stay at a motel here in town, but she had to be somewhere so I told her I would meet her friends at the motel and head them off over to her place or back here to my place to wait for her arrival. They were due to arrive at midnight so I walked over to the motel to wait for them; 97 degrees hot as of midnight. Their car stalled somewhere south of Topeka on highway 75; as of 1 AM they were no shows. I waited around at the motel until the desk clerk *called the police on me* and I agreed to leave; walked back home about 6 blocks in heat that had gone down to about 95 degrees. Her friends finally arrived at about 2 AM and suffering from a heat stroke I went to bed. Saturday I found out that some miserable s.o.b. had delivered a virus to me in email (SOBIG-E) and I was not able to get that out of the computer network until late Sunday evening when I was able to speak with someone who serves as my technical consultant/advisor. Overall, not a good weekend at all, and now Sunday midnight/start of Monday and temperature still in the middle nineties. I am going to go to bed and hope that next week will be better. The new exhibit in the Telecom Archives dealing with the Western Union Tech Review is now open if you wish to check it out. Check out http://telecom-digest.org/technical/western-union-tech-review to see the twenty-two plus years this publication was around (1947-1969). I hope you enjoy reading 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! 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 #571 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 21 23:58:47 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6M3wlj26890; Mon, 21 Jul 2003 23:58:47 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 23:58:47 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307220358.h6M3wlj26890@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #572 TELECOM Digest Mon, 21 Jul 2003 23:59:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 572 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter SCO Wants Licensing Fees From Corporate Linux Users (Monty Solomon) EarthLink Warns Internet Users About Identity Theft Scams (M Solomon) AT&T One Calling Plan (Monty Solomon) Qwest Agreement With EchoStar to Offer Satellite Services (M Solomon) SBC Communications, EchoStar Forge Strategic Partnership (Monty Solomon) Qwest Forges Agreement With DIRECTV to Offer Satellite Service (Solomon) Comcast/Radio One Joint Venture Agreement Launches TV One (M Solomon) Lycos Offers "Second Opinion" Search Results (Monty Solomon) US Says Teen Used Phony AOL Site in Internet Con (Monty Solomon) Dialogic DM Board to Definity DS1FD?? (tommy) Re: Western Union Technicaal Review (Michael Muderick) Re: Western Union Technical Review (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Toll Stations, Party Lines Other Remnants of Times Past (Ashworth) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Tom Betz) 26mbit ADSL in Japan? (Willy Kreim) Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. (Benjamin Lukoff) Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (Chasman) More Than One Place For a Line (Ryan Nichols) Speaking of Speaking Clocks (John R. Covert) Light Straw (Ken Wheatley) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: SCO Wants Licensing Fees From Corporate Linux Users Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 17:48:44 -0400 Otherwise, SCO said, companies could be in legal hot water By TODD R. WEISS JULY 21, 2003 Source: Computerworld The gloves are now officially off -- all enterprise Linux users have to pay The SCO Group Inc. New licensing fees to use Linux, or they could find themselves on the wrong end of a copyright infringement lawsuit. That was the ultimatum laid out today by SCO CEO and President Darl McBride, who said that the $3 billion lawsuit against IBM in March was apparently just the start of his company's march to defend itself from what it sees as rampant theft of its Unix System V intellectual property (IP). http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/linux/story/0,10801,83287,00.html (and another report on the same thing) SCO takes aim at Linux users By Stephen Shankland and Lisa M. Bowman Staff Writer, CNET News.com July 21, 2003, 2:42 PM PT SCO Group, a company arguing that Linux infringes on its Unix intellectual property, said Monday it has been granted key Unix copyrights and will start a program to let companies running Linux avoid litigation by paying licensing fees. The company, which is at the heart of a controversial lawsuit over Linux code, said that it plans to offer licenses that will support run-time, binary use of Linux to all companies that use Linux kernel 2.4 versions and later. http://news.com.com/2100-1016-5047571.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 21:01:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EarthLink Warns Internet Users About Identity Theft Email Scams 'Phisher Site' Spams Pose as Legitimate Companies to Steal Personal Information WASHINGTON, July 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today, representatives from EarthLink (Nasdaq: ELNK), one of the nation's leading Internet service providers, the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Consumers League will join together to alert Internet users about the dangers of "phisher sites," a fast-growing, dangerous type of spam on the Internet. Phisher site spams instruct consumers to click on a link to what looks like a real corporate Website and input their personal information. The fake, or "phisher" Website looks like it comes from a legitimate company with whom a consumer may have a relationship, but the fraudulent site is really just a vehicle to steal information. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34923607 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 21:06:33 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T One Calling Plan AT&T Unveils Revolutionary Plan That Combines Home and Wireless Calling AT&T One(SM) lets consumers subscribe to one company, take advantage of one simple plan, get one bill for all their calling needs. MORRISTOWN, N.J., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T today unveiled AT&T One(SM), a revolutionary new calling plan that combines the convenience of a home telephone, with the mobility of a wireless phone, and the first plan to offer unlimited night and weekend calling that can be used on either telephone. AT&T One also includes local service where available, weekday daytime long-distance calling from home for 7 cents a minute and nationwide wireless long-distance calling with no roaming charges while in the home service area, or elsewhere on the AT&T Wireless Network. The introductory plan is available to consumers in the San Diego and Tampa areas exclusively from AT&T and can be ordered by calling 1-866-462-2719. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34925491 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 21:08:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Qwest Forges Agreement With EchoStar to Offer Satellite Services Customers Now Able to Purchase Voice, TV, DSL and Wireless Services Through Qwest DENVER, July 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE:Q) today announced that it has signed a strategic marketing agreement with EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH) and its DISH Network, the fastest growing satellite television provider. With this alliance, Qwest will make DISH Network satellite TV services available to its customers in single family homes in Colorado and Nebraska. The company expects to rollout these services to more markets throughout the remainder of 2003 and into 2004. This joint marketing agreement represents the first step in the process to bundle video with Qwest's other communications services. Additionally, Qwest and DISH Network are exploring ways to further enhance the relationship with next-generation services as well migrating to a more integrated model in the first half of 2004 where Qwest will be the primary interface for various customer interactions including service and billing. Through Qwest, residential customers in these markets can now make one phone call to order competitively-priced local, long-distance, DSL, wireless and now television service. Beginning in early August, Qwest will introduce additional package savings allowing Qwest customers to enjoy all of the programming that DISH Network offers including access to hundreds of popular, all-digital television channels including news, movies, sports, international and high-definition TV programming. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34927048 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 21:09:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: SBC Communications, EchoStar Forge Strategic Partnership SBC Communications, EchoStar Forge Strategic Partnership, Will Offer 'SBC Dish Network' Television Service - Jul 21, 2003 03:30 AM (BusinessWire) SAN ANTONIO & LITTLETON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 21, 2003-- First-of-its-Kind, Co-Branded TV Service to Deliver Seamless Customer Experience, Convenience of Single Point of Contact and Single Bill, Greater Value by Early 2004 Exclusive Partnership Designed To Drive Growth, Broaden Customer Relationships SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) today announced a first-of-its-kind broad strategic partnership that will give SBC companies the ability to aggressively market co-branded "SBC DISH Network" multichannel television services as a fully integrated part of their bundled services. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34920963 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 21:12:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Qwest Forges Agreement With DIRECTV to Offer Satellite Services Customers Now Able to Purchase Voice, TV, DSL and Wireless Services through Qwest DENVER, July 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE:Q) today announced that it has signed a strategic marketing agreement with DIRECTV, Inc. With this alliance, Qwest will make satellite TV services available to its customers in single family homes in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, and Seattle through DIRECTV. The company expects to rollout these services to more markets throughout the remainder of 2003 and into 2004. This joint marketing agreement represents the first step in the process to bundle video with Qwest's other communications services. Additionally, the partners are exploring ways to further enhance this relationship with next-generation services as well as migrating to a more integrated model in the first half of 2004 where Qwest will be the primary interface for various customer interactions including service and billing. Through Qwest, residential customers in these markets can now make one phone call to order competitively-priced local, long-distance, DSL, wireless and now television service. Beginning in early August, Qwest will introduce additional package savings allowing Qwest customers to enjoy all of the programming that DIRECTV offers including news, movies, sports, commercial- free audio music channels and a host of other programming selections. In addition, Qwest and DIRECTV have extended their existing agreement for DIRECTV to be the exclusive digital satellite TV provider for multiple dwelling unit (MDU) properties in those territories where Qwest provides video programming services. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34927168 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 21:14:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast/Radio One Joint Venture Agreement To Launch TV One Constellation Ventures, Syncom, Opportunity Capital Partners and Pacesetter Capital Group to Invest in New Network Targeting African-American Adults LANHAM, Md., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast Corporation and Radio One, Inc. have completed the joint venture agreement creating TV One, LLC, the new cable network targeting adult African-American and urban viewers scheduled to launch in January 2004, including financing arrangements with four additional investors. Additional investors in the joint venture being launched by Comcast, the nation's leading cable operator, and Radio One, the largest radio broadcaster primarily targeting African-American and urban listeners, include Constellation Ventures; Opportunity Capital Partners; Pacesetter Capital Group; and Syndicated Communications (Syncom). The six parties will be investing a total of $130 million over four years. The joint venture will be overseen by a Board consisting of three members selected by Radio One: Radio One President and CEO Alfred Liggins, Radio One Chairperson Catherine Hughes and Syncom Partner Terry Jones; Amy Banse, Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation's Programming Investments Division and Constellation Ventures Managing Director Dennis Miller. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34927241 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 21:45:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Lycos Offers "Second Opinion" Search Results By Chris Sherman, Associate Editor Lycos is rolling out a new utility that automatically displays Lycos search results in a side panel next to search results from Google, Yahoo or most of the other major services. Sidesearch is a browser plug in for Internet explorer that runs whenever you enter a query into a major search engine. Lycos results are displayed in a panel on the left side of the browser window, allowing you to view both sets of results in tandem. http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2236241 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 22:18:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: US Says Teen Used Phony AOL Site in Internet Con By Peter Kaplan WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators said on Monday they had charged a 17-year-old boy with using "spam" e-mails and a fake AOL Web page to trick people out of their credit card information and steal thousands of dollars. Officials at the Federal Trade Commission said they had agreed to settle their case against the teen-ager, who was not identified because of his age, after he agreed to pay back $3,500 he had stolen, and to submit to a lifetime ban on sending spam. It's the first enforcement action the FTC has taken against an Internet "phishing" scam -- the use of spam, or unwanted junk e-mail, to lure computer users to look-alike Web sites, where they are deceived into forking over personal financial data. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34929267 ------------------------------ From: qlalf_qlalf@yahoo.com (tommy) Subject: Dialogic DM board to Definity DS1FD?? Date: 20 Jul 2003 21:53:46 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hello Experts, I'm writing a digital IVR connecting to Definity DS1 board. As U guess, I'm using lucent cdp file provided by Dialogic. But when I'm calling gc_AnswerCall (or gc_AcceptCall), it does take 5 or more seconds to be connected for incoming call. What shall I do to reduce this answer time delay? Help me, Please. ------------------------------ From: Michael Muderick Subject: Re: Western Union Tech Review Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 06:10:57 -0400 Link to Western Union "cannot be found". [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Put a slash / on the end of the URL and try it again. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 09:19:54 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Re: Western Union Technical Review In "A Miserable Weekend, For Sure", Pat wrote: > The new exhibit in the Telecom Archives dealing with the Western Union > Tech Review is now open if you wish to check it out. Check out > http://telecom-digest.org/technical/western-union-tech-review to see > the twenty-two plus years this publication was around (1947-1969). I > hope you enjoy reading it. > PAT Pat, the link that you referenced: http://telecom-digest.org/technical/western-union-tech-review translates to the 'mirror.lcs.mit.edu' domain, as: http://mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/technical/western-union-tech-review and results in a "file not found" error message. However, the following link *DOES* seem to work, using *MASSIS* instead of *mirror* or "telecom-digest.org"... massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/technical/western-union-tech-review/ (I'm dropping off the h-t-t-p-colon-double-FORWARD-slash because the URL is already QUITE looooonnnnnggggg already; hopefully what I have listed won't word-warp/wrap on most browsers or mail programs). Anyhow, that aside, thanks for putting up scanned issues of WUTR! It will take some time for me, but I plan to view all of these files over time, as I know there are interesting articles on TTYs, Telex, data services, etc. I remember reading some of these WUTR articles from the 1950s and early 1960s years ago in the University of New Orleans library's back-issues stacks ... they had *MOST* (but not all) issues of the 20-some-year run of WUTR. mjc [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, mirror equals massis. They are both aliases for the same work station. Either one gets you in. The catch is that right slash mark / has to be there at the end of the URL. Ditto, telecom-digest.org also works with that right slash / at the end of the URL as you discovered. The main difference is that where massis or mirror take you to the root FTP directory for this site, of which telecom-archives is but one of the various 'tenants'; http://telecom-digest.org is aliased to go one level further down; it lets you off at the telecom-archives 'root' level within the main FTP directory. Take my word for it, Mark and Michael. All that was missing in the way I chose to identify the latest exhibit was the right slash at the very end, as in ..... 'tech-review' SLASH / I do not know why, but since this massis work station was swapped out several months ago from a very ancient machine to the present machine, a lot of strange things have happened. I know they also installed a new Apache server for the web sites at LCS and it did not get tweaked quite like the old one. Consequently, I was not accustomed to using the trailing slash on URLs that point to a directory but now sometimes I have to do so. So to say it over again as I should have said it yesterday, look at Western Union Tech Review (all 22 years of it) by going to: http://telecom-digest.org/technical/western-union-tech-review/ and see what you think. Starting this month on Share Day I am going to be offering the WUTR as a separate CD *in addition to* the main CD. Had to, since WUTR takes up an entire CD of its own. You will need to give me a MINIMUM thirty or forty dollar contribution to receive it, since Joey has to be paid for his work as well. If you want to get a head start on that, I will appreciate it: TELECOM/Townson PO Box 50, Independence, KS 67301. ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Toll Stations, Party Lines and Other Remnants of Times Past? Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 14:46:37 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Rick Miller said to him: > Also, here's something interesting - 617-637-1234 - it's the > time-and-temperature number for Verizon in Boston. What is interesting > about it is that you hear "static" in the background as it is ringing, > and you can hear other people's calls "over" your call as your call > rings in. Yep, that's how it's sounded since, oh, the mid seventies, when I lived there. Is 955-1234 still the employee newsline? > Do any areas in the NANPA still use inband signalling? From my > experience, a friend of mine in Michagan calls me, from his ordinary > POTS phone, direct dialed, no caller-ID blocking, but he comes up as > "out of area" on my Caller ID - not "private" but in fact, out of > area? Does this mean that he does not have SS7, and still may have > inband LD signalling? Last I heard, the AT&T network wasn't quite 100% SS7, but that was a couple years ago. Yo! Cuccia! :-) > I apologize for my long post, but it's my first time posting to this > group, mainly I've been lurking in the background, slowly absorbing > the wealth of knowledge that is to be had here! Welcome to the Jungle. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 15:21:39 UTC Organization: Anything n_t_e_nn_y_@q_ual_c_o_m_m_.c_o_m (Nathan Tenny) wrote in news:telecom22.571.5@telecom-digest.org: > I'd be interested to know if there's anyone who actually had, > firsthand, an experience of the form "My state instituted a > do-not-call list and all I got was these lousy politicians". In my case (NY State), it's "these lousy politicians and 'pollsters'." I'm getting a lot of bogus "surveys" that are actually first-contact probes for salespeople to try to sell me stuff by other means. ------------------------------ From: willykk@my-deja.com (Willy Kreim) Subject: 26mbit ADSL in Japan? Date: 21 Jul 2003 12:03:00 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Is this what I think it is? 26mbit ADSL? http://bbpromo.yahoo.co.jp/ Anyone reads Japanese and cares to post the monthly rates converted to USD ? (you can use http://www.xe.net/ucc/) Thanks, Willy ------------------------------ From: bd087@scn.org (Benjamin Lukoff) Subject: Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. Date: 21 Jul 2003 14:43:01 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Brandon Turok wrote in message news:: > PNB became part of US West during the 1984 Bell System divestiture. I > believe US West stopped using the names PNB, Mountain Bell, and > Northwestern Bell immediately after divestiture, although I may be > wrong. Tad's right -- the changeover wasn't immediate, at least not in the case of Pacific Northwest Bell. As late as 1988 the PNB name was still being used alongside USWest. ------------------------------ From: Chasman@omelas.com (Chasman) Subject: Anyone Seen Call transfer Like Vonage Date: 21 Jul 2003 15:06:56 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Vonage has a great free feature called call transfer. "It's easy to transfer a call to a third party. Just press the flash button or switch hook on your Vonage line telephone and dial #90. Dial the 11 digit number where you want the call transferred. Then dial # and you will hear a dial tone. Hang up the phone and the transfer will take place. " I would use vonage but I am over 19K from my CO so I can only get ISDN (type) connection at the moment. So the quality is not reliable enough. Any other telcoms offering such a feature? Thanks. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, any of the telcos which offer 'home centrex'-like features have that offering, which is all of the Bell telcos, and many independents. Ask at your local telco, but I do not know off hand what tradename they use for home centrex. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ryan Nichols Subject: More Than one Place For a Line Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 02:39:09 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: nicholsrn@cox-internet.net Stupid question ... I was taught to take a single cable and go down the 66block, until I had enough positions for my line. A telephone installer tore into me about doing this, and I responded this is how my company taught me ... Anyone have any suggestions as to what they do? Thanks, Nichols ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 09:17:19 EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Verizon's recorded time service in Boston, 617 637-xxxx (617 NERVOUS, for example), has been giving the wrong time for years. I just checked it. It told me, "At the tone, the time will be 8:51, exactly." But the tone came at 8:50:48. Now that's only twelve seconds, but I've never seen it closer than that to the correct time. So I just decided to report it to repair service at 617 555-1611. The clerk said, "I'll make a note indicating that the clock is off by twelve seconds." Will anything happen? For what it's worth, 202 TIme 4-xxxx (DC) is off by 25 seconds at the moment. 410 TIme 4-xxxx (Balto) is right on. /john P.S.: On the 11th of July, someone tried to send mail (I will assume it was spam) to "nospam@covert.org", an address I have used exclusively for Telecom Digest postings. It gets rejected, and I have no record of where it came from, only that it came. ------------------------------ From: Ken Wheatley Subject: Light Straw Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 12:13:03 +0100 Organization: Unisys - Roseville, MN This may be familiar to many in the UK, but a great bit of telecoms nostalgia can be found at http://www.lightstraw.co.uk/. Light Straw is the colour of BT telecoms racking. There is also a link somewhere within this not-too-easy-to-navigate site to a set of pages from the BT National Archive called 'Moments in Telecomms History' that are fascinating. ------------------------------ 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 #572 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jul 22 14:46:52 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6MIkpx01929; Tue, 22 Jul 2003 14:46:52 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 14:46:52 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307221846.h6MIkpx01929@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #573 TELECOM Digest Tue, 22 Jul 2003 14:47:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 573 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter USDOJ Inspector General Report to Congress: Implementation (M Solomon) House to Vote on PATRIOT Act Amendment - Action Needed Today (M Solomon) Apple Co-Founder Creates Electronic ID Tags (Monty Solomon) Hotels' High-Speed Internet Often Has a Catch (Monty Solomon) Amazon Plan Would Allow Searching Texts of Many Books (Monty Solomon) Cingular to Activate Network (Monty Solomon) Some Bet the Future of Broadband Belongs to Regional Bells (M Solomon) ReplayTV's New Owners Drop Features That Riled Hollywood (Monty Solomon) White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly (Monty Solomon) Writing to the President, Now at Easiertofind.com (Monty Solomon) BC, MIT Decline to Name Students in Music-Use Case (Monty Solomon) Group Blasts FCC's Method That Determined New Rules (Monty Solomon) Insurance Chief Pulls Credit-Scoring Plan (Monty Solomon) FTC Warns of Identity-Robbing Net Scams (Monty Solomon) Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Reply Passed Back (Stan Cline) Re: SCO Wants Licensing Fees From Corporate Linux Users (tonypo1) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Clarence Dold) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Joseph) 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, 21 Jul 2003 23:36:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: USDOJ Inspector General Report to Congress on Implementation Report to Congress on Implementation of Section 1001 of the USA PATRIOT Act (as required by Section 1001(3) of Public Law 107-56) July 17, 2003 Office of the Inspector General The USA PATRIOT Act (Patriot Act), Public Law 107-56, enacted by Congress and signed by the President on October 26, 2001, provides expanded law enforcement authorities to enhance the federal government's efforts to detect and deter acts of terrorism in the United States or against United States' interests abroad. Section 1001 of the Patriot Act directs the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to undertake a series of actions related to claims of civil rights or civil liberties violations allegedly committed by DOJ employees. It also requires the OIG to provide semiannual reports to Congress on the implementation of the OIG's responsibilities under Section 1001. This report - the third since enactment of the legislation - summarizes the OIG's Patriot Act-related activities from December 16, 2002, through June 15, 2003. http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/03-07/index.htm http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/03-07/final.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 23:40:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: House to Vote on PATRIOT Act Amendment - Action Needed Today Dear Activist, This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider an amendment limiting one of the more outrageous provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, the major surveillance law that passed in the heat of passion after 9/11. A bipartisan group of Members will be offering an amendment to an FBI spending bill to prohibit any funds in the bill from being used to search a library or bookstore under section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. This amendment would restore and protect the privacy and First Amendment rights of library and bookstore patrons that were in place before the PATRIOT Act. Passage of this amendment would still allow the FBI to use all other legal authorities at their disposal, including search warrants and criminal subpoenas, to get library and bookstore records. The amendment will be offered by an Independent, Rep. Bernie Sanders (VT), a Republican, Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter (ID) and a Democrat, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (MI). The amendment will be offered to the Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary Appropriations bill for FY 2004. This is the first and maybe only vote that the Freedom to Read Protection Act may get in the House this year. WHAT YOU CAN DO: 1. Call Rep. Markey's DC office at (202)225-2836. Ask for the staffer who handles appropriations issues. Staffer: Hello, Rep. Markey's office. You: Hi, I'm a constituent and I am calling to urge my Representative to support the Sanders-Otter-Conyers amendment to the CJS Appropriations bill. The PATRIOT Act gave the FBI the power to search library and bookstore records without meaningful limits. The Sanders-Otter-Conyers amendment will restore privacy protections for library and bookstore records. The Sanders-Otter-Conyers amendment will not hamper anti-terrorism efforts. It will protect the freedom to read. Please urge my Representative to support the Sanders-Otter-Conyers amendment to the CJS appropriations bill. Staffer: Thanks, bye! For more background, see http://www.bordc.org/BORDC-Act-Alert7.htm For articles on the Freedom to Read Protection Act, go to http://bernie.house.gov/publications/index.asp?issue=Civil+Liberties. 2. VERY IMPORTANT!! LET US KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. This allows us to coordinate our efforts back here in DC. Please fill out the feedback form at http://www.cdt.org/action/feedback.cgi?membid=mnsr 3. Tell Others to Particpate! Forward this ALERT to your friends and colleagues. Only forward the alert until Friday, July 25, 2003. Refer people to http://www.cdt.org/action/freedomtoread/ . Your friends can also look up their Representative's contact information on the CDT web site. Thanks for helping to make America safe and free! To subscribe to CDT's Activist Network, sign up at: http://www.cdt.org/join/ If you ever wish to remove yourself from the list, unsubscribe at: http://www.cdt.org/action/unsubscribe.shtml If you just want to change your address, you should unsubscribe yourself and then sign up again or contact: mclark@cdt.org Michael Clark, Grassroots Webmaster mclark@cdt.org PGP Key available on keyservers Center for Democracy and Technology 1634 Eye Street NW, Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20006 http://www.cdt.org/ voice: 202-637-9800 fax: 202-637-0968 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 01:01:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple Co-Founder Creates Electronic ID Tags By JOHN MARKOFF SAN FRANCISCO, July 20 - The co-founder of Apple Computer, Stephen Wozniak, recalls that it began with a series of lost dogs - a runaway husky, a roving Shar-Pei, a wayward bichon frisé. The problem led inexorably to a Wozniak solution: wireless location-monitoring technology that would use electronic tags to help people keep track of their animals, children or property. Now Mr. Wozniak, whose new company, Wheels of Zeus, has been operating in Silicon Valley stealth mode for 18 months, is ready to talk about the technology. This week the company - whose name is derived from the Woz in Wozniak - plans to announce its formal management structure. Its investors are: Mobius Venture Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Palo Alto Investors. While the company is not ready to identify the manufacturers, Wheels of Zeus says it has initial agreements with two large American makers of consumer electronics to produce the first commercial systems based on its technology, which is called WozNet. The chief operating officer, Rich Rifredi, said the first products were planned for introduction next year . In an interview last week in Wheels of Zeus's offices in Los Gatos, Calif., which are nondescript except for his Hummer parked out front, Mr. Wozniak described WozNet as a simple and inexpensive wireless network that uses radio signals and global positioning satellite data to keep track of a cluster of inexpensive tags within a one- or two-mile radius of each base station. WozNet, he said, will include a home-base station that has the ability to track the location of dozens or even hundreds of small wireless devices that can be attached to people, pets or property. The tags - expected to cost less than $25 each to produce - will be able to generate alerts, notifying the owner by phone or e-mail message when a child arrives at school, a dog leaves the yard or a car leaves the parking lot. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/21/technology/21ZEUS.html [Lisa Minter note: When reading articles in NY Times, telecom group members are invited to use our group user name 'telecomdigest' and our group password 'telecomdigest'. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 01:08:16 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hotels' High-Speed Internet Often Has a Catch By SUSAN STELLIN With so many hotels now promoting high-speed Internet access, you might think downloading e-mail messages in your room would be as easy as ordering a cheeseburger from room service - and twice as quick. But analysts and business travelers offer something of a reality check on the message of faster connectivity that is being pushed by the hospitality industry, saying that although such service is becoming more common, it is not something laptop-toting business travelers can count on when they check in. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/22/business/22INTE.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 01:14:33 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Amazon Plan Would Allow Searching Texts of Many Books Amazon Plan Would Allow Searching Texts of Many Books By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK Executives at Amazon.com are negotiating with several of the largest book publishers about an ambitious and expensive plan to assemble a searchable online archive with the texts of tens of thousands of books of nonfiction, according to several publishing executives involved. Amazon plans to limit how much of any given book a user can read, and it is telling publishers that the plan will help sell more books while better serving its own online customers. Together with little-publicized additions to Amazon's Web site, like listings of restaurants and movie showings, the plan appears to be part of a strategy to compete with online search services like Google and Yahoo for consumers' time and attention. Providing a searchable online database of the contents of books could make Amazon a more authoritative source of information, drawing additional traffic to its online retail store. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/21/technology/21AMAZ.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 02:11:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular to Activate Network To offer next-generation cellphones and services By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 7/21/2003 Cingular Wireless, the second-largest cellular carrier in Greater Boston, is activating a region-wide network this week that will finally allow Cingular to offer advanced services, including digital camera phones, handsets that work in Europe, and much faster wireless data services. Despite its leading position and its status as one of the first two cellular carriers in Boston in 1984, when it was called Cellular One, Cingular locally has lagged several months behind AT&T Wireless, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless in offering next-generation phones and services. This week, Cingular will catch up by officially launching services over a new GSM (global system for mobile) network, which the company said will provide coverage everywhere Cingular now has service in New England. GSM, the dominant wireless protocol in Europe, is used by more than 70 percent of all wireless subscribers globally and supports a wide selection of phones that include cameras, MP3 music players, Internet access, full-color videogames, and other features. Cingular is about halfway through a three-year project to add GSM service throughout its national service territory, including several rural markets like northern New Hampshire and Vermont where it is jointly building out GSM coverage with AT&T Wireless. The new network should over time also sharply increase voice calling capacity for Cingular, reducing dropped calls and all-circuits-busy problems. Mark Bees, the New England general manager for Atlanta-based Cingular, said GSM channels can handle 2 1/2 times as many calls as current digital channels and eight times as many as analog. Because of the huge potential efficiency gains, Cingular is offering big incentives to buy new GSM handsets, typically 50 percent more calling minutes than the same-priced plans using its older TDMA digital network. For example, a $40-a-month plan with 400 minutes on the old network will get 600 minutes on GSM, and a $20 plan with 200 minutes will get 300 minutes on GSM, Bees said. http://www.boston.com:80/dailyglobe2/202/business/Cingular_to_activate_network+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 02:15:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Some Bet the Future of Broadband Belongs to Regional Bells Some Bet the Future of Broadband Belongs to Regional Bells, Not Cable By BERNARD SIMON TORONTO, July 20 - To Jim Hjartarson, the future of Internet access lies in telephone lines, not television cables. That is not a popular view these days. From the moment Mr. Hjartarson joined four fellow Canadians in 1998 to develop high-speed Internet equipment, their venture, Catena Networks, hitched its wagon to the regional Bell companies. Their strategy was not the obvious one at the time. Cable operators were emerging as the dominant force in what came to be known as broadband, while the telephone industry was focused on a number of then-expanding start-ups, like Rhythms NetConnections and NorthPoint Communications, that were seeking to take broadband business away from the incumbents. By picking the American Baby Bells, "we chose a set of customers that most other start-ups did not choose," said Mr. Hjartarson, Catena's president and chief executive. But from the outset, he said, their view has been that the regional phone companies "will in the long run dominate the broadband delivery market." It is too early to tell whether that will be so. Cable operators remain in the driver's seat, with almost two-thirds of subscribers, and some analysts wonder whether phone companies are agile or determined enough to expand their share of the market much beyond their current level. Still, the Baby Bells are starting to come through for Catena and other suppliers whose equipment turns old-fashioned switches and copper wire into conduits for a mushrooming array of digital services. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/21/technology/21BROA.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 02:26:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: ReplayTV's New Owners Drop Features That Riled Hollywood By ERIC A. TAUB The development of consumer-friendly electronics products may be a hallmark of the digital age, but that engineered friendliness is not always appreciated in Hollywood. Last month the maker of ReplayTV, a line of digital video recorders that allows consumers to record and store hours of their favorite television programs on hard drives instead of tape, agreed to remove two features from its devices that simplified life for consumers but complicated business for entertainment providers. ReplayTV's new 5500 model, which will go on sale next month, will no longer be able to skip entire commercials automatically without recording them or to send recorded programming over the Internet to other ReplayTV users outside a home network. The recorders will, however, still be able to store large libraries of programming indefinitely and allow users to skip manually through recorded commercials in 30-second increments. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/21/technology/21REPL.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 02:41:22 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly By JOHN MARKOFF Do you want to send an e-mail message to the White House? Good luck. In the past, to tell President Bush - or at least those assigned to read his mail - what was on your mind it was necessary only to sit down at a personal computer connected to the Internet and dash off a note to president@whitehouse.gov. But this week, Tom Matzzie, an online organizer with the A.F.L.-C.I.O., discovered that communicating with the White House had become a bit more daunting. When Mr. Matzzie sent an e-mail protest against a Bush administration policy, the message was bounced back with an automated reply, saying he had to send it again in a new way. Under a system deployed on the White House Web site for the first time last week, those who want to send a message to President Bush must now navigate as many as nine Web pages and fill out a detailed form that starts by asking whether the message sender supports White House policy or differs with it. The White House says the new e-mail system, at www.whitehouse.gov/webmail, is an effort to be more responsive to the public and offer the administration "real time" access to citizen comments. Completing a message to the president also requires choosing a subject from the provided list, then entering a full name, organization, address and e-mail address. Once the message is sent, the writer must wait for an automated response to the e-mail address listed, asking whether the addressee intended to send the message. The message is delivered to the White House only after the person using that e-mail address confirms it. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/18/technology/18MAIL.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 02:42:08 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Writing to the President, Now at Easiertofind.com By MATT RICHTEL The White House Web site began more prominently featuring the president's e-mail address yesterday. The address is president@whitehouse.gov. That address had worked previously, but those checking the Web site had a hard time finding it because it was not on the main contacts page. By contrast, Vice President Dick Cheney's e-mail address had been displayed on the main contacts page. That address is vice.president@whitehouse.gov. Jimmy Orr, a White House spokesman, said the addition of the president's e-mail address to the main contacts page came as the Web site received an unusually high number of visitors yesterday. Mr. Orr said the increased traffic resulted from an article yesterday in The New York Times about the relatively cumbersome process involved in sending an e-mail letter to the president. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/19/technology/19MAIL.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 09:18:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: BC, MIT Decline to Name Students in Music-Use Case By James Collins, Globe Correspondent, 7/22/2003 Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, citing concerns about student privacy, moved yesterday to quash subpoenas issued by the recording industry to discover the identities of students the industry says are illegally distributing copyrighted music. The moves represent one of the first major obstacles for the recording industry in its campaign against ordinary computer users who share copyrighted music. Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America, said he was disappointed and vowed legal action to obtain the information. "These universities have chosen to litigate this in an attempt to deny copyright holders the right so clearly granted in Congress," Lamy said, referring to the colleges' refusal to release the names of the students. MIT and Boston College yesterday said that they support the rights of copyright holders and would comply with any subpoena that addressed their concerns about the proper notification of students and was filed 'properly' in US District Court in Massachusetts, not in Washington D.C. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/203/nation/BC_MIT_decline_to_name_students_in_music_use_case+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 09:22:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Group Blasts FCC's Method That Determined New Rules By Bloomberg News, 7/22/2003 WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission used a flawed measurement tool to skew its new media-ownership rules in favor of large companies such as Tribune Co. and Gannett Co., a consumer group that plans to sue the agency said. "This index is so nonsensical that it finds The New York Times to be a less meaningful source of news about New York than the Multicultural Radio Corp.," Gene Kimmelman of Consumers Union said in Washington. The group's 39 page study of the FCC's use of a 'diversity index' in preparing the new rules will form the basis for a lawsuit that Consumers Union plans to file in the next few months, Kimmelman said. The suit will seek to overturn the rules, alleging that they will lead to media consolidation that reduces diversity in news and entertainment. The rules, approved June 2 by the FCC's Republican majority, ease curbs on companies' ownership of television stations and newspapers. FCC chairman Michael Powell said the rules adapt to a more competitive media landscape that includes the Internet and cable- and satellite-TV services. Legislation to reverse these rules has been passed by committees in both the House and Senate. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/203/business/Group_blasts_FCC_s_method_that_determined_new_rules+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 09:23:11 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Insurance Chief Pulls Credit-Scoring Plan Withdraws proposal on setting of rates By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 7/22/2003 The state insurance commissioner abruptly withdrew controversial regulations yesterday that would have allowed insurers to use customer credit scores in setting homeowner's and renter's insurance rates. Commissioner Julianne M. Bowler also changed her position on whether current law allows insurers to charge customers with poor credit more and those with good credit less. In a statement yesterday, Bowler said the July 11 hearing on her proposed regulations yielded testimony that indicated more work needed to be done to achieve a consensus on credit scoring. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/203/business/Insurance_chief_pulls_credit_scoring_plan+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 09:31:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FTC Warns of Identity-Robbing Net Scams By David Ho, Associated Press, 7/22/2003 WASHINGTON -- Stealing identities and credit card numbers with bogus e-mail and websites that appear to come from legitimate companies is an increasing problem on the Internet, federal officials warned yesterday. The Federal Trade Commission said it had brought its first case against this type of scheme, called 'spoofing' or 'carding.' A 17-year-old California boy accused of posing as America Online agreed to settle federal charges by accepting a lifetime ban on sending junk e-mail and paying a $3,500 fine, the FTC said. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/203/business/FTC_warns_of_identity_robbing_Net_scams+.shtml ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: Is This Possible: TDD to Relay, Voice Reply Passed Back? Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 00:42:24 -0400 Organization: Roamer1 Communications - Dunwoody, GA, USA Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org [Sorry for the delay ... this got stuck in my news outbox but never got sent for some reason. -SC] On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 23:57:45 -0700, Linc Madison wrote: > Person A types on the TDD, with the relay operator reading the text > aloud for Person B on the other end. Howver, Person B speaks directly > to Person A without going through the relay operator. (Since Person A > can still hear normally, there is no need to use the relay operator in > the other direction.) Yes -- Hearing Carry-Over (HCO). http://www.consumer.att.com/relay/tty/hearing_basic.html Placing such calls is easy enough to do with any TTY by simply moving handset between TTY and ear, although an integrated TTY/normal phone such as Ultratec's Uniphone would probably make things easier. http://www.ultratec.com/ShopDTTY_UP.html 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: tonypo1@cox.net Subject: Re: SCO Wants Licensing Fees From Corporate Linux Users Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 01:50:23 -0400 In article , monty@roscom.com says: > Otherwise, SCO said, companies could be in legal hot water > By TODD R. WEISS > JULY 21, 2003 > Source: Computerworld > The gloves are now officially off -- all enterprise Linux users have to > pay The SCO Group Inc. New licensing fees to use Linux, or they could > find themselves on the wrong end of a copyright infringement lawsuit. > That was the ultimatum laid out today by SCO CEO and President Darl > McBride, who said that the $3 billion lawsuit against IBM in March was > apparently just the start of his company's march to defend itself from > what it sees as rampant theft of its Unix System V intellectual > property (IP). > http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/linux/story/0,10801,83287,00.html When you consider that SCO is actually the former Caldera this whole thing looks like an ugly power grab. It even has elements of Microsoft strategies in it. Here's what I don't understand: The original Unix was AT&T's creation -- and they didn't gripe when Linux came out. I'm hoping the courts slap SCO (aka Caldera) hard on these frivolous lawsuits. ------------------------------ From: dold@SpeakingXo.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 14:55:43 UTC Organization: a2i network John R. Covert wrote: > Verizon's recorded time service in Boston, 617 637-xxxx (617 NERVOUS, > for example), has been giving the wrong time for years. When power fails in my house, and I need to reset clocks, I go by the time on my cell phone. It's not accurate, but it is a point of reference. My daughter used to set her watch to the school clock. It was off by several minutes, but for her interests, it was the "official" time. Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 15:06:56 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and John R Covert said to him: > Verizon's recorded time service in Boston, 617 637-xxxx (617 NERVOUS, > for example), has been giving the wrong time for years. > I just checked it. It told me, "At the tone, the time will be 8:51, > exactly." But the tone came at 8:50:48. Now that's only twelve > seconds, but I've never seen it closer than that to the correct time. > So I just decided to report it to repair service at 617 555-1611. The > clerk said, "I'll make a note indicating that the clock is off by > twelve seconds." Will anything happen? Unlikely. 12 seconds is very close to the amount of the correction between GPS time and UTC, IIRC. One is corrected for leap seconds, and the other isn't. At least, I *think* that's where that coming from: check here ... http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/leap.html And make your own decision. :-) Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 06:37:42 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 09:17:19 EDT, John R. Covert wrote: > For what it's worth, 202 TIme 4-xxxx (DC) is off by 25 seconds at the > moment. 410 TIme 4-xxxx (Balto) is right on. Any special reason you X'd out the numbers for DC and Balto? Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group ------------------------------ 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 #573 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jul 22 15:59:04 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6MJx4T02522; Tue, 22 Jul 2003 15:59:04 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 15:59:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307221959.h6MJx4T02522@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #574 TELECOM Digest Tue, 22 Jul 2003 15:59:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 574 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Telecom Update (Canada) #391, July 21, 2003 (Angus TeleManagement) WUTR (Michael Muderick) More on Accessing the Western Union Tech Review (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. (Joseph) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Rich Greenberg) Re: How to Handle Calls, Outside Sales Force (Marise_A_Klapka) Cable's New Kid in Town (Monty Solomon) Experian Consumer Direct Teams With Microsoft (Monty Solomon) Speedera Networks Cash Flow Positive, Doubles Revenue (Monty Solomon) Firm Doesn't Follow Rivals' Lead on Pricing (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: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 09:10:56 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #391, July 21, 2003 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 391: July 21, 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: ** Cablecos Must Allow Resale of "Lite" Internet ** Wi-Fi on the Rails and on the Menu ** CRTC Sets Loop Delivery Intervals ** 65 More Groups Get Broadband Funding ** Security Flaws Hit Microsoft and Cisco ** Europe to Enforce Anti-Spam Measures ** Profits Up at Rogers Wireless ** Shaw to Deploy Next-Gen Cable Modems ** Interim Fee at Memorial U. Approved ** Telcos to Refund MCSC Fees ** Time Frame Set for Telus Labour Talks ** Call-Net Buys LD Reseller ** Canada Post to Refund "Free Internet" Fees ** Persona Buys Ontario Cable Systems ** Half of Internet Providers Losing Money ** Telus Mobility to Expand B.C. Coverage ** Loral Files for Chapter 11 ** Nortel's Next Generation ============================================================ CABLECOS MUST ALLOW RESALE OF "LITE" INTERNET: Responding to an application by the Independent Members of the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, the CRTC has ordered the cablecos to provide their "Lite" internet services to ISPs for resale at 25% off their lowest retail price. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2003/dt2003-47.htm WI-FI ON THE RAILS AND ON THE MENU: Wi-Fi Internet access hotspots continue to proliferate: ** Bell Canada has begun a four-month trial of its AccessZone wireless LAN service in first class in selected Via Rail trains between Montreal and Toronto. Bell has extended its trial of Wi-Fi service in 25 Ontario and Quebec hot-spots until the end of the year. ** Customers who spend $3.00 in two Toronto area McDonald's now get 45 minutes of wireless Internet access, and the restaurant chain says it will expand the pilot program to Montreal and Vancouver by year-end. ** Spotnik Mobile has agreed to provide 802.11b service in Timothy's World Coffee cafes across the country. CRTC SETS LOOP DELIVERY INTERVALS: In Telecom Decision 2003-48, the CRTC orders incumbent telcos to meet the same installation intervals when they provide ten or more unbundled loops to competitors as are already required for smaller orders. (see Telecom Update #323). The Commission has asked for comments on delivery intervals proposed by Allstream for other competitor services. 65 MORE GROUPS GET BROADBAND FUNDING: On July 10, Industry Canada announced another $1.7 Million in funding to help develop business plans for extending high-speed Internet to First Nations, rural, and remote communities. Sixty-five applicants, representing over 906 communities, will receive up to $30,000 each. (see Telecom Update #367). www.ic.gc.ca/cmb/welcomeic.nsf/261ce500dfcd7259852564820068dc 6d/85256a220056c2a485256d5f0055fff2!OpenDocument SECURITY FLAWS HIT MICROSOFT AND CISCO: On July 16, Microsoft reported a "critical" security flaw that affects Windows NT, 2000, XP, and Server 2003. The following day, Cisco announced a security flaw that makes routers and switches running IOS software vulnerable to Denial of Service attacks. Both companies have released corrective patches. www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-026.asp www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20030717-blocked.shtml EUROPE TO ENFORCE ANTI-SPAM MEASURES: The European Union has told member states to ban e-mail marketing except by prior consent or where there is a preexisting customer relationship. Legislation must be enacted by October. europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/03/1015|0|RAPID&lg=en&display= PROFITS UP AT ROGERS WIRELESS: Rogers Wireless had a second quarter profit of $57 million, compared to $37 million the previous quarter and $733,000 a year ago. Revenue was $548 million, up 13.7% from last year. Data services provided 2.8% of network revenue, compared to 1.6% a year ago. ** Rogers Communications had second quarter revenue of $1.18 billion, up 10.4% from a year ago. Net income: $54 million. SHAW TO DEPLOY NEXT-GEN CABLE MODEMS: Shaw Cablesystems says it will begin deploying cable modems based on the new DOCSIS 2.0 specification this fall. The new units will support bi- directional data speeds up to 30 Mbps. INTERIM FEE AT MEMORIAL U. APPROVED: The CRTC has given interim approval to a fee of $1/channel/month to be paid by Group Telecom to use Aliant's in-building wire at Memorial University (see Telecom Update #386). www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2003/o2003-271.htm TELCOS TO REFUND MCSC FEES: The CRTC says that the incumbent telcos should have stopped collecting fees from long distance competitors in February 2002 to pay for developing 800/888 Multi-Carrier Selection Capability, since all costs had been recovered by that date. It has ordered them to reimburse competitors' MCSC fees retroactive to June 1, 2002. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2003/dt2003-6.htm TIME FRAME SET FOR TELUS LABOUR TALKS: Telus and the Telecommunications Workers Union have agreed to a federal conciliator's proposal to begin a 60-day period of contract negotiations on November 14. This means that no legal strike or lockout can begin before February 6, 2004. (See Telecom Update #365, 376) CALL-NET BUYS LD RESELLER: Call-Net Enterprises has purchased the assets of Mosaic Performance Solutions Canada, which resells private-labelled long distance through companies such as Eastlink and CIBC. The business, which has about 100,000 customers, has been renamed E-Force. ** Mosaic Group, Inc. has been under bankruptcy protection since December 2002 CANADA POST TO REFUND "FREE INTERNET" FEES: In 2000-2001, 140,000 Canadians paid Canada Post $9.95 for "free Internet for life," but the access provider later started charging $9.95 a month for the service. Responding to a class-action lawsuit, Canada Post and its ISPs (Cybersurf and 3Web) have agreed to refund the customers' start-up fee. (See Telecom Update #298) PERSONA BUYS ONTARIO CABLE SYSTEMS: Persona Communications has bought the cable systems of the Saugeen Group of Companies, which serve about 19,000 customers in southwest Ontario, for $13 million in cash and shares. HALF OF INTERNET PROVIDERS LOSING MONEY: Statistics Canada says that 46% of 200 Internet Service Providers surveyed reported a loss in 2001. Overall, the industry lost 22 cents for every dollar of revenue. ** Six out of every ten ISPs rated competition as their chief obstacle to growth. TELUS MOBILITY TO EXPAND B.C. COVERAGE: Telus Mobility will spend $20 million over the next three years to complete the upgrade of its B.C. network to digital and 1X capacity and bring service to 20 additional communities. LORAL FILES FOR CHAPTER 11: Loral Space and Communications, which makes and operates telecom and broadcast satellites, has filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. Loral will sell six of its 11 satellites to Intelsat for US$1.1 billion. NORTEL'S NEXT GENERATION: The July-August issue of Telemanagement analyzes Nortel's moves to merge its Meridian 1 and Succession PBX product lines and launch a new platform for advanced applications. Also in Telemanagement #207: ** "Prospects for Telecom Competition Today" ** "How to Check Your Own Awful Telecom Bills" ** "Evolving and Preserving a Large Meridian 1" Telemanagement is available only by subscription. For more information on Canada's #1 source for expert, independent telecom analysis and guidance, call 800-263-4415 ext 500 or go to http://www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm.html. ============================================================ 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: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.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. ------------------------------ From: Michael Muderick Subject: WUTR Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 03:37:24 -0400 Must be my browser. Still can't link even with slash added. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 06:03:55 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: More on Accessing the Western Union Tech Review Pat originally wrote: >>> The new exhibit in the Telecom Archives dealing with the Western Union >>> Tech Review is now open if you wish to check it out. Check out >>> http://telecom-digest.org/technical/western-union-tech-review to see >>> the twenty-two plus years this publication was around (1947-1969). (Note that Pat's original reference to the URL did *NOT* include the trailing forward-slash, '/') Mark J. Cuccia replied: >> Pat, the link that you referenced: >> http://telecom-digest.org/technical/western-union-tech-review >> translates to the 'mirror.lcs.mit.edu' domain, as: >> http://mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/technical/western-union-tech-review >> and results in a "file not found" error message. >> However, the following link *DOES* seem to work, using *MASSIS* instead >> of *mirror* or "telecom-digest.org"... >> http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/technical/western-union-tech-review/ And then Pat replied to that: > Actually, mirror equals massis. They are both aliases for the same work > station. Either one gets you in. The catch is that right slash mark / > has to be there at the end of the URL. Ditto, telecom-digest.org also > works with that right slash / at the end of the URL as you discovered. > The main difference is that where massis or mirror take you to the root > FTP directory for this site, of which telecom-archives is but one of the > various 'tenants'; http://telecom-digest.org is aliased to go one level > further down; it lets you off at the telecom-archives 'root' level > within the main FTP directory. Take my word for it, Mark and Michael. > All that was missing in the way I chose to identify the latest exhibit > was the right slash at the very end, as in ..... 'tech-review' SLASH / I dunno, Pat ... I have tried *BOTH* MS-IE (5.x) and Netscape (3.x, 4.x), and from different machines, with different ISPs. It still holds when trying to get at least to the directory list page for WUTR, AT LEAST FOR ME that: http://telecom-digest.org/technical/western-union-tech-review and http://mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/technical/western-union-tech-review do *NOT* work, with-OUT *AS WELL AS WITH* a trailing forward-slash '/', while the "massis" domain *DOES WORK*, either with or without the trailing '/' forward-slash: http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/technical/western-union-tech-review That is, at least for me the above holds true, from the different machines I use, the two different ISPs I have access to, as well as MS-IE and Netscape. And because of *OTHER* miscellaneous problems I have had from time-to-time over the past several years going into the Archives when using the TLDs of "telecom-digest.org" or the "mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/" etc, I have instead made all of my bookmarks and such for Telecom-Digest or Telecom-Archives to be based on the "massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/" domain. "Massis" (etc) seems to have far FEWER problems than does "Mirror" (etc), or "telecom-digest.org", the latter simply translating from 'telecom-digest.org' over to 'mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/'. The only reason I used the "massis" URL to reference the WUTR backissues was because it was the one Pat quoted and linked to in his original post. And again, his original reference did *NOT* have a trailing forward slash '/'. I wonder if anyone else has noticed the same things that I have. I'll just have to make EXTRA certain that I go to the "massis" (etc) domain for EVERYTHING Telecom-Digest/Archives related. ANYHOW ... again, Pat, thanks VERY much for scanning and uploading these backissues of WUTR! It is nice that these old items can still be referenced now via the web, because *SO MANY* libraries (both public and university) are throwing out back issues of older journals. Or else they are "archiving" them in "offsite" locations which are restricted from regular access. About six years ago, the main campus library here at Tulane took out all old (pre-divestiture, i.e., pre-1984) back issues of Bell System Technical Journal, Bell Laboratories Record, and Bell Telephone Quaterly/Magazine from the main building and relocated them in an archived building clear across town. The main Tulane U library had most (but not all) of the back issues of all three basic Bell journals going back to the very beginning in the early/mid 1920s. While one can fill out a request slip for a particular year or month or issue, and wait 24 to 72 hours for that issue to be shipped from the archive site out in the swamps over to the main campus site library, one has to "know in advance" the specific vol/issue number, year/date, article/author, etc. It used to be that one could simply go to the stacks/shelves, and BROWSE thru the back issues and come across articles of interest on a simple "hit or miss" basis. I thought THAT was one of the purposes of having "open stacks". And recently, it seems that the 1959-72 bound back issues of BROADCASTING magazine have completely disappeared from the holdings (at least they don't show up on a computer search of the holdings), and the 1972-1980s era back issues of BROADCASTING have "disappeared" from the regular stacks/shelves, to probably be housed in the closed archives site out in the swamps across the river. mjc [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your complaint about the older back issues of so many publications is a common one. I do not know why so many people in authority over these old collections seem to have little or no care in making them available for scholars and researchers without a lot of hassle. My favorite example of this is the mess the Chicago Public Library made of their oldest items. Following the great fire in the 1870's, the library (and many other buildings) burned to the ground. In an act of sympathy, the British people gathered up a huge collection of books and sent them to the people of Chicago to help establish a new library. In recent years all those books (sent a hundred years prior) had been housed in a *locked* special collections area at the old library. Many of the books even had autographs, etc of their original (British) owners. Then they built the new Harold Washington Library building downtown and many of those old, original books were scattered in a warehouse, and eventually stolen or lost. I do not know how people could be that callous and uncaring. Regards the telecom-archives mystery, Mark is correct, at least in most ways. I almost always begin my own search for things in the archives by starting at the root or home page: http://telecom-digest.org which gets me the 'home' (or index.html) page. If I begin by going there then clicking through the links to whatever I want, I always get it okay. It is only when I try 'direct entry' to some given point that I run into trouble as Mark and Mr. Muderick experienced. I told you all yesterday to insert the trailing right slash, then after getting that issue of the Digest out, I tried it; it didn't work for me either! :( I do know that 'mirror.lcs.mit.edu' is the same thing as 'massis.lcs.mit.edu' and either of them with a slash followed by 'telecom-archives' gets you to our home page while 'telecom-digest.org' gets you direct to our home page without the need for a trailing slash and telecom- archives. 'telecom-digest.org' goes one level further down you see. Let me ask John Levine what he thinks about this. John hosts the site on his machine, forwarding web calls over to MIT. John, can you speak and say what you think the hassle might be here? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 06:39:15 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On 21 Jul 2003 14:43:01 -0700, bd087@scn.org (Benjamin Lukoff) wrote: > Tad's right -- the changeover wasn't immediate, at least not in the case > of Pacific Northwest Bell. As late as 1988 the PNB name was still > being used alongside USWest. PNB also stands for Pacific Northwest Ballet! :) Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: 22 Jul 2003 09:51:23 -0400 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Tom Betz wrote: [...] > In my case (NY State), it's "these lousy politicians and 'pollsters'." > I'm getting a lot of bogus "surveys" that are actually first-contact > probes for salespeople to try to sell me stuff by other means. When I get called for one of these "surveys", I reply along the lines of "I am a consultant and I get paid for taking surveys. I charge $100/hour with a 4 hr minimum. Where do I send the bill?" So far, none of them have taken me up on it. Most just hang up. Feel free to adopt this idea. 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 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: How to Handle Calls? Outside Sales Force, Mexico, Colombia From: Marise_A_Klapka@withheld at Reader's Request Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 11:14:15 -0500 (Pat - please do not post my e-mail address - Thanks!) In response to: From: anthropocentric@hotmail.com (Anthropocentric) Subject: How to Handle Calls? Outside Sales Force, Mexico, Columbia, Etc. Date: 18 Jul 2003 13:48:15 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ > Hello All, > I work for a U.S. (Los Angeles) based company. > We have outside salespeople working in the field all over the country: > Seattle, New York, Houston, Cleveland, Etc. > Because of the high turnover rate, we do not want to lose the valuable > work they have done if they leave the company (meeting with customers, > handing out materials, business cards, etc.) > What's the best way to handle this!? > I am thinking about just putting the Salesperson's personal, local, > number on the business card and calling it quits. Anthro - Most long distance providers offer Advanced Feature Routing, where they can use one toll-free number that works in several countries/continents, and route the call to the appropriate office based on calling area, time of day, etc. For example, the same toll-free number that would route calls originating in Cincinnati to your Cleveland office could have calls originating in Mexico routed directly to your office in Mexico. And if the office to which the call is directed doesn't answer after a designated amount of ringing time, Alternate Destination Routing can take that call and re-route it to another designated location. You would lose the control you currently have in your PBX, but changes to the routing can be made simply by placing an order with your long distance provider. Depending on your carrier, various reporting tools are also available. Hope this helps. Marise ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 09:34:40 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cable's New Kid in Town After some unpopular moves, Comcast promises customers a faster stream of new television, broadband, and phone offerings By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 7/21/2003 PHILADELPHIA -- When Comcast Corp. took over AT&T Broadband in November to become the dominant cable television provider in New England and nationally, nearly 2 million area households had little idea what to expect from a newcomer that, until then, had been a mid-ranked, mid-Atlantic cable company. Within days, the company sought yet another 8 percent cable rate increase -- which it insisted AT&T had in the works for months -- and a $10-a-month hike for broadband Internet service without TV. Then, in January, it threatened to make over 300,000 area Net customers get their third e-mail address in barely a year, before backing down and delaying any mandatory switch for 18 months. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/202/business/Cable_s_new_kid_in_town+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 09:54:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Experian Consumer Direct Teams With Microsoft Experian Consumer Direct Teams With Microsoft to Provide Complete Personal Finance Solution for Consumers Personal Finance Software Includes Access to Useful Credit Information and Tools IRVINE, Calif., July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Experian Consumer Direct(SM), the leading provider of online direct-to-consumer credit reports and products, announced today that it has joined forces with Microsoft(R) (Nasdaq: MSFT) to become the exclusive provider of credit reporting information and tools for Microsoft Money 2004 Deluxe, Premium and Small Business versions. Microsoft Money 2004 is a complete personal finance solution that helps consumers manage day-to-day finances, track investments, maximize tax savings, and plan for retirement. Through this relationship, Microsoft Money 2004 also provides credit reporting information from Experian Consumer Direct. Consumers can easily understand and manage their credit information with a credit report, credit scores, plus ongoing credit monitoring. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34940422 Newest Edition of Microsoft Money Helps Consumers Tackle Credit Challenges And Make Smarter Money Moves - Jul 22, 2003 09:01 AM (PR Newswire) Fastest-Growing(1) Personal Finance Software Helps Consumers Manage Finances With Free(2) Financial Services, Personalized Tools and Powerful Web Integration REDMOND, Wash., July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) today announced the release of Microsoft(R) Money 2004 Deluxe, Premium, Small Business and Standard, the company's award-winning personal finance software collection. Money 2004 addresses consumers' current financial needs with features that include an extensive Credit Center, a free bill-payment service,(2) sophisticated capital gains tools and timely financial news, providing a more useful money management experience. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34939402 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 10:28:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Speedera Networks Cash Flow Positive, Doubles Revenue Speedera Networks Cash Flow Positive, Doubles Revenue in Fiscal 2003 SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 2003-- Fastest Growing Company in the Content Delivery Network Industry Continues to Thrive as Signs of Economic Recovery Grow Speedera Networks, the emerging leader in global content delivery services, today announced that it was cash flow positive for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003. The company also doubled revenues for the full fiscal year. The company ended the year with strong momentum as sales in June alone rose 12% over the previous month. Speedera laid claim to increased market share as it notched its twelfth quarter in a row of sequential revenue growth since the launch of the company in 2000. Speedera, with more than 200 customers, inked deals with a record number of new customers during the fiscal year, with organizations such as American Eagle Outfitters, NASA, Fox Broadcasting, Sony Music Entertainment, the National Hockey League, AtomShockwave, and many other well-known media and entertainment companies, Internet retailers, online marketers, high technology firms, and Federal Government agencies. A large number of new customers were previously customers of rival service provider, Akamai Technologies (Nasdaq:AKAM). Customers cited Speedera's stellar customer service, greater flexibility, superior patented technology, and lower total cost of service as reasons why they selected Speedera. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34940893 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 09:37:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Firm Doesn't Follow Rivals' Lead on Pricing Tests higher-cost plans that offer more By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 7/21/2003 PHILADELPHIA -- As broadband service providers work to sustain booming sales for high-speed Internet access, some, like Verizon Communications Inc., are cutting rates to as low as $30 a month. Others, including several US and Canadian cable companies and Bell South, have moved to 'tiered' plans that offer lower prices -- but with somewhat slower download speeds than current services. Comcast Corp., however, is looking only upward in its tiering strategy. In what could be a glimpse of its future broadband offers in New England, Comcast is currently testing in New Haven, Conn., a $65-a-month plan -- about $20 more than its standard residential broadband plan -- that offers faster downloads through a device that also lets users connect several computers through wireless and cable connections to their broadband cable modem connection. An even faster $95 plan is also in the works. Comcast has moved in recent weeks to fend off Verizon's price cuts for digital subscriber line broadband with plans as low as $20 a month for six months before they revert to the standard $43 rate in a bundle with cable television. But company officials contend that is strictly a standard 'Dads and Grads' promotion keyed to the Father's Day and college graduation season, and Comcast has no interest in getting into a sustained race to the bottom for broadband pricing. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/202/business/Firm_doesn_t_follow_rivals_lead_on_pricing+.shtml 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 #574 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jul 22 16:34:58 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6MKYwr02987; Tue, 22 Jul 2003 16:34:58 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 16:34:58 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307222034.h6MKYwr02987@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #575 TELECOM Digest Tue, 22 Jul 2003 16:35:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 575 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Bulletin! Fire at Telecommunications Room at Eiffel Tower (Robt Weller) PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (Don Matteson) Time Warner Customer Service (Fred Atkinson) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 13:03:54 -0700 Subject: Bulletin! Fire at Telecommunications Room at Eiffel Tower From: Robert Weller [Lisa Minter note: This bulletin arrived as the last issue of the Digest was starting circulation. We are sending it out as a special report. Lisa M.] http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=3&u=/ap/20030722/ ap_on_re_eu/france_eiffel_tower_15 (AP) PARIS - A small fire near the top of the Eiffel Tower was extinguished shortly after erupting Tuesday evening, Paris police said. The fire caused panic among tourists but no injuries. The fire was out at around 8 p.m. local time, just 40 minutes after it was reported, said fire official Christian Decolloredo. It appeared to originate among a knot of cables in a telecommunications room. Decolloredo said the fire occurred on a floor accessible to tourists. Earlier, the company that operates the Eiffel Tower said the fire broke out on an upper level where technical installations are located and not accessible to the public. Thick gray smoke began to taper off shortly after the fire was reported. Fire trucks and rescue vehicles rushed to the base of the tower. A stream of about 150 visitors filed out after being evacuated, firefighters said. Jean-Paul Proust, the Paris police chief, said the evacuation took place "in absolute calm." "The fire is out, it was a fire in a telecommunications room," he said. "I can't give you the cause." Decolloredo said an investigation was under way. The tower was temporarily closed, but he could not say for how long. A red helicopter swooped around the tower, inspecting the lower floors. Police blocked off access as tourists waited on the grass below, taking photographs or peering up through binoculars. Some of those who fled the tower were visibly shaken. "I was at the top level with a friend of mine, and we started smelling some kind of bad smell," said tourist Ivan Dosso, an Ivory Coast native who now lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Eiffel Tower staff quickly directed him and others to the stairs leading to the exit, and he rushed down. "I'm so distraught," Dosso said. "I'm glad they were able to stop it." The 324-meter (1,069-feet) iron-laced tower draws 6 million visitors a year, making it the world's most popular paying tourist attraction. The tower was built by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 World's Fair. The tower houses reception rooms and two restaurants, including the celebrated Jules Verne on the second floor. Last month, after nearly a year of rewiring, tower operators began switching on 20,000 decorative light bulbs on the structure every night. [Lisa Minter note: If more news is recieved on this, I will report it promptly here. