From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Oct 15 16:08:01 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9FK81704813; Wed, 15 Oct 2003 16:08:01 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 16:08:01 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310152008.h9FK81704813@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 #701 TELECOM Digest Wed, 15 Oct 2003 16:08:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 701 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Hughes Announces Third Quarter Growth of 17% in Revenues (Monty Solomon) Intel Announces Third-Quarter Revenue of $7.8 Billion (Monty Solomon) Victims of Cyberstalking (Monty Solomon) Studying Special Collections and the Web: An Analysis (Monty Solomon) Passive Radar Ready for Prime Time (Marcus Didius Falco) Latest Info on Future Area Codes in the US/Canada (Mark J Cuccia) Re: USF Recovery Fee (Herb Stein) Re: Canadians Rise-up With Petition For Nextgen Phone (Group Special) Re: ITU, World Radio Broadcasters Join Anti-BPL Chorus (Paul Robinson) Changing Contention Window (nand_in_i@yahoo.com) obTelecom? (Joey Lindstrom) Sad News: Snarl Grove on the 87 Billion (Tom Allen) Re: Last Laugh! Monkeys are Such Cute Creatures (Herb Stein) 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, 14 Oct 2003 18:55:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hughes Announces Third Quarter Growth of 17% in Revenues HUGHES Announces Third Quarter Growth of 17% in Revenues and 33% in Operating Profit Before D&A; Operating Profit Quadruples - Oct 14, 2003 10:30 AM (PR Newswire) DIRECTV U.S. Adds 326,000 Owned and Operated Subscribers in the Quarter, a 58% Increase Over Last Year EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hughes Electronics Corporation ("HUGHES"), a world-leading provider of digital television entertainment, broadband satellite networks and services, and global video and data broadcasting, today reported that third quarter 2003 revenues increased 17% to $2.57 billion compared with $2.19 billion in the third quarter of 2002. Operating profit before depreciation and amortization(1) for the quarter increased 33% to $359 million compared with $270 million in the same period last year. Operating profit increased to $77 million compared with operating profit of $16 million in the third quarter of 2002. In addition, HUGHES reported a third quarter 2003 net loss of $23 million compared to a net loss of $14 million in the same period of 2002. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36066441 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 19:01:21 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Intel Announces Third-Quarter Revenue of $7.8 Billion Intel Announces Third-Quarter Revenue of $7.8 Billion SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 14, 2003--Intel Corporation today announced third-quarter revenue of $7.8 billion, up 15 percent sequentially and up 20 percent year-over-year. Third-quarter net income was $1.7 billion, up 85 percent sequentially and up 142 percent year-over-year. Earnings per share were $0.25, up 79 percent sequentially and up 150 percent from $0.10 in the third quarter of 2002. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?symbols=NASDAQ:INTC&story=36074167 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 19:17:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Victims of Cyberstalking Victims of cyberstalking: An exploratory study of harassment perpetrated via the Internet by Paul Bocij Abstract This paper describes the first study to focus exclusively on the prevalence and impact of cyberstalking. A Web-based questionnaire was used to collect data from a group of respondents who were recruited by snowball sampling via e-mail. A total of 169 respondents completed the questionnaire. The results of the study found that approximately a third of respondents might be considered victims of cyberstalking. Furthermore, when asked to indicate the level of distress felt as a result of their experiences, almost a quarter of respondents chose a value of ten on a ten-point scale. The study also suggests a number of differences between cyberstalking and offline stalking, for instance cyberstalking tends to take place over a shorter period of time than offline stalking and cyberstalking victims are less likely to know the identify of their harassers. These differences add weight to the argument that cyberstalking should be seen as a new form of deviant behaviour that can be distinguished from offline stalking. The work concludes by emphasising a need for further research. http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_10/bocij/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 19:20:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Studying Special Collections and the Web: An Analysis of Practice by Lorraine Normore Abstract Many digital library collections are the virtual analogs of special collections in libraries, museums, historical societies and archives today. A field study of people responsible for collection maintenance across a variety of institutions was carried out. It aimed at improving our understanding of issues involved in collection description and access. A second study examined the current state of Web access to materials from the previously studied special collections. Data concerning the availability of online finding aids, externally accessible databases for collection content, digitized images and Web exhibits are presented. http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_10/normore/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 23:17:29 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Passive Radar Ready for Prime Time This is the technology that reportedly makes it possible to track "stealth" aircraft relatively easily. It has implications for a lot of hot spots, including the middle east, former Yugoslavia, and a lot of other places. It was discussed extensively on TELECOM Digest a few years ago. * Original: FROM..... Dave Farber Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 15:08:11 -0400 From: Alex Salkever Subject: Passive Radar Ready for Prime Time Hi, Dave: My colleague Otis Port has put together an excellent overview of the current status of passive radar.It's eye-oepning and alot further along than many may think. Here's the URL and an extended excerpt. Cheers. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_42/b3854113.htm Super-Radar, Done Dirt Cheap A radar system that uses ubiquitous cell-phone signals is on its way Any technology can be a two-edged sword. Cell phones are a good example. They're clearly a great convenience, even a life-saving tool during natural disasters and medical emergencies. And they should save many more lives under the Federal Communications Commission's enhanced 911 mandate, which requires that cell phones relay their precise locations to 911 operators. Yet some people are appalled that their cell phone will always give away where they are. That makes it possible to compile a "road map" of a user's movements. So imagine the outcry when privacy worriers learn that cell-phone systems can be used to locate and track a car, boat, or plane -- even if no one inside is carrying a wireless phone. But outcry or not, the technology seems certain to be deployed, given its myriad civilian and military applications. The technology is called Celldar, from "cellular" plus "radar." Under development since 1997 at Roke Manor Research Ltd. in Romsey, England, it differs from conventional radar in several key respects. When radar tracks planes for air traffic controllers -- or maps the surface of Venus from a space probe -- the same set of equipment both sends out radio signals and picks up the returning echoes. So computers can easily calculate an object's distance and relative size based on how long it takes the returning signals to bounce back and how strong they are. In contrast, Celldar takes a so-called passive approach: It watches and interprets how signals from cell-phone base stations interact with objects such as cars, trucks or planes. The hardware required for this is much simpler than existing radar systems. A Celldar prototype built in 1999 consisted of a PC and the insides of two cell phones, and cost just $3,000, says Peter Lloyd, head of Roke Manor's Celldar program. The flip side is, the signal-processing software is complex: It must allow for the varying travel times for signals between two or more cellular base stations and a Celldar receiver, as well as the times from the different base stations to the target. Lloyd says Roke's clever program is based on "$10 million worth of expertise in writing software" for cellular systems and military radars. One big plus to the military: passive radar systems are invisible to anti-radar weapons because they don't have their own transmitters. Celldar's implications are exciting -- but also troubling to some. Even though the technology can't be used to identify cell-phone users, since it "sees" only radio waves echoing off hard surfaces, it and similar approaches are evolving quickly. In addition to Celldar, which is sopping up $1.5 million a year for development, a dozen other passive-radar projects are under way in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. As the technology bears fruit, it should give the world's police and homeland security agencies new tools for monitoring shipments of illegal weapons and drug smuggling operations. Highway officials could gain a detailed window on traffic flows, helping them to minimize congestion. But because passive-radar systems could be cheap enough for hobbyists to buy -- or cobble together themselves -- the technology could also become the next fad among people who own police-radio scanners or who enjoy snooping on their neighbors' comings and goings. This month marks something of a passive-radar milestone. In late October, Roke will show off the latest Celldar system to officials of Britain's Defense Ministry at an army exercise on the Salisbury Plain. During the field maneuvers, Celldar will detect the movement of ground vehicles and determine whether cell-phone signals are bouncing off a tank, truck, or armored personnel carrier. Also in late October, radar researchers from around the world will gather in Seattle to discuss recent advances, including passive systems that use FM radio or TV broadcasts instead of cell-phone signals. The invitation-only meeting will be hosted by John D. Sahr, a University of Washington electrical engineer. Since 1997 he has operated a passive-radar system unshrouded by military secrecy. It harnesses an FM station's signals to study particles in the ionosphere -- the top layer of the atmosphere, over 300 miles up. Sahr decided to go with passive radar, he says, "because it's incredibly cheap" -- $20,000 vs. $25 million for a comparable active system. "You could probably do an amateur system for under $5,000," Sahr adds. A system for small airports might cost as little as $15,000. That's important because of the 5,280 public airports in the U.S., only about 300 currently have radar. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 18:58:06 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Latest Info on Future Area Codes in the US/Canada Earlier this year, in Feb. 2003, the Canadian portion of the NANP Telco industry decided that the 438 overlay to 514 for Montreal PQ metro would be postponed from Feb. 2004 until Oct.2005, along with the associated 'mandatory' dates in preparation being adjusted proportionately as well. The "ten-digit reminder" period for those customers who would still place intra-514 calls as only seven-digits (ten-digit local intra-514 dialing is already permissive within Montreal PQ) was adjusted to 4-June-2005, and mandatory ten-digit intra-514 dialing (customers dialing only seven-digits would get an announcement but the call would *NOT* complete) would begin to be phased in on 24-Sept-2005, phased in over a week throughout the Montreal/514 metro area, thus making the overlay with new geographic/POTS non-test 438-NXX c.o.codes being effective on 01-Oct-2005. All of the above was decided upon by the Canadian portion of the NANP telco industry in Feb.2003, and released to their websites, etc, at that time as well. But Neustar-NANPA only puts up a (revised) Planning Letter (#333) today, Tuesday 14-October-2003, altho' that Planning Letter is dated 10-October-2003 (Friday): http://www.nanpa.com/pdf/PL_333v1.pdf CO-INCIDENTALLY / IRONICALLY, in the MEANTIME, only just these past few days of October ... Bell Canada has filed a request for discussion at the next 514 Relief Planning Meeting, to postpone YET AGAIN the 438 overlay to 514, Montreal. This is *NOT* "official" (yet), but I think that it *WILL* be, as the latest NRUF projected "exhaust" of 514 has been pushed out further ... Since 514's overlay with 438 has been postponed a few times ALREADY, and also recently, the overlay of 519 with 226 (southern ON) has been postponed from its previously announced effective date ... it has already been speculated that 514 would be postponed YET AGAIN ... Bell Canada's proposed recommendation is now for the following dates: Reminder period (play a recorded announcement if customer dials only seven-digits, indicating that the customer should get in the habit of dialing all ten-digits for such calls, and then the call *WILL* be completed) to be phased in from 4-Nov-2006 thru 11-Nov-2006. (Ten-digit dialing *IS* already possible for intra-514 local Montreal calls). MANDATORY ten-digit local intra-514 dialing will be phased in over a week beginning 24-Feb-2007. Mandatory ten-digit intra-514 local dialing would supposedly be in place in every central office throughout 514/Montreal by 3-March-2007. (any seven-digit dialed call would NOT complete, although for a period of time, there could be a MANDATORY-reminder message indicating that now one MUST place such such calls with all ten-digits -- that the call could NOT be completed, the customer MUST HANG UP FIRST and then re-dial with all ten-digits, instead of a "cold" vacant code or partial dial recording). And new 438-NXX (POTS/geographic non-test) c.o.codes (which the CNA-C had already begun "pre-assigning" to qualifying requesting LECs/CLECs) could begin to take effect beginning 3-March-2007, since intra-514 ten-digit local dialing would (hopefully) be MANDATORY as all ten-digits in every Montreal based c.o.switch. Since I *do* think that this delay ***WILL*** be approved ... it would mean that the future new NPA activation line-up will then be: 02-OCT-2004 -- American Samoa becoming part of the NANP, its ITU country code +684 numerics become its +1 NANP *AREA* (NPA) code: +684 begins to change over to +1-684 (mandatory 02-APR-2005) 30-MAR-2005 -- Utah's 801/385 split (mandatory 30-SEP-2005) (I also think THIS one AS WELL might be delayed YET AGAIN EVEN FURTHER into the future, as it's been delayed quite a few times already since 2000) 21-OCT-2006 -- Ontario's 519/226 Overlay (reminder period would be phased in during the third week of May 2006; mandatory messages phased in over a week starting 14-OCT-2006) 03-MAR-2007 -- Quebec's 514/438 Overlay (Montral PQ) (reminder period would be phased in from 04-NOV-2006 thru 11-NOV-2006; mandatory messages phased in over a week starting 24-FEB-2007) And then, there's still the two splits southern CA, 310/424 and 909/951, both being RE-Re-re-reviewed. I do NOT have any "firm/official" dates for these two area codes, although one of the two Administrative Law Judges involved with the Ca.PUC in these NPA relief plans gave the opinion that 951 needed to split from 909 sometime in 2004, with "recommended" dates of 17-JUL-2004 (permissive), 30-OCT-2004 (mandatory). I haven't yet seen any "recommended" dates for the 310/424 split. And finally, there's a BATCH of announced new area codes, which are all postponed "indefinatly", with no firm/announced/official date, throughout the US. More info on these can be found at Neustar-NANPA's website, at the page "PLANNED NPAS NOT YET IN SERVICE", http://docs.nanpa.com/cgi-bin/npa_reports/nanpa?function=list_npa_not_in_service The dates for 519/226 ON and 514/438 PQ still may need to be updated on this page. Actually, NANPA has removed much of the old detail regarding these codes, as they are all in a state of "indefinate postponement", but older information may be found from the associated NANPA Planning Letters referenced for each of these postponed future area codes at this page. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA USA ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: USF Recovery Fee Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 20:11:03 -0500 Sid Zafran wrote in message news:telecom22.700.9@telecom-digest.org: > I have been disputing the USF recovery fee on my invoices from > Earthlink DSL. After having discussed and written to Earthlink about > this matter, the following summary facts apply to my billing: > Earthlink is billing me on behalf of SBC who provides my local > telephone service; > I am already paying SBC a USF recovery fee for the low > frequency telephone signal on my local line; > Earthlink is collecting a USF recovery fee surcharge for the > high frequency DSL signal on my local line; > All of SBC's customers using Earthlink DSL services in Los > Angeles County, California, are being billed $0.66 monthly for USF > recovery. > I was informed verbally by SBC that no additional taxes would appear > on my telephone bill if I used their DSL services. My billing would > stay the same regarding taxes and surcharges. I am presently paying > SBC a monthly USF recovery fee of $0.45. > I believe that that SBC is shifting more than an equitable share of > their USF recovery fee to Earthlink customers such as myself. This may > be a violation of FCC requirements. It also gives SBC an unfair > competitive advantage in providing DSL services. > Note: FCC summary requirements may be seen on the following Web page: > http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/customerfacts/usfincrease.html That's "consumerfacts" Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: Group Special Mobile Subject: Re: Canadians Rise-up With Petition For Nextgen Phone/PDA Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 12:50:59 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: look@signature_for_reply_instructions On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 19:18:14 GMT, Gawain wrote: > US Cellular is > still peddling the 5165 in it's TDMA networks. They have essentially > one model. That's US Cellular's choice. There are literally at least a dozen TDMA models available from Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson that will work on TDMA networks. Whether US Cellular chooses to market them is their decision. Unlike GSM you are limited to what your network chooses to use on their networks. You are only permitted to use phones that are either sold by a network or have been used on a network. This is definitely true of CDMA networks in the US and Canada as well. To send an email reply send to GSMthemobilestandard (@) yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Richie Kennedy Subject: Re: Verizon Charges for Everything Lately Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 22:43:28 -0000 Organization: route56.com jbl wrote in news:telecom22.683.10@telecom-digest.org: > In , Steven J Sobol > wrote: >> They _were_ different companies. Hell, how many mergers did New York >> Telephone have to go through before they ended up even being part of >> Bell Atlantic? Two or three, at least? > NYTel--\ > >--Nynex--\ > NETel--/ \ > >--BellAtlantic---\ > / (still) \ > BellAtlantic*-----/ >--Verizon > / > GTE-----------------------------------/ > /JBL Has anyone forgotten their history of the Bell System. The New York Telephone Company (NYTel) and New England Telephone & Telegraph Company (NETel) were both components of the "Bell System" NYNEX (and, for that matter, Bell Atlantic) were born out of the Bell System divesture of 1/1/1984. AFAIK, they did not acquire any other company prior to the NYNEX/BA merger. Richie Kennedy route56@route56.com www.route56.com "Under an old brass paperweight is my list of things to do today." ------------------------------ From: Paul Robinson Organization: elusive-butterfly.net Subject: Re: ITU, World Radio Broadcasters Join Anti-BPL Chorus Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 23:28:24 GMT Nick Ruark wrote: > Broadcasters themselves also have exhibited increased concern about > the potential of PLT/BPL to prevent their signals from reaching > listeners. The Research and Development branch of the highly regarded > British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has released a White Paper > reporting on a brief trial in Scotland > (http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp067.html). The two competing > PLT/BPL systems in operation in the town of Crieff both interfered > with HF reception. Tests were conducted at four locations. I view with a jaundiced eye any claims by broadcasters about interference. They have often used rigged tests to claim that their signals were subject to interference from even the tiniest of electronic signals. To them it seems like anything that threatens their de-facto monopoly over communications is a danger no matter what. The nauseating spectacle that has occurred with respect to the attempts to implement low power broadcasting in the U.S. to allow alternative voices -- and the subsequent effective blocking of that alternative through various methods -- makes me skeptical of any claims by the broadcast industry of possible interference with their signals. Consider that cable TV is an option and expensive while electricity is virtually a necessity and is much more accessible. If broadcast signals can be sent across electric wire, this is a much more serious threat to broadcasters than anything pre-existing. Now, I am not saying that the claims are not correct, it may well be that carrying signals over electrical wire causes interference to broadcast signals so much that it is not viable. But considering the biases of broadcasters and their lobbying groups in the past, and their attempts to mislead through inaccuracy and downright lying, I am not necessarily convinced of the veracity of their statements. 