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: matteson@rocketmail.com (Don Matteson) Subject: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Date: 22 Jul 2003 12:17:56 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi all - I'm a computer guy thrust into the role of having to make sense of a proposal from a potential telecom vendor. In a nutshell, here's the situation: We currently have a PRI system in place over a copper T-1 line and we have a 256K SDSL line for Internet access. As I understand it, the PRI allows us 23 B channels (plus one D channel) to use for our voice communications. Another company proposes taking us over to a T-1 with 12 business lines plus 4 channels dedicated to our Internet access. It seems to me that we'll be losing several lines in the transition, which could hurt us when we hit our busy season in a few months. My little brain tells me that in either case, there are a total of 23B+1D channels available (since they're both T-1 based), but the PRI allows us to handle a larger call volume because all 23 B channels are going to voice traffic. On the other hand, the straight T-1 approach would limit us to 12 channels, with enough room to expand to 19 B channels (the last 4 being reserved for our Internet connection). We were getting our butts kicked back when we only had 8 lines (in our pre-PRI days), so I'm leery of reducing the number of available voice lines. Am I thinking about this at all lucidly? My grasp on T-1 vs. PRI is clearly pretty weak, so I'd appreciate any feedback. Of course, if this is a RTFM situation, I'd appreciate it if you could direct me to some FMs to R. :) Thanks in advance, Don ------------------------------ Reply-To: Fred Atkinson From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Time Warner Customer Service Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 15:18:23 -0400 On July 1, I got a Road Runner cablemodem installed. Since July 1, I've experienced four area wide outages. I've asked Road Runner and Time Warner to provide an explanation for the frequent outages and I wanted to know what steps are being taken to reduce the likelihood of further outages. I've only gotten pass the buck (I'm not the one to answer that, that's not my area) replies. Sometimes they blindly transfer me to someone's voicemail. Other times, they say they will have someone investigate and get back to me. It never happens. I ask to speak to a supervisor, am told one will call me within four hours time, and it doesn't happen. When I call in and raise enough sand to finally get to speak to a supervisor, they listen and tell me that they will relay my comments to higher management but there's nothing they can personally do. I told her that I wanted to know what they were doing to stop these outages. She said they would investigate and someone would call me back. Yesterday, just before I left the house, they called back and said that they were coming over to replace my NIC card. My NIC card is functioning fine and there was absolutely no reason that they should have wanted to replace it. I am scratching my head as to how they concluded that my NIC card was the cause of four area outages. I, of course, told them not to change that card. They canceled the dispatch. When I discussed addressing these problems with one of their customer service reps, I was just told there was nothing he could do. When I told him I was a twenty-five year veteran of the telecom/I.T. industry and was trained never to tell a customer that and to provide him with information about his outage and a reasonable estimate of time of restoral, he becamse very boisterous with an unporofessional 'good for you' remark. With all of the really good, experienced people out of work that would be glad to work for less than what they previously made (just to be able to work), I am quite shocked at the caliber of customer service and support people I have encountered there. I'd love to work for them and I could do a much better job than that. But, my impression is that they only want to hire entry level people to keep their costs down. Of course, their customers suffer for that tactic. I've submitted my resume to Time Waner a number of times, but I never get a phone call. I don't remember even getting a 'we'll hold your resume on file for six months' post card from them. If I were not in a 'half price for a three month tiral' mode, I would have already canned them. I found that DSL is available in my area and I am seriously considering switching over when my three month special is up. Fred ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 15:22:23 EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks I had written: > For what it's worth, 202 TIme 4-xxxx (DC) is off by 25 seconds at the > moment. 410 TIme 4-xxxx (Balto) is right on. And joeofseattle replied: > Any special reason you X'd out the numbers for DC and Balto? To let you guess it, and get it right on the first try. (You will, no matter what you guess, just like the one for Boston.) > Re the difference between GPS time and UTC (Jay Ashworth) Er, no. The time displayed by a GPS receiver, which will correct the base time by adding the leap second correction contained within the message transmitted by the satellites, will be right in synch with UTC. Otherwise lots of things would be broken. /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 #575 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 23 18:11:08 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6NMB8U10446; Wed, 23 Jul 2003 18:11:08 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 18:11:08 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307232211.h6NMB8U10446@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #576 TELECOM Digest Wed, 23 Jul 2003 18:11:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 576 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (John R. Levine) Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (JohnF) Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (SayNoToCrossposters) Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (Dave Phelps) Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (Paul) Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (CCIE8122) Backup Data on the Moon (Monty Solomon) AOL Time Warner Reports Second Quarter 2003 Results (Monty Solomon) Sprint Packet Technology Deployment in Virginia (Monty Solomon) Lucent Technologies Reports Results for Third Quarter (Monty Solomon) BellSouth Reports Second Quarter Earnings (Monty Solomon) Agere Systems Reports Results for the Third Quarter (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: 23 Jul 2003 00:11:18 -0000 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > We currently have a PRI system in place over a copper T-1 line and > we have a 256K SDSL line for Internet access. As I understand it, > the PRI allows us 23 B channels (plus one D channel) to use for our > voice communications. Right. > Another company proposes taking us over to a T-1 with 12 business > lines plus 4 channels dedicated to our Internet access. It seems to > me that we'll be losing several lines in the transition, which could > hurt us when we hit our busy season in a few months. Equally right. You also lose some of the extra signalling features that ISDN provides. > My little brain tells me that in either case, there are a total of > 23B+1D channels available (since they're both T-1 based), Not quite. A plain channelized T1 doesn't have B and D channels, it just has channels, so there's a total of 24, which you can statically allocate to voice or data by flipping switches (or typing commands) on your CSU or channel bank. > On the other hand, the straight T-1 approach would limit us to 12 > channels, with enough room to expand to 19 B channels (the last 4 > being reserved for our Internet connection). Unless you're going to save a whole lot of money, I wouldn't bother. If you want Internet data via your T1, it should be possible to "bond" four of the B channels for 256K of data and use that for your Internet feed, leaving the rest for voice and keeping the superior ISDN interface. Assuming you're paying for usage, there's little reason not to make all of the channels available. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 330 5711 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: JohnF Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 22:18:12 -0400 Organization: MindSpring Enterprises I had a discussion with a Time-Warner Telecom rep (NOT Time-Warner Cable: similar name, common ancestry, but not the same company). Their offer is a partial T1 essentially priced at the 16 channel level. They provide a router which dynamically shares voice/data. If we're using only a few trunks, the Internet bandwidth goes up. Don Matteson wrote in message news:telecom22.575.2@telecom-digest.org: > Hi all - > I'm a computer guy thrust into the role of having to make sense of a > proposal from a potential telecom vendor. In a nutshell, here's the > situation: > We currently have a PRI system in place over a copper T-1 line and we > have a 256K SDSL line for Internet access. As I understand it, the PRI > allows us 23 B channels (plus one D channel) to use for our voice > communications. > Another company proposes taking us over to a T-1 with 12 business > lines plus 4 channels dedicated to our Internet access. It seems to me > that we'll be losing several lines in the transition, which could hurt > us when we hit our busy season in a few months. > My little brain tells me that in either case, there are a total of > 23B+1D channels available (since they're both T-1 based), but the PRI > allows us to handle a larger call volume because all 23 B channels are > going to voice traffic. On the other hand, the straight T-1 approach > would limit us to 12 channels, with enough room to expand to 19 B > channels (the last 4 being reserved for our Internet connection). We > were getting our butts kicked back when we only had 8 lines (in our > pre-PRI days), so I'm leery of reducing the number of available voice > lines. > Am I thinking about this at all lucidly? My grasp on T-1 vs. PRI is > clearly pretty weak, so I'd appreciate any feedback. > Of course, if this is a RTFM situation, I'd appreciate it if you could > direct me to some FMs to R. :) > Thanks in advance, > Don ------------------------------ From: SayNoToCrossposters Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Organization: Comcast Online Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 02:48:07 GMT Hmm ... interpreting a "PRI" is simply software that rides a "T1". I have on many occasions on point to point "T!'s" put my "PRI" and performed a drop and insert ... what you are stating essentially. You just have to make sure you don't strip the "D" channel. Your reasoning sounds sound to me. Whether or not they can perform it is something all together. Good Luck! Rich Don Matteson wrote in message news:telecom22.575.2@telecom-digest.org: > Hi all - > I'm a computer guy thrust into the role of having to make sense of a > proposal from a potential telecom vendor. In a nutshell, here's the > situation: > We currently have a PRI system in place over a copper T-1 line and we > have a 256K SDSL line for Internet access. As I understand it, the PRI > allows us 23 B channels (plus one D channel) to use for our voice > communications. > Another company proposes taking us over to a T-1 with 12 business > lines plus 4 channels dedicated to our Internet access. It seems to me > that we'll be losing several lines in the transition, which could hurt > us when we hit our busy season in a few months. > My little brain tells me that in either case, there are a total of > 23B+1D channels available (since they're both T-1 based), but the PRI > allows us to handle a larger call volume because all 23 B channels are > going to voice traffic. On the other hand, the straight T-1 approach > would limit us to 12 channels, with enough room to expand to 19 B > channels (the last 4 being reserved for our Internet connection). We > were getting our butts kicked back when we only had 8 lines (in our > pre-PRI days), so I'm leery of reducing the number of available voice > lines. > Am I thinking about this at all lucidly? My grasp on T-1 vs. PRI is > clearly pretty weak, so I'd appreciate any feedback. > Of course, if this is a RTFM situation, I'd appreciate it if you could > direct me to some FMs to R. :) > Thanks in advance, > Don ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 23:15:49 -0500 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , matteson@rocketmail.com says: > We currently have a PRI system in place over a copper T-1 line and we > have a 256K SDSL line for Internet access. As I understand it, the PRI > allows us 23 B channels (plus one D channel) to use for our voice > communications. Yup. > Another company proposes taking us over to a T-1 with 12 business > lines plus 4 channels dedicated to our Internet access. It seems to me > that we'll be losing several lines in the transition, which could hurt > us when we hit our busy season in a few months. Yup. > My little brain tells me that in either case, there are a total of > 23B+1D channels available (since they're both T-1 based), but the PRI > allows us to handle a larger call volume because all 23 B channels are > going to voice traffic. On the other hand, the straight T-1 approach > would limit us to 12 channels, with enough room to expand to 19 B > channels (the last 4 being reserved for our Internet connection). We > were getting our butts kicked back when we only had 8 lines (in our > pre-PRI days), so I'm leery of reducing the number of available voice > lines. The most popular features of PRI (IMHO) is caller ID, being able to send your caller ID on outbound calls, and DID service. If you don't mind giving up the features of PRI, then going with the split T1 may be acceptable. Dave Phelps DD Networks www.ddnets.com deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: Paul Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 11:20:43 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Just curious if this combo voice/data offering is from Allegiance? If so, run away as fast as you can ... they are bad news. -- Paul Don Matteson wrote in message news:telecom22.575.2@telecom-digest.org: > Hi all - > I'm a computer guy thrust into the role of having to make sense of a > proposal from a potential telecom vendor. In a nutshell, here's the > situation: > We currently have a PRI system in place over a copper T-1 line and we > have a 256K SDSL line for Internet access. As I understand it, the PRI > allows us 23 B channels (plus one D channel) to use for our voice > communications. > Another company proposes taking us over to a T-1 with 12 business > lines plus 4 channels dedicated to our Internet access. It seems to me > that we'll be losing several lines in the transition, which could hurt > us when we hit our busy season in a few months. > My little brain tells me that in either case, there are a total of > 23B+1D channels available (since they're both T-1 based), but the PRI > allows us to handle a larger call volume because all 23 B channels are > going to voice traffic. On the other hand, the straight T-1 approach > would limit us to 12 channels, with enough room to expand to 19 B > channels (the last 4 being reserved for our Internet connection). We > were getting our butts kicked back when we only had 8 lines (in our > pre-PRI days), so I'm leery of reducing the number of available voice > lines. > Am I thinking about this at all lucidly? My grasp on T-1 vs. PRI is > clearly pretty weak, so I'd appreciate any feedback. > Of course, if this is a RTFM situation, I'd appreciate it if you could > direct me to some FMs to R. :) ------------------------------ From: CCIE8122 Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 14:00:44 -0600 Organization: XMission http://www.xmission.com/ > Hi all - > I'm a computer guy thrust into the role of having to make sense of a > proposal from a potential telecom vendor. In a nutshell, here's the > situation: > We currently have a PRI system in place over a copper T-1 line and we > have a 256K SDSL line for Internet access. As I understand it, the PRI > allows us 23 B channels (plus one D channel) to use for our voice > communications. > Another company proposes taking us over to a T-1 with 12 business > lines plus 4 channels dedicated to our Internet access. It seems to me > that we'll be losing several lines in the transition, which could hurt > us when we hit our busy season in a few months. > My little brain tells me that in either case, there are a total of > 23B+1D channels available (since they're both T-1 based), but the PRI > allows us to handle a larger call volume because all 23 B channels are > going to voice traffic. On the other hand, the straight T-1 approach > would limit us to 12 channels, with enough room to expand to 19 B > channels (the last 4 being reserved for our Internet connection). We > were getting our butts kicked back when we only had 8 lines (in our > pre-PRI days), so I'm leery of reducing the number of available voice > lines. > Am I thinking about this at all lucidly? My grasp on T-1 vs. PRI is > clearly pretty weak, so I'd appreciate any feedback. > Of course, if this is a RTFM situation, I'd appreciate it if you could > direct me to some FMs to R. :) > Thanks in advance, Don, There are a couple issues here. First, whether or not you use a vanilla T-1 or a PRI T-1 is not terribly important. Both are commonly used, and it largely is a function of features and CPE. If your PBX will take either a PRI or a vanilla T-1 in the T-1 port, then that solves the first issue. The first thing to check though is whether your PRI card will accept a plain T-1 -- it probably will. As far as differences, PRI typically is provisioned by the carrier with more features than a plain T-1 (though this is not always the case, and varies from carrier to carrier). Also, PRI uses the 24th channel--the D channel--for signalling functions, such things as call setup/teardown, etc. Because this is done out-of-band on a PRI (as opposed to 8 in-band signalling bits MUXed in every so often into the plain DS-1 signalling), calls are set up faster. This is preferred method for most call centers as it helps avoid the telemarketer "Hello? Hello?" delay. But PRI is typically more expensive than DSS, or vanilla T-1 products. Next is the issue of the trunks. I see absolutely no reason why you should limit yourself to 12 voice trunks on the T-1. Any carrier that provides this "integrated T-1" service should be able to mix and match channels as necessary. If you want 4 channels for data (256k), then you may as well provision the other 20 for voice (unless you really only need 12 trunks, I suppose). Cause youre paying for the whole T-1 access anyway. BTW, as a correction, DS-1 signalling does not include the concept of B and D channels. That is strictly an ISDN nomenclature, AFAIK. What I am sure of, is that you (can) use all 24 channels of a DS-1 for voice and/or data trunks in any combination. This is because (as mentioned above) the DS-1 does all signalling in-band and therefore requires no dedicated channel (like and ISDN D-channel) to perform this function. This is where you get the number 1544k for T-1 bandwidth (since 24 x 64k really equals 1536k) -- because the 8k difference is the in-band signalling overhead. Anyway, before migrating to a solution like this, however, you should verify what features your PRI provides (CLID, DID, etc.) and compare with what features the integrated T provided, and see if you are going to lose something you need or want to keep. As far as whether you can get by with only 20 as opposed to 23 trunks, that is strictly an issue of peak time call volume. Also, some carrier T-1 product flavors limit you to designating a trunk as inbound or outbound, but not both in-out. You should check this from the carrier who is bugging you. There is nothing worse than have a 90-10 outbound to inbound call ratio, and provisioning your trunks as half in, half out, and then finding that you are blocking calls WITH INBOUND TRUNKS SITTING IDLE! Obviously the ideal is a two-way trunk. But this all goes back to a features comparison as mentioned above. As far as an integrated T-1, I have sold many of those, and they are a great combination of cheap and versatile. It just is a matter of doing your homework and making sure you dont lose functionality you need. Also, you will be hard pressed to save money by migrating, as you will be going from DSL to Dedicated Internet Access (a step up in product, with a commensurate step up in price). The only way you will save money is if you are migrating from a Tier-1 carrier's or LECs PRI to a Tier-2/3 carrier (CLECs) integrated T. Sometimes these are great bargains, sometimes you have service headaches to no end. HTH kr [Lisa Minter note: I don't know about the other guys here, but I appreciate that 'hello ... hello?' delay at the start of a call. It tells me to hang up quickly before the telemarketer gets a chance to start his spiel. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Backup Data on the Moon Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 12:22:00 -0400 By Sebastian Rupley Locate backup data on the moon? Now that sounds like a rock-solid business model. However strange the idea may sound, TransOrbital of La Jolla, California is taking it and other proposals for marrying high-tech and the Earth's only natural satellite seriously. The company is getting ready to send a commercial mission to the moon and intends to send servers, data, handheld computers, and digital cameras along for the ride. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1200791,00.asp http://www.transorbital.net/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 09:52:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AOL Time Warner Reports Second Quarter 2003 Results NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2003-- The presentation of AOL Time Warner Inc.'s historical financial performance reflects the adoption by the SEC of Regulation G and other rules affecting the use and disclosure of non-GAAP financial measures. Pursuant to recent SEC guidance on the application of Regulation G and the use of non-GAAP financial measures, going forward, the Company no longer will refer to "Operating Income (Loss) before Depreciation and Amortization" as "EBITDA." In addition, unless otherwise noted, the Company's financial results described in this release, such as Operating Income (Loss), Operating Income (Loss) before Depreciation and Amortization, and Free Cash Flow, have not been adjusted for items that may affect their comparability, including merger and restructuring charges, impairments of goodwill and intangible assets and the gains or losses from asset disposals. AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:AOL) today reported financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2003. Revenues for the quarter increased 6% over the same period in 2002 to $10.8 billion, led by increases at the Filmed Entertainment, Networks and Cable divisions. Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization decreased 4% to $2.2 billion, including a total of $277 million in non-cash impairments of goodwill and intangible assets, offset partially by a $43 million gain on an asset sale. Excluding these impairments and the gain, Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization increased 6% to $2.4 billion, reflecting double-digit increases at the Networks, Cable and Filmed Entertainment businesses, offset in part by declines at the America Online division. Operating Income declined 15% to $1.3 billion, further reduced by higher levels of depreciation and amortization. For the first six months of 2003, the Company generated $3.8 billion in Cash Flow from Operations, and Free Cash Flow totaled $2.5 billion. Free Cash Flow benefited from the favorable timing of working capital requirements and approximately $350 million of net cash received through the settlements of certain litigation. At the end of the quarter, the Company's net debt totaled $24.2 billion, versus $26.3 billion at March 31, 2003. The reduction in net debt reflected proceeds of $1.225 billion received during the quarter from the sale of a 50% ownership stake in the Comedy Central cable TV network and the aforementioned net benefit from certain litigation settlements, as well as the generation of significant Free Cash Flow. This decrease was offset partially during the quarter by $813 million of incremental borrowings for the repurchase of all non-voting preferred shares in AOL Europe. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34955550 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 09:54:40 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sprint Packet Technology Deployment in Virginia Sprint Continues Deploying Next Generation Network in Virginia - Jul 23, 2003 06:01 AM (PR Newswire) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34955583 Sprint's Revolutionary Packet Technology in Both Core and Access Portion Of Network Deploys in Independence, Va. INDEPENDENCE, Va., July 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Sprint (NYSE:FON, PCS) today announced the deployment of packet technology for its local switching network in Virginia. The switch location is located in Wytheville, Va., which serves the communities of Independence, Comers Rock and Mouth of Wilson. The location is the second conversion area for Sprint's packet migration plan in 2003. The network upgrade, along with the replacement of the existing circuit switches, now provides local customers with a comprehensive menu of previously unavailable services, including: -- Sprint MessageLine Voice Mail(R) -- Sprint Privacy ID(SM) -- Sprint Talking Call Waiting(SM) -- Caller ID -- Call Waiting ID -- Anonymous Call Rejection -- Return Call (Subscription or Pay per use) -- Repeat Dial (Subscription or Pay per use) -- Three-Way Calling (Pay per use) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34955583 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 09:55:51 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Lucent Technologies Reports Results for Third Quarter - Jul 23, 2003 07:00 AM (PR Newswire) - Posts revenues of $1.96 billion for the quarter, a decline of 18 percent from the second fiscal quarter - Records loss per share of 7 cents, continuing sequential improvement on the bottom line - Reports $4.9 billion balance in cash and short-term investments MURRAY HILL, N.J., July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) today reported results for the third quarter of fiscal 2003, which ended June 30, 2003, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The company recorded revenues of $1.96 billion in the quarter, which represented an 18 percent sequential decline from the $2.4 billion in revenues achieved in the second quarter of fiscal 2003. The company recorded $2.95 billion in revenues in the year-ago quarter. The company's net loss for the quarter was $254 million or 7 cents per share(1). These results compare with a loss of $351 million or 14 cents per share in the second quarter of fiscal 2003 and a net loss of $8.03 billion or $2.35 per share in the year-ago quarter. The third quarter's loss per share included the negative impact of charges associated with an impairment of goodwill related to certain multiservice switching products and the revaluation of warrants that are expected to be issued as part of Lucent's global settlement of shareowner litigation, which were offset by certain income tax benefits. By comparison, the loss per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2003 included the net unfavorable impact of 6 cents per share(2), which was primarily due to charges for Lucent's global settlement of shareowner litigation and the repurchase of convertible securities and debt obligations, certain income tax benefits and a reduction of business restructuring reserves. The loss per share for the year-ago quarter included the net unfavorable impact of $2.11 per share(2) for several items, including deferred tax valuation allowances, business restructuring actions and asset impairments. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34955995 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 10:46:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: BellSouth Reports Second Quarter Earnings * 2.8 Million Long Distance Customers * 2.1 Million Bellsouth Answers(SM) Packages * 540,000 Cingular Wireless Net Additional Customers ATLANTA, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS) reported earnings per share (EPS) of 51 cents in the second quarter of 2003. This compared to 14 cents per share in the second quarter of 2002, which reflected special charges totaling 38 cents per share for foreign currency transaction losses, pension/severance costs, and losses on equity investments. Consolidated revenues were $5.6 billion compared to $5.8 billion in the second quarter of 2002. Consolidated operating expenses were $4.2 billion compared to $4.6 billion in the same quarter of 2002. Net income was $951 million compared to $263 million in the same quarter a year ago. Operating free cash flow (defined as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures) was $1.8 billion. In June BellSouth's Board of Directors declared a 9.5 percent increase in the quarterly common stock dividend, payable August 1, 2003. Over the last five quarters, the company has increased dividends 21 percent. Capital expenditures in the second quarter of 2003 were $729 million for a total of $1.4 billion year-to-date, a reduction of 32.9 percent compared to $2.0 billion in the first half of 2002. BellSouth reduced total debt by $1.2 billion during the second quarter, and has cut total debt by $2.0 billion, or 11.4 percent, since the first of the year. In accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), consolidated revenues and consolidated operating expenses do not include BellSouth's 40 percent share of Cingular Wireless. Normalized total operating revenues, which include Cingular, were $7.1 billion, a decline of 2.0 percent versus the second quarter of 2002. Normalized for special items, detailed below, net income was $971 million, compared to $975 million in the same quarter a year ago. Normalized EPS in the second quarter of 2003 was 52 cents, equal to normalized EPS of 52 cents in the same quarter a year ago. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34957854 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 09:56:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Agere Systems Reports Results for the Third Quarter of Fiscal 2003 - Company Reports Sequential Improvements in Financial Performance, With a 3 Percent Increase in Revenue, 38 Percent Reduction in Reported Net Loss and $4 Million Increase in Cash ALLENTOWN, Pa., July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Agere Systems (NYSE:AGR.A, AGR.B) today reported that revenues for its third quarter of fiscal 2003, ended June 30, 2003, were $456 million, up 3 percent from revenues in the March quarter. Revenues in the year-ago quarter from the company's continuing operations were $498 million. Net loss on a reported or GAAP basis for the June quarter was $78 million or $0.05 per share, an improvement of $47 million, or 38 percent, over the March quarter, and an improvement of $254 million, or 77 percent, from the year-ago quarter. Pro forma net loss was $74 million, or $0.04 per share in the June quarter. This was an improvement of $31 million, or 30 percent, from the March quarter, and an improvement of $34 million, or 31 percent, from the year-ago quarter. Pro forma net loss excludes gain or loss from the sale of, and income or loss from, discontinued operations; net restructuring and other charges; amortization of goodwill and other acquired intangibles; net gain or loss from the sale of operating assets and cumulative effect of an accounting change. Cash and cash in trust at the end of the June quarter increased by $4 million sequentially to $749 million, with $566 million in excess of short-term debt, and $101 million in excess of total debt. Cash used in operating activities and capital expenditures was $39 million, which included $33 million used for restructuring and related activities and $7 million used in discontinued operations. The company's ongoing operations generated a positive cash flow of $1 million in the June quarter. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34956035 ------------------------------ 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 #576 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 23 21:21:15 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6O1LFZ11660; Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:21:15 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:21:15 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307240121.h6O1LFZ11660@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #577 TELECOM Digest Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:20:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 577 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter EPIC Alert 10.15 (Monty Solomon) DoubleClick Reports Strong Second Quarter 2003 Financials (M Solomon) Amazon.com Announces Free Shipping; Low Prices Fuel 42% Unit (M Solomon) Cracking Windows Passwords in 5 Seconds (Monty Solomon) Reverse Engineered 802.11b+ Drivers (Monty Solomon) Wal-Mart Lets Web Shoppers Pay by Check (Monty Solomon) Palm to Update Handheld, Cut Prices (Monty Solomon) Phones Come Alive in Baghdad (Monty Solomon) Backing up SIM Card Data (tom) Cubus-1 Cable (Hal Babcock) Re: Photos From Seattle Vintage Phone Equipment Museum (joe@obilivan) NEAX Software (greenham&eggs) 631-673-2300 is CITI Bank MasterCard (Steve Wright) Newbie to SS7 Signalling (Joseph Sylvester) Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (A Beilby) Number Economy - was Re: Speaking Clocks (Michael Quinn) 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, 22 Jul 2003 21:18:21 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 10.15 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 10.15 July 22, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.15.html ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] Senate Requires Reporting For CAPPS II; Extends TIA Moratorium [2] EPIC Testifies on Credit Reporting Privacy, Inaccuracy [3] First HIPAA Privacy Enforcement Details Reported [4] U.S. Park Police Releases Video Surveillance Policy [5] RFID PR Revealed; Wal-Mart Cancels Major RFID Effort [6] EPIC Testifies on Use and Misuse of the Social Security Number [7] EPIC Bookstore: "Censorship Inc." [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.15.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 21:22:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DoubleClick Reports Strong Second Quarter 2003 Financial Results Company Exceeds Its Total Revenue and EPS Guidance NEW YORK, July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DoubleClick Inc. (Nasdaq: DCLK), the leading provider of data and technology tools for direct marketers, web publishers and advertisers, today announced financial results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2003, and updated its business outlook for full year 2003. DoubleClick reported revenues for the second quarter of $63.6 million versus $75.7 million in the year ago period. Revenues increased sequentially by 5.8%, though they declined 16.0% year-over-year largely due to the divestitures of businesses in 2002. Total GAAP operating expenses were $32.1 million, a decline of 45% versus $58.4 million in the second quarter of 2002. GAAP net income for the most recent quarter was $5.8 million, with a GAAP EPS of $0.04, compared with $4.1 million and a GAAP EPS of $0.03 in the second quarter of 2002. Total company headcount at the end of the second quarter was 1,082, down 15% from 1,270 at the end of the second quarter of 2002. The Company's expenses declined in the second quarter of 2003 versus the year ago period due to the divestitures of its Media, DoubleClick Japan, and Research businesses, and because of ongoing cost-cutting initiatives. Second quarter 2003 GAAP earnings and expenses also benefited from a net restructuring credit of $6.9 million, which resulted from a $14.3 million reversal of DoubleClick's real estate reserve for its New York facility offset by $7.4 million in additional restructuring charges in connection with certain of the Company's other facilities. In addition, 2Q03 GAAP earnings were reduced by a $4.4 million loss in connection with the redemption of the Company's 4.75% convertible subordinated notes and $1.0 million in equity losses associated with the Company's minority investments. Last year's second-quarter results included a $7.3 million restructuring charge related to the Company's real estate and a $11.9 million gain related to the sale of the Company's @plan research product line. The Company used $0.6 million in cash flow from operations during the second quarter of 2003. This figure included a payment of $14.4 million in connection with the termination of a portion of the lease on the Company's New York headquarters. The Company ended the quarter with $873.2 million in cash and marketable securities, and had a net cash position of $580.2 million, or $4.23 per share.(a) On June 23, 2003, the Company issued $135 million of zero coupon convertible subordinated notes due 2023, the proceeds of which, together with existing cash, will be used to redeem the Company's $154.8 million of 4.75% convertible subordinated notes due 2006 on July 24, 2003. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34949287 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 21:26:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Amazon.com Announces Free Shipping and Low Prices Fuel 42% Unit SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 2003--Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN) today announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2003. Operating cash flow was $285 million for the trailing twelve months, compared with $48 million for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2002. Free cash flow was $245 million for the trailing twelve months, compared with $16 million for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2002. Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based employee awards totaled 433 million at June 30, 2003, an increase of 1% compared with a year ago. Net sales were $1.1 billion in the second quarter, compared with $806 million in the second quarter 2002, an increase of 37%. Net sales benefited by $55 million from changes in foreign exchange rates compared with the second quarter 2002. Operating income was $42 million, or 4% of net sales, compared with $1 million in the second quarter 2002. Consolidated segment operating income improved $41 million to $67 million, or 6% of net sales, compared with $26 million in the second quarter 2002. Net loss was $43 million, or $(0.11) per share, in the second quarter, compared with $94 million, or $(0.25) per share, in the second quarter 2002. Pro forma net income in the second quarter, which includes interest expense, grew over $46 million to $42 million, or $0.10 per share, compared with a pro forma net loss of $4 million, or $(0.01) per share, in the second quarter 2002. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34948027 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 21:41:40 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cracking Windows Passwords in 5 Seconds http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/330004 Date: 22 Jul 2003 20:37:19 -0000 From: Subject: Cracking windows passwords in 5 seconds As opposed to unix, windows password hashes can be calculated in advance because no salt or other random information is involved. This makes so called time-memory trade-off attacks possible. This vulnerability is not new but we think that we have the first tool to exploit this. At LASEC (lasecwww.epfl.ch) we have developed an advanced time-memory trade-off method. It is based on original work which was done in 1980 but has never been applied to windows passwords. It works by calculating all possible hashes in advance and storing some of them in an organized table. The more information you keep in the table, the faster the cracking will be. We have implemented an online demo of this method which cracks alphanumerical passwords in 5 seconds average (see http://lasecpc13.epfl.ch/ntcrack). With the help of 0.95GB of data we can find the password after an average of 4 million hash operation. A brute force cracker would need to calculate an average of 50% of all hashes, which amounts to about 40 billion hases for alphanumerical passwords (lanman hash). More info about the method can be found at in a paper at http://lasecwww.epfl.ch/php_code/publications/search.php?ref=Oech03. Philippe Oechslin ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 22:33:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Reverse Engineered 802.11b+ Drivers Posted by Hemos on Monday July 21, @07:59AM from the if-you-build-it-they-will-use-it dept. orv writes "When Andreas Mohr found that his new wireless networking card wasn't supported under Linux rather than returning the card and getting himself a supported one, he decided to set up a project to write his own drivers instead - http://acx100.sourceforge.net. Companies such as D-Link had initially promised to release linux drivers for these cards but later backed down from that promise and announced that Linux would not be supported and that customers should not hold on to the cards in the hope of getting them working, as shown on their current FAQ. Texas Instruments, the makers of the chipsets upon which these 802.11b+ cards are based refused to release code or specifications for the cards, no doubt for similar reasons that were recently discussed here. The fact that the current alpha release is certainly as good, and in some areas better, than the binary drivers that escaped from one of the card manufactureres speaks volumes for the quality and determination of the team to create their own drivers." http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/07/21/1057231 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 22:55:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Wal-Mart Lets Web Shoppers Pay by Check By Dawn Kawamoto Staff Writer, CNET News.com Wal-Mart Stores announced Tuesday it is accepting electronic checks for online purchases, becoming the latest retailer to widen Web payment options in an effort to boost sales. The retail giant said it is allowing shoppers to use encrypted checks for purchases at its Web site, Walmart.com. Once customers choose "pay by check," they will be required to provide personal information as a safeguard, according to company spokeswoman Cynthia Lin. http://news.com.com/2100-1019-5053060.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 22:56:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Palm to Update Handheld, Cut Prices By Richard Shim Staff Writer, CNET News.com Palm is preparing to update its Tungsten T line of handhelds aimed at businesses and cut prices on older devices as it looks to revive the struggling market for PDAs. The Milpitas, Calif.-based hardware arm of Palm, called Palm Solutions Group, will announce Wednesday the release of the Tungsten T2 device, which is a follow-on product to its Tungsten T handheld, according to sources. http://news.com.com/2100-1041-5052103.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 01:17:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Phones Come Alive in Baghdad BAGHDAD -- Mobile phone roaming services were mysteriously available in Baghdad on Tuesday, bringing cellular service -- banned under Saddam Hussein -- to ordinary people in the Iraqi capital for the first time. Yet officially, a tender for three mobile phone licenses the U.S.-led administration plans to offer across Iraq has yet to take place. A U.S. military spokesman could not immediately say why the lines turned on or what that meant for the tender. Callers with foreign-registered GSM phones were able to make and receive calls and send text messages to countries as far away as the United States and South Africa. Few Iraqis have suitable phones for now. Foreigners working in Baghdad have widely relied on pricey satellite telephones to stay in touch. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59716,00.html ------------------------------ From: tomwilliam76@hotmail.com (tom) Subject: Backing up SIM Card Data Date: 23 Jul 2003 04:27:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Sorry if this is slightly OT, but I have a Sharp GX 10 phone, on a Vodafone tariff in the UK. I want to make a back up of my SIM card (especially my address book). What is the best way of doing this? ------------------------------ Subject: Cubus-1 Cable Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 10:34:50 -0400 From: Hal Babcock Patrick, You have written in the past about the Cubus-1 undersea cable between Havana and the US, can you tell me who currently controls traffic on this cable? And also where it lands on the US side. I don't believe I ever knew where it terminates here. I am looking for the best supplier for LD termination to Cuba, thought this might be a good place to look?? Thanks for you assistance!! Hal Babcock Business Development Manager 135 North Church Street Kalamazoo, MI 49007 269-373-0153 Cell 269-998-4444 http://www.itscommunications.com ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Photos From the Seattle Vintage Phone Equipment Museum Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 07:37:48 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications Joseph wrote: > On Wed, 11 Jun 2003 07:01:38 -0700, scosu wrote: >> I would like to share these pictures with everyone on TELECOM Digest who >> has shared so much with me over the years. >> Pictures are posted in our class Yahoo group, >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wiredless/ >> Once logged in, select PHOTOS, then TELEPHON. - and you will see the >> entire gallery of museum photos. > One thing you failed to mention is that you cannot get into the group > unless you subscribe to the group. It is not open to the general > public. The alternate login he provided worked just fine. > Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group. > [Lisa Minter note: One thing scosu may like to is allow us here at the > Digest to copy his photos for the archives. Maybe scosu or some other > reader already enrolled in that group would be so kind as to pick up > the pictures and tell me or Patrick where to get them. I personally > have a Yahoo account: lisa_minter@yahoo.com. Anyone? Lisa M.] scosu wrote: > I would like to share these pictures with everyone on TELECOM > Digest who has shared so much with me over the years. Thanks for posting the photos! Every time I see an old stepper on display like that, it reminds me that the best place for a step switch is in a museum. ;-) ------------------------------ From: jcullen@specnarc.com (greenham&eggs) Subject: NEAX Software Date: 23 Jul 2003 07:45:28 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi guys, I wanted to put my NEAX 2400 version 15.00 software on an XP box but it won't run corrertly. I know there is newer software for the switch but I don't know what the version is. I'v also been told you can also download via a user group, a training version, is this correct. Any input would greatly appreciated, thanks!! ------------------------------ From: wrghtstphn@wmconnect.com (Steve Wright) Subject: 631-673-2300 is CITI Bank MasterCard Date: 23 Jul 2003 08:21:22 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ EOM ------------------------------ From: joesoffers@hotmail.com (Joseph Sylvester) Subject: Newbie to SS7 Signalling Date: 23 Jul 2003 08:54:38 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Do I have to buy Telcordia information in order to find out what's in a SS7 string? I've been working with FGD forever, now my company is moving in to SS7. Well, they move to it awhile ago, now I'm playing catch-up. I can't even find a packet, or string. Arrgh. Where do I even start? All the sites I have looked at charge money for the documents. I can understand that, but I just really want to look at a string. Is that even possible in SS7 or are there to many layers? I have not bought the System Signalling 7 book that EVERYONE suggests. Guess I'll be swing by the book store on my way home :) Thanks in advance, and sorry to waste everyones time. You guys are gurus. Thanks again, Joseph Sylvester jsylvester@homisco.com ------------------------------ From: beilby@cuic.ca (A Beilby) Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Date: 23 Jul 2003 11:05:12 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ matteson@rocketmail.com (Don Matteson) wrote in message news:: > SNIP ... > My little brain tells me that in either case, there are a total of > 23B+1D channels available (since they're both T-1 based), but the PRI > allows us to handle a larger call volume because all 23 B channels are > going to voice traffic. On the other hand, the straight T-1 approach > would limit us to 12 channels, with enough room to expand to 19 B > channels (the last 4 being reserved for our Internet connection). We > were getting our butts kicked back when we only had 8 lines (in our > pre-PRI days), so I'm leery of reducing the number of available voice > lines. T1 and ISDN-PRI have the same bandwidth capacity approx 1.5Mb, it just depends who's talking, and whether you're using pure voice, or some split of voice/data. Try to get each vendor to quote like for like on 23 channel PRI, as it will make your busines case easier. The number of voice lines you need at your peak is quite key. Before you go too far with any long term contract, see if you can dig up a traffic study for your busy time of year. From that it is possible to calculate the number of voice channels you'd need at your max: (check out how-to at http://www.erlang.com/calculator/erlb/) If you think you'll need 23, then go for a whole 23 channel PRI. If you need say 15, then you might want to commit to the 12, then pad it out with a few analog voice lines, to give yourself an alternative voice route in the event of a circuit interruption. That way you have disaster recovery included, and you can add more/less analog trunk lines with no term commitment if the peaks catch you off guard. Speak to your telecom system maintenance company about these options. However, the disadvantage of analog, is poorer quality call handling by your system, and you lose the Long distance advantage of a PRI/T1: if the T1/PRI is provided by your LD provider, then they will offer you dedicated outbound call charges, often 50% of switched toll rates. So check out the LD rate implications of each vendor, and try to reduce the contract period, so that you keep your options open. Alex Beilby ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 14:02:00 -0400 From: Michael Quinn Organization: Booz Allen Hamilton Subject: Number Economy was Re: Speaking Clocks Doesn't a phone number where you can use any combination of digits in the last four positions to reach the same destination tie up 9999 phone numbers? I tried several of the DC 202 TI(me)4-xxxx permutations and all worked. Mike Quinn John R. Covert wrote: > Verizon's recorded time service in Boston, 617 637-xxxx (617 NERVOUS, > for example), has been giving the wrong time for years. ------------------------------ 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 #577 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 23 22:27:49 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6O2Rmx12329; Wed, 23 Jul 2003 22:27:49 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 22:27:49 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307240227.h6O2Rmx12329@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #578 TELECOM Digest Wed, 23 Jul 2003 22:28:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 578 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter What to Do About Sprint Billing Issues, *Rude* Service? (Rick Miller) E1 and T1 (obsidian) IPSec VPN Service Provider (Siddhartha Jain) Ericsson AXE10 TT Files (Terry) Help Finding Phones (hylo15) High Desert TV Translator in Need of Repair (Steven J Sobol) Carrier Query: Xspedius (Jay R. Ashworth) Algorithm - Detect Carrier (Ishira) SS7 Within AT&T and Other Carriers (Mark J Cuccia) Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call transfer Like Vonage (Chasman) Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (CCIE8122) Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (LARB0) Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (SayNoToCrossposters) Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: WUTR (John Beaman) Re: More on Accessing the Western Union Tech Review (Garrett Wollman) 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: rickmillerenterprises@hotmail.com (Rick Miller) Subject: What to do About Sprint Billing Issues, *Rude* Customer Service? Date: 22 Jul 2003 22:35:12 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Ok, here's the story ... last year, I had service with Sprint PCS. It was a simple rate plan that did not include "Wireless Web", Sprint's WAP browser service as a bundle, but I could use it at a rate of 39 cents per minute, as opposed to the $10 (iirc) it took to make my "voice" minutes be "voice or data" minutes. All is well and good. Until the day I open my bill, usually around $40, to a bill of over $1000! I checked the call list, and it was for many many data calls, over the course of the month, for long periods of time, such as 200 minutes of data calls (in one go, mind you!) at 1 in the morning! (That's almost 3 1/2 hours of viewing the web on that little cellphone screen!) Needless to say, I did *not* make those calls, my phone was spending its time locked up in my car (to which I have the only key) and I was probably in bed, being 1 AM. So I call Sprint PCS customer support -- they were polite at the time, taking my information, and telling me that they would refer it to the fraud department. I never heard from them again. Meanwhile the bills keep coming in, and the amount is getting higher and higher due to late fees, and it seemed to me that I am getting bounced around from department to department, with the folks I am speaking to getting ruder and ruder. I keep calling, speaking to various departments, who all tell me that there is nothing that they can do. Eventually, this month (this all started back in August of LAST YEAR!) they connect me to a supervisor, who basically told me that their billing is correct, there is no way that Sprint is going to do anything about, and I can go "pound sand" as it were. I pointed out the fact that it was a fraud issue, and he essentially told me that since it was data usage and not voice minutes, that it was not a fraud issue. The supervisor downright refused to let me go up the "chain of command" by speaking to *his* supervisor -- he told me over and over again, that he does not care what I say, Sprint's billing system *never* makes a mistake, that it was my phone that made the data calls, and he launched into a very patronizing explanation of how cellular calls worked. I even offered to let Sprint check the minute usage meter on my phone -- since it says that I only used 300 or so minutes for the *life* of the phone! His response? "Well, the "lifetime timer" doesn't keep track of the minutes used" -- Whatever. I am at the end of my rope in dealing with this company. My account has obviously been shut off and I am starting to get notices from collection agencies about this. I would, obviously, considering going back with Sprint, as I am interested in their Vision service, but I am not so sure after the level of incompetence displayed by their customer "disservice" team. My question is ... Who do I talk to at Sprint PCS to get these charges fixed? I've already talked to retention, customer service, and the collections department, and all I get is the circle jerk with one department referring me to another who refers me to another who refers me back to the department I originally started with!! Is there anyone who has dealt with this before? Remember -- I originally did not use the wireless web -- maybe a few minutes here and there to do a quick email or whatever, no more than 10 or 15 minutes a month. All of a sudden, I go from almost no use to over $1000 worth of use? Does that even SEEM logical? Anyway, if there is anyone out there who can tell me what to do, I would be greatly appreciative! If I don't get anywhere with Sprint, I may just refuse to pay, note why on my credit report, and deal with the collection agency. If I go that route, I do have a brand spankin' new A500 that I had given to me that I might sell! Thanks! -Rick ------------------------------ From: obsidian Subject: E1 and T1 Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 08:36:33 +0200 Organization: -= Belgacom Usenet Service =- Can anyone explain why North America uses T1, and the Rest of the World (as far as I am aware) are all using E1? obsidian ------------------------------ From: losttoy2000@yahoo.co.uk (Siddhartha Jain) Subject: IPSec VPN Service Provider Date: 23 Jul 2003 03:23:29 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi, I am looking for a Service provider to give IPSec VPN service. The IP allocated should be routable on the internet and not blocked by any filter/firewall/proxy. ------------------------------ From: terry Subject: Ericsson AXE10 TT Files Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:21:15 +0200 Organization: Aster City Net Hello, I am trying to find any information about Ericsson AXE10's TT files. I am especially interested in EM121 packed format, although any other description of ISO or packed format would be very appreciated. If you have any information on these please post or point me to right direction as I am unable to find any information in the internet :\ Best Regards, Terry ------------------------------ Reply-To: hylo15 From: hylo15 Subject: Help Finding Phones Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 22:24:05 GMT Does anyone know where I can get a two-line phone with large buttons? My uncle's eyesight is getting bad and he's asked me if to find him an analog phones with large buttons. The problem is that it needs to be a phone with two lines. All of the big-button phones that I've found only have one line. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Dave Hyland CCNA, CCDA Application Specialist Listen, Inc. 661 W. Lake St. Suite N Chicago, IL 60661 Direct: (312) 277-4224 Fax: (312) 207-0102 Email: dave.hyland@listeninc.net www.listeninc.net ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: High Desert TV Translator in Need of Repair Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 18:41:14 -0500 The translator described in this Victorville Daily Press article broadcasts the signals of a number of Los Angeles television stations into the heart of San Bernardino County, where I now live. I have to wonder how many other rural areas are in the same predicament. http://tinyurl.com/huwz JustThe.net Internet & Multimedia Svcs The Fusion of Content & Connectivity 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Carrier Query: Xspedius Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:43:20 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida A client of mine is thinking about switching from KMC Telecom (whom he's told are going out of business, though *I* was told they're one of the only indy's making any profit) to Xspedius, who -- aside from the fact that they can't spel -- appear to have been previously known as eSpire -- another carrier about whom I've got a bad feeling. Does anyone have any anecdotal exsperiens to share? Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: ishira_pundit@yahoo.com (Ishira) Subject: Algorithm - Detect Carrier Date: 22 Jul 2003 13:54:03 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi, I am trying to write a program which detects if a signal is modulated or not; i.e whether there is a carrier or not. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you can direct me to some tutorials/books which handles algorithms of this sort, it would be great. Thanks, Ishira ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 21:21:42 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: SS7 Within AT&T and Other Carriers Rick Miller wrote: (in "Toll Stations, Party Lines and Other Remnants of Times Past?") >> Do any areas in the NANP still use inband signalling? From my >> experience, a friend of mine in Michagan calls me, from his ordinary >> POTS phone, direct dialed, no caller-ID blocking, but he comes up as >> "out of area" on my Caller ID - not "private" but in fact, out of >> area? Does this mean that he does not have SS7, and still may have >> inband LD signalling? Jay R. Ashworth replied: > Last I heard, the AT&T network wasn't quite 100% SS7, but that was a > couple years ago. Yo! Cuccia! :-) As far as I know, all of AT&T's total of 142 4ESS switches in the continental USA have SS7 signaling between them. However, there might be instances of an SS7 trunk signaling failure, where I would assume that it would revert to inband MF/2600 signaling??? Regarding the original post in question might even be where the calling party isn't even using AT&T but some other LD carrier which may not be fully SS7. There are also local telcos and tandems which aren't necessarily using SS7 yet even at this late date. There could also be SS7 misconfigurations as well. And then there could be no SS7 capability on certain types of trunks which interconnect the local telco's network with AT&T Long Lines or some other IXC. I know that even with AT&T's modification throughout last year, of 0+/01+ and 0-minus ('00' double-oh) access to OSPS, since AT&T no longer allows (inter-LATA) traditional coin-sent-paid 1+/011+ calling, there is still no regular SS7 from the end-office and/or access tandem to the AT&T OSPS on such 0+/01+ and 00 access to OSPS. However, in *MOST* (though not necessarily all) circumstances, 1-800-etc. access to AT&T OSPS Card/Opr services will pass thru SS7 and Caller-ID. Outside of the continental USA but still within the NANP, there is not necessarily going to be complete widespread use of SS7/Caller-ID. True, calls between Hawaii and the mainland US, most parts of Canada and the US, at least the larger cities and settlements of Alaska and the mainland US, Guam and the mainland US, in *MOST* cases, Caller-ID / SS7 will pass. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the Caribbean and some other Pacific parts of the NANP yet have everything in place to pass SS7/Caller-ID. For SS7/Caller-ID to work, *ALL*, EACH-AND-EVERY switch/node involved in the connection must be capable of passing caller-ID, and it must also be configured correctly. If there's just ONE non-SS7 or misconfigured SS7 link, then caller-ID/SS7 won't be able to pass through. mjc ------------------------------ From: Chasman@omelas.com (Chasman) Subject: Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage Date: 23 Jul 2003 12:44:39 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I'm sorry but I think you are wrong, TELECOM Digest Editor. I have contacted my local providers. Pac Bell, SBC or whatever they are called now. MCI, etc. NONE offer the ability to transfer a call to any other number in the US once that call has been taken. If you believe they do please refer me to one webpage that shows they do. I am desperatly looking for such a feature so please point away! Thank you. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, any of the telcos which offer > 'home centrex'-like features have that offering, which is all of the > Bell telcos, and many independents. Ask at your local telco, but I > do not know off hand what tradename they use for home centrex. PAT] (Chasman) wrote in message news:: > Vonage has a great free feature called call transfer. > "It's easy to transfer a call to a third party. Just press the flash > button or switch hook on your Vonage line telephone and dial #90. Dial > the 11 digit number where you want the call transferred. Then dial # > and you will hear a dial tone. Hang up the phone and the transfer will > take place. " > I would use vonage but I am over 19K from my CO so I can only get ISDN > (type) connection at the moment. So the quality is not reliable > enough. > Any other telcoms offering such a feature? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You said you had talked to SBC who denied having such a thing. Independence, Kansas is also served by SBC (and other local carriers) and in the SBC local telephone directory on page 4 they describe 'Plexar Service' which is a type of centrex service. You get information on it by calling 1-888-29-GUIDE, then entering 'extension' 6054. Plexar offers 'centrex like' features including call transfer between extensions, answering incoming ringing calls from various other extensions, etc. One such feature is the ability to transfer calls *between extensions* either on or *off premises*. When Illinois Bell used to offer the service in the Chicago area back in the 1980's under the trade name 'Smart Line' that was a common feature. Call back to SBC or Southwestern Bell or whatever and ask for a representative who can explain and sell Plexar, which is their trade name for centrex. Don't bother calling any long distance carriers like MCI, centrex is a local central office feature. PAT] ------------------------------ From: CCIE8122 Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 16:25:40 -0600 Organization: XMission http://www.xmission.com/ > As far as differences, PRI typically is provisioned by the carrier > with more features than a plain T-1 (though this is not always the > case, and varies from carrier to carrier). Also, PRI uses the 24th > channel--the D channel--for signalling functions, such things as call > setup/teardown, etc. Because this is done out-of-band on a PRI (as > opposed to 8 in-band signalling bits MUXed in every so often into the > plain DS-1 signalling), calls are set up faster. This is preferred > method for most call centers as it helps avoid the telemarketer > "Hello? Hello?" delay. > [Lisa Minter note: I don't know about the other guys here, but I > appreciate that 'hello ... hello?' delay at the start of a call. It > tells me to hang up quickly before the telemarketer gets a chance to > start his spiel. Lisa M.] Agreed. I do the same trick. kr ------------------------------ From: larb0@aol.com (LARB0) Date: 23 Jul 2003 23:01:24 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Plain vanilla T1s generally cost less than PRI T1s - but they offer fewer features and functions. The biggest reason to get PRI is the incoming caller ID to your PABX. Out of band signalling and call set-ups, etc may or may not be important to you. PRI also offers a slightly better bandwidth (64K CC versus 56K) than a "normal" T1. PRI is more flexible - but if you don't need the bells and whistles, the less expensive T1 may be the best choice. Just be careful of your trunking levels and that you don't surrender a needed capability. Bruce Larrabee ------------------------------ From: SayNoToCrossposters Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Organization: Comcast Online Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:49:14 GMT CCIE8122 wrote in message news:telecom22.576.6@telecom-digest.org: >> Hi all - >> I'm a computer guy thrust into the role of having to make sense of a >> proposal from a potential telecom vendor. In a nutshell, here's the >> situation: >> We currently have a PRI system in place over a copper T-1 line and we >> have a 256K SDSL line for Internet access. As I understand it, the PRI >> allows us 23 B channels (plus one D channel) to use for our voice >> communications. >> Another company proposes taking us over to a T-1 with 12 business >> lines plus 4 channels dedicated to our Internet access. It seems to me >> that we'll be losing several lines in the transition, which could hurt >> us when we hit our busy season in a few months. >> My little brain tells me that in either case, there are a total of >> 23B+1D channels available (since they're both T-1 based), but the PRI >> allows us to handle a larger call volume because all 23 B channels are >> going to voice traffic. On the other hand, the straight T-1 approach >> would limit us to 12 channels, with enough room to expand to 19 B >> channels (the last 4 being reserved for our Internet connection). We >> were getting our butts kicked back when we only had 8 lines (in our >> pre-PRI days), so I'm leery of reducing the number of available voice >> lines. >> Am I thinking about this at all lucidly? My grasp on T-1 vs. PRI is >> clearly pretty weak, so I'd appreciate any feedback. >> Of course, if this is a RTFM situation, I'd appreciate it if you could >> direct me to some FMs to R. :) >> Thanks in advance, > Don, > There are a couple issues here. > First, whether or not you use a vanilla T-1 or a PRI T-1 is not > terribly important. Both are commonly used, and it largely is a > function of features and CPE. If your PBX will take either a PRI or a > vanilla T-1 in the T-1 port, then that solves the first issue. The > first thing to check though is whether your PRI card will accept a > plain T-1 -- it probably will. > As far as differences, PRI typically is provisioned by the carrier > with more features than a plain T-1 (though this is not always the > case, and varies from carrier to carrier). Also, PRI uses the 24th > channel--the D channel--for signalling functions, such things as call > setup/teardown, etc. Because this is done out-of-band on a PRI (as > opposed to 8 in-band signalling bits MUXed in every so often into the > plain DS-1 signalling), calls are set up faster. This is preferred > method for most call centers as it helps avoid the telemarketer > "Hello? Hello?" delay. > But PRI is typically more expensive than DSS, or vanilla T-1 products. > Next is the issue of the trunks. I see absolutely no reason why you > should limit yourself to 12 voice trunks on the T-1. Any carrier that > provides this "integrated T-1" service should be able to mix and match > channels as necessary. If you want 4 channels for data (256k), then > you may as well provision the other 20 for voice (unless you really > only need 12 trunks, I suppose). Cause youre paying for the whole T-1 > access anyway. > BTW, as a correction, DS-1 signalling does not include the concept of > B and D channels. That is strictly an ISDN nomenclature, AFAIK. What > I am sure of, is that you (can) use all 24 channels of a DS-1 for > voice and/or data trunks in any combination. This is because (as > mentioned above) the DS-1 does all signalling in-band and therefore > requires no dedicated channel (like and ISDN D-channel) to perform > this function. This is where you get the number 1544k for T-1 > bandwidth (since 24 x 64k really equals 1536k) -- because the 8k > difference is the in-band signalling overhead. > Anyway, before migrating to a solution like this, however, you should > verify what features your PRI provides (CLID, DID, etc.) and compare > with what features the integrated T provided, and see if you are going > to lose something you need or want to keep. > As far as whether you can get by with only 20 as opposed to 23 trunks, > that is strictly an issue of peak time call volume. Also, some > carrier T-1 product flavors limit you to designating a trunk as > inbound or outbound, but not both in-out. You should check this from > the carrier who is bugging you. There is nothing worse than have a > 90-10 outbound to inbound call ratio, and provisioning your trunks as > half in, half out, and then finding that you are blocking calls WITH > INBOUND TRUNKS SITTING IDLE! Obviously the ideal is a two-way trunk. > But this all goes back to a features comparison as mentioned above. > As far as an integrated T-1, I have sold many of those, and they are a > great combination of cheap and versatile. It just is a matter of > doing your homework and making sure you dont lose functionality you > need. > Also, you will be hard pressed to save money by migrating, as you will > be going from DSL to Dedicated Internet Access (a step up in product, > with a commensurate step up in price). The only way you will save > money is if you are migrating from a Tier-1 carrier's or LECs PRI to a > Tier-2/3 carrier (CLECs) integrated T. Sometimes these are great > bargains, sometimes you have service headaches to no end. > HTH > kr > [Lisa Minter note: I don't know about the other guys here, but I > appreciate that 'hello ... hello?' delay at the start of a call. It > tells me to hang up quickly before the telemarketer gets a chance to > start his spiel. Lisa M.] Actually as a clarification of a point. B most certainly refers to bearer channels on a T1. To be specific ie ... 24 56k circuits(b) +8k(d) per channel. ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:57:19 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Paul said to him: > Just curious if this combo voice/data offering is from Allegiance? > If so, run away as fast as you can ... they are bad news. Datapoint: we've got them here, and aside from some administrative issues involved in an INWATS transfer, they ain't been too bad at all. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 16:06:39 -0500 From: John Beaman Subject: Re: WUTR > I dunno, Pat ... > I have tried *BOTH* MS-IE (5.x) and Netscape (3.x, 4.x), and from > different machines, with different ISPs. It still holds when trying to > get at least to the directory list page for WUTR, AT LEAST FOR ME > that: The issue at hand is the fact that both of the below link are missing a directory, specifically "archives/" in the URL. The correct link should be http://telecom-digest.org/archives/technical/western-union-tech-review http://telecom-digest.org/technical/western-union-tech-review and http://mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/technical/western-union-tech-review > do *NOT* work, with-OUT *AS WELL AS WITH* a trailing forward-slash '/', > while the "massis" domain *DOES WORK*, either with or without the > trailing '/' forward-slash: The trailing forward-slash has no effect. The link below works because the path is correct. http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/technical/western-union-tech-review > That is, at least for me the above holds true, from the different > machines I use, the two different ISPs I have access to, as well as > MS-IE and Netscape. Hope this information helps. John Beaman P.S. Please do not publish my email address. ------------------------------ From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: More on Accessing the Western Union Tech Review Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 01:09:58 UTC Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , Mark J Cuccia wrote: [doesn't work] >http://mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/technical/western-union-tech-review [works] >http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/technical/western-union-tech-review Notice the difference in the two paths? Ignore the host for a moment; it doesn't make any difference. Let's look closely: NO: /telecom-archives/technical/western-union-tech-review OK: /telecom-archives/archives/technical/western-union-tech-review Does that make it clear enough for everybody? -GAWollman Garrett A. Wollman | As the Constitution endures, persons in every wollman@lcs.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own Opinions not those of| search for greater freedom. MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. ___ (2003) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But what happens in the case of my favorite alias 'telecom-digest.org'? Since 'telecom-digest.org' dips one level lower in the structure than either 'massis' or 'mirror' (which is to say it gets you already to the telecom-archives location on the index.html page for starters) and you do not have to ask massis or mirror for 'telecom-archives', how should it be done in that case? 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 #578 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 23 23:12:49 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6O3Cn112931; Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:12:49 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:12:49 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307240312.h6O3Cn112931@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #579 TELECOM Digest Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:12:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 579 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter AT&T Wireless Reports Second Quarter Net Income of $0.08 (Monty Solomon) RealNetworks Announces Second Quarter 2003 Results (Monty Solomon) GPS Navigation System for Tungsten T2 Handheld (Monty Solomon) MS03-030: Unchecked Buffer in DirectX Could Enable System (M Solomon) QUALCOMM Announces Third Quarter Fiscal 2003 Results (Monty Solomon) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Time Warner Customer Service (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Time Warner Customer Service (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Ground Start (Tom Kirk) Re: ReplayTV's Owners Drop Features That Riled Hollywood (Rick Miller) Re: Cingular to Activate Network (Joseph) Re: Backup Data on the Moon (William Warren) Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (Chasman) Contract Opportunity (Mark Speich) 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, 23 Jul 2003 21:43:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Reports Strong Second Quarter Net Income of $0.08 OIBDA Increases 16 Percent to Record $1.2 Billion OIBDA Margin Rises to 30.1 Percent Services Revenue Grows 8.7 Percent Operating Free Cash Flow Hits $546 Million REDMOND, Wash., July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) today reported strong second quarter financial results, with steady revenue per user and a growing customer base setting the stage for an increase in services revenue of 8.7 percent to $3.939 billion compared to $3.625 billion in the second quarter of 2002. Earnings per share (EPS) was $0.08 for the quarter compared with $0.01 in the year-ago quarter. The company said its strong EPS performance in the quarter resulted from a continued focus on expanding margins by growing revenues and controlling operating expenses. Second quarter OIBDA (defined as operating income before depreciation and amortization, and previously referred to as EBITDA) was a single-quarter record at $1.186 billion, an increase of 16.3 percent over the same period last year. (See Attachment A) OIBDA margin also set a single-quarter record, reaching 30.1 percent, an increase of 200 basis points over the same period last year. The company said it remains focused on further improving its margins to industry leading levels. (See Attachment A) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34966995 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:45:08 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RealNetworks Announces Second Quarter 2003 Results Launch of RealOne RHAPSODY and Agreement with Vodafone for Helix Mobile Media SEATTLE, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RealNetworks(R), Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), the leading global provider of network-delivered digital audio and video services, today announced results for the quarter ended June 30, 2003. For the second quarter of 2003, revenue was $49.6 million, up 6% from the first quarter of 2003, and up 13% from the second quarter of 2002. Net loss was $9.6 million or ($0.06) per share. Included in net loss was a charge of $7.1 million, or ($0.04) per share for an accrual related to a loss on excess office facilities. Excluding the lease loss accrual, the loss of ($0.02) per share met the guidance provided last quarter, and compares with a net loss of ($0.02) per share for the first quarter of 2003 and a net loss of ($0.01) per share for the second quarter of 2002. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34967877 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:46:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: GPS Navigation System for Tungsten T2 Handheld Positioning Solutions Releases GPS Navigation System for Tungsten T2 Handheld CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2003--Positioning Solutions, the exclusive manufacturer of Mapopolis-branded GPS systems, announced the immediate availability of a GPS Navigation System for Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) Tungsten T2 handhelds. The unit, which is currently available from many e-tailers and retailers, supports the Tungsten T2 along with the other members of the Tungsten series and the Zire 71. Designed specifically for Palm users, the system plugs in to your car's cigarette lighter to provide power to both the Palm handheld and serial GPS unit. The included Mapopolis Platinum +GPS software can be used to generate turn-by-turn, address-to-address directions from coast-to-coast. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34970664 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 22:00:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: MS03-030: Unchecked Buffer in DirectX Could Enable System Title: Unchecked Buffer in DirectX Could Enable System Compromise (819696) Date: July 23, 2003 Software: Microsoft DirectX(r) 5.2 on Windows 98 Microsoft DirectX 6.1 on Windows 98 SE Microsoft DirectX 7.0a on Windows Millennium Edition Microsoft DirectX 7.0 on Windows 2000 Microsoft DirectX 8.1 on Windows XP Microsoft DirectX 8.1 on Windows Server 2003 Microsoft DirectX 9.0a when installed on Windows 98 Microsoft DirectX 9.0a when installed on Windows 98 SE Microsoft DirectX 9.0a when installed on Windows Millennium Edition Microsoft DirectX 9.0a when installed on Windows 2000 Microsoft DirectX 9.0a when installed on Windows XP Microsoft DirectX(r) 9.0a when installed on Windows Server 2003 Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server with either Windows Media Player 6.4 or Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 installed. Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Terminal Server Edition with either Windows Media Player 6.4 or Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 installed. Impact: Allow an attacker to execute code on a user's system Max Risk: Critical Bulletin: MS03-030 Microsoft encourages customers to review the Security Bulletins at: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-030.asp http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-030.asp ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:42:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: QUALCOMM Announces Third Quarter Fiscal 2003 Results Revenues $922 Million, EPS $0.23 Revenues $891 Million, EPS $0.33 Excluding QSI Segment SAN DIEGO, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) today announced its third quarter fiscal 2003 results ended June 29, 2003. Revenues were $922 million in the third fiscal quarter, up 20 percent year-over-year. Third quarter net income was $192 million, compared to a loss of $14 million year-over-year. Earnings per share were $0.23, compared to a loss of $0.02 per share year-over-year. Revenues excluding the QUALCOMM Strategic Initiatives (QSI) segment were $891 million in the third fiscal quarter, up 24 percent year-over-year. Net income excluding the QSI segment was $267 million, up 38 percent year-over- year. Earnings per share excluding the QSI segment were $0.33, up 38 percent year-over-year. Detailed reconciliations between total QUALCOMM results and results excluding QSI are included at the end of this news release. Prior period reconciliations are presented on our Investor Relations web page at www.qualcomm.com. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34966929 ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:53:00 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and John R Covert said to him: >> Re the difference between GPS time and UTC (Jay Ashworth) > Er, no. The time displayed by a GPS receiver, which will correct the > base time by adding the leap second correction contained within the > message transmitted by the satellites, will be right in synch with > UTC. Otherwise lots of things would be broken. But not everyone bothers, because it's (apparently) switchable whether the receiver applies the correction. Notably, my PrimeCo CDMA cellphone, which was locked to GPS time, changed minutes, quite reliably, 13 seconds off. I can't imagine it's anything else -- they don't much care if it's accurate to the second, so they don't bother. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Time Warner Customer Service Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 00:05:57 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Fred Atkinson said to him: > On July 1, I got a Road Runner cablemodem installed. > Since July 1, I've experienced four area wide outages. I've asked > Road Runner and Time Warner to provide an explanation for the frequent > outages and I wanted to know what steps are being taken to reduce the > likelihood of further outages. It's regional. We occasionally get outages in TampaBay, but the only one that was actually major was a DHCP server cluster outage that lasted a day. I was told that they had *centralized* that cluster, from "one server at each concentrator" previously; I told them to switch it back. :-} > When I discussed addressing these problems with one of their customer > service reps, I was just told there was nothing he could do. When I > told him I was a twenty-five year veteran of the telecom/I.T. industry > and was trained never to tell a customer that and to provide him with > information about his outage and a reasonable estimate of time of > restoral, he becamse very boisterous with an unporofessional 'good for > you' remark. > With all of the really good, experienced people out of work that would > be glad to work for less than what they previously made (just to be > able to work), I am quite shocked at the caliber of customer service > and support people I have encountered there. I'd love to work for > them and I could do a much better job than that. But, my impression > is that they only want to hire entry level people to keep their costs > down. Of course, their customers suffer for that tactic. This is a different thing -- in this area, the *business class* techs are at least second tier, right from the first ring, and some are third. Pay twice as much, and you get better service. Just like the Paris Metro. :-) Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Time Warner Customer Service Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 14:50:49 -0400 Organization: Bell Sympatico Fred Atkinson wrote: > When I told him I was a twenty-five year veteran of the telecom/I.T. > industry and was trained never to tell a customer that and to provide him > with information about his outage and a reasonable estimate of time of > restoral, he becamse very boisterous with an unporofessional 'good for > you' remark. Fred, you're assuming that this person is a profesisonal or aspires to be one. The name of the game in residential broadband is not the kind of "five nines" telecom that we're used to, but a cheap as dirt version where the sales pitch is features vs. price, not service or reliability. > With all of the really good, experienced people out of work that would > be glad to work for less than what they previously made (just to be > able to work), I am quite shocked at the caliber of customer service > and support people I have encountered there. I'd love to work for > them and I could do a much better job than that. But, my impression > is that they only want to hire entry level people to keep their costs > down. Of course, their customers suffer for that tactic. Exactly correct. If I only had a dime for every time I've heard someone complaining that they're getting lousy service or support from the company that's selling them the kind of speed that companies only get by paying a grand or so for a T1 for less than a tenth of the price. Something's got to give. You don't always get what you pay for, but you certainly never get more. There ain't so such thing as a free lunch. You get the idea ... > If I were not in a 'half price for a three month trial' mode, I would > have already canned them. I found that DSL is available in my area > and I am seriously considering switching over when my three month > special is up. So, this month your local DSL provider provides slightly better service than your cable provider. Maybe your IT/telecom background inclines you to trust them, but I suggest that you ponder the possibility that, even if your local telco is good, their internet service division might surprise even Lily Tomlin. Geoffrey Welsh This address is not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Unsolicited bulk mail is spam, no matter what regulations (real or imagined) it complies with! FIGHT SPAM AND SCAMS: DISCONNECT CHINA FROM THE INTERNET! ------------------------------ From: Tom Kirk Subject: Re: Ground Start Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 21:14:30 -0400 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Tom and I have had an exchange of correspondence recently. This goes back to a message long ago in the Digest about ground start loops. PAT] Pat, First, please bear with me, some background. The Central Office ringing machine generated 105 Volts AC at 20 Hertz. This then ran through a gear driven commutator to create three ringing phases. The commutator applied ringing current to phase A for two seconds, then phase B for two seconds, and phase C for two seconds. Repeat forever. The three ringing phases were hard wired to the incoming trunk relay circuits. As a side note, the audible ring tone was SUPPOSED to be in sync with the 20 Hertz. The net result of all this esoteric information was that when a call arrived on a particular incoming trunk, there was no correlation as to where the trunk was in the six second ringing cycle. A loop start subscriber could have up to 4 seconds between the actual seizure of his line and the application of ringing current. Let me try this diagram: -48V CO Battery | | Start Relay | Cutoff | /\ X Contacts \--||--------------|-o------ Tip to MDF \/ /------------------|-o------ Ring to MDF | X | | Ground The Loop Start subscriber operates the Start Relay by closing the loop from tip to ring. When the switch connects the subscriber to the originating register the cutoff contacts disconnect the start relay and ground. For a Ground Start subscriber (PBX) we insulate the lower normally closed cutoff contact. The subscriber now has to apply a ground to the tip. TA DA! Just before we apply the ground to the tip, we connect a sensitive relay to the ring. If there is an incoming call that hasn't rung yet, the sensitive relay will operate to ground thru the supervisory relay in the incoming trunk. I hope that I haven't confused the issue more than I have clarified it. If you want more, just ask. Tom Kirk Ex. Chief Switchman 4A Xbar ET. -----Original Message----- From: TELECOM Digest Editor [mailto:ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu] Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 8:30 PM To: editor@telecom-digest.org; kirkt@voicenet.com Subject: Re: Ground Start > Well this is a very old message from a long time ago, but I would > be interested in knowing what ground start was supposed to prevent. > PAT [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you very much for the explanation, Tom. Try and join us here in the Digest more often. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rickmillerenterprises@hotmail.com (Rick Miller) Subject: Re: ReplayTV's New Owners Drop Features That Riled Hollywood Date: 22 Jul 2003 19:39:00 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Monty Solomon wrote in message news:: > By ERIC A. TAUB > Last month the maker of ReplayTV, a line of digital video recorders > that allows consumers to record and store hours of their favorite > television programs on hard drives instead of tape, agreed to remove > two features from its devices that simplified life for consumers but > complicated business for entertainment providers. Complicated business? Read that to mean ... "Cut into programmers' profits" > ReplayTV's new 5500 model, which will go on sale next month, will no > longer be able to skip entire commercials automatically without > recording them or to send recorded programming over the Internet to > other ReplayTV users outside a home network. The recorders will, > however, still be able to store large libraries of programming > indefinitely and allow users to skip manually through recorded > commercials in 30-second increments. And I wonder how long it will be until it's hacked back into the system by enterprising people. I really do so very much hate electronics trying to "protect us from ourselves." Just my opinion. -Rick ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Cingular to Activate Network Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 15:57:25 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 02:11:43 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: > Cingular Wireless, the second-largest cellular carrier in Greater > Boston, is activating a region-wide network this week that will > finally allow Cingular to offer advanced services, including digital > camera phones, handsets that work in Europe That should be interesting considering that the GSM that Cingular is installing in Boston and in much of their present network is GSM "850." Currently if a cingular GSM customer in one of Cingular's 850 markets wants to use a phone in Europe they will have to purchase a Europe only phone. Current GSM world phones work on GSM 900 and 1800 Mhz as used in Europe/Asia and GSM 1900 "PCS" as is used in North America by AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile. Cingular only uses GSM 1900 in their west coast operations and in three east coast states. Cingular does not have enough PCS licenses to use GSM 1900 in all their areas and instead must use 800 "cellular" instead. Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group. ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: Backup Data on the Moon Organization: Comcast Online Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 01:12:38 GMT Monty Solomon wrote in message news:telecom22.576.7@telecom-digest.org: > By Sebastian Rupley > Locate backup data on the moon? Now that sounds like a rock-solid > business model. [snip] Lisa, This is a fluff piece that has nothing to do with telecom. Please ask Monty to dial it down. FWIW. YMMV. Bill [Lisa Minter note: Well, Monty, you heard the man. I know you are reading this. Be governed accordingly. Thanks. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: Chasman@omelas.com (Chasman) Subject: Re: Anyone Seen Call transfer Like Vonage Date: 22 Jul 2003 23:07:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Can you give me one example. As I have checked with many and found none! Chasman@omelas.com (Chasman) wrote in message news:: > Vonage has a great free feature called call transfer. > "It's easy to transfer a call to a third party. Just press the flash > button or switch hook on your Vonage line telephone and dial #90. Dial > the 11 digit number where you want the call transferred. Then dial # > and you will hear a dial tone. Hang up the phone and the transfer will > take place. " > I would use Vonage but I am over 19K from my CO so I can only get ISDN > (type) connection at the moment. So the quality is not reliable > enough. > Any other telcoms offering such a feature? > Thanks. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, any of the telcos which offer > 'home centrex'-like features have that offering, which is all of the > Bell telcos, and many independents. Ask at your local telco, but I > do not know off hand what tradename they use for home centrex. PAT] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As we answered you in the last issue of the Digest, SBC and the other local telcos do sell it, under whatever name. In the case of SBC it is 'Plexar'. Do not be amazed if the service rep at SBC denies knowing about it or refuses to sell it to you because she was not trained. Insist on speaking to a rep who handles Plexar (at SBC). However if you insist, I'll be more than happy to send you or anyone an e-coupon good for a free month of Vonage service. Unlike my competitor, SBC, I offer that feature for a lot less money and installation hassles than SBC. I *want* to sell Vonage phone service. The e-coupon gets you the *second* month of service free of charge. Just write me here marked 'not for pub' and ask for Vonage. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark Speich Subject: Contract Opportunity Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 01:10:39 GMT Organization: Road Runner - Texas We have an upcoming contract opportunity in Irving, TX which involves upgrading the call center for a large company. If you are interested in this position, or know someone who might be, please send your phone number and desired bill rate to jobs@condor-tech.com. Here is a detailed job description: Activities include operational oversight and support for a complex Siemens Call Center with 400 seats. Automotive call center experience would be a plus, but not necessary. Assist in the planning, development, and implementation of call center systems and network modification or enhancements. Integrate user Call Center requirements into tactical and strategic plans. Provide expert and in-depth knowledge of the Siemens Call Center equipment and operations including Siemens Private Branch Exchanges PBX, Siemens voice mail, Blue Pumpkin, Witness, Siebel, BVO BVC, Call Path, Resume Routing, IVR, Mosaix Dialer, and others. Assist in the design of call center and assist with call flow management, system optimization, call center coordination and communication to the Nissan customer. This would include analysis of call flows and groups set up in the call center and provide training to the group managers so they understand the traffic reports. Vendor management skills will also be needed. Provide training to each agent group supervisor on call flows and group configuration to increase the efficiency of the call center and traffic reports. This person is expected to recommend solutions to problems and follow through to resolution. Must have strong communications skills, both oral and written. Ability to read and use blueprints, block diagrams, wiring diagrams, etc. Good Communication skills are also needed for the executive interaction. Ability to use PC and host application is required. Current systems used include, but are not limited to, labor claiming system, trouble tickets and IMAC requests, Lotus Suite, Microsoft Office, Procom, and several dial products. Knowledge of Siemens and Siemens voice mail system are required. Thank you, Condor Technologies ------------------------------ 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 #579 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 24 12:49:51 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6OGnp716664; Thu, 24 Jul 2003 12:49:51 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 12:49:51 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307241649.h6OGnp716664@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #580 TELECOM Digest Thu, 24 Jul 2003 12:50:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 580 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Studios Demanding Too Much in their Copyright Campaign (Monty Solomon) Republicans Are Adding Weight to Reversal of FCC Media Rule (M Solomon) House Asked to Power up Digital TV (Monty Solomon) Re: High Desert TV Translator in Need of Repair (joe@obilivan.net) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Al Gillis) Re: Toll Stations, Party Lines; Other Remnants of Past? (S Michelson) Re: Algorithm - Detect Carrier (Robert Bonomi) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (John R. Covert) Article on IP Insurance For Telecoms Patents/Trademarks (Jean-B Condat) Re: Backup Data on the Moon (AES) Help with Avaya CMS / Call Center Elite w/ EAS? (Herb Rosenberg) Re: Number Economy was Re: Speaking Clocks (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (nospam-0724@timmins.net) Re: E1 and T1 (north_melb_man) 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, 24 Jul 2003 01:04:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Studios Demanding Too Much in Their Copyright Campaign By Dan Gillmor Mercury News Technology Columnist News and views, culled and edited from my online eJournal (www.dangillmor.com): COPYRIGHT PIETY, NOT RESPECT: Sony, Disney, AOL and the other big Hollywood movie studios have set up a cleverly named site, www.respectcopyrights.org, as part of a campaign (also including TV commercials and in-theater pitches) aimed at convincing us all of a single point -- that it's wrong to infringe on copyrights. Well, of course it is, especially when the purpose is to get something of value for nothing or deprive someone else of what he or she has legitimately earned. But in its typical overstated way, the film branch of the entertainment cartel is demanding a whole lot more, too. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/6364424.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 01:17:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Republicans Are Adding Weight to Reversal of FCC Media Rule By STEPHEN LABATON WASHINGTON, July 22 - Until recent days, the nation's largest media conglomerates had hoped that the House of Representatives would kill the growing political efforts to overturn their recent deregulation. But in a stunning political development, the House now appears poised to support the reversal of a new rule that permits the nation's biggest TV networks to grow even larger. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/23/business/media/23FCC.html [Lisa Minter note: Telecom readers who wish to review NY Times articles are invited to use our group login name 'telecomdigest' and our group password 'telecomdigest' to keep their privacy and avoid possible spam. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 01:20:51 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: House Asked to Power up Digital TV By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com The Federal Communications Commission would be required to accelerate the transition to digital television under a bill introduced Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives. The measure, called the Consumer Access to Digital Television Enhancement Act, would require the FCC to adopt a December 2002 proposal for a digital TV standard inked by dozens of cable operators and consumer electronics companies. The bill envisions a national "plug and play" standard for digital TVs that would not require set-top boxes. The proposal, or memorandum of understanding, covers the reception of analog basic, digital basic and digital premium cable television programming in the United States. Enhanced services such as pay-per-view or video-on-demand would be included in a future specification. http://news.com.com/2100-1031-5053436.html ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: High Desert TV Translator in Need of Repair Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:52:29 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications Steven J Sobol wrote: > The translator described in this Victorville Daily Press article > broadcasts the signals of a number of Los Angeles television stations > into the heart of San Bernardino County, where I now live. I have to > wonder how many other rural areas are in the same predicament. Direct TV has pretty well superceded that old technology. Even a lot of the hardened desert rats in Yucca Valley have Direct TV these days. ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 04:01:43 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com wrote in message news:telecom22.573.17@telecom-digest.org: > John R. Covert wrote: >> Verizon's recorded time service in Boston, 617 637-xxxx (617 NERVOUS, >> for example), has been giving the wrong time for years. > When power fails in my house, and I need to reset clocks, I go by the time > on my cell phone. It's not accurate, but it is a point of reference. > My daughter used to set her watch to the school clock. It was off by > several minutes, but for her interests, it was the "official" time. > Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 We set our PBX clock to "Building Time" even though that time is several minutes off NIST time ("Building Time" is what I call the time of day portrayed by clocks in our building - T.O.D. established by our building maintenance staff). The reason is we used to get lots of complaints about differences between the clocks and time displays on telephones. So now I ignore the fancy and accurate time of day sources and make my PBX match the clocks -- no more complaints! (No one seems to care that inside the building is several minutes off what the real world time is!) Al ------------------------------ From: Steve Michelson Subject: Re: Toll Stations, Party Lines and Other Remnants of Times Past? Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 07:26:46 -0400 Organization: MindSpring Enterprises There have been cases when the LEC end office (or tandem) either does not have SS7 signaling to an IXC, or if they do, then the trunks are inadvertantly (and incorrectly) misprovisioned to not pass caller ID information. The FCC requirement is to pass the information over SS7 trunks between carriers. Who is your friends LD carrier? Who is the local carrier? Rick Miller wrote in message news:telecom22.571.12@telecom-digest.org: > Do any areas in the NANPA still use inband signalling? From my > experience, a friend of mine in Michagan calls me, from his ordinary > POTS phone, direct dialed, no caller-ID blocking, but he comes up as > "out of area" on my Caller ID - not "private" but in fact, out of > area? Does this mean that he does not have SS7, and still may have > inband LD signalling? > I apologize for my long post, but it's my first time posting to this > group, mainly I've been lurking in the background, slowly absorbing > the wealth of knowledge that is to be had here! > Thanks! > -Rick ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Algorithm - Detect Carrier Organization: Not Much From: bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 12:11:07 GMT In article , Ishira wrote: > I am trying to write a program which detects if a signal is modulated > or not; i.e whether there is a carrier or not. Make up your mind -- detecting whether a signal "is modulated or not" is an *entirely* different question from detecting "whether there is a carrier or not". ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 09:29:39 -0400 (EDT) From: John R. Covert Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Jay Ashworth wrote: > Notably, my PrimeCo CDMA cellphone, which was locked to GPS time, > changed minutes, quite reliably, 13 seconds off. Why do you think your CDMA cellphone is locked to GPS time, and not just to your local carrier's improperly set network time transmitted over their data channel? AFAIK, CDMA phones pick up the time the network operator sends, and TDMA and GSM phones don't have a time source other than what the user sets manually. In any case, the clock in question (Verizon Boston, 617 637-xxxx) is "fast" right now by between 11 and 20 seconds, as compared to the US Naval Observatory Master Clock (UTC). The table below lists the time as given by the Verizon clock right now, followed by the USNO time at the Verizon beep, and the difference, which varies from beep to beep. I find it especially interesting that this clock will sometimes completely skip the 20 second announcement. Verizon USNO Difference 00 48 12 10 59 11 30 10 20 40 22 18 50 33 17 00 45 15 10 55 15 20 03 17 30 14 16 40 26 14 50 37 13 00 48 12 10 59 11 30 11 19 40 21 19 50 33 17 This is just ridiculous! The clock in DC at 202 844-xxxx is now slow by exactly 16 seconds. You can't even begin to explain that with leap seconds, since a clock which uses TAI or GPS time without the leap second correction would be fast, not slow. The uncorrected time should _never_ be presented to a user, and if it is, that's simply broken. /john ------------------------------ From: Jean-bernard Condat Subject: New Article on IP Insurance for Telecoms Patents/Trademarks Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 14:51:28 UTC Organization: Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG http://www.servicedoc.info/article.php3?id_article=99 In French, but marvellous ... Jean-Bernard CONDAT fax: +33 153013874 CHRYSTOL ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Backup Data on the Moon Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:39:49 -0700 In article , William Warren wrote: > Lisa, > This is a fluff piece that has nothing to do with telecom. Please > ask Monty to dial it down. FWIW. YMMV. Bill > [Lisa Minter note: Well, Monty, you heard the man. I know you are > reading this. Be governed accordingly. Thanks. Lisa M.] Some of the Monty Solomon items are of interest to me, many aren't -- and there are an awful lot of them. Is there some way he could batch them? -- combine a week's worth (even a day's worth!) into a single "digest"-type collection? (preferably with a "Subject:" line for each item so one could rapidly scan through them). Would be appreciated ... (not to say that present postings aren't). Secondarily, longer precis's (what the plural of precis?!?), say a half-screen, are more helpful than single-sentence ones, if he's going to do all this work. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I used to do it the you suggested with Monty Solomon things. The general consensus was folks liked it better if they appeared as they do now for indexing purposes, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Herb Rosenberg Subject: Help with Avaya CMS / Call Center Elite w/ EAS? Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 04:42:26 GMT We just upgraded our ACD from Call Center Deluxe to Call Center Elite with Expert Agent, and from BCMS to CMS. I am looking for anyone out there that is very familiar with this, as I have a few questions, and I think I have already pushed the "knowledge envelope" of my vendor, and there are a number of questions that they cannot answer, that I would appreciate help with. If you are very familiar with CMS and Expert Agent, I would very much appreciate an email, as I would like to ask a few questions ... For starters, we have enable Least Occupied Agent (instead of Most Idle) but no one can really explain exactly how the system will route a call, beyond the most basic explanation. Nor does there appear to be any reports that we can run (either real time or historical) that report on "occupancy". Also, I have a number of questions about scheduling of reports to automatically print out. The timetable in unix seem to only print the most basic reports, and the formatting is ugly, and we can't seem to figure out how to print them in landscape orientation. The reports from CMS supervisor that contain graphics are really slick, but they seem to require the CMS Supervisor PC to be on, with some basic Microsoft schedule running to queue up these jobs, and I am wondering if there might be a "better" way to get these reports to automatically print on a schedule. Well, there's a start. If you can offer any help or suggestions, that would be great. Thanks. Herb ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Number Economy was Re: Speaking Clocks Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 04:47:04 GMT On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 14:02:00 -0400, Michael Quinn posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > Doesn't a phone number where you can use any combination of digits in > the last four positions to reach the same destination tie up 9999 > phone numbers? I tried several of the DC 202 TI(me)4-xxxx > permutations and all worked. Precisely. The entire 844 NXX code in 202 is devoted to time announcements. Presumably, users have gotten so accustomed to dialing their favorite four digits after TIme 4 that if they decided to open the code up to normal numbering assignments and restrict the time announcements to TI 4 - 2525 (which I think is the official number), the people assigned numbers from that NXX code would get annoying wrong- number calls for at least a decade. > Mike Quinn > John R. Covert wrote: >> Verizon's recorded time service in Boston, 617 637-xxxx (617 NERVOUS, >> for example), has been giving the wrong time for years. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 01:21:28 -0400 From: nospam-0724@timmins.net Subject: Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage Actually, I *have* seen call transfer like Vonage, from the VoIP company that did it first: VoicePulse (http://www.voicepulse.com/). In the last three or four months, VoicePulse has introduced several new and innovative features, and call transfer just happens to be one of them. Once VoicePulse had introduced the feature, Vonage customers apparently started requesting it, and when Vonage implemented it they even used the same code (90#) to initiate the transfer. I'm not saying VoicePulse was the first to ever do something like this, but Vonage *definitely* wasn't the first. I've been watching the VoIP scene develop for the past few months and one thing I've noticed is that among the "big three" VoIP providers (VoicePulse, Packet8, and Vonage), VoicePulse looks to be the clear leader in features now, and is even a bit less expensive than Vonage. I think the only reason they aren't the larger company is because they have numbers for incoming calls in relatively few area codes. But that said, just a few days ago they announced that they are offering numbers in the 212 area code in New York City. Somehow, I have a feeling those are going to get snapped up rather quickly! ------------------------------ From: north_melb_man Subject: Re: E1 and T1 Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 15:24:52 +1000 Organization: not orginised at all On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 08:36:33 +0200, obsidian wrote: > Can anyone explain why North America uses T1, and the Rest of the > World (as far as I am aware) are all using E1? > obsidian T1 1.54 Mbits is based on the old 24 channel PCM carrier system devised by Bell labs in early 60s they chose 24 channels to match the same as a 2 12 channel FDM groups (analog) at the time to match analouge carrier systems. E1 2.048 mbits developed by the European telephone administrations. it is based on binary numbering and multiples of 4khz sample 8khz 8 bits quantized PCM = 64 kbirs x 32 time slots = 2048 Kbits. Normally set up as 30 channel telephony with time slot 0 being framing, time slot 16 being D channel signaling or CAS signaling. Regards. ------------------------------ 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 #580 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 24 23:32:09 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6P3W9U19745; Thu, 24 Jul 2003 23:32:09 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 23:32:09 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307250332.h6P3W9U19745@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #581 TELECOM Digest Thu, 24 Jul 2003 23:32:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 581 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Cellular Coverage in Afghanistan Improving (Danny Burstein) Re: Backing up SIM Card Data (John Bartley) Re: Backing up SIM Card Data (Joseph) Re: High Desert TV Translator in Need of Repair (Steven J Sobol) Re: High Desert TV Translator in Need of Repair (J Kelly) Blocking Incoming Calls to Lucent Definity G3R PBX (jeff@paradyne.com) Access Server for Transaction Processing Information (Javier Villegas) US 900 Number Required (James Tobin) Re: Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (J Kelly) Why No Distinctive Ringing was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer (Mitchell) Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (Frequent_Flyer) Re: Studios Demanding Too Much in Their Copyright Campaign (tonypo1) AT&T Announces 2nd Quarter 2003 Earnings; Board of Directors (Solomon) SBC Communications Reports 2nd Quarter Diluted EPS of $0.42 (Solomon) Yahoo! and Carat Unveil Research Results Showing Teens Truly (Solomon) Avaya Reports Fiscal Third Quarter Results (Monty Solomon) Motorola Falls From List of Largest Chipmakers - Report (Monty Solomon) Nortel Networks Second Quarter Results (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: Danny Burstein Subject: Cellular Coverage in Afghanistan Improving Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 18:38:19 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC KABUL (Reuters) - War-battered Afghanistan, where using a cellphone is a frustratingly hit-and-miss affair, will get its second GSM network on Sunday, and the company providing it vows to make failed calls a thing of the past ... http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=3153584 danny " could they come here to US? Please????? " burstein _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) Subject: Re: Backing up SIM Card Data Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 18:17:33 GMT On 23 Jul 2003 04:27:32 -0700, tomwilliam76@hotmail.com (tom) wrote: > Sorry if this is slightly OT, but I have a Sharp GX 10 phone, on a > Vodafone tariff in the UK. I want to make a back up of my SIM card > (especially my address book). What is the best way of doing this? A better place to ask this is in alt.cellular.tech Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Backing up SIM Card Data Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 11:46:42 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On 23 Jul 2003 04:27:32 -0700, tomwilliam76@hotmail.com (tom) wrote: > Sorry if this is slightly OT, but I have a Sharp GX 10 phone, on a > Vodafone tariff in the UK. I want to make a back up of my SIM card > (especially my address book). What is the best way of doing this? I know there's software to do that for Nokia handsets with Logomanager or Oxygen Phone Manager. Just did a google search and found this on the first page: http://www.ryanair.securedservers.co.uk/acatalog/Sharp_GX10.html Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: High Desert TV Translator in Need of Repair Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 14:12:52 -0500 joe@obilivan.net wrote: > Steven J Sobol wrote: >> The translator described in this Victorville Daily Press article >> broadcasts the signals of a number of Los Angeles television stations >> into the heart of San Bernardino County, where I now live. I have to >> wonder how many other rural areas are in the same predicament. > Direct TV has pretty well superceded that old technology. Even a lot > of the hardened desert rats in Yucca Valley have Direct TV these days. Charter Cable is entrenched here in this part of the High Desert. They offer tv and broadband Internet over a wide area, including the rather rural part of Apple Valley where my house is located. JustThe.net Internet & Multimedia Svc [The Fusion of Content & Connectivity] 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: High Desert TV Translator in Need of Repair Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 17:09:22 -0500 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Reply-To: usenet200306@screaming-remove-electron.net On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 18:41:14 -0500, Steven J Sobol wrote: > The translator described in this Victorville Daily Press article > broadcasts the signals of a number of Los Angeles television stations > into the heart of San Bernardino County, where I now live. I have to > wonder how many other rural areas are in the same predicament. > http://tinyurl.com/huwz No parts because it was built in the 70's?!? The tv transmitter I'm responsible for was installed in 1973, the same years I was born. It is still running strong. RCA stopped making TV transmitters in the early 80's so most parts for this old beast are "no longer available". We manage to find what we need, although it is a pain in the you-know-what sometimes. Many times we need to have a part custom made. I guess the best part is that the original exciter was replaced in around 1992 or so with a new Harris exciter, that we can get parts for, but it has only broken twice in the 5 years I've been here, and they were minor faults that did not take us off the air. The best source we have found for RCA spares that are NLA is to find another station that is decommissioning a transmitter of the same model as ours and going and getting whatever parts we need. We did this several years ago and got a lot of good used parts. The biggest problem is still finding the Klystron tubes, which I do not believe are still being manufactured, an if they are, they are special order only, so you better have a spare on hand (I don't). We are a PBS station, so we have practically no money, especially after dumping millions into our new DTV transmitter, and that is just for one of our 9 full power stations (plus 8 translators). The joys of tv work. I'm not sure why I do this for a living, I must be crazy. ------------------------------ From: jeff@paradyne.com Subject: Blocking Incoming calls to Lucent Definity G3R PBX Date: 24 Jul 2003 12:40:58 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Is there a way to configure the PBX to not accept or redirect unwanted incomming calls? We are having more and more problems with what we call "Spam Calls". This is mostly unwanted faxes and automated telemarketing calls comming into the company. Sometimes we get dozens of them an hour. The calls come into the operator and all she gets is the beeping sound of an impending fax or the empty sound of the telemarketers computer. It is easy enough to collect all the offending numbers that are calling in, the operator has already learned to ignore several of them. But is there a way of compiling a list of these numbers in the system and either just dropping the connection to them or forwarding them to an unused station and letting them drop from there? I have looked through the G3R Admin docs and can't seem to find anything related to this. Thanks Jeff Dennison ------------------------------ From: Javier Villegas Subject: Access Server for Transaction Processing Information Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 16:50:35 -0300 Hi I need information about the Access Server for Transaction Processing, For capture transactions from points-of-sales. I know Hypercom IEN and 3Com Total Control TRAX but I need more info about others. Hypercom & 3Com are very big and very expensive. I need to look for smallers and cheapers Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ From: James Tobin Subject: US 900 Number Required Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 20:36:50 UTC Organization: BT Openworld Hi, I require a US 900 number to map to a UK DDI. The service will be promoted in the US and is of a non-adult nature. Can anybody recommend a reputable company? Thanks in advance, James ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 17:00:45 -0500 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Reply-To: usenet200306@screaming-remove-electron.net On 23 Jul 2003 12:44:39 -0700, Chasman@omelas.com (Chasman) wrote: > I'm sorry but I think you are wrong, TELECOM Digest Editor. > I have contacted my local providers. Pac Bell, SBC or whatever they > are called now. MCI, etc. > NONE offer the ability to transfer a call to any other number in the > US once that call has been taken. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Plexar offers 'centrex like' features > including call transfer between extensions, answering incoming ringing > calls from various other extensions, etc. One such feature is the > ability to transfer calls *between extensions* either on or *off > premises* But by extensions, do they mean any number anywhere in the US, or just other numbers that are part of your centrex service?? McLeodUSA offers the service you are asking about, if they are available where you are. I have no idea how much area they cover these days. I would not subscribe to them if they were the last phone company on earth. I had nothing but problems with them. I thought it would be great to deal with a more local company (they are from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which is just 25 miles away from me) than Qwest/USWorst. I switched back to Qwest a month later, McLeod was a living hell. In their defense, they were having serious trouble about that time, I signed up just before they went into bankruptcy a couple years back. ------------------------------ From: George Mitchell Subject: Why no Distinctive Ringing? was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 10:17:54 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com nospam-0724@timmins.net wrote: > I've been watching the VoIP scene develop for the past few months and > one thing I've noticed is that among the "big three" VoIP providers > (VoicePulse, Packet8, and Vonage), VoicePulse looks to be the clear > leader in features now, and is even a bit less expensive than > Vonage. I'm surprised that none of the three you mention has enabled distinctive ringing yet. I know not too many people avail themselves of this service, but it is almost addictive once you get used to it. My office is at home, but I do not get enough calls to justify a separate line. Knowing who should answer the phone (or how to answer, when the appropriate person is absent) is VERY convenient. George Mitchell (obfuscated email addr.) ------------------------------ From: Frequent_Flyer Subject: Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 17:22:48 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Triad I have been keeping my eye the leaders in Home VoIP myself and I agree wiht you about Voicepulse features. However, I believe Vonage will counter with some of the features. In my area, I only had the choice of Packet8 and Vonage. I went with Vonage because of the features. At the time, Packet8 was more expensive and required a contract. That have since lowered their price and don't require a contract. Since Vonage has not lowered their price, my understanding is they are going to continue to add features to the 39.99 plan for no additional charges. FF Review of Vonage: http://www.schapers.org/vonage.html wrote in message news:telecom22.580.13@telecom-digest.org: > Actually, I *have* seen call transfer like Vonage, from the VoIP > company that did it first: VoicePulse (http://www.voicepulse.com/). > In the last three or four months, VoicePulse has introduced several > new and innovative features, and call transfer just happens to be one > of them. Once VoicePulse had introduced the feature, Vonage customers > apparently started requesting it, and when Vonage implemented it they > even used the same code (90#) to initiate the transfer. I'm not > saying VoicePulse was the first to ever do something like this, but > Vonage *definitely* wasn't the first. > I've been watching the VoIP scene develop for the past few months and > one thing I've noticed is that among the "big three" VoIP providers > (VoicePulse, Packet8, and Vonage), VoicePulse looks to be the clear > leader in features now, and is even a bit less expensive than > Vonage. I think the only reason they aren't the larger company is > because they have numbers for incoming calls in relatively few area > codes. But that said, just a few days ago they announced that they > are offering numbers in the 212 area code in New York City. Somehow, > I have a feeling those are going to get snapped up rather quickly! ------------------------------ From: tonypo1@cox.net Subject: Re: Studios Demanding Too Much in Their Copyright Campaign Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 14:38:55 -0400 In article , monty@roscom.com says: > By Dan Gillmor > Mercury News Technology Columnist > News and views, culled and edited from my online eJournal > (www.dangillmor.com): > COPYRIGHT PIETY, NOT RESPECT: Sony, Disney, AOL and the other big > Hollywood movie studios have set up a cleverly named site, > www.respectcopyrights.org, as part of a campaign (also including TV > commercials and in-theater pitches) aimed at convincing us all of a > single point -- that it's wrong to infringe on copyrights. > Well, of course it is, especially when the purpose is to get > something of value for nothing or deprive someone else of what he or > she has legitimately earned. But in its typical overstated way, the > film branch of the entertainment cartel is demanding a whole lot > more, too. > http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/6364424.htm My favorite bit from the article: "This stance tells customers they have no rights, except to spend or not spend. This stance abrogates two centuries of tradition and common sense. It steals from our heritage -- and dims our future." I for one won't spend on anything the RIAA or MPAA puts out. I don't understand the fuss - it's just easier distribution that they didn't figure out first. Just think of what things should cost if you dismantle the whole manufacturing aspect - that your entire product is distribute digitally which isn't impossible today. I'm quite fond of www.cdbaby.com actually. Yes, it would affect quite a few people but in the long run, it could be more profitable for both cartels. I remember a similar stink when VCR's started to become popular. They managed to capitalize on that but the Internet seems completely beyond their comprehension -- not hard to understand actually. Those involved in the manufacture would quickly get cut out of the picture and they will fight tooth and nail. It also opens up the door for groups and actors that haven't been stylized and groomed by both organizations and would mean an potential loss -- but they definitely have the ad game down. That coupled with the savings from infrastructure would support my assertion that they really wouldn't loose anything and could offer the consumer a reasonable price on goods. We are stuck with that horrid DMCA until such time as we effect political change here in the U.S. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 19:41:08 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Announces Second Quarter 2003 Earnings AT&T Announces Second Quarter 2003 Earnings; Board of Directors States its Intention to Increase the Dividend by 27% And Authorizes the Repurchase of up to $2 Billion in Debt - Jul 24, 2003 06:50 AM (PR Newswire) * Second quarter earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of $0.68 * Consolidated revenue of $8.8 billion * Operating income of $1.0 billion BEDMINSTER, N.J., July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T (NYSE:T) today reported income from continuing operations of $536 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.68, for the second quarter of 2003. The company's current quarter income from continuing operations compares to income of $603 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.80, in the second quarter of 2002. AT&T's overall net income of $536 million, compares to a loss of $12.8 billion for the second quarter of 2002, which included a significant loss from discontinued operations. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34976011 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 19:41:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: SBC Communications Reports Second-Quarter Diluted EPS of $0.42 SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 2003--SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) Product Bundling, Sound Execution Drive Strong Second-Quarter Marketplace Results: -- 2.3 million long distance lines added, best-ever Bell company net-add quarter -- 304,000 DSL net adds, industry's best ever and SBC's sixth straight quarter of accelerated growth -- 540,000 net adds at Cingular Wireless, nearly triple company's first-quarter total -- 37 percent sequential decline in UNE-P lines added companywide SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) today reported second-quarter results that include the best quarter ever reported by a Bell company for net adds in both long distance and DSL service. For the three months ended June 30, 2003, SBC reported earnings per diluted share of $0.42, compared with $0.53 in the year-ago quarter. Second-quarter revenues totaled $10.2 billion, compared with $10.8 billion in the year-ago period. These revenue figures do not include proportionate results from Cingular Wireless, the nationwide wireless company that is 60 percent owned by SBC. Cingular's revenues for the quarter were $3.8 billion, up 1.0 percent from the prior-year period and up 5.5 percent from the first quarter of this year. SBC's second-quarter operating expenses totaled $8.5 billion, compared with $8.7 billion in the year-ago period. These expense figures do not include proportionate results from Cingular. Cingular's expenses for the quarter were $3.0 billion, up 0.1 percent from the prior-year period. Year-over-year comparisons were affected by competition, increased costs related to pension and postretirement benefits, and by accounting changes implemented at the beginning of this year, which are explained in detail below. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34976025 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 19:44:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Yahoo! and Carat Unveil Research Results Showing Teens Yahoo! and Carat Unveil Research Results Showing Teens are Truly 'Born to Be Wired' SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 2003-- Teens and Young Adults Now Spend More Time Online Than Watching Television Yahoo! Summit Focuses on Understanding the First Wired Generation Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, and Carat North America (Symbol:AGS.L), one of the largest independent media services company in North America, today announced the results of a groundbreaking research study commissioned by both companies, which reveals new findings about media consumption by teens and young adults (ages 13-24). Among the key findings of the two-phased market research program conducted by Harris Interactive and Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU), was that the Internet has surpassed television in overall time spent to become the primary medium of choice among the young. Additional findings show the younger generation uses the Internet as their media "hub" and they feel empowered by the abundant media choices available to them. The results of the study were announced today at "Born to be Wired: Understanding the First Wired Generation," Yahoo!'s conference for marketers, which is designed to further explore and understand the media consumption patterns of teens and young adults, and how marketers can best communicate with this group. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34976690 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 22:53:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Avaya Reports Third Fiscal Quarter Net Income of $8 Million - Company Earns 2 Cents Per Diluted Share On A GAAP Basis - Cash Balance Increases For Fourth Straight Quarter To $843 Million - Net Debt* at Lowest Level Since Avaya's Inception BASKING RIDGE, N.J., July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avaya Inc. (NYSE:AV), a leading global provider of communications networks and services for businesses, today reported third fiscal quarter results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The company reported net income of $8 million and earnings per diluted share of 2 cents for the third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2003. These results compare to a net loss of $41 million or a loss of 11 cents per diluted share in the second fiscal quarter of 2003. Third fiscal quarter revenue of $1.072 billion was slightly below second fiscal quarter revenue of $1.081 billion. In the third fiscal quarter of 2002, Avaya reported a net loss of $39 million or a loss of 11 cents per diluted share on revenue of $1.219 billion. Avaya noted its cash balance increased for the fourth straight quarter to $843 million. Net debt* decreased to $150 million and is at the lowest level it has been since the company became an independent business. Selling, General and Administrative expenses declined $22 million sequentially from the second fiscal quarter and $51 million from the same period last year. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34987574 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 22:53:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola Falls From List of Largest Chipmakers - Report CHICAGO, July 24 (Reuters) - Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT) fell from the ranks of the world's largest makers of semiconductors for the first time since the company built its original chip plant in 1959, according to a new report by semiconductor research firm IC Insights. Motorola, based in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois, fell from the top 10 ranking for the first time, IC Insights said in a report released on Wednesday. The ranking was based on sales in the first six months of 2003. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34987652 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 22:55:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nortel Networks Reports Results for Second Quarter of 2003 TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 2003--Nortel Networks Corporation (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT): -- Revenues: US$2.33 billion, down sequentially approximately 3% -- Net loss of US$14 million; US$0.00 per common share -- Strong cash balance of US$4.2 billion, up sequentially approximately US$0.2 billion Nortel Networks Corporation (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT) today reported results for the second quarter and the first six months of 2003 prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles. Second Quarter 2003 Results Revenues were US$2.33 billion for the second quarter of 2003 compared to US$2.40 billion for the first quarter of 2003 and US$2.77 billion for the second quarter of 2002. Nortel Networks reported a net loss in the second quarter of 2003 of US$14 million, or US$0.00 per common share, compared to net earnings of US$54 million, or US$0.01 per common share, in the first quarter of 2003 and a net loss of US$697 million, or US$0.20 per common share, in the second quarter of 2002. Net loss in the second quarter of 2003 included an aggregate of US$37 million (net of tax) for the amortization of acquired technology and deferred stock option compensation associated with acquisitions and US$5 million of special charges for restructuring. The company's results also included a benefit of approximately US$51 million (pre-tax) related to the reduction in provisions associated with the collection in the quarter of certain customer financing receivables. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=34987931 ------------------------------ 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 #581 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jul 25 16:24:51 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6PKOoH24459; Fri, 25 Jul 2003 16:24:51 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 16:24:51 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307252024.h6PKOoH24459@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #582 TELECOM Digest Fri, 25 Jul 2003 16:25:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 582 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Re: Studios Demanding Too Much in Their Copyright Campaign (anonymous) Why I Hate Qwest (Richard Silverstein) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Fritz Whittington) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks ('nuther Bob) Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage - Seems NOT! (Chasman) Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (John R. Covert) Re: Why no Distinctive Ringing? was Re: Call Transfer (joe@obilivan.net) Re: Time Warner Customer Service ('nuther Bob) Pronunciation - Bouygues (Mark Baker) Shortcalls Issue (Venkat T) IVR Program (ayat) Truemobile 1400 d600 (Christoph Novak) Re: Algorithm - Detect Carrier (Ishira) 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, 25 Jul 2003 02:01:26 -0400 From: notmyrealaddress@handheld.net Subject: Re: Studios Demanding Too Much in Their Copyright Campaign On Thu, 24 Jul 2003 14:38:55 -0400, tonypo1@cox.net wrote: > My favorite bit from the article: > "This stance tells customers they have no rights, except to spend or not > spend. This stance abrogates two centuries of tradition and common > sense. It steals from our heritage -- and dims our future." I always feel like I'm really wasting my time whenever I post anything on this subject, because there is so much written about it that I sometimes feel I couldn't possibly have anything original to say. But sometimes I do wish that we the people were able to run ads to present the other side of the story. The thing I would remind people is that one of the reasons the Bill of Rights was added to the U.S. Constitution was to protect the average citizen from the abuses of those in power -- primarily those in government, but not exclusively. For example, the part about freedom of religion was added to prevent one particular sect (in any given area of the country) from forcing everyone to adhere to their creeds. Had that not been placed in the Constitution, we could well have had Northern Ireland type conflicts in various regions of this nation. I mention that because people tend to forget that back then, the church was VERY powerful -- moreso than any corporation. The church had the power to sorely oppress anyone who expressed viewpoints that were at variance with those of the church. The goal of the Bill of Rights was to make sure that no one, not even those who claimed to be the representatives of deity, had too much power over the individual. And then there is freedom of the press. A lot of powerful people and institutions stood to lose a lot from a free press, because people could write whatever they wanted -- even if it offended the government or the church -- and have it distributed. Had corporations been as oppressive of people's rights back then as they are today, perhaps something would have been said in the Bill of Rights about them as well. I'm sure that at very least, the founding fathers would have had some discussion about whether a group of people should obtain almost all the rights of an individual, but few of the responsibilities, and very little personal liability for wrongdoing. By that I mean, if you accidentally hit someone with your car, as an individual you'll likely go to jail for some period of time. Yet if a corporation takes some action, for the sake of maximizing profit, that injures or even kills hundreds of people, it's very unlikely that those responsible for that action will spend any time in jail at all. Thus, you as an individual arguably have less rights than the corporation, if only because they can afford to hire a team of lawyers and you probably can't -- and that totally goes against the principles this country was founded on. Anyway, getting back to freedom of the press, let's suppose that it was discovered at some point that, say, 85% of everything being printed were mostly "offensive" material, however you (or the authorities) define offensive. There might be efforts to destroy the offensive material, but no one would dare suggest destroying all the printing presses, for the obvious reason that you can't have freedom of the press if there are no presses. And that gets me to the point I really want to make. Printing presses were high technology in the day that the Bill of Rights was written. Today, people still read printed material, but they also get information and entertainment from newer technologies, such as television and the Internet. But what are we seeing today? Attempts by commercial interests to have new technology banned! Whether it's certain features on television recorders, or something like a file sharing programs, there is a desire to make these technologies illegal simply because a high percentage of the use is "offensive" to someone. In these cases it's offensive not primarily because it harms individuals, but rather the interests of corporations -- the "middlemen" who, like trolls guarding a bridge, try their best to prevent transactions between those who create, and those who use the created material, without requiring a "toll" of some kind. These corporations add absolutely nothing to the creative process -- as non-persons (in the real sense, not the legal fiction we have been conditioned to accept), corporations don't "create" anything. They just take. Viewed one way, they are a somewhat more refined version of the mob's "insurance" racket. Now here's the question I have -- if printing presses were being "misused" in such a way that they threatened corporate profits, or public morals, or national security, what's the lowest level of "legitimate" usage we would accept, based as a percentage, before we loaded all the printing presses onto barges and sank them in the deepest sea? Well, we all know the answer to that -- as long as the Constitution is at all revered by the courts, printing presses will be with us. We don't destroy the technology because it can be misused. I submit that the Internet and file-sharing programs, and other forms of electronic media to a greater or lesser degree, are the "printing presses" of today. That does not mean that everything "printed" on them is legal, and action can be taken against illegal use, just as it is against certain offensive printed materials (which I won't enumerate because overly-aggressive content filters might block this message). But the technology -- the "printing press" of today -- does have legitimate uses. People have used file sharing programs to distribute works no longer protected by copyright, works in the public domain, and even their own creations which they wish to share with the world (and have a legal right to do so). Again, please keep in mind that the printing press originally needed protection because the rich and powerful didn't like it a bit. Religious leaders in particular didn't like it that people could distribute "unapproved" texts, and even pamphlets and books explaining how a particular sect's doctrine deviated from the Holy Scriptures (people might stop attending church, and that would cut into their income!). Oppressive governments didn't like it because it allowed those with eloquence to explain exactly how the government was oppressing the people, and people might start to demand a change. Powerful, self-important people didn't like it, because people could educate themselves from a wide variety of sources, and weren't as accustomed to groveling before a learned or influential person. So who doesn't like file sharing technology? Once again, the rich and the powerful. It would make their lives so much easier if that pesky technology would just disappear. They then wouldn't have to go after individual violators of the law, and give them their day in court. They could simply ignore due process. In short, they're more than prepared to throw out any good that a technology might produce (for example, allowing artists more direct access to those who enjoy their work) in order to further their own self-interests. In one sense, they have judged the American people and found us all guilty, and the punishment they now wish to impose is to prohibit us from having particular forms of technology. There are really two points that I wish those who are actively involved in today's struggles could get across. If I owned a billboard company, I'd make up two billboards and place then at strategic locations all over my territory. The first billboard would read, "File-sharing programs are today's printing presses", and perhaps would have a picture of Benjamin Franklin operating an old style printing press turning out revolutionary-era pamphlets. The RIAA and MPAA want everyone to associate file sharing with theft, where the truth is that they give people greater freedom -- in particular, the freedom to distribute music, books, and other works they have either created, without having to deal with an industry that only has its own interests at heart. The second billboard would be a bit more general, and would have a large headline that reads "Corporations are NOT people, too." (with the word NOT in bright red) And underneath, "So why do they have so many more rights than you and I?" The last line could be varied from location to location, for example, "So why do the politicians kowtow to them and ignore the rest of us?" Or maybe, "And that's why they sometimes get away with things that you'd be put in jail for doing." I'm sure the creative folks among us could come up with several other pithy endings. The problem with the latter, though, is that a lot of people don't understand that certain corporations really are oppressive of individual rights. For example, they walk into Wal-Mart, where the people seem happy enough and where they think they are getting great prices, and start thinking that corporations are good for America. They don't bother to differentiate between those that are somewhat benign, and those (like the entertainment industry, and the largest telephone companies, and parts of the health care industry) who think that Americans exist solely for their profit -- that we are born as consumers, will die as consumers, and that they have a divine right to get as much money out of us as they possibly can. Or to put it in simpler terms, some are much greedier than others, and the greedy ones don't give a damn about individual rights, and would gladly spit on the Bill of Rights (figuratively speaking, of course -- a non-person can't spit) if it meant greater profits. From about the 50's through the 80's, we were constantly told that communism was the biggest threat to American society. Since communism was bad, I think we all assumed that capitalism (the ideological opposite) was good. Of course, it's not necessarily an either/or equation -- BOTH can be bad at times and good at times. "Pure" communism, had it ever actually been practiced, may have had a few things to teach us. But both systems, communism and capitalism alike, were corrupted by those who desired power and wealth. Communism's biggest failing may have been that it assumed that man is innately good, and its adherents were therefore blindsided when evil men pretended to be good for a time, until they could seize power. Under capitalism, it's much harder to seize absolute power, but much easier to be a power-monger within a narrow field of influence -- a single industry, perhaps. But in either case, the result is to maximize power and wealth for a select few, at the expense of the many common people. This isn't anything new -- many, many organizations and movements throughout history were started out with somewhat benevolent intentions, often by individuals who had no idea what sort of fruits their efforts would yield. But any successful organization is like a magnet to the very sort of cutthroat individuals that would use that organization for their own personal gain. Such individuals (for example, some CEO's), caught up in their own success and the success of the organization, may begin to think they deserve all the best the society has to offer, and they are within their rights to use any means to get it. Hopefully, at some point their excesses catch up with them, when people get so fed up that they will no longer stand for it, and they finally lose their power. I suggest that we just may be about to get to that point with the entertainment industry. The rich and powerful people who run that industry forget that the consumer who put them in power can easily de-throne them, simply by refusing to buy their products. Unfortunately, it probably won't happen until they've reached the point of acting like jack-booted thugs (I almost expect them to start hiring their own "enforcers" one of these days), and then a lot of innocent people will suffer (thugs don't much care who they terrorize, even if it's a completely innocent party). What really scares me is that our government seems to becoming more and more totalitarian, except that it's not communist or socialist ideologues that are trying to usurp power -- rather, it's corporate ideologues, who seem to think that the rights of the people are subservient to the rights of corporations. These people have managed to get themselves elected to office, in both parties, and are pretty much running the country, and little by little all the freedoms we had in the first 200 years of our nation are being taken away. For someone coming from a totalitarian regime, I'm sure America still seems like a glorious land, but at least a few of us that have been around for more than a few years (especially those of us who grew up in rural areas) realize how many freedoms we've lost. When I was much younger, the fact that I would die someday really scared me. Now, sometimes, I worry that I won't die before society has changed so much that I just can't stand living anymore. The above text was submitted anonymously -- since nothing on the web ever really dies, I don't want anything I've written tonight held against me at some future date. I don't expect too many people will agree with everything I've said above, but it is just how I see things. The above text isn't copyrighted (I hereby place it in the public domain), so if I've made any good points, feel free to snip and use in your own writings -- no credit is requested or desired. ------------------------ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My thanks to our anonymous writer who has presented us with several good points to think about this weekend. I would suggest again also that if you have not yet read or meditated on our special issue last weekend -- 'Informing Ourselves to Death' -- the speech given in 1990 by Neil Postman to the German IBM convention -- then you may wish to do so at this time. 'Way back in 1990' before our modern 'printing presses' had yet become so popular, Postman gave us a very succinct warning. Many folks thought he was totally crazy in his assessment, of course that was long before the real action got started here. Even in 1994 when I first printed his speech here, people were saying, "no, it won't be that bad ..." PAT] ------------------------------ From: richards1052@comcast.net (Richard Silverstein) Subject: Why I Hate Qwest Date: 25 Jul 2003 11:35:12 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Qwest, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways ... A few years ago, I installed a few business lines into my home through Qwest. I subsequently found out that the company had assigned me a phone number that had once belonged to another person who had long discontinued their service. Yet I still got phone calls for her. After the first few wrong calls, I asked where they go the number from: "directory assistance" was the answer. I called Qwest to make them aware of this & gave them the previous subscriber's name & phone #. Qwest's reply is that this wasn't possible and there wasn't any way that this could be happening! Well, it was. The wrong calls kept coming. Next, I tried to get DSL through Southwest Bell which was trying to compete w. Qwest in the NW. Of course, due to the stupid way these things are regulated -- if I want service with SBC, they in turn need to go through Qwest in terms of the actual phone line itself (which is a Qwest line, not SBC). That's where the fatal bottleneck occurred. One time, a Qwest person forgot to register in the computer that there would be a service change on the line. Another time, a Qwest person forgot to leave a message for another Qwest person about the DSL installation & then went on vacation. Needless to say, my DSL installation had still not occurred after SEVEN (7) WEEKS of trying. That's when I gave up and got broadband service. Each failure was due to Qwest incompetence. Suspicious minds might even say that Qwest was doing this purposefully to prevent competitors from poaching "their" (as if they owned me) customers. So I vowed that I'd get rid of Qwest from my life entirely if I could. I went online and found a wonderful, scrappy upstart telecom company beginning to provide local phone service in this area. Their services were great and price was unbeatable. So I signed up with Featurefon. Only problem was that their service wasn't ready for prime time. After I ended a call I'd get a ring back. Often, after talking on a long distance call that lasted longer than 15-20 minutes, the Featurefon software would simply drop the call. The worst indignity was when our incoming phone service would go down inexplicably. Since we still had outgoing service, we didn't find out about the service disruption for hours or longer. The worst thing was that they simply couldn't fix the problems (possibly due to their small corporate size). So reluctantly, I decided to return to Qwest. That's when the real fun began. After placing the order for service, I was told it would take around 11 business days to begin service. On July 10th, Qwest's records show that they connected service. Qwest's records also show that they disconnected that same service almost at the same instant. That meant that I no longer had phone service. I'd call Qwest & they'd tell me that their diagnostic tests showed that I DID have service and that everything was working fine. What planet are these people on? So I demanded a technician be dispatched to check out what was wrong. Shortly later, a technician called me to say: "I'm at your home and no one's home." I replied: "I'm at my home and you're not." Turns out that the tech's dispatching computer entry sent him to a different address which now had my phone number assigned to it. So Qwest had connected my phone service to another address entirely. My incoming phone calls were going to this address. Which is why my service stopped. I called Qwest repair once again to tell them what had happened. I gave them the address at which my service was connected (which the technician had given me). They STILL maintained that this wasn't possible and that my service was working at my address! After checking through this, they finally decided to talk to the Qwest section that assigns phone numbers. Sure enough, there had been a programming error that HAD assigned my number to a different address. They called me a few hours later to tell me the programming error was corrected and that I should have service. Nope, no service. I told them to send another technician and this time to send him to my address and not someone else's. When the technician came the next day, he found that there was a problem at the phone terminal which prevented my service from working. He corrected this and I finally had phone service. Elapsed time from where service was connected (July 10) to when it actually started working: 5 days. Number of calls to Qwest & Featurefon to figure out what was wrong: probably 30-40. Number of hours wasted trying to resolve the problem: 20+. After telling customer service about this horror story and assuming that they'd fall over backwards to try to make me happy--what did they do for me? One month's credit for local service. That's it. "We're prevented by State and federal regulatory guidelines from treating customers differently." I replied: "You mean regulators are telling you to provide the same lousy standard of service to each of your customers?" That didn't go over too well. So when will there be true, unfettered telecom competition that allows the best company to win, instead of the one with the biggest monopoly on bad service? My new motto: anything but Qwest. You know I would quit Qwest if I knew there was a reliable, trustworthy local phone service competitor. Let me know if you find one (I live in Seattle). ------------------------------ From: Fritz Whittington Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 00:23:26 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet On or about 2003-07-24 06:01, Al Gillis whipped out a trusty #2 pencil and scribbled: > We set our PBX clock to "Building Time" even though that time is > several minutes off NIST time ("Building Time" is what I call the time > of day portrayed by clocks in our building - T.O.D. established by our > building maintenance staff). The reason is we used to get lots of > complaints about differences between the clocks and time displays on > telephones. So now I ignore the fancy and accurate time of day > sources and make my PBX match the clocks -- no more complaints! (No > one seems to care that inside the building is several minutes off what > the real world time is!) > Al But of course, there are two burning questions: 1) What earthly reason (and authority) does the building maintenance staff have for setting the time deliberately incorrectly? 2) Doesn't anyone in the building have a wrist watch, a PDA, a cell phone, a PC, etc. that shows them the real time and makes them notice the "several" minutes discrepancy? And if they don't care about THAT discrepancy, then why did they care so much about the PBX discrepancy? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Many times, the 'official building time' in a school or office building will be deliberatly set five or six minutes fast or slow for the reason of getting the occupants (students or employees, etc) in to their places 'on time' as they (students or employees) percieve it by their own time pieces. The clocks are deliberatly set five minutes off so that there can be 'no excuse' for arriving too late or leaving too early, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 14:18:32 GMT On Thu, 24 Jul 2003 04:01:43 -0700, Al Gillis wrote: > - T.O.D. established by our > building maintenance staff). I used to work in a department where one guy arrived an hour or so before everyone else each day. He'd set the clock ahead five minutes so that he could get out "early". The rest of us arrived late every day, so after he left we'd set the time back 5 minutes so that we wouldn't be quite so tardy. Fortunately everyone left the "system time" on the network set properly, so we didn't live in two timezones there. Bob ------------------------------ From: Chasman@omelas.com (Chasman) Subject: Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage - Seems NOT! Date: 24 Jul 2003 17:38:02 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Well this doesn't really answer my post, as I stated I do not have the ability to have speed internet access where I am located and therefore I am looking for a regular telco that can do call transfer. IF I had the ability to do VoIP I would certinally use it. Thanks for the plug for VoicePulse but can anyone actually answer my question! Pretty Please! > Actually, I *have* seen call transfer like Vonage, from the VoIP > company that did it first: VoicePulse (http://www.voicepulse.com/). > In the last three or four months, VoicePulse has introduced several > new and innovative features, and call transfer just happens to be one > of them. Once VoicePulse had introduced the feature, Vonage customers > apparently started requesting it, and when Vonage implemented it they > even used the same code (90#) to initiate the transfer. I'm not > saying VoicePulse was the first to ever do something like this, but > Vonage *definitely* wasn't the first. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 08:11:06 EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage nospam-0724@timmins.net wrote: > In the last three or four months, VoicePulse has introduced several > new and innovative features, and call transfer just happens to be one > of them. Once VoicePulse had introduced the feature, Vonage customers > apparently started requesting it, and when Vonage implemented it they > even used the same code (90#) to initiate the transfer. Well, if VoicePulse introduced it in the last four or five months, then they copied Vonage, not the other way around. I first subscribed to Vonage in October (October 09, 2002, to be precise), and the call transfer feature (#90) was operational as of at least that date, over nine months ago. As for "home Centrex call transfer" -- this feature is generally included in home Centrex, and although it may be described as only allowing transfer to other "stations in the Centrex", since home Centrex is not a real centrex -- speed calling is used for internal dialing -- there is no real Centrex built in the switch, but Centrex features are applied to the line, you end up with the ability to transfer a call to anywhere. But it wouldn't surprise me that no one at the business office knows that. /john ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Why no Distinctive Ringing? was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 06:47:11 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications George Mitchell wrote: > nospam-0724@timmins.net wrote: >> I've been watching the VoIP scene develop for the past few months and >> one thing I've noticed is that among the "big three" VoIP providers >> (VoicePulse, Packet8, and Vonage), VoicePulse looks to be the clear >> leader in features now, and is even a bit less expensive than >> Vonage. > I'm surprised that none of the three you mention has enabled > distinctive ringing yet. I know not too many people avail themselves > of this service, but it is almost addictive once you get used to it. > My office is at home, but I do not get enough calls to justify a > separate line. Knowing who should answer the phone (or how to answer, > when the appropriate person is absent) is VERY convenient. I think my talking caller id works a lot better than distinctive ringing. Plus, if you have a key or pbx system distinctive ringing won't work at all. ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: Time Warner Customer Service Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 14:23:32 GMT On Thu, 24 Jul 2003 00:05:57 GMT, Jay R. Ashworth wrote: > But, my impression is that they only want to hire entry level people > to keep their costs down. Of course, their customers suffer for > that tactic. > This is a different thing -- in this area, the *business class* techs > are at least second tier, right from the first ring, and some are > third. Pay twice as much, and you get better service. I think it's typical these days to hire simple breathing bodies that can follow a script as first line support. "Supervisors" are just the same people, promoted because they've done the job for a while. Obviously very few understand customer service -- and the ones that do are still powerless to actually affect anything. Such is life with the giant conglomerates these days. Bob ------------------------------ From: baker@computer.org (Mark Baker) Subject: Pronunciation - Bouygues Date: 24 Jul 2003 18:07:28 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I am in Australia and often read about 'Bouygues' in the trade press. However, I have never heard it pronounced. Could someone please give me a phonetic guide to its pronunciation? ------------------------------ From: venksridhar@yahoo.com (Venkat T) Subject: Shortcalls Issue Date: 24 Jul 2003 21:00:38 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Calls are transfered from various center to our center by dialing out. We are observing short calls (CDR trace shows 2-5 secs call progression). We use a Nortel Meridian Option 61C and calls come from variery of switches and carriers. We are not using answer supervision in this case. Would appreicate input in helping us resolve. ------------------------------ From: mitote83@hotmail.com (ayat) Subject: IVR Program Date: 24 Jul 2003 23:24:08 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi everyone, I am looking for the IVR program with the following capabilities: The one that can distinguish the telephone tones, frequencies, the 11 codes exist in the telephone and also distinquishing the words. If anyone has any idea which can help me some, please let me know. Thanks in advance, Ayat ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 10:50:50 -0500 From: Christoph Novak Reply-To: christoph@cronosphere.com Organization: The Cronosphere Corportation Subject: Truemobile 1400 d600 I too recently purchased a Dell Latitude D600 with their rebranded Boradcom duel-band WiFi card (TrueMobile 1400) running Windows XP Pro. I have an older Latitude c600 using a Linksys wireless card and Win98 right next to the d600 and there are no problems. I have noticed that when I ping the gateway that packets are randomly lost (i.e., request timeout). The overall result is an intermittent and choppy network connection. Is anyone else having this problem? Original Post ... > I recently purchased a Dell Latitude D600 with their rebranded > Broadcom dual-band WiFi card (TrueMobile 1400) running Windows XP Pro > to replace my old Dell Latitude CPiA with Orinoco Wireless Silver PC > card running Windows 2000 Pro; I have an existing Orinoco Wireless > AP-1000 access point that operates in only 11b mode with 64bit WEP > enabled. The access point is up-to-date with firmware from > Orinoco/Proxim (Spring 2002 is the latest release). > I am encountering WiFi connectivity issue that I am hoping someone > might be able to help me figure out a solution to. In my apartment I > also have a 2.4ghz digital spectrum spread panasonic telephone that at > times in the past interfered with the old laptop system, but a simple > click of the channel button on the telephone solved the interference > and the WiFi connection would be restored. Now with the new laptop > system, whenever I use the telephone the connection drops; I try to > change the channel and the connection is still down. It is like the > new laptop system is too sensitive to the other 2.4ghz over-the-air > traffic because when the new one is down because of the telephone > being used, the old laptop still has a network connection. To me that > determined it has something to do with the new laptop system and > hopefully it is just a configuration issue with the broadcom card; I > have tried messing around with all the advance settings and nothing > seems to make the problem disappear. > Any thoughts on a solution is greatly appreciated. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: ishira_pundit@yahoo.com (Ishira) Subject: Re: Algorithm - Detect Carrier Date: 25 Jul 2003 11:05:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Pardon my ignorance. But I thought and still think it ultimately means the same thing. Why would the signal have a carrier otherwise? A carrier is something one modulates to transmit the signal isnt it? Correct me if I am wrong! bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) wrote in message news:: > In article , > Ishira wrote: >> I am trying to write a program which detects if a signal is modulated >> or not; i.e whether there is a carrier or not. > Make up your mind -- detecting whether a signal "is modulated or not" > is an *entirely* different question from detecting "whether there is a > carrier or not". ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #582 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jul 26 14:40:29 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6QIeTD29610; Sat, 26 Jul 2003 14:40:29 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 14:40:29 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307261840.h6QIeTD29610@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #583 TELECOM Digest Sat, 26 Jul 2003 14:40:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 583 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Calif's AG vs. fax.com Re: Unsolicited Garbage (Danny Burstein) Kremen Gets to Sue NSI Over Bad Domain Transfer (Danny Burstein) Owner of Stolen 'sex.com' Can Sue VeriSign - Court (Monty Solomon) Kremen v. Cohen (Monty Solomon) Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues (George Mitchell) Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues (Joseph) Scam or Wrong Number? (Doug Faunt) Re: Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (J on Phone) Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Monty Solomon) Re: Algorithm - Detect Carrier (Robert Bonomi) Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (nospam-0724@timmins.net) Multiple Outbound Calls Using Telephony (MK) Re: Why I Hate Qwest (J Kelly) Group Posts Program That Exploits Windows (Monty Solomon) Re: SCO Wants Licensing Fees From Corporate Linux Users (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Time Warner Customer Service (Intrspct) 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: Calif's AG vs. fax.com Re: Unsolicited Garbage Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 19:04:22 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC (I don't know anything else about the politics on the Left Coast, so have no idea if this represents general Good Stuff by the AG there or if it's the exception that proves the rule, but ...) (SAN DIEGO) Attorney General Bill Lockyer today filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Aliso Viejo-based Fax.com, seeking more than $15 million in penalties and other relief and alleging the firm committed rampant violations of state and federal law in sending unsolicited advertisements via fax and prerecorded phone messages. "Fax.com, with high-level technology and low-level respect for the law, runs a 24-hour privacy invasion operation that continually spews unsolicited faxes and prerecorded phone calls," said Lockyer. "Junk faxes cost consumers, businesses and taxpayers tens of millions of dollars every year. Consumers' privacy, choice and pocketbooks have to be protected. With this action, and through our other efforts to fight spam and quiet telemarketers, that's exactly what my office intends to do." snippety snip, rest at: http://caag.state.ca.us/newsalerts/2003/03-089.htm danny " wishes all the 50 State webmasters would sit down and standardize the url syntax for their key offices " burstein _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Kremen Gets to Sue NSI Over Bad Domain Transfer Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 21:22:25 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC (The legal decision is well worth reading. and it's pretty close to being in English as opposed to legalese ...) Summary: Way back, Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI) was the only game in town for registering domain names. Kremen registered sex.com, but a couple of years later NSI slipped up and gave it to Cohen in response to a forged letter even more transparent than the Niger uranium documents. It took Kremen five years of court action to get it back. Oh, and Cohen took off for parts unknown (possibly hiding in Mexico). Kremen tried suing NSI for damages. He was turned down in lower court, but was just reinstated on appeal by the Ninth Circuit. Key excerpts (cut and pasted from pdf): "Exposing Network Solutions to liability when it gives away a registrant's domain name on the basis of a forged letter is no different from holding a corporation liable when it gives away someone's shares under the same circumstances. "Network Solutions made no effort to contact Kremen before giving away his domain name, despite receiving a facially suspect letter from a third party. A jury would be justified in finding it was unreasonably careless. "Cohen is obviously the guilty party here, and the one who should in all fairness pay for his theft. But he's skipped the country, and his money is stashed in some offshore bank account. Unless Kremen's luck with his bounty hunters improves, Cohen is out of the picture. The question becomes whether Network Solutions should be open to liability for its decision to hand over KremenÕs domain name. Negligent or not, it was Network Solutions that gave away Kremen's property. Kremen never did anything. It would not be unfair to hold Network Solutions responsible and force it to try to recoup its losses by chasing down Cohen. http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/opinions+by+date?OpenView&Start=1&Count=100&Expand=1.1#1.1 _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 23:04:16 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Owner of Stolen 'sex.com' Can Sue VeriSign - Court By Elinor Mills Abreu SAN FRANCISCO, July 25 (Reuters) - The owner of "sex.com," once considered one of the Internet's hottest addresses, can seek payment from the company that improperly transferred the domain to a "con man" who later fled to Mexico when ordered to pay $65 million, a court ruled on Friday. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that "computer-geek-turned-entrepreneur" Gary Kremen can hold VeriSign Inc.'s (NASDAQ:VRSN) Network Solutions unit liable for handing the sex.com Web address over to a "con man." The decision has widespread implications for companies that register domains, which until now have not been held responsible when Web sites are switched from their rightful owners, a lawyer for the plaintiff said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35007290 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 23:31:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Kremen v. Cohen KREMEN v. COHEN, No. 01-15899 (9th Cir. July 25, 2003) http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0115899p.pdf ------------------------------ From: George Mitchell Subject: Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 14:04:49 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Mark Baker wrote: > I am in Australia and often read about 'Bouygues' in the trade press. > However, I have never heard it pronounced. Could someone please give > me a phonetic guide to its pronunciation? A quick search of google suggests that this is a French name, so it's anybody's guess. (Mine is: boig, with a hard "g".) ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 19:26:20 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On 24 Jul 2003 18:07:28 -0700, baker@computer.org (Mark Baker) wrote: > I am in Australia and often read about 'Bouygues' in the trade press. > However, I have never heard it pronounced. Could someone please give > me a phonetic guide to its pronunciation? Booyg? ------------------------------ From: Doug Faunt N6TQS Subject: Scam or Wrong Number? Date: 25 Jul 2003 18:37:22 -0400 Organization: at home, in Oakland, California In the small hours, over the course of a couple of weeks, I've gotten two SMS messages addressed to "js0n" "from: +14168255196". This is a Ontario number, apparently. Is this some sort of scam, to get me to call or send a message to this number, or is it likely to be a real wrong number? The latest message: "watz up js0n?lds is gLaiz ... how r u doin there in L.A?!tke ker aLwyz ..." The first one was, as near as I can recall, exactly the same. I don't even know what that second phrase is supposed to mean. Any ideas? 73, doug ------------------------------ From: 617@volcanomail.com (J on the phone) Subject: Re: Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage Date: 25 Jul 2003 17:27:39 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I believe the Editor may be inadvertantly misleading the original poster on call transfer for residential servce. Call transfer is a feature that is available through all the BOCs. Generally it's sold only as a part of Centrex or Plexar or whatever the local BOC is using for a name for that type of service. SBC (at least in Texas and California) also sells the service as a standalone product "Call Transfer". In Texas, it's $15 a month and $10 a month in California, where, for most business lines you pay a per minute fee. Business lines is the key. I've never seen a local operating company, Bell or otherwise offer this as a part of residential service. Some do offer a modified Centrex for the home, but out of group transfer is not part of the service package -- or an available option. Call transfer within a Centrex group has been available for many years, but more and more providers are offering the "transfer and disconnect" feature with and without Centrex on any business line. However, I'm not aware of this service being available anywhere with residential service. If I'm wrong, I'd love to hear, since my business product uses this feature and residential access would widen my market! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 00:25:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs NEW YORK (AP) -- For more than a year, unbeknownst to people who used Internet terminals at Kinko's stores in New York, Juju Jiang was recording what they typed, paying particular attention to their passwords. Jiang had secretly installed, in at least 14 Kinko's copy shops, software that logs individual keystrokes. He captured more than 450 user names and passwords, and used them to access and open bank accounts online. The case, which led to a guilty plea earlier this month after Jiang was caught, highlights the risks in using public Internet terminals at cybercafes, libraries, airports and other establishments. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/07/23/cybercafe.security.ap/index.html http://www.cnn.com/business2/articles/web/0,1653,50983,00.html http://www.cybercrime.gov/jiangPlea.htm ------------------------------ Organization: Not Much Subject: Re: Algorithm - Detect Carrier From: bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 04:26:11 GMT In article , Ishira wrote: > Pardon my ignorance. > But I thought and still think it ultimately means the same thing. Why > would the signal have a carrier otherwise? A carrier is something one > modulates to transmit the signal isnt it? > Correct me if I am wrong! You "don't know what you don't know". A carrier with no signal on it _at_the_moment_ is an 'unmodulated carrier'. These exist. For example, a radio beacon used for direction-finding only, Doppler-shift radar, or the 'out-of-bounds' indicator used at tennis tournaments, just to name a few. A modulated signal _without_ a carrier can also exist. e.g. "SSB" radio, or even a broadcast television signal (which is "Single SideBand, vestigial carrier, to be technical). I recommend a trip to the local library. If they use Dewey filing, try looking in 621.384, 621.388, and vicinity. You'll need a hefty dose of "RF communications theory"; a bunch of advanced mathematics -- "Fast Fourier Transforms" is a starting point; *AND* a grasp of 'digital signal processing' techniques. *THEN* you'll be able to determine the *HARDWARE* requirements for signal capture, (which will probably include 'carrier detect' circuitry, making that issue a -trivial-software consideration.) *AFTER* you have determined what information the hardware makes available, you can figure out what kind of 'software' manipulation you need to do, to get the answers you're looking for. > bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) wrote in message > news:: >> In article , >> Ishira wrote: >>> I am trying to write a program which detects if a signal is modulated >>> or not; i.e whether there is a carrier or not. >> Make up your mind -- detecting whether a signal "is modulated or not" >> is an *entirely* different question from detecting "whether there is a >> carrier or not". ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 17:40:20 -0400 From: nospam-0724@timmins.net Subject: Re: Anyone Seen Call transfer Like Vonage On Fri, 25 Jul 2003 08:11:06 EDT, John R. Covert wrote: > nospam-0724@timmins.net wrote: >> In the last three or four months, VoicePulse has introduced several >> new and innovative features, and call transfer just happens to be one >> of them. Once VoicePulse had introduced the feature, Vonage customers >> apparently started requesting it, and when Vonage implemented it they >> even used the same code (90#) to initiate the transfer. > Well, if VoicePulse introduced it in the last four or five months, > then they copied Vonage, not the other way around. > I first subscribed to Vonage in October (October 09, 2002, to be > precise), and the call transfer feature (#90) was operational as of at > least that date, over nine months ago. Sorry, that was my mistake. Somehow I think I mentally confused call transfer with another feature, perhaps the ability to have a fully operational second phone line on the same ATA-186. Originally Vonage only let people use the second line for FAX service (really outgoing service only), whereas VoicePulse offered a regular second line with a second phone number. Once VoicePulse had offered it for a month or so, Vonage followed (assuming I'm remembering THAT part correctly). There was a discussion about it in another forum and something was mentioned about being able to use call transfer, and I think I just assumed that was a new feature (yeah, I know about "assume", and it bit me this time!). To make matters worse, I can't even find the original message I saw that made me think it was a new feature, so I'm not entirely sure what dark path my mind took to arrive at that conclusion. VoicePulse has released several interesting features before Vonage (some of them, such as call filters, are still only offered by VoicePulse), but Call Transfer wasn't one of them, and I apologize for giving bad information in the earlier message. ------------------------------ From: MK Subject: Multiple Outbound Calls Using Telephony Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 05:52:13 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net I'm looking for the simplest, cheapest solution for multiple simultaneous outbound calls. Any ideas? Could I use something like Vonage with some simple call center software? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Why I Hate Qwest Date: 26 Jul 2003 07:04:04 -0700 Organization: Newsguy News Service [http://newsguy.com] In article , richards1052@comcast.net says: > Qwest, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways ... I switched from Qwest to McLeodUSA. Nothing by trouble. I suspected much of it was actually caused by Qwest, since it was their line. CallerID would not work correctly, instead of it sending 319-334-xxxx and the Callers Name, it would say, xxxx Unavailable. Only the last 4 digits. Only on local calls, and only on local calls from a business. Weird. McLeod had no clue, and blamed Qwest. Long Distance wouldn't work either. At all, no LD could be dialed out. I couldn't even force calls to another carrier using the 1010-XXX numbers. McLeod said Qwest had screwed something up in the switch that prevented LD from working. And then, Qwest has the nerve to send me a postcard asking me Are you having problems with your new provider? We bet you are, Come back home to Qwest ... So I did, I couldn't live with all the problems, I hate Qwest, but at least my phone worked. Took 3 weeks to get McLeod to release the line back to Qwest. The long distance problems remained, although I could now dial calls, they were now being routed to McLeod long distance, instead of AT&T which I asked for when switching back to Qwest!! And they were billing me $.10 instead of $.07! So I refused to pay the extra $.03/min to McLeod. Eventually I got that fixed, a problem in Switch programming that nobody could find until the finally referred the trouble to Switch Engineering. The callerID still did not work. It took me 14 months to get Qwest to fix it. They finally took a serious look at it after I complained to the Vice President of Consumer Services at the Qwest Executive Office via Certified Mail. They spent a week saying Gee, that's really weird, but how can it be our fault? Replace your equipment. I respond with, Gee, that is weird, I got the freaking equipment from Qwest, it is BRAND NEW, it works exactly the same way as 3 modems, a Dish Network receiver with CID, three CID phones, and about 6 different CID boxes, some from Qwest/USWest, and some from Wally-World. Fix YOUR crap. Eventually, after much insistence from me, they turned the trouble ticket over to the Switching Engineering Group who said, Wow, look at this, we screwed up the programming on this guy's line when we switched him to McLeod, and somehow missed it for the last 14 months, even though he has been opening trouble tickets on it every two weeks for over a year!! I eventually got a credit for just under $100, for 14 months of CallerID service at $6.95/month. I now have their unlimited plan for $44.95/mo that includes all my long distance calls, and for the first time in my life, I'm actually satisfied with my Qwest service. It has been working perfectly. They probably have a note on my account that they can't screw up my line anymore or I'll bitch to the big shots! This is nothing though, the problems we had with Qwest/USWest when I worked at a cellular company were really bad. T1 lines with two hour response time that were down for days, or months in one case. But they were way better than GTE, who always claimed they didn't even provide some of our spans, even when we gave them the circuit number. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 10:58:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Group Posts Program That Exploits Windows By HELEN JUNG AP Business Writer SEATTLE (AP) -- A group in China released a program Friday that lets hackers exploit a flaw in Microsoft software and take over a victim's computer over the Internet. The program, released nine days after Microsoft Corp. announced the flaw, has turned an embarrassment for the company and inconvenience for customers into a near-emergency. The program, posted on the group's Web site, takes advantage of a vulnerability in nearly all versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system, including Windows Server 2003, touted as Microsoft's safest ever. The Redmond software giant has urged corporate and home users to download a free software fix, but many consumers _ particularly companies with hundreds or thousands of computers at risk _ probably have not yet done so, said Marc Maiffret, co-founder of eEye Digital Security Inc. of Aliso Viejo, Calif. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35010468 ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: SCO Wants Licensing Fees From Corporate Linux Users Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 12:27:04 -0400 Organization: Bell Sympatico tonypo1@cox.net wrote: > When you consider that SCO is actually the former Caldera this whole > thing looks like an ugly power grab. It even has elements of Microsoft > strategies in it. Microsoft actually paid SCO a licensing fee to cover any possible liabilities -- well, that's the official story; I think it was just a cover for Microsoft funding FUD aimed at Linux. > Here's what I don't understand: The original Unix was AT&T's creation > -- and they didn't gripe when Linux came out. I'm hoping the courts > slap SCO (aka Caldera) hard on these frivolous lawsuits. If I understand the suit correctly, it's not Linux' existence nor its similarity to UNIX that's at the heart of the suit; SCO claims that code was copied directly from UNIX to Linux by UNIX licensees (e.g., IBM) who have also decided to contribute to Linux. What we have here is similar to the situation that arose when companies decided to build IBM PC compatibles: competitors needed two groups of engineers, one to analyze the IBM BIOS to reduce it to specifications and one - who had never seen the IBM BIOS code -- to write the new BIOS according to those specifications, plus lawyers in between examining the specifications to ensure that no code was transferred so that any similarity between the original code and the copy could be proven to be either coincidental or the 'obvious' method of implementing a function. Linux' development was not that bureaucratic, so it's open to all sorts of accusations. I just want the case to go to court so that SCO can 'put up or shut up', i.e. prove what was 'stolen', get their punitive fees (if they're really due any), and have the 'stolen' code removed from Linux. The FUD is doing more damage than any judgements that SCO might exact. Geoffrey Welsh This address is not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Unsolicited bulk mail is spam, no matter what regulations (real or imagined) it complies with! FIGHT SPAM AND SCAMS: DISCONNECT CHINA FROM THE INTERNET! ------------------------------ From: intrspct@aol.com (Intrspct) Date: 26 Jul 2003 16:51:09 GMT Organization: AOL Canada http://www.aol.ca Subject: Re: Time Warner Customer Service > I'd love to work for them and I could do a much better job than > that. But, my impression Customer service agents follow scripts, they follow troubleshooting procedures. We HAVE to ask you to check your cables, unplug the modem, etc. for each caller. It gets monotonous. We're not trained in resolving complex issues because TWC doesn't want us to. We hand it off to another department. I've had people calling in tears saying their internet has been out for a month, off and on, 5 trouble calls later and it's still not fixed. Did you know most TWC calls go to a call centre where you have only four minutes to talk? Try going over and they'll politely suggest a "callback". TWC doesn't want us to perform customer service they want us to brush people off and clear the calls coming in. My personal opinion is to avoid TWC like the plague. ------------------------------ 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 #583 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jul 27 14:45:55 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6RIjtF05327; Sun, 27 Jul 2003 14:45:55 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 14:45:55 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307271845.h6RIjtF05327@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson cc: johnl@iecc.com Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #584 TELECOM Digest Sun, 27 Jul 2003 14:46:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 584 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter MCI Under Federal Investigation for Mishandling Calls/Billing (Burstein) Cellphone Etiquette? Hello? (Monty Solomon) Protecting Privacy From the 'New Spam' (Monty Solomon) Facing Their Demons (Monty Solomon) eEye Free RPC/DCOM Vulnerability Scanning Tool (Monty Solomon) Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues (Alan Burkitt-Gray) Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues (mail02744@pop.net) Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues (Chris Kantarjiev) Re: White House Email System Becoming Less Friendly (Dave Close) Re: Scam or Wrong Number? (Ed Clarke) Looks Like Exodus Got Hit Again (tonypo1@cox.net) Need Help for NEC Digital Telephone System NEC NDK9000 (Kan Han) Re: Time Warner Customer Service (Fred Atkinson) Re: Algorithm - Detect Carrier (Ed Ellers) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Ron Chapman) Transfer and Drop was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer (Danny Burstein) 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: MCI Under Federal Investigation for Mishandling Calls/Billing Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 03:42:06 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC ( NY Times) Federal prosecutors have opened an investigation in the United States and Canada into accusations that MCI, the nation's second-largest long-distance carrier, defrauded other telephone companies of at least hundreds of millions of dollars over nearly a decade, people involved in the inquiry said. The central element of MCI's scheme, people involved in the inquiry said, consisted of disguising long-distance calls as local calls to avoid paying special access tariffs to local carriers across the country. Those tariffs are the largest single source of MCI's costs for carrying calls and data transmissions. [snip] In the case of SBC, Texas customers were complaining that the caller identification function on their telephones was not working because it showed a local call when, in fact, the call was long distance. Investigators said they believed that the phones were not malfunctioning, but that the caller identification reflected that the phone codes had been altered to disguise the origin of the call. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/business/27MCI.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: When reading NY Times articles, users of the Digest are invited to use our group login 'telecomdigest' and our group password 'telecomdigest'. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 10:57:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cellphone Etiquette? Hello? With her website, Carol Page hopes to ring in an era of conversation courtesy By Ashlea Deahl, Globe Correspondent, 7/26/2003 Calling all cellphone users and abusers. If you spot Carol Page in public -- look for the salt-and-pepper hair and the sidelong glances -- beware. She's watching and listening to see whether you mind your manners. It would defy stereotype to suggest that cellphone users can be quiet, even courteous. But among the crowds of oblivious yappers, cellphone etiquette does exist, says Page, a Boston writer who operates cellmanners.com, a website that promotes civil cellphone use. The problem, she says, is that most people rarely follow 'the rules.' ... http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/207/living/Cellphone_etiquette_Hello_+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 13:04:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Protecting Privacy From the 'New Spam' By Peter Swire, 7/27/2003 THE BATTLE is heating up between the recording industry and those who download copies of their favorite music. the Recording Industry Association of America is bringing hundreds of lawsuits nationwide against home users of peer-to-peer (P2P) software, including students at Boston College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah recently used a Senate hearing to suggest that copyright owners should be able to warn home users once or twice, and then actually destroy the computers if the apparently infringing songs were not removed. Overlooked in the heated rhetoric has been a victim of the RIAA's campaign -- the privacy of all those who surf the Internet or send e-mail. On the RIAA view, your sensitive personal information on the Web would be available to anyone who can fill out a one-page form. Congress can and should step in to fix this problem immediately. The problem began in late 2002, when the RIAA demanded that Verizon Online, an Internet service provider, identify one of its customers based on an accusation that the person may have violated copyright laws by swapping files. Verizon declined, citing the threats to customer privacy, due process, and the First Amendment. Was Verizon overreacting? No. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/208/oped/Protecting_privacy_from_the_new_spam_+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 13:09:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Facing Their Demons To face demons, firms dump maxim By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 7/27/2003 When a customer is put on hold a long time, given snail-like service, or offered less attractive prices, at most companies it's inadvertent. But at a growing number of firms, it may be deliberate. That's right. Companies are using poor service as a behavior modification tool to transform an unprofitable customer into either a profitable customer or a former customer. In the most extreme cases, companies dispense with the subtlety of behavior modification and tell a customer straight to his or her face not to come back, as Filene's Basement did recently with two sisters from Newton who, in the Basement's opinion, made excessive returns and were chronic complainers. Larry Selden, the coauthor of a new book called 'Angel Customers & Demon Customers,' said one way or another, companies have to deal with their demon customers. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/208/business/Facing_their_demons+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 23:55:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: eEye Free RPC/DCOM Vulnerability Scanning Tool July 26, 2003 - eEye Providing Free Detection Utility to Combat Exploit for Microsoft RPC DCOM Vulnerability Currently Circulating on the Internet Exploit targets unpatched Microsoft Windows desktops and servers. Administrators urged to scan their networks for vulnerable machines. (Aliso Viejo, CA; Geneva, Switzerland) - July 26, 2003. eEye Digital Security has learned that an exploit which takes advantage of a critical Windows vulnerability discovered last week is now propagating over the Internet. The exploit targets a buffer overflow associated with Windows' implementation of Remote Procedure Call (RPC) and impacts Windows NT, 2000, XP and Windows Server 2003. On July 16, 2003 Microsoft issued a patch for the vulnerability that was originally discovered by the Polish research group Last Stage of Delirium. To combat the vulnerability, eEye has released a free scanning utility to detect unpatched systems. The vulnerability impacts the way in which RPC is implemented in the Windows Operating System. The exploit enables remote attackers to send a specially crafted RPC request to TCP port 135 on machines that are vulnerable. http://www.eeye.com/html/Press/PR20030725.html ------------------------------ From: Alan Burkitt-Gray Subject: Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 15:37:22 +0100 Mark Baker wrote about the pronunciation of Bouygues. Usually boo-eeg, though I have occasionally heard it pronounced with a soft g, boo-eej, even by executives. Bouygues is a family-owned French construction company -- the current head is Martin Bouygues -- with a turnover of EUR4.6 billion (about $5 billion). It hass diversified into telecoms and media: it owns most of Bouygues Telecom, a mobile operator which is now operating i-mode services in France under licence from NTT DoCoMo, and it a big shareholder in TF1, the biggest French TV broadcaster. Alan Burkitt-Gray Editor, Global Telecoms Business www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 15:35:03 -0400 From: mail02744@pop.net Subject: Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues > From: George Mitchell > Subject: Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues > Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 14:04:49 -0700 > Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com > Mark Baker wrote: >> I am in Australia and often read about 'Bouygues' in the trade press. >> However, I have never heard it pronounced. Could someone please give >> me a phonetic guide to its pronunciation? > A quick search of google suggests that this is a French name, so it's > anybody's guess. (Mine is: boig, with a hard "g".) > From: Joseph > Subject: Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues > Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 19:26:20 -0700 > Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com > Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com > On 24 Jul 2003 18:07:28 -0700, baker@computer.org (Mark Baker) wrote: >> I am in Australia and often read about 'Bouygues' in the trade press. >> However, I have never heard it pronounced. Could someone please give >> me a phonetic guide to its pronunciation? > Booyg? If you speak United States English, approximate with "Bweek" ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 11:50:38 -0700 (PDT) From: Chris Kantarjiev Subject: Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues boo-eek. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 19:06:24 -0700 From: Dave Close Subject: Re: White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly Date: 26 Jul 2003 19:05:22 -0700 Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Monty Solomon writes: > Completing a message to the president also requires choosing a > subject from the provided list, then entering a full name, > organization, address and e-mail address. Once the message is sent, > the writer must wait for an automated response to the e-mail address > listed, asking whether the addressee intended to send the message. > The message is delivered to the White House only after the person > using that e-mail address confirms it. Nobody is entitled to know my email address and send email to me unless they are willing to tell me their address /and/ accept email from me. We should all boycott these obnoxious non-mail schemes, no matter what their name or who their perpetrator. Does the White House still accept public fax messages? Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Whenever you have a secret, dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 you have a vulnerability." dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu -- Whitfield Diffie [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder if it has occurred to the people who complain about email to President Bush that the man probably gets so much spam each day (like all the rest of us, only maybe five times as much) that these extra hoops you have to jump through when writing to him are mainly intended as ways to cut back on much of the spam. Very few of the automated spam writing/sending programs are smart enough to go through checking off boxes and filling in random words which appear on the screen. Yahoo does that now also: After you send an email to certain customers there, a graphics (.jpg) word appears on the screen and you are asked to type that word in to 'prove' you are not a robot doing spam. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ed Clarke Subject: Re: Scam or Wrong Number? Date: 27 Jul 2003 03:01:05 GMT Organization: Ciliophora Associates, Inc. Reply-To: clarke@cilia.org In article , Doug Faunt N6TQS wrote: > In the small hours, over the course of a couple of weeks, I've gotten > two SMS messages addressed to "js0n" "from: +14168255196". This is a > Ontario number, apparently. Is this some sort of scam, to get me to > call or send a message to this number, or is it likely to be a real > wrong number? > The latest message: "watz up js0n?lds is gLaiz ... how r u doin there in > L.A?!tke ker aLwyz ..." The first one was, as near as I can recall, > exactly the same. > I don't even know what that second phrase is supposed to mean. My dumbonics to English translator gives: "What's up, Jason? How are you doing there in Los Angeles? Take care always ..." ------------------------------ From: tonypo1@cox.net Subject: Looks Like Exodus Got Hit Again Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 02:55:57 -0400 I noted that around 11PM I couldn't get to lots of web sites -- to confirm my suspicions I did a capture of the TCP and UDP packets and sure enough the sites I couldn't get to were hosted on Exodus. For some reason I recall reading about a new worm that was set to go out this weekend to exploit a hole in Window encryption. For example, one of the sites I was trying to get to were Delphi Forums -- which are hosted on Exodus. I know for a fact that they use IIS 5 for messaging services so I'd bet it got hit by the worm. Much of this originates in China -- what is it going to take before we shut off the network connections to that country? A total collapse of the net? I realize doing such a thing would play right into the hands of the Chinese Politburo but enough is enough. What they're doing is equivalent to state sponsored terrorism. I wonder why the Chimp hasn't gone after them yet. ------------------------------ From: hankk100@hotmail.com (Kan Han) Subject: Need Help for NEC Digital Telephone System NEC NDK9000 Date: 27 Jul 2003 02:08:34 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Is anyone have the program and installation manual for NEC NDK9000 PBX? It is a very old system, and we can contact the vendor. My company just moved to a smaller office with fewer staffs. I've just cannel some telephone lines from telco, we need to do the system program. Please help. Han ------------------------------ Reply-To: Fred Atkinson From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Time Warner Customer Service Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 15:29:37 -0400 I'm not expecting them to be able to troubleshoot problems themselves. I'm expecting them the communicate with their field people and provide their customers with the information they should be expected to provide. I expect them to be able to tell me what steps their company is taking to resolve repeditive and chronic problems. It wasn't so hard to do, and I can vouch for that from experience. If it is getting monotonous, it's because you are gonig about it in the wrong way. Scripts? That's really poor. It makes contact with customer service not much better than listening to a recording. Perhaps you should read the works of Juran and Deming. intrspct@aol.com (Intrspct) replied on Date: 26 Jul 2003 16:51:09 GMT about Re: Time Warner Customer Service > Customer service agents follow scripts, they follow troubleshooting > procedures. We HAVE to ask you to check your cables, unplug the > modem, etc. for each caller. It gets monotonous. > We're not trained in resolving complex issues because TWC doesn't want > us to. We hand it off to another department. I've had people calling > in tears saying their internet has been out for a month, off and on, 5 > trouble calls later and it's still not fixed. > Did you know most TWC calls go to a call centre where you have only > four minutes to talk? Try going over and they'll politely suggest a > "callback". TWC doesn't want us to perform customer service they want > us to brush people off and clear the calls coming in. My personal opinion is to avoid TWC like the plague. ------------------------------ From: Ed Ellers Subject: Re: Algorithm - Detect Carrier Organization: Insight Broadband Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 20:28:22 GMT Robert Bonomi wrote: > A modulated signal _without_ a carrier can also exist. e.g. "SSB" > radio, or even a broadcast television signal (which is "Single > SideBand, vestigial carrier, to be technical). No, an analog TV broadcast signal is vestigal *sideband,* full *carrier.* This mode is a compromise between spectrum efficiency and receiver complexity. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 16:41:51 -0400 From: Ron Chapman Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs Monty Solomon wrote: > NEW YORK (AP) -- For more than a year, unbeknownst to people who used > Internet terminals at Kinko's stores in New York, Juju Jiang was > recording what they typed, paying particular attention to their > passwords. > Jiang had secretly installed, in at least 14 Kinko's copy shops, > software that logs individual keystrokes. He captured more than 450 > user names and passwords, and used them to access and open bank > accounts online. > The case, which led to a guilty plea earlier this month after Jiang > was caught, highlights the risks in using public Internet terminals at > cybercafes, libraries, airports and other establishments. > http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/07/23/cybercafe.security.ap/index.html > http://www.cnn.com/business2/articles/web/0,1653,50983,00.html > http://www.cybercrime.gov/jiangPlea.htm For TWO YEARS this was going on. Primarily, I can't believe that Kinko's never re-imaged their PCs. The only solution for an environment like this is to re-image the PC after every rental. Sounds draconian, but now it's a marketing tool in addition to a way to make the lawyers happy. ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Transfer and Drop, was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 18:42:54 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In 617@volcanomail.com (J on the phone)writes: [snip] > Business lines is the key. I've never seen a local operating company, > Bell or otherwise offer this as a part of residential service. Some do > offer a modified Centrex for the home, but out of group transfer is > not part of the service package -- or an available option. > Call transfer within a Centrex group has been available for many > years, but more and more providers are offering the "transfer and > disconnect" feature with and without Centrex on any business line. > However, I'm not aware of this service being available anywhere with > residential service. If I'm wrong, I'd love to hear, since my business > product uses this feature and residential access would widen my > market! In the NYC area this used to be available, under the tradename "intellidial" (maybe intellical), from the local RBOC. I personally used it -- including the txfer to offsite -- from my home. I dropped it a decade [L] ago when they told me I couldn't get caller ID on lines with this service since it wasn't tariffed. Shortly afterwards they suspended the offering. I don't know if it's been replaced by anything similar. _____________________________________________________ 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: That may be the reason why Illinois Bell dropped that feature also which they called Intellidial. But Southwestern Bell (SBC) still seem to have at least the remnants of it under the name 'Plexar'. 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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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #584 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 28 14:07:49 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6SI7ns10871; Mon, 28 Jul 2003 14:07:49 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 14:07:49 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307281807.h6SI7ns10871@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 #585 TELECOM Digest Mon, 28 Jul 2003 14:08:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 585 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Mark Atwood) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (nospam-0724@timmins.net) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Re: What to do About Sprint Billing Issues, *Rude* Service? (Tom Conlon) Re: Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (Hal Idooer) Re: Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (G Breuckman) Re: White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly (John Hines) Re: White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly (Clarence Dold) Re: White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly (Dave Close) Subpoenas Sent to File-Sharers Prompt Anger and Remorse (Monty Solomon) Telefonica Moviles Strengthens Growth In Second Quarter 2003 (Solomon) FCC's Powell Rejects Criticism of New Media Rules (Monty Solomon) Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues (Robert Bonomi) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Robert Bonomi) Re: Facing Their Demons (Justin Time) Re: Why I Hate Qwest (Alex Beilby) NMS ISA Conference Boards (George) 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: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs Date: 27 Jul 2003 11:55:14 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Ron Chapman writes: > The only solution for an environment like this is to re-image the PC > after every rental. It's not that hard to do either. I've seen student public computer labs set up with etherboot that on every power cycle netboot off of a central file server to a small customized linux distro, which reimaged the disk with the user OS of choice (typically Windows). Doing anything else is dumb. Mark Atwood | When you do things right, mra@pobox.com | people won't be sure you've done anything at all. http://www.pobox.com/~mra ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 15:44:06 -0400 From: nospam-0724@timmins.net Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 16:41:51 -0400, Ron Chapman For TWO YEARS this was going on. Primarily, I can't believe that > Kinko's never re-imaged their PCs. > The only solution for an environment like this is to re-image the PC > after every rental. Sounds draconian, but now it's a marketing tool > in addition to a way to make the lawyers happy. Sounds like a business opportunity here. Some company should produce a CD, updated quarterly, that contains all the essential software needed to run a rental PC in that type of environment. The PC should be configured to boot from the CD (and NOT from the hard drive or floppy), and every time the system is rebooted from the CD, the very first thing the CD should do is a complete wipe of the hard drive (which, presumably, would be about the smallest commercially-available hard drive to start with, so the wipe-time isn't excessive -- for this application 10 GB should be plenty). So, each time a customer is finished with a session, you press the reset button on the computer, it reboots the PC, accesses the wipe program from the CD and runs it, then boots a pristine copy of the OS from the CD. The CD also contains pre-installed copies of commonly-used software (web browser, word processing program, etc.), which of course are licensed from the manufacturer. The place doing the rentals buys one copy of this CD for each PC in simultaneous operation. All license fees are prepaid (so the store running the CD knows they won't get pinched for running illegal software) and at least once every quarter the distributor of the CD sends out a new batch to include any software updates (an unscheduled update could also be sent out if a major security hole is uncovered and fixed). The only part of this scheme that sucks is having to physically ship the CD's -- I suppose you could give each store a program that would run on an administrative PC, download new CD images from a server somewhere, and allow them to be burned to CD-R, but then the store has the hassle of swapping new blank CD-R's into the system until a sufficient number are created, and also you lose control of how many "legal" copies are made (you can't count number of burns, because some percentage of burn attempts will result in useless "coasters"). On the flip side, a damaged CD could be instantly replaced using that sort of system. ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041.nospam@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 15:52:24 -0600 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Ron Chapman wrote: > The only solution for an environment like this is to re-image the PC > after every rental. Sounds draconian, but now it's a marketing tool > in addition to a way to make the lawyers happy. Last time I was in one of the 'Easy' internet cafes in London, that's exactly what they did. Every time a new person logged on, the PC was reloaded from a master server. Amazing place by the way. Must have been 300 individual stations with flat panel screens. ------------------------------ From: Tom Conlon Subject: Re: What to do About Sprint Billing Issues, *Rude* Service? Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 20:59:11 -0400 Rick, you might try posting this query in alt.cellular.sprintpcs. And see my post of 7/24 with subject "Bug? phone calls same # by itself 159 times in 9 hrs". Tom ------------------------------ From: Hal Idooer Subject: Re: Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage Date: 27 Jul 2003 14:17:12 -0500 Reply-To: No E-Mail On 25 Jul 2003 17:27:39 -0700, 617@volcanomail.com (J on the phone) wrote: > Business lines is the key. I've never seen a local operating company, > Bell or otherwise offer this as a part of residential service. Some do > offer a modified Centrex for the home, but out of group transfer is > not part of the service package -- or an available option. > Call transfer within a Centrex group has been available for many > years, but more and more providers are offering the "transfer and > disconnect" feature with and without Centrex on any business line. > However, I'm not aware of this service being available anywhere with > residential service. If I'm wrong, I'd love to hear, since my business > product uses this feature and residential access would widen my > market! You CAN have Residential Call Transfer here in Verizon California Land, if you consider an ISDN BRI (Basic Rate Interface) line installed in your home to be residential service -- and Verizon does. The Call Transfer feature is available on the first B Channel on a line provisioned normally (ISDN National-1, U Package). I can transfer any call in progress (on the B Channel associated with the main Directory Number) to any other destination. I know from personal experience that the Adtran XRT and the Motorola BitSURFR Pro will allow you to do this. The Verizon CO this line originates from has a Nortel DMS-100 switch. (My house is actually served from a local CO with a GTD-5 switch, but Verizon hauls the ISDN line in from another CO [in the same Rate Center] about 12 miles away via fiber, since they apparently cannot make a GTD-5 do ISDN BRI). Essentially, Call Transfer works like a 3-way call, except that if I terminate, the existing connection between the other 2 parties stays up. This is cool ... but the people who sell ISDN BRI don't know generally about or talk about it. Granted, ISDN BRI is not a "normal" phone line, but I replaced two POTS lines with it for less than what I was paying. Advantages: Call Transfer, CID, and (depending on who you talk to) Call Forwarding are already present at no charge. Disadvantages: Inavailability of many fancy CLASS Features (ACR, CID name delivery [from DMS-100], etc. Hal ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 18:50:33 -0500 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , J on the phone <617@volcanomail.com> wrote: > Call transfer within a Centrex group has been available for many years, > but more and more providers are offering the "transfer and disconnect" > feature with and without Centrex on any business line. However, I'm not > aware of this service being available anywhere with residential service. > If I'm wrong, I'd love to hear, since my business product uses this > feature and residential access would widen my market! I have two numbers associated with an ISDN line that I've had for many years. I don't use the ISDN for data much anymore, but I've kept the line to use the two numbers with analog equipment. The audio quality is excellent, as it's digital from me outwards, and includes all the features (call waiting, three-way, forwarding). One thing I've noticed, and I'm not sure if it's dependent on the switch type or some other feature settings, is that if I have a three way call in progress, and I disconnect, the line is available for incoming and outgoing calls, but the two remote parties are still connected and can continue. I've always wondered what would happen to toll billing if they weren't local, but I don't make any toll calls on this line. -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 15:44:34 -0500 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder if it has occurred to the people > who complain about email to President Bush that the man probably gets > so much spam each day (like all the rest of us, only maybe five times > as much) that these extra hoops you have to jump through when writing > to him are mainly intended as ways to cut back on much of the spam. Very > few of the automated spam writing/sending programs are smart enough > to go through checking off boxes and filling in random words which > appear on the screen. Yahoo does that now also: After you send an > email to certain customers there, a graphics (.jpg) word appears on > the screen and you are asked to type that word in to 'prove' you are > not a robot doing spam. PAT] That method kinda discriminates against the blind, not something that an official government website can (or should) do legally. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The way Yahoo deals with this problem (since visually handicapped people cannot 'read' [by audibly hearing] .jpg files) is by printing a text message on the screen at that point which says, 'if you cannot read the word shown, please call us at (toll-free number).' I asked Yahoo about this recently; they said all they want is a real person, not a robot sending mail; a real person calls them with any reason for not being able to 'read the mystery word', that's fine. I do not know about whitehouse.gov . PAT] ------------------------------ From: dold@WhiteXHous.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 20:10:13 UTC Organization: a2i network Dave Close wrote: > Nobody is entitled to know my email address and send email to me > unless they are willing to tell me their address /and/ accept email > from me. We should all boycott these obnoxious non-mail schemes, no > matter what their name or who their perpetrator. Does the White House > still accept public fax messages? So does this mean that you accept the new White House policy, or reject it? It looks like you support the desire of the White House to gather information from you, since you desire information from your correspondents. Someone told me that the various forms of communication received by places that get a _lot_ of correspondence is often weighted by the effort required to generate it. Under this schema, spammed copies of email (please forward a copy of this protest to your Congressional Representative and the White House, after inserting your name at the bottom), receive far less weight than USMail. Participating in the online survey certainly makes life easier for someone driven by the polls, although I don't think the current administration cares that much about public opinion. Having someone followup their own email from a live email address probably drops off a lot of the mail, from auto-spam, from people who rethink what they've said, and from people who decline to provide the requisite information. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 20:18:54 -0700 From: Dave Close Subject: Re: White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly Date: 27 Jul 2003 20:18:24 -0700 Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Dave Close : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder if it has occurred to the people > who complain about email to President Bush that the man probably gets > so much spam each day (like all the rest of us, only maybe five times > as much) that these extra hoops you have to jump through when writing > to him are mainly intended as ways to cut back on much of the spam. Of course, that has occurred to me, and probably everyone else. Every company which puts up a web page to "send us email" and then refuses to publish a working email address, is just as guilty. I just don't agree that it is a legitimate technique. If I were to require people sending email to me to do that, there's no way I could communicate with such organizations. We'd be in a "Mexican standoff", each demanding that the other fill in a form. If I have to write to such organizations, I do it with with a stamp - and I insist that they reply the same way; a telephone call won't do and I don't put my email address on the letter. Business letters are claimed to cost more than $10 each, so this can be an effective technique. I don't like spam, either. So why should I give my email address to any organization that has no legitimate reason to need it, and one for which there is no way to complain about email abuse except by filling in a form? Spam has just as big a relative impact on me as it does on them. I don't accept that they have the right to claim their time is more valuable than mine, so I should be the one to use a form. We all should resist any attempt to impose an elitist agenda on the Net. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Whenever you have a secret, dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 you have a vulnerability." dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu -- Whitfield Diffie [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have thought a couple times about using some 'interactive' process on email here at the Digest to cut back on the amount of spam which is recieved, but haven't done so mainly for the reasons you stated, Dave. I also have thought about a 'secret word', changed regularly, which must be included in all email subject lines sent here, but unless I could automate that process and it was easy for everyone to use, that would be a hassle also. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 09:26:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Subpoenas Sent to File-Sharers Prompt Anger and Remorse By AMY HARMON A blizzard of subpoenas from the recording industry seeking the identities of people suspected of illegally swapping music is provoking fear, anger and professions of remorse as the targets of the antipiracy dragnet learn that they may soon be sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. The Recording Industry Association of America has obtained close to 1,000 such subpoenas over the last four weeks to more than a dozen Internet service providers, including Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner Cable, and several universities, including Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, demanding the names of file swappers. Most Internet providers are notifying the unlucky subscribers by mail that they are legally required to turn over their contact information. Those on alert include several college students, the parents of a 14-year-old boy in the Southwest, a 41-year-old Colorado health care worker and a Brooklyn woman who works in the fashion industry. "They could have used some other way to inform people than scaring the bejiminy out of them," said a mother who received a copy of the subpoena last Wednesday, listing several songs that her 14-year-old son had made available for others to copy from his computer. "If someone had sent me a letter saying `this is wrong,' you can bet your sweet potatoes that would have gotten my attention. This just seems so drastic." The ominous letters and a list of screen names culled from court filings that is circulating on the Web underscore the unusually personal nature of the industry's latest effort to stamp out online piracy, which it blames for a 25 percent drop in sales of CD's since 1999. Under copyright law, the group can be awarded damages of $750 to $150,000 for each copyrighted song that was distributed without authorization. Some of the targeted Internet users expressed shock that they were singled out for an activity that tens of millions of Americans are believed to engage in. Others said they were unaware they were doing anything wrong. Most of those interviewed refused to be identified by name, citing privacy concerns and the potential impending legal action against them. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/28/technology/28TUNE.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Readers of NYTimes are invited to use our group login name 'telecomdigest' and our group password 'telecomdigest' when logging in to NY Times. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 09:00:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Telefonica Moviles Strengthens Growth In Second Quarter Of 2003 Telefonica Moviles Strengthens Growth In Second Quarter Of 2003 and Obtains First-Half Net Profit Of 779 Million Euros MADRID, Spain, July 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- -- ecurring net profit rose 36.8% in first half 2003, backed by strong growth in operations: -- Telefonica Moviles Espana achieved a 7.8% increase in cumulative revenue. ARPU was 28.6 euros, with the company achieving year-over-year growth in this indicator for the first time in its history; MOU advanced 9.6% to 111 minutes; and traffic rose 19%. -- Brasilcel consolidated its leadership of the Brazilian market with a customer base numbering 17.5 million and achieved an estimated share of additions of over 50% in second quarter 2003 in those markets in which it operates. -- Telefonica Moviles Mexico saw a rebound in sales activity in second quarter 2003, with the launch of Telefonica MoviStar as a single, nationwide brand and the deployment of its GSM network in 15 of Mexico's largest cities. -- Telefonica Moviles' operating revenues were 11.1% higher in second quarter 2003 compared with second quarter 2002. The cumulative increase over the half year was 2.6%. -- Telefonica Moviles Group EBITDA was 2.127 billion euros, a 14.1% advance. Comparing second quarter 2003 with second quarter 2002, this increase was 19.6%. -- The consolidated EBITDA margin reached 45.9%, or 4.6 percentage points higher than in June, 2002. Telefonica Moviles Espana has consolidated its status as a benchmark for efficiency, with an EBITDA margin of over 54% and a churn rate which has fallen to 0.8%. -- Consolidated Free Cash Flow generation remains strong at 1.170 billion euros, an increase of 15%. NOTE ON THE PRESENTATION OF RESULTS - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35018468 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 09:01:06 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC's Powell Rejects Criticism of New Media Rules By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell on Monday said efforts to limit the growth of media companies appears to be an attempt to control television content and may have unintended consequences. Powell has been under fire in recent months for crafting new regulations that will allow television broadcasters to own more local stations as well as permit a company to own a newspaper, a television station and radio outlets in a market. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35017356 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues Organization: Not Much From: bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 05:14:04 GMT In article , Mark Baker wrote: > I am in Australia and often read about 'Bouygues' in the trade press. > However, I have never heard it pronounced. Could someone please give > me a phonetic guide to its pronunciation? I don't recognize it without a context, could be anything from 'bug-eyes' to 'boik'. ------------------------------ Organization: Not Much Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks From: bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 05:29:04 GMT In article , John R. Covert wrote: > Verizon's recorded time service in Boston, 617 637-xxxx (617 NERVOUS, > for example), has been giving the wrong time for years. > I just checked it. It told me, "At the tone, the time will be 8:51, > exactly." But the tone came at 8:50:48. Now that's only twelve > seconds, but I've never seen it closer than that to the correct time. > So I just decided to report it to repair service at 617 555-1611. The > clerk said, "I'll make a note indicating that the clock is off by > twelve seconds." Will anything happen? > For what it's worth, 202 TIme 4-xxxx (DC) is off by 25 seconds at the > moment. The *effective* way to report these kinds of issues is to notify repair service that: a) There appears to be a "thiotimoline" leak in the time-of-day hardware, (when it's slow) b) the "thiotimoline" in the time-of-day hardware appears to be exposed to excessive moisture. (if the clock is fast) Either of these situations involve possible HAZMAT risk. Google For Dr. I Asimov's report on the research into "The Endochronic properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline", for further details. ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Facing Their Demons Date: 28 Jul 2003 05:46:41 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Monty Solomon wrote in message news:: > To face demons, firms dump maxim > By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 7/27/2003 > When a customer is put on hold a long time, given snail-like service, > or offered less attractive prices, at most companies it's > inadvertent. But at a growing number of firms, it may be deliberate. > That's right. Companies are using poor service as a behavior > modification tool to transform an unprofitable customer into either a > profitable customer or a former customer. > In the most extreme cases, companies dispense with the subtlety of > behavior modification and tell a customer straight to his or her face > not to come back, as Filene's Basement did recently with two sisters > from Newton who, in the Basement's opinion, made excessive returns and > were chronic complainers. > Larry Selden, the coauthor of a new book called 'Angel Customers & > Demon Customers,' said one way or another, companies have to deal > with their demon customers. > http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/208/business/Facing_their_demons+.shtml Gee! Do you possibly think Sprint PCS and MCI are trying to tell us something? Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: beilby@cuic.ca (A Beilby) Subject: Re: Why I Hate Qwest Date: 28 Jul 2003 08:30:41 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ J Kelly wrote in message news:: > I eventually got a credit for just under $100, for 14 months of > CallerID service at $6.95/month. I now have their unlimited plan for > $44.95/mo that includes all my long distance calls, and for the first > time in my life, I'm actually satisfied with my Qwest service. It has > been working perfectly. They probably have a note on my account that > they can't screw up my line anymore or I'll bitch to the big shots! Sounds like your persistance paid off. For God's sake don't move! I had them charge me three years of rental line charges for a phone line that I didn't own. It used to be my line three years ago, and MCI were doing the LD, but MCI couldn't remove the new users LD until Qwest notified them, and Qwest couldn't notify them because the line didn't exist as a business line anymore, and the customer service person couldn't change it as I didn't have the Social insurance of the new owner. We sent them a legal looking letter that said they should drop the charges, and six weeks later when it reached their claims dept, I was notified that they would be considering reducing the charge "to give me the benefit of the doubt as I had such a good credit history". Time to get line-of-site wireless, or a cell phone with a data- subscription. That said, I still remember the shock when I called them up to add a new line, and they asked me for my preferred day and time. I said the sooner the better, and they told me tomorrow morning between 10 and 12. And the line was in ...!! That still comes to mind when I am negotiating service levels! Alex Beilby ------------------------------ From: gmcnitt@evercom.net (George) Subject: NMS ISA Conference Boards Date: 28 Jul 2003 09:40:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Anyone have or know of a source for the Natural Microsystems ISA Conference board? It is the older End Of Life conference NMS made for years. I could use 100 or so if available. NMS part # 5252. Thanks. ------------------------------ 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 #585 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 28 15:11:49 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6SJBnW11439; Mon, 28 Jul 2003 15:11:49 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 15:11:49 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307281911.h6SJBnW11439@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 #586 TELECOM Digest Mon, 28 Jul 2003 15:12:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 586 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Telecom Update (Canada) #392, July 29, 2003 (Angus TeleManagement) Re: Transfer and Drop, was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer (joe@obilivan) Re: Transfer and Drop, was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer (Me) The Passing of Jane Barbe (Marty Brenneis) Last Laugh! Jacob & Rebecca's Wedding Day, and OHIM (Lisa Minter) 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, 28 Jul 2003 10:16:03 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #392, July 29, 2003 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 392: July 28, 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: ** BCE, CGI Rework Relationship ** Cabinet to Reject Quebecor, Telus Appeals? ** Allstream, AT&T Sign Deal for Network Support ** CRTC Denies Centrex Volume Discounts ** MCI LD Fraud May Have Used Canadian Net ** Bell, MTS Withdraw Internet Call Display ** Microcell Offers Overseas GPRS Roaming ** Microcell Fields 'Swiss Army' Handset ** Globalstar Lowers Roaming Charges ** Sprint Sells Accounts Receivable ** Telus to Distribute Siemens PBXs ** Financial Results Aliant MTS Avaya Lucent Nortel ** Defending Yourself Against Awful Telecom Bills ============================================================ BCE, CGI REWORK RELATIONSHIP: BCE and CGI Group have eliminated the options that allowed either to buy the other out or force a purchase. Bell Canada will now be CGI's preferred telecom provider, and BCE will continue outsourcing IT services to CGI until 2012. BCE says it has "no current intention" to sell its stake in CGI. ** BCE will keep its share of CGI below 30%; it will get board representation and rights over some transactions. CABINET TO REJECT QUEBECOR, TELUS APPEALS? The National Post reports that the federal Cabinet has decided to reject the Quebecor and Telus appeals of CRTC rulings. ** Quebecor wanted a public inquiry into BCE's ownership of ExpressVu, which it claimed was unfairly subsidized from Bell Canada's profits. (See Telecom Update #353, 365) ** Telus had appealed the Commission's decision to use national rather than company-specific costs to calculate the subsidies telcos receive for servicing high-cost areas and the prices they can charge for unbundled local loops. (See Telecom Update #367) ALLSTREAM, AT&T SIGN DEAL FOR NETWORK SUPPORT: Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada) and AT&T Corp. have extended through 2005 their agreement to carry each other's traffic and maintain network interface arrangements. CRTC DENIES CENTREX VOLUME DISCOUNTS: CRTC Decisions 2003-50 and 2003-51 reject applications by MTS and Aliant to introduce lower rates for Centrex customers with more than 8,000 or 12,000 lines, respectively. The Commission says the telcos failed to justify their proposals. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2003/dt2003-50.htm http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2003/dt2003-51.htm MCI LD FRAUD MAY HAVE USED CANADIAN NET: U.S. federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that MCI has been rerouting U.S. domestic long distance calls through Canada, and in the process changing billing codes so that AT&T would have to pay the call termination fees. Competitors say this was one of several schemes by which MCI avoided as much as $1 billion in charges to other carriers since 1994. BELL, MTS WITHDRAW INTERNET CALL DISPLAY: CRTC Decisions 2003-299 and 2003-300 approve a proposal by Bell Canada to stop offering Internet Call Display to new customers and one by Manitoba Tel to cancel the service. Both telcos must give current ICD customers a list of alternative ICD providers. ** 559 customers objected to Bell's original plan to withdraw the service entirely. Only two objected to MTS's filing. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2003/o2003-299.htm http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2003/o2003-300.htm MICROCELL OFFERS OVERSEAS GPRS ROAMING: Microcell customers can now use GPRS data services in Germany, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and the UK, as well as across the U.S. MICROCELL FIELDS 'SWISS ARMY' HANDSET: The Nokia 5100 cellphone, now available from Microcell, includes a thermometer, a stopwatch, a flashlight, an FM radio with speaker, and a calorie counter. Price: $250. GLOBALSTAR LOWERS ROAMING CHARGES: Satellite phone provider Globalstar Canada has reduced roaming charges in 50 overseas countries, formerly about $3/minute, to $1.99/minute. Overseas long distance is now 36 cents/minute. ** General Manager Peter White is leaving Globalstar at the end of July; his replacement is Steven Bell. SPRINT SELLS ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Sprint Canada has signed a five-year agreement with Finacity Trust to securitize much of Sprint's accounts receivable for up to $55 million in cash. TELUS TO DISTRIBUTE SIEMENS PBXs: Telus has agreed to market and sell Siemens' portfolio of HiPath IP-PBXs and related applications. FINANCIAL RESULTS: The following results are for the second quarter: ** Aliant reports revenue of $666 million, up 1.9% from a year ago. Net earnings were $71 million, down 16%. Aliant has reduced its revenue forecast for 2003 by about 10%. ** Manitoba Telecom Services had revenue of $214.1 million, 2% higher than the same quarter last year (excluding Bell Intrigna). Net income was $24 million. MTS's digital TV service, launched in Winnipeg in January, had 2,600 customers by June 30: it aims to have 6,000 by year-end. ** Avaya's revenue of US$1.07 billion was 1% less than the preceding quarter and 12% less than a year ago. Net income was $8 million, compared to a loss of $39 million a year ago. ** Lucent's revenue of US$1.96 billion was 18% less than the preceding quarter and 34% less than a year ago. Net loss was $254 million, compared to $8.0 billion a year ago. ** Nortel reports revenue of US$2.33 billion, 3% less than the previous quarter and 16% less than a year ago. A net loss of $14 million compares with a profit of $54 million in the previous quarter. DEFENDING YOURSELF AGAINST AWFUL TELECOM BILLS: In the latest issue of Telemanagement, consultants Henry Dortmans and Mike Dunne explain how to conduct your own telecom bill audit. Also in Telemanagement #207: ** "Succession 3.0: Nortel's Next Generation" ** "Power Line Communications Gets Back on Track" ** "IP-PBX or IP-Centrex?" Telemanagement is available only by subscription. For more information on Canada's #1 source for expert, independent telecom analysis and guidance, call 800-263-4415 ext 500 or go to http://www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm.html. ============================================================ 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: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.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. ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Transfer and Drop, was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 06:27:05 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications Danny Burstein wrote: > In 617@volcanomail.com (J on the > phone)writes: > [snip] >> Business lines is the key. I've never seen a local operating company, >> Bell or otherwise offer this as a part of residential service. Some do >> offer a modified Centrex for the home, but out of group transfer is >> not part of the service package -- or an available option. I had the old Pacific Bell COMMSTAR II residential Centrex service, which permitted call transfers only within the group. OTOH, I had virtually the indentical residential offering in Oregon from then Pacific Northwest Bell, it it permitted call transfers to anywhere. ------------------------------ Reply-To: Me From: Me Subject: Re: Transfer and Drop, was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 14:12:50 GMT Danny Burstein wrote in message news:telecom22.584.16@telecom-digest.org: > In 617@volcanomail.com (J on the > phone)writes: > [snip] >> Business lines is the key. I've never seen a local operating company, >> Bell or otherwise offer this as a part of residential service. Some do >> offer a modified Centrex for the home, but out of group transfer is >> not part of the service package -- or an available option. >> Call transfer within a Centrex group has been available for many >> years, but more and more providers are offering the "transfer and >> disconnect" feature with and without Centrex on any business line. >> However, I'm not aware of this service being available anywhere with >> residential service. If I'm wrong, I'd love to hear, since my business >> product uses this feature and residential access would widen my >> market! > In the NYC area this used to be available, under the tradename > "intellidial" (maybe intellical), from the local RBOC. I personally > used it -- including the txfer to offsite -- from my home. > I dropped it a decade [L] ago when they told me I couldn't get caller > ID on lines with this service since it wasn't tariffed. > Shortly afterwards they suspended the offering. I don't know if it's > been replaced by anything similar. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That may be the reason why Illinois > Bell dropped that feature also which they called Intellidial. But > Southwestern Bell (SBC) still seem to have at least the remnants > of it under the name 'Plexar'. PAT] One major problem the telcos have with POTS call transfer is billing. In regular POTS each originating party is billed for the call they initiate. In call transfer the Billing records "collapse" on to the transferred leg of the call very possibly making a called party unwittingly responsible for the entire bill from the call transfer forward. Another possibility is transferring two outgoing trunks together; not sure how originating billing would be accomplished in that scenario, likely there would be a bill to the originator for the duration of the call, and the two terminating trunks could talk forever with no charges? Obviously this scenario would be further complicated if the trunks were inter-toll to a LD carrier. Downstream AMA processing would have a very nasty time sorting these scenarios out. It is possible to institute CXR for local calls only, but that would be confusing for the customer. It is not forbidden by most (I say most because I can speak for the 5E and the DMS) switching software to assign CXR to a RES line (they are all mostly RES or Centrex lines now, flat rate, party and coin line class codes are disappearing fast.) The telco OSS software is responsible for restricting the assignment. Usage sensitive or terminating billing would solve most of these scenarios, but I don't think that's likely to happen in POTS land. I do expect to see CXR on cell phones someday though. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 11:26:27 -0700 From: Marty Brenneis Organization: Camera Engineering Subject: The Passing of Jane Barbe Hi Pat, (and Lisa) I'm suprised that there is no mention of the passing of Jane Barbe in the digest. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0728obitbarbe28.html Please keep this email adress annomyous from the digest. Keep at it. Marty Brenneis [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you very much for mentioning it. I think Ms. Barbe's passing occurred last week; today was the first I heard about it. I speak for all our readers in extending sypathy to her family and close friends. I am sure most or all of our readers here know about Jane Barbe: the voice of the old Bell System intercept messages for many, many years. Her voice is still heard at many telephone companies when someone dials a 'wrong number'. Readers are invited to check out the {Arizona Republic} obituary quoted above. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jul 2003 18:50:34 -0000 Subject: Last Laugh! Jacob and Rebecca's Wedding Day, and OHIM From: Lisa Minter Jacob (age 92)and Rebecca (age 85) are all excited about their decision to get married. They go for a stroll to discuss the wedding and on the way go past a drugstore. Jacob suggests that they go in and addresses the man behind the counter -- "Are you the owner?" The pharmacist answers "Yes" Jacob: Do you sell heart medication? Pharmacist: Of course we do. Jacob: How about medicine for circulation? Pharmacist: All kinds. Jacob: Medicine for rheumatism? Pharmacist: Definitely. Jacob: How about Viagra? Pharmacist: Of course. Jacob: Medicine for memory? Pharmacist: Yes, a large variety. Jacob: How about vitamins and sleeping pills? Pharmacist: Absolutely. Jacob turns to Rebecca - - "Sweetheart, we might as well register our wedding gift list with them! ------------------ You have heard the expression TGIF (Thank God its Friday). What about the expression OHIM (Oh, hell, its Monday). Monday! Monday! Monday, Monday! Back to the old job ... I think we should have a 4 day work week and a 3 day weekend. Would Thursday be the new Friday or would Tuesday be the new Monday? That's the question! I would like to have off on Monday and then start the week on Tuesday. The great feeling Friday produces wouldn't change ... that's what I'm thinking! It was HOT in Independence this weekend! 