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: nand_in_i@yahoo.com Subject: Changing Contention Window Date: 15 Oct 2003 06:08:42 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Is it possible to change the contention window of wireless cards (Orinoco,Cisco or any other card) in Linux. I am trying to set CWmin CWmax in Linux. Is it possible to read their values from card . Please help. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 13:18:19 -0600 Subject: obTelecom? Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 13:16:06 EDT, Tom Allen (if that's your real name) wrote: > From: tomallen7629@hotmail.com (Tom Allen) > Subject: Last Laugh! Snarl Grove on the 87 Billion > Date: 14 Oct 2003 04:31:50 -0700 > Organization: http://groups.google.com > http://www.dontvoteforgeorge.com/snarlgrove.html Can we try to make our postings at least tangentially on the topic of telecom? Postings like this aren't even remotely on-topic, and serve only to piss off those who actually support the Bush administration -- which, the last time I checked, was a MAJORITY of Americans. Last time I checked, we were here to talk about telecom-related topics. There are lots of fora where these postings are appropriate. I don't understand why you think this is one of them. Then again, given the intellectual level of the drivel on display on the page in question, it all starts to come into focus. Anyone who thinks that this garbage is correct on any level is quite definitely as electro-encephalographically challenged as the author of the piece, and that would explain the judgment call that was made in posting it here. There. Now we're even. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As usual, Joey is quite correct about the need to make all messages here relate to telecom, which was neglected in the original posting yesterday. So we will run it again today, and do it correctly this time. Thanks for the reminder, Joey! PAT] ------------------------------ From: tomallen7629@hotmail.com (Tom Allen) Subject: Sad News: Snarl Grove on the 87 Billion Date: 14 Oct 2003 04:31:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com http://www.dontvoteforgeorge.com/snarlgrove.html [PAT's Ob-Telecom note: 87 Billion dollars would go a long way toward paying for poor people using library internet terminals to print out the cases they are interested in. 87 Billion dollars would also go a long way toward paying my internet VOIP phone bill and everyone's phone bill. 87 Billion dollars to a relatively small handful of USA-based vendors to reconstruct the Iraqi telephone exchange among other things that got ruined in the war that Dubya sold us a bill of goods on. 87 Billion dollars for a war which lasted a few months and ended back in May, 2003 as Dubya informed us and since a MAJORITY of Americans agreed with him (just as a MAJORITY of Germans first agreed with everything NY Times columnist Adolph Hitler had to say about Germany back in the late 1920's) therefore it has to be correct. Don't worry about those flag draped coffins continuing to be sent back to the USA every day. Dubya's not worried about it; why should you be? Just like fifty million flies and what they choose to eat for lunch each day; fifty million flies couldn't be wrong, Joey, so enjoy a meal with them, okay? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Monkeys are Such Cute Creatures Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 17:06:16 -0500 Michael Chance wrote in message news:telecom22.700.14@telecom-digest.org: > In article , tomallen7629 > @hotmail.com says: >> Anyone been to a site called called www.dontvoteforgeorge.com ? >> There's a few comparison pics of the president and chimps; they're >> dead on target. > So this group's position is that you shouldn't vote for anyone who > looks remotely like a funny looking animal? Well, that rules out > pretty much all of the Democrat candidates. > [Lisa Minter note: I thought the group's position was that you should > vote for Garry the chimp to give the little guy a chance to show he > could do better than the current resident president now in power. > Lisa M.] Lisa- That's likely to be a less that popular opinion with conservative folk. Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 [Lisa Minter note: Well Herb, a MAJORITY of flies alight on and enjoy a nice nutritious meal each day graciously left for them by the canines and cows where I used to live on a farm outside of Caney, KS. When I made my earlier comment, I guess I had not taken into account what a MAJORITY of Germ -- ah, err, Americans -- believed. Probably not a MAJORITY of the American military guys believe either. 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 #701 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Oct 16 23:02:58 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9H32vY12493; Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:02:58 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:02:58 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310170302.h9H32vY12493@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 #702 TELECOM Digest Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:03:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 702 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter Ed Ellers Passed Away (Henry E Schaffer) Ed Ellers, R.I.P. (Mark J Cuccia) Obituary Notice: Ed Ellers (Mark J Cuccia) Cablevision Unveils Satellite TV Service (Monty Solomon) Comcast Launches HBO/Cinemax on Demand (Monty Solomon) EchoStar Bids $1.03 Bln For Loral's U.S. Satellites (Monty Solomon) Nokia Third-Quarter Results (Monty Solomon) Bluetooth, Wi-Fi in One Pocket PC (Monty Solomon) Re: Defense Department Orders Suppliers to Implement RFID (Jay Ashworth) Re: Cheap IVR (Paul Crick) BA/NYNEX Plus GTE/Contel Equals VeriZon (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Reminder Ring on Call Forwarding (Valerie in FL) Re: PLOC Freezes (Jay R. Ashworth) Need Help Finding Cheap PC Phone (tablejar@yahoo.com) Re: Smile, You're on Candid Cellphone Camera (Gail M. Hall) When a MAJORITY is Useful (Name Withheld at Reader's Request) 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: hes@hes01.unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E Schaffer) Subject: Ed Ellers Passed Away Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 19:57:46 UTC Organization: North Carolina State University Ed Ellers, who was a contributor to this group, passed away on Oct. 5, 2003. His uncle, Ken Forcht, is going through his computer notifying Ed's correspondents -- and so wrote to me. He asked that I notify others, and I am doing so via this post. henry schaffer hes@ncsu.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you for passing along this very sad news. You were not the only person to write me on this, Mark Cuccia did also. Ed very frequently had good things to say here in the Digest, and he will be missed. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 13:50:45 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Ed Ellers, R.I.P. I just received the following email on Thu 16-Oct-2003 even though it references 5-Oct-2003 ... forwarded below. Ed Ellers was a regular participant to several e-lists that many of us are on, including TELECOM Digest. mjc ----- Forwarded message ----- Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 14:42:11 -0400 From: Ed Ellers To: Mark J Cuccia This letter is written by Ken Forcht (Ed's uncle). I'm sorry to tell you that Ed has passed away about 3 PM today Oct. 05, 2003. I'm going thru his computer to send E-mails to whoever I can find that he knew &/or corresponded. If you know of anyone who should know of his death please feel free to email me (or them). I will check it in a couple of days. Ken Forcht ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 15:39:59 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Obituary Notice: Ed Ellers Re, my earlier post about the passing of Ed Ellers, a frequent participant in TELECOM Digest, I that knew he lived in the Louisville KY area. So, I checked the website of the Louisville KY newspaper, the Courier-Journal.com and its Obits section, which pointed to the obituaries "clearinghouse" Legacy.com and found the following: http://www.legacy.com/Louisville/LegacySubPage2.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=1462729 Edward R. "Ed" Ellers, 42, of Louisville, died Sunday, October 5, 2003, at Norton Hospital. He was a writer, editor and technical advisor for the City of Prospect. A native of Louisville, he was preceded in death by his father, William R. Ellers, and grandparents, Rev. G.W. and Mildred Ellers and Charles and Mary Forcht. He is survived by his mother, Dorothy Beaulieu, and many aunts, uncles, cousins and special friends. Ed's body was donated to the University of Louisville School of Medicine for research, as he wished. Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial service to be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 11, 2003, in the Reading Room at Prospect City Hall. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Edward R. Ellers Memorial Fund at any Republic Bank branch, for the benefit of the Brown Cancer Center and Prospect City Library. Published in The Courier-Journal from 10/9/2003 - 10/10/2003. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you very much for letting the telecom newsgroup readers know of this news. Ed Ellers was a very good, and generous contributor financially to TELECOM Digest. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 00:51:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cablevision Unveils Satellite TV Service By Michael Learmonth and Kenneth Li NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Cable operator Cablevision Systems Corp.(NYSE:CVC) launched a nationwide high-definition satellite television service on Wednesday with a package of 21 commercial-free channels including a horror movie channel, a fashion channel, and music channel. The new service called VOOM puts the New York-based cable operator in direct competition with established satellite television companies, EchoStar Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) and Hughes Electronics Corp. (NYSE:GMH), which operates DirecTV. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36097562 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 22:34:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Launches HBO On Demand and Cinemax on Demand Comcast Launches HBO On Demand and Cinemax on Demand to Millions of Customers Nationwide Actors from HBO Hit Series' `Sex and the City,' `The Sopranos' and `Six Feet Under' Join Comcast for Star-Studded Launch Event PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- HBO stars Cynthia Nixon of "Sex and the City;" Lorraine Bracco, Dominic Chianese and Steven Schirripa of "The Sopranos;" and Michael C. Hall of "Six Feet Under" joined Comcast Cable in Philadelphia last night to officially launch HBO on Demand and Cinemax on Demand on Comcast's ON DEMAND service. The launch makes the two products available to millions of Comcast customers in New England, Baltimore, Washington, DC and Detroit, as well as 1.9 million in the Philadelphia region. As Comcast continues to roll out its ON DEMAND service in additional markets, HBO on Demand and Cinemax on Demand will also be made available. With HBO on Demand, Comcast Digital Cable customers who subscribe to HBO will have access to HBO original programming hits including "Sex and the City," "The Sopranos," "Six Feet Under," "K Street," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Carnivale," as well as top movies, specials and children's programming, anytime they want, without leaving their living rooms. Cinemax on Demand has something for everyone's movie tastes, allowing subscribers to draw upon the biggest premium television theatrical library at their convenience. Shows can be instantly paused, rewound and fast-forwarded via the customer's Digital Cable remote control, and new content is added on a weekly basis, so there is always something new to watch. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36107325 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 00:55:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EchoStar Bids $1.03 Bln For Loral's U.S. Satellites NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - EchoStar Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), the No. 2 U.S. satellite TV provider, said on Wednesday it bid $1.029 billion for the U.S. satellites of bankrupt Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (BB:LRLSQ), topping a bid by Intelstat. The offer, which experts believe will force an auction of Loral's North American satellites, comes after Loral rejected EchoStar's $1.85 billion bid for the entire company last week. Loral agreed to sell its North American satellite fleet to Intelsat in July for about $1 billion but must put these assets up for auction as part of bankruptcy court procedures. Intelsat had been the only party to bid specifically for the fleet. The new bid has the same terms and conditions as Intelstat's offer, EchoStar spokesman Steve Caulk said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36101025 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 08:18:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nokia Third-Quarter Results Strong Volume Growth and Excellent Profitability in Mobile Phones - Nokia Meets Third-Quarter Sales and EPS Targets - Oct 16, 2003 06:24 AM (BusinessWire) HELSINKI, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2003-- Highlights: 3Q 2003 (all comparisons are year on year) -- Net sales declined 5% to EUR 6.9 billion (up 4% at constant currency). -- Nokia Mobile Phones sales were flat at EUR 5.6 billion (up 9% at constant currency). -- Nokia Networks sales declined 21% to EUR 1.2 billion. -- Nokia gains market share with 23% volume growth; industry mobile phone volume growth accelerates to 15%. -- Nokia third-quarter mobile phone market share grows to 39%. -- Company doubles share of global CDMA handset market. -- Excellent pro forma and reported operating margins in mobile phones at 22.4% and 22.0%. -- Nokia Networks achieves breakeven. -- Nokia announces new operating structure for 2004. -- Pro forma EPS (diluted) was EUR 0.18. Reported EPS (diluted) was EUR 0.17. -- Strong operating cash flow in the third quarter at EUR 1.2 billion. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36103570 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 21:28:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi in one Pocket PC HP's iPaq h4000 series boasts small size, improved features REVIEW By Gary Krakow MSNBC Oct. 13 - This has been a great month for PDAs. First, Palm's new top-of-the-line Tungsten T3 with its larger screen; and now Hewlett-Packard's h4150 - the thinnest/lightest Pocket PC to include Wi-Fi (802.11b) and Bluetooth wireless capabilities in the same device. Best of all, you can use both wireless services at the same time with no interference. http://www.msnbc.com/news/979664.asp ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: Defense Department Orders Suppliers to Implement RFID by 2005 Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 17:15:00 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida In article , Michael D Sullivan wrote: > On Sat, 11 Oct 2003 21:55:45 -0700, Nick Ruark posted the following to > comp.dcom.telecom: >> The data tags in each system store much more information -- 128 >> bytes -- than bar codes, which can store only 1.1 bytes. > I not would have expected Computerworld to make this kind of error. > UPC bar codes encode considerably more than 1.1 bytes, which would > allow for slightly less than nine products in the U.S. consumer > marketplace. The standard UPC code has ten decimal digits, plus two > additional digits that perform more limited functions (product class > and checksum, or something like that). The ten decimal digits, > representing 10,000,000,000 possible items, could be stored as ten > hexadecimal bytes, but there wouldn't be ten bytes of information > (because each byte has a capacity of storing 0-15, but only 0-9 would > be used). There is really somewhat more than 9 bytes (8,589,934,592 > items) of information. Fairly obviously, someone saw "9 bytes", thought it meant "9 bits", and "helpfully" converted it. Cheers, -- jra ------------------------------ From: web+google@ivrl.com (Paul Crick) Subject: Re: Cheap IVR Date: 15 Oct 2003 14:47:10 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi Jan, I suggest you take a look at Asterisk PBX - http://www.asterisk.org/ It runs under Linux and would allow you to do exactly what you want. The developer's kit is about US$150 and allows you to plug a phone line in as well as a regular analog handset. The IVR is fully flexibily but for your requirement you could probably set something up within the dial plan quite easily. Feel free to contact me off-list if you want to discuss. Cheers, Paul ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 17:03:04 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: BA/NYNEX Plus GTE/Contel Equals VeriZon In the thread which has the *NOW MEANINGLESS* subject name of "VeriZon charges for everything ...", since the thread now goes into the history of the components that have made up VeriZon, and I'm jumping into this rather late since I skipped the earlier posts because the subject line *DID NOT REFLECT* the current trend of the subject !!!!!!! Don't forget that that GTE acquired Contel (Continental Telephone) some ten years ago, in the 1992/93 timeframe. They spun off certain parts of old Contel and old GTE, mostly in West Virginia and Georgia, some to Alltel, some to Citizens' Tel (aka Citizens' Utilities). And with the merger of GTE/Contel with Bell Atlantic/NYNEX around the beginning of this decade/century/millennium, the resulting VeriZon has spun off several legacy GTE ratecenters (some of it old GTE, some of it was old Contel prior to 92/93), again to Alltel and Citizens, but also some ratecenters to other companies, such as Iowa Network Services, some to CenturyTel (which has its main HQ based here in Louisiana in the town of Monroe although Monroe LA is BellSouth and NOT CenturyTel; but CenturyTel is ALL OVER rural Louisiana though), some (but not all) old GTE in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas (Texarkana), and New Mexico was spun off into a brand new minority ethnic group (mostly Hispanic) owned telco called Valor Telecom, and other parts of old GTE/Contel was spun off to other telcos as well. What was GTE, now VeriZon, does continue to include the old Hawaiian Telephone Company (+1-808), as well as the old Micronesian Telecom in the US possession of Saipan/Northern Mariana Islands (+1-670) that name is somewhat of a misnomer because the Federated States of Micronesia (+691) is *NOT* the same as Saipan/N.Mariana Islands (the government of FSM owns FSM Telecom which is *NOT* part of GTE nor VeriZon, nor has it ever been), but GTE-now-VeriZon does still own the incumbent LEC in the Dominican Republic (+1-809) called Codetel. In Canada, GTE's old properties of BCTel (throughout most of British Columbia), and QuebecTel (eastern Quebec) are now referred to as Telus. VeriZon does maintain a small part-ownership of Telus. (Telus was originally formed to take over the once-provincial-government-held Alberta Government Telephones, and later took over the once-city-govt held EdTel aka 'edmonton telephones', and then later merged with GTE's BCTel. As an incumbent landline LEC, Telus in Canada serves *MOST* of BC (except the northern and northeastern section of the province), *ALL* of AB, and most of eastern QC/PQ. GTE/VeriZon has spun off all of its landline-incumbent ratecenter territory in Alaska. In the later 1950s and into the 1960s (prior to acquiring the