105 degrees on Sunday. My excuse for not exercising all weekend ... the only exercise I got was turning up the air-conditioning ... and hitting the remote. I believe weekends are for splurging ... letting yourself be lazy! On the other hand I have a friend who writes lists every morning sometimes two lists ... all the things that need to be accomplished. I felt a little sorry for my friend ... he puts constant pressure on himself ... if he isn't working on his house then he should be writing or drawing or cleaning. He's so undecided about what he should do next that he ends up accomplishing nothing! He can't win. I don't know if this is a disorder or what but it's enough to drive me crazy ... Well that's out of me ... how are you? Have a great Monday! Lisa Minter ------------------------------ 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 #586 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 28 22:17:17 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6T2HHx13198; Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:17:17 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:17:17 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307290217.h6T2HHx13198@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 #587 TELECOM Digest Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:17:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 587 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Residential ISDN BRI Thoughts was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer (Idooer) MCI [Worldcom] ATT Scam - How Did it Work? (QuienES) The Saudis are in Deep Doo Doo (Kilo Delate) PhatNoise Brings Digital Music to Cars; Needs Work (Monty Solomon) Telcos Scowl at 'Bill of Rights' (Monty Solomon) Remember CALEA? (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly (Clarence Dold) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (John Bartley K7AAY) Re: Why I Hate Qwest (John Bartley K7AAY) Need Business T1/Other Broadband in Delaware 5 MBPS (Arthur) Re: The Passing of Jane Barbe (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Summer Shortfall and Share Day (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: Hal Idooer Subject: Residential ISDN BRI Thoughts was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Date: 28 Jul 2003 14:59:12 -0500 Reply-To: No E-Mail On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 18:50:33 -0500, Gary Breuckman wrote: > I have two numbers associated with an ISDN line that I've had for many > years. I don't use the ISDN for data much anymore, but I've kept the > line to use the two numbers with analog equipment. The audio quality > is excellent, as it's digital from me outwards, and includes all the > features (call waiting, three-way, forwarding). > One thing I've noticed, and I'm not sure if it's dependent on the > switch type or some other feature settings, is that if I have a three > way call in progress, and I disconnect, the line is available for > incoming and outgoing calls, but the two remote parties are still > connected and can continue. I've always wondered what would happen to > toll billing if they weren't local, but I don't make any toll calls on > this line. That's the other thing I forgot to mention -- the excellent audio quality on voice calls. Crystal clear and loud, baby, even if your normal POTS line is shitsville. I also have FAX and modem devices on my ISDN numbers and v.92 modems routinely connect at 54.6kbps, and FAX speeds are top notch. Be careful if you're ordering ISDN service, however; if you get some Verizon rep who's inexperienced or trying to charge you separately for CID, call waiting, three-way, call forwarding, then hang up and call back. These features are included with the U-Package provisioning (which includes 1 additional "Call Appearance" on the primary number [enables CW & 3-Way]). Standard CF (*72) should also be present on both Directory Numbers; you shouldn't have to ask for it. You can't get CID Name Delivery, however -- at least not from a DMS-100. Another factor around here is that Verizon charges something like $20-30/mo for a midspan repeater if you're more than about 18000 feet from the CO (but they will test the line to verify one is really required -- pair quality varies). This repeater cost can push ISDN into the area of non-feasibility. (Someone told me once that Pac Bell did not charge for any necessary repeater -- I'm not sure about that.) Once you get Residential ISDN BRI in and working, it's a reasonable replacement for a couple of POTS lines. I don't make data calls anymore either, but I keep ISDN anyway. Verizon Residential ISDN BRI is flat-rated on voice calls. And of course the Call Transfer ability is nice. But this stuff is old technology now, and it seems that ISDN BRI Terminal Adapters/Modems are getting harder to find (though used Motorola BitSURFR Pros can be had for a few bucks on eBay). As far as billing on Transferred calls, I haven't tested L.D. situations either, but I would think you would simply continue to pay for any call you initiated, even after you've dropped off (transferred) and the other parties continue to talk. Another subtle advantage is that ISDN lines, like T1's and such, are usually "red-capped" at all terminals between premise and CO to identify them as DATA lines. They get left alone, and no one other than Big Brother is likely to be listening to your conversations. The red caps stop Joe Phoneman from trying to clip onto your pair for a quick call to dispatch or the test board, as happens with POTS lines, especially that poor bastard who's pair happens to appear at the right corner of the B-Box. I wonder how many of these unfortunate souls are mystified by all the clicking and clunking they hear on their line, and the occasional conversation in progress they hear when they go off-hook to make a call ... heh heh. Hal ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 01:22:56 GMT From: QuienEs Subject: MCI [Worldcom] ATT-Canada Scam - How Did it Work ? Organization: Optimum Online MCI [Worldcom] ATT-Canada scam -- how did it work ? I mean technically and/or tarif-wise. I've read a couple of the news reports but have no understanding of what was really going on. Any explanations or pointers to same would be very welcome. Cheers, QE in NJ ------------------------------ From: KiloDelate Subject: 09/11/01 Report - The Saudi's are in Deep Doo Doo Organization: KiloDelta Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 21:44:50 -0400 Wow - I'm not even a third of the way through but the connection to the Saudi's is amazing. No wonder we're moving our bases out of there. And OPEC is screwed -- they cap production at 2mil a day, Iraq could pump 11mil a day. Bye bye cartel! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:01:07 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: PhatNoise Brings Digital Music to Cars, but System Needs Work By WALTER S. MOSSBERG Millions of Americans have acquired zillions of digital song files and are happily listening to them on their PCs and portable music players. But one place where music is often enjoyed, the car, remains largely off limits. Sure, you can burn your MP3 song files to a CD and play them in the car. But that doesn't give you thousands of songs at one time, or let you play them in any combination with ease, as you can on an Apple iPod. Plus, most factory-installed car CD players don't tell you the song, artist or album that is playing, which is a key part of the digital-music experience. So, digital-music lovers who want to replicate the iPod-type experience must tote players to the car and hook them into the auto sound system via a cassette adapter or some other gadget. Not only is the sound inferior, but you're constantly taking your eyes off the road to fumble with the player to change songs. However, a few add-on, hard-disk-based digital players can be installed in cars. I've been testing one of the most popular, a $795 product called PhatNoise, made by a Los Angeles company of the same name. For a week, I drove a PhatNoise-equipped Volkswagen Passat, lent to me by the company, to see how the add-on music system worked. PhatNoise allows you to listen to any of thousands of songs in your car. It even announces the names of albums and artists using a synthesized computer voice. In my tests, the product worked as advertised. But I found that its system for navigating through all that music has some serious drawbacks. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20030724.html ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Telcos Scowl at 'Bill of Rights' Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 15:59:53 -0400 By Elisa Batista 02:00 AM Jul. 28, 2003 PT California is about to pass a so-called telecommunications bill of rights that would force telephone companies to provide timely and consistent service, even to customers who are late paying their bills. State Public Utilities Commissioner Carl Wood said his team has drafted the final version of a Telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights, which could become law as early as September. The proposed law, the first of its kind in the country, would require all phone companies, including wireless, local and long distance, to be upfront about the quality of their services and provide the utmost customer care, including a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week hotline with live operators. Among other provisions, companies would have to disclose key rates, contract terms and conditions, and prices clearly on all print material, advertising and websites. Any "written solicitations by carriers or their agents" must be "unambiguous, legible and in the equivalent of 10-point type or larger," the bill states. In addition, customers would be given 45 days to cancel their contracts without penalty. And, in the part of the bill that is perhaps most disputed by the industry, companies would not be able to tack on any late fees to bills in dispute. They also would be required to offer basic telephone service even when customers don't pay their bills in full. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59789,00.html ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Remember CALEA? Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 20:09:26 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida This Cringely column, spotted at LWN.net, suggests that (unsurprisingly) the implementation of this "feature" for the feds isn't precisely what you might want to hear: http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20030710.html === The typical CALEA installation on a Siemens ESWD or a Lucent 5E or a Nortel DMS 500 runs on a Sun workstation sitting in the machine room down at the phone company. The workstation is password protected, but it typically doesn't run Secure Solaris. It often does not lie behind a firewall. Heck, it usually doesn't even lie behind a door. It has a direct connection to the Internet because, believe it or not, that is how the wiretap data is collected and transmitted. === Great. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: dold@WhiteXHous.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 20:26:14 UTC Organization: a2i network > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have thought a couple times about > using some 'interactive' process on email here at the Digest to cut > back on the amount of spam which is recieved, but haven't done so > mainly for the reasons you stated, Dave. I also have thought about a > 'secret word', changed regularly, which must be included in all email > subject lines sent here, but unless I could automate that process and > it was easy for everyone to use, that would be a hassle also. PAT] I thought there was one, at least while you were away a year or so ago. I posted something, and got an automated letter indicating that I hadn't posted anything previously, and that as soon as I replied, my email address would be added to a whitelist of valid posters to the digest. I don't get those anymore, so either I'm whitelisted, or there's no list ;-) Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think while I was absent and John Levine was maintaining the mailing list his procedure was to use that scheme. I do not personally use that method or anything (other than spam assassin) to filter the mail. Oh, I did get the sysadmin at LCS-MIT to set up a system-wide limit of 50 K per item of mail, which had the effect of slowing down delivery of the giant spams which were coming through on a regular basis. PAT] ------------------------------ From: 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 20:46:05 GMT > Monty Solomon wrote: >> NEW YORK (AP) -- For more than a year, unbeknownst to people who used >> Internet terminals at Kinko's stores in New York, Juju Jiang was >> recording what they typed, paying particular attention to their >> passwords. >> Jiang had secretly installed, in at least 14 Kinko's copy shops, >> software that logs individual keystrokes. He captured more than 450 >> user names and passwords, and used them to access and open bank >> accounts online. >> The case, which led to a guilty plea earlier this month after Jiang >> was caught, highlights the risks in using public Internet terminals at >> cybercafes, libraries, airports and other establishments. >> http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/07/23/cybercafe.security.ap/index.html >> http://www.cnn.com/business2/articles/web/0,1653,50983,00.html >> http://www.cybercrime.gov/jiangPlea.htm On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 16:41:51 -0400, Ron Chapman wrote: > For TWO YEARS this was going on. Primarily, I can't believe that > Kinko's never re-imaged their PCs. > The only solution for an environment like this is to re-image the PC > after every rental. Sounds draconian, but now it's a marketing tool > in addition to a way to make the lawyers happy. Not the only system; perhaps a secure operating system would help? Boot the OS from a CD that's in a physically locked drive, and you have a secure system. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) Subject: Re: Why I Hate Qwest Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 20:57:17 GMT On 26 Jul 2003 07:04:04 -0700, J Kelly wrote: > In article , > richards1052@comcast.net says: >> Qwest, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways ... Looks like QWORST.NET has been snapped up by an IT group in AZ, the Arizona Internet Professionals Association. dom@248.com PO Box 25414 Tempe, Arizona 85285 United States (480) 706-6815 However, QWORST.COM, a domain I had, but let expire, is available from http://www.stargateinc.com Be a dandy place to track Qwest's 'QOS' (Quality of Suckage). If you need my help in getting the domain assigned to you, as the former owner, let me know, and I will write any require correspondence. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: arthurr@bpo365.com (Arthur) Subject: Need Business T1/Other Broadband in Delaware 5 MBPS Date: 28 Jul 2003 14:40:51 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ PowerCom Enterprise Inc., 501 Silverside Rd, Suite:54, Wilmington, Delaware 19809, ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 17:28:14 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: The Passing of Jane Barbe > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: ... I am sure most or all of our > readers here know about Jane Barbe: the voice of the old Bell System > intercept messages for many, many years. Her voice is still heard at > many telephone companies when someone dials a 'wrong number'. So this means her telephone number will be shut off, and then if someone calls it what do you suppose they will hear ...? Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com Grammar and spelling flames welcome. Yes, that's really my email address. Don't change it. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not know if she was the only user of her personal telephone number or not; if she was, and if the telco serving her home community still uses her recordings then when someone dial that number, I imagine they will still hear her announcing that the number is disconnected. This reminds me of several years ago when the old WNIB radio station in Chicago had an announcer named Bruce Duffie. Every Saturday night, Mr. Duffie played some interesting recordings from a fellow who had been dead for about twenty years (at that point.) On his tapes now and then, the fellow alluded to the fact that he enjoyed letters from listeners 'in care of this station'. I asked Mr. Duffie did WNIB still get any mail for the fellow; he said for a few years there was a lot of it and they forwarded it to the man's widow for answering, but that lately there had not been much mail for the guy. When I asked him what would happen now if a letter arrived, he thought a minute and said, "Well I suppose it would go to the dead letter office." PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 13:42:44 -0600 From: Patrick Townson Subject: Summer Shortfalls and Share Day You readers may have noticed that during summer months, particularly on weekends, we don't have quite as many issues of the Digest. People tend to go on vacation; go away for weekends, etc. Starting about July 4 and continuing through about Labor Day, I get more spam mail on weekends than real mail. That is, I guess, because spammers don't take vacations. Despite what their spam claims about making 'thousands of dollars mailing spam things' (although they call it 'legitimate') and one would assume they would earn so much they could take off work a month or two at a time on holidays, they seldom ever stop their noxious mailings. However, a lot of regular readers of telecom news and opinion do tend to vanish during the summer, when school is out, etc. Some of our regular financial contributors vanish for a couple months also. This makes summer months particularly difficult for me, since hundred degree plus weather makes the electric meter move faster than ever. *If* you can make an extra (and/or larger than usual) gift at this time, it will be especially appreciated. Share Day is the one time each month we get away from telecom news/opinions, etc to remind everyone that TELECOM Digest is shareware, not freeware, and I am starting share day a couple days early this month for just those reasons mentioned above. But things have changed just a little, since the archives has been greatly expanded this month. Upon your request, I would be pleased to send you the complete Telecom Digest Archives, on either CD or DVD media. If you opt for CD, the contents will be split onto two discs: the first contains most of the entire Archives FTP site, while the second contains the recently-added Western Union Technical Review. What I have done is acquire the entire twenty-two year (1947 through 1969) press run of the WUTR. There are about 90 issues in total of this technical journal, and they have all been scanned and placed in directories here. Remember, the *newest* of these is nearly 35 years old; the oldest is more than a half century old. Regretably, now and then a cover is torn or missing, and a few pages are not as easy to read as I would like. But they have been reconstructed as well as possible; you won't miss much of any of it. The first few issues were typewritten, and have rubber stamp indicias from libraries on them, etc. Also new to the archives are some .jpg photos from the AT&T Satellite Earth Station in Kimbles, PA. Otherwise all the files are there, and this Digest from issue one in 1981 through the latest issues in 2003. As these discs are not free for me to produce and ship, it is suggested that requests for these discs be accompanied by a gift of at least $50, and more would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you request DVD format, please be sure to specify either DVD-R or DVD+R media. If you do not specify, DVD-R will be used. Joey has added a couple notes here I want to share: Just FYI, I've managed to tweak my setup here so that, whenever I do a production run, I do the following: 1) Run my "mirror.bat" script, which fires up wget and goes to massis to synchronize my files with yours, so that I'm up to date. 2) Run my "makeiso.bat" script, which creates two separate CD "images". The first is an image of the entire Telecom Archives directory structure, with the EXCEPTION of the Western Union files - these are excluded. On the second run, *ONLY* the Western Union files are imaged. The result is two .ISO files on my hard drive which my burner software can then burn directly to CD media. These ISO images contain both a Joliet (Windows) and Rockridge (Linux) filesystem. 3a) If burning to CD: I simply burn the two ISO images to CD, one after the other. 3b) If burning to DVD, I ignore the ISO images and instruct my burner software to burn the entire Telecom Archives directory structure right from the existing files. With DVD, you don't have to worry about Joliet, Rockridge, and other filesystems: there is only one filesystem, UDF, that all operating systems understand, thus no ISO image is required. ===================== In other words, in addition to your name and address for shipment purposes, be sure to specify CD or DVD format, and if DVD is desired, if you want DVD-R or DVD+R. Joey will also include several of his old time radio shows on a telecom theme as before, including Agnes Morehead and 'Sorry, Wrong Number' from the 1940's Suspense production on radio. Even if you have previously ordered a CD you may want to get a DVD edition, or a copy for office and home. To order via PayPal, go to http://telecom-digest.org and at the very bottom of the first page (or index.html) use the PayPal template for fastest service. If you prefer to send a check or money order, you may do that also by sending it to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, KS 67301-0050. Please do this as soon as you can, so I can finish off this month fully in the black. Thanks! Patrick Townson TELECOM Digest Editor ------------------------------ 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 #587 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jul 29 19:44:00 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6TNi0A18106; Tue, 29 Jul 2003 19:44:00 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 19:44:00 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307292344.h6TNi0A18106@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 #588 TELECOM Digest Tue, 29 Jul 2003 19:44:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 588 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Jupiter Cuts Online Music View Citing Slump (Monty Solomon) ReplayTV Is Back, Again (Monty Solomon) DirecTV Dragnet Snares Innocent Techies (Monty Solomon) Privacy, Economics, Price Discrimination on the Internet (Monty Solomon) "Copying is Theft ..." / Other Legal Myths Looming (Monty Solomon) Policy Post 9.15: GetNetWise 2 Offers Tips Child Safety (Monty Solomon) AT&T Launches Free Wi-Fi Service Throughout August (Monty Solomon) Verizon's 2nd-Quarter Results Marked by Sector-Leading Revenue (Solomon) T-Mobile Sidekick (Monty Solomon) Woof, Woof ... Is This Thing On? (Monty Solomon) Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam (Monty Solomon) High-Speed Net Access a Challenge in Vermont (Monty Solomon) AT&T to Offer New Allegation in MCI Inquiry (Monty Solomon) ISDN Good Stuff was Re: Residential ISDN BRI Thoughts (Danny Burstein) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Mark Atwood) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Kyler Laird) 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, 28 Jul 2003 22:43:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Jupiter Cuts Online Music View Citing Slump By Reshma Kapadia NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) - Jupiter Research on Monday slashed its forecast for the online music market, citing "lackluster" digital services to date and the industry-wide slump as the sector struggles with piracy. But industry executives gathered for a Jupiter Plug In conference in New York, while acknowledging that challenges still lay ahead, said online music services were gaining momentum. Their optimism was based on the introduction of more complete online services and a thawing of relations between technology companies, record labels and artists. Jupiter, which issues an annual five-year forecast for online music, expects the online market -- including the sale of CDs, downloads and subscription services -- to more than triple to $3.3 billion in 2008 from less than $1 billion in 2003; far below last year's estimate of $5.1 billion in 2007. Free digital music services such as Kazaa continue to pose a major challenge to the pay services. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35028410 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 23:20:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: ReplayTV Is Back, Again Arik Hesseldahl, 07.28.03, 10:00 AM ET NEW YORK - Despite the death of the company that made it popular, the ReplayTV digital video recorder isn't dead. It has just changed owners. Last March, SonicBlue, the onetime graphics-chip company that switched to the consumer-electronics business by buying up small companies with great ideas, went bankrupt itself. When it bought ReplayTV, it did so only after the company that originated it had started to show considerable financial strain -- brought on in part by stiff competition from rival Tivo (nasdaq: TIVO - news - people ). SonicBlue paid $123 million for the company and, when the deal went down in 2001, we said it was going "for a song." Some song. SonicBlue never made much of a go of the ReplayTV business either, despite getting big headlines for making the entertainment industry mad at it. Broadcasters like The Walt Disney Co. (nyse: DIS - news - people ), Viacom (nyse: VIA - news - people ) and General Electric (nyse: GE - news - people ) sued SonicBlue over a feature that let ReplayTV users skip commercials. In one notable twist in the case, a judge ordered SonicBlue to start spying on its ReplayTV customers in order to gather evidence that the broadcasters could use in court to argue their case. The company managed to get that order reversed. The lawsuits certainly put SonicBlue on the map as a company people talked about. But the publicity didn't help. The litigation was suspended when SonicBlue went belly-up. It likely won't heat up again. ReplayTV's new owner is a company called Digital Networks North America, a subsidiary of D & M Holdings, the company behind consumer electronics brands Denon and Marantz, both known for their high-end stereo and home-video equipment. http://www.forbes.com/home/2003/07/28/cx_ah_0728tentech.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 23:39:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DirecTV Dragnet Snares Innocent Techies In recent months the satellite TV giant has filed nearly 9,000 federal lawsuits against people who've purchased signal piracy devices. But some of those devices have legitimate uses, and innocent computer geeks are getting caught in the crackdown. By Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus Jul 17 2003 1:15AM In 2000, Texas-based physician Rod Sosa says he had the entrepreneurial notion that medical offices might pay a premium for a secure workstation -- one better suited for housing sensitive patient information than an off-the-shelf PC. A long time computer geek and tinkerer -- as well as a medical doctor and internist -- Sosa began working on a prototype. "I wanted to do this as a means of making extra money outside of my own practice," he says. Sosa quickly became enamored of the idea of using smart cards to provide access control at the keyboard; the PC would have an attached reader, and physicians, medical assistants and office staff would all carry their own cards that would unlock the system. So the doctor ordered an inexpensive smart card programmer from the Web, and began experimenting. "It turned out to be much more difficult than I anticipated," Sosa recalls. He lost interest in the plan, and the $79 programmer was relegated to Sosa's electronics junk box with the old RS-232 cables and 5 1/4 inch floppy drives. It sat there forgotten for nearly two years, until October, 2002, when Sosa received a letter from satellite TV giant DirecTV. The company accused him of purchasing piracy equipment, and, by extension, stealing DirecTV's signal. When he called the company to clear things up, he found they weren't interested in his explanations: they wanted $3,500 and the smart card programmer, or they would literally make a federal case out of it and sue him under anti-piracy laws. "I didn't know what to do, I was completely flabbergasted. So I sent the money in," says Sosa. "I have a livelihood, and I have a family, and there are a lot of things that I`d rather be than right." http://www.securityfocus.com/news/6402 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 23:48:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Privacy, Economics, and Price Discrimination on the Internet [Extended Abstract] Andrew Odlyzko Digital Technology Center, University of Minnesota 499 Walter Library, 117 Pleasant St. SE Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko Revised version, July 27, 2003 Abstract. The rapid erosion of privacy poses numerous puzzles. Why is it occurring, and why do people care about it? This paper proposes an explanation for many of these puzzles in terms of the increasing importance of price discrimination. Privacy appears to be declining largely in order to facilitate differential pricing, which offers greater social and economic gains than auctions or shopping agents. The thesis of this paper is that what really motivates commercial organizations (even though they often do not realize it clearly themselves) is the growing incentive to price discriminate, coupled with the increasing ability to price discriminate. It is the same incentive that has led to the airline yield management system, with a complex and constantly changing array of prices. It is also the same incentive that led railroads to invent a variety of price and quality differentiation schemes in the 19th century. Privacy intrusions serve to provide the information that allows sellers to determine buyers' willingness to pay. They also allow monitoring of usage, to ensure that arbitrage is not used to bypass discriminatory pricing. Economically, price discrimination is usually regarded as desirable, since it often increases the efficiency of the economy. That is why it is frequently promoted by governments, either through explicit mandates or through indirect means. On the other hand, price discrimination often arouses strong opposition from the public. There is no easy resolution to the conflict between sellers' incentives to price discriminate and buyers' resistance to such measures. The continuing tension between these two factors will have important consequences for the nature of the economy. It will also determine which technologies will be adopted widely. Governments will likely play an increasing role in controlling pricing, although their roles will continue to be ambiguous. Sellers are likely to rely to an even greater extent on techniques such as bundling that will allow them to extract more consumer surplus and also to conceal the extent of price discrimination. Micropayments and auctions are likely to play a smaller role than is often expected. In general, because of strong conflicting pressures, privacy is likely to prove an intractable problem that will be prominent on the the public agenda for the foreseeable future. http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko/doc/privacy.economics.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 01:42:29 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: "Copying is Theft ..." / And Other Legal Myths in the Looming And other legal myths in the looming battle over peer-to-peer. By Mark Rasch Jul 28 2003 05:00AM PT As the war over P2P downloading heats up, and the record companies launch the novel marketing technique of suing their customers, I think it is an appropriate time to settle some of the pervasive myths about U.S. copyright law which fuel both sides of the debate. The current state of the battleground is that the RIAA, having lost a lawsuit against Kazaa, Morpheus and others for copyright infringement, and having won a lawsuit against Verizon, is actively pursuing subpoenas against various ISPs to force them to pony up the names and addresses of the uploaders and downloaders themselves. Several universities have invoked a federal law aimed at preventing the release of student academic records (and significantly narrowed by both the USA-PATRIOT Act and the U.S. Supreme Court last year) to refuse to provide information on their students' downloading activities to the RIAA. Meanwhile, the P2P providers, large and small, in an effort to provide "customer service," are utilizing a variety of anonymizing techniques -- including proxy servers, encryption, and various UDP ports -- to help prevent the RIAA from successfully subpoenaing these records. Undaunted, the RIAA has vowed a full-scale assault -- even against those who share a single copyrighted song. All of these battles are against the backdrop of U.S. copyright law, which provides some protection to the "author" of an original work that is fixed in any tangible medium of expression. But there seems to be a great deal of confusion about the scope of protection under this law. http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/175 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 02:01:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Policy Post 9.15: GetNetWise 2.0 Offers Tips on Child Safety, CDT POLICY POST Volume 9, Number 15, July 24, 2003 A Briefing On Public Policy Issues Affecting Civil Liberties Online from The Center For Democracy and Technology (1) GetNetWise 2.0 Launched with Expanded User Empowerment Resources (2) GetNetWise 2.0 Resources Encompass Child Safety, Spam, Privacy and Security (3) Expanded GetNetWise Responds to Changing Internet and its Population http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_9.15.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 08:59:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Launches Free Wi-Fi Service Throughout August AT&T Launches Free Wi-Fi Service Throughout August in Select McDonald's Outlets; $2.99 a Day Thereafter - Jul 29, 2003 07:00 AM (PR Newswire) MORRISTOWN, N.J., July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T today announced the next phase of a major wireless fidelity (wi-fi) initiative -- the launch of its new AT&T Wi-Fi Service, offered free beginning July 30 in 60 McDonald's restaurants in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Any McDonald's customer with a wi-fi-enabled device in one of these locations can obtain high-speed Internet service at no charge until the end of August and at $2.99 a day thereafter. AT&T Wi-Fi Service enables computer and personal digital assistant (PDA) users to surf the Internet, send and receive e-mail and obtain a host of other high-speed wireless benefits without being tethered to wires. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35036853 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:00:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon's Second-Quarter Results Marked by Sector-Leading Revenue Sustained Growth in Wireless, Long-Distance, Broadband and Bundled Services Complements Strong Operational Execution and Disciplined Cash Management SECOND-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS * Verizon Wireless: 1.2 million net retail customer additions, up 10 percent from last year's quarter (1.3 million total net customer additions); record-low churn; strong margins; service revenue up 14.7 percent from last year's quarter; customer total at 34.6 million * Long Distance: 1.4 million net additional long-distance lines in the quarter; total long-distance lines, 14.6 million, a 36.1 percent year-over-year increase * DSL (digital subscriber lines): 1.9 million billed lines, up 101,000 since last quarter * Diluted earnings per share (EPS): 12 cents in fully diluted EPS, compared with a loss of 78 cents per share in second quarter 2002 * EPS before special items: 69 cents, compared with 77 cents in EPS before special items in second quarter 2002 * Debt Reduction: Net debt (total debt less cash and cash equivalents) reduced by $3.7 billion since year-end 2002 to $48.1 billion * Free Cash Flow (cash from operating activities less capital expenditures and dividends): $3.6 billion in first half of year GUIDANCE * Reiterated 2003 guidance, with additional net debt reduction; new Verizon Wireless guidance of net retail customer additions for 2003 of more than 4 million. Note The schedules accompanying this news release provide reconciliations to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for all non-GAAP financial measures mentioned in this announcement. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35037214 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:06:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: T-Mobile Sidekick Batman Had Robin ... By WALTER S. MOSSBERG LOTS OF BUZZ surrounds wireless handhelds, smart phones and portable e-mail devices right now. But while the various models of the RIM BlackBerry, the Handspring Treo and Pocket PCs with built-in phones hog most of the attention, a less well-known competitor, in some ways, beats them all. It's called the Sidekick and is sold by T-Mobile, the cellular phone carrier. The Sidekick was launched quietly last fall with a monochrome screen and sold out its first modest production run. In June a new model with a bright color screen was rolled out with a bit more fanfare. It's a wireless e-mail, Web-browsing and instant-messaging device with a built-in phone, and it's priced for consumer budgets. At $300 the color Sidekick is less expensive than most other wireless handhelds; it's even cheaper than many phones that lack its strong Internet capabilities. And T-Mobile is offering unlimited e-mail, Web surfing and other data downloads on the device for a flat $20 a month above the price of any of its consumer or family calling plans. For instance, you can get a plan with unlimited data and 300 voice minutes, plus unlimited weekend calling, for $50 a month. Or you can get a data-only plan for $30 a month, with any voice calls priced at 20 cents a minute. Designed by a Silicon Valley startup called Danger Inc., the Sidekick looks nothing like a PDA or a conventional cell phone. A squat, rounded rectangle, meant to be held horizontally, it resembles a bar of soap, measures 4.5x2.6x1.1 inches and weighs 6 ounces. At first glance, it seems to consist of just a screen surrounded by three big buttons and a scroll wheel. But the Sidekick's cool design touch is that the screen swings up and over, in one smooth motion, to reveal underneath a roomy keyboard for composing e-mail - a bigger and more usable keyboard than either the BlackBerry or the Treo can boast. When you uncover the keyboard, the screen actually is physically turned upside down, but the Sidekick's software compensates, instantly flipping the image to match the new orientation. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/report-200307.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:09:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Woof, Woof ... Is This Thing On? By WALTER S. MOSSBERG One of the greatest attributes of man's best friend is that he never talks back -- at least not in human language. But soon, a new gadget might allow your dog to give you just as much lip as your teenage daughter. Bow-Lingual, a digital device that "translates" your dog's barks into English phrases, will bound into U.S. stores Aug. 15. It claims to be able to finally tell you what your pooch really means by all that barking. We've been putting it to the test with real dogs -- with decidedly mixed results. The device was created by Takara, a Japanese toy company that has sold 250,000 units in Japan. Though the product was created by a toy company, its $120 price tag is nothing to fool around with. But after Americans spent $29.5 billion on their pets last year alone, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, Takara may have some takers, especially among the most fervent dog lovers. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20030723.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:11:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam By SAUL HANSELL BLOOMINGTON, Ind., July 27 - When Indiana University installed its new e-mail system in 2000, it spent $1.2 million on a network of nine computers to process mail for 115,000 students, faculty members and researchers at its main campus here and at satellite facilities throughout the state. It had expected the system to last at least through 2004, but the volume of mail is growing so fast, the university will need to buy more computers this year instead, at a cost of $300,000. Why? Mainly, the rising volume of spam, which accounts for nearly 45 percent of the three million e-mail messages the university receives each day. Unwanted commercial e-mail, or spam, has become the bane of the Internet because it is so cheap and easy to send that all sorts of companies and individuals do so, prodigiously. Spammers these days pay as little as 0.025 cent to send an e-mail message. The computing costs for the recipients, or their Internet providers, to process each message are similarly tiny. But with billions of spam messages sent each day, all these fractions of cents start to add up to real money. Even greater are the costs of trying to block spam, catch spammers and undo the damage they cause to recipients. Gauging the cost of tiny bits of computer power and the value of many moments of wasted time, multiplied by millions of e-mail users, leads to big, if inevitably imprecise, numbers. One company, Ferris Research, says the cost is $10 billion in the United States this year. The Radicati Group estimates the worldwide cost at $20.5 billion. Another firm, Nucleus Research, shoots higher. By its reckoning, the economic cost is $874 a year for every office worker with an e-mail account, which multiplied by 100 million such workers amounts to about $87 billion for the United States. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/28/technology/28SPAM.html [Lisa Minter note: People who read NY Times are invited to use our group login 'telecomdigest' and group password 'telecomdigest' to avoid spam and privacy problems with NY Times. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:18:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: High-speed Net Access a Challenge in Vermont By James Collins, Globe Correspondent, 7/28/2003 WAITSFIELD, Vt. -- Where the Mad River tumbles over waterfalls here and the cows cross Vermont Route 100, high-speed Internet access, once the exclusive province of the urban and the wealthy, is as ubiquitous as the stalls that house Holsteins. Dairy farmers who belong to Agri-Mark, the Northeast dairy cooperative, can log onto the Internet to check the quality of their milk as it makes its way though the distribution process. Meanwhile, the town is also home to Small Dog Electronics, an online retailer of Macintosh computers. Waitsfield, population 1,659, is unusual because of its telephone company: The family-owned Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom offers high-speed DSL service to a remarkable 99 percent of its customers. It's the kind of access that would even make many big-city broadband providers envious. The feat has earned the company awards from the state and federal governments, and for good reason: Many towns in Vermont -- some with populations far more dense -- do not have high-speed access at all. Broadband, once a luxury that today drives the pace of business in most US cities, was found in just 12 percent of Vermont's households in 2002, according to a survey compiled this year by the American Electronics Association. But as large companies have struggled to provide broadband access, help appears to be coming from an unlikely source in this era of media consolidation: small, independent telecommunications companies like Waitsfield Telecom. High-speed Internet access -- both DSL, which is traditionally provided by phone companies, and cable modem service, which is offered by cable companies -- is more reliable in rural New England than it is in South Dakota, where just 4.3 percent of households subscribed to any kind of service last year. But, say advocates and economic development officials in Vermont, Waitsfield and other small success stories are often overshadowed by large areas where service is simply unavailable. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/209/business/High_speed_Net_access_a_challenge_in_Vt_+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:19:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T to Offer New Allegation in MCI Inquiry By STEPHEN LABATON WASHINGTON, July 27 - AT&T will offer evidence that domestic telephone traffic diverted by MCI through Canada to avoid tariffs included calls that were placed by the State Department and other government agencies, a senior executive at AT&T said today. The executive said the evidence was to be formally disclosed to government investigators and a bankruptcy court in Manhattan on Monday. The rerouting of domestic government calls through Canada or other foreign countries would be problematic because the calls would not be protected from eavesdropping that could compromise national security, law enforcement or confidential commercial information, industry lawyers said. If the rerouting is confirmed, it could pose significant new problems for MCI's Chapter 11 reorganization proceeding and its business with federal agencies. The government is MCI's largest customer, and authorities are close to completing a review of whether the company should be barred from winning new government contracts because of its admission that it committed the largest accounting fraud in history. The AT&T executive, who spoke on condition that he not be identified, said the company's conclusions were based on tests it recently conducted after it received a request for information. The request came from federal prosecutors attempting to determine whether MCI, over nearly a decade, defrauded other phone companies by improperly redirecting - or laundering - telephone traffic to avoid access fee payments to other companies. Long-distance telephone companies are required to make the payments, which are among their highest transmission costs. The fraud inquiry is based on evidence provided by former MCI executives and on technical information supplied by AT&T and two other MCI rivals, SBC Communications and Verizon. All these sources have told investigators that a scheme to redirect telephone traffic avoided hundreds of millions of dollars, and possibly more, in fees that MCI owed to local telephone companies. They have also told investigators that thousands of recent test calls they made through MCI lines show that two schemes to avoid the fees are continuing. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/28/business/28MCI.html ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: ISDN Good Stuff was Re: Residential ISDN BRI Thoughts Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 02:30:09 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Hal Idooer writes: [ big snip ] > Another subtle advantage is that ISDN lines, like T1's and such, are > usually "red-capped" at all terminals between premise and CO to > identify them as DATA lines. They get left alone, and no one other > than Big Brother is likely to be listening to your conversations. The > red caps stop Joe Phoneman from trying to clip onto your pair for a > quick call to dispatch or the test board, as happens with POTS lines, More importantly, your ISDN line is, effectively, immune to the bright 12 year old with a butt set, or your next door neighbor. Tapping into an ISDN line is NOT something that a casual irritant is able to do. So you're not going to wake up one day with a phone bill for seventy five calls to a porno or astrology hotline. > I wonder how many of these unfortunate souls are mystified by all > the clicking and clunking they hear on their line, and the > occasional conversation in progress they hear when they go off-hook > to make a call ... heh heh. Any bright twelve year old can tap into a standard, analog, phone line without clicks and clunks. The "call in progress" issue is a bit trickier, but all they have to do is lift off ("open") your wire pair for the duration. Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: Mark Atwood Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs Date: 28 Jul 2003 21:38:39 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com 6212hgk{invert}@newsguy.com (John Bartley K7AAY (ex-KGH2126)) writes: >> The only solution for an environment like this is to re-image the PC >> after every rental. Sounds draconian, but now it's a marketing tool >> in addition to a way to make the lawyers happy. > Not the only system; perhaps a secure operating system would help? > Boot the OS from a CD that's in a physically locked drive, and you have a > secure system. More awkward and more expensive than just putting a boot BIOS on the NIC and netbooting it. Mark Atwood | When you do things right, mra@pobox.com | people won't be sure you've done anything at all. http://www.pobox.com/~mra ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs From: Kyler Laird Organization: Insight Broadband Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 12:18:34 GMT Ron Chapman writes: > The only solution for an environment like this is to re-image the PC > after every rental. Yeah, sure. That'll do it. http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/5a05/ --kyler ------------------------------ 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'. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #588 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 30 00:44:55 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6U4isp20144; Wed, 30 Jul 2003 00:44:55 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 00:44:55 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307300444.h6U4isp20144@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 #589 TELECOM Digest Wed, 30 Jul 2003 00:45:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 589 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Charges Against WorldCom Are New, But Old (Eric Friedebach) Center to Focus on Countering Nuclear Terrorism (Eric Friedebach) Telemarketers Sue Over Do-Not-Call List (Joey Lindstrom) Terago-go (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam (Thomas A. Horsley) Polycom SoundStation VTX 1000 (totojepast) Re: Transfer and Drop, was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer (joe@obilivan) Re: PhatNoise Brings Digital Music to Cars; System Need Work (Lindstrom) Re: E1 and T1 (Phil McKerracher) Same Old Qwest, Maybe a bit More Spirit but Zero Service (RH) New Competitor in Cozy Ecuador Mobile Phone Market (Monty Solomon) Comcast May Dazzle in Q2, but Concerns Persist (Monty Solomon) Cable Stocks Boosted by Verizon Internet Results (Monty Solomon) One in 10 U.S. Tech Jobs May Move Offshore (Monty Solomon) Longtime Feuds Boil Over With MCI Probe (Monty Solomon) FBI Targets Net Phoning (Monty Solomon) Will Web Users Ever Pay For Content? (Monty Solomon) Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues (Ross McMicken) Re: More on Accessing the Western Union Tech Review (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Ground Start (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: SS7 Within AT&T and Other Carriers (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: ReplayTV's New Owners Drop Features That Riled Hollywood (Ashworth) Re: Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (Jay Ashworth) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: High-speed Net Access a Challenge in Vermont (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Charges Against WorldCom Are New, But Old Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 13:04:53 -0500 Organization: Purity Of Essence/Plant Operational Error Reply-To: Eric Friedebach Dan Ackman, 07.28.03, Forbes.com NEW YORK - WorldCom's plans to emerge seamlessly from bankruptcy as MCI appear on hold today as allegations of possibly criminal wrongdoing will be leveled against the company to a U.S. bankruptcy court, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and federal prosecutors in New York. The charges involve the rerouting of telephone calls through Canada as a means to avoid tariffs owed to other telecom companies for use of their networks. The practice is said to have been ongoing for ten years, but the charges only surfaced in the last ten weeks when a former MCI employee alerted the FBI about a company project known as "Canadian Gateway," according to various reports starting with one in The New York Times over the weekend. Now MCI's rivals, already indignant about the company's ability to shed debt in the bankruptcy process, have a club to use against the company. Many have charged, even before the call-shifting allegations became public, that bankruptcy gave MCI an unfair advantage and that it should be liquidated rather than revived. http://www.forbes.com/home/2003/07/28/cx_da_0728topnews.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Center to Focus on Countering Nuclear Terrorism Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 13:24:22 -0500 Organization: Purity Of Essence/Plant Operational Error Reply-To: Eric Friedebach Machine Design Magazine Cell phones that double as radiation detectors and serve as a part of a nationwide detection network may not be far off. They are one invention envisioned by researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) who have founded the Radiation Detection Center (RDC) to help counter nuclear terrorism. "The Center leverages our past work in radiation detection for today's security needs, including the detection, identification, and analysis of nuclear materials and devices," says Simon Labov, director of RDC. According to Labov, detection sensitivity is one of the focal points for the Center. http://tinyurl.com/if6t Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 14:54:03 -0600 From: Joey Lindstrom Subject: Telemarketers Sue Over Do-Not-Call List Reply-To: joey@garynuman.info I caught this on CNN's website: WASHINGTON (AP) -- Telemarketers expanded their legal challenge to the government's do-not-call list, suing a second federal agency over the call-blocking service for consumers that the industry says will devastate business and cost as many as two million jobs. The free government registry for blocking telephone sales pitches has grown to more than 28 million numbers since it was opened June 27, according to the Federal Trade Commission, which operates the service. The FTC has predicted registration to grow to 60 million numbers by next summer. Full story here: http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/07/29/telemarketers.sue.ap/index.html Y'know, if Robert Heinlein had lived to see this, and somebody asked him his opinion on it, he could have simply pulled out a copy of his very first story, "Life-Line", and pointed to the words he gave to the judge in that story, which apply as much today as ever: "There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that, because a man or a corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have the right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back, for their private benefit." ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 07:57:22 -0600 Subject: Terago-go Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info I've been looking into signing up with Terago Networks for their line-of-sight, licenced-spectrum Dedicated Internet service for the past couple of weeks. Been doing some research, asking some questions, and so forth, and for some silly reason it never even occurred to me to tap into the greatest resource at my disposal: you folks. :-) Basically, if you can say anything good or bad about the organization, their service levels, etc. - anecdotal evidence is fine - I'd appreciate hearing it. Thanks much. -- Joey Lindstrom ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 00:20:25 GMT > Why? Mainly, the rising volume of spam, which accounts for nearly 45 > percent of the three million e-mail messages the university receives > each day. I hate spam as much as the next person, but when trying to discover the reason for the rising volume, don't forget the vast number of messages that could have been two words of plan text (like "Happy Birthday", for instance), that have ballooned into multi-meg word documents with animated backgrounds, etc, etc, ad-nauseum (and the actual text content is still just "Happy Birthday" :-). >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ From: totojepast@atlas.cz (totojepast) Subject: Polycom SoundStation VTX 1000 Date: 28 Jul 2003 19:41:42 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I was impressed by the datasheets of Polycom SoundStation VTX 1000. I would like to ask if is there any drawback like delay, distortion etc. and how can Polycom SoundStation VTX 1000 tell if there a plain telephone or another SoundStation on the other end of the line. And what about built-in modem? Is ir OK? TJP ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Transfer and Drop, was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 08:10:51 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications > One major problem the telcos have with POTS call transfer is > billing. In regular POTS each originating party is billed for the call > they initiate. In call transfer the Billing records "collapse" on to > the transferred leg of the call very possibly making a called party > unwittingly responsible for the entire bill from the call transfer > forward. Another possibility is transferring two outgoing trunks > together; not sure how originating billing would be accomplished in > that scenario, likely there would be a bill to the originator for the > duration of the call, and the two terminating trunks could talk > forever with no charges? Obviously this scenario would be further > complicated if the trunks were inter-toll to a LD carrier. Downstream > AMA processing would have a very nasty time sorting these scenarios > out. Then again, we Vonage residential customers can transfer calls anywhere. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:33:35 -0600 Subject: Re: PhatNoise Brings Digital Music to Cars, but System Needs Work Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:17:17 -0400 (EDT), Ol' Monty wrote: > By WALTER S. MOSSBERG > Millions of Americans have acquired zillions of digital song files and > are happily listening to them on their PCs and portable music > players. But one place where music is often enjoyed, the car, remains > largely off limits. > Sure, you can burn your MP3 song files to a CD and play them in the > car. But that doesn't give you thousands of songs at one time, or let > you play them in any combination with ease, as you can on an Apple > iPod. Plus, most factory-installed car CD players don't tell you the > song, artist or album that is playing, which is a key part of the > digital-music experience. > So, digital-music lovers who want to replicate the iPod-type > experience must tote players to the car and hook them into the auto > sound system via a cassette adapter or some other gadget. Not only is > the sound inferior, but you're constantly taking your eyes off the > road to fumble with the player to change songs. For the past two years, I've been driving around with an in-dash CD-MP3 player from Kenwood. I can put, on average, about 14 entire albums on a single CD (either CD-R or CD-RW). In looking through a flyer in this morning's paper from a local car-audio place, I find roughly half of the car CD players being advertised also have MP3 capability. Where's this guy been? :-) My player also reads CD-TEXT, so whenever I burn an "audio" format disc I make sure I include all the song titles and stuff, so that they too will display. -- Joey Lindstrom ------------------------------ From: Phil McKerracher Subject: Re: E1 and T1 Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 15:52:03 GMT Organization: blueyonder (post doesn't reflect views of blueyonder) obsidian wrote in message news:telecom22.578.2@telecom-digest.org: > Can anyone explain why North America uses T1, and the Rest of the > World (as far as I am aware) are all using E1? North America is such a big market that they can afford to ignore the rest of the world, rather than waiting several years for a standard to be agreed. This means they tend to get things first, but it's not always the best solution. In this case T1 came first, the Europeans fixed some problems and "improved" it to get E1, but the Americans weren't interested. There are many other examples - mu-law/A-law, NTSC/PAL, CDMA/GSM, imperial/metric to name just a few. Phil McKerracher www.mckerracher.org ------------------------------ From: RH Subject: Same Old Qwest, Maybe a bit More Spirit but Zero Service Organization: Comcast Online Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 16:08:03 GMT Recently I was stupid enough to take one of Qwest's "win-back" offers (quite lucrative). Only problem is, they still have no idea how to install a phone without screwing up your service for days (2 days and counting). One of the great ironies is; they can't even get their own ,new much fought over,long distance service up and running on the new lines. Hmmmm Finally, the much heralded "new spirit" of the employees; it comes off like they were all trained by the Reverend Sung Yung Moon. Burned again!!!!!! RH ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 22:18:48 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Competitor in Cozy Ecuador Mobile Phone Market By Carlos Andrade Garcia QUITO, Ecuador, July 29 (Reuters) - Telecom firms are ready to battle for control of Ecuador's booming mobile phone market as a decade-old de facto duopoly nears its end. Since 1993, multinationals BellSouth (NYSE:BLS) and Porta, a unit of America Movil (NYSE:AMX), have been left alone to reap the benefits of an economy now in its fourth straight year of growth since adopting the U.S. dollar as its currency. The number of Ecuadorean cell phone subscribers has more than doubled since December 2001 to 1.8 million as of May 2003, and the two companies' combined revenues should come in at $540 million for this year, the government says. But a new player is set to offer better technology for lower prices. As of December, Telecsa, a consortium formed this year by state phone companies Andinatel and Pacifictel, plans to offer PCS: a third-generation mobile phone technology that allows customers to use video and Internet. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35045901 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 22:19:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast May Dazzle in Q2, but Concerns Persist By Kenneth Li NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA), the No. 1 U.S. cable operator, is likely to get high marks for weathering seasonal trends better than its peers when it reports second-quarter results on Thursday. Analysts mostly expect the Philadelphia-based company to post improved cash flow margins and steady progress in spiffing up underperforming cable systems acquired from AT&T. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35047341 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 22:21:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cable Stocks Boosted by Verizon Internet Results NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - Cable industry stocks rose on Tuesday after Verizon Communication (NYSE:VZ) reported disappointing growth in high-speed Internet subscribers in the second quarter, analysts said. Despite an overall market sell-off on concerns about consumer confidence, shares in the cable TV sector, which is competing for high-speed Internet customers, rallied as much as 4 percent Tuesday afternoon. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35048283 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 22:22:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: One in 10 U.S. Tech Jobs May Move Offshore - Report NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - One out of 10 jobs in the U.S. computer services and software industry could shift to lower-cost emerging markets such as India by the end of 2004, a top computer consultancy said on Monday. Gartner Inc., the world's biggest technology forecasting firm, warned in a new report that managers may face a shortage of computer expertise unless they adapt to what is emerging as one of corporate America's hottest employment trends. While professionals in the computer industry itself are likely to bear the brunt of the shift of jobs overseas, the report predicts that one in 20 technology jobs in the wider corporate world could be affected. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35048772 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 22:27:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Longtime Feuds Boil Over With MCI Probe By BRUCE MEYERSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- The federal probe into allegations that WorldCom avoided millions of dollars in fees normally paid to local phone companies for connecting long-distance calls cuts to the heart of one of the most bitter, long-running feuds in the telecommunications industry. The fees, set by regulators, have represented a huge source of revenue for local carriers, a huge cost of doing business for long-distance providers and a huge thorn in the industry's side for nearly 20 years, ever since the government broke up AT&T's national telephone monopoly into seven regional Baby Bells and one long-distance company. While the long-distance business was tremendously profitable in the early days, the sniping over access fees quickly took hold as the Bells complained they were forced to provide access to their networks below cost and long-distance players complained they were being overcharged. It's easy to see why. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35052403 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 23:33:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FBI targets Net phoning By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com Internet telephone calls are fast becoming a national security threat that must be countered with new police wiretap rules, according to an FBI proposal presented quietly to regulators this month. Representatives of the FBI's Electronic Surveillance Technology Section in Chantilly, Va., have met at least twice in the past three weeks with senior officials of the Federal Communications Commission to lobby for proposed new Internet eavesdropping rules. The FBI-drafted plan seeks to force broadband providers to provide more efficient, standardized surveillance facilities and could substantially change the way that cable modem and DSL (digital subscriber line) companies operate. The new rules are necessary, because terrorists could otherwise frustrate legitimate wiretaps by placing phone calls over the Internet, warns a summary of a July 10 meeting with the FCC that the FBI prepared. "Broadband networks may ultimately replace narrowband networks," the summary says. "This trend offers increasing opportunities for terrorists, spies and criminals to evade lawful electronic surveillance." In the last year, Internet telephony (also called voice over Internet Protocol, or VOIP) has grown increasingly popular among consumers and businesses with high-speed connections. Flat-rate plans cost between $20 and $40 a month for unlimited local and long-distance calls. One of the smaller VOIP providers, Vonage, recently said it has about 34,000 customers and expects to have 1 million by late 2004. According to the proposal that the FCC is considering, any company offering cable modem or DSL service to residences or businesses would be required to comply with a thicket of federal regulations that would establish a central hub for police surveillance of their customers. The proposal has alarmed civil libertarians who fear that it might jeopardize privacy and warn that the existence of such hubs could facilitate broad surveillance of other Internet communications such as e-mail, Web browsing and instant messaging. Under existing federal wiretapping laws, the FBI already has the ability to seek a court order to conduct surveillance of any broadband user though its DCS1000 system, previously called Carnivore. But the bureau worries that unless Internet providers offer surveillance hubs based on common standards, lawbreakers can evade or, at the very least, complicate surveillance by using VOIP providers such as Vonage, Time Warner Cable, Net2Phone, 8X8, deltathree and DigitalVoice. http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5056424.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 23:36:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Will Web Users Ever Pay For Content? By Stefanie Olsen Staff Writer, CNET News.com Some entrepreneurs get crowned in the record books as spectacular successes. Others find themselves lumped into the losers list of spectacular flameouts. Louis Borders is that rare businessman whose name appears on both sides of the ledger. Borders is a co-founder of Borders Group, the $3.4 billion company that today is the nation's second-largest bookseller. He also happens to be the man behind Webvan, the billion-dollar online grocer that famously failed in 2001 and became synonymous with both the magnificent dreams and the hubris of the dot-com era. Now this self-professed serial entrepreneur is taking another stab at building a brand from scratch. On Monday, Borders launched a subscription-based digital newsstand called KeepMedia. But he also faces the challenge of convincing Web surfers to pay to access archived online content. Despite the Web's transformation into a major publishing platform, relatively few Web users have warmed to the idea that they also should pay for content. Borders nonetheless remains determined to prove conventional wisdom wrong. KeepMedia is a subscription-based outpost for magazines such as Business Week, U.S. News and World Report and Esquire. Though it's an idea that's already been tried and failed, Borders believes KeepMedia is different and will prove to be a superior online brand, because, he says, it offers quality publications and convenience. He also brings to the table a rare been-there, done-that resume, which will suit him well, as he tackles what may be the toughest selling job of his career. CNET News.com interviewed Borders from his company's headquarters in Foster City, Calif., which coincidentally happens to be the former hometown of Webvan. http://news.com.com/2008-1082-5057174.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 22:59:21 -0500 From: Ross McMicken Subject: Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 05:14:04 GMT, bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) wrote: > In article , Mark Baker > wrote: >> I am in Australia and often read about 'Bouygues' in the trade press. >> However, I have never heard it pronounced. Could someone please give >> me a phonetic guide to its pronunciation? > I don't recognize it without a context, could be anything from > 'bug-eyes' to 'boik'. It is pronounced boygz, at least that's how their employees we dealt with pronounced it. Big French construction company that does a fair amount of work for the oil industry overseas. ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: More on Accessing the Western Union Tech Review Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 02:45:29 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Garrett Wollman said to him: > In article , Mark J Cuccia > wrote: > [doesn't work] > >http://mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/technical/western-union-tech-review > [works] > >http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/technical/ > ...western-union-tech-review [ broken against my will since slrn's inews won't *let* me override 80 columns; damnit ] > Notice the difference in the two paths? Ignore the host for a moment; > it doesn't make any difference. Let's look closely: > NO: /telecom-archives/technical/western-union-tech-review > OK: /telecom-archives/archives/technical/western-union-tech-review > Does that make it clear enough for everybody? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But what happens in the case of my > favorite alias 'telecom-digest.org'? Since 'telecom-digest.org' dips > one level lower in the structure than either 'massis' or 'mirror' > (which is to say it gets you already to the telecom-archives location > on the index.html page for starters) and you do not have to ask massis > or mirror for 'telecom-archives', how should it be done in that case? > PAT] I think, Pat, that you're saying that http://www.telecom-digest.org is the same place as http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/ And if you are, then http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/technical/ ....western-union-tech-review [ see above rant ] would be http://www.telecom-digest.org/archives/technical/western-union-tech-review And, indeed, that URL works for me -- my browser supplies the trailing slash for the directory, which means that massis's Apache is configured correctly -- I believe it's MultiSearch that makes that work right. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Ground Start Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 02:48:09 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Tom Kirk said to him: > The net result of all this esoteric information was that when a call > arrived on a particular incoming trunk, there was no correlation as to > where the trunk was in the six second ringing cycle. And it has a name, in the jargon, which I'm surprised Tom didn't mention. The circumstance of an outgoing call siezing a loop-start line which has an as-yet un-rung incoming call on it is referred to as "glare". I've never been certain exactly why ... Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: SS7 Within AT&T and Other Carriers Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 02:52:50 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Mark J Cuccia said to him: > Rick Miller wrote: > (in "Toll Stations, Party Lines and Other Remnants of Times Past?") >>> Do any areas in the NANP still use inband signalling? From my >>> experience, a friend of mine in Michagan calls me, from his ordinary >>> POTS phone, direct dialed, no caller-ID blocking, but he comes up as >>> "out of area" on my Caller ID - not "private" but in fact, out of >>> area? Does this mean that he does not have SS7, and still may have >>> inband LD signalling? > Jay R. Ashworth replied: >> Last I heard, the AT&T network wasn't quite 100% SS7, but that was a >> couple years ago. Yo! Cuccia! :-) > As far as I know, all of AT&T's total of 142 4ESS switches in the > continental USA have SS7 signaling between them. However, there might > be instances of an SS7 trunk signaling failure, where I would assume > that it would revert to inband MF/2600 signaling??? I knew that would work. Mark, when are we gonna write a book together? I actually don't know whether that would work -- I gather from _The_Day_The_Phones_Stopped_ that SS7 vs SS6-ness is on a *trunk group* basis; I don't *think* TG's provisioned for SS7 can *do* SS6, but IANASE. > Regarding the original post in question might even be where the > calling party isn't even using AT&T but some other LD carrier which > may not be fully SS7. Are there *end offices* that aren't SS7 to the tandem? I'd assume there must be a few left. > There are also local telcos and tandems which aren't necessarily using > SS7 yet even at this late date. I will read before I type. I will read before I type. I will read before I type. I will read before I type. > Outside of the continental USA but still within the NANP, there is not > necessarily going to be complete widespread use of SS7/Caller-ID. Guam? > True, calls between Hawaii and the mainland US, most parts of Canada > and the US, at least the larger cities and settlements of Alaska and > the mainland US, Guam and the mainland US, in *MOST* cases, Caller-ID > / SS7 will pass. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the Caribbean > and some other Pacific parts of the NANP yet have everything in place > to pass SS7/Caller-ID. See above. See above. See above. See above. See above. See above. See above. See above. See above. See above. > mjc Cool-if-silly-signature retired? Cheers, -- jr 'who are you, and what have you done with Mark?' a Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: ReplayTV's New Owners Drop Features That Riled Hollywood Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 02:55:06 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Rick Miller said to him: > Complicated business? Read that to mean ... "Cut into programmers' > profits" That's what it means, yes. > I really do so very much hate electronics trying to "protect us from > ourselves." Just my opinion. They're not. They're following, or trying to follow, Justice Learned Hand's observation that the Law owes no man or business the right to continue practicing any particular business. Seen any blacksmiths shoeing horses lately? More power to them for doing it technically, unlike the MPAA and RIAA. Cheers, -- jr 'that's "Asshole's Association"' a Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Wrong! was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 03:00:32 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Chasman said to him: > I'm sorry but I think you are wrong, TELECOM Digest Editor. No, just a failure to communicate. > NONE offer the ability to transfer a call to any other number in the > US once that call has been taken. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You said you had talked to SBC who > denied having such a thing. Independence, Kansas is also served by > SBC (and other local carriers) and in the SBC local telephone directory > on page 4 they describe 'Plexar Service' which is a type of centrex > service. You get information on it by calling 1-888-29-GUIDE, then > entering 'extension' 6054. Plexar offers 'centrex like' features > including call transfer between extensions, answering incoming ringing > calls from various other extensions, etc. One such feature is the > ability to transfer calls *between extensions* either on or *off > premises*. And therein lies the problem. Centrex wil usually only allow you to transfer to lines *in your Centrex group* which is not what Chasman is looking for. What he *is* looking for, is ... Ta Da... :-) A feature usually called TBCT - Two B-Channel Transfer. If you have an ISDN line (I *think* you can get this on BRI's, but certainly on PRI's), you can signal back to the switch a new number to transfer the call to, and it will do so, *usually* leaving all your b-channels free, but you do lose control over the call. Depends on the implementation; that's based on an 8 year old reading of a non-technical feature description of a generic for a DMS-100. Stanley settled back into the couch, and Hal Idooer said to him: > another CO [in the same Rate Center] about 12 miles away via fiber, > since they apparently cannot make a GTD-5 do ISDN BRI). *STILL*?? That's *15* years now. I guess AGBS has given up on the G-5. > Disadvantages: Inavailability of many fancy CLASS Features (ACR, CID > name delivery [from DMS-100], etc. Depends on the generic. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 03:05:45 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and nospam-0724@timmins.net said to him: > Sounds like a business opportunity here. Some company should produce > a CD, updated quarterly, that contains all the essential software > needed to run a rental PC in that type of environment. The PC should > be configured to boot from the CD (and NOT from the hard drive or > floppy), and every time the system is rebooted from the CD, the very > first thing the CD should do is a complete wipe of the hard drive > (which, presumably, would be about the smallest commercially-available > hard drive to start with, so the wipe-time isn't excessive -- for this > application 10 GB should be plenty). Corel would drool all over you. Micro$oft, on the other hand, would laugh at you. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: High-speed Net Access a Challenge in Vermont Date: 29 Jul 2003 22:12:29 -0400 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Waitsfield, population 1,659, is unusual because of its telephone > company: The family-owned Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom > offers high-speed DSL service to a remarkable 99 percent of its > customers. It's the kind of access that would even make many big-city > broadband providers envious. Oh, humph. The family owned Shoreham Telephone Company which is even smaller than Waitsfield tells me that they offer DSL to 100% of their all-rural customers. They tell me that Paradyne makes an amazing DSL product that works on all of their lines, even the long ones with deafening 60 hz hum. ------------------------------ 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 #589 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 30 12:53:48 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6UGrmv23662; Wed, 30 Jul 2003 12:53:48 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 12:53:48 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307301653.h6UGrmv23662@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 #590 TELECOM Digest Wed, 30 Jul 2003 12:54:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 590 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Spam Foes Wary of Do-Not-Call Suits (Monty Solomon) McDonald's Beefs up Wi-Fi Trials (Monty Solomon) "Pay as You Surf?" or "Bringing Home the Gold to Cable, Phone (Solomon) MSN High-Speed Marketplace Provides One-Stop Convenience (Monty Solomon) AT&T Revs Up Communications Bundle With High-Speed Internet (M Solomon) Linksys Introduces First Wireless Devices Designed (Monty Solomon) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Rich Greenberg) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Kyler Laird) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Phil Earnhardt) Re: Telemarketers Sue Over Do-Not-Call List (joe@obilivan.net) Re: Telemarketers Sue Over Do-Not-Call List (Herb Stein) Re: Ground Start (No Spam) Re: Ground Start (Fritz Whittington) Divorce via SMS Approved by Malaysian Court (Brisk Attivo) When do "Ubergeeks" Become Idiots? When Phone Crashes are "Normal" (asj) Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues (Phil McKerracher) Dropping Digits on Legend System (Chris) 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, 30 Jul 2003 00:00:22 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Spam Foes Wary of Do-Not-Call Suits By Paul Festa Staff Writer, CNET News.com Even as the idea of a national do-not-spam registry gains traction among e-mail users and on Capitol Hill, a lawsuit against the proposed federal do-not-call list could nip the idea in the bud, legal experts warn. The National Do Not Call Registry was a hit with the public when it launched last month, and the site that takes phone numbers for the plan staggered under heavy demand. As of Monday, 28.7 million numbers were registered with the list. The do-not-call plan's popularity has fueled demand for a similar registry for unsolicited commercial e-mail. Perhaps the most consequential proposal has surfaced on Capitol Hill, in the form of New York Democrat Sen. Charles Schumer's antispam bill. A recent survey conducted by a company that sells antispam software appeared to confirm the popularity of the idea, showing that about three-fourths of Americans support the creation of such a list. Now the do-not-call project is on the defensive as the telemarketing industry wages a legal assault that claims the list is a violation of the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of free expression. That offensive began in January with the filing of a suit against the Federal Trade Commission in federal court in Colorado and was stepped up this week with a new suit that seeks judicial review of the Federal Communications Commission's adoption this month of a "mirror" do-not-call system. http://news.com.com/2100-1024-5057313.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 00:04:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: McDonald's Beefs up Wi-Fi Trials By Richard Shim Staff Writer, CNET News.com McDonald's is super-sizing its Wi-Fi trial with wireless networking start-up Cometa Networks. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company announced late Tuesday that 75 of its fast-food restaurants in the New York Tri-State area will be covered by a high-speed wireless network with access to the Internet. The trial, a partnership with Cometa, extends an earlier, smaller pilot in the New York area with the wholesale network operator. The second trial is part of the restaurant chain's increasing efforts to make 802.11-based wireless networking technology available to its customers. http://news.com.com/2100-1039-5057426.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 01:02:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: "Pay as You Surf?" or "Bringing Home the Gold to Cable and Phone "Pay as You Surf?" or "Bringing Home the Gold to Cable and Phone Monopolies" "Open Access" Battle Sheds Light on Potential New Pricing Models for Broadband July 28, 2003 Washington, D.C.: "Bit rate pricing" -- where monopoly broadband ISPs can impose new financial terms for consumer broadband use -- may soon be the standard method cable and phone companies use to bill their Internet customers. At a recent (July 21, 2003) House hearing on the "Regulatory Status of Broadband," even proponents of a content nondiscrimination requirement for monopoly ISPs said they supported the right of cable and the "Baby Bells" to impose a new fee structure, based on a metering of usage. Amazon.com's VP for Global Public Policy Paul Misener, who has been leading an effort to have the FCC impose Net access safeguards, told the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet that his company endorses such a plan: " [W]e believe broadband service providers should be allowed to charge their customers on the basis of how many bits they receive or transmit over a given period." [O]ne way would be to offer tiers of service -- e.g., Gold, Silver, and Bronze -- based on bits transmitted per month. The expensive Gold level service might provide unlimited bandwidth, while the less expensive Silver and Bronze levels would allow only limited monthly uploads or downloads." http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/washingtonwatch/payAsSurf.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 09:19:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: MSN High-Speed Marketplace Provides One-Stop Convenience New MSN Service Debuts Online High-Speed Marketplace With Comparison Shopping And Localized Information for U.S. Broadband Service Providers REDMOND, Wash., July 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new online destination from MSN(R) takes the guesswork and much of the time out of finding good deals and comparison shopping for high-speed Internet access. Additional offerings and information services are planned for the new MSN site in the coming months to enhance many activities that broadband users enjoy. A preliminary version of the MSN High-Speed Marketplace (https://broadband.msn.com/) debuts Wednesday with its first offering: a broadband Internet access marketplace that provides detailed information about plans and pricing options -- and qualifies consumers for offers in their local area -- from multiple high-speed providers within the United States, including BellSouth, Charter Communications, Comcast, Qwest and Verizon Online. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35055088 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 09:21:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Revs Up Communications Bundle With New High-Speed Internet New York Consumers Can Now Add New AT&T DSL Service to Local/Long Distance Bundle, Realize Convenience, Value and High-Speed Performance Nationwide Rollout of Bundled AT&T DSL Planned MORRISTOWN, N.J., July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T today announced the launch of a new residential digital subscriber line (DSL) high speed Internet service that can be packaged as part of an AT&T communications bundle. The new high-speed Internet offer is now generally available in the state of New York. AT&T intends to offer the new DSL service in a number of additional states this year with plans to eventually offer it in all states in which AT&T provides bundled local and long distance residential services. The new offer, which utilizes a nationwide data network provided by Covad Communications, enables consumers to bundle AT&T's DSL service with other AT&T local and long distance services. The ability to bundle AT&T DSL service is based on a process called line splitting, which involves AT&T "splitting" the loop it buys from the Bells to offer AT&T local, long distance and DSL service on the same line. Line splitting for large volumes of customers is an innovative process that gives consumers more choice for high-speed Internet access. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35058390 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 09:22:11 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Linksys Introduces First Wireless Devices Designed Linksys Introduces First Wireless Devices Designed Specifically for Gamers New Game Adapters Give Popular Game Consoles Wireless Access to the Internet For Live Multi-player Gaming IRVINE, Calif., July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Linksys(R), a division of Cisco Systems, Inc., the leading provider of broadband, wireless and networking hardware for the consumer and Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) markets, today announced its Wireless-B Game Adapter (WGA11B) and Wireless-G Game Adapter (WGA54G), the first network adapters of their kind designed strictly for use with gaming consoles. The Wireless-B Game Adapter and Wireless-G Game Adapter allow gamers to wirelessly connect their PlayStation(R)2, Xbox(TM), or GameCube(TM) consoles together for head-to-head gaming and to the Internet for live online multi-player gaming. Both Game Adapters address two common customer needs: 1. Connecting game consoles to the Internet wirelessly for online game playing. 2. Maintaining high-speed connectivity for multiple game consoles so play can resume without latency. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35058541 ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs Date: 30 Jul 2003 07:10:17 -0400 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Kyler Laird wrote: > Ron Chapman writes: >> The only solution for an environment like this is to re-image the PC >> after every rental. > Yeah, sure. That'll do it. > http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/5a05/ Which must contain a space warper. It holds 130,000 keystrokes in 64k nvram. 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 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs From: Kyler Laird Organization: Insight Broadband Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 12:18:59 GMT Mark Atwood writes: >> Not the only system; perhaps a secure operating system would help? >> Boot the OS from a CD that's in a physically locked drive, and you have a >> secure system. > More awkward and more expensive than just putting a boot BIOS on the > NIC and netbooting it. More awkward and more expensive than just replacing the existing BIOS image with one that can netboot. http://www.linuxbios.org/ That's probably unnecessary though. Almost all of the machines I've purchased in the last few years have had built-in NICs that had the ability to netboot already. Of course if you're booting off the net, at some point you're probably going to realize that you could (with a decent network) just run the applications from there too (and save the time of reimaging, the need for a hard disk, ...). This all comes for a price, though -- around $500 for a computer like this without a fan or hard disk. That means a store would need to pay for music to fill the silence and figure out something else for the technical support people to fix. nospam-0724@timmins.net writes: > Sounds like a business opportunity here. Some company should produce > a CD, updated quarterly, that contains all the essential software > needed to run a rental PC in that type of environment. http://knoppix.com/ > The PC should be configured to boot from the CD (and NOT from the > hard drive or floppy), and every time the system is rebooted from > the CD, the very first thing the CD should do is a complete wipe of > the hard drive (which, presumably, would be about the smallest > commercially-available hard drive to start with, so the wipe-time > isn't excessive -- for this application 10 GB should be plenty). Or just use the hard drive as swap space (if you happen to already have machines with hard drives and insufficient memory). > The only part of this scheme that sucks is having to physically ship > the CD's http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html#mirrors I'm not expecting Kinko's to start using Knoppix, but it's certainly a solution that *users* could start implementing. Just carry a Knoppix CD with you when you travel. Carry a USB "drive" with certificates/ keys/passwords on it and you won't have to be a victim of keyboard captures. --kyler ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 00:00:05 -0600 On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 00:25:18 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: > Jiang had secretly installed, in at least 14 Kinko's copy shops, > software that logs individual keystrokes. He captured more than 450 > user names and passwords, and used them to access and open bank > accounts online. > The case, which led to a guilty plea earlier this month after Jiang > was caught, highlights the risks in using public Internet terminals at > cybercafes, libraries, airports and other establishments. Much as I think that Kinkos is at fault for failing to provide a secure platform for their clients, I must also question why the credit card companies have failed to create challenge-response systems for customers to validate transactions. When making Internet purchases, I would vastly prefer to have the vendor issue a challenge to me and generate the response to validate the purpose. Currently, internet vendors must assume liability for CC fraud. Such a challenge/response system would seemingly have a much lower risk of fraud for the vendor -- I should be able to get a lower cost by being willing to use such validation techniques. Unfortunately, the credit card companies *do not allow* vendors to provide such price breaks. Methinks the current credit card system is fundamentally flawed -- it stifles innovative techniques for transaction validation. We should have have moved past the "secred number" validation systems about a decade ago. --phil ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Telemarketers Sue Over Do-Not-Call List Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 07:01:44 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications Joey Lindstrom wrote: Y'know, if Robert Heinlein had lived to see this, and somebody asked > him his opinion on it, he could have simply pulled out a copy of his > very first story, "Life-Line", and pointed to the words he gave to the > judge in that story, which apply as much today as ever: > "There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the > notion that, because a man or a corporation has made a profit out of > the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are > charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even > in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. > This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. > Neither individuals nor corporations have the right to come into court > and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back, for > their private benefit." The scum that manage telemarketing boiler rooms would not gain a clue from those august words. And, because few lawyers place principle over fees these days ... ------------------------------ Fom: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Telemarketers Sue Over Do-Not-Call List Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 09:22:03 -0500 Joey Lindstrom wrote in message news:telecom22.589.3@telecom-digest.org: > I caught this on CNN's website: > WASHINGTON (AP) -- Telemarketers expanded their legal challenge to the > government's do-not-call list, suing a second federal agency over the > call-blocking service for consumers that the industry says will > devastate business and cost as many as two million jobs. Phooey. Calling telemarking a business is like calling door-to-door sales a business. At best they're "professional" pests. And many are quite unprofessional. They tie up access to a product or service that I pay for, not them. Two million people will now have to be retrained to say "Would you like fries with that?" Oh well, the pay is better anyway. > The free government registry for blocking telephone sales pitches has > grown to more than 28 million numbers since it was opened June 27, > according to the Federal Trade Commission, which operates the service. > The FTC has predicted registration to grow to 60 million numbers by > next summer. > Full story here: > http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/07/29/telemarketers.sue.ap/index.html > Y'know, if Robert Heinlein had lived to see this, and somebody asked > him his opinion on it, he could have simply pulled out a copy of his > very first story, "Life-Line", and pointed to the words he gave to the > judge in that story, which apply as much today as ever: > "There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the > notion that, because a man or a corporation has made a profit out of > the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are > charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even > in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. > This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. > Neither individuals nor corporations have the right to come into court > and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back, for > their private benefit." I love this Heinlein quote! Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: No Spam Subject: Re: Ground Start Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 12:11:05 -0400 Organization: ITS - NetNews Jay R. Ashworth wrote in message news:telecom22.589.20@telecom-digest.org: > And it has a name, in the jargon, which I'm surprised Tom didn't > mention. The circumstance of an outgoing call siezing a loop-start > line which has an as-yet un-rung incoming call on it is referred to as > "glare". > I've never been certain exactly why ... Perhaps it's analogous to the situation where to shoppers both grab the last-remaining discounted item from the store shelf at the identical moment ... neither wants to drop it, and they don't really want to deal with each other anyhow, so they both just glare at one another and wait to see who gives up first :-) ------------------------------ From: Fritz Whittington Subject: Re: Ground Start Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 16:15:35 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet On or about 2003-07-29 21:48, Jay R. Ashworth whipped out a trusty #2 pencil and scribbled: > Stanley settled back into the couch, and Tom Kirk > said to him: >> The net result of all this esoteric information was that when a call >> arrived on a particular incoming trunk, there was no correlation as to >> where the trunk was in the six second ringing cycle. > And it has a name, in the jargon, which I'm surprised Tom didn't > mention. The circumstance of an outgoing call siezing a loop-start > line which has an as-yet un-rung incoming call on it is referred to as > "glare". > I've never been certain exactly why ... Starting a ground-start line is called "winking" the line. I guess that winking would shut off the "glare"? I guess they called it "winking" because it's a momentary closing (of a switch) like the momentary closing of your eye to wink. My good friend E. Ben Travato told me this ... Fritz Whittington "You need only two tools. WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the tape ..." ------------------------------ From: BriskAttivo@yahoo.com (Brisk Attivo) Subject: Divorce via SMS Approved by Malaysian Court Date: 30 Jul 2003 00:11:13 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Agene France-Presse Wednesday, 30 July 2003 A row over a Malaysian court ruling that Muslim men can divorce their wives via SMS using their mobile phones has outraged women's groups and puzzled Malaysia's prime minister. Malaysian prime minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, who has positioned his country to take advantage of the hi-tech information revolution, said on Tuesday he did not like the idea of divorce by the popular short message service (SMS). "Nowadays, we can even divorce our wife by sending messages," he said after launching a regional expertise hub established by the Swedish telecoms giant, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, in Malaysia's special Multimedia Super Corridor development zone. "I am not so keen on that, but they say it is perfectly legal, perfectly Islamic," he told assembled reporters. "I think that if people want to divorce their wife, they should resort to a much more personal approach than that. "We hope of course that instead of sending messages, you should look at the beautiful wife that you're going to divorce ... maybe she would cry a bit and you would change your mind," he added. Women's groups have had stronger words for the decision last week by an Islamic Sharia court that a man's pronouncement of divorce via SMS to his wife was valid. Ivy Josiah, director of the Women's Aid Organisation in Kuala Lumpur said the method was "distant, cowardly, undignified and rude". A Muslim man can end his marriage by telling his wife "I divorce you" three times. Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has now directed the Islamic advancement department to verify the method of SMS divorce. "I can understand why the women are very worried. There's possibility of being duped through SMS," he told the Bernama national news agency. "There may be fraud because a short service message can be sent by anyone. [We] don't face [them] so we don't know, so the doubt arises. It's alright with a letter because there's a signature." ------------------------------ From: asj Subject: When do "Ubergeeks" Become Idiots? When Phone Crashes are "Normal" Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 03:14:16 -0400 Reply-To: k@xx.com Now, tell me these guys aren't acting like complete idiots. Their Microsoft Windows smartphone crashes several times a day (a la Windows the desktop), and they think that's "normal". Advice? Here's one; get a phone that actually works! There are a lot more stable ones running Linux, Palm, Symbian, or whatever. Just don't use Windows pocket PC ... the blue screen of death does not belong on a phone screen! No wonder the darn things don't sell well. "How many crashes per day (per hour) is normal for T-Mobile Pocket PC phone edition?" http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=vianeja5hd9hc4%40corp.supernews.com&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26group%3Dmicrosoft.public.pocketpc.phone_edition "How many crashes a day for T-Mobile pocket PC is normal? My record is six, and that on a day when I just made a few phone calls and didn't use any other software. I've never gone more than two days without it crashing. And often it crashes when it is asleep. Come to think of it, it almost never locks up while I'm using it, it's only after it goes to sleep. And not only does it automatically (hard) reboot, but when it comes back up the screen is usually frozen and I have to turn the battery off and then reboot. Does anyone else have this problem? I have already dumped the T-mobile phone applications to no avail. I am not running any shady software, Should I just send it back?" ------------------------------ From: Phil McKerracher Subject: Re: Pronunciation - Bouygues Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 10:36:06 GMT Organization: blueyonder (post doesn't reflect views of blueyonder) Ross McMicken wrote in message news:telecom22.589.18@telecom-digest.org: > On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 05:14:04 GMT, bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) wrote: >> In article , Mark Baker >> wrote: >>> I am in Australia and often read about 'Bouygues' in the trade press. >>> However, I have never heard it pronounced. Could someone please give >>> me a phonetic guide to its pronunciation? >> I don't recognize it without a context, could be anything from >> 'bug-eyes' to 'boik'. > It is pronounced boygz, at least that's how their employees we dealt > with pronounced it. Big French construction company that does a fair > amount of work for the oil industry overseas. No, it's more like boo-ig according to a Frenchman I worked with. Yours sounds like an anglicised (or humorous) version. Phil McKerracher www.mckerracher.org ------------------------------ From: cshields@mynra.com (Chris) Subject: Dropping Digits on Legend System Date: 30 Jul 2003 07:52:03 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Has anybody had any issues with the older Legend systems when a caller enters in an ext from an AA and the 2nd digit is a one, such as 317, it drops the 3 and sends it to the operator which is the dial "1" transfer in the AA. I have tried adjusting timers and even swapped out the analog card the vm is using to connect to the legend. The vm system is an Intuity Audix. ------------------------------ 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #590 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 30 23:50:54 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h6V3oso26298; Wed, 30 Jul 2003 23:50:54 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 23:50:54 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200307310350.h6V3oso26298@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 #591 TELECOM Digest Wed, 30 Jul 2003 23:51:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 591 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Thirty Years Ago in Area Code History (Mark Cuccia) Cingular Looking to Buy Next Wave Licenses (Monty Solomon) Re: The Telecommunications Technology Handbook - June 2003 (Ashworth) Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: High Desert TV Translator in Need of Repair (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Backup Data on the Moon (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Calif's AG vs. fax.com Re: Unsolicited Garbage (Jay R. Ashworth) Odd CLID Problem (Herb Stein) Re: Ground Start (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Telemarketers Sue Over Do-Not-Call List (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Transfer and Drop, was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer (John Levine) Elisha Gray (Don Parrish) 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, 30 Jul 2003 22:13:28 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Thirty Years Ago in Area Code History It was THIRTY YEARS AGO last month, in June 1973, when there was the only significant NPA split of the entire decade of the 1970s! There were some other miscellaneous things happening with area codes during the 1970s, such as in 1975, when Quebec's 819 (an already existing area code, one of three at the time for Quebec) was formally "extended" to include the eastern/Arctic portions (Bell Canada portions) of Canada's Northwest Territories, and in the early 1970s (or maybe late 1960s?), there was the introduction of SAC 900 for "mass calling" (choke) purposes (at that time, 900 was *NOT* for "Dial-It" or the even more notorious 'PAY-PAY-PAY-per-call' ?services?, but rather for rare/occasional call-ins on a national basis, in which it was anticipated there would be a massive amount of call-attempts, thus special translations and routings were used with 900 numbers to "choke off" many call-attempts instead of the network being "choked" by such attempts); and there was also the introduction of the temporary use of 90-5 for NANP calling to Mexico City and other +52-5NXX- locations, "as if" these +52-5NXX- were really "within" the NANP identified as +1-905-NXX-. And there were other miscellaneous billing (RAO) and changes of 903 to temporary 70-6 (to parallel +52-6NXX) in Mexico later in the 1970s. But the only "real" POTS/Geographic NANP area code of the 1970s was thirty years ago last month, in June 1973, when Virginia's only area code since the introduction of the US/Canada area code format in October 1947, 703, was split off, where the southeastern portion of Virginia became 804. And while there are still area code splits and overlays this year and planned for 2004 and 2005, the amount of new area codes needed has fallen DRASTICALLY for NUMEROUS reasons (economy, CLEC/wireless oversaturation, more efficient number portability/thousands-blocks/ conservation, etc), to the levels of the later 1980s and early 1990s. But it might actually fall to even smaller levels of the early 1980s levels from the rate things are going! The 1973 split of Virginia's 703 NPA, with 804 as the new NPA for southeastern Virginia, was the *ONLY* actual NPA split ever to occur in the US/Canada when InWARD-WATS (toll-free 800) was still using geographic/NPA-based 800-NNX code assignments. When InWATS (toll-free) 800 began in the US in 1966/67, Virginia's (only area code) 703 needed only *ONE* 800-NNX code for inbound (interstate) calls. The code assigned for (all of) Virginia (NPA 703) was 800-336. With the split of Virginia's 703 in June 1973, its 800-NNX of 800-336 was also split with a new 800-NNX code assigned for inbound interstate calls to 800 numbers terminating in locations southeastern VA (NPA 804), that new code being 800-446. Thus, all southeastern VA in-WATS customers had to re-advertize their now-obsolete 800-336- numbers, now as new/corrected/ changed-to 800-446- numbers. In April 1982, AT&T started introducing new database-lookups with CCIS(6) signaling between toll offices and the 800-number database. This was a form of "geographic" portability of 800 numbers. But since there was no competition, it wasn't competitive-portability. Also, AT&T continued to use only those 800-NNX c.o.codes which had been assigned for use prior to 1982, but only now there whould no longer be any geographic association to those 800-NNX c.o.codes. Beginning in 1985/86, the non-assigned 800-NXX c.o.codes would be assigned to requesting competitive LD carriers wishing to provide inbound toll-free, by NANPA (at that time it was still part of Bellcore (now Telcordia), only recently spun-out of AT&T/Bell). And ultimatley, a new layer of Databases would be implemented, taking effect in 1993/94, for *full* portability - not only geographic within a carrier but even portable between competitive carriers, of the entire 800-NXX-xxxx number (and now there are additional toll-free SACs 888, 877, 866 and future 855/844/833/822 as well). The only "real" NPA split to happen prior to Virginia's 703/804 NPA split was Florida's split of 305 in 1965. General Telephone and United Telephone in southwestern Gulf Coast Florida (GT&E Tampa/metro down to United Ft.Myers/metro) had been using NPA 813 since the early 1950s. The remainder of Florida, both Southern Bell as well as independents, from Miami and Key West, all the way to Jacksonville, and then to Pensacola, had retained the original NPA 305. But in 1965, the northern "swath" of Florida from Pensacola to Jacksonville, as well as Gainesville/etc., split off to a new 904 area code. This occured prior to the introduction of Toll-Free InWATS service which occurred in 1966/67. At the time 800 was introduced, the by-then already existing 904 NPA in Florida was assigned 800-874- for inbound interstate toll-free calls terminating there. After Virginia had their 703/804 NPA split in 1973/74, it wasn't until 1982/83 when there was another "real" NPA split to occur: In November 1982, 714 in southern and eastern California was split, with 714 being retained by the suburban counties immediately adjacent to Los Angeles: Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino. Everything else that had been NPA 714 (including San Diego Metro) was changed to the new NPA 619. And then shortly thereafter, in March 1983, 713 in southeastern Texas was split, with Houston Metro retaining NPA 713, but just everything else surrounding in southeastern TX was changed to NPA 409 (Beaumont, Bay City, Hearne, GTE Bryan/College Station, Hunstville, etc). But both CA 714/619 (Nov.1982) and TX 713/409 (Mar.1983) happened *AFTER* Inward WATS toll-free 800 had begun their database routing of a form of geographic portability in April 1982, thus there was NOT any need for any sicj 'dedicated' 800-NNX codes for inbound interstate toll-free service to the new 619 CA or new 409 TX area codes. Finally, speaking of pre-1982 toll-free inward WATS 800-NNX numbering, does anyone know when, month/year if possible: - 215 southeastern PA, which had 800-523 for inbound interstate toll-free calling since the beginning in 1966/67, received a second 800-NNX code for additional customers, 800-345? It was sometime after Feb.1978 but before 1982. - 416 Ontario (Toronto/etc), which had both 800-261 and 800-263 for inbound Canada-wide toll-free calling since Canada first had such service circa 1969, received its *THIRD* 800-NNX code for additional customers, 800-268? It was sometime after Oct.1975 but before June 1977. - 416 Ontario (Toronto/etc), 800-261 (one of its two original 800-NNX codes for inbound Canada-wide toll-free calling since 1969), was "swapped" for a new code 800-387? It was sometime in the early 1980s. - and when did Canada introduce its own geographic portability database, similar to AT&T's introduction in April, 1982? Canadian 800-NNX assignments still seemed (at least to me) to have a geographic 'rigidity' about them in the same way 800-NNX codes were assigned in the US prior to April 1982, all throughout the 1980s. It wouldn't have been until around 1988 or 1989 when Telecom-Canada introduced a geographic portabilty database network for 800-NNX in Canada ... Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia (at) tulane (dot) edu New Orleans LA USA ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 23:28:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Looking to Buy NextWave Licenses Cingular Looking to Buy NextWave Licenses - Jul 30, 2003 04:33 PM (AP Online) By HARRY R. WEBER AP Business Writer ATLANTA (AP) -- Cingular is working on a deal to buy 34 wireless licenses from bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. for about $1.4 billion to broaden its reach in large U.S. markets, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said Wednesday. The deal for NextWave's valuable spectrum licenses would have to be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y. Nothing had been filed as of late Wednesday. There were still certain details being hammered out, said the source involved in the bankruptcy case who spoke on condition of anonymity. A spokeswoman for Atlanta-based Cingular, the nation's No. 2 wireless carrier, declined to comment. An executive at Hawthorne, N.Y.-based NextWave did not immediately return a call seeking comment. The source said the licenses Cingular is interested in are related to large markets along the East Coast, West Coast and in the South. If the deal is filed with the court, other companies could still come in and offer a higher bid for the licenses, the person said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35068649 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 14:13:55 -0400 From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: The Telecommunications Technology Handbook - June 2003 Organization: Ashworth & Associates, St Pete FL USA On Wed, Jul 30, 2003 at 01:50:16PM +0100, Karl Whitfield wrote: > This indispensable guide to all the technical knowledge and terminology is > available in PDF format, for single > user for only $695 USD - 425 GBP - 605 Euro You understand, right, that there are references on real actual paper (if I can't search it anyway, it might as well be on paper) that are just as current, and just as comprehensive. ... and cost around a hundred bucks? If you're going to sift me out of a *technical* newsgroup to spam me, at least have the courtesy not to be ripping me off, too. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink RFC 2100 The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 OS X: Because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows -- Simon Slavin, on a.f.c ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: PRI vs. Plain Vanilla T-1 Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 19:17:57 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and LARB0 said to him: > Plain vanilla T1s generally cost less than PRI T1s - but they offer > fewer features and functions. I believe the terminological distinction these days is that if it's not a PRI, it's D4/ESF. (Extended SuperFrame is the data framing format used on today's non-ISDN T-spans. D4 is Bellspeak.) Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: High Desert TV Translator in Need of Repair Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 19:21:28 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and J Kelly said to him: > The best source we have found for RCA spares that are NLA is to > find another station that is decommissioning a transmitter of the same > model as ours and going and getting whatever parts we need. We did > this several years ago and got a lot of good used parts. The biggest > problem is still finding the Klystron tubes, which I do not believe > are still being manufactured, an if they are, they are special order > only, so you better have a spare on hand (I don't). Svetlana, the Russian tube people? I think they're still building that sort of thing. "Not Economic to Repair" means *many* different levels of things to different people in different places. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Backup Data on the Moon Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 19:23:07 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and AES/newspost said to him: > In article , William Warren > wrote: >> This is a fluff piece that has nothing to do with telecom. Please >> ask Monty to dial it down. FWIW. YMMV. >> [Lisa Minter note: Well, Monty, you heard the man. I know you are >> reading this. Be governed accordingly. Thanks. Lisa M.] > Some of the Monty Solomon items are of interest to me, many aren't -- > and there are an awful lot of them. > Is there some way he could batch them? -- combine a week's worth (even a > day's worth!) into a single "digest"-type collection? (preferably with a > "Subject:" line for each item so one could rapidly scan through them). > Would be appreciated ... (not to say that present postings aren't). > Secondarily, longer precis's (what the plural of precis?!?), say a > half-screen, are more helpful than single-sentence ones, if he's going > to do all this work. I believe it's preces. :-) I'd recommend people get newsreaders that understand how to score, and score Monty down if his stuff doesn't interest them; that's what I do ... Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Like Vonage Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 19:23:56 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and nospam-0724@timmins.net said to him: > Actually, I *have* seen call transfer like Vonage, from the VoIP > company that did it first: VoicePulse (http://www.voicepulse.com/). > In the last three or four months, VoicePulse has introduced several > new and innovative features, and call transfer just happens to be one > of them. Once VoicePulse had introduced the feature, Vonage customers > apparently started requesting it, and when Vonage implemented it they > even used the same code (90#) to initiate the transfer. They got it from Ma; 90# is the CLASS code for that feature. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 19:27:06 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and John R Covert said to him: > Jay Ashworth wrote: >> Notably, my PrimeCo CDMA cellphone, which was locked to GPS time, >> changed minutes, quite reliably, 13 seconds off. > Why do you think your CDMA cellphone is locked to GPS time, and not > just to your local carrier's improperly set network time transmitted > over their data channel? AFAIK, CDMA phones pick up the time the > network operator sends, and TDMA and GSM phones don't have a time > source other than what the user sets manually. CDMA phones take timing from GPS; I undertsand it's right in the air interface spec. The phones and the MTSO all have to be locked together to chip-rate specs anyway ... > In any case, the clock in question (Verizon Boston, 617 637-xxxx) is > "fast" right now by between 11 and 20 seconds, as compared to the US > Naval Observatory Master Clock (UTC). The table below lists the time > as given by the Verizon clock right now, followed by the USNO time at > the Verizon beep, and the difference, which varies from beep to beep. > I find it especially interesting that this clock will sometimes > completely skip the 20 second announcement. > Verizon USNO Difference > > 00 48 12 > 10 59 11 > 30 10 20 > 40 22 18 > 50 33 17 > 00 45 15 > 10 55 15 > 20 03 17 > 30 14 16 > 40 26 14 > 50 37 13 > 00 48 12 > 10 59 11 > 30 11 19 > 40 21 19 > 50 33 17 > This is just ridiculous! The clock in DC at 202 844-xxxx is now slow > by exactly 16 seconds. You can't even begin to explain that with leap > seconds, since a clock which uses TAI or GPS time without the leap > second correction would be fast, not slow. Yuck. Yeah, that's ugly. > The uncorrected time should _never_ be presented to a user, and if it > is, that's simply broken. Concur. And no, I don't know Chelsea; I picked that off a newsgroup. Closest I ever got to DEC was the PDP-8/e I cut my teeth on. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Calif's AG vs. fax.com Re: Unsolicited Garbage Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 19:31:02 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Danny Burstein said to him: > http://caag.state.ca.us/newsalerts/2003/03-089.htm > danny " wishes all the 50 State webmasters would sit down and standardize > the url syntax for their key offices " burstein Wow; you mean, like, "myflorida.com"? Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Odd CLID Problem Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 09:45:13 -0500 The setup: My parents live in Columbia, Mo. and have Century Tel service. They have a friend near Camdenton, Mo. with SBC service. I live in St. Louis, Mo. with SBC service. I also have a Cingular cell phone. Both of us SBC people have Privacy Manager. The problem: When my parents call me on my home phone, Privacy Manager traps the call and they get the recording about no CLID calls accepted. The same thing happens when they call the friend at the Lake. However, If they call my cell phone, I get the CLID information every time. I'd like to help fix the problem, but don't even know where to start. Clearly, CLID is leaving Columbia OK for me to get it on the cell phone. But somewhere along the line, an SBC switch must be eating it or flipping the wrong bit. Since I'm 120 miles east and the other friend is maybe 100 miles south or SSW, I think I'd be surprised to see calls to both locations routed through the same SBC switch. But what do I know. Any switching guru out here with a helpful hint? Would it be worth having my parents try calling from a neighbors house or is this definitely NOT a problem that could exist on a single line? Before I call customer service, I'd like to have some confidence that I'm at least calling the right telephone company. Direct replies are welcome if this is not of general interest to this group. Thanks in advance for any input. Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Ground Start Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 17:10:40 -0400 Organization: Bell Sympatico Jay R. Ashworth wrote: > The circumstance of an outgoing call siezing a loop-start line which > has an as-yet un-rung incoming call on it is referred to as "glare". > I've never been certain exactly why ... Perhaps it was named after the facial expression that results when two overly self-assured people round a corner too quickly and just barely stop before colliding ... At one point Bell Canada said (defensively, when I pointed out how much higher their digital trunks were than their analog trunks) that you couldn't compare the price of an ISDN B channel to a (loop-start implied) business line because fewer B channels were 'equivalent' to more analog trunks. They never told me the exact technical reasoning behind this claim, but at the time I guessed they were thinking that you could get away with fewer digital channels because you needed to have more analog lines to reduce the chances of glare at peak times to near zero, while the digital (or ground-start, but Bell Canada didn't mention that) lines would simply give someone a busy signal in stead of allowing a collision of out & inbound calls on the last trunk. Geoffrey Welsh This address is not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Unsolicited bulk mail is spam, no matter what regulations (real or imagined) it complies with! FIGHT SPAM AND SCAMS: DISCONNECT CHINA FROM THE INTERNET! ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Telemarketers Sue Over Do-Not-Call List Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 17:18:21 -0400 Organization: Bell Sympatico Joey Lindstrom wrote: > I caught this on CNN's website: > WASHINGTON (AP) -- Telemarketers expanded their legal challenge to the > government's do-not-call list, suing a second federal agency over the > call-blocking service for consumers that the industry says will > devastate business and cost as many as two million jobs. (Germane Heinlein quote aside) How is requiring telemarketers not to call people who have made it clear that they don't want telemarketers to call going to cost them anything (OK, that's idealized; some of the people who signed up might decide to buy anyway when called), let alone what they might save in time (i.e., labor cost) savings?!? Geoffrey Welsh This address is not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Unsolicited bulk mail is spam, no matter what regulations (real or imagined) it complies with! FIGHT SPAM AND SCAMS: DISCONNECT CHINA FROM THE INTERNET! ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Transfer and Drop, was Re: Anyone Seen Call Transfer Date: 30 Jul 2003 17:22:23 -0400 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> One major problem the telcos have with POTS call transfer is >> billing. ... > Then again, we Vonage residential customers can transfer calls anywhere. Transferred calls are billed like any other outgoing calls. It doesn't seem to be a problem for them. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 330 5711 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John, I have a question about Vongage and you may know the answer. Suppose I get an incoming Vonage call and transfer it out of the net to some other landline phone. I guess I do not pay for incoming Vonage calls, right? Now if I do #90 and transfer the call out then hang up, I would expect to pay for however long my caller stayed connected to the third party, is that right? He would pay for his call into my 'switch' and I would pay from my 'switch' out to wherever. Does Vonage stay in the loop, even if there are two landlines involved and no longer any Vonage user (me) in the call? How is the call billed, by using up Vonage minutes, or at some tariffed rate for landline to landline phones or ?? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 16:49:59 -0500 Subject: Elisha Gray From: Don Parrish Dear Patrick, I worked my entire 30 year career at Bell Labs and then did an almost 5 year post career at Lucent. I thought you might be interested in the e-mail that I just sent to some of my friends who work at or used to work at Lucent. Best wishes, Don Parrish P.S. Dear Colleague, August 2 will be the 168th anniversary of the birthday of Elisha Gray who, as you remember, was the founder of Western Electric and thus, the titular founder of Lucent. Recently I discovered his grave. To see the photos, go to , click on the green TRIP REPORT button and then click on the "Grave of Elisha Gray" link. The direct link (and the one you need if you want to link to the page) is: . As you also remember, Elisha Gray was just one or two hours behind Bell at the patent office to file as the inventor of the telephone. It is an interesting coincidence, but August 2 will also be the 81st anniversary of the death of Alexander Graham Bell. My tribute to him is in the ESSAYS section. Best wishes, Don [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks very much for passing this along to the Digest readers. I imagine many will want to see your material. 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 #591 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 31 23:21:53 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h713LrL02487; Thu, 31 Jul 2003 23:21:53 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 23:21:53 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200308010321.h713LrL02487@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 #592 TELECOM Digest Thu, 31 Jul 2003 23:14:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 592 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter US Gov't (GSA) to MCI: You're Outta Here (Danny Burstein) 120 V AC on Phone Line (Doug) Re: Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam (Dave Phelps) Re: E1 and T1 (SayNoToCrossposters) Comcast Reports Second Quarter 2003 Results (Monty Solomon) Experts Anxious Over Possible Net Attack (Monty Solomon) US Bars State-Owned Firms From Iraq Mobile Tender (Monty Solomon) Re: Odd CLID Problem (Joe Wineburgh) Re: Odd CLID Problem (Paul A Lee) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (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: Danny Burstein Subject: US Gov't (GSA) to MCI: You're Outta Here Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 20:23:32 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC (From the WSJ reprint of the GSA press release. It's not yet up on the GSA website but should be by the time you read this. Since it's a public document I think I'm ok reprinting it in full ... ) GSA Statement on MCI GSA Proposes Debarment of MCI WorldCom Company Immediately Suspended From New Federal Government Contracts WASHINGTON, July 31 -- The U.S. General Services Administration today announced the proposed debarment of MCI WorldCom from receiving new Federal government contracts. GSA has been closely monitoring the MCI WorldCom bankruptcy and allegations related to fraudulent conduct. On June 2, 2003, GSA's Office of Inspector General recommended that the agency's suspension and debarment official consider whether the company met the standard required of all government contractors of being "presently responsible," and therefore, eligible to compete for new government contracts. After careful review of the Inspector General's referral and all relevant information available, this official determined that MCI WorldCom lacks the necessary internal controls and business ethics. Accordingly, the proposed debarment has been issued which triggers an immediate suspension of the company's eligibility to compete for new Federal government contracts. "It is important that all companies and individuals doing business with the Federal government be ethical and responsible," said GSA Administrator Stephen A. Perry. "GSA has rigorously followed the Federal Acquisition Regulations and has acted to protect the interests of the government and taxpayers." The suspension and debarment official's review included the reports from former U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh (Thornburgh Report), the Report of Investigation by the Special Investigative Committee of the Board of Directors of WorldCom, Inc. (McLucas Report), MCI WorldCom correspondence and slides prepared by the company's ethics office, and the June 3, 2003 report by WorldCom's outside auditors, KPMG, LLP. Of particular note are the ten "material weaknesses " in the company's internal controls cited in the KPMG report. The effect of the proposed debarment is as follows: MCI WorldCom's name will be entered into the Excluded Parties Listing System; the name will appear on the list tomorrow at ttp://epls.arnet.gov. The company is immediately prohibited from competing for new government contracts. The proposed debarment and immediate suspension apply government-wide. either GSA, nor any other Federal agency, may award a new contract while MCI WorldCom is on the excluded parties list. The company may, within 30 days, challenge the decision. Previously, GSA suspended former MCI WorldCom Chief Financial Officer, Scott Sullivan, and former Controller, David Myers. Earlier this month, GSA also suspended four former MCI WorldCom employees: Mr. Bernard Ebbers, Chief Executive Officer of WorldCom; Mr. Buford Yates, Director of General Accounting; Ms. Betty Vinson, Director of Management Reporting; and Mr. Troy Normand, Director of Legal Entity Accounting. GSA is a centralized Federal procurement and property management agency created by Congress to improve government efficiency and help Federal agencies better serve the public. It acquires, on behalf of Federal agencies, office space, equipment, telecommunications, information technology, supplies and services. GSA, comprised of 14,000 associates, provides services and solutions for the office operations of over 1 million Federal workers located in 8,300 government-owned and leased buildings in 1,600 U.S. communities. URL for this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105968355168440400,00.html Updated July 31, 2003 4:51 p.m. _____________________________________________________ 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: So it has come to this point, finally. What will happen with MCI's *existing* federal contracts? Do any of you guys remember Vint Cerf, the executive VP at MCI who was loaned out to help get ICANN started (with generous gifts from MCI of course.)I wonder if ICANN still has Vint around? I wonder if it occurred to any anti-ICANN attornies out there that much of ICANN's largesse (how much or how little that amounts to) was ill-gotten from MCI's thievery over the years? PAT] ------------------------------ From: doug-deja@inet-traffic.com (doug) Subject: 120 V AC on Phone Line Date: 31 Jul 2003 17:23:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I recently moved to a rural area and have a loud hum on my line. I have an old voltmeter and decided to test the voltage in the lines. The DC seems to be right with all I have read onine. Then i tested AC and found the following: + = voltmeter positive, - = voltmeter negative Line 1 +green to -red = 0 or meter tries to go backward to neg numbers. -green to +red = 120V AC steady -green to +ground = 120V AC steady +green to -ground = 0 or backwards +red to -ground = 22V AC Line 2 +green to -red = 120V AC steady -green to +red = 0 or backwards -green to +ground = 22V AC steady -red to +ground = 120 V AC steady +green to -ground = 20V V AVC steady +red to -ground = 0 or backwards I had the Bell South guy over here and he agrees that the problem is coming from out of the house. The 120 Volts didn't seem to phase him much. I showed him how it was the exact same if I stuck the voltmeter into an electrical outlet. Does all this mean anything or do I need different equipment to find the problem? What can I do about this? Bellsouth says there will always be a hum. And I don't think they are going to do anything. I spend alot of time saying "what?" back and forth on the phone and my tivo modem has blown. I wonder if I can light a 120V light bulb with my phone line? Hmmm.. Thanks for any help. ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 23:51:35 -0500 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , monty@roscom.com says: > When Indiana University installed its new e-mail system in 2000, it > spent $1.2 million on a network of nine computers to process mail > for 115,000 students, faculty members and researchers at its main > campus here and at satellite facilities throughout the state. Wow. When are they going out for bids on the next nine computers? I'm bidding on that one. I bet I could get them nine computers for only $1 million or so. Maybe even cheaper! Dave Phelps DD Networks www.ddnets.com deadspam=tippenring [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would think over the pricing a little better, Dave. They are all heavy-duty multi-user machines not the little 'toy computers' like most of us have in our homes. I would think a hundred or a hundred twenty five thousand per machine would be a reasonable price, depending on size and networking requirements needed. You would not have much left from that million dollars for your profit. PAT] ------------------------------ From: SayNoToCrossposters Subject: Re: E1 and T1 Organization: Comcast Online Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 12:06:27 GMT Phil McKerracher wrote in message news:telecom22.589.9@telecom-digest.org: > obsidian wrote in message > news:telecom22.578.2@telecom-digest.org: >> Can anyone explain why North America uses T1, and the Rest of the >> World (as far as I am aware) are all using E1? > North America is such a big market that they can afford to ignore the > rest of the world, rather than waiting several years for a standard to > be agreed. This means they tend to get things first, but it's not > always the best solution. In this case T1 came first, the Europeans > fixed some problems and "improved" it to get E1, but the Americans > weren't interested. > There are many other examples - mu-law/A-law, NTSC/PAL, CDMA/GSM, > imperial/metric to name just a few. > Phil McKerracher > www.mckerracher.org Thats a TAD bit oversimplistic. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 09:01:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Reports Second Quarter 2003 Results Consolidated Revenue Increased to $5.685 Billion Consolidated Operating Cash Flow Increased to $1.831 Billion Consolidated Operating Income Increased to $611 Million Integration Of Newly Acquired Cable Systems Ahead Of Schedule Basic Cable Subscribers Increased by 12,100 Pro Forma Cable Operating Cash Flow Increased 35.7% to $1.597 Billion Operating Cash Flow Margin Reached 36.5% Pro Forma Cable Operating Income Increased to $464 Million Comcast Increases 2003 Guidance For Basic Cable Subscribers And For Cable Operating Cash Flow And Reaffirms All Other Full Year Guidance - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35077228 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 09:03:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Experts Anxious Over Possible Net Attack By TED BRIDIS AP Technology Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government and industry experts are increasingly concerned about brewing hacker activity they consider a precursor to a broad Internet attack that will target a serious flaw in Windows software from Microsoft Corp. Experts are advising computer users with renewed urgency to apply a free repairing patch that Microsoft has offered on its Web site since July 16, when it acknowledged that the flaw affected nearly all versions of its flagship Windows operating system software. The Homeland Security Department cautioned Wednesday that hackers in recent days have successfully tested new tools to seize control of such vulnerable computers over the Internet, stealing data, deleting files or eavesdropping on e-mails. The government also said it had detected an "Internet-wide increase in scanning" for victim computers. Security companies guarding government and corporate networks have identified sporadic break-in attempts worldwide using such tools and monitored hackers in discussion groups and chat rooms exchanging tips about how to improve the effectiveness of their programs. Applying Microsoft's repairing patch takes a few moments for home users but is a more daunting challenge for large corporations with tens of thousands of Windows computers _ leading to a race against hackers for frazzled computer administrators. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35074335 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 09:10:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: US Bars State-Owned Firms From Iraq Mobile Tender By Cynthia Johnston BAGHDAD, July 31 (Reuters) - Iraq's U.S.-led authority has barred partly state-owned companies from bidding for three mobile phone licences, a move critics say could give U.S. firms an upper hand over Arab companies. The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) is holding a tender conference on Thursday in Amman for the three Iraqi mobile phone licences, among the most potentially lucrative contracts to be offered in Iraq. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35077758 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 06:45:07 PDT From: Joe Wineburgh Reply-To: jwineburgh@yahoo.com Subject: Re: Odd CLID Problem It's not clear from your post whether you have caller-id and a box to view it, but I have a similar issue with Sprint (local)'s offering. About 6 months ago they modified the service from just blocking out-of-area/private calls to also blocking valid numbers with no name, that is a call that came in with a number 856-791-xxxx but a blank name (either couldn't do a lookup because it was from out of the area or the info wasn't transmitted for some reason). The issue I have is it also includes most cell phones (verizon, AT&T) so when we call home for messages we get the message. I am happy that they give the option to set up a four-digit pin to bypass the whole recording a name, waiting for the machine, etc. - by punching the digits in when the service picks up, the call goes right through (with proper call-id number). JOE > Any switching guru out here with a helpful hint? Would it be worth > having my parents try calling from a neighbors house or is this > definitely NOT a problem that could exist on a single line? Before I > call customer service, I'd like to have some confidence that I'm at > least calling the right telephone company. > Herb Stein > The Herb Stein Group > www.herbstein.com > herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: Paul A Lee Subject: Re: Odd CLID Problem Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 15:33:00 -0400 In TELECOM Digest V22 #591, Herb Stein wrote (in part): > My parents live in Columbia, Mo. and have Century Tel service. They > have a friend near Camdenton, Mo. with SBC service. I live in > St. Louis, Mo. with SBC service. I also have a Cingular cell > phone. Both of us SBC people have Privacy Manager. > When my parents call me on my home phone, Privacy Manager traps the > call and they get the recording about no CLID calls accepted. The same > thing happens when they call the friend at the Lake. However, If they > call my cell phone, I get the CLID information every time. > I'd like to help fix the problem, but don't even know where to start. > Clearly, CLID is leaving Columbia OK for me to get it on the cell > phone. But somewhere along the line, an SBC switch must be eating it > or flipping the wrong bit. Since I'm 120 miles east and the other > friend is maybe 100 miles south or SSW, I think I'd be surprised to > see calls to both locations routed through the same SBC switch. It seems likely that the calls and/or control signals could be routed through one tandem switch or STP that connects Century to SBC. If the control signaling is not handled cleanly, the CLID could be lost in the process. And, if the same problem does not occur in the connection between Century and Cingular, the resulting CLID would be different. > Would it be worth having my parents try calling from a neighbors house > or is this definitely NOT a problem that could exist on a single line? I would think that as many test calls as are practicable would be helpful in proving and isolating the problem. Try placing calls from multiple locations in each of several telco service areas, to multiple locations in each of several telco service areas. Try the calls with anonymous call rejection on and again with it off. Try also with caller ID blocked (withheld) and again with it sent. You should be able to develop a pattern of where CLID itself or the privacy (withhold) flag is being mangled or misinterpreted. > Direct replies are welcome if this is not of general interest to this > group. I believe there will be some fairly wide interest in this subject. I'm dealing with it, as well. 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 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 11:42:32 -0400 (EDT) From: John R. Covert Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks I had written: > AFAIK, CDMA phones pick up the time the network operator sends And Jay Ashworth replied: > CDMA phones take timing from GPS; I undertsand it's right in the air > interface spec. The phones and the MTSO all have to be locked > together to chip-rate specs anyway I think the primary evidence that CDMA phones are not getting their time or timing directly from GPS would be the fact that there are many places where no GPS signal could possibly reach the phone where the phone will still work and still display the time. For example, Verizon's CDMA phones work deep underground in the Washington, DC, subway. The network could possibly use GPS for synchronization and for the source of the "GPS time", but again, here it would be up to the operator to send the proper time information to the phone. The phone definitely does not rely on (or as far as I know for most phones even have the capability for) direct reception of the GPS signal. I just powered up my CDMA Motorola V60 onto the Verizon network here in Boston; it moved to "11:35" within about a second as compared to the Naval Observatory Master Clock. The delay could be Verizon or it could be the update frequency of the display. /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 #592 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Aug 1 14:04:51 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h71I4or06322; Fri, 1 Aug 2003 14:04:51 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 14:04:51 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200308011804.h71I4or06322@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 #593 TELECOM Digest Fri, 1 Aug 2003 14:04:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 593 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Music Downloading, File-sharing and Copyright: Pew Internet (M Solomon) America Online Introduces AOL 9.0 Optimized (Monty Solomon) Audio:EchoStar Joins TiVo, Hughes in DVR Fees (Monty Solomon) A Social Ecology of Wireless Technology (Monty Solomon) The Augmented Social Network: Building Identity and Trust (M Solomon) Open Content and Value Creation (Monty Solomon) The Ecology and the Connection (Monty Solomon) Cable or Satellite? Please Stay Tuned (Monty Solomon) Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line (Scott Dorsey) Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line (Dave Phelps) Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line (AES/newspost) Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line (Art Jackson) Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line (Don't email me) Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line (GlowingBlueMist) Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line (William Warren) Summer Shortfalls and Share Day (editor@telecom-digest.org) 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, 1 Aug 2003 01:37:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Music Downloading, File-sharing and Copyright: Pew Internet Music Downloading, File-sharing and Copyright: A Pew Internet Project Data Memo Introduction The struggle to enforce copyright laws in the digital age continues to be an uphill battle for content owners. Data gathered from Pew Internet & American Life Project surveys fielded during March - May of 2003 show that a striking 67% of Internet users who download music say they do not care about whether the music they have downloaded is copyrighted. A little over a quarter of these music downloaders - 27% - say they do care, and 6% said they don't have a position or know enough about the issue. The number of downloaders who say they don't care about copyright has increased since July-August 2000, when 61% of a smaller number of downloaders said they didn't care about the copyright status of their music files. Of those Internet users who share files online (such as music or video) with others, 65% say they do not care whether the files they share are copyrighted or not. Thirty percent say they do care about the copyright status of the files they share, and 5% said they don't know or don't have a position. http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=96 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 01:49:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: America Online Introduces AOL 9.0 Optimized DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 2003-- Exclusive Preview Available for AOL(R) for Broadband Members New Version of the AOL(R) and AOL(R) for Broadband Services Is Designed to Enhance Consumers' Online Experience America Online, Inc., the world's leading interactive services company, today announced the introduction of AOL(R) 9.0 Optimized, the latest version of the AOL and AOL(R) for Broadband services, and the beginning of the "Members First" download campaign. On Friday, August 1st, AOL for Broadband members using the Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP and Windows(R) 2000 operating systems will be the first to get an exclusive, preview copy of the new version before the product is generally released in stores and marketing outlets this fall. All other AOL members will be notified online in the coming weeks as AOL 9.0 Optimized is available for them to download. Members can also order a free AOL 9.0 Optimized CD in the online upgrade area. The most compelling upgrade in AOL history, AOL 9.0 Optimized includes a number of valuable new and enhanced features designed to help members get the most from being online. During a special online promotional campaign, a record 2.8 million AOL members signed up to receive an automatic alert when AOL 9.0 Optimized is available to download. And pre-release usage of the product during beta testing surpassed expectations with active participation from more than 150,000 members. ... - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35080596 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 01:59:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Audio:EchoStar Joins TiVo, Hughes in DVR Fees Audio:EchoStar Joins TiVo, Hughes in DVR Fees - Jul 31 2003 10:59AM (ON24) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35084721 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 02:45:06 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Social Ecology of Wireless Technology A social ecology of wireless technology by Critical Friends of Technology Abstract Wireless technology serves many valid human purposes. Wireless technologies have penetrated the remotest corners of the globe and will soon be ubiquitous, with billions of units in use. In this report we consider both costs and risks of wireless technologies, employing a holistic framework for evaluating technological impacts. We discuss wireless technology in developing countries, environmental issues associated with wireless, and health concerns. Contents Introduction Social, political and economic impact of wireless technologies in developing countries Wireless technology and the environment Wireless technology and health Conclusion http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_8/critical/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 02:49:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Augmented Social Network: Building Identity and Trust The Augmented Social Network: Building identity and trust into the next-generation Internet by Ken Jordan, Jan Hauser, and Steven Foster Abstract Could the next generation of online communications strengthen civil society by better connecting people to others with whom they share affinities, so they can more effectively exchange information and self-organize? Could such a system help to revitalize democracy in the 21st century? When networked personal computing was first developed, engineers concentrated on extending creativity among individuals and enhancing collaboration between a few. They did not much consider what social interaction among millions of Internet users would actually entail. It was thought that the Net's technical architecture need not address the issues of "personal identity" and "trust," since those matters tended to take care of themselves. This paper proposes the creation of an Augmented Social Network (ASN) that would build identity and trust into the architecture of the Internet, in the public interest, in order to facilitate introductions between people who share affinities or complementary capabilities across social networks. The ASN has three main objectives: 1) To create an Internet-wide system that enables more efficient and effective knowledge sharing between people across institutional, geographic, and social boundaries; 2) To establish a form of persistent online identity that supports the public commons and the values of civil society; and, 3) To enhance the ability of citizens to form relationships and self-organize around shared interests in communities of practice in order to better engage in the process of democratic governance. In effect, the ASN proposes a form of "online citizenship" for the Information Age. The ASN is not a piece of software or a Web site. Rather, it is a model for a next-generation online community that could be implemented in a number of ways, using technology that largely exists today. It is a system that would enhance the power of social networks by using interactive digital media to exploit the transitive nature of trust through the principle of six degrees of connection. As a result, people will be able to inform themselves and self-organize more effectively - in non-hierarchical, rhizomatic social formations - leading to more opportunities for engaged citizenship. Part 1 of the paper discusses the concepts behind the ASN, why it is important to pursue such a project today, and the dangers civil society faces if it is not pursued. Part 2 describes a technical architecture for the protocols and software that would support a system of recommendations through trusted third parties across the Internet as a whole. Part 3 offers recommendations for first steps toward achieving the ASN. The ASN weaves together four distinct technical areas into components of an interdependent system. The four main elements of the ASN are: Persistent online identity; interoperability between communities; brokered relationships; and, public interest matching technologies. Each of these is discussed in a separate section in detail. The issue of persistent online identity is examined first through a contrast between the needs of civil society and current initiatives in the commercial sector, the Liberty Alliance Project and Microsoft's .Net identity system, named Passport. The ASN calls for a public interest approach to online identity that enables individuals to express their interests outside contexts determined by commerce. This approach would include a digital profile that has an "affinity reference" that would facilitate connections to trusted third parties. The section on interoperability between online communities starts with a discussion of Reed's Law, which shows how the value of social networks grows exponentially through interconnectivity. We then discuss how the ASN would apply Reed's Law to online communities of practice in new ways, through the creation of interoperability protocols that will enable individuals to cross more easily between social networks. The ASN would create strategically placed "doors" between online community infrastructures, which today act like "walled castles." Also discussed are the module software applications necessary to extend the functionality of online community infrastructures so they can support ASN activity. The section on brokered relationships begins by discussing the importance of brokering introductions between people using the ASN, and describes the "introduction protocols" that would facilitate this process. While many ASN introductions would be automated, others of a more sensitive nature will require specialized brokering services that provide customized introductions, appropriate to narrowly defined circumstances. These are discussed, as well as current brokering systems that are developing relevant technology. The section on public interest matching technologies explains why it is crucial for the civil society sector to participate in the creation of online ontologies and taxonomies that are now shaping the semantic structure of the Internet. Also discussed are the ways that matching technologies enhance online communities, and how the ASN would develop protocols that enable interoperability between online ontological frameworks. The latter would enrich knowledge sharing between social networks by allowing distinct communities to compare "knowledge maps," and easily access diverse viewpoints. The ASN could be achieved in an incremental manner, with software and protocols developed among a relatively small group of participants, and gradually adopted by larger online community systems as they see fit. The ASN would be built on open standards, shepherded by a not-for-profit initiative that coordinates efforts in the technical areas described above. Aspects of the implementation could be undertaken by for-profit companies that respect these open standards, just as companies today profit from providing e-mail or Web pages. But to insure that the ASN meets its public interest objectives, participating organizations would have to agree to abide by the ASN's principles of implementation. [Update: Since this paper was first circulated in draft form, in June 2003, an organization has been established to help bring the ASN into existence. For more information about this not-for-profit project, the Initiative for an Augmented Social Network (IFASN), please visit http://asn.planetwork.net.] Contents Part 1: The future of online identity and trust The Augmented Social Network The ASN approach: Designing an Internet-wide system of trust The ASN user experience Part 2: ASN technical components ASN architecture Persistent identity Enhancements to online community infrastructures Public interest matching technologies Brokering services Part 3: Strategies for implementation Software development in the public interest Principles for implementation Recommendations http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_8/jordan/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 02:54:51 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Open Content and Value Creation by Magnus Cedergren Abstract The borderline between production and consumption of media content is not so clear as it used to be. For example on the Internet, many people put a lot of effort into producing personal homepages in the absence of personal compensation. They publish everything from holiday pictures to complete Web directories. Illegal exchange of media material is another important trend that has a negative impact on the media industry. In this paper, I consider open content as an important development track in the media landscape of tomorrow. I define open content as content possible for others to improve and redistribute and/or content that is produced without any consideration of immediate financial reward - often collectively within a virtual community. The open content phenomenon can to some extent be compared to the phenomenon of open source. Production within a virtual community is one possible source of open content. Another possible source is content in the public domain. This could be sound, pictures, movies or texts that have no copyright, in legal terms. Which are the driving forces for the cooperation between players that work with open content? This knowledge could be essential in order to understand the dynamics of business development, technical design and legal aspects in this field. In this paper I focus on these driving forces and the relationships between these players. I have studied three major open content projects. In my analysis, I have used Gordijn's (2002) value modeling method "e3value", modified for open content value creation and value chains. Open content value chains look much the same as commercial value chains, but there are also some major differences. In a commercial value chain, the consumers' needs trigger the entire chain of value creation. My studies indicate that an open content value chain is often triggered by what the creators and producers wish to make available as open content. Motivations in non-monetary forms play a crucial role in the creation of open content value chains and value. My study of these aspects is based on Feller and Fitzgerald's (2002) three perspectives on motivations underlying participation in the creation of open source software. Contents Introduction Research issues and methods Three value models with open content On the driving forces behind open content Discussion and conclusions http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_8/cedergren/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 03:05:29 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Ecology the Connecticon by Frank Rennie and Robin Mason Abstract The utilisation of broadband technology in supporting entrepreneurial activity is explored in an attempt to understand the educational skills demanded in the new millennium. A model of a complex adaptive system is proposed that incorporates the whole technical infrastructure of the Internet, plus the human resource utilisation of the Internet users, together with increased levels of interactivity, both between users and between different types of communication devices. We have called this complex system the Connecticon, and attempt to explain some of its key emergent properties. From these we make some suggestions for optimising the changes to conventional practices that we call innovation. Contents Introduction Self-organization Stability domains Complex system cycles Faster access: The Cambridge Ring Complex data transfers: The Great Book of Gaelic Hyper-interactivity: Cromarty consultants Always on: Welsh Internet radio Discussion Conclusions http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_8/rennie/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 08:47:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cable or Satellite? Please Stay Tuned By SETH SCHIESEL MICHAEL G. MANSOUR, a 28-year-old Manhattan financial professional, used to watch television the way most people do. For his favorite shows, like "The Sopranos," he would make a point of being home when they were scheduled. If the show was something he more or less liked, he would put up with the commercials. If he felt like watching a movie, he went to the video store. "Basically, I would try to remember my shows and flip to them if I could remember," he recalled this week. How quaint. Things started to change in Mr. Mansour's television life last fall when his cable provider, Time Warner Cable, introduced video on demand, which allowed him to watch "The Sopranos" and dozens of other programs and movies whenever he wanted. Then, for Christmas, he received a TiVo digital video recorder - "the greatest gift ever," as he put it - which lets him record his favorite shows effortlessly and even suggests new ones. "Now, between TiVo and the on-demand, I don't watch anything live anymore," he said. He doesn't go to the video store, either. And he skips past most commercials. So does he watch more or less television than he used to? "I watch better television than I used to," was his reply. Within the next five years or so, Mr. Mansour's new habits may become common as the cable and satellite television industries stake their competitive future on a panoply of services that go far beyond the daily program grid. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/31/technology/circuits/31teev.html [Lisa Minter note: Readers of the NY Times online are invited to use our group login name 'telecomdigest' and our group password 'telecomdigest' when using the NY Times web site to protect their privacy and avoid spam. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line Date: 31 Jul 2003 23:11:47 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) doug wrote: > I recently moved to a rural area and have a loud hum on my line. Your line isn't balanced. There is leakage from one leg to ground. > I have an old voltmeter and decided to test the voltage in the lines. > The DC seems to be right with all I have read onine. > Then i tested AC and found the following: > + = voltmeter positive, - = voltmeter negative > Line 1 > +green to -red = 0 or meter tries to go backward to neg numbers. > -green to +red = 120V AC steady > -green to +ground = 120V AC steady > +green to -ground = 0 or backwards > +red to -ground = 22V AC > Line 2 > +green to -red = 120V AC steady > -green to +red = 0 or backwards > -green to +ground = 22V AC steady > -red to +ground = 120 V AC steady > +green to -ground = 20V V AVC steady > +red to -ground = 0 or backwards > I had the Bell South guy over here and he agrees that the problem is > coming from out of the house. The 120 Volts didn't seem to phase him > much. I showed him how it was the exact same if I stuck the voltmeter > into an electrical outlet. Yup, that's still well below the maximum line voltage, and I bet when the phone is off-hook, it drops to well below that because the phone is a low-impedance load and the source impedance of the thing causing the noise is fairly high. > Does all this mean anything or do I need different equipment to find > the problem? What can I do about this? Bellsouth says there will > always be a hum. And I don't think they are going to do anything. Is the problem coming from your side or their side? If you plug a phone into the network interface box in the back of the house, do you hear a hum? If so, it's their problem and they should fix it. If not, it's your problem and you need to fix it. > I spend alot of time saying "what?" back and forth on the phone and my > tivo modem has blown. > I wonder if I can light a 120V light bulb with my phone line? Hmmm.. You can probably light a neon bulb, which won't need much current. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 23:57:59 -0500 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , doug-deja@inet-traffic.com says: > Line 1 > +green to -red = 0 or meter tries to go backward to neg numbers. > -green to +red = 120V AC steady > -green to +ground = 120V AC steady > +green to -ground = 0 or backwards > +red to -ground = 22V AC > Line 2 > +green to -red = 120V AC steady > -green to +red = 0 or backwards When a meter is on an VAC setting, it is impossible to reverse polarity or show a negative polarity (R to G = 120VAC, but G to R =0 or neg). Something is wrong with your testing procedure. However, in a rural setting, I wouldn't be surprised that a meter would show 120VAC. Take your phone off hook and I'll bet that 120VAC goes away. The voltage may be there (via induction from parallel power cables), but the current capacity is not there. The hum is due to an imbalance. That 120VAC will be there whether you can hear the hum or not. Dave Phelps DD Networks www.ddnets.com deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 08:27:24 -0700 In article , doug-deja@inet-traffic.com (doug) wrote: > I recently moved to a rural area and have a loud hum on my line. > I have an old voltmeter and decided to test the voltage in the lines. > The DC seems to be right with all I have read onine. > Then I tested AC and found the following: First step should be having someone watch the meter while you switch the various circuit breakers in your house electrical panel on and off ... ------------------------------ Subject: Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line From: Art Jackson Organization: W4TOY Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 15:23:35 GMT doug-deja@inet-traffic.com (doug) wrote in news:telecom22.592.2@telecom- digest.org: > I recently moved to a rural area and have a loud hum on my line. > I have an old voltmeter and decided to test the voltage in the lines. > The DC seems to be right with all I have read onine. > Then I tested AC and found the following: Your VOM is most likely being affected by the DC voltage on the Ring side of the line. Your Tip reading of 22VAC to ground is fairly accurate, since that side of the line goes back to Central office ground. Place a capacitor in one of the meter leads when making AC readings with a VOM. 1 microfarad or larger with a voltage rating of 100V or higher will isolate the DC from the meter and give more accurate AC readings. Many times on Rural lines that have long cable runs, they will pick up hum from nearby AC power distribution lines. Your only hope is Bell South will install a SLC nearby. Check closeby phone lines to see if they also have hum on their lines. If several lines are affected, you may be able to get something done as a group of subscribers. Contact your Public Service Commission if all else fails. Good luck. Art Jackson W4TOY Owensboro, KY USA Life is God's open book test. In order to pass, you must open His book to find the answers. ------------------------------ From: nomailp@netscape.net (Don't email me) Subject: Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line Date: 1 Aug 2003 08:35:33 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ You should definatly NOT have 120 V AC on your phone line. I suspect by your description you have a TIP ground. This means the TIP (return side of loop) is grounded somewhere. I suspect you may have a bad or corroded/wet jack somewhere. If you know where your phone line comes in; 1) disconnect all wires except the one coming into the house 2) connect a jack here and plug a phone into it. If you still hear a hummmmm ... the problem is NOT in your house and complain till they fix it!! If you DON't hear the hummmm then re-connect the inside wires one at a time. Check each time to see if the hum is back. When you connect the bad one ... you will hear the hum. Disconnect it and you should be fine. This will identify which is bad or has faulty wireing. Hope this helps....... questions@telcosupport.net http://www.telcosupport.net ------------------------------ From: GlowingBlueMist Subject: Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 12:52:25 -0400 I would do the same measurements outside after removing all of the connections to inside your house. If the voltage is still present coming from the telephone company then the phone company will need to look for either a faulty line amplifier feeding voltage your way or voltage feeding back from another customer drop to your residence. If on the other hand you only see the voltage in your house phone wires while disconnected from all Telco feeds the you need to get your internal wiring fixed before someone gets hurt. One last thing I have seen cause this is a faulty ground wire from the Telco box or the ground wire being connected to something that is no longer a "real" ground. On older houses the fuse box may not make a good grounding source. Grounding to water pipes only works if the water feed from the street is not using plastic pipe into the house, something that most newer water connections seem to be using in my area. When all else fails, I find that service industries seems to get the message when a call to a local TV station or newspaper's "Consumer Hotline" generates interest. We had a bad, somewhat random, noise source jamming a couple of our cable TV channels for us and our neighborhood that the cable company refused to troubleshoot or fix. When anyone in the area complained they treated the calls as individual and blamed the problem on faulty internal wiring of the home owner making the complaint, even after being told that the problem was affecting the entire neighborhood. Shortly after the TV station showed up to do the interview a cable company representative showed up to actually see what we were complaining about. Two days of cable company trucks on the street and they traced the interference to a loose wire on a water heater in a house 5 buildings away from us. It would only generate the interference while the heating element was active. In your case I would stress the positives of a 120 volt standby power source you can use when the power company turns you off... ;) ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: 120 V AC on Phone Line Organization: Comcast Online Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 11:19:56 GMT doug wrote in message news:telecom22.592.2@telecom-digest.org... > I recently moved to a rural area and have a loud hum on my line. > I have an old voltmeter and decided to test the voltage in the lines. > The DC seems to be right with all I have read onine. > Then i tested AC and found the following: [snipped various meter readings] > I had the Bell South guy over here and he agrees that the problem is > coming from out of the house. The 120 Volts didn't seem to phase him > much. I showed him how it was the exact same if I stuck the voltmeter > into an electrical outlet. > Does all this mean anything or do I need different equipment to find > the problem? What can I do about this? Bellsouth says there will > always be a hum. And I don't think they are going to do anything. > I spend alot of time saying "what?" back and forth on the phone and my > tivo modem has blown. > I wonder if I can light a 120V light bulb with my phone line? Hmmm.. Doug, First, the usual caveats: do not attempt to work on electrical circuits unless you are properly trained, equipped, and wearing protective clothing and safety glasses. I'm not an electrician: anything you do because of what I write here is at your own risk. 1. Check to see if you CAN light a light bulb, preferably a 12 or 5 watt bulb from a Christmas tree. If you do, call the local paper and ask them to take a picture. 2. If the light bulb doesn't light, put a phone in the line at the same points where your measured the 120V, i.e., green to ground. If it rings continuously, tell that to the phone company. 3. Keep calling in trouble reports and making a pest of yourself. Demand to speak to the Manager, and ALWAYS get a name. Every time you call, demand to be connected one level higher. 4. Always call from the line that's in trouble. Even if it very hard to talk, the clerks will know you're for real. 5. Don't give up. You're paying for a noise-free line, and you're being shortchanged. HTH. William (Remove ".nouce" for direct email.) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 02:17:17 CDT From: editor@telecom-digest.org Subject: Summer Shortfalls and Share Day You readers may have noticed that during summer months, particularly on weekends, we don't have quite as many issues of the Digest. People tend to go on vacation; go away for weekends, etc. Starting about July 4 and continuing through about Labor Day, I get more spam mail on weekends than real mail. That is, I guess, because spammers don't take vacations. Despite what their spam claims about making 'thousands of dollars mailing spam things' (although they call it 'legitimate') and one would assume they would earn so much they could take off work a month or two at a time on holidays, they seldom ever stop their noxious mailings. However, a lot of regular readers of telecom news and opinion do tend to vanish during the summer, when school is out, etc. Some of our regular financial contributors vanish for a couple months also. This makes summer months particularly difficult for me, since hundred degree plus weather makes the electric meter move faster than ever. *If* you can make an extra (and/or larger than usual) gift at this time, it will be especially appreciated. Share Day is the one time each month we get away from telecom news/opinions, etc to remind everyone that TELECOM Digest is shareware, not freeware, and I am starting share day a couple days early this month for just those reasons mentioned above. But things have changed just a little, since the archives has been greatly expanded this month. Upon your request, I would be pleased to send you the complete Telecom Digest Archives, on either CD or DVD media. If you opt for CD, the contents will be split onto two discs: the first contains most of the entire Archives FTP site, while the second contains the recently-added Western Union Technical Review. What I have done is acquire the entire twenty-two year (1947 through 1969) press run of the WUTR. There are about 90 issues in total of this technical journal, and they have all been scanned and placed in directories here. Remember, the *newest* of these is nearly 35 years old; the oldest is more than a half century old. Regretably, now and then a cover is torn or missing, and a few pages are not as easy to read as I would like. But they have been reconstructed as well as possible; you won't miss much of any of it. The first few issues were typewritten, and have rubber stamp indicias from libraries on them, etc. Also new to the archives are some .jpg photos from the AT&T Satellite Earth Station in Kimbles, PA. Otherwise all the files are there, and this Digest from issue one in 1981 through the latest issues in 2003. As these discs are not free for me to produce and ship, it is suggested that requests for these discs be accompanied by a gift of at least $50, and more would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you request DVD format, please be sure to specify either DVD-R or DVD+R media. If you do not specify, DVD-R will be used. =============== Joey has added a couple notes here I want to share: Just FYI, I've managed to tweak my setup here so that, whenever I do a production run, I do the following: 1) Run my "mirror.bat" script, which fires up wget and goes to massis to synchronize my files with yours, so that I'm up to date. 2) Run my "makeiso.bat" script, which creates two separate CD "images". The first is an image of the entire Telecom Archives directory structure, with the EXCEPTION of the Western Union files - these are excluded. On the second run, *ONLY* the Western Union files are imaged. The result is two .ISO files on my hard drive which my burner software can then burn directly to CD media. These ISO images contain both a Joliet (Windows) and Rockridge (Linux) filesystem. 3a) If burning to CD: I simply burn the two ISO images to CD, one after the other. 3b) If burning to DVD, I ignore the ISO images and instruct my burner software to burn the entire Telecom Archives directory structure right from the existing files. With DVD, you don't have to worry about Joliet, Rockridge, and other filesystems: there is only one filesystem, UDF, that all operating systems understand, thus no ISO image is required. ===================== In other words, in addition to your name and address for shipment purposes, be sure to specify CD or DVD format, and if DVD is desired, if you want DVD-R or DVD+R. Joey will also include several of his old time radio shows on a telecom theme as before, including Agnes Morehead and 'Sorry, Wrong Number' from the 1940's Suspense production on radio. Even if you have previously ordered a CD you may want to get a DVD edition, or a copy for office and home. To order via PayPal, go to http://telecom-digest.org and at the very bottom of the first page (or index.html) use the PayPal template for fastest service. If you prefer to send a check or money order, you may do that also by sending it to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, KS 67301-0050. Please do this as soon as you can, so I can finish off this month fully in the black. Thanks! Patrick Townson TELECOM Digest Editor ------------------------------ 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 #593 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Aug 1 16:58:53 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h71Kwrb07554; Fri, 1 Aug 2003 16:58:53 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 16:58:53 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200308012058.h71Kwrb07554@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 #594 TELECOM Digest Fri, 1 Aug 2003 16:59:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 594 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Re: Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam (George Mitchell) MCI Blocked From New Government Contracts (Justin Time) Re: US Gov't (GSA) to MCI: You're Outta Here (Hudson Leighton) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: E1 and T1 (tonypo1@cox.net) Re: Odd CLID Problem (Herb Stein) Dm/IP 3031-A- PCI Release 5.1.1 WIN2K (emanuele) IS826 (Win Triggers for Prepaid) (Luis Rojas G.) Companies and the Government (Dale Neiburg) Re: Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam (Jay R. Ashworth) Summer Shortfalls and Share Day (editor@telecom-digest.org) 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: George Mitchell Subject: Re: Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 09:58:58 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Dave Phelps wrote: > Wow. When are they going out for bids on the next nine computers? I'm > bidding on that one. I bet I could get them nine computers for only > $1 million or so. Maybe even cheaper! > Dave Phelps > DD Networks > www.ddnets.com > deadspam=tippenring > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would think over the pricing a little > better, Dave. They are all heavy-duty multi-user machines not the > little 'toy computers' like most of us have in our homes. I would > think a hundred or a hundred twenty five thousand per machine would > be a reasonable price, depending on size and networking requirements > needed. You would not have much left from that million dollars for > your profit. PAT] Those "little toy computers" we're buying for our homes typically have upwards of 40GB of disk and 512MB of memory, driven by a processor with a clock speed of 2GHz or more. They are typically hobbled by a dinosaur of an operating system which does its best to use up those resources before any application gets its hands on them, but when you put a real operating system such as FreeBSD or Linux on them, they are easily up to the loads specified. It's just amazing how much compute power even $5,000 will buy you these days. -- George Mitchell (obfuscated email) ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: MCI Blocked From New Government Contracts Date: 1 Aug 2003 05:26:49 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ MCI Blocked From New Government Contracts By DAVID HO, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The General Services Administration suspended federal business with MCI on Thursday after an investigation concluded the bankrupt telecommunications giant lacks necessary internal controls and ethics. MCI's government contracts are valued at more than $1 billion each year. The company said it would not challenge the GSA decision, which does not affect existing government contracts. "We are in the process of rebuilding our ethics program and understand that there is still more work to do," MCI Chairman Michael Capellas said. He said the company will work to regain approval for new government business by addressing the GSA's concerns. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&ncid=528&e=2&u=/ap/20030801/ap_on_go_ot/mci_investigation ------------------------------ From: hudsonl@skypoint.com (Hudson Leighton) Subject: Re: US Gov't (GSA) to MCI: You're Outta Here Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 07:41:38 -0500 Organization: MRRP In article , Danny Burstein wrote: > (From the WSJ reprint of the GSA press release. It's not yet up on the GSA > website but should be by the time you read this. Since it's a public > document I think I'm ok reprinting it in full ... ) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So it has come to this point, finally. > What will happen with MCI's *existing* federal contracts? Do any of > you guys remember Vint Cerf, the executive VP at MCI who was loaned > out to help get ICANN started (with generous gifts from MCI of > course.)I wonder if ICANN still has Vint around? I wonder if it > occurred to any anti-ICANN attornies out there that much of ICANN's > largesse (how much or how little that amounts to) was ill-gotten from > MCI's thievery over the years? PAT] Makes you wonder if Mr. Cerf knew what was going on and decided that ICANN would be a nice place to be when the roof fell in. (I wasn't even in the country when it happened.) Hudson http://www.skypoint.com/~hudsonl [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am reminded of the true story which happened in a small town in the midwest. *Not* here in Independence, KS, but it was a little village a lot like ours. This was several years ago. A resident was known for his wealth and his generosity toward the town. Many millions of dollars came to the little town in the form of gifts and outright grants from this man. The little town needed a new high school, he built them one. The little town wanted a swimming pool; he gave the money to not only build it but also the money to buy a couple hundred acres of surrounding land to build a beautiful park and a zoo next to it. He endowed the zoo, swimming pool and park sufficiently to *always* allow -- indeed require -- that admission would always be free. Essentially the little town lived off of the *interest payments* on money which was given to them. They did not touch the principle. A nearby university was given money by the man to endow, or sponsor a chair in the field of ethics and religion which they accepted graciously. And on it went. Anything the town wanted, he would give to them. Then one day, the man just disappeared. It appears he had been arrested and taken away by agents for the Drug Enforcement Adminis- tration. You see, he had been a very high level drug dealer. One of those guys who is so far up the ladder the police are always saying 'we would sure like to find out who is supplying all the drugs'. Literal suitcases full of heroin was coming into the big city nearby compliments of this high-level middle man. Naturally he himself did not touch any of it. He (and his employees) facilitated the movement and got away with it for many years, until one of his underlings flipped on him. When word got around the little town, *everyone* was in shock, which is an understatement. They debated what to do about possibly changing the name of the high school (which had been named for the guy) and how to handle the rest of their largesse. They finally decided to let everything stay status quo and simply adjust their own standards of ethics and morality accordingly. I am sure this same thing will happen with all the schools, societies, churches, etc which have been recipients of MCI's generosity over the years. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 03:33:23 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and John R Covert said to him: > I had written: >> AFAIK, CDMA phones pick up the time the network operator sends > And Jay Ashworth replied: >> CDMA phones take timing from GPS; I undertsand it's right in the air >> interface spec. The phones and the MTSO all have to be locked >> together to chip-rate specs anyway > I think the primary evidence that CDMA phones are not getting their > time or timing directly from GPS would be the fact that there are many > places where no GPS signal could possibly reach the phone where the > phone will still work and still display the time. For example, > Verizon's CDMA phones work deep underground in the Washington, DC, > subway. Let's start with this paper: http://www.eetasia.com/ARTICLES/1999SEP/1999SEP09_AMD_RFD_NTEK_TAC.PDF It doesn't, at least so far as I can see, actually *say* that the user-visible clock is set from GPS time, but I can't *imagine* why they'd do it any other way. > The network could possibly use GPS for synchronization and for the > source of the "GPS time", but again, here it would be up to the > operator to send the proper time information to the phone. The phone > definitely does not rely on (or as far as I know for most phones even > have the capability for) direct reception of the GPS signal. No, it doesn't, and I'm sorry if you interpreted my comments to say that it did. I meant that the phone got the wall time from the *network*, which in turn got it from GPS. > I just powered up my CDMA Motorola V60 onto the Verizon network here > in Boston; it moved to "11:35" within about a second as compared to > the Naval Observatory Master Clock. The delay could be Verizon or it > could be the update frequency of the display. Indeed, that last could be a point, but my QCP-1900 was pretty repeatable. My iDEN i-1000plus, not quite so much. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ From: tonypo1@cox.net Subject: Re: E1 and T1 Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 01:11:07 -0400 In article , Ramagar@hotmail.com says: > Phil McKerracher wrote in message > news:telecom22.589.9@telecom-digest.org: >> obsidian wrote in message >> news:telecom22.578.2@telecom-digest.org: >>> Can anyone explain why North America uses T1, and the Rest of the >>> World (as far as I am aware) are all using E1? >> North America is such a big market that they can afford to ignore the >> rest of the world, rather than waiting several years for a standard to >> be agreed. This means they tend to get things first, but it's not >> always the best solution. In this case T1 came first, the Europeans >> fixed some problems and "improved" it to get E1, but the Americans >> weren't interested. >> There are many other examples - mu-law/A-law, NTSC/PAL, CDMA/GSM, >> imperial/metric to name just a few. >> Phil McKerracher >> www.mckerracher.org > Thats a TAD bit oversimplistic. Yeah -- I suppose that's what we got for having a monolithic phone company. Being the first doesn't always mean it's the best solution. But wasn't E1 evolved because of clock differences? It's kind of a moot point nowadays -- with all the OC levels being pretty much international now. ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Odd CLID Problem Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 09:43:30 -0500 Joe Wineburgh wrote in message news:telecom22.592.8@telecom-digest.org: > It's not clear from your post whether you have caller-id and a box to > view it, but I have a similar issue with Sprint (local)'s offering. > About 6 months ago they modified the service from just blocking > out-of-area/private calls to also blocking valid numbers with no name, > that is a call that came in with a number 856-791-xxxx but a blank > name (either couldn't do a lookup because it was from out of the area > or the info wasn't transmitted for some reason). The issue I have is > it also includes most cell phones (verizon, AT&T) so when we call home > for messages we get the message. AHA! My wife says that when she looks at the caller id box after the call, we have the number but she can't remember if the name is there. I'll bet that's it. I test it more thoroughly tomorrow and report back. It beats me, though, why I'd want to block the call if I get the number only but not the name. > I am happy that they give the option to set up a four-digit pin to > bypass the whole recording a name, waiting for the machine, etc. - by > punching the digits in when the service picks up, the call goes right > through (with proper call-id number). > JOE >> Any switching guru out here with a helpful hint? Would it be worth >> having my parents try calling from a neighbors house or is this >> definitely NOT a problem that could exist on a single line? Before I >> call customer service, I'd like to have some confidence that I'm at >> least calling the right telephone company. Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: nelusio@wappi.com (emanuele) Subject: Dm/IP 3031-A- PCI Release 5.1.1 WIN2K Date: 1 Aug 2003 09:05:25 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi, I am working in France Telecom R&D, Paris, on one of your Dialogic card, DM/IP 3031 A, aiming at developing a voice application on a Terminal Equipment. This card has been bought in 1999. Unfortunately we don't have access to the original technical documentation anymore (nor to the original CD). In order to install the card we downloaded from your website the package Intel Dialogic System Software" release 5.1.1. We have successfully installed it without the Service Pack 1, since after the installation of the Service Pack 1 the card was no longer recognized by the system (Start/Dialogic/DCM). The installation was performed on a Windows2000/SP3 system. The POST (Power On Self Test) was performed correctly; DCM (Dialogic Configuration Manager) properly recognizes the card (we used "ipt_isdn_net5.fcd" as Assign Firmware File (FCD)) - we see a green light on the top of the E1 we use; DCM properly activates the card; I would like to stress that our goal is not to develop a Voice over IP application, but a voice application using the PSTN interfaces (E1, ISDN 30 B + D), managing both voice (to send WAV files for example) and signalling (to start a new call, call-forwarding, signalling facility, etc.). May you tell me if we are using a card which is actually able to do this? Which FCD has to be used for our goal (France-ISDN application)? If you have any sample application we can use to manage an ISDN-call? Which is the difference between SR 5.1.1 and DNA 3.3? What exactly mean the 30 channels of the card? (IP, voice, signalling, ...) If any specific documentation for this card and this kind of applications (ISDN) exist on your website? I hope you will be able to answer these questions in as a short time as possible, and I thank you very much for the help you will be able to provide. Best regards, Emanuele Trovato France Tlcom R&D/SVA/PIC 38-40 rue du général Leclerc 92794 Issy Moulineaux cedex 9 Tel : +33 (0)1 45 29 48 20 emanuele.trovato@rd.francetelecom.fr ------------------------------ From: albinet4@pobox.com (Luis Rojas G.) Subject: IS826 (Win Triggers for Prepaid) Date: 1 Aug 2003 09:47:52 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi, We're currently working in a project using IS826, and we'd like to have some sample IS826 messages in order to test our applications. Does anyone have real IS826 messages (captured with a protocol analizer)? Thanks, Luis ------------------------------ From: Dale Neiburg Subject: Companies and the Government Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 14:32:17 -0400 In Telecom Digest, v. 22, #591, 'twas reported by Monty: > BAGHDAD, July 31 (Reuters) - Iraq's U.S.-led authority has barred > partly state-owned companies from bidding for three mobile phone > licences, a move critics say could give U.S. firms an upper hand over > Arab companies. Imagine! Governments owning companies! They oughta do it the American way and have companies buy the government! ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 03:23:34 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Dave Phelps said to him: >> When Indiana University installed its new e-mail system in 2000, it >> spent $1.2 million on a network of nine computers to process mail >> for 115,000 students, faculty members and researchers at its main >> campus here and at satellite facilities throughout the state. > Wow. When are they going out for bids on the next nine computers? I'm > bidding on that one. I bet I could get them nine computers for only > $1 million or so. Maybe even cheaper! > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would think over the pricing a little > better, Dave. They are all heavy-duty multi-user machines not the > little 'toy computers' like most of us have in our homes. I would > think a hundred or a hundred twenty five thousand per machine would > be a reasonable price, depending on size and networking requirements > needed. You would not have much left from that million dollars for > your profit. PAT] You've been out for a while, Pat. I could do transport, storage, and pop retrieval for 115,000 mailboxes on ... say 4 or 5 dual-Xeon's with RAID, figure *no more* than $30k a piece. And that's pushing it *hard*. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 13:42:44 CDT From: Patrick Townson Subject: Summer Shortfalls and Share Day You readers may have noticed that during summer months, particularly on weekends, we don't have quite as many issues of the Digest. People tend to go on vacation; go away for weekends, etc. Starting about July 4 and continuing through about Labor Day, I get more spam mail on weekends than real mail. That is, I guess, because spammers don't take vacations. Despite what their spam claims about making 'thousands of dollars mailing spam things' (although they call it 'legitimate') and one would assume they would earn so much they could take off work a month or two at a time on holidays, they seldom ever stop their noxious mailings. However, a lot of regular readers of telecom news and opinion do tend to vanish during the summer, when school is out, etc. Some of our regular financial contributors vanish for a couple months also. This makes summer months particularly difficult for me, since hundred degree plus weather makes the electric meter move faster than ever. *If* you can make an extra (and/or larger than usual) gift at this time, it will be especially appreciated. Share Day is the one time each month we get away from telecom news/opinions, etc to remind everyone that TELECOM Digest is shareware, not freeware, and I am starting share day a couple days early this month for just those reasons mentioned above. But things have changed just a little, since the archives has been greatly expanded this month. Upon your request, I would be pleased to send you the complete Telecom Digest Archives, on either CD or DVD media. If you opt for CD, the contents will be split onto two discs: the first contains most of the entire Archives FTP site, while the second contains the recently-added Western Union Technical Review. What I have done is acquire the entire twenty-two year (1947 through 1969) press run of the WUTR. There are about 90 issues in total of this technical journal, and they have all been scanned and placed in directories here. Remember, the *newest* of these is nearly 35 years old; the oldest is more than a half century old. Regretably, now and then a cover is torn or missing, and a few pages are not as easy to read as I would like. But they have been reconstructed as well as possible; you won't miss much of any of it. The first few issues were typewritten, and have rubber stamp indicias from libraries on them, etc. Also new to the archives are some .jpg photos from the AT&T Satellite Earth Station in Kimbles, PA. Otherwise all the files are there, and this Digest from issue one in 1981 through the latest issues in 2003. As these discs are not free for me to produce and ship, it is suggested that requests for these discs be accompanied by a gift of at least $50, and more would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you request DVD format, please be sure to specify either DVD-R or DVD+R media. If you do not specify, DVD-R will be used. Joey has added a couple notes here I want to share: Just FYI, I've managed to tweak my setup here so that, whenever I do a production run, I do the following: 1) Run my "mirror.bat" script, which fires up wget and goes to massis to synchronize my files with yours, so that I'm up to date. 2) Run my "makeiso.bat" script, which creates two separate CD "images". The first is an image of the entire Telecom Archives directory structure, with the EXCEPTION of the Western Union files - these are excluded. On the second run, *ONLY* the Western Union files are imaged. The result is two .ISO files on my hard drive which my burner software can then burn directly to CD media. These ISO images contain both a Joliet (Windows) and Rockridge (Linux) filesystem. 3a) If burning to CD: I simply burn the two ISO images to CD, one after the other. 3b) If burning to DVD, I ignore the ISO images and instruct my burner software to burn the entire Telecom Archives directory structure right from the existing files. With DVD, you don't have to worry about Joliet, Rockridge, and other filesystems: there is only one filesystem, UDF, that all operating systems understand, thus no ISO image is required. ===================== In other words, in addition to your name and address for shipment purposes, be sure to specify CD or DVD format, and if DVD is desired, if you want DVD-R or DVD+R. Joey will also include several of his old time radio shows on a telecom theme as before, including Agnes Morehead and 'Sorry, Wrong Number' from the 1940's Suspense production on radio. Even if you have previously ordered a CD you may want to get a DVD edition, or a copy for office and home. To order via PayPal, go to http://telecom-digest.org and at the very bottom of the first page (or index.html) use the PayPal template for fastest service. If you prefer to send a check or money order, you may do that also by sending it to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, KS 67301-0050. Please do this as soon as you can, so I can finish off this month fully in the black. Thanks! Patrick Townson TELECOM Digest Editor ------------------------------ 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 #594 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Aug 3 16:00:06 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h73K06h18014; Sun, 3 Aug 2003 16:00:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 16:00:06 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200308032000.h73K06h18014@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 #595 TELECOM Digest Sun, 3 Aug 2003 16:00:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 595 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Charles Hoch) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Michael D. Sullivan) TiVo Hacks / 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools (Monty Solomon) Fiber Optic Roadmap (Marc) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Phil Earnhardt) Cable TV Interference (was 120 VAC on Phone Line) (Neal McLain) Re: E1 and T1 (John McHarry) Re: US Gov't (GSA) to MCI: You're Outta Here (Larry Finch) Commentary: What's Shooting Down Satellite Sales (Monty Solomon) Secret Networks Protect Music swappers (Monty Solomon) One Slow User In The Hot Spot Can Degrade Wi-Fi Performance (M Solomon) The Copyright Cage (Monty Solomon) Seeing it Both Ways (Monty Solomon) New Features Boost Cell-Phone Sales (Monty Solomon) SBC Sues to Halt Music Industry Subpoenas (Monty Solomon) Verizon Wireless and Vodafone Cooperate on Laptop E-Mail (Monty Solomon) U.S. Cellular and AT&T Wireless Complete Initial Exchange (M Solomon) NextWave Telecom and Cingular Wireless Agree to Terms (Monty Solomon) Cingular Wireless Introduces Super Tones; Next-Generation (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: hoch@exemplary.invalid (Charles Hoch) Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Date: 1 Aug 2003 20:54:40 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , John R. Covert wrote: > I had written: >> AFAIK, CDMA phones pick up the time the network operator sends > And Jay Ashworth replied: >> CDMA phones take timing from GPS; I undertsand it's right in the air >> interface spec. The phones and the MTSO all have to be locked >> together to chip-rate specs anyway > I think the primary evidence that CDMA phones are not getting their > time or timing directly from GPS would be the fact that there are many > places where no GPS signal could possibly reach the phone where the > phone will still work and still display the time. For example, > Verizon's CDMA phones work deep underground in the Washington, DC, > subway. > The network could possibly use GPS for synchronization and for the > source of the "GPS time", but again, here it would be up to the > operator to send the proper time information to the phone. The phone > definitely does not rely on (or as far as I know for most phones even > have the capability for) direct reception of the GPS signal. > I just powered up my CDMA Motorola V60 onto the Verizon network here > in Boston; it moved to "11:35" within about a second as compared to > the Naval Observatory Master Clock. The delay could be Verizon or it > could be the update frequency of the display. CDMA cell sites all have GPS to lock their clocks together. The protocol won't work unless they do. When a CDMA phone registers with a cell site, part of the protocol is for the cell site to send the time to the phone. As a convenience, handset manufacturers also present that time in the user interface, but the protocol won't work unless the phone's internal clock is locked to the cell site. Now, totally unrelated to this, many new phones have GPS logic in them. This is in response to the mandate from the FCC for E911 service; that is, being able to locate a phone making a 911 call, within some prescribed precision, and using GPS is one solution. This is not standalone GPS: most of the work of the GPS protocol is done at the cell site, and the phone is asked to take some readings from specific GPS satellites and send the info to the cellsite, which computes the phone's location, and sends it on the the 911 center. Since much of the work of the GPS protocol is done in the cell site, location can be accomplished with much weaker signals from the satellites than required by a standalone unit. This includes indoors, basements, street level between skyscrapers (but not in subways). See www.snaptrack.com for details. ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2003 01:23:33 GMT On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 11:42:32 -0400 (EDT), John R. Covert posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > I think the primary evidence that CDMA phones are not getting their > time or timing directly from GPS would be the fact that there are many > places where no GPS signal could possibly reach the phone where the > phone will still work and still display the time. For example, > Verizon's CDMA phones work deep underground in the Washington, DC, > subway. Jay Ashworth has already responded with a cite to a Qualcomm paper that shows that the GPS signal used for time sync is detected at the *base station*, not the handset. Moreover, the special Verizon network providing service in the Washington Metro was, last I checked, analog-only. (It may have been upgraded recently, though.) A Verizon dual- or tri-mode phone will continue showing the time while in an analog area, based on updating the time from when it was last in a CDMA area. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2003 09:59:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo Hacks / 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools TiVo Hacks 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools By Raffi Krikorian August 2003 (est.) Series: Hacks 0-596-00553-9, Order Number: 5539 288 pages, $24.95 US, $38.95 CA, £17.50 UK http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/tivohks/ http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/tivohks/desc.html ------------------------------ From: miniotdr@yahoo.com (Marc) Subject: Fiber Optic Roadmap Date: 2 Aug 2003 08:16:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi All, As usual when surfing on the Web, I found something today which ring a bell to me : the story of Sean Gorman and his *Dissertation*, where he mapped the US fiber network. < http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/30168 > Is there any update on that, like the document being classified, Sean being hired by WorldCom, or else ? Anyway, from my understanding -- after reading all the reports at the wire -- I think the guy did a great job ;-) I know lots of consultants who'd like to be able to do the same ;-)) Ciao, _Marc ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2003 09:23:32 -0600 On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 00:25:18 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: > Jiang had secretly installed, in at least 14 Kinko's copy shops, > software that logs individual keystrokes. He captured more than 450 > user names and passwords, and used them to access and open bank > accounts online. > The case, which led to a guilty plea earlier this month after Jiang > was caught, highlights the risks in using public Internet terminals at > cybercafes, libraries, airports and other establishments. Much as I think that Kinkos is at fault for failing to provide a secure platform for their clients, I must also question why the credit card companies have failed to create challenge-response systems for customers to validate transactions. When making Internet purchases, I would vastly prefer to have the vendor issue a challenge to me and generate the response to validate the purpose. Currently, internet vendors must assume liability for CC fraud. Such a challenge/response system would seemingly have a much lower risk of fraud for the vendor -- I should be able to get a lower cost by being willing to use such validation techniques. Unfortunately, the credit card companies *do not allow* vendors to provide such price breaks. Methinks the current credit card system is fundamentally flawed -- it stifles innovative techniques for transaction validation. We should have have moved past the "secret number" validation systems about a decade ago. --phil ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2003 13:54:39 -0600 From: Neal McLain Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com Subject: Cable TV Interference (was 120 VAC on Phone Line) GlowingBlueMist wrote: > We had a bad, somewhat random, noise source jamming a couple of our > cable TV channels for us and our neighborhood that the cable company > refused to troubleshoot or fix... Two days of cable company trucks > on the street and they traced the interference to a loose wire on a > water heater in a house 5 buildings away from us. It would only > generate the interference while the heating element was active. Back in my cable TV days, I encountered a similar situation on a cold October day. A subscriber had complained about intermittent severe picture distortion on all cable TV channels (not just a couple), and claimed that it affected all residents of the building (a frame house converted into apartments). She stated that the problem had "just started." Eric, the cable TV tech who first tried to fix the problem, couldn't find anything wrong with the signal "at the pole," so he concluded that the problem must be somewhere in the building. From his description of the problem, it sounded like interference from some sort of electrical device. I agreed to accompany him on a return visit to the building. We took along a pair of cheapie walkie-talkies. After we arrived at the complaining subscriber's apartment, we watched her TV set for a while. Sure enough, after a few minutes, the picture on every channel went berzerk, and the sound became distorted. But, as Eric had told me, the signal level remained normal. I gave Eric one of the walkie-talkies, took the other one myself, and set out to explore the building. In the basement, I discovered an electric heater in the laundry room. I tweaked its thermostat to turn it on. My walkie-talkie instantly burst into full-blast white noise; if Eric was saying anything, I couldn't hear it through the noise. I tweaked the thermostat again; the noise went away and I heard Eric say, "hey, now it went away." Bingo. I went back upstairs, and told the subscriber, "it's the electric heater in the laundry room." She looked incredulous, and asked why the problem had never occurred before. I conjectured that nobody had ever turned the heater on until the recent cold weather had set in. She still didn't believe me, and demanded my business card. As Eric and I departed, she muttered something about having her husband call me when he got home. I never heard from her husband. Neal McLain nmclain@annsgarden.com ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: E1 and T1 Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 19:42:06 -0400 tonypo1@cox.net wrote: > Yeah -- I suppose that's what we got for having a monolithic phone > company. Being the first doesn't always mean it's the best > solution. But wasn't E1 evolved because of clock differences? One story I heard was that the difference in clock rate, and, hence, number of channels supportable, was that it had to do with differences in the distance between loading coils and the wire gauge. The US used 6000ft between loading coils and 19 gauge wire. The rest of the world was slightly different. The latter could support a bit higher clock rate. Since the channel clock rate is the same, 125us, this sounds plausible. Of course, 24 channels matched the existing US hierarchy, so I guess that played a part. I tend to think A law was an improvement. It puts zero on a riser rather than a runner such that the small amount of noise on a quiet channel helps clocking. I'm not familiar with any differences in the companding, but I think they are miniscule. Translation is usually by table lookup (a simple decode). > It's kind of a moot point nowadays -- with all the OC levels being > pretty much international now. If you go to high enough bit rates it comes together. Another merging factor is VOIP on trunks. There you will see common encoding, with local dialects only near the tail ends. ------------------------------ From: Larry Finch Subject: Re: US Gov't (GSA) to MCI: You're Outta Here Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2003 00:02:19 GMT Telecom Editor wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am reminded of the true story which > happened in a small town in the midwest. *Not* here in Independence, KS, > but it was a little village a lot like ours. This was several years > ago. A resident was known for his wealth and his generosity toward > the town. Many millions of dollars came to the little town in the > form of gifts and outright grants from this man. The little town > needed a new high school, he built them one. The little town wanted > a swimming pool; he gave the money to not only build it but also > the money to buy a couple hundred acres of surrounding land to build > a beautiful park and a zoo next to it. He endowed the zoo, swimming > pool and park sufficiently to *always* allow -- indeed require -- that > admission would always be free. Essentially the little town lived off > of the *interest payments* on money which was given to them. They did > not touch the principle. A nearby university was given money by the > man to endow, or sponsor a chair in the field of ethics and religion > which they accepted graciously. And on it went. Anything the town > wanted, he would give to them. > Then one day, the man just disappeared. It appears he had been > arrested and taken away by agents for the Drug Enforcement Adminis- > tration. You see, he had been a very high level drug dealer. One of > those guys who is so far up the ladder the police are always saying > 'we would sure like to find out who is supplying all the drugs'. > Literal suitcases full of heroin was coming into the big city nearby > compliments of this high-level middle man. Naturally he himself did > not touch any of it. He (and his employees) facilitated the movement > and got away with it for many years, until one of his underlings > flipped on him. > > When word got around the little town, *everyone* was in shock, which > is an understatement. They debated what to do about possibly changing > the name of the high school (which had been named for the guy) and > how to handle the rest of their largesse. They finally decided to > let everything stay status quo and simply adjust their own standards > of ethics and morality accordingly. I am sure this same thing will > happen with all the schools, societies, churches, etc which have > been recipients of MCI's generosity over the years. PAT] Not that unusual. Here in NJ Robert Brennan (First Jersey Securities) stole from naive investors, but donated $7 million to his local church school, which they accepted. Of course, George Bernard Shaw covered this problem quite eloquently in "Major Barbara"; should the Salvation Army accept money from a gin manufacturer and a munitions magnate? Larry Finch N 40 53' 47" W 74 03' 56" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 13:50:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Commentary: What's Shooting Down Satellite Sales By Stan Crock Commentary: What's Shooting Down Satellite Sales Congress needs to refine strict licensing rules meant to keep unfriendly states from buying U.S. technology It's hard to find a more loyal customer for U.S. satellites than Telesat Canada. In the past 30 years, this unit of BCE Inc. has bought 14 birds, all from south of the border. But in March the Ottawa company announced it was buying a spacecraft from France's Astrium. After gaining experience with the new gear, Telesat will be less likely to return to U.S. suppliers: "It's very much easier to buy a second and a third," notes Roger J. Tinley, Telesat's vice-president for space systems. What caused the shift? The inability of Congress to distinguish between an aircraft carrier and a TV satellite. In 1998, lawmakers put satellites on the State Dept.'s munitions list alongside traditional weapons, imposing the strictest export standards. Licensing, monitoring, and notifying Congress of each export deal may work for selling fighters to foreign governments but doesn't fly in the commercial world. "It's very difficult to do business with U.S. companies," Tinley gripes. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_31/b3844086.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 13:57:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Secret Networks Protect Music Swappers By Powell Fraser (CNN) -- They are the country clubs of the file-sharing world, exclusive Internet networks that require knowing the right people and having a wealth of content on your hard disk to get into the clique. These private file-swapping networks have surfaced just as the music industry has been granted dozens of subpoenas seeking the names of those who trade copyrighted material on popular services such as Kazaa, Imesh, and Gnutella. The private networks are open to smaller groups of perhaps 20 to 30 people who liberally share music, television shows, movies and computer programs. Members of such networks believe they can avoid legal consequences because their identities and actions are masked with the same technology used to protect online credit card transactions. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/07/29/private.fileshare/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 14:03:19 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: One Slow User In The Hot Spot Can Degrade Wi-Fi Performance TechWeb News A group of French researchers said Wednesday that they've spotted a flaw in wireless LAN technology which could allow one slow user to drag down performance of everyone connecting to a hot spot. Four scientists, who work for France's Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris, said in their research paper that anomalies in the IEEE 802.1x standard -- including 802.11a, 802.11g, and the most widely-used Wi-Fi protocol, 802.11b -- can result in degraded performance for all accessing the Internet through a hot spot when just one slow user connects. http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20030731S0001 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 11:26:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Copyright Cage Bars can't have TVs bigger than 55 inches. Teddy bears can't include tape decks. Girl Scouts who sing "Puff, the Magic Dragon" owe royalties. Copyright law needs to change. By Jonathan Zittrain http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/July-August-2003/feature_zittrain_julaug03.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 11:31:34 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Seeing it Both Ways Matthew Kammersell ended up in prison because he didn't know the difference between the physical and virtual realities of the Internet. Do the courts? By Orin S. Kerr http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/July-August-2003/feature_kerr_julaug03.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 00:17:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Features Boost Cell-Phone Sales SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- The growing popularity of camera-equipped cell phones boosted worldwide shipments of mobile handsets by more than 19 percent in the second quarter of 2003, according to market research released Thursday. Mobile phone shipments increased to 118.3 million units from 99.3 million units in the year-ago quarter, according to research firm IDC. Shipments of so-called smartphones that handle data as well as voice transmissions also expanded to represent 1.7 percent of the total mobile phone market, compared to only 0.5 percent the same quarter a year ago. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35091550 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 00:18:48 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: SBC Sues to Halt Music Industry Subpoenas By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON, July 31 (Reuters) - SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC). said on Thursday it had filed suit to stop a flood of recording-industry court orders that seek to track down Internet users who might be illegally copying music. SBC subsidiary Pacific Bell Internet Services sued the Recording Industry Association of America in federal court in San Francisco, saying the music industry trade group has been overzealous in its pursuit of suspected song-swappers. The RIAA has issued more than 1,000 subpoenas to SBC and other Internet providers over the past few weeks, seeking to find the names of those who use "peer to peer" services like Kazaa and Morpheus to copy music, movies and other files from each others' hard drives for free. The trade group says a digital-copyright law requires Internet provider to comply, and a federal court in Washington agreed this spring. But an SBC spokesman said that ruling has opened the floodgates to hundreds of questionable subpoenas from anybody who claims that their copyrighted material is being illegally distributed. Pac Bell has received 207 requests from the music industry to turn over the names of some of its customers, one request from a pornography company for the identities of 59 customers, and more than 16,000 warnings from an independent copyright investigator, the company said in its suit. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35091431 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 00:20:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless and Vodafone Cooperate on Laptop E-Mail, Internet and Corporate Applications Access for the US and Europe - Aug 1, 2003 05:00 AM (PR Newswire) NEWBURY, England, and BEDMINSTER, N.J., August 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, the leading US wireless service provider, and Vodafone Group Plc ("Vodafone"), the world's largest mobile community, today announce their intention to develop a dual branded 'Verizon Vodafone' laptop data card service for business customers working and traveling between the US and Europe. The data card will be based on Vodafone's successful data card service, Vodafone Mobile Connect Card, which Verizon Wireless will develop and market under license from Vodafone. The service will enable Verizon Wireless and Vodafone business customers to seamlessly access their e-mail, the Internet and corporate applications on their laptops within Vodafone's territories and Verizon Wireless' network in the US, with customers experiencing their same service environment when traveling abroad. To support the service, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone intend to cooperate on data card hardware, service inter-connectivity, roaming and inter-operator billing. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35094804 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 00:22:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Cellular and AT&T Wireless Complete Initial Exchange U.S. Cellular and AT&T Wireless Complete Initial Exchange of Wireless Assets - Aug 1, 2003 09:27 AM (PR Newswire) Transaction Enhances U.S. Cellular's Regional Footprint CHICAGO, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United States Cellular Corporation (Amex: USM) announced today that it has completed the initial exchange with AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) of certain wireless properties that will enhance U.S. Cellular's position in several of its existing market areas. When the transaction is fully completed, U.S. Cellular will acquire 10 and 20 MHz PCS licenses in 13 states, representing 12.2 million incremental population equivalents contiguous to existing properties and 4.4 million population equivalents that overlap existing properties. U.S. Cellular will take possession of the acquired licenses in staggered closings to comply with service requirements of the Federal Communications Commission. The initial tranche of licenses represents approximately 5.9 million incremental and 3.9 million overlapping population equivalents. The markets acquired on Aug. 1 include Oklahoma City, Okla.; St. Louis and Springfield, Mo.; and Portland, Maine. U.S. Cellular did not acquire any customers or network facilities. A complete list of the licenses U.S. Cellular acquired on Aug. 1 and that it has the right to acquire in the future as part of the transaction is found in Exhibit A. A map illustrating the properties, Exhibit B, is available at www.teldta.com/whatsnew/feature080103.html. In addition to the licenses it acquired on Aug. 1, U.S. Cellular at the same time acquired AT&T Wireless minority interests in six U.S. Cellular- controlled markets and received approximately $31 million in cash, excluding a working capital adjustment. In exchange for the current and future deliveries by AT&T Wireless, U.S. Cellular transferred wireless assets in 10 markets in Florida and Georgia to AT&T Wireless. The assets include 25MHz A block cellular licenses and the network facilities, customers and associated assets of those markets. The licenses transferred to AT&T Wireless represent 1.5 million population equivalents and include approximately 143,000 customers. U.S. Cellular is not required to deliver any further value or assets to AT&T Wireless upon the acquisition of the deferred licenses. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35097535 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 00:23:33 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: NextWave Telecom and Cingular Wireless Agree to Terms NextWave Telecom and Cingular Wireless Agree to Terms for Spectrum Licenses - Aug 1, 2003 09:40 AM (PR Newswire) WASHINGTON, and ATLANTA, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- NextWave Telecom and Cingular Wireless today announced an agreement for Cingular to purchase licenses from NextWave to provide wireless services in 34 markets for $1.4 billion. The licenses, which cover approximately 83 million potential customers, are for spectrum primarily in markets where Cingular currently has voice and data operations. The transaction is subject to review and approval by the Bankruptcy Court overseeing NextWave's reorganization and by the FCC. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35097614 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 00:25:16 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Wireless Introduces Super Tones; Next-Generation Cingular Wireless Introduces Super Tones; Next-Generation Ringtones Transform Phone Into Mobile Sound Machine - Aug 1, 2003 10:08 AM (PR Newswire) ATLANTA, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless, the second largest wireless carrier in the nation, today introduced the next generation of wireless downloadable ringtones -- Super Tones. Incorporating voice, sound and real music tones, Super Tones are more realistic and fun than previous options, allowing Cingular customers to personalize their phones with a choice of more than 400 high-quality sounds that are recordings of celebrity voices, chart topping songs, sound effects and audio clips. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35097924 ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #595 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Aug 3 16:37:24 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h73KbOW18562; Sun, 3 Aug 2003 16:37:24 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 16:37:24 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200308032037.h73KbOW18562@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 #596 TELECOM Digest Sun, 3 Aug 2003 16:37:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 596 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter John Higdon Knows His Phone Service (Hank Fung) Criminals Focus on Weak Link in Banking: A.T.M. Network (Monty Solomon) Your Cellphone is a Homing Device (Monty Solomon) This Palmtop Knows Its Place (Monty Solomon) Picture Frames Go Wi-Fi (Monty Solomon) Hand-held Devices Easy to Hack - Security Experts (Monty Solomon) Blame Game Starts as Wi-Fi Bubble Pops (Monty Solomon) How to Program PC to Make Call (David) Multi-Handset Phone With Specific Feature (Jud Hardcastle) Re: Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam (Fritz Whittington) Re: Dm/IP 3031-A- PCI Release 5.1.1 WIN2K (Emanuele) 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: fungus@OCF.Berkeley.EDU (Hank Fung) Subject: John Higdon Knows His Phone Service Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 09:32:31 UTC Organization: Univ. of California Berkeley Open Computing Facility From the August 3, 2003 Los Angeles Times: "John Higdon knows enough about telephones and telephone companies to wring exactly what he wants out of California's ferociously competitive telecommunications market. Ignoring pitches for increasingly popular service bundles, the San Jose radio engineer worked the system to build his own custom communications package. He picked SBC Communications Inc. for local service, AT&T Corp. for long-distance and a small Oakland company for high-speed Internet access. And to score the best prices, he rearranged features, canceling some and adding others, on the five lines in his home several times. "Competition," Higdon said, "is good for the consumer." Indeed, Higdon figures he wouldn't have his high-tech smorgasbord were it not for the state of telecommunications in California, where customers are seeing more choices at lower prices as companies fight for position in the nation's most lucrative telecom market." continued at: http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-phones3aug03,1,168207.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business Hank Fung fungus@ocf.berkeley.edu Go Bears! http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~fungus Go Away Gray Davis: Vote *For* The Recall October 7, 2003 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 02:09:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Criminals Focus on Weak Link in Banking: A.T.M. Network By WALT BOGDANICH He fenced stolen jewels, committed bank and credit-card fraud and had been accused of having links to an Albanian-Yugoslavian criminal gang. Cloaking himself in nine aliases and Armani jackets, he was a smooth, multilingual master of the con, investigators and people who knew him say. His name is Iljmija Frljuckic, and by all accounts, he had no business being around anybody else's money. Yet after being deported in the late 1990's, he slipped back into the United States and set up shop as a banker, not in a marble lobby under the watchful eyes of auditors and regulators, but in the virtually unregulated world of privately owned automated teller machines. To tap into this electronic network, Mr. Frljuckic (pronounced Furl-YOU-kich) did not have to produce so much as a valid driver's license. After buying these machines -- the kind commonly found in convenience stores, delicatessens and other retail outlets -- he and his associates installed devices that captured, or "skimmed," personal bank account information from at least 21,000 people, prosecutors say. They used that information in 2001 and early 2002 to make fake A.T.M. cards, then stole at least $3.5 million, mostly from A.T.M.'s in New York City, according to the latest federal charges filed about two months ago in Manhattan. Before Mr. Frljuckic came along, small-time crooks had made crude forays into A.T.M. fraud. But in its size and technical sophistication, investigators say, the Frljuckic case is a con of an entirely different order -- a new turn on identity theft, a jolting warning of the vulnerability of an A.T.M. system that has exploded in size in the last few years. No one can say precisely how much is lost through A.T.M.-related crimes. In fact, no government agency knows how many cash machines are operating, where they all are or who owns them. Though banks are reluctant to discuss their losses, they say there is no cause for alarm. But from Canada to Malaysia to the United Arab Emirates, investigators report new assaults on A.T.M.'s. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/03/national/03ATM.html [Lisa Minter note: Digest readers who use NY Times are invited to use our group login 'telecomdigest' and group password 'telecomdigest' for convenience and privacy. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 10:16:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Your Cellphone is a Homing Device Don't want the government to know where you are? Throw away your cell, stop taking the subway, and pay the toll in cash. By Brendan I. Koerner IF YOU PURCHASED A NEW CELLPHONE over the past 18 months or so, odds are that one of the features listed in small print on the side of the box was "E911 capable." Or, as in the case of my latest Motorola, "Location technology for piece [sic] of mind." Perhaps you asked the salesman to explain the feature, and he replied that it means that cops can home in on your phone in case of an emergency, a potentially important perk should you ever find your hand pinned beneath an immovable boulder in rural Utah, as Aron Ralston did recently. Assuming he could have gotten a signal, an E911-capable phone might have saved the young backpacker the pain of having to amputate his own arm. What your salesman probably failed to tell you -- and may not even realize -- is that an E911-capable phone can give your wireless carrier continual updates on your location. The phone is embedded with a Global Positioning System chip, which can calculate your coordinates to within a few yards by receiving signals from satellites. GPS technology gave U.S. military commanders a vital edge during Gulf War II, and sailors and pilots depend on it as well. In the E911-capable phone, the GPS chip does not wait until it senses danger, springing to life when catastrophe strikes; it's switched on whenever your handset is powered up and is always ready to transmit your location data back to a wireless carrier's computers. Verizon or T-Mobile can figure out which manicurist you visit just as easily as they can pinpoint a stranded motorist on Highway 59. http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/July-August-2003/feature_koerner_julaug03.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 02:00:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: This Palmtop Knows Its Place By DAVID POGUE EACH year, as they pay their taxes, many Americans conduct a tiny mental debate. "Why should I have to turn over such a huge fraction of my hard-earned money to the government?" And then, a moment later: "Oh, yeah: schools, roads, national security -- blah, blah, blah. Sign the check." But the government goody most likely to make a gadget freak giddy is the Global Positioning System, or G.P.S. It's a constellation of 24 satellites that beam down navigation signals for the benefit of hikers, bikers, campers, sailors and drivers. Down here on earth, a G.P.S. receiver can analyze these signals to tell you precisely where on earth you are, accurate to within about 10 feet. When teamed up with a computer, a G.P.S. receiver can then display your location on a map, provide directions to a destination, and so on. Garmin's new iQue 3600 is the first palmtop that is also a G.P.S. receiver -- a remarkable feat, considering that it's no larger than a typical Palm organizer. It runs on the Palm 5.2.1 operating system, meaning that it synchronizes its calendar, address book and to-do list with a Windows PC and can run any of thousands of add-on programs. It comes with both a voice recorder and Documents to Go, a program that lets you view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files when you're on the move. The iQue's bright color screen (320 by 480 pixels) covers the entire face of the device. This setup lets you hide the Graffiti handwriting area when you've got more important things to look at, like maps. It also shows the letter shapes you're making as you write, as though your inkless stylus actually had ink, which makes it easier to master the Palm alphabet. When you flip out the antenna (a hinged panel at the top of the iQue's back), you switch on the G.P.S. circuitry. The iQue hunts for satellite signals, which can take a minute or so to lock in. When it figures out where you are, a map of your current location appears on the screen. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/31/technology/circuits/31stat.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 00:31:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Picture Frames Go Wi-Fi Arik Hesseldahl NEW YORK - One of the more curious Internet gadgets that has so far survived the dot-com craze is the digital picture frame. The most well-known of these was the Ceiva, which we noted in this space way back in December of 2000. The basic idea was to surround an LCD display with a nice picture frame and give it a modem connection that allows it to display digital photographs of your choice uploaded to a server from your PC. Eastman Kodak (nyse: EK - news - people ) had a similar product it called the Smart Frame that had a slot for a CompactFlash memory card from a digital camera. It would display the pictures on that card. That product doesn't seem to be available any longer. The Ceiva is, somewhat surprisingly, still available. But now it has a little competition. The Wallflower wireless picture frame is similar in concept. It's an LCD display surrounded by a picture frame. But instead of dialing out to the Internet, it connects to a Wi-Fi wireless home network. It's a 12-inch display similar in size to an 8-inch-by-10-inch photo, and has a resolution of 1,024 pixels by 768 pixels. It also has a hard drive for storing whatever photos you choose to move to it over the network. http://www.forbes.com/2003/08/01/cx_ah_0801tentech.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 00:37:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hand-held Devices Easy to Hack - Security Experts LAS VEGAS, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Hand-held computers used to store phone numbers, medical and credit-card information leave millions of gadget lovers fully exposed to identity-theft and other crimes, security experts said on Saturday. Software is now widely available to allow people to steal passwords and other information from popular Palm-based computers, especially when they connect to other computers to share data, said Bryan Glancey, a manager at wireless security services provider MobileArmor of St. Louis, Missouri. While millions of people now rely on handy electronic scheduling and address books, few carry sufficient security protections to prevent identity theft if the hand-held is lost or stolen, as is commonplace. Simple programs exist to uncover even hidden data, Glancey said. Other software allows people to steal data while remaining at some distance from the victims, he added. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35114601 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 01:53:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Blame Game Starts as Wi-Fi Bubble Pops By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco A splendid and visceral story by Karen Lowry Miller in the current issue of Newsweek entitled 'The Wi-Fi Bubble' shines an unforgiving light on the public hot-spot mania -- and the hypesters responsible for it. The article doesn't make for uplifting reading, but it is a welcome counter to the juvenilia that accompanies the gushy reporting of Wi-Fi build-out. While no one doubts that 802.11 will form a ubiquitous part of computer communications for the next several years -- a standard dongle, if you like -- Miller strips away the hype by asking a painfully simple question: "Can you make money from public hotspots?" And the answer seems to be a pile of Emperor's New Clothes. http://theregister.co.uk/content/69/32116.html ------------------------------ From: davidy16188@hotmail.com (David) Subject: How to Program PC to Make Call Date: 2 Aug 2003 23:25:56 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I am a newbie in telecom. I have to develop an application which includes a functionality to make a phone call to a real telephone. How can I do it? Any books you can suggest me to read? Any software I have to have to integrate? Thanks a lot. David ------------------------------ From: Jud Hardcastle Subject: Multi-Handset Phone With Specific Feature Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 09:29:44 -0500 Organization: na My old Casio multi-handset system is dying (three handset bases now refuse to charge any phone) and I'm looking at replacements. There is a feature I'd like to have if I can find it. With the Casio system any handset can page or transfer a call to another handset -- by handset number. That method works okay for an office where each person is sitting next to the same phone all the time -- or where the handset is physically carried by the same person. But in a house environment handsets are scattered all over the house in multiple rooms. Often you don't KNOW where the other person is so you have to try different extension numbers until they answer -- often it's faster just to go find them :-) The Panasonic units I've looked at can page all handsets but only from the base station -- normal paging is like the Casio with handset numbers. Does anyone know of a consumer system where ANY handset can: 1) page all other units at once; or even better: 2) assign a ring to each "person" and page all other units with that ring, i.e. multiple ring patterns that are selectable for the page (or just enter page mode and sound a "beep" on all phones every time you push the key -- that way you could manually identify a person by the number of presses); or: 3) incorporate a "loud" speakerphone in each handset that can be used from any handset to page a person, i.e. intercom style push a key and say "Donna Line 1" and have it issue from all handsets. Thanks, Jud Dallas TX USA ------------------------------ From: Fritz Whittington Subject: Re: Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 16:58:31 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet On or about 2003-07-31 22:23, Jay R. Ashworth whipped out a trusty #2 pencil and scribbled: > Stanley settled back into the couch, and Dave Phelps > said to him: >>> When Indiana University installed its new e-mail system in 2000, it >>> spent $1.2 million on a network of nine computers to process mail >>> for 115,000 students, faculty members and researchers at its main >>> campus here and at satellite facilities throughout the state. >> Wow. When are they going out for bids on the next nine computers? I'm >> bidding on that one. I bet I could get them nine computers for only >> $1 million or so. Maybe even cheaper! >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would think over the pricing a little >> better, Dave. They are all heavy-duty multi-user machines not the >> little 'toy computers' like most of us have in our homes. I would >> think a hundred or a hundred twenty five thousand per machine would >> be a reasonable price, depending on size and networking requirements >> needed. You would not have much left from that million dollars for >> your profit. PAT] > You've been out for a while, Pat. > I could do transport, storage, and pop retrieval for 115,000 mailboxes > on ... say 4 or 5 dual-Xeon's with RAID, figure *no more* than $30k a > piece. And that's pushing it *hard*. > Cheers, > Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com > Member of the Technical Staff Baylink > The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think > Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 > > God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson While I won't argue about the prices quoted above for computer hardware, I think the original post implied a lot more than that. "a network of nine computers" implies an extensive, installed and running turnkey system. Perhaps raised floor, backup power for the machines, backup power for the (independent) HVAC, gas fire protection, all of which are *very expensive*. Add (perhaps) network wiring, system integration, backup and recovery hardware, software, and staff training. Note also the "satellite facilities throughout the state" which implies that it's not all in one big room, so you lose some economy of scale. Plus high-speed links, routers, and redundant backups betwen the sites. You might even have to pay for some system engineering work. Of course, without some details of what they actually got for their money, it's hard to really tell. But I'm willing to say (having had to do weekly testing on a backup generator that cost almost $120,000 and a battery backup/automatic switchover system that cost almost as much) that the 1.2 million could have been a reasonable price. Don't forget to roll back the clock to 2000 and consider bang/buck 3 years ago. But even so, it's not the cost of the bare computers that makes the big impact. Fritz Whittington "You need only two tools. WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the tape..." ------------------------------ From: nelusio@wappi.com (emanuele) Subject: Re: Dm/IP 3031-A- PCI Release 5.1.1 WIN2K Date: 3 Aug 2003 10:17:17 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ This is a mail I have written to Dialogic but they've answered that Dialogic has been bought by Intel and now it's very difficult to have support from them I hope you will help me if you have any idea of how to solve my problem!! nelusio@wappi.com (emanuele) wrote in message news:: > Hi, > I am working in France Telecom R&D, Paris, on one of your Dialogic > card, DM/IP 3031 A, aiming at developing a voice application on a > Terminal Equipment. > This card has been bought in 1999. Unfortunately we don't have access > to the original technical documentation anymore (nor to the original > CD). In order to install the card we downloaded from your website the > package Intel Dialogic System Software" release 5.1.1. We have > successfully installed it without the Service Pack 1, since after the > installation of the Service Pack 1 the card was no longer recognized > by the system (Start/Dialogic/DCM). > The installation was performed on a Windows2000/SP3 system. The POST > (Power On Self Test) was performed correctly; DCM (Dialogic > Configuration Manager) properly recognizes the card (we used > "ipt_isdn_net5.fcd" as Assign Firmware File (FCD)) - we see a green > light on the top of the E1 we use; DCM properly activates the card; > I would like to stress that our goal is not to develop a Voice over IP > application, but a voice application using the PSTN interfaces (E1, > ISDN 30 B + D), managing both voice (to send WAV files for example) > and signalling (to start a new call, call-forwarding, signalling > facility, etc.). > May you tell me if we are using a card which is actually able to do > this? Which FCD has to be used for our goal (France-ISDN > application)? If you have any sample application we can use to manage > an ISDN-call? Which is the difference between SR 5.1.1 and DNA 3.3? > What exactly mean the 30 channels of the card? (IP, voice, signalling, > ...) If any specific documentation for this card and this kind of > applications (ISDN) exist on your website? > I hope you will be able to answer these questions in as a short time > as possible, and I thank you very much for the help you will be able > to provide. > Best regards, > Emanuele Trovato > France Tlcom R&D/SVA/PIC > 38-40 rue du gnral Leclerc > 92794 Issy Moulineaux cedex 9 > Tel : +33 (0)1 45 29 48 20 > emanuele.trovato@rd.francetelecom.fr > ------------------------------ 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #596 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Aug 4 13:01:11 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h74H1BH23172; Mon, 4 Aug 2003 13:01:11 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 13:01:11 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200308041701.h74H1BH23172@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 #597 TELECOM Digest Mon, 4 Aug 2003 13:00:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 597 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Monday Morning Telecom Headlines (Eric Friedebach) Verizon Increases MA Rates ('nuther Bob) End of the Road for SMTP? (Monty Solomon) Grounding the Flying Nun (Monty Solomon) NBC Hopes Short Movies Will Keep Viewers From Flipping (Monty Solomon) Policy Post 9.17: CDT Calls For Accountability in Domain Names (Solomon) Policy Post 9.16: CAPPS II Gets Broader, Narrower ew Privacy (Solomon) StarBand '480 Pro' Available Nationwide (Monty Solomon) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Jay R. Ashworth) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Rich Greenberg) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (AES/newspost) Re: Multi-Handset Phone With Specific Feature (Robert A. Book) Re: Your Cellphone is a Homing Device (Robert A. Book) Re: Your Cellphone is a Homing Device (Stan) Re: FTC Warns of Identity-Robbing Net Scams (J Debert) Flash Mobs: a New Social Phenomenon? (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Monday Morning Telecom Headlines Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 10:55:28 -0500 Organization: Purity Of Essence/Plant Operational Error Reply-To: Eric Friedebach Qwest and Sprint Forge Wireless Wholesale Deal Reuters, 08.04.03, 7:19 AM ET NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Qwest Communications International Inc. and Sprint PCS said on Monday they had signed a wholesale agreement that allows Qwest to provide nationwide wireless phone service on Sprint's network. http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2003/08/04/rtr1047490.html Verizon, Unions Make "Substantial Progress" Reuters, 08.03.03, 10:43 PM ET By Jessica Hall PHILADELPHIA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc. and two unions representing about 80,000 employees, or about a third of its work force, made "substantial progress" in contract negotiations, a union spokeswoman said on Sunday. The talks have centered on job security, transferring work to lower-cost regions and health care costs. On Sunday, Verizon's union workers stayed on the job as negotiations continued in New York and Washington. http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2003/08/03/rtr1047210.