Mutual Telephone Company of Hawaii), GT&E also owned the Philippines Long Distance Telephone Company, the largest of several monopoly and also competiting telcos in the once-US-possession of the Philippines. Contel also had some unique service areas during the 1970s ... I think that Juneau-Douglas Alaska (in the panhandle) was once a Contel service area, but I think it is now locally owned. Contel had some service area in Quebec at one time, much of it being taken over by Telebec (part of Bell Canada) and some taken over by a small independent telco in Quebec, circa 1980. And Contel had part ownership with Cable & Wireless and the local island government, at one time or another during the 1960s/70s and early 80s, in some "British" Caribbean areas of the (non-US-parts of the) NANP-Caribbean: Grand Bahama Island: Freeport/Lucaya (but *NOT* the rest of the Bahamas), Jamaica, Barbados, and also briefly (until Marxist governments took over in the early 1970s) in Grenada and Trinidad & Tobago. I mentioned GTE's (longtime) ownership of "Codetel", the telco of the Dominican Repbulic. In more recent years (VeriZon) GTE also owns the (incumbent) Puerto Rico Telephone Company (which at one time had a close relationship with the now-defunct ITT). GTE also had various manufacturing entites, some were directly telco related and historically related to the origins of GT&E, others were purchased separately and not really directly telco related, such as Sylvania lighting and electronics, which brought the "&E" to General Telephone in the late 1950s to make GT&E, General Telephone & Electronics which later dropped the ampersand and simply became GTE. I don't think that ANY of those equipment/manufacturing entities have continued to exist under GTE-now-VeriZon, most all being sold or spun off yeras ago. The old "Automatic Electric" went into a joint venture with (once-AT&T) Lucent, to become AGCS, the 'A' for AT&T and the 'G' for GTE, the 'C' and 'S' for Communications Services (I think). Also, I think that Lucent eventually got full control of AGCS, although who knows *WHAT* has become of various parts of Lucent (as well as Nortel and other manufacturing entities -- ITT, Stromberg, etc) over the past 10-to-20 years. ANYHOW ... at the FCC's website, there is a section on tracing the history of ownership/buyouts/mergers/selloffs/spinoffs/etc. of the MAJOR telcos in the US, over the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, thru today: http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/armis/carrier_filing_history/COSA_History/gttc.htm And the section on VeriZon is: http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/armis/carrier_filing_history/COSA_History/vctr.htm with links to Bell Atlantic (includes NYNEX) at: http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/armis/carrier_filing_history/COSA_History/bntr.htm Puerto Rico at: http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/armis/carrier_filing_history/COSA_History/prtc.htm and GTE (including histories of sales/etc. of Contel and GTE) at: http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/armis/carrier_filing_history/COSA_History/gttc.htm NOTE: these are the correct/current URLs for those FCC pages. The last time I visited them was exactly seven months ago, in mid-March 2003, and the URLs were different. The old URLs came up with "File not found". So, I went the main FCC homepage, http://www.fcc.gov and used their "search" box for 'COSA'. While it didn't come up with NOSTRA :), it did result in the "revised" URLs for the 'COSA', [CO]mapny [S]tudy [A]reas, section of their website. NOTE, under the Bell Atlantic section of VeriZon at the FCC's COSA pages (which does include NYNEX), there is a breakdown of the state-specific BOCs of the old Bell System days, but not the actual legacy "names". In addition C&P (Chesapeake & Potomoc) which actually broke down into three individual state-specific BOCs (WV, VA, MD) as well as C&P-DC, and also NJ Bell ... all of which made up the initial (pre-NYNEX-takeover) Bell Atlantic ... there is also Bell of Pennsylvania and Delaware's "Diamond State Telephone" (DST). DST was actually a *SUBSIDIARY* of Bell of Pa during the old Bell System days, even though all of the BOCs (except "semi" BOCs Cincinnati Bell, CT's Southern New England Tel, and Bell Canada & its ventures in eastern/central Canada, all of which were only partially held by AT&T) were actually majority-held by AT&T. Back then, Nevada Bell was also really a *SUBSIDIARY* of California's Pacific Tel (and Tel) BOC. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA USA ------------------------------ From: Valerie in FL Subject: Re: Reminder Ring on Call Forwarding Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 09:41:39 -0400 Paul Crick wrote in message news:telecom22.686.10@telecom-digest.org: > If I forward all calls using *72 to another number, every time a call > is forwarded my phone gives a short little reminder ring to remind me > that a divert is in operation. > Is it technically possible within the CO switch to disable this > feature on a line by line basis? (Telco politics is a completely > different matter of course) ;-) > What I'd like to do is have calls to my regular number divert > immediately to another number, with no local indication, and for calls > to my smart ring number which doesn't follow call forwarding to ring > in the regular fashion. > Any switch techs care to comment? > Thanks in advance, > Paul I'm not a switch tech, but the 5ESS has an option in the switch to turn the reminder ring on or off. I've seen it on the switch interface. Since it would not be a configurable option on a standard order, you would probably need to request a special assembly in order to do it. I know, at least at one time, the 5ESS also had an option to forward either main number only, or all numbers, on any type of call forwarding. This was handy, since I didn't want my daughter's Ringmaster calls to go to my voicemail with CFDA or CFBL. IIRC, the FID 'MCFI' was floated behind the CF USOC on the service order. Valerie in FL ------------------------------ From: Jay R. Ashworth Subject: Re: PLOC Freezes Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 17:28:13 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida In article , Mark J Cuccia wrote: > On Thursday 9 Oct 2003 06:15:12 -0700, Howie > wrote: >> What is a PLOC freeze > I've never heard of that acronym, but I would *assume* that it stands > for Primary Local Operating Company freeze: I'm voting for "Preferred". Cheers, -- jra ------------------------------ From: tablejar@yahoo.com Subject: Need Help Finding Cheap PC Phone Date: 16 Oct 2003 15:14:41 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I need a very cheap PC phone service. I want to make long distance calls from my PC directly to another phone internationally. Can anyone give me the cheapest PC phone service on the net? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not know if it is absolutely the cheapest, but one of the better and more reliable PC phones is the offering from Vonage. USA calls can be purchased in unlimited quantity for thirty or forty dollars per month, and international rates are decent also. I have e-coupons available from Vonage which gives one month of free Vonage service on *domestic* calls; it is the second month given for free. Anyone who wants to give a test drive of Vonage VOIP service is welcome and invited to write me and ask for an e-coupon for a month of free service. Just send a note to me at the Digest address, subject line 'not for pub' and ask for your Vonage coupon. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Smile, You're on Candid Cellphone Camera Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 17:11:41 -0400 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 00:50:26 -0400, in comp.dcom.telecom message , Monty Solomon wrote: > PRIVACY ON HOLD > By AMY HARMON > As the man in front of him at the grocery store last week began > yelling at a cashier who could not process his American Express card, > Gary Dann flipped open his palm-sized camera phone and pressed a few > buttons, pretending to look up a number. > Moments later, as the man paid in cash, his snarling picture appeared > on Mr. Dann's Web site (www.fotolog.net/garydann), complete with a > less than flattering caption. The rapidly growing audience of Internet > phonecam voyeurs responded quickly to the image: "Did he make a big > fuss?" asked one. "I hate watching that." Another taunted: "His tie is > strangling him bit by bit!" Ever since I saw the advertisement showing Little Richard having his picture taken by an addoring fan, I wondered when that ad would backfire on the wireless phone companies. Obviously, Little Richard was getting paid for his appearance. But how would he feel if his picture were taken without his permission in a men's room somewhere? Finally, people in our area are getting concerned enough that some local officials are talking about "banning" cell phones in public restrooms, gyms, health clubs, and other recreation areas where people might be seen by others in states of dress or undress they would not want seen on the Internet. How they would go about "banning" these phones, I don't know. Search all the bags and pockets the way the airport security folks do? Or could there be a way of detecting wireless phone signals coming from someone's phone in a certain area even when the phone is hidden in a pocket or bag? If such a signal could be detected, it could set off an alarm to alert people in the room that a cell phone is being used in the immediate area. People could use their cell phones outside the area where people are fully dressed. Last night on our local TV channel WKYC (www.wkyc.com), a reporter deomonstrated just how easy it would be for someone to take her picture as she enters the ladies' room and get the picture posted to the Internet right away. I suspect it won't be long now before a number of cities, counties, or even states enact laws trying to control the use of camphones before it gets to be a big problem for people, even if they aren't sure how they could make the laws really work. Gail in Ohio USA ------------------------------ Subject: When a MAJORITY is Useful From: Withheld at Readers Request Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 11:52:02 -0500 Patrick & Lisa - in an attempt to avoid spam, please do not post my name or e-mail address. Thanks. In reply, Joey Lindstrom writes: [snip] >> http://www.dontvoteforgeorge.com/snarlgrove.html > Can we try to make our postings at least tangentially on the topic of > telecom? Postings like this aren't even remotely on-topic, and serve > only to piss off those who actually support the Bush administration -- > which, the last time I checked, was a MAJORITY of Americans. Last > time I checked, we were here to talk about telecom-related topics. [snip] > There. Now we're even. Well, Joey, it seems for some folks in the U.S. that MAJORITY is only a valid means of measure when it's advantageous to the current Administration, unlike the last Presidential election. It appears the web site in question posted actual quotes by President Bush, who is perceived by many nations as the leader of the free world. Anyone who can use proper grammar when speaking and reading should be able to reach accurate and intelligent conclusions without much difficulty. I do agree that postings to this group should be about telecom-related topics only. But if Patrick and Lisa choose to enforce such a policy, it should apply to all political views, not just those that offend supporters of the current Administration. Smile - tomorrow's Friday. : ) Thanks for any consideration. ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #702 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Oct 17 17:15:53 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9HLFqv17505; Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:15:53 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:15:53 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310172115.h9HLFqv17505@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 #703 TELECOM Digest Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:15:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 703 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter VeriSign to Sell Network Solutions Business to Pivotal (Monty Solomon) Verizon Wireless North America's Choice Plan (Monty Solomon) U.S. Judge Tells State to Lay Off Internet Phones (Solomon/Friedebach) Ruling: Vonage Holdings v. Minnesota PUC (Monty Solomon) DIRECTV Launches New Consumer Promotions (Monty Solomon) The Sound Of One Hand E-Mailing (Monty Solomon) Nokia Recommends Using Only Original Batteries with Nokia (M Solomon) Re: Ed Ellers' Passing (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Ed Ellers Passed Away (Marcus Jervis) Ed Ellers (The Old Bear) Cell Site Info Needed; How Much to Charge? (Mark Olenski) NPA 310 (CA) Remains Intact For Time Being (Mark J Cuccia) Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful (Joey Lindstrom) Smile, You're on Candid Cellphone Camera (D. Reinecke) Re: BA/NYNEX Plus GTE/Contel Equals VeriZon (Name Withheld) Re: USF Recovery Fee (Sid Zafran) 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, 16 Oct 2003 22:30:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: VeriSign to Sell Network Solutions Business to Pivotal Private .com and .net Registry and Naming and Directory Services Infrastructure to Remain with VeriSign as Cornerstone of Internet Infrastructure Business MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), the leading provider of critical infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell the Network Solutions business unit to Pivotal Private Equity. Under the terms of the agreement, VeriSign will receive approximately $100 million, consisting of $60 million in cash and a $40 million senior subordinated note. VeriSign will also retain a 15% equity stake in Network Solutions. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions and is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter. When VeriSign acquired Network Solutions in 2000, it obtained two distinct businesses: -- The customer-facing Registrar business is the world's leading provider of domain name registrations, and an industry leader in value added services such as business email, websites, hosting and other web presence services. The Registrar, which re-assumed the Network Solutions name in January of this year, constitutes the current Network Solutions business that is being sold. -- The Registry business that is the backbone of the global .com and .net domain name infrastructure currently handles over 10 billion interactions per day, remains with VeriSign as a critical component of its business. This Registry business was recently renamed VeriSign Naming and Directory Services and is a core piece of VeriSign's Internet Services Group. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36105985 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:05:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless North America's Choice Plan New Verizon Wireless Service Expands Home Calling Area Beyond U.S. Into Canada and Mexico - Oct 16, 2003 12:17 PM (PR Newswire) First Wireless Carrier to Offer Home Area Coverage in Three Countries With One Simple Plan IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, operator of the nation's largest and most reliable wireless network in the U.S., today announced the launch of its North America's Choice(SM) Plan, creating an extended home airtime rate area that stretches from the domestic U.S. into sections of Canada and Mexico. The new plan, featuring four price packages from $59.99 to $169.99 per month, is being advertised for the first time starting tomorrow in the company's West Area consumer markets and is now being offered to its Midwest territory business users. Further expansion of the new plan into its Northeast and South Areas is targeted for the first quarter of 2004. Designed for U.S. corporations doing business in Canada and/or Mexico, and for customers who regularly travel between the three countries, North America's Choice Plan provides Verizon Wireless customers with one simple price plan for calls to, from and within the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Puerto Rico is also included in the plan. There are no long distance charges for calls from and to the North America's Choice rate plan area in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36111179 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:09:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Judge Tells State to Lay Off Internet Phones By Eric Auchard NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge rebuffed in strong language a move by Minnesota state regulators to force Vonage, a provider of cheap phone calls via the Internet, to comply with rules governing phone companies. In a decision that could stall efforts by other states to regulate Internet communications, Judge Michael Davis of the U.S. District Court of Minnesota ruled that federal law protects information services from regulation and preempts state limits on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. Vonage, which bills itself as "the broadband phone company," enables computer users with high-speed Internet connections to make and receive phone calls worldwide with a touch-tone telephone for a monthly fee of as little as $35. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36115501 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Eric Friedebach sent an identical message to this one (same clipping) as Monty Solomon, and I want to thank him also. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 01:23:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Ruling: Vonage Holdings v. Minnesota PUC http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/courtweb/pdf/D08MNXC/03-08475.PDF ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:12:22 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DIRECTV Launches New Consumer Promotions and First-Ever Dedicated DIRECTV Launches New Consumer Promotions and First-Ever Dedicated DIRECTV DVR With TiVo Advertising Campaign - Oct 16, 2003 06:19 PM (BusinessWire) EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2003--DIRECTV, Inc., the nation's leading digital multichannel television service provider, today announced a series of new promotions designed to stimulate the growth of DIRECTV(R) Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) and high-definition (HD) television receivers. DIRECTV also announced the launch of its first-ever dedicated DIRECTV(R) DVR with TiVo consumer advertising campaign intended to simplify the fast-growing product segment and educate customers about how DIRECTV and DIRECTV DVRs can enhance their television viewing experience. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36119733 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 22:53:16 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Sound Of One Hand E-Mailing Ten O'Clock Tech Stephen Manes NEW YORK - The standalone organizer is not dead yet, but Handspring's new Treo 600 smartphone is one more stake through its heart. Like previous Treos, this far sleeker model puts your address book in your phone where it belongs. Then it throws in wireless e-mail and Web browsing, along with the potential to do just about everything a Palm organizer can. The new design makes it easy to use the unit with one hand--like, well, a phone. In the applications you're likely to use most, a five-way navigation button lets you travel around the display and select items without putting smudgy fingers on the screen or reaching for the stylus -- once you learn a few odd conventions. Every key on the board is within reach of a single thumb. You can even assign individual keys to favorite numbers, Web sites and applications; holding down the F key might call up Forbes.com, B might phone your broker and S could summon your shrink. http://www.forbes.com/2003/10/13/cz_sm_1013tentech.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 08:00:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nokia Recommends Using Only Original Batteries with Nokia Nokia Recommends Using Only Original Batteries with Nokia Products; All Investigated Mobile Phone Battery Explosions Caused by Non-Original Batteries - Oct 17, 2003 07:23 AM (BusinessWire) HELSINKI, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 2003--Recently, in the Netherlands a battery used in a Nokia 7210 mobile phone exploded. An investigation by Nokia experts clearly proved that the battery involved in the incident was not a Nokia battery. Over the past months, cases have been reported of non-original mobile phone batteries exploding, causing damage to both batteries and phones. In all the reported cases, the battery has been a non-original battery. Nokia offers its cooperation to authorities in taking legal measures available against those who sell and distribute poor quality non-original mobile phone enhancements compatible to Nokia products. In general, the reported incidents are due to an internal short circuit. An internal short circuit can be caused by careless design, an uncontrolled production process or a combination of both. Original Nokia batteries and chargers are designed and manufactured adhering to stringent safety and quality measures. These include very strict requirements regarding the materials and insulation used inside the batteries as well as continuous production control and intensive product testing. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36124379 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 22:18:49 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Re: Ed Ellers' Passing I'd written earlier: > Ed Ellers was a regular participant to several e-lists that many of us > are on, including TELECOM Digest. and Pat added: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you very much for letting the > telecom newsgroup readers know of this news. Ed Ellers was a very good, > and generous contributor financially to TELECOM Digest. PAT] I forgot to mention in my earlier post(s), that Ed was also a participant in various Radio/TV broadcasting/electronics related lists/groups/digests on the Internet as well, ones that I also regularly read and sometimes post to as well (and many other participants here in TELECOM too ...), including the (now archives only) "Airwaves Radio Journal", dedicated to the radio/TV broadcast industry of today, but also to the (still going, currently maintained by Charlie Summers) OTR (Old Time Radio) Digest, both ARJ and OTR were originally founded, or at least maintained by, another friend of many of us (especially Pat), the late Bill Pfeiffer. (I think that Lou Genco was the original founder of OTR Digest, at least). I also wanted to mention that I've forwarded the notices of Ed's passing to OTR Digest too. Other than the (now defunct, but still Archived on the 'net) Airwaves Radio Journal, I can't remember offhand any other *specific* broadcasting-related lists/journals that Ed regualarly posted to, but if anyone else reading this knows, could they please forward this information on Ed's passing to those lists as well. Thanks, mjc ------------------------------ From: Marcus Jervis Subject: Re: Ed Ellers Passed Away Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 04:25:34 +0000 hes@hes01.unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E Schaffer) wrote: > Ed Ellers, who was a contributor to this group, passed away on Oct. 5, > 2003. Apparently Ed was a ham operator: Callsign: KD4AWQ Class: Technician Name: EDWARD R ELLERS Addr1: 4316 MILLDAUN RD Addr2: LOUISVILLE, KY 40213 Country: USA Effective: 13 Nov 2002 Expires: 17 Nov 2012 Lookups: 43 County: Jefferson Grid: EM78de Birthday: 26 Feb 1961 Email: ed_ellers@msn.com QRZ Updated: 2003-01-27 23:27:38 I notified the ARRL so his name and call will appear in Silent Keys in an upcoming issue of QST. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 00:41:00 -0400 From: The Old Bear Subject: Ed Ellers I just received this email concerning Ed Ellers, with whom I exchanged email related to early 1A1 and 1A2 key systems back in 2001. I am passing it along as requested. --------------- begin forwarded text ---------------------------- From: Ed Ellers Subject: Re: Old Phone on TV; Old Intercom vs Key Systems Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 15:44:58 -0400 This letter is written by Ken Forcht (Ed's uncle). I'm sorry to tell you that Ed has passed away about 3 PM today Oct. 05, 2003. I'm going thru his computer to send E-mails to whoever I can find that he knew &/or corresponded. If you know of anyone who should know of his death please feel free to email me (or them). I will check it in a couple of days. You may receive multiple copies if there is more than one email in his inbox. Ken Forcht [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, Ken, we have been advised of this now several times. It was a very sad anouncement. What was equally sad for me to read was Mark Cuccia's message saying that Airwaves Radio Journal is now defunct also. :( PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark Olenski Subject: Cell Site Info Needed; How Much to Charge? Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:45:31 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications I have a friend that already has a cell tower on his building. The provider wants to add a second tower for WCDMA and extend the lease 15 years. Anyone on this site have an idea what that would be worth. He is currently getting $1200 a month for one tower with a 10 year lease. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 09:30:27 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: NPA 310 (CA) Remains Intact For Time Being This comes from the Ca.PUC's website, dated yesterday, Thu-16-Oct-2003. I'll have some further notes of my own following. ------------------ http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUBLISHED/NEWS_RELEASE/30785.htm Docket #: R.95-04-043 Media Contact: PUC Press Office, 415.703.1366, news@cpuc.ca.gov PUC AVOIDS 310 AREA CODE SPLIT SAN FRANCISCO, October 16, 2003 -- The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) today determined that a split of the 310 area code is not needed at this time because there are adequate telephone numbers still available in the 310 area code to provide customers and telephone carriers with sufficient service. There are eight whole prefixes, or 80 one thousand number blocks, unassigned and available in the 310 area code. Almost 400 one thousand number blocks are already assigned to various rate centers and currently available to be used by carriers within the 310 number pool. The Commission determined that instead of splitting the area code, it should closely monitor the additional need for telephone numbers in the 310 area code during the next six months to assure adequate telephone number supplies. The Commission will further advocate its Technology Specific Overlay proposal now pending with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and will evaluate the success of wireless industry compliance with local number portability requirements this November. These actions could free up significant amounts of unused telephone numbers in the 310 area code. The 310 area code split proposed by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) would have created a two-way geographic split of the 310 area code. The northern portion, including the majority of Inglewood and all of Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Mar Vista, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Malibu, and a small portion of the City of Hawthorne and Ventura County would have retained the 310 area code. The southern portion of the 310 area code, including El Segundo, Hawthorne, Compton, Redondo, Lomita, and San Pedro would have been split off to form a new 424 area code. In exercising its delegated authority from the FCC, the Commission has found that historic industry claims of impending telephone number exhaustion were based merely upon carriers' forecasts of future telephone number usage within each area code, not their respective historical or actual use of telephone numbers. No independent analysis had been provided, however, concerning the reliability of such forecasts or carriers' actual utilization of telephone numbers. Beginning in March 2000, the Commission adopted various number reporting and conservation measures that collectively have slowed significantly the pace of area code splits in California. The Commission initiated the first-ever utilization study of actual number use in California (in the 310 area code) where it found 3 million unused telephone numbers in an area code that was allegedly entirely out of available telephone numbers. By the end of 2001, the Commission had completed a utilization study for each of the state's other 24 area codes. In every case, it found that each area code actually contained between 40 percent to 80 percent of the available numbers classified by the carriers as unused. In addition, the Commission began distributing new telephone numbers to carriers more efficiently, through number pooling and other measures. Number pooling allows telephone companies to receive numbers in smaller blocks than the traditional 10,000 numbers, enabling multiple providers to share a 10,000-number block and therefore use this limited resource much more efficiently. In March 2000, California began the state's first number "pool" in the 310 area code. Today, every area code in California has implemented number pooling, operated by a neutral third-party Pooling Administrator. By allowing the state to distribute numbers in smaller blocks of 1,000, the PUC can better match the numbering needs of new, smaller companies without stranding the remaining numbers in the 10,000-number block. The PUC is required under FCC rules to open a new area code where necessary to avoid code exhaustion and denial of numbering resources necessary for competitive service. The 310 area code was created in late 1991 to relieve numbers exhaustion in the 213 area code. The 310 area code was subsequently split in January 1997, forming a separate 562 area code, again to replenish number supplies. ------------------ MJC's comments/notes/etc. now follow ... In 1998, the southern CA Telco industry and the CA PUC decided that the 310 area code region would be overlaid with 424, in Summer 1999. In late Spring 1999, mandatory 1+ten-digit same-NPA dialing would be enforced, since this was to have been an all services overlay. *PERMISSIVE* 1+ten-digit same-NPA (local) dialing has been possible throughout most (if not all) of California for many years now. The mandatory 1+ten-digit same-NPA (local) dialing was activated by Pac*Bell, GTE, etc. in Spring 1999. But prior to new 424-NXX c.o.codes taking effect in Summer 1999, there was pressure put on the CA PUC by (shortsighted and ignorant) so-called "consumer" groups who hated overlays and ten-digit dialing, thus causing the CA PUC to halt implementation of the 424 overlay to 310, and eventually calling a halt to *ALL* new area codes being implemented in California. At least the latter *has* been a good thing. The last new area code to take effect in CA was the first half of a staggered 3-way split of 619 in the San Diego CA Metro area, with 858 splitting off in the northern part of that metro area, June 1999 permissive, mandatory in Dec. 1999; the second half of that staggered 3-way split would have had 935 splitting off from the southern/eastern parts of San Diego Metro exactly one year later, perm. June 2000, mand. Dec.2000, but that was one of the forthcoming new area codes in CA that was suspended along with all of the others (13 or so total), beginning in Summer 1999. California still has the MOST number of active area codes in the NANP, with 25 total. Texas is a CLOSE RUNNER UP, with one less active area code than CA, at 24 for the Lone Star Republic, and Florida is next with just under twenty (17). Both TX and FL also each have ONE planned future new area code (partial overlays, BTW) that was subsequently put on "indefinite" hold. TX and FL also have active overlays, while CA has *ALWAYS* only done far-more-disruptive splits. Seven-digit same-NPA (local, and toll if there is any within 310) dialing was restored within 310 by Pac*Bell, GTE, etc. There *was* a test number for the 424 overlay to 310 (or 424 split from 310 whever it will become active), 424-654-0424, run out of the SBC-Pac*Bell Torrance CA (Lucent/WECo) 5ESS, TRNCCA11DS0, this test announcement *USED* to work via many LD carriers, since they did route to the 424-654 "test" prefix. However, it seems that SBC-Pac*Bell has either turned off the recording or shut off access, because some months back, I was unable to get the SBC validation announcement. More recently, AT&T has begun to remove the 424 NPA code out of valid 3-digit translations in its thirty-five-or-so (Lucent) 5ESS-OSPS Opr/Card machines. But if the Ca.PUC has recently reiterated that 310 can remain intact for the forseeable future, there's no real need for a test number or access to a test number 424-654-0424. (NOTE: 424-654 does *NOT* "pre-exist" as 310-424, so when the test number begins to work again, you MUST be able to use 424 to reach 654-0424, since 310 will NOT work in this particular test number). Anyhow, when/if 310 will split off a new 424 NPA, here is the planned breakdown. Note that I still refer to the names 'Bell' and 'GTE' the incumbent of that ratecenter. Bell is SBC, and GTE is now VeriZon. 310 => 310 / 424 NPA Split: NPA 310 being retained by SEVEN ratecenters in the northern/northwestern part of the existing (pre-split) NPA 310: (GTE) MAILBU (GTE) SANTA MONICA : SANTA MONICA DA (District Area) (GTE) SANTA MONICA : MAR VISTA DA (District Area) (GTE) WEST LOS ANGELES (Bell) BEVERLY HILLS (Bell) CULVER CITY (Bell) INGLEWOOD NPA 424 to be used by NINE ratecetenters in the southern/southeastern part of the existing (pre-split) NPA 310: (** NPA 424 to also include Avalon, aka Santa Catalina Island **) (Bell) EL SEGUNDO (Bell) HAWTHORNE (GTE) REDONDO (Bell) COMPTON : GARDENA DA (District Area) (Bell) TORRANCE (Bell) LOMITA (Bell) SAN PEDRO (Bell) COMPTON : COMPTON DA (District Area) and (Bell) AVALON - aka Santa Catalina Island SO ... that should be the breakdown of 310/424 whenever (IF-ever) it will split at some point in the undetermined future. Of course, things could change in industry/regulatory policies by the time 310 does need NPA relief. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA USA ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 09:32:49 -0600 Subject: Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:02:58 -0400 (EDT), anonymous wrote: > Patrick & Lisa - in an attempt to avoid spam, please do not post my > name or e-mail address. Thanks. Withholding the email address, I can see. Withholding the name? Smacks more of cowardice than of prudence. "That's just my opinion, I could be wrong. -Dennis Miller" But hey, at least you're being honest about not wanting to be identified. Some people hide behind aliases. > Well, Joey, it seems for some folks in the U.S. that MAJORITY is only > a valid means of measure when it's advantageous to the current > Administration, unlike the last Presidential election. It appears the > web site in question posted actual quotes by President Bush, who is > perceived by many nations as the leader of the free world. Anyone who > can use proper grammar when speaking and reading should be able to > reach accurate and intelligent conclusions without much difficulty. There is a time and place for such discussion. My point is that this is not the correct forum. The posting had one goal: to piss people off. Not to enlighten anybody about telecom-related topics. Just to piss people off. My use of the term "majority" was not meant to suggest that whatever the majority believes must be right, but to suggest that, by extending what we know from poll results, it is likely that the majority of participants in this forum do support the Bush administration. To put it another way: if this forum was, by definition, a left-leaning discussion forum, the post would have made sense. But this forum is not defined as such, in fact by definition it is not political at all. The poster had to know, therefore, that his post would serve only to inflame THE MAJORITY of the people in this forum. Whatever his motivations are, I cannot guess, but I equate this type of behaviour to the guy who sticks his head into a crowded movie house and yells "fire!" > I do agree that postings to this group should be about telecom-related > topics only. But if Patrick and Lisa choose to enforce such a policy, > it should apply to all political views, not just those that offend > supporters of the current Administration. Alas. The problem here is that Pat/Lisa only enforces that policy long after things get out of hand and/or against postings by Bush supporters/conservatives -- RARELY the other way around. Further, he is the leading CAUSE of these off-topic arguments, as was undeniably the case this time around. You'd think after 20+ years of this, he'd have the hang of the job by now. ------------------------------ From: D. Reinecke Subject: Smile, You're on Candid Cellphone Camera Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 11:34:58 -0500 > Finally, people in our area are getting concerned enough that some > local officials are talking about "banning" cell phones in public > restrooms, gyms, health clubs, and other recreation areas where people > might be seen by others in states of dress or undress they would not > want seen on the Internet. Why, may I ask, are such devices any more intrusive or controversial than, say, a regular pocket or purse-sized film or digital camera? I suppose it could be that the general public is not used to cameras that look like cell phones, but there have been ways to disguise cameras that have been used for many years. Yes, I know some shows and concerts and such prohibit cameras, but I have yet to see a sign in a restroom or locker room stating that cameras are prohibited ... the average person knows that it's not polite to pull out a camera in such places and start shooting. If somebody is set on taking photos in such places, he or she will certainly find a way, whether or not cell phones are allowed. ------------------------------ From: Name Withheld at Reader's Request Subject: Re: BA/NYNEX Plus GTE/Contel Equals VeriZon Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 12:41:52 -0400 [Mr. Moderator, I once again include my standard plea to strip my email address out of this posting. Thanks.] Mark Cuccia notes: > What was GTE, now VeriZon, does continue to include the old Hawaiian > Telephone Company (+1-808), as well as the old Micronesian Telecom in > the US possession of Saipan/Northern Mariana Islands (+1-670) that > name is somewhat of a misnomer because the Federated States of > Micronesia (+691) is *NOT* the same as Saipan/N.Mariana Islands... There's really no misnomer here, because the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is just one country within the much larger *geographic* region of Micronesia (literally, "small islands"), which stretches across thousands of miles of the mid-Pacific and includes the US Territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, and the independent republics of Palau and the Marshall Islands in addition to the FSM. So, in fact, most of Micronesia lies outside of the FSM, just as most of the geographic region of "America" (the continents of North American and South America) lies outside the bounds of the United States of America. The political entity of the FSM did not exist until 1978-79, when residents of four of the districts of the (US-administered) UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) voted to band together as a new nation (the FSM), which eventually achieved independence some years later. Two other districts of the TTPI (Palau and the Marshall Islands) opted for independence too, but chose to go their own separate ways rather than joining the FSM. The final district of the TTPI became the US territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Guam, already a US possession via the Spanish-American War of 1898, is also part of the geographic region of Micronesia, but was never part of the TTPI. Withheld Cary, NC ------------------------------ From: Sid Zafran Subject: Re: USF Recovery Fee Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:27:15 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 20:11:03 -0500, Herb Stein wrote: >> I believe that that SBC is shifting more than an equitable share of >> their USF recovery fee to Earthlink customers such as myself. This may >> be a violation of FCC requirements. It also gives SBC an unfair >> competitive advantage in providing DSL services. >> Note: FCC summary requirements may be seen on the following Web page: >> http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/customerfacts/usfincrease.html > That's "consumerfacts" > Herb Stein > The Herb Stein Group > www.herbstein.com > herb@herbstein.com > 314 952-4601 The consumer facts tell us that all telecommunications companies that provide service between states (including SBC) must contribute to the Universal Service Fund. The FCC does not require telecommunications companies to recover their Universal Service contribution from their customers. Companies that do choose to recover their contributions from customers may do so in different ways, however, they may not shift more than an equitable share of the contribution to any customer or group of customers. SBC is recovering part of their fund contribution from Earthlink DSL customers, but not from their own DSL customers in California. That gives SBC a competitive advantage while shifting more than an equitable share to Earthlink DSL customers. ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #703 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Oct 18 02:16:54 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9I6GsF19795; Sat, 18 Oct 2003 02:16:54 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 02:16:54 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310180616.h9I6GsF19795@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 #704 TELECOM Digest Sat, 18 Oct 2003 02:17:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 704 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter My New Telecom Discussion Group (Lisa Minter) Re: Ed Ellers' Passing (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Ed Ellers' Passing (COTTP) Airwaves Radio Journal, Re: Ed Ellers' Passing (Mark J Cuccia) What on Earth is This? (jmayson@nyx.net) Re: Smile, You're on Candid Cellphone Camera (jbl) Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? (AES/newspost) Re: VeriSign to Sell Network Solutions Business to Pivotal (B Margolin) Re: Cell Site Info Needed; How Much to Charge? (Matt) VoIP / IP Telephony Resouce Needed (Alan) Re: NPA 310 (CA) Remains Intact for Time Being (Linc Madison) Cellphone Deals Sweeten in Face of New Rule on Keeping Number (J Gray) 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, 17 Oct 2003 21:42:27 EDT From: Lisa Minter Subject: My New Telecom Discussion Group With Patrick's encouragement, I have started a new telecom discussion group on Yahoo Groups. http://telecom-news@yahoogroups.com is the email address to use. The URL is http://groups.yahoo.com/telecom-news . To read the messages of others or participate in the open chat at any time, you need to be a member of Yahoo Groups and specifically the telecom-news area. I will be exchanging messages with the Digest through email transfer. That is, messages posted by users of telecom-news will be sent to the Digest for publication here, and issues of TELECOM Digest will be appearing in Yahoo Groups/telecom-news as well. But as a member over there on Yahoo Groups, you will be able to participate in the online chat, the files transfer and the pictures area as well. To get involved, and I hope you will, go to yahoo.com and sign up in groups as a member of telecom-news. To prevent spam, new members have to be approved, but I will be doing that as rapidly as I can tonight and all weekend. Since Yahoo uses pre-built software scripts for the news groups, etc Patrick thought it would be easier for me to use instead of a more complicated system like this one at massis.lcs.mit.edu . I hope to see all of you over there in the next day or two! Lisa Minter [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This should be a very worthwile exchange of messages. All issues of the Digest will be available at YahooGroups starting now, an messages which Lisa approves over there will be forwarded here to the Digest. But, as is pointed out in her message, there is considerable flexibility on Yahoo with a telecom- specific live chat area and a place for users to install files for transfer back and forth. I hope if you use Yahoo that you will check it out. http://groups.yahoo.com/telecom-news PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:06:26 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Re: Ed Ellers' Passing On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 kamlet@panix.com wrote: > Is this the same person: > This is from the qrz.com database. If so, the ARRL Silent Key database > should be notified. (SNIP) Yes it is. There was another post to TELECOM Digest (c.d.t) as well that Ed was also a ham/amateur radio operator, and that Silent Keys has already been notified. mjc ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Ed Ellers' Passing Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 18:03:24 -0500 In article , mcuccia@tulane.edu says: > I'd written earlier: >> Ed Ellers was a regular participant to several e-lists that many of us >> are on, including TELECOM Digest. > and Pat added: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you very much for letting the >> telecom newsgroup readers know of this news. Ed Ellers was a very good, >> and generous contributor financially to TELECOM Digest. PAT] > I forgot to mention in my earlier post(s), that Ed was also a > participant in various Radio/TV broadcasting/electronics related > lists/groups/digests on the Internet as well, ones that I also > regularly read and sometimes post to as well (and many other > participants here in TELECOM too ...), including the (now archives > only) "Airwaves Radio Journal", dedicated to the radio/TV broadcast > industry of today, but also to the (still going, currently maintained > by Charlie Summers) OTR (Old Time Radio) Digest, both ARJ and OTR were > originally founded, or at least maintained by, another friend of many > of us (especially Pat), the late Bill Pfeiffer. (I think that Lou Genco > was the original founder of OTR Digest, at least). I also knew of Ed through my affiliation with amateur radio. I knew his name was familiar but not from c.d.t. A lookup on http://www.qrz.com yielded the following: Callsign: KD4AWQ Class: Technician Codes: HAI USA Name: EDWARD R ELLERS Addr1: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Addr2: LOUISVILLE, KY 40213 Country: USA Effective: 13 Nov 2002 Expires: 17 Nov 2012 FRN: 0002664142 What's this? FCC: ULS Listing Lookups: 50 Update / Renew License Coordinates: 38° 11' 6'' N, 85° 42' 51'' W Coordinates: 38.1851 -85.7144 County: Jefferson Grid: EM78de Area Code: 502 GMT Offset: -5 Time Zone: Eastern Has DST?: Y Birthday: 26 Feb 1961 Email: ed_ellers@XXXXXXXXX QRZ Updated: 2003-01-27 23:27:38 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:02:27 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Airwaves Radio Journal, Re: Ed Ellers' Passing Regarding Ed Ellers' recent passing, and my mention of of Ed's posts over the years to rec.radio.broadcasting / Airwaves Radio Journal, I had written (and Pat added some comments): > ... the (now archives only) "Airwaves Radio Journal", dedicated to > the radio/TV broadcast industry of today, but also to the (still > going, currently maintained by Charlie Summers) OTR (Old Time Radio) > Digest, both ARJ and OTR were originally founded, or at least > maintained by, another friend of many of us (especially Pat), the > late Bill Pfeiffer. (I think that Lou Genco was the original founder > of OTR Digest, at least). > I also wanted to mention that I've forwarded the notices of Ed's > passing to OTR Digest too. Other than the (now defunct, but still > Archived on the 'net) Airwaves Radio Journal, ... > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: ... > It (Ed's recent death) was a very sad anouncement. What was equally > sad for me to read was Mark Cuccia's message saying that Airwaves > Radio Journal is now defunct also. :( PAT] What I meant was that it appears to have been "defunct" for a couple of years now, I don't know "exactly" how long. I know that I used to post to rec.radio.broadcasting aka Airwaves Radio Journal back around 1999/2000. But then it appeared to "disappear". However, the site http://www.airwaves.com/ still exists, and includes an *ARCHIVE* of backissues/posts of ARJ/r.r.b, and other broadcast miscellania. This is posted on the main page: "Welcome to the 'new and hopefully improved' Airwaves.com. "This site has been created with two goals in mind: "To serve the broadcast community with broadcast related resources. This was Bill Pfeiffer's first priority. Bill always put his own opinions and agendas aside to make the Airwaves digests and website a truly free and open forum for broadcasters. "To keep the memory of Bill Pfeiffer alive. Bill Pfeiffer was in love with radio. He would drive from city to city, state to state looking at towers and airchecking stations. Bill had no children, but maybe through this website we can inspire another generation to marvel at radio and the possibilities that are created by a microphone and a tower." http://www.airwaves.com/archive.html is the archives of ARJ. http://www.airwaves.com/bill.html is "About Bill", but still to be constructed. There are links to subpages for "Broadcast Classifieds", "FCC Lookup", and (coming soon), "Radio Links". Maybe actual posts and activity in ARJ / r.r.b will be returning soon? Even though ARJ / r.r.b seems to have been dormant for a few years now, at least there is this website with Archives and resources, and maybe the ARJ digest will be active again soon ... As for OTR Digest and Charlie Summers, more information on this Digest can be found at: http://www.lofcom.com/nostalgia/maillist.phtml In addition to the *VERY* active OTR Digest, there is also a secondary digest, the "Kinescope Digest", regarding "old TV" in general, of the 1940s/50s/60s, even occasional posts about the early 70s. The name "kinescope" refers to the actual CRT or picture tube or screen, which originally had the name "Kinescope" in the *developmental* stages of all electronic television in the 1920s/30s. In the 1940s/50s (and into the 60s), "Kinescope" referred to a (usually 16mm B&W) *FILM* made off of a TV screen/monitor/CRT, usually of a live or pre-taped program. Video quality of these kinescope-films, common back then before videotape was developed or became popular and widespread in the TV industry, was rather inferior, obviously. But the "Kinescope Digest" isn't "restricted" to old 1950s-era live-on-kine or later pre-taped-transferred-to-kine-film, though ... As I mentioned above, the digest is about "old/nostalgic" TV *IN GENERAL*. However, activity in "Kinescope Digest" isn't yet nearly as popular as in OTR Digest. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA USA ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:15:23 -0500 From: jmayson@nyx.net Subject: What on Earth is This? Organization: Nyx Net, Free Internet access (http://www.nyx.net/) Someone passed this number on to me. 800-522-5380. It's a very strange recording. I tried a reverse number lookup on it and turned up nothing. John [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is a very strange recording. When I called it, the announcement began 'two hundred, sixteen, seven one one' and continued on with a few more single digits, then ended with a burst of touch tone dialing. I've no idea what it is supposed to be doing or for. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jbl Subject: Re: Smile, You're on Candid Cellphone Camera Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:48:15 -0700 Organization: On the desert Reply-To: jbl@spamblocked.com In , D. Reinecke wrote: >> Finally, people in our area are getting concerned enough that some >> local officials are talking about "banning" cell phones in public >> restrooms, gyms, health clubs, and other recreation areas where people >> might be seen by others in states of dress or undress they would not >> want seen on the Internet. > Why, may I ask, are such devices any more intrusive or controversial > than, say, a regular pocket or purse-sized film or digital camera? I > suppose it could be that the general public is not used to cameras > that look like cell phones, but there have been ways to disguise > cameras that have been used for many years. I suggest two factors: 1. People always have their cell phone with them. They don't always have their digital camera, and if they do it's not disguised like a pen or lighter, it looks like a camera. Now everyone with one of these phones has a disguised camera to hand. 2. The current advertising campaigns (multiple wireless services) are stressing the ability to get candid shots (a) to friends and (b) thence to (say) the internet. Their current targets are of the embarrassing sort (the dopy looking guy with pizza all over his face), but it's not a big stretch to think of targets of the _embarrassing_ sort, iykwim. /JBL ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:39:49 -0700 I have a big old house whose internal wiring is a chaotic mess: innumerable wires and cables running from here to there, inside the house, over the roof, under the eaves, and through ducts -- phone cables, ancient twisted pairs, Cat 5 cables, cable coax lines, low-voltage lighting, remote speaker wiring, doorbell wires, thermostat wiring, etc, etc, etc, some of it currently in use, some not. Is there some kind of standard tool kit for signal tracing, with a signal generator I can clamp onto a pair of wires, or preferably onto the bundle of twisted pairs inside a cable jacket full of wires at one end -- hopefully, without having to actually contact the individual wires -- and a detector I can wave near the possible route or the possible other end of the cable, to see if it really _is_ the other end? Sources for buying such? Thanks for any info. ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: VeriSign to Sell Network Solutions Business to Pivotal Private Organization: Level(3) Communications, Woburn, MA Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 21:24:46 GMT In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > -- The customer-facing Registrar business is the world's leading > provider of domain name registrations, and an industry leader > in value added services such as business email, websites, > hosting and other web presence services. The Registrar, which > re-assumed the Network Solutions name in January of this year, > constitutes the current Network Solutions business that is > being sold. > -- The Registry business that is the backbone of the global .com > and .net domain name infrastructure currently handles over 10 > billion interactions per day, remains with VeriSign as a > critical component of its business. This Registry business was > recently renamed VeriSign Naming and Directory Services and is > a core piece of VeriSign's Internet Services Group. This seems like a good thing to me. It always struck me as a conflict of interest that the monopoly operator of the .com/.net registry was also one of the players in the competitive registrar industry. 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. ------------------------------ From: Matt Subject: Re: Cell Site Info Needed; How Much to Charge? Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 22:16:21 -0400 It all depends on what the provider is doing. Is it the same provider, or a new provider? And do you mean the provider has antennas on the roof? A tower is a structure that you would build on land, which would have the antennas at different elevations on it. You do not (ok, well, very rarely) have towers on roofs. I'm sure they are not extending it for 15 years, they are extending it for 5 years, with two 5 year option renewal periods. If it is the same carrier and they are just adding some antennas for WCDMA, depending on how the existing lease reads, he could get a few hundred extra per month. Make sure the amendment to the lease calls for a 3-4% annual increase. Mark Olenski wrote in message news:telecom22.703.11@telecom-digest.org: > I have a friend that already has a cell tower on his building. The > provider wants to add a second tower for WCDMA and extend the lease 15 > years. Anyone on this site have an idea what that would be worth. He > is currently getting $1200 a month for one tower with a 10 year lease. ------------------------------ From: kt8993@hotmail.com (Alan) Subject: VoIP / IP Telephony Resouce Needed Date: 17 Oct 2003 19:42:14 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com We are gathering VoIP, IP Telephony resources on the web and create a information page here: http://www.isolvesystems.com/services/Telephone_Phone/VOIP_IP_Telephony_Internet_Telephony.htm Please submit your resource. Thanks. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I use Vonage and find it to be a pretty good deal. In fact, anyone who wishes to test it out for free is invited to write me and get an e-coupon good for a month of free service (the second month). Send email marked 'not for pub' and request a Vonage e-coupon from me. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: NPA 310 (CA) Remains Intact For Time Being Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 23:04:50 -0700 Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org In article , Mark J Cuccia wrote: > This comes from the Ca.PUC's website, dated yesterday, > Thu-16-Oct-2003. [310 won't split just yet, because there are EIGHT! > count them EIGHT! whole prefixes left, meaning only about > 780-some-odd are in use.] > Seven-digit same-NPA (local, and toll if there is any within 310) > dialing was restored within 310 by Pac*Bell, GTE, etc. Oh, yeah, there's toll within 310. For one thing, the Avalon rate center (a.k.a. [Santa] Catalina Island) is local only to itself, since it's a good bit more than 12 miles across the water. However, even if you leave out Avalon, there is no rate center in 310 that is local to all the others, and from one end to the other is definitely toll. I don't have a map showing the exact rating points, but it's more than 12 miles from Malibu to LAX, both of which would remain in 310 in the proposed split. The new 424 might be all local, except to/from Avalon, but I'm not certain of that. All calls within 213 are local, and I believe that all calls within and between 323 and 213 are local, but there are toll calls even on the mainland part of 310. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: John Gray Subject: Cellphone Deals Sweeten in Face of New Rule on Keeping Number Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 23:25:15 -0400 Cellphone Deals Sweeten in Face of New Rule on Keeping Number New York Times 10/18/2003 Bet Sirianni is the subject of an intensifying courtship. The overtures like the recent offer for a free second cellular phone may win her over to a longer-term relationship. Her mobile phone service provider, AT&T Wireless, wants her to commit to an additional two years on her contract. "I'm thinking about it," Ms. Sirianni, a 40-year-old corporate art director in San Francisco, said of the free phone proposal. "I may give it to my son." Ms. Sirianni is one of millions of customers whom wireless companies are trying quietly to entice into renewing their contracts in the next few weeks. New phones, additional minutes and cash credits are being handed out all with an eye to locking in customers who may not know that come Nov. 24 a new federal regulation will allow them, for the first time, to keep their cellphone numbers when they change mobile services. Because mobile phones have become as important as traditional phone lines for many consumers, the desire to keep the same cellular number has prevented many from switching providers even if they are less than satisfied with the service. That is about to change. Rest of Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/18/technology/18CELL.html?hp [free subscription required. The NY Times is nice enough to still allow you to read their articles online for free, instead of charging.] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: True, but the amount of spam their advertisers send out based on the NY Times list of users is sort of awful which is why I invite readers of TELECOM Digest to use our group username 'telecomdigest1' and our group password 'telecomdigest1' if they wish to do so. And please don't forget to check out Lisa's new telecom newsgroup on Yahoo Groups soon, and sign up there if you want to use it all the time: http://groups.yahoo.com/telecom-news 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #704 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Oct 19 02:46:29 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9J6kTn25971; Sun, 19 Oct 2003 02:46:29 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 02:46:29 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310190646.h9J6kTn25971@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 #705 TELECOM Digest Sun, 19 Oct 2003 02:46:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 705 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter EPIC Alert 10.21 (Monty Solomon) FCC Relaxes TV Rules on Use of F-word (Monty Solomon) iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat (Monty Solomon) Re: USF Recovery Fee (Michael D. Sullivan) Yahoo News Group (Don Nelsch) New Group (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Poor Left Out as Courts Enter Web Age (Hank Fung) Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? (Dave Garland) Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? (John Hines) Feds Seek to Use ex-Qwest Executives' Statements (Eric Friedebach) Re: Ed Ellers' Passing (Steven J Sobol) Wireless Technology: Some Newbie Questions (Nimmi Scrivistav) 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, 18 Oct 2003 11:25:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 10.21 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 10.21 October 17, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.21.html ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] EPIC Sues DOJ for PATRIOT Act Lobbying Info [2] Canada's Biometric ID Plan Under Fire [3] EPIC, PIRG Submit Comments on Bank Security Notices [4] Senate Passes Genetic Privacy Measure [5] European Parliament Opposes Air Travel Data Transfer [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Bookstore: The Challenge of Crime [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.21.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 22:42:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC relaxes TV rules on use of f-word By Chris Baker THE WASHINGTON TIMES Remember comedian George Carlin's list of the seven dirty words you can't say on television? It just got a little shorter. The Federal Communications Commission ruled this month that Irish rocker Bono did not violate federal indecency rules when he used the f-word during an acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards, which NBC broadcast in January. http://washingtontimes.com/business/20031009-105350-7266r.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 23:04:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat NewScientist.com news service Apple's successful music download service iTunes faces a new threat of misuse now that it has been extended to include users of Microsoft's Windows operating system, say experts. The threat comes from the combination of the relatively light copy protection iTunes uses and the big increase of potential hackers that comes with opening up to the world's most common operating system.q The paid-for download service was the first to lure music fans away from free file-sharing music networks. Since launching in April 2003, Apple says more than 13 million songs have been downloaded. Observers believe this is partly due to price -- songs can be downloaded for 99 cents without paying a subscription fee. But a crucial factor is that iTunes imposes fewer technical restrictions on what listeners can do with the music files than other paid-for offerings. The files can be copied to compact disc or the iPod music player, and they are encoded in a format that allows them to be played on three registered computers. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994289 ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: USF Recovery Fee Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 09:22:07 GMT On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:27:15 GMT, Sid Zafran posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 20:11:03 -0500, Herb Stein > wrote: >>> I believe that that SBC is shifting more than an equitable share of >>> their USF recovery fee to Earthlink customers such as myself. This may >>> be a violation of FCC requirements. It also gives SBC an unfair >>> competitive advantage in providing DSL services. [snip] > The consumer facts tell us that all telecommunications companies that > provide service between states (including SBC) must contribute to the > Universal Service Fund. The FCC does not require telecommunications > companies to recover their Universal Service contribution from their > customers. Companies that do choose to recover their contributions > from customers may do so in different ways, however, they may not > shift more than an equitable share of the contribution to any customer > or group of customers. > SBC is recovering part of their fund contribution from Earthlink DSL > customers, but not from their own DSL customers in California. That > gives SBC a competitive advantage while shifting more than an > equitable share to Earthlink DSL customers. The FCC subjects all end user telecommunications revenues to a USF charge by company. If a company sells telecommunications service to a reseller, the revenues are not end user revenues and are exempt from USF charges. The reseller, in turn, must pay USF on its end user telecommunications revenues. Where this gets a bit hazy is where the telecommunications service is used by the purchaser for delivery of an information service. The information service provider isn't providing a telecommuncations service to its customers, so it's not subject to USF. (At present, the FCC holds that a given service is either telecom service or information service, but not both; this may be subject to change as a result of the 9th Circuit cable modem decision.) It's fuzzy whether the telecommunications service provider's revenues for selling the telecommunications service to the ISP are end user revenues. Theoretically, someone ought to be paying USF on all telecommunications services, either the facilities-based provider or the next-tier provider, and no such services should be subject to a double charge. There are plenty of anomalies in practice, though. I don't know how SBC or Earthlink has structured their DSL offerings, but that would affect who pays USF. It is entirely possible that SBC is paying USF on its telecommunications service revenues from its DSL/ISP affiliate, and recovering it from that affiliate, which is the end-user; the DSL/ISP affiliate, as a non- telecommunications service provider, should not be adding a line item on its bill for USF, but can recover what it pays SBC as part of its monthly rate for DSL/ISP. The structure used for Earthlink may be different; if Earthlink, for example, were to resell DSL to its customers, bundled with ISP service, instead of selling just ISP with telecom included, then it would pay USF charges on the resold DSL (and put a line item on its customer bills to recover USF). Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 09:13:38 -0400 From: Don Nelsch Subject: Yahoo News Group It would appear that there is no dash (-)but an underscore in the Yahoo group Telecom_News as you have indicated in your column. Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Telecom_News/ Don [Lisa Minter note: Try it the way you said and you wind up getting the *Canadian version* of the telecom news; the column that runs (usually) every Monday here in the Digest. Put the dash in there instead and get the USA version (in other words this Digest). Do it like this: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Telecom-News. I agree that is a wee bit confusing. Remember, underscore_ for Canadian news, dash- for Telecom Digest USA version. But it is always http://groups.yahoo.com/group/*whatever* to get Yahoo newsgroups. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 00:14:38 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: New Group I appreciate your efforts to start a new list as a Yahoo group. One advantage will be much less spam IN THE GROUP (LIST). However, once you cross-post messages from the new group to usenet, the spammers will mine names from the listings. There is a reason I'm getting 80 copies a day of the SWEN virus on this account -- and no other -- and it must be that I use this identity to post on this news group (I use it on only one other list). I also had trouble setting up membership from this account, which is in Britain. I had to set up a US Yahoo account to join the list. All in all, I appreciate your efforts -- and the attractive picture of Lisa on the group's home page -- but I'm not sure it will solve the problems administering the group, particularly if you keep the listserv software running in parallel. You know that there is a web-based interface for listserv. I'll admit it's clunky, but the listserv software is good. Some advice from someone who has been administering a small group: set up the list so that it does not send attachments. That will keep viruses off the list, and also will cause HTML to be stripped from messages. HTML can carry viruses, and also causes problems for people who are still reading using Pine or some other old terminal-type reader (there are still some such people!). You can publish this message in the list if you wish. Indeed, you will notice that I CC'd the new list. However, it's mostly intended for your eyes. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I may have cleared some of these problems for Lisa. Basically, editor@telecom-digest.org is on the mailing list for Lisa; thus anything from Yahoo gets approved over here before I publish it; all html code removed, etc. 'telecom-news@ yahoogroups.com' is on our mailing list over here so that Lisa gets my already purified output from here in digest format. Since all 'new' users at Yahoo 'telecom-news' have to be approved prior to any posting allowed, she can (and been shown how to) prevent most viruses from getting over there, and thus, through the email link to here at massis.lcs.mit.edu. Not perfect, by any means, but a way to hopefully get a lot of new readers for both of us. Remember, underscore _ gets you the *Canadian* version and news, dash - gets you the USA version of the Digest. PAT] ------------------------------ From: fungus@OCF.Berkeley.EDU (Hank Fung) Subject: Re: Poor Left Out as Courts Enter Web Age Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 05:02:13 UTC Organization: Univ. of California Berkeley Open Computing Facility In article , John R. Levine wrote: > Yes, but that's not enough to get access to court records. For > Federal court records, for example, you need an account on their PACER > system which charges per-page. The per-page charges are low, but you > do need to write them and set up the account and wait for them to mail > you your account code. It is also free for usage under $10 per year. With a cap per document of $2.10, one could get a few hundred pages of material for no charge. Hank Fung fungus@ocf.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 02:20:17 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when AES/newspost wrote: > Is there some kind of standard tool kit for signal tracing, with a > signal generator I can clamp onto a pair of wires, or preferably onto > the bundle of twisted pairs inside a cable jacket full of wires at one > end -- hopefully, without having to actually contact the individual > wires -- and a detector I can wave near the possible route or the > possible other end of the cable, to see if it really _is_ the other > end? Yes, although most of them require actually connecting to the individual wire on the signal generator end. They may come with clipleads, "bed-of-nails" clipleads designed to pierce insulation adapters for telephone or adapters for telephone/network jacks. They are made by BK, Triplett, and other test equipment makers. > Sources for buying such? Vendors that sell test equipment, telephone or LAN wiring products, etc. MCM http://www.mcmelectronics.com , Sandman http://www.sandman.com search for "toner"), Graybar, etc. ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 10:13:43 -0500 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org AES/newspost wrote: > Is there some kind of standard tool kit for signal tracing, with a > signal generator I can clamp onto a pair of wires, or preferably onto > the bundle of twisted pairs inside a cable jacket full of wires at one > end -- hopefully, without having to actually contact the individual > wires -- and a detector I can wave near the possible route or the > possible other end of the cable, to see if it really _is_ the other > end? Yep, anybody with tools should have such a beast. For example: http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?T1=115+3115 ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Feds Seek to Use ex-Qwest Executives' Statements Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 12:41:46 -0500 Organization: Fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads. DENVER, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors said on Friday they have 200 potentially incriminating statements from four former Qwest Communications International Inc. executives charged with scheming to inflate the telephone company's revenues. The government would want to use the statements in the upcoming trial of the four, but a judge will have to decide which statements will be admissible and against which defendants. William Leone, chief assistant U.S. attorney in Denver mentioned the 200 statements by the defendants during a status hearing on the case. http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2003/10/17/rtr1114158.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Ed Ellers' Passing Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 21:59:44 -0500 Mark J Cuccia wrote: > participants here in TELECOM too ...), including the (now archives > only) "Airwaves Radio Journal", dedicated to the radio/TV broadcast > industry of today Hey, Mark. Airwaves Radio Journal is alive. John Levine runs the mailing list and I moderate the newsgroup. Come on over to rec.radio.broadcasting and join us!! JustThe.net Internet & Multimedia Services 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Good! I am glad to hear rrb did not die off and is still around! PAT] ------------------------------ From: nimmi_srivastav@yahoo.com (Nimmi Srivastav) Subject: Wireless Technology: Some Newbie Questions Date: 18 Oct 2003 23:34:02 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Could someone, once and for all, answer the various questions that I have regarding wireless telephony: 1) What technologies are 1G, 2G, 3G, 3.5G and 4G based on? 2) In a nutshell what's the difference between 1G, 2G, 3G, 3.5G and 4G? 3) What's EVDO and EVDV? 4) What's the difference between UMTS and CDMA2000? 5) What are the new trends in the field of wireless telephony? 6) Where is the wireless telephony headed? Regards, Nimmi ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #705 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Oct 19 22:33:54 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9K2Xrk01873; Sun, 19 Oct 2003 22:33:54 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 22:33:54 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310200233.h9K2Xrk01873@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 #706 TELECOM Digest Sun, 19 Oct 2003 22:34:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 706 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson and: Lisa Minter EPIC Alert 10.21 (Monty Solomon) FCC Relaxes TV Rules on Use of F-Word (Monty Solomon) Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat (COTTP) iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat (Monty Solomon) FCC Targets Copying of Digital TV (Monty Solomon) EFFector 16.26: Who Controls Your Computer? (Monty Solomon) EFF Action Alert: Stop the MPAA's Broadcast Flag! (Monty Solomon) Re: New Group (William Warren) Yahoo News Group (Don Nelsch) New Group (Marcus Didius Falco) Subscribing to the "Telecom-News" Yahoo! Group (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Poor Left Out as Courts Enter Web Age (Hank Fung) Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? (Dave Garland) Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? (John Hines) Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? (Charles P.) Feds Seek to Use ex-Qwest Executives' Statements (Eric Friedebach) Re: Ed Ellers' Passing (Steven J Sobol) Re: USF Recovery Fee (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Wireless Technology: Some Newbie Questions (Michael D. Sullivan) Download Cell Phone Book to Computer or Another Phone? (psu104@yahoo) Re: Airwaves Radio Journal (Mark J Cuccia) Last Laugh! Direct Email Lead Generation Services (Spyros Bartsocas) 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, 18 Oct 2003 11:25:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 10.21 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 10.21 October 17, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.21.html ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] EPIC Sues DOJ for PATRIOT Act Lobbying Info [2] Canada's Biometric ID Plan Under Fire [3] EPIC, PIRG Submit Comments on Bank Security Notices [4] Senate Passes Genetic Privacy Measure [5] European Parliament Opposes Air Travel Data Transfer [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Bookstore: The Challenge of Crime [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events ... http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.21.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 22:42:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Relaxes TV Rules on Use of F-Word By Chris Baker THE WASHINGTON TIMES Remember comedian George Carlin's list of the seven dirty words you can't say on television? It just got a little shorter. The Federal Communications Commission ruled this month that Irish rocker Bono did not violate federal indecency rules when he used the f-word during an acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards, which NBC broadcast in January. http://washingtontimes.com/business/20031009-105350-7266r.htm ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 15:47:06 -0500 In article , monty@roscom.com says: > NewScientist.com news service > Apple's successful music download service iTunes faces a new threat of > misuse now that it has been extended to include users of Microsoft's > Windows operating system, say experts. > The threat comes from the combination of the relatively light copy > protection iTunes uses and the big increase of potential hackers that > comes with opening up to the world's most common operating system.q > The paid-for download service was the first to lure music fans away > from free file-sharing music networks. Since launching in April 2003, > Apple says more than 13 million songs have been downloaded. > Observers believe this is partly due to price -- songs can be > downloaded for 99 cents without paying a subscription fee. But a > crucial factor is that iTunes imposes fewer technical restrictions on > what listeners can do with the music files than other paid-for > offerings. The files can be copied to compact disc or the iPod music > player, and they are encoded in a format that allows them to be played > on three registered computers. The whole setup of sites like ITUnes tends to overcharge to begin with. For example, when one thinks about the cost savings of digital music distribution you can see that we're still being raked over the coals. Ie. a CD normally contains an average of say 14 tracks. That's $13.86 -- not far from the shelf price for a whole CD from one artist. A more realistic and profitable price would be approximately 50 cents a track, bringing the end user price down to $6.93 for 14 tracks. Anybody have any idea what the real production and distribution costs for music industry CD's costs? I'd bet it certainly doesn't equate to close to a buck a track. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 23:04:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat NewScientist.com news service Apple's successful music download service iTunes faces a new threat of misuse now that it has been extended to include users of Microsoft's Windows operating system, say experts. The threat comes from the combination of the relatively light copy protection iTunes uses and the big increase of potential hackers that comes with opening up to the world's most common operating system. The paid-for download service was the first to lure music fans away from free file-sharing music networks. Since launching in April 2003, Apple says more than 13 million songs have been downloaded. Observers believe this is partly due to price -- songs can be downloaded for 99 cents without paying a subscription fee. But a crucial factor is that iTunes imposes fewer technical restrictions on what listeners can do with the music files than other paid-for offerings. The files can be copied to compact disc or the iPod music player, and they are encoded in a format that allows them to be played on three registered computers. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994289 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 16:41:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Targets Copying of Digital TV Hollywood Backs Rule That May Irk Viewers By Jonathan Krim Washington Post Staff Writer The federal government is preparing for the first time to require that personal computers and other consumer electronics devices contain technology to help block Internet piracy of digital entertainment. A rule being considered by the Federal Communications Commission is one of a series of proposals pushed by the entertainment industry to help thwart copying and online trading of movies and television shows that increasingly are being broadcast in digital form with high-quality picture and sound. But the new rule also would force consumers to purchase new equipment if they wanted to record enhanced digital-quality television programs and replay them on other machines. Opponents of the proposed rule, including many technology companies and consumer groups, say it won't work. They are especially concerned that the plan might lead to government regulation of how personal computers and other devices are built, particularly if hackers crack the system and further changes are deemed necessary. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32173-2003Oct15.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 12:21:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 16.26: Who Controls Your Computer? EFFector Vol. 16, No. 26 October 5, 2003 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 265th Issue of EFFector: * Who Controls Your Computer?: EFF Reports on Trusted Computing * Passenger Profiling Violates Rights, Doesn't Improve Safety * Plan for Library Book Tagging Generates Privacy Concerns * Total/Terrorism Information Awareness: Is It Truly Dead? * Digital Copyright Law Still Damaging After All These Years * Unsafe Harbors: Abusive DMCA Subpoenas and Takedown Demands * Australia's "DMCA": EFF Comments on Australian Digital Agenda * Charity.com Names EFF "Charity of the Month" * Deep Links (14): We're a Record Label. But We're Not Evil. * Staff Calendar: 10.08.03 - Seth Schoen debates Mike Wolff (Microsoft) on Palladium/NGSCB at the SDForum, Mountain View, CA. * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/16/26.php ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 12:43:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFF Action Alert: Stop the MPAA's Broadcast Flag! TAKE ACTION! SEND A MESSAGE Stop the MPAA's Broadcast Flag! Hollywood is at it again, trying to control the design of new digital technologies. If the motion picture studios have their way, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will force all future televisions to include Hollywood-approved "content protection" technologies. Fair use, innovation and competition will suffer. What's more, the "broadcast flag" technology that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has proposed is so weak that it will do nothing to stem Internet redistribution of television programs. In fact, the only people hurt by this are legitimate consumers, innovators and researchers. The FCC has promised a ruling before the end of October. We need you to tell the FCC that we don't need "broadcast flag" regulations that hurt competition, consumers and innovators. http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2801 ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: New Group Organization: Comcast Online Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 15:58:34 GMT Marcus Didius Falco wrote in message news:telecom22.705.6@telecom-digest.org: > I appreciate your efforts to start a new list as a Yahoo group. One > advantage will be much less spam IN THE GROUP (LIST). However, once > you cross-post messages from the new group to usenet, the spammers > will mine names from the listings. There is a reason I'm getting 80 > copies a day of the SWEN virus on this account -- and no other -- and > it must be that I use this identity to post on this news group (I use > it on only one other list). [snip] Good point. Pat/Lisa: please arrange to obfuscate addresses coming from the list into Usenet. Your readers will be eternally grateful. Bill ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 09:13:38 -0400 From: Don Nelsch Subject: Yahoo News Group It would appear that there is no dash (-)but an underscore in the Yahoo group Telecom_News as you have indicated in your column. Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Telecom_News/ Don [Lisa Minter note: There *is* a dash. The underscore _ gets you the Canadian telecom news group. The dash - gets you the USA version of TELECOM Digest. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 00:14:38 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: New Group I appreciate your efforts to start a new list as a Yahoo group. One advantage will be much less spam IN THE GROUP (LIST). However, once you cross-post messages from the new group to usenet, the spammers will mine names from the listings. There is a reason I'm getting 80 copies a day of the SWEN virus on this account -- and no other -- and it must be that I use this identity to post on this news group (I use it on only one other list). I also had trouble setting up membership from this account, which is in Britain. I had to set up a US Yahoo account to join the list. All in all, I appreciate your efforts -- and the attractive picture of Lisa on the group's home page -- but I'm not sure it will solve the problems administering the group, particularly if you keep the listserv software running in parallel. You know that there is a web-based interface for listserv. I'll admit it's clunky, but the listserv software is good. Some advice from someone who has been administering a small group: set up the list so that it does not send attachments. That will keep viruses off the list, and also will cause HTML to be stripped from messages. HTML can carry viruses, and also causes problems for people who are still reading using Pine or some other old terminal-type reader (there are still some such people!). You can publish this message in the list if you wish. Indeed, you will notice that I CC'd the new list. However, it's mostly intended for your eyes. ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 20:30:27 EDT Subject: Subscribing to the "Telecom-News" Yahoo! Group Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com You can also join the list by sending an e-mail to telecom-news-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: fungus@OCF.Berkeley.EDU (Hank Fung) Subject: Re: Poor Left Out as Courts Enter Web Age Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 05:02:13 +0000 (UTC) Organization: Univ. of California Berkeley Open Computing Facility In article , John R. Levine wrote: > Yes, but that's not enough to get access to court records. For > Federal court records, for example, you need an account on their PACER > system which charges per-page. The per-page charges are low, but you > do need to write them and set up the account and wait for them to mail > you your account code. It is also free for usage under $10 per year. With a cap per document of $2.10, one could get a few hundred pages of material for no charge. Hank Fung fungus@ocf.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 02:20:17 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when AES/newspost wrote: > Is there some kind of standard tool kit for signal tracing, with a > signal generator I can clamp onto a pair of wires, or preferably onto > the bundle of twisted pairs inside a cable jacket full of wires at one > end -- hopefully, without having to actually contact the individual > wires -- and a detector I can wave near the possible route or the > possible other end of the cable, to see if it really _is_ the other > end? Yes, although most of them require actually connecting to the individual wire on the signal generator end. They may come with clipleads, "bed-of-nails" clipleads designed to pierce insulation adapters for telephone or adapters for telephone/network jacks. They are made by BK, Triplett, and other test equipment makers. > Sources for buying such? Vendors that sell test equipment, telephone or LAN wiring products, etc. MCM (http://www.mcmelectronics.com), Sandman (http://www.sandman.com , search for "toner"), Graybar, etc. ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 10:13:43 -0500 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org AES/newspost wrote: > Is there some kind of standard tool kit for signal tracing, with a > signal generator I can clamp onto a pair of wires, or preferably onto > the bundle of twisted pairs inside a cable jacket full of wires at one > end -- hopefully, without having to actually contact the individual > wires -- and a detector I can wave near the possible route or the > possible other end of the cable, to see if it really _is_ the other > end? Yep, anybody with tools should have such a beast. For example: http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?T1=115+3115 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 15:03:57 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring John Hines wrote about Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? > AES/newspost wrote: >> Is there some kind of standard tool kit for signal tracing, with a >> signal generator I can clamp onto a pair of wires, or preferably onto >> the bundle of twisted pairs inside a cable jacket full of wires at one >> end -- hopefully, without having to actually contact the individual >> wires -- and a detector I can wave near the possible route or the >> possible other end of the cable, to see if it really _is_ the other >> end? > Yep, anybody with tools should have such a beast. > For example: > http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?T1=115+3115 Check Mike Sandman, who gets a credit at the bottom of every copy of this list. He has such things in stock. Sandman's web page should probably be the first place you look. http://sandman.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 22:25:26 GMT From: Charles P. Subject: Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? Organization: Optimum Online You can usually find them on ebay quite cheap too. Search for "wire tracer", "fox and hound", "tone tracer" things like that. cp AES/newspost wrote in message news:telecom22.704.7@telecom-digest.org: > I have a big old house whose internal wiring is a chaotic mess: > innumerable wires and cables running from here to there, inside the > house, over the roof, under the eaves, and through ducts -- phone > cables, ancient twisted pairs, Cat 5 cables, cable coax lines, > low-voltage lighting, remote speaker wiring, doorbell wires, > thermostat wiring, etc, etc, etc, some of it currently in use, some > not. > Is there some kind of standard tool kit for signal tracing, with a > signal generator I can clamp onto a pair of wires, or preferably onto > the bundle of twisted pairs inside a cable jacket full of wires at one > end -- hopefully, without having to actually contact the individual > wires -- and a detector I can wave near the possible route or the > possible other end of the cable, to see if it really _is_ the other > end? > Sources for buying such? > Thanks for any info. ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Feds Seek to Use ex-Qwest Executives' Statements Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 12:41:46 -0500 Organization: Fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads. Reuters, 10.17.03, 7:40 PM ET DENVER, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors said on Friday they have 200 potentially incriminating statements from four former Qwest Communications International Inc. executives charged with scheming to inflate the telephone company's revenues. The government would want to use the statements in the upcoming trial of the four, but a judge will have to decide which statements will be admissible and against which defendants. William Leone, chief assistant U.S. attorney in Denver mentioned the 200 statements by the defendants during a status hearing on the case. http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2003/10/17/rtr1114158.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Ed Ellers' Passing Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 21:59:44 -0500 Mark J Cuccia wrote: > participants here in TELECOM too ...), including the (now archives > only) "Airwaves Radio Journal", dedicated to the radio/TV broadcast > industry of today Hey, Mark. Airwaves Radio Journal is alive. John Levine runs the mailing list and I moderate the newsgroup. Come on over to rec.radio.broadcasting and join us!! JustThe.net Internet & Multimedia Services 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: USF Recovery Fee Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 09:22:07 GMT On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:27:15 GMT, Sid Zafran posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 20:11:03 -0500, Herb Stein > wrote: >>> I believe that that SBC is shifting more than an equitable share of >>> their USF recovery fee to Earthlink customers such as myself. This may >>> be a violation of FCC requirements. It also gives SBC an unfair >>> competitive advantage in providing DSL services. [snip] > The consumer facts tell us that all telecommunications companies that > provide service between states (including SBC) must contribute to the > Universal Service Fund. The FCC does not require telecommunications > companies to recover their Universal Service contribution from their > customers. Companies that do choose to recover their contributions > from customers may do so in different ways, however, they may not > shift more than an equitable share of the contribution to any customer > or group of customers. > SBC is recovering part of their fund contribution from Earthlink DSL > customers, but not from their own DSL customers in California. That > gives SBC a competitive advantage while shifting more than an > equitable share to Earthlink DSL customers. The FCC subjects all end user telecommunications revenues to a USF charge by company. If a company sells telecommunications service to a reseller, the revenues are not end user revenues and are exempt from USF charges. The reseller, in turn, must pay USF on its end user telecommunications revenues. Where this gets a bit hazy is where the telecommunications service is used by the purchaser for delivery of an information service. The information service provider isn't providing a telecommuncations service to its customers, so it's not subject to USF. (At present, the FCC holds that a given service is either telecom service or information service, but not both; this may be subject to change as a result of the 9th Circuit cable modem decision.) It's fuzzy whether the telecommunications service provider's revenues for selling the telecommunications service to the ISP are end user revenues. Theoretically, someone ought to be paying USF on all telecommunications services, either the facilities-based provider or the next-tier provider, and no such services should be subject to a double charge. There are plenty of anomalies in practice, though. I don't know how SBC or Earthlink has structured their DSL offerings, but that would affect who pays USF. It is entirely possible that SBC is paying USF on its telecommunications service revenues from its DSL/ISP affiliate, and recovering it from that affiliate, which is the end-user; the DSL/ISP affiliate, as a non- telecommunications service provider, should not be adding a line item on its bill for USF, but can recover what it pays SBC as part of its monthly rate for DSL/ISP. The structure used for Earthlink may be different; if Earthlink, for example, were to resell DSL to its customers, bundled with ISP service, instead of selling just ISP with telecom included, then it would pay USF charges on the resold DSL (and put a line item on its customer bills to recover USF). Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Wireless Technology: Some Newbie Questions Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 16:56:10 GMT On 18 Oct 2003 23:34:02 -0700, Nimmi Srivastav posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > Could someone, once and for all, answer the various questions that I > have regarding wireless telephony: > 1) What technologies are 1G, 2G, 3G, 3.5G and 4G based on? 1G: Analog (AMPS/NAMPS in US) 2G: Digital (GSM, CDMA, TDMA) 2.5G: Digital with higher speed for data (GSM->GPRS/EDGE, CDMA->1xRTT; TDMA evolves through GSM route) 3G: "Broadband" higher-speed digital (GSM->wCDMA, CDMA->cdma2000); includes innumerable variants, such as EVD0 3.5G, 4G: Still to come. > 2) In a nutshell what's the difference between 1G, 2G, 3G, 3.5G and 4G? Each generation is more technologically advanced, permitting more "bandwidth" and higher speed communications, while using less spectrum per byte transmitted. > 3) What's EVDO and EVDV? Damned if I know. > 4) What's the difference between UMTS and CDMA2000? I'm a little foggy on the details, but I believe UMTS comprises cdma2000 and wCDMA, with the objective of harmonizing them, whatever that means. > 5) What are the new trends in the field of wireless telephony? Camera phones, game phones, and push-to-talk walkie-talkie service are hot right now. Bluetooth and WiFi are on their way into phones, as well. VoIP is probably next. > 6) Where is the wireless telephony headed? Into the bold unknown, where no man has ever gone before. And into places where privacy up to now has reigned, based on recent stories of camera phones in dressing rooms and such. At some point, wireless telephony won't involve a cellphone so much as a cellphone chip embedded in various devices that will enable IP connectivity via WiFi, Bluetooth, or 3G, depending on availability. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. ------------------------------ From: psu104@yahoo.com Subject: Download Cell Phone Book to Computer or Another Phone? Date: 19 Oct 2003 10:29:16 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Is there a way to download your phone book from your cellular phone to your computer? I have a Motorola V60. Thanks. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 02:54:14 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Re: Airwaves Radio Journal I wrote (regarding the passing of Ed Ellers, as well as ARJ/r.r.b): > including the (now archives only) "Airwaves Radio Journal", > dedicated to the radio/TV broadcast industry of today Steven Sobol replied: > Hey, Mark. > Airwaves Radio Journal is alive. John Levine runs the mailing list and > I moderate the newsgroup. > Come on over to rec.radio.broadcasting and join us!! So, what's the *WEB* address to post and/or read current ARJ issues/articles. I don't do ANY (ab)usenet anymore and haven't for several years. And the last time (several years ago) I tried to get to r.r.b it wouldn't work on two different news servers I had access to. I went to www.airwaves.com and the only thing about the ARJ were archived backissues from Dec.1997 thru Nov.1999. I seem to think that Nov.1999 or about then was when I started having problems accessing r.r.b, and I don't remember exactly what happened with the ARJ as a website. I'm glad to see that there *IS* some kind of (abbreviated) archives site, but I since ARJ is still alive, I'd like to know how to access it. At least, what's the *WEB* address for information on *current* ARJ, on how to "subscribe" to receive as a digest (or individual posts) by *EMAIL*. Thanks. mjc ------------------------------ From: Spyros Bartsocas Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 05:31:02 -0800 Subject: Last Laugh! Direct Email Lead Generation Services I attach the following an e-mail I received concerning some services that I might be interested in. Unfortunately, I reside overseas and I can not call the toll-free number provided to learn more about these interesting services. I would appreciate if one of your readers could call and find more about this for me. I am also that other readers might be interested in finding about these services for themselves. They also provide another toll-free number to unsubscribe me from this kind of mails. Perhaps someone can call that number for me as well. Thanks for your help, Spyros Direct Email Lead Generation Services Send 10 million messages for $1100 Send 25 million messages for $2250 Send 50 million messages for $3750 Send 100 million messages for $6000 B2B and consumer lists available Includes the following FREE services: professional toll-free phone answering service Lead validation service Lead screening service Lead delivery service Archived leads also available for sale Call us today to find out more: 1-866-662-3388 To unsubscribe call: 1-866-457-8755 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am certain many of our readers will want to investigate these services closely, and find out how they can be used in their own businesses. Remember please, that when these entries are published in our business directory, they are for actual use; not abuse or misuse. PAT] ------------------------------TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #706 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Oct 20 15:14:04 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9KJE3906308; Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:14:04 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:14:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310201914.h9KJE3906308@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 #707 TELECOM Digest Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:14:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 707 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #404, October 20, 2003 (Angus TeleManagement) Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? (Dale Farmer) Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat (Barry Margolin) Re: My New Telecom Discussion Group (Dave Close) [IP] The Columbia Space Shuttle Accident Report (Marcus Didius Falco) [IP] FCC Readies Rule to Block Internet Piracy (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: What on Earth is This? (Dave Phelps) Re: Wireless Technology: Some Newbie Questions (Group Special Mobile) Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful (Name Withheld at Users Request) 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, 20 Oct 2003 11:32:11 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #404, October 20, 2003 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 404: October 20, 2003 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Dark Fibre Ruling Provokes Protests ** Telus Customer Complaints Up Tenfold ** Rogers to Match Bell Discounts ** MTS Lowers Large-Volume Centrex Rates ** Mitel Intros IP-Enabled SX-200 ** Telus Extends Push-to-Talk Wireless Across Canada ** Bell to Deploy Lucent DSL, Messaging ** Call-Net Protests Telco DSL Bundles ** FCI Objects to Bell Condo Offer ** AirIQ Launches Satellite-Based Tracking ** Telus to Offer CSG Products ** CATA Forms Toronto Technology Group ** McKenna Named CanWest Chair ** Rogers Wireless Has Strong Quarter ** Cogeco Cable Doubles Profit ** Axia NetMedia Reports on "Trying Year" ** Phone Pirates Are Back! ============================================================ DARK FIBRE RULING PROVOKES PROTESTS: Several Quebec school boards have filed protests against CRTC Decisions 2003-58 and 200359 (see Telecom Update #397), claiming the rulings jeopardize their agreements with Bell Canada and Telus Quebec. To win bids for broadband networks, the telcos quoted rates for dark fibre that are unlikely to pass the imputation test required by those decisions. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8638/c12_200312728.htm ** Separately, Aliant, MTS, and Telus Communications have told the CRTC that they should not be required to file general tariffs for dark fibre, because they do not currently offer it to customers on any basis. TELUS CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS UP TENFOLD: In the first nine months of 2003, the CRTC received 2,010 complaints from Telus customers, compared to only 214 complaints in the same period last year. The complaints refer mainly to repair intervals, service installation, and difficulty in reaching the business office. ** Telus has failed to meet CRTC Quality of Service requirements for several quarters. Commission staff say Telus has recently promised to bring service up to par "by year-end." ** Last year, when Telus announced a plan to reduce staff by 6,500, the Telecommunications Workers Union warned that the cuts would harm customer service (see Telecom Update #337). www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/reports/8660/8660.htm ROGERS TO MATCH BELL DISCOUNTS: Speaking to analysts on September 17, Ted Rogers said his company will match but not exceed discounts offered by Bell and other competitors for combinations of TV, Internet and wireless services. He said Rogers Wireless will not match the "financially unsustainable" offer of unlimited local cellphone airtime for $40 a month, introduced recently by Microcell in Vancouver. (See Telecom Update $403) ** A Rogers ad campaign is now offering Microcell customers a free Rogers handset and their choice of any Rogers rate plan in exchange for their Fido phone. (See Telecom Update #403) MTS LOWERS LARGE-VOLUME CENTREX RATES: The CRTC has approved Manitoba Telecom's application to lower Centrex rates for customers with more than 4,000 lines to $24.85 per line (5- year contract) or $26 (3-year contract). The previous rates were $26 and $27 respectively. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2003/o2003-420.htm MITEL INTROS IP-ENABLED SX-200: Mitel Networks has launched the SX-200 ICP, which it says offers SX-200 users an evolution path to IP telephony. TELUS EXTENDS PUSH-TO-TALK WIRELESS ACROSS CANADA: As Telecom Update forecast two months ago (#395), Telus Mobility has enhanced the Direct Connect feature of its Mike service to provide national push-to-talk functionality. This fall, Telus will also introduce four new Mike handsets with Global Positioning System capability. BELL TO DEPLOY LUCENT DSL, MESSAGING: Lucent Technologies says Bell Canada will be the first telco in the world to install its new "Stinger Compact Remote" equipment to extend the reach of DSL services. Bell will also buy Lucent's IP-based AnyPath Messaging System, which integrates voice mail, e-mail, fax, and text messages on one platform. ** Deployment of the new technologies is scheduled to begin in 2004. CALL-NET PROTESTS TELCO DSL BUNDLES: Call-Net says that because Bell and Telus still provide DSL only to their own local phone customers -- ruled in Telecom Decision 2003-49 to be a violation of the Telecom Act -- the telcos should not be allowed to provide new service bundles that include DSL. ** Though the Commission ordered the telcos to "forthwith" cease tying DSL to their local phone service, they say that for technical reasons they cannot provide DSL to CLEC customers until August 2004 (Bell) and January 2005 (Telus). www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8622/c25_200313932.htm FCI OBJECTS TO BELL CONDO OFFER: FCI Broadband says residents of a Toronto condo complex received a letter from Bell Canada offering video/internet/phone service at "a great price" including free installation. FCI says this is an untariffed bundle, and omits the connection fee required for phone service. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8622/f18_200313875.htm AIRIQ LAUNCHES SATELLITE-BASED TRACKING: AirIQ, a Pickering, Ontario, provider of vehicle tracking, now offers satellite- based services, utilizing Orbcomm's Low Earth Orbit network. TELUS TO OFFER CSG PRODUCTS: Under an agreement announced October 16, Telus will offer billing and customer care products developed by Colorado-based CSG Systems to enterprise customers in Canada. CATA FORMS TORONTO TECHNOLOGY GROUP: The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) has formed a Toronto branch, CATA Toronto Technology Community. The new organization includes the members of SMART Toronto Technology Alliance, which merged with CATA in August. www.cata.ca McKENNA NAMED CANWEST CHAIR: CanWest Global Communications has named former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna as interim Chairman, replacing I.H. Asper, who died October 7. ROGERS WIRELESS HAS STRONG QUARTER: Rogers Wireless third quarter revenues of $599.8 million were up 15% from the same period a year ago. Net income was $42.7 million, compared to a loss of $14 million a year ago. Data revenue grew 127% year-over-year and now makes up 3.5% of total income. ** Rogers Wireless has named Murna Dalton, formerly with CGI Group, to head corporate sales in Ontario. ** Rogers Communications lost $17 million on third-quarter revenues of $1.2 billion. COGECO CABLE DOUBLES PROFIT: Cogeco Cable reports revenue of $479 million for the year ended August 31, 7% more than the previous year. Net income of $7.9 million was double that of fiscal 2002. Cogeco added 46,987 Internet customers, 7% fewer than in the previous year. AXIA NETMEDIA REPORTS ON "TRYING YEAR": Axia NetMedia revenue for the year ended June 30 was $101 million, up from $45 million the previous year. Losses also doubled, to $24.6 million. Axia says that with the resolution of its dispute with Bell West, "the worst is behind us." (See Telecom Update #375) PHONE PIRATES ARE BACK! Are your communications systems safe from long distance thieves? In this month's Telemanagement, Ian Angus reports on the new wave of toll theft -- and how business customers can defend themselves. ** Also in this issue: New rules for dark fibre, and how IP Telephony is making inroads in health care. ** For a limited time, save $70 on a new one-year subscription to Canada's #1 information resource for telecom professionals. Call 1-800-263-4415 x500 for details. http://www.angustel.ca/teleman/Telemanagement-Oct2003.pdf ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at 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 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: Dale Farmer Organization: Furry green fuzz in the back of the refrigerator Subject: Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 14:56:47 GMT Charles P. wrote: > You can usually find them on ebay quite cheap too. > Search for "wire tracer", "fox and hound", "tone tracer" things like that. > cp Last couple that I have bought actually came out of pawn shops. Bring some fresh batteries and make sure that they work before you lay down your cash though. --Dale ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat Organization: Level(3) Communications, Woburn, MA Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:18:33 GMT In article , COTTP wrote: > The whole setup of sites like ITUnes tends to overcharge to begin > with. For example, when one thinks about the cost savings of digital > music distribution you can see that we're still being raked over the > coals. As is taught in most economics courses, prices are generally based on things like value and supply/demand ratio, not costs. Cost impacts the minimum price (if the vendor is trying to make a profit), but it isn't the only factor, or even the primary one. So while it may be cheaper to distribute music over the net than on physical disks, the value of downloaded music can be higher because of the convenience of copying it to different players. This is similar to the "Touch-Tone" surcharge that many phone companies used to have (maybe some still do -- Verizon appears to have done away with it, although the option still shows up on my bill with a zero price). Even though electronic switches made it *less* expensive to support Touch-Tone than pulse dialing, they could get away with the surcharge because it added value for the consumer. 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. ------------------------------ From: dave@compata.com (Dave Close) Subject: Re: My New Telecom Discussion Group Date: 19 Oct 2003 20:08:04 -0700 Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Lisa Minter writes: > With Patrick's encouragement, I have started a new telecom discussion > group on Yahoo Groups. http://telecom-news@yahoogroups.com is the > email address to use. The URL is http://groups.yahoo.com/telecom-news . It is possible to join a Yahoo! mailing list using only email. In this case, you would send a blank message to telecom-news-subscribe@ yahoogroups.com. If all messages continue to be gateway'd between Yahoo! and the Digest, there would be little point in that. However ... Yahoo! provides NO email support whatsoever for that service. If you have any problem, you may be lost. Some of their messages suggest you send email to a support address, but when you do, you get a form reply directing you to a Web page instead. If you subscribed by email, you can't use their Web interface because you don't have the necessary password. If something goes wrong with your subscription, you can't even unsubscribe by email. Personally, I won't join Yahoo!'s Web interface because they demand too much personal data, like birthdate. (Yes, you can lie, but you must remember your lie in case you need it in the future.) I also strongly object to any company which demands to know my email address but won't provide one of theirs that actually gets to a real person. Email must be a two-way medium. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "The cost of silicon chips has been dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 steady at about $1bn per acre for dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu 40 years." --Gordon Moore ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 18:54:26 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: The Columbia Space Shuttle Accident Report * Original: FROM ... Dave Farber Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 13:51:30 -0700 From: Andreas Ramos Subject: The Columbia space shuttle accident report Dave, I sent you this about the Columbia space shuttle last week. You didn't send it out to the IP list, and I don't know whether you oversaw it or you didn't want to send it out. The accident board's report is a remarkable document about the impact of management's decision making process on large organizations. It's really worth reading. yrs, Andreas www.andreas.com Dave, Here's a summary of the report on the Columbia space shuttle accident. yrs, Andreas www.andreas.com Back in February, the space shuttle Columbia came in for a landing. It would pass over Northern California, so I was outside in the early dawn to watch it go overhead. But Palo Alto was cloudy that day. I came in and a few minutes, the radio news reported that the space shuttle had been lost during re-entry. All seven astronauts died. An accident review board, the CAIB, was created and they released their report a few weeks ago. Yesterday, I read the CAIB report. Here are a few notes and a summary of the report, along with links to the report. The day after takeoff, NASA engineers were reviewing the various videos of the takeoff. They noticed that a piece of foam hit the shuttle's wing. This started a discussion among NASA engineers as to whether the foam had caused damage. They estimated the foam was traveling at about 500 miles per hour when it struck the wing. However, NASA management had a tight schedule for a number of missions. There was no time for delays. In previous takeoffs, pieces of foam had hit the shuttles and nothing had happened, so management, who weren't engineers, concluded there was no need to look into this. NASA engineers, using personal contacts, asked the US military and intelligence agencies to use their spy satellites to look at the shuttle's wing. There were three separate attempts to ask for spy photos and each time, NASA management found out about these requests and ordered the military NOT to look at the shuttle. Managers warned the engineers to follow procedures. If the NASA engineers had gotten the images, they would have seen the hole, the astronauts could have stayed in the space station, another shuttle (Atlantis) could be sent up, and the astronauts could return on the second shuttle. At page 140 in the CAIB report, there is a description of these actions and decisions, with a list of three requests for images at p. 166 and a list of eight missed opportunities at p. 167, with a summary at p. 170. At p. 177, the CAIB looks into NASA's decision-making process. The piece of foam stuck the wing, creating a hole in the wing's leading edge. During re-entry, superheated air entered through the hole, melted the wing's aluminum internal structure, and the wing collapsed and fell off the shuttle as it was moving at 12,000 miles per hour. NASA managers, with their demand to stick to the schedule, their refusal to listen to the engineers, and using threats of reprimands against engineers who spoke up, caused the loss of the shuttle and the deaths of the astronauts. In the early 80s, the shuttle Challenger took off in cold weather. The Challenger accident review showed that engineers warned NASA before launch that the O-rings might fail and they asked for a launch delay. NASA managers overrode the engineers and went ahead with the launch. Challenger exploded and all seven astronauts were killed (summary of the Challenger event at p. 199-200.) From the CAIB's summary: ".NASA's management system is unsafe to manage the shuttle system." In contrast, the US Navy has a decision system that actively seeks minority or dissenting opinions. If there are no dissenting opinions, the officers are obligated to actively look for dissenting opinions. At NASA, the opposite was done: management suppressed dissent and did not seek it out. The CAIB report should be read by anyone who works in large organizations. It uncovers the blindness in organizational decision making, shows how this occurs, and how this can be remedied. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB at www.caib.us) 248-page report is at www.caib.us/news/report/default.html (PDF, 10 MB file). I suggest that you fetch this file; the CAIB website will close in early 2004. yrs, andreas www.andreas.com Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 18:59:27 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: FCC Readies Rule to Block Internet Piracy In the fight between the computer industry and the entertainment industry, the entertainment industry can always rely on their support from the FCC. * Original: FROM ... Dave Farber Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 08:10:34 -0700 From: Dewayne Hendricks FCC readies rule to block Internet piracy By Jonathan Krim, Washington Post, 10/19/2003 WASHINGTON -- The federal government is preparing for the first time to require that personal computers and other consumer electronics devices contain technology to help block Internet piracy of digital entertainment. A rule being considered by the Federal Communications Commission is one of a series of proposals pushed by the entertainment industry to help thwart copying and online trading of movies and television shows that increasingly are being broadcast in digital form with high-quality picture and sound. But the new rule also would force consumers to purchase new equipment if they wanted to record enhanced digital-quality television programs and replay them on other machines. Opponents of the proposed rule, including many technology companies and consumer groups, say it won't work. They are especially concerned that the plan might lead to government regulation of how personal computers and other devices are built, particularly if hackers crack the system and further changes are deemed necessary. FCC officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they expect the agency to settle on details of the "broadcast flag" rule by the end of the month. The broadcast flag takes its name from the computer code that would be embedded in digital television signals and would be read by "compliant" devices such as a television or a digital video recorder. The rule would not affect consumers who record shows with VCRs. Nor would it affect programming received on a cable or satellite system, in part because consumers pay for that content. But the entertainment industry does not want digitally enhanced "high-value" entertainment sent free over the air to be easily copied and distributed on the Internet. FCC officials said they expect the final rule to enable competition among different means of deploying the flag system to protect broadcasts, rather than the government anointing one in particular. Unlike with recent FCC decisions on high-speed Internet access and media consolidation that have deeply split the five-member commission, none of the three Republicans and two Democrats has led a public campaign against the broadcast flag. "I'm optimistic we'll have a clean majority," said one senior agency official. "The commission has acted in the area of digital television in a very bipartisan fashion." Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: What on Earth is This? Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 21:11:27 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com In article , jmayson@nyx.net says... > Someone passed this number on to me. 800-522-5380. It's a very strange > recording. I tried a reverse number lookup on it and turned up nothing. It's an AT&T number. I have no clue what it's for though. I need to build a digit grabber. Dave Phelps DD Networks www.ddnets.com deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: Group Special Mobile Subject: Re: Wireless Technology: Some Newbie Questions Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 11:25:30 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: look@signature_for_reply_instructions On Sun, 19 Oct 2003 16:56:10 GMT, Michael D. Sullivan wrote: >> 3) What's EVDO and EVDV? http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/33718 To send an email reply send to GSMthemobilestandard (@) yahoo.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful From: Name Withheld at Reader's Request Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 09:27:41 -0500 Patrick and Lisa - again, please withhold my LAST name and e-mail address. Thanks. From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 09:32:49 -0600 Subject: Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info > On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:02:58 -0400 (EDT), anonymous wrote: >> Patrick & Lisa - in an attempt to avoid spam, please do not post my >> name or e-mail address. Thanks. > Withholding the email address, I can see. Withholding the name? > Smacks more of cowardice than of prudence. "That's just my opinion, I > could be wrong. -Dennis Miller" But hey, at least you're being honest > about not wanting to be identified. Some people hide behind aliases. Hey, Joey -- Ever hear of reverse look-up? Not that I owe you or anyone else an explanation of why I requested my name and e-mail withheld, since I've joined this group I get 30-40 pieces of crap-mail per day. I'm not the network manager and have very little control over the firewalls and spam fighting software. So I'll sign my first name, if that makes you feel any better. For obviously being part of a group that has claimed majority and power, you seem a bit hostile. I did expect that type of response, though. Too bad. Marise ------------------------------ 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 #707 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Oct 20 23:13:44 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9L3Dib08919; Mon, 20 Oct 2003 23:13:44 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 23:13:44 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310210313.h9L3Dib08919@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 