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Verizon Increases MA rates Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 13:17:45 GMT Verizon has increased rates on calling plans in MA. You'll see the increase retroactively applied on your July bill back to June 1. The have eliminated the charge for touch tone service and increased the general plan costs by varying amounts. Basic residence local calling service increased about $2.50. That means that the charge for a basic line with unlimited calling neighboring towns now costs a little over $27/month. No doubt the Department of Rubber Stamps for Industry studied this in detail, concluded that they didn't have a clue at this point what these services really cost or what profits Verizon really makes, and approved this. Bob ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 01:37:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: End of the Road for SMTP? By Paul Festa Staff Writer, CNET News.com The protocol that has defined e-mail for more than two decades may have a fatal flaw: It trusts you. Developed when the Internet was used almost exclusively by academics, the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, or SMTP, assumes that you are who you say you are. SMTP makes that assumption because it doesn't suspect that you're sending a Trojan horse virus, that you're making fraudulent pleas for money from the relations of deposed African dictators, or that you're hijacking somebody else's computer to send tens of millions of ads for herbal Viagra. In other words, SMTP trusts too much -- and that has spam foes, security mavens and even an original architect of today's e-mail system agitating for an overhaul, if not an outright replacement, of the omnipresent protocol. http://news.com.com/2100-1038-5058610.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 01:54:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Grounding the Flying Nun Activists on the left and right -- including a 71-year-old Milwaukee nun and an art dealer who told other passengers that President Bush "is dumb as a rock" -- have long complained they were being hassled by airport security. After months of silence, the federal government says: It's true. By Dave Lindorff July 25, 2003 | Ever since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, reports have circulated that the U.S. airline security apparatus was targeting political activists for strict scrutiny and special searches, sometimes forcing them to miss flights. Despite the accounts of peace activists, civil liberties lawyers and left-wing journalists, federal agencies wouldn't confirm the policy and airline officials wouldn't discuss it, and so the stories had the feel of urban legend. But in documents released this week in a federal court case in San Francisco, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration confirmed for the first time that it does keep not just a list of potential terrorists barred from the air, but also a list of "selectees" who are subject to strict security checks before they are allowed to board commercial aircraft. The agency has revealed almost nothing else about the selectee list, and is fighting in court to keep secret the names of people who are on it, the standards for putting them there. It appears, however, that the list may contain thousands of names. Officials at the ACLU of Northern California, which is pressing the Freedom of Information Act case filed by two leftist newspaper editors, says it learned from authorities at Oakland Airport that there is a typed list of names that is 88 pages long. Between Sept. 11, 2001, and April 8, 2003, the ACLU says, over 363 passengers were stopped at San Francisco and Oakland airports -- either because their names appeared on that list or because their names were similar to names on a separate "no-fly" list made up of criminals and people with suspected terrorist ties. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/07/25/no_fly/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 02:25:16 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: NBC Hopes Short Movies Will Keep Viewers From Flipping By BILL CARTER NBC thinks it has come up with a new way to get people to sit through blocks of commercials: Break up the ads with minimovies. Starting in the fall, NBC will begin interspersing the primarily minute-long movies among the commercials accompanying its prime-time shows. The intention, NBC executives said, is to keep viewers so entertained that they do not dart away, and perhaps stay with NBC the entire night to catch the conclusion of the minimovie. "Everybody is experimenting with ways to keep viewers around," said Jeff Zucker, the president of NBC Entertainment, which is a unit of General Electric. He cited the example of a hit series expanding beyond its allotted time, like last season when Fox's "American Idol" ran three or four minutes into the start time of the next program. Driving the networks' efforts is the fear that the remote-control zapping that has led viewers to flee during commercials will soon turn to outright avoidance, as personal recording devices like TiVo become more popular. This concern has also spurred a wave of so-called product placement, in which marketers pay to display their wares on the program itself. Advertising executives who buy media time said that while the success of NBC's planned minimovies was hardly assured, the attempt to tamp down channel-flipping was welcome. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/04/business/media/04ADCO.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To help with readers' privacy concerns, when reading NY Times online, consider using our group login name 'telecomdigest' and our group password 'telecomdigest'. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 02:56:08 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Policy Post 9.17: CDT Calls For Accountability in Domain Names CDT POLICY POST Volume 9, Number 17, August 1, 2003 A Briefing On Public Policy Issues Affecting Civil Liberties Online from The Center For Democracy and Technology: (1) CDT Calls For Accountability in Domain Names Management (2) ICANN's Private-Sector Structure Remains the Right Approach (3) CDT Proposes Metrics to Evaluate ICANN (4) Whois Privacy a Critical Upcoming Issue for ICANN http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_9.17.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 03:01:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Policy Post 9.16: CAPPS II Gets Broader, Narrower in New Privacy CDT POLICY POST Volume 9, Number 16, July 31, 2003 A Briefing On Public Policy Issues Affecting Civil Liberties Online from The Center for Democracy and Technology (1) TSA Issues Second Privacy Act Notice Expanding and Narrowing CAPPS II (2) Mission Creep Begins: Scope of CAPPS II Expanded (3) TSA Exempts CAPPS II Program from Important Privacy Act Protections http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_9.16.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 23:45:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: StarBand '480 Pro' Available Nationwide New Satellite Internet Modem Delivers on Faster Speeds, Easier Networking and Has Broad Operating System Compatibility Business Editors/High-Tech Writers MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 30, 2003--StarBand, America's leading high-speed, two-way satellite Internet provider to residential and small office customers, today announced the national expansion of the StarBand 480 Pro service with a professional-strength, network-ready, business-grade satellite modem delivering faster speeds, instant networking capability and compatibility with a wide array of computer operating systems including Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, and Linux. The StarBand 480 Pro provides high performance Internet service with peak download speeds of up to one megabit per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 100 kilobits per second (Kbps) in Turbo Mode, which is available for most large file uploads. http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?bw.073003/232115340 ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Reply-To: jra@baylink.com Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 20:13:52 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida Stanley settled back into the couch, and Charles Hoch said to him: > Now, totally unrelated to this, many new phones have GPS logic in > them. This is in response to the mandate from the FCC for E911 > service; that is, being able to locate a phone making a 911 call, > within some prescribed precision, and using GPS is one solution. This > is not standalone GPS: most of the work of the GPS protocol is done at > the cell site, and the phone is asked to take some readings from > specific GPS satellites and send the info to the cellsite, which > computes the phone's location, and sends it on the the 911 > center. Since much of the work of the GPS protocol is done in the cell > site, location can be accomplished with much weaker signals from the > satellites than required by a standalone unit. This includes indoors, > basements, street level between skyscrapers (but not in subways). See > www.snaptrack.com for details. Which explains why, given a "GPS receiver" and Java in many new phones, we *still* aren't seeing a location display on the phone -- the *phone* doesn't know where it is. Anyone got anything on whether the phones squawk when they're pinged for location? Stanley settled back into the couch, and Michael D Sullivan said to him: > Moreover, the special Verizon network providing service in the > Washington Metro was, last I checked, analog-only. (It may have been > upgraded recently, though.) A Verizon dual- or tri-mode phone will > continue showing the time while in an analog area, based on updating > the time from when it was last in a CDMA area. And indeed, the clock on my PrimeCo 1900 stayed running when I went out of range, up near Lecanto. Cheers, Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 647 1274 God, unlike Anya, is fond of bunnies. -- Chelsea Christenson [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Is it possible these things work like (for example) La Crosse Technology wristwatches and certain other products set by radio time signals? When it is possible for the device to recieve a good, strong radio time signal it does so, but when the signal is absent (due to interference, etc) then the device has a highly accurate crystal controlled mechanism inside it which takes over until the time/place the radio signal can be captured once again? PAT] ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs Date: 3 Aug 2003 16:41:30 -0400 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Phil Earnhardt wrote: > secure platform for their clients, I must also question why the credit > card companies have failed to create challenge-response systems for > customers to validate transactions. > When making Internet purchases, I would vastly prefer to have the > vendor issue a challenge to me and generate the response to validate > the purpose. > Currently, internet vendors must assume liability for CC fraud. Such a > challenge/response system would seemingly have a much lower risk of > fraud for the vendor -- I should be able to get a lower cost by being > willing to use such validation techniques. Unfortunately, the credit > card companies *do not allow* vendors to provide such price breaks. > Methinks the current credit card system is fundamentally flawed -- it > stifles innovative techniques for transaction validation. We should > have have moved past the "secret number" validation systems about a > decade ago. I agree with Phil here. I have heard that the reason for not introducing stronger validation is they don't want to give the buyer an opportunity to think about the purchase lest they change their mind. 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: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 20:43:03 -0700 In article , Phil Earnhardt wrote: > When making Internet purchases, I would vastly prefer to have the > vendor issue a challenge to me and generate the response to validate > the purpose. Every once in a while when I make a credit card purchase online or by phone the vendor will ask for a 4-digit "security number" that's printed in small type on some of my cards (AmEx in particular). Maybe that's an example of challenge-response. Anyone know if that number is encoded in the mag stripe on the card? ------------------------------ From: Robert A. Book Organization: None -- can't you tell? Subject: Re: Multi-Handset Phone With Specific Feature Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 19:54:26 -0400 Jud Hardcastle wrote: > My old Casio multi-handset system is dying (three handset bases now > refuse to charge any phone) and I'm looking at replacements. There is > a feature I'd like to have if I can find it. Jud, Maybe the problem is not the phones or the chargers, but the rechargable batteries. These batteries don't last forever; eventually they wear out. You can probably get new batteries for the handsets at Radio Shack, Target, or Wal-Mart. Just take out an old battery and take it with you. Buy one with the same size, shape, plug, and voltage rating as the old ones. (You don't have to match the mAh rating -- bigger numbers means more time between charges. And I think almost all cordless phones use 3.6-volt batteries.) --Robert Fairfax, VA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would say DO NOT take the battery out, but rather take the device with you to the battery dealer (Walmart, Radio Shack, etc) and let *the clerk* take it out and make the exchange. That way, the store has to replace the device if they mess it up. I got a neat little five dollar digital watch one time from Walmart when the lady screwed up the innards changing the battery on the old one. She took off the back, a very tiny screw got lost; the watch would not work any longer; the manager told her to give me a new watch, as close in style as possible. If you like losing tiny screws then don't take my advice. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Robert A. Book Organization: None -- can't you tell? Subject: Re: Your Cellphone is a Homing Device Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 19:56:00 -0400 Monty Solomon wrote: Do these really use GPS, or do they triangular from cell sites? If they use GPS, can they display coordinates to the user? > Don't want the government to know where you are? Throw away your > cell, stop taking the subway, and pay the toll in cash. > By Brendan I. Koerner > IF YOU PURCHASED A NEW CELLPHONE over the past 18 months or so, odds > are that one of the features listed in small print on the side of the > box was "E911 capable." Or, as in the case of my latest Motorola, > "Location technology for piece [sic] of mind." Perhaps you asked the > salesman to explain the feature, and he replied that it means that > cops can home in on your phone in case of an emergency, a potentially > important perk should you ever find your hand pinned beneath an > immovable boulder in rural Utah, as Aron Ralston did recently. > Assuming he could have gotten a signal, an E911-capable phone might > have saved the young backpacker the pain of having to amputate his own > arm. > What your salesman probably failed to tell you -- and may not even > realize -- is that an E911-capable phone can give your wireless > carrier continual updates on your location. The phone is embedded with > a Global Positioning System chip, which can calculate your coordinates > to within a few yards by receiving signals from satellites. GPS > technology gave U.S. military commanders a vital edge during Gulf War > II, and sailors and pilots depend on it as well. In the E911-capable > phone, the GPS chip does not wait until it senses danger, springing to > life when catastrophe strikes; it's switched on whenever your handset > is powered up and is always ready to transmit your location data back > to a wireless carrier's computers. Verizon or T-Mobile can figure out > which manicurist you visit just as easily as they can pinpoint a > stranded motorist on Highway 59. > http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/July-August-2003/feature_koerner_julaug03.html ------------------------------ From: Stan Subject: Re: Your Cellphone is a Homing Device Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 04:15:10 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Carolina Monty Solomon wrote in message news:telecom22.596.3@telecom-digest.org: > Don't want the government to know where you are? Throw away your > cell, stop taking the subway, and pay the toll in cash. > By Brendan I. Koerner > What your salesman probably failed to tell you -- and may not even > realize -- is that an E911-capable phone can give your wireless > carrier continual updates on your location. The phone is embedded with > a Global Positioning System chip, which can calculate your coordinates > to within a few yards by receiving signals from satellites. GPS > technology gave U.S. military commanders a vital edge during Gulf War > II, and sailors and pilots depend on it as well. In the E911-capable > phone, the GPS chip does not wait until it senses danger, springing to > life when catastrophe strikes; it's switched on whenever your handset > is powered up and is always ready to transmit your location data back > to a wireless carrier's computers. Verizon or T-Mobile can figure out > which manicurist you visit just as easily as they can pinpoint a > stranded motorist on Highway 59. I guess they're not counting on those of us who read the manuals or surf the phone's menus. Earlier this year, I got a Motorola T-720 from Verizon. The manual explains that the GPS feature has three settings: 1. You can turn it completely off. (paranoia mode) 2. You can turn it on so that it's only active for E911 calls. 3. You can leave it completely on. They say that in the future, they'll pass the information along to internet mapping services, so that you could potentially receive maps or directions on your handset that would start at your approximate location. Since Verizon doesn't yet offer any mapping service, I opted for #2. This is completely configurable by the end user. I don't really see any nefarious plan to pinpoint every cellular user using this technology. I assume that I could be found if I had an analog phone as well, just with different technology. -Stan ------------------------------ From: J Debert Subject: Re: FTC Warns of Identity-Robbing Net Scams Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 17:37:14 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com (I sure wish this group accepted anonymous messages. Every time I post I get a new batch of 100's of scam -- er -- spam messages that the filters let through.) It seems popular to think that ID theft is limited to lone thieves, crackers, small-time petty theft rings, et cetera. But there really is a much bigger problem which has barely received any notice at all. Criminal organizations from the former Soviet Union, ie, the "Russian Mob", are collecting identity information from all over the world and using it or reselling it. It is a highly profitable business, with relatively mild penalties under the law in many countries, if caught. Getting caught is unlikely, though. The most popular methods use the net but they also pay people to collect ID info from trash, phone calls, etc. So it's not small-time, penny-ante stuff anymore. And once you've had your ID stolen, it could be used anytime after, not just within a year or whatever the "experts" and media seem to want you to think. There is no longer an expiry date on stolen ID info. Monty Solomon wrote: > By David Ho, Associated Press, 7/22/2003 > WASHINGTON -- Stealing identities and credit card numbers with bogus > e-mail and websites that appear to come from legitimate companies is > an increasing problem on the Internet, federal officials warned > yesterday. > The Federal Trade Commission said it had brought its first case > against this type of scheme, called 'spoofing' or 'carding.' A > 17-year-old California boy accused of posing as America Online agreed > to settle federal charges by accepting a lifetime ban on sending junk > e-mail and paying a $3,500 fine, the FTC said. > http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/203/business/FTC_warns_of_identity_robbing_Net_scams+.shtml [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I *do* allow anonymous messages, regretfully under some circumstances. The spam is getting to be so bad as a result of postings here, if a guy says please withhold my email address/name I do so. Obviously, then you cannot get direct replies from people who do not know you (bad thing) but neither can you get spam and other crap from people who do not know you. (good!) PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Flash Mobs: a New Social Phenomenon? From: pae@users.forethought.net (Phil Earnhardt) Date: 3 Aug 2003 20:32:11 -0600 "Is it performance art or the ultimate surprise party? A social phenomenon known as the 'flash mob', which began in New York and relies on e-mail, appears to be spreading worldwide. Using mass e-mailing, the organisers bring together what their invitations describe as 'inexplicable mobs' - large crowds that materialise in public places and suddenly dissipate 10 minutes later. [...]" http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s913314.htm Larry Niven coined the term "Flash Crowds" in his SF writing in the mid-1970s, envisioning the consequences if the Earth had cheap widespread teleportation devices. This is quite different yet errily similar. Niven's speculative writing had criminal "clubs" that would exploit the forming of a Flash Crowd. One could easily imagine "flash mobs" being organized for criminal intent -- with or without the knowledge of most of the participants. --phil ------------------------------ 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 #597 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Aug 4 21:31:18 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h751VI125236; Mon, 4 Aug 2003 21:31:18 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 21:31:18 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200308050131.h751VI125236@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 #598 TELECOM Digest Mon, 4 Aug 2003 21:31:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 598 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Re: End of the Road for SMTP? (tonypo1@cox.net) Re: End of the Road for SMTP? (Garrett Wollman) Re: End of the Road for SMTP? (Harry Broomhall) Re: Multi-Handset Phone With Specific Feature (Phil Earnhardt) Re: Multi-Handset Phone With Specific Feature (Jud Hardcastle) Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs (Phil Earnhardt) Re: Verizon Increases MA rates (KiloDelate) More Telemarketing Calls (George Mitchell) Re: Blocking Incoming Calls to Lucent Definity G3R PBX (Chip G) Re: Your Cellphone is a Homing Device (Mike P) Want to Buy: NEWBRIDGE System Boards (Tony Costa) 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: tonypo1@cox.net Subject: Re: End of the Road for SMTP? Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 14:12:26 -0400 In article , monty@roscom.com says: > By Paul Festa > Staff Writer, CNET News.com > The protocol that has defined e-mail for more than two decades may > have a fatal flaw: It trusts you. > Developed when the Internet was used almost exclusively by academics, > the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, or SMTP, assumes that you are who > you say you are. > SMTP makes that assumption because it doesn't suspect that you're > sending a Trojan horse virus, that you're making fraudulent pleas for > money from the relations of deposed African dictators, or that you're > hijacking somebody else's computer to send tens of millions of ads for > herbal Viagra. > In other words, SMTP trusts too much -- and that has spam foes, > security mavens and even an original architect of today's e-mail > system agitating for an overhaul, if not an outright replacement, of > the omnipresent protocol. > http://news.com.com/2100-1038-5058610.html It's not an issue of trust anymore. Since Sendmail 8.9 you've been able to forbid relaying from anything not on your subnet. And there's authenticated SMTP now. It's just that not many ISP's use it for some odd reason. I think it's just someone pushing to get their new product on the shelf. ------------------------------ From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: End of the Road for SMTP? Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 18:29:32 +0000 (UTC) Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > Developed when the Internet was used almost exclusively by academics, > the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, or SMTP, assumes that you are who > you say you are. Talk getting things completely the wrong way around. SMTP *doesn't care* who you are. The sender's identity is irrelevant to the process of forwarding mail within the network. The sender's identity matters only to the final recipient, and that is the only place in the network where it is both feasible and sensible to verify the origin of a message. --GAWollman Garrett A. Wollman | As the Constitution endures, persons in every wollman@lcs.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own Opinions not those of| search for greater freedom. MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. ___ (2003) ------------------------------ From: Harry Broomhall Subject: Re: End of the Road for SMTP? Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 22:35:24 +0100 Organization: Ha! Reply-To: haeb@pc60.demon.co.uk On Mon, 4 Aug 2003 01:37:02 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: > By Paul Festa > Staff Writer, CNET News.com > The protocol that has defined e-mail for more than two decades may > have a fatal flaw: It trusts you. > Developed when the Internet was used almost exclusively by academics, > the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, or SMTP, assumes that you are who > you say you are. > SMTP makes that assumption because it doesn't suspect that you're > sending a Trojan horse virus, that you're making fraudulent pleas for > money from the relations of deposed African dictators, or that you're > hijacking somebody else's computer to send tens of millions of ads for > herbal Viagra. > In other words, SMTP trusts too much -- and that has spam foes, > security mavens and even an original architect of today's e-mail > system agitating for an overhaul, if not an outright replacement, of > the omnipresent protocol. > http://news.com.com/2100-1038-5058610.html Remind me not to give that staff writer a job - he's about 5 years behind the curve. And what has this to do with telecom? Regards, Harry ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Multi-Handset Phone With Specific Feature From: pae@users.forethought.net (Phil Earnhardt) Date: 4 Aug 2003 11:31:04 -0600 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would say DO NOT take the battery > out, but rather take the device with you to the battery dealer > (Walmart, Radio Shack, etc) and let *the clerk* take it out and > make the exchange. That way, the store has to replace the device > if they mess it up. [...] At the local Radio Shacks, they're happy to provide tools for you to disassemble/reassemble your electronics for battery replacement. However, they will not touch your device themselves -- for precisely this reason. FWIW, I think this is completely fair. I see no reason for a battery vendor to assume liability for the correct functioning of my device. If I wish to get someone who is willing to assume that liability, I should expect to pay a fair amount for the service. This reminds me of one OT piece of humor about Radio Shack. In the spirit of Mad Magazine: Their advertised slogan: "You've got questions? We've got answers." The real slogan: "You've got questions? We've got radios." --phil ------------------------------ From: Jud Hardcastle Subject: Re: Multi-Handset Phone With Specific Feature Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 12:43:08 -0500 In article , rbook1@mochamail.com says: >> My old Casio multi-handset system is dying (three handset bases now >> refuse to charge any phone) and I'm looking at replacements. There is >> a feature I'd like to have if I can find it. > Jud, > Maybe the problem is not the phones or the chargers, but the > rechargable batteries. These batteries don't last forever; eventually > they wear out. > You can probably get new batteries for the handsets at Radio Shack, > Target, or Wal-Mart. Just take out an old battery and take it with > you. Buy one with the same size, shape, plug, and voltage rating as Nope -- I've replaced all the batteries. They're custom for Casio so I had to get our local BatteriesPlus to replace the cells. All are a year old or less. In any case the problem doesn't follow the phone which it would if there was a battery problem. Gradually a base will just quit charging. The charge light will come on for a few seconds then go out like it has lost the phone. Tried cleaning the contacts, swapping power supplies, etc to no avail. I suspect it's a circuit board problem -- finding the problem on that is out of my league and probably not worth the cost. Jud Dallas TX USA ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Kinko's Spy Case: Risks of Renting PCs From: pae@users.forethought.net (Phil Earnhardt) Date: 4 Aug 2003 11:50:50 -0600 In article , AES/newspost wrote: > In article , Phil Earnhardt > wrote: >> When making Internet purchases, I would vastly prefer to have the >> vendor issue a challenge to me and generate the response to validate >> the purpose. > Every once in a while when I make a credit card purchase online or by > phone the vendor will ask for a 4-digit "security number" that's > printed in small type on some of my cards (AmEx in particular). Maybe > that's an example of challenge-response. Anyone know if that number > is encoded in the mag stripe on the card? The Visa/MC verification code is 3 digits. It is printed on the back of the card. I do not believe the code is recoded on the stripe. These numbers are NOT a challenge/response system. You can think of them as simply an extension to the 16-digit account number of your credit card. If you were in a Kinkos whose computers had been compromised, that "security number" would have been compromised along with the rest of your account number (and your billing address). Challenge/response systems work by having the centralized verification authority issue a one-time challenge to my identity. This is a 4-5 digit code. The central authority would send the challenge to the vendor, who would relay it to me. I would enter that code in a small device (or smart card) which generates the correct response. The vendor then relays the response to the central verification authority who verifies it. The next time I attempted to use my credit card, I'd get a different one-time challenge from the central authority. Most of the current challenge/response cards out there have the user enter a PIN to activate them. Clearly, the security of your PIN is paramount! --phil ------------------------------ From: KiloDelate Subject: Re: Verizon Increases MA rates Organization: KiloDelta Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 14:20:11 -0400 In article , yetanotherphonyaddress@noplacereally.com says: > Verizon has increased rates on calling plans in MA. You'll see the > increase retroactively applied on your July bill back to June 1. The > have eliminated the charge for touch tone service and increased the > general plan costs by varying amounts. Basic residence local calling > service increased about $2.50. That means that the charge for a basic > line with unlimited calling neighboring towns now costs a little over > $27/month. > No doubt the Department of Rubber Stamps for Industry studied this in > detail, concluded that they didn't have a clue at this point what > these services really cost or what profits Verizon really makes, and > approved this. Nice to see MA finally in parity with the RI rates. Of course MA residents get much smaller calling areas for the same price. But you're right about the regulator agencies - Verizon likes to bury them in BS. I got to be friendly with the chief of the PUC unit at our AG's office here. He and I have discussions about how Verizon screws people over all the time. It's not like he doesn't know it, it's just that the PUC here in RI should be rename the UUC or Utilities Utility Commission. There's nothing public about the agency anymore, though we did get $5k to setup up a good remote access solution for the AG's office. IMHO - Verizon is too heavy on labor. They are woefully inefficient, and we pay the price for that. ------------------------------ From: George Mitchell Subject: More Telemarketing Calls Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 13:32:28 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com The number of telemarketing calls we've been getting (in west suburban Portland, Oregon) has gone up dramatically in the last couple of months. We're now AVERAGING four or five calls PER DAY, and we've gotten as many as a dozen. (I'm defining picking up the phone and hearing silence, or a recording, as a telemarketing call, as well as the occasional human being selling something. The humans are down in the noise at this point, maybe one call every couple of weeks.) Two months ago, it was more like one call every day or two. Are the telemarketers ramping up in anticipation of the national do-not-call registry deadline? Have we in fact brought this on ourselves by registering our numbers on that list; i.e. do the telemarketers already have the list, and are abusing it in advance of the deadline? George Mitchell (obfuscated email address) ------------------------------ From: Chip G Subject: Re: Blocking Incoming Calls to Lucent Definity G3R PBX Organization: Comcast Online Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 23:23:47 GMT Do you have ASAI on the switch or CTI of any type? If so, you can setup a simple program that monitors incoming calls' caller-id and drops the call via CTI message. Alternatively, if the number of offending numbers is small (ie. will fit in the internal routing tables) and you have vectoring, you could use ANI table lookup and "disconnect" the call through vectoring. Hope these ideas spur a solution for you, Chip wrote in message news:telecom22.581.6@telecom-digest.org: > Is there a way to configure the PBX to not accept or redirect unwanted > incomming calls? We are having more and more problems with what we > call "Spam Calls". This is mostly unwanted faxes and automated > telemarketing calls comming into the company. Sometimes we get dozens > of them an hour. The calls come into the operator and all she gets is > the beeping sound of an impending fax or the empty sound of the > telemarketers computer. It is easy enough to collect all the offending > numbers that are calling in, the operator has already learned to > ignore several of them. But is there a way of compiling a list of > these numbers in the system and either just dropping the connection to > them or forwarding them to an unused station and letting them drop > from there? I have looked through the G3R Admin docs and can't seem to > find anything related to this. > Thanks > Jeff Dennison ------------------------------ From: mpotter@crosswinds.net (Mike P) Subject: Re: Your Cellphone is a Homing Device Date: 4 Aug 2003 14:06:03 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Someone has already figured out how to implement into a webpage, guess he doesn't care about the world knowing where he is at any given time. http://wherephone.com/users/Allen.htm Don't tell my job about this they try to track us out in the field too much as it is. Stan wrote in message news:: > Monty Solomon wrote in message > news:telecom22.596.3@telecom-digest.org: >> Don't want the government to know where you are? Throw away your >> cell, stop taking the subway, and pay the toll in cash. >> By Brendan I. Koerner >> What your salesman probably failed to tell you -- and may not even >> realize -- is that an E911-capable phone can give your wireless >> carrier continual updates on your location. The phone is embedded with >> a Global Positioning System chip, which can calculate your coordinates >> to within a few yards by receiving signals from satellites. GPS >> technology gave U.S. military commanders a vital edge during Gulf War >> II, and sailors and pilots depend on it as well. In the E911-capable >> phone, the GPS chip does not wait until it senses danger, springing to >> life when catastrophe strikes; it's switched on whenever your handset >> is powered up and is always ready to transmit your location data back >> to a wireless carrier's computers. Verizon or T-Mobile can figure out >> which manicurist you visit just as easily as they can pinpoint a >> stranded motorist on Highway 59. > I guess they're not counting on those of us who read the manuals or > surf the phone's menus. Earlier this year, I got a Motorola T-720 from > Verizon. The manual explains that the GPS feature has three settings: > 1. You can turn it completely off. (paranoia mode) > 2. You can turn it on so that it's only active for E911 calls. > 3. You can leave it completely on. They say that in the future, > they'll pass the information along to internet mapping services, > so that you could potentially receive maps or directions on your > handset that would start at your approximate location. > Since Verizon doesn't yet offer any mapping service, I opted for > #2. This is completely configurable by the end user. I don't really > see any nefarious plan to pinpoint every cellular user using this > technology. I assume that I could be found if I had an analog phone as > well, just with different technology. ------------------------------ From: Tony Costa Subject: Want to Buy NEWBRIDGE System Boards Date: 4 Aug 2003 15:02:47 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Alcatel/Newbridge 36170 Qty part # description 1 90-2517-43 E1 CE75 8 PORT R4.0 1 90-2305-41 STM1 IR ATM R3.1 Please provide avaibability, turnaround, pricing, equipment overal condition. Cordially, Tony Costa GlobalTeleBrokers, LLC. Global Procurement of Low Cost Quality Telecom Assets www.globaltelebrokers.com 001-508-998-1059 (direct) 001-508-998-5852 (fax) 001-401-556-7686 (mobile) Antonio.C.Costa@verizon.net Preferred 4015567698@mycingularwireless.com Short Messages tonycosta@globaltelebrokers.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 #598 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Aug 5 13:43:02 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h75Hh2616066; Tue, 5 Aug 2003 13:43:02 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 13:43:02 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200308051743.h75Hh2616066@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 #599 TELECOM Digest Tue, 5 Aug 2003 13:43:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 599 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Telecom Update (Canada) #393, August 5, 2003 (Angus TeleManagement) SMS Messages and the Collection of Data For Marketing Use (Al Dykes) Re: Your Cellphone is a Homing Device ('nuther Bob) Re: Your Cellphone is a Homing Device (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks (Michael D. Sullivan) BELL Logo on New Verizon Payphone (John Kozloff) Re: End of the Road for SMTP (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: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 11:45:16 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #393, August 5, 2003 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 393: August 5, 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: ** Carriers Report Drop in LD, Data Sales ** Bell Slams Rogers' Landlord Contracts ** Is RIM for Sale? ** Cogeco Boosts Internet Speed ** Landlords Want to Appeal CRTC Ruling ** Telus and Quebecor Appeals Denied ** Videotron Applies to Ban Monopoly Bundling ** IDC Sells Storm Internet ** MTS Denies Knowing of MCI Routing Plan ** Yellow Pages Raises Nearly $1B ** Fido Adds AOL Instant Messaging ** CWTA Plans Common Code Conference ** Allstream, Edmonton Clash Over Tunnel Access ** CRTC Directs Cablecos to File Info ** Positron Buys Rights to MAS SONET Platform ** Axia's Netricom Sold to Symtech ** Financial Results Allstream BCE Call-Net Telus ** Independent Telecom Expertise Offered ============================================================ CARRIERS REPORT DROP IN LD, DATA SALES: Four national carriers, whose second quarter results are reported below, say their long distance revenue was down over the last year -- by 15% (Allstream) or 6%-7% (BCE, Call-Net, Telus). ** Data revenues were down 12% (Allstream), 10% (Call-Net), 0.4% (Telus), and 0.7% (BCE, business data only). BCE noted a "softness in enterprise demand." BELL SLAMS ROGERS' LANDLORD CONTRACTS: Bell ExpressVu has asked the CRTC to order Rogers Cable to stop requiring landlords to agree to buy all Rogers-installed cable when a competitor begins offering TV in the building. ExpressVu then has to reimburse the landlord, which means the company must pay much more to use the wire than the 52 cents a month rate set by the Commission. ** The filing accuses Rogers Cable of a variety of other acts it says are anti-competitive, including cutting wires used by ExpressVu customers. IS RIM FOR SALE? Research In Motion share prices jumped 11% on Thursday and 20% on Friday, apparently in response to takeover rumours. The company, which makes BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices and systems, would not comment on speculation that it may be purchased by HP, IBM, or Vodafone. ** In a separate development, RIM asked a U.S. court to quash a claim by Xerox that RIM's BlackBerry infringes on two Xerox patents. COGECO BOOSTS INTERNET SPEED: On July 31, Cogeco Cable increased the download speed of its Standard High Speed Internet service for all customers by 50%, from 2.0 Mbps to 3.0 Mbps. Pricing was unchanged. LANDLORDS WANT TO APPEAL CRTC RULING: On July 30, the Canadian Institute of Public and Private Real Estate Companies and the Building Owners and Managers Association asked the Federal Court for leave to appeal CRTC Decision 2003-45, which set out guidelines for local carrier access to multi-unit buildings (see Telecom Update #390). ** CIPPREC and BOMA say they are prepared to abide by the guidelines for now. Their appeal would focus on the CRTC's assertion that it has the right to order access if building owners and carriers cannot agree. TELUS AND QUEBECOR APPEALS DENIED: As we reported last week, the federal Cabinet has turned down appeals by Telus and Quebecor, upholding the CRTC decisions each was appealing (2002-67 and 2002-61, respectively). Industry Minister Alan Rock said that in both cases, "no sufficient grounds were found to justify countering the CRTC's initial assessment of regulatory costing issues." ** In a news release, the Cabinet said that in rejecting Telus's appeal it emphasized the importance of the CRTC "recognizing regional differences" and basing costing decisions "on company-specific information." www.ic.gc.ca/cmb/welcomeic.nsf/cdd9dc973c4bf6bc852564ca006418a0/85256a220056c2a485256d710072c925!OpenDocument www.ic.gc.ca/cmb/welcomeic.nsf/cdd9dc973c4bf6bc852564ca006418a0/85256a220056c2a485256d710075564f!OpenDocument VIDEOTRON APPLIES TO BAN MONOPOLY BUNDLING: In a Part VII application filed July 28, Videotron asks the CRTC to ban the bundling of any ILEC-tariffed residential phone service with any other service, including forborne telecom services, such as long distance or wireless, and non-telecom services, such as satellite TV. ** Videotron supports a similar anti-bundling application filed by Rogers Communications on June 27 (see Telecom Update #390). www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8622/v3_200309908.htm IDC SELLS STORM INTERNET: Ottawa-based International Datacasting Corporation has agreed to sell its wireless ISP subsidiary, Storm Internet Services, for between $3.2 and $3.7 million to a numbered company whose principals include Barry Williams, Storm's CEO. MTS DENIES KNOWING OF MCI ROUTING PLAN: Representatives of Manitoba Telecom Services have told the press that they were not aware of MCI's Canadian Gateway Project, which allegedly routed domestic U.S. calls through Manitoba to avoid payment of U.S. call termination charges. (See Telecom Update #392) ** In a court filing yesterday, MCI said that the allegations, which were made last week by AT&T, are "wholly unsupported by evidence or law." It accused AT&T of misusing the bankruptcy process for competitive advantage. YELLOW PAGES RAISES NEARLY $1B: The initial offering of shares in the Yellow Pages Income Fund raised $935 million. Public shareholders now own about 29% of the shares; the remainder is held by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (42.5%) the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (21.2%) and BCE (7.1%). BCE sold most of its stake in the directory publisher last year. (See Telecom Update #349) FIDO ADDS AOL INSTANT MESSAGING: Subscribers to Microcell's Fido service can now send and receive AOL's Instant Messenger (AIM) and ICQ messages. Price: 10 cents a message. CWTA PLANS COMMON CODE CONFERENCE: The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association will hold a one-day conference on text messaging with Common Short Codes on September 17 in Toronto. ** Common Short Codes enable interactive cellphone applications such as games and electronic voting. Canada's major wireless carriers recently agreed to a common approach to the codes, so the same numbers will work on all of their networks. www.cwta.ca ALLSTREAM, EDMONTON CLASH OVER TUNNEL ACCESS: Allstream has asked the CRTC to rule that Edmonton's Light Rail Transit lands are a "highway or public place," to which carriers are entitled to access under the Telecom Act. Allstream says Edmonton is demanding fees that contravene the "Ledcor Principles" established in CRTC Decision 2001-23 (see Telecom Update #268). www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8690/a74_200309593.htm CRTC DIRECTS CABLECOS TO FILE INFO: CRTC Telecom Decision 2003-52 directs Bragg, Cogeco, Shaw, Rogers, and Videotron to file information on circuits they lease to telecom service providers, as part of the CDNA proceeding. The Commission says it needs this information to assess the availability of competitive alternatives to the incumbents' Digital Network Services. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2003/dt2003-52.htm POSITRON BUYS RIGHTS TO MAS SONET PLATFORM: Marconi Communications has sold the rights to manufacture and sell MAS SONET add-drop multiplexers to Montreal-based telecom equipment maker Positron Inc. AXIA'S NETRICOM SOLD TO SYMTECH: Axia NetMedia has sold Netricom, which designs and installs fibre network infrastructure, to Symtech Canada of Markham, Ontario. FINANCIAL RESULTS: The following results are for the second quarter: ** Allstream: Sales of $337 million were down 4.7% from the previous quarter and 12.5% from the same time last year. EBITDA of $69 million was up 37% from last year; net income was $24 million. ** BCE: Revenue of $4.9 billion and EBITDA of $1.9 billion were unchanged from the same period a year ago. Profits increased to $461 million from $6 million. BCE added a net 131,000 wireless, 81,000 DSL, and 18,000 satellite TV subscribers. ** Call-Net: Revenue of $194 million was 2% less than a year ago. Net income was $2.5 million. A decline in sales to business customers was offset by a increase in local service revenue. ** Telus: Operating revenues of $1.77 billion were 1.4% higher than a year ago. EBITDA rose 16% to $720 million, and net income was $74.8 million, compared to $18.4 million last year. Capital expenditure declined 44%. Telus Mobility added a net 103,000 subscribers during the quarter. INDEPENDENT TELECOM EXPERTISE OFFERED: Angus Dortmans Associates consults to Canadian organizations that use telecommunications and network services as essential business tools. Our focus is on practical issues and measurable results, delivered on-time and on-budget. ** "The report addressed exactly the issues that we had raised.... I would be pleased to recommend Angus Dortmans as a professional organization that is probably the most knowledgeable in Canada in the telecommunications marketplace."--John Sherwood, Director of University Computing, Dalhousie University ** Contact Henry Dortmans, 905-686-5050 x300 or dortmans@angustel.ca. ============================================================ 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: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.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. ------------------------------ From: adykes@panix.com (Al Dykes) Subject: SMS Messages and the Collection of Data For Marketing Use Date: 4 Aug 2003 23:40:32 -0400 Organization: PANIX -- Public Access Networks Corp. The pop music stations are promoting the use of SMS messages from the listeners, heavily. Mostly they tell the listeners to make song requests and to enter some contests. Since I always suspect an ulterior motive (money) in anything that's new in the mass market I wonder why they do with the data they get (asside from the song titles) from my message. Can they send messages back to me ? Al Dykes adykes@panix.com ------------------------------ From: 'nuther Bob Subject: Re: Your Cellphone is a Homing Device Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 04:07:44 GMT On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 04:15:10 GMT, Stan wrote: > Monty Solomon wrote in message > news:telecom22.596.3@telecom-digest.org: >> Don't want the government to know where you are? Throw away your >> cell, stop taking the subway, and pay the toll in cash. >> By Brendan I. Koerner >> What your salesman probably failed to tell you -- and may not even >> realize -- is that an E911-capable phone can give your wireless >> carrier continual updates on your location. Related area: The "on-star" system that GM sells (well, gives away for the first year) tracks you full time. The folks at on-star central claim that they don't use the information for anything ... but lets face it, it's just a court order away from being used. Or, maybe they just haven't marketed it yet to the right buyer (like an insurance company that wants to know where you _really_ drive). Of course, the whole idea of someone else being able to unlock my car for me when I lose my keys, or read/control my vehicle, is way past my paranoia limit. In a similar development, a surprising number of cars are equipped with "black boxes" that record your driving speed and other factors. This information has already been pulled and used in the courtroom. Bob ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Your Cellphone is a Homing Device Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 01:34:36 GMT On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 04:15:10 GMT, Stan posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > I guess they're not counting on those of us who read the manuals or > surf the phone's menus. Earlier this year, I got a Motorola T-720 from > Verizon. The manual explains that the GPS feature has three settings: > 1. You can turn it completely off. (paranoia mode) > 2. You can turn it on so that it's only active for E911 calls. > 3. You can leave it completely on. They say that in the future, > they'll pass the information along to internet mapping services, > so that you could potentially receive maps or directions on your > handset that would start at your approximate location. > Since Verizon doesn't yet offer any mapping service, I opted for > #2. This is completely configurable by the end user. I don't really > see any nefarious plan to pinpoint every cellular user using this > technology. I assume that I could be found if I had an analog phone as > well, just with different technology. Our family has several GPS-enabled phones, from manufacturers other than Motorola. These phones have the equivalent of your options 2 and 3, but no "paranoia mode." So far, very few cellular or PCS systems are actually able to use the GPS data even for E911 calls, because the local PSAP (E911 dispatch center) has to ask for the capability and be able to use it. This requires a fair amount of investment on the PSAP's part, and few have yet gotten the cost recovery sorted out. Some states require wireless carriers to collect a fee from their subscribers to fund the PSAP upgrades, but the money in some cases has been diverted to other uses by budget-contrained states (New York diverted E911 fees to build a state police barracks (or something like that), for example). Different carriers are implementing E911 phase II (i.e., detailed location information) in several ways. Most seem to be planning for a GPS-based handset solution, but some are relying on a network solution based on triangulation. If a non-GPS-equipped phone calls E911 over a Phase II-equipped system, there won't be any triangulation. The PSAP will instead be given Phase I location data -- i.e., it will be informed what cell site and sector the call was made through, for a rough idea of the location. In an urban or dense suburban area, this would be a few square miles at most, allowing authorities to target one or two subdivisions or the stretch of highway between two exits, for example. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Speaking of Speaking Clocks Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 01:21:55 GMT On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 20:13:52 GMT, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Jay R. Ashworth in comp.dcom.telecom: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Is it possible these things work like > (for example) La Crosse Technology wristwatches and certain other > products set by radio time signals? When it is possible for the > device to recieve a good, strong radio time signal it does so, but > when the signal is absent (due to interference, etc) then the device > has a highly accurate crystal controlled mechanism inside it which > takes over until the time/place the radio signal can be captured once > again? PAT] Exactly, Pat. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ From: johnkozloff@mailandnews.com (JohnKozloff) Subject: BELL Logo on New Verizon Payphone Date: 5 Aug 2003 08:33:25 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I saw a new Verizon payphone today in Reno which was formerly a Nevada Bell (now becoming the SBC Co) site. It has a Bell logo on it. It is maintained by a non-verizon company however. Since the SBC folks are dropping the BELL name here it is nice to see Verizon is going to maintain the BELL logo here! This is the first Reno Verizon phone I have seen. The rest turned up in Truckee Calif 1 year ago and the former Contel/GTE sites south of here in Gardnerville, NV. This was my previous thread about this: 1/30/02************************ > Someone in N. California found a new payphone with the new > Verizon/logo name. The phones there were formally PacificBell branded. > These new Verizon phones have the old Bell logo prominently displayed > above the Verizon name. The Verizon site says they have payphones in > 33 states. Someone thought they were restricted to using the Bell logo > in their original operating states between Maine to VA. only. (old > NYNEX/BellAtlantic areas) Has anyone seen these new V payphones > outside the East Coast with a Bell logo on them? Are the old > GTE/Contel booths in S. California shown with the new Verizon and/or > Bell logo on them? California has not seen a Bell logo on phone booths > since PacificBell starting using that starburst logo back in the late > 80s." ***************************************************************** It is amazing to see Verizon is using the BELL logo in zones formerly used by the original BOC! Does anyone know how they are able to do this? SBC obviously has no use for the Bell logo anymore! Hoooray for Verizon! Has anyone seen anymore Verizon payphones outside Verizon's original area? ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 10:44:18 -0600 Subject: Re: End of the Road for SMTP? Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Mon, 4 Aug 2003 21:31:18 -0400 (EDT), tonypo1@cox.net wrote: >> http://news.com.com/2100-1038-5058610.html > It's not an issue of trust anymore. Since Sendmail 8.9 you've been able > to forbid relaying from anything not on your subnet. > And there's authenticated SMTP now. It's just that not many ISP's use > it for some odd reason. > I think it's just someone pushing to get their new product on the shelf. Wow. And I thought *I* was paranoid. :-) What you've just described works fine in terms of ensuring that YOUR SMTP server is not used to send spam to other systems (until/unless a "trusted" user violates your trust). Doesn't do bugger all from preventing *OTHER* systems elsewhere on the internet, including these turnkey spam-delivery systems that spammers sell to other spammers, from using your SMTP server to deliver incoming spam to your users. Many of the proposals mentioned in the article, including Microsoft's idea, address this. Basically, if an incoming message claims to be from "someuser@hotmail.com", then under the new proposal, the receiving system could query DNS and ensure that the sending IP is listed as an authorized SMTP server for hotmail.com (not necessarily the same as the MX records). If not, call it spam and fire it into the trash. Such a system will pretty much kill direct-to-MX spam and sharply reduce other forms of it. -- Joey Lindstrom ------------------------------ 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 #599 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Aug 6 01:44:58 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h765ivg24016; Wed, 6 Aug 2003 01:44:58 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 01:44:58 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200308060544.h765ivg24016@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 #600 TELECOM Digest Wed, 6 Aug 2003 01:45:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 600 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter SBC Unveils Plan for Wi-Fi Internet Service (Monty Solomon) America Online Launches AOL Communicator (Monty Solomon) Cisco Systems Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2003 (Monty Solomon) EarthLink High Speed Internet Service Ranked Highest (Monty Solomon) Internet Users Give AT&T Worldnet(R) Service Highest (Monty Solomon) Microsoft Puts Drivers on the Map With Streets & Trip (Monty Solomon) Wayport and Verizon Wireless Wi-Fi Roaming Agreement (Monty Solomon) Verizon Wireless Selects Smith Micro to Build Wi-Fi (Monty Solomon) Verizon Wireless Extends Its High-Speed Internet (Monty Solomon) EchoStar IX Satellite Scheduled to Launch Aug. 7 (Monty Solomon) Millions Getting Rid of Landline Phones (Monty Solomon) Mobile Phone + Music + Messaging = Nokia 3300 Music Phone (M Solomon) Nokia 6800 Messaging Phone (Monty Solomon) RIM Loses Patent-Infringement Ruling (Monty Solomon) Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List (Paul Robinson) Qwest and Sprint, Two Giants of Customer Service Get Together (RH) 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: Monty Solomon Subject: SBC Unveils Plan For Wi-Fi Internet Service Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 01:05:00 EDT CHICAGO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC), the No. 2 U.S. local telephone company, on Wednesday unveiled a plan to offer a new Wi-Fi wireless Internet service to customers in 6,000 locations over the next three years. Wi-Fi is a high-speed Internet connection usually available within a few hundred feet of an access point known as a "hot spot." It differs from Internet connections on wireless networks, which are slower but have greater coverage. In a statement, San Antonio-based SBC said it plans to deploy more than 20,000 hot spots in hotels, airports, convention centers and other venues frequented by business customers in its 13-state territory by the end of 2006. SBC will augment its service, called FreedomLink, through a roaming agreement with Wi-Fi service provider Wayport Inc., an Austin, Texas-based company. Until now, SBC offered Wi-Fi services only to homes and businesses, not in public areas. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35155328 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 00:22:40 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: America Online Launches AOL Communicator DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 2003-- Advanced Communications Suite Brings Together Integrated E-Mail, Instant Messaging, Address Book, Radio@AOL for Broadband and Personalized News and Information Gives Advanced AOL(R) Mail Users Greater Flexibility and Control for Managing Their Online Communications America Online, Inc., the world's leading interactive services company, today announced the launch of AOL(R) Communicator, a stand-alone, advanced communications product for AOL(R) members that brings together enhanced e-mail, instant messaging and a full-featured Address Book into one integrated suite. AOL Communicator is available at no additional charge to AOL members who can use it seamlessly with the AOL(R) and AOL(R) for Broadband services to manage their online communications. AOL Communicator can consolidate e-mail from multiple AOL Screen Names and other POP and IMAP accounts into a single application. Ideal for AOL for Broadband members seeking an always-on communications package, AOL Communicator also integrates Radio@AOL for Broadband and My AOL Today, an all-new, interactive screen saver and news ticker, that delivers personalized news and information according to a member's selected interests. AOL Communicator complements the new AOL(R) 9.0 Optimized, which includes an extensive array of rich communications options, including an upgrade for AOL Mail, enhanced instant messaging services, as well as additional built-in safety and security protections, AOL's new TopSpeed(TM) Web accelerator technology that is designed to enhance Web surfing, and more. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35138649 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 00:25:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cisco Systems Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2003 Earnings SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 2003--Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO) -- Q4 Revenues: $4.7 Billion -- Q4 Operating Cash Flow: $1.55 Billion -- Q4 Earnings Per Share: $0.14 GAAP (40% increase year over year); $0.15 Pro Forma Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today reported its fourth quarter and fiscal year results for the periods ended July 26, 2003. Net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003 were $4.7 billion, compared with $4.8 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002, a decrease of 2.6 percent, and compared with $4.6 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2003. Net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003, on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, was $982 million or $0.14 per share, compared with $772 million or $0.10 per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002, and compared with $987 million or $0.14 per share for the third quarter of fiscal 2003. Pro forma net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003 was $1.1 billion or $0.15 per share, compared with pro forma net income of $1.0 billion or $0.14 per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002, and compared with $1.1 billion or $0.15 per share for the third quarter of fiscal 2003. A reconciliation between net income on a GAAP basis and pro forma net income is provided in a table immediately following the Pro Forma Consolidated Statements of Operations. Net sales for fiscal 2003 were $18.9 billion, compared with $18.9 billion for fiscal 2002. Net income for fiscal 2003, on a GAAP basis, was $3.6 billion or $0.50 per share, compared with $1.9 billion or $0.25 per share for fiscal 2002. Pro forma net income for fiscal 2003 was $4.3 billion or $0.59 per share, compared with pro forma net income of $2.9 billion or $0.39 per share for fiscal 2002. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003, Cisco(R) completed the acquisition of SignalWorks, Inc. for a purchase price of approximately $16 million and completed the acquisition of the business of The Linksys Group, Inc. for a purchase price of approximately $480 million. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35147095 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 00:27:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EarthLink High Speed Internet Service Ranked Highest EarthLink Garners Top Honors for Second Consecutive Year ATLANTA, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EarthLink (Nasdaq: ELNK), one of the nation's leading Internet service providers, today announced that its high-speed Internet service has been recognized by J.D. Power and Associates in its 2003 Internet Service Provider Residential Customer Satisfaction Study(SM) with the highest ranking in customer satisfaction for the second year in a row. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35139843 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 00:28:19 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Internet Users Give AT&T Worldnet(R) Service Highest Ranking Internet Users Give AT&T Worldnet(R) Service Highest Ranking in J.D. Power and Associates Study - Aug 5, 2003 10:04 AM (PR Newswire) AT&T ISP Recognition Follows Recent #1 Long Distance Ranking MORRISTOWN, N.J., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T Worldnet Service today announced that it has been ranked highest in customer satisfaction among dial-up Internet Service Providers (ISPs), according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2003 ISP Residential Customer Satisfaction Study(SM) released today. Consumers rated AT&T as the top ISP in customer satisfaction among a field of ten other competitors in the dial-up segment. AT&T was also ranked #1 in overall customer satisfaction among consumers who spend more than $30 per month on long distance calls in the J.D. Power and Associates Long Distance study issued last month. The J.D. Power and Associates ISP study asks consumers to evaluate Internet providers on seven factors: performance and reliability, image, offerings and promotions, billing, customer service, email services and cost of service. AT&T earned high marks across the board and ranked highest among all ISPs on performance and reliability, image, offerings and promotions, and billing. AT&T also performed well and scored above the industry average in customer service, email services and cost of service. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35139795 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 00:30:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft Puts Drivers on the Map With Streets & Trips 2004 A Comprehensive Mapping Software Solution That Now Offers Real-Time GPS Support, Ability to View One-Way Streets and Complete Planning Tools - All at a Great Value REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Paving the way with superior travel and mapping products, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) today launched Microsoft(R) Streets & Trips 2004. During the past four years, Streets & Trips has remained the No. 1 best-selling travel and mapping software(1) solution, delivering an inclusive array of maps, points of interest, routes, detailed driving directions and Pocket PC compatibility with real-time Global Positioning System (GPS) support in one value-priced software package. According to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), total domestic leisure travel is up 2.1 percent in 2003, over last year.(2) The TIA also reported that 81 percent of domestic leisure travel is made by car, truck or RV.(3) Many of these weekend "road warriors" will make last-minute plans, furthering their need for a complete, customizable and portable mapping software solution. Streets & Trips 2004 fulfills this need; it provides consumers with new tools such as drive-time zones, the ability to see one-way streets and real-time GPS support, making it ideal for everyday travel, weekend trips and cross-country vacations across the United States and Canada. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35139172 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 00:31:19 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Wayport and Verizon Wireless Announce Wi-Fi Roaming Agreement Verizon Wireless Customers to Roam Onto Wayport's Neutral Host High-Speed Network at Hotels, Airports and Retail Locations Nationwide AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Wayport, the leading provider of Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless and wired high-speed Internet access in more than 650 locations, including more than 565 hotels, 13 airports and 75 San Francisco-San Jose area McDonald's, today announced a roaming agreement with Verizon Wireless that will enable Verizon Wireless customers to access Wayport's nationwide neutral-host high-speed Wi-Fi wireless network. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35138929 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 00:32:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless Selects Smith Micro to Build Wi-Fi Software New Multi-Year Agreement Expands Existing Relationship Between Smith Micro and Verizon Wireless ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest wireless carrier and a leader in wireless data solutions has selected Smith Micro Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMSI), to develop a software connectivity solution that will give Verizon Wireless' mobile data customers the power to easily access Verizon Wireless' 1xRTT Express Network and its new Wi-Fi service. Under the terms of the agreement, Verizon Wireless plans to include Smith Micro's new combination client with all Express Network Mobile Office Kits and 1xRTT PC Cards sold by Verizon Wireless. The Wi-Fi client will also be made available for download by new Verizon Wireless Wi-Fi subscribers that have purchased a Wi-Fi device elsewhere. Verizon Wireless also plans to include Smith Micro's QuickLink Mobile(R) PhoneBook software with all Express Network Mobile Office Kits. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35138919 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 00:33:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless Extends Its High-Speed Internet Access Verizon Wireless Extends Its High-Speed Internet Access With Hundreds of Wi-Fi Hot Spots Verizon Wireless Wi-Fi Service Gives Enterprise Customers Network Monitoring and Technical Support and Flexible Pricing Options BEDMINSTER, N.J., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless service provider and operator of the nation's best wireless network, announced customers now have wireless access to broadband-like speeds to respond to e-mail, compile a presentation and much more in hundreds of hot spot locations throughout the nation. Verizon Wireless' Wi-Fi service offers customers an option that complements its Express Network(R) and adds wireless data service coverage and speeds in high traffic, travel-related venues such as hotels and airports. Verizon Wireless Wi-Fi allows all customers the ability to wirelessly open large applications, and download large images and graphics in seconds, with peak speeds of 1.544 Mbps*. In keeping with Verizon Wireless' relentless dedication to network and service quality, customers will also benefit from network monitoring, authentication and technical support. Verizon Wireless' flexible pricing options are designed to meet consumers' and business customers' needs and are among the most competitive in the industry. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35138801 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 00:57:21 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EchoStar IX Satellite Scheduled to Launch Aug. 7 EchoStar IX Satellite Scheduled to Launch Aug. 7; New Satellite to Provide First Ever Ka-Band Commercial Service LITTLETON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 4, 2003--EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) announced today that its EchoStar IX satellite is scheduled to launch on Thursday, Aug. 7, at 11:31 p.m. ET. The satellite will launch from a floating platform at the equator aboard a Sea Launch rocket. The EchoStar IX satellite is equipped with the first commercial Ka-band spot-beam payload for use over the United States. EchoStar's Ka-band portion of the satellite will be used to deliver future broadband initiatives for the company. The satellite payload also includes Ku-band fixed satellite services (FSS) transponders that will enhance EchoStar's current U.S. DISH Network satellite TV service. The satellite will operate at the 121 degree West Longitude orbital location. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35128032 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 00:58:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Millions Getting Rid of Landline Phones By REBECCA CARROLL Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The curly-corded phone by Brandon Fogel's bed was starting to seem like a relic. A graduate student living in Chicago, Fogel used his cell phone for most calls. And when he replaced his dial-up Internet connection with a cable line, he realized his regular phone wasn't central to his life. So Fogel joined as many as 7.5 million Americans who have "cut the cord" and gone solo with their cells. Students, recent graduates and young professionals are leading the way. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35127822 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 01:04:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Mobile Phone + Music + Messaging = Nokia 3300 Music Phone Mobile Phone + Music + Messaging = Nokia 3300 Music Phone for Back to School; Nokia Redefines the Way You Listen to Music - Aug 4, 2003 07:01 AM (PR Newswire) IRVING, Texas, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Just in time for the busy back to school season, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) is marrying music and messaging into the Nokia 3300 music phone for young music lovers across North and South America. The Nokia 3300 music phone includes an MP3/AAC player, FM stereo radio and a full messaging keypad to make messaging and music mobile in one fashionable and small device. It is currently on sale at www.nokia.com/us and at Cingular stores in the United States. More carriers across North and South America are expected to offer the Nokia 3300 music phone in the coming weeks. The 3300 music phone is the first of its kind in the Americas and marks a completely new way for music fans to legally consume music content. The digital music player offers extensive music listening with swappable multi- media memory (MMC) cards with battery life allowing for up to 15 hours of music play, while the FM stereo radio with 20 presets can play up to 10 hours of music. Transferring music from CDs or digital files is easy with Nokia's Audio Manager PC software and the USB cable (included with purchase). An in-box 64MBMMC card will include True Tones -- an exciting new way of personalizing the combined mobile phone and music device with real music samples as ring tones to alert users of an incoming call. When a call comes in, the Nokia 3300 music phone automatically pauses the music while you take the call. And when the call is complete, you can go right back to jamming to the tunes without missing a beat. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35120944 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 01:05:41 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nokia 6800 Messaging Phone AT&T Wireless & Nokia Announce Immediate Availability of the Nokia 6800 Messaging Phone Nokia 6800 Messaging Phone and AT&T Wireless' GSM/GPRS Network Bring Next Generation Mobile Data Services to Consumers REDMOND, Wash. and IRVING, Texas, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) and Nokia (NYSE:NOK) today announced the immediate availability of the Nokia 6800 messaging phone, which can be purchased through the AT&T Wireless web site (www.attws.com) or at participating retail locations. Taking advantage of AT&T Wireless' advanced GSM/GPRS network and mMode data plans, the Nokia 6800 messaging phone allows users to enjoy next generation services such as mobile email, instant messaging, the sharing of digital images and sound via Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS), and over- the-air application downloads. The phone, optimized for messaging, features flip access to a full QWERTY keyboard for quick and convenient text input. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35120942 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 01:13:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RIM Loses Patent-Infringement Ruling By Richard Shim Staff Writer, CNET News.com A judge has ruled in favor of holding company NTP in its patent- infringement case against BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, awarding monetary damages and fees. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Richmond, Va., ruled late Tuesday in the case brought against Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM. It awarded NTP $53.7 million. The court also granted an injunction preventing RIM from making, using, or offering to sell handhelds, services or software in the United States. The injunction will remain in effect until the date of expiration of NTP's patents, the latest of which is May 20, 2012. The court then stayed that injunction, pending an appeal by the Canadian company. The two sides have been engaged in a legal dispute since late 2001, when NTP claimed that RIM infringed on its patents covering the use of radio frequency wireless communications in e-mail systems. RIM's BlackBerry service, software and devices allow individuals to wirelessly send and receive information, such as e-mail and company data, on handheld devices. http://news.com.com/2100-1041-5060296.html ------------------------------ From: Paul Robinson Organization: Elusive-Butterfly.net Subject: Re: Glitches Hit FTC 'Do-not-Call' List Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 03:56:42 GMT 'nuther Bob wrote: > Despite over 700 previous claims, McDonalds continued to sell > dangerously hot coffee. Again, companies have to be held > responsible for their actions, just as individuals must. > [Lisa Minter note: How is coffee supposed to be served, if not really > hot? That's how I like to drink mine. Lisa M.] Normally hot coffee for immediate consumption is supposed to be around 155 degrees, +- 5 degrees. Surveys of McDonalds outlets in the Albuquerque area, despite knowing almost everyone who buys coffee buys it for immediate consumption, were serving it at 170 degrees and hotter, a temperature that can cause immediate 3rd degree burns ('immediate' being 2 seconds or less). At 155 degrees, the coffee will not be so hot as to be so dangerous. They kept on doing nothing except serving coffee way too hot and paying off the occasional complainer who got scalded. After they lost their case, a survey was made, and all of a sudden the temperature of coffee at their restaurants in the Albuquerque area was about 158 degrees. Paul Robinson "Above all else... We shall go on..." "...And continue!" "If the lessons of history teach us anything it is that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us." ------------------------------ From: RH Subject: Qwest and Sprint, Two Giants of Customer Service Get Together Organization: Comcast Online Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 04:20:30 GMT Qwest strikes deal with Sprint; Wireless customers will move onto Sprint's network By Catherine Tsai, Associated Press DENVER - Debt-laden Qwest Communications International Inc. struck a deal Monday to move wireless phone customers onto Sprint's national network, allowing it to sell off its own wireless assets. "This is a win for us," Qwest chief executive Richard Notebaert said. "We don't have to spend as much capital, and we have a national footprint, and we can sell our spectrum and the assets we have. They get 1 million customers pretty quickly, plus strong distribution from us." Notebaert declined to name potential buyers for Qwest's wireless assets or say what they might be worth. Under the deal with Sprint, Denver-based Qwest will offer Sprint PCS Vision under its own brand by next year to local residential customers and to business customers nationwide. Qwest will handle sales, billing and customer service. The terms of the multiyear deal were not disclosed, but Qwest said it would purchase minutes from Sprint. Pricing plans have not been decided. Qwest serves 1 million wireless customers, but its network is limited to its 14-state region. The companies said they expect most of Qwest's wireless customers to move onto Sprint's network by next year. Len Lauer, president of the PCS division of Sprint, which is based in Overland Park, Kan., said the agreement gives his company an "outstanding" new sales channel and puts more traffic on its network. "For the capital we invest on our network, it gives us a better return," he said. Sprint had 19 million wireless customers and 2.1 million PCS Vision customers as of June 30. Qwest has been trying to rebuild following federal investigations into its accounting practices, financial restatements that lowered revenue, changes in leadership and challenges to the phone industry from wireless and cable competitors. The PCS deal means Qwest can offer wireless service but won't have to keep investing in a network to keep up with competitors like Sprint or Verizon, Kaufman Bros. analyst Vik Grover said. "That's really beneficial given where they're at," added SoundView Technology Corp. analyst Michael Bowen. "They need to focus on their wireline business right now." ------------------------------ 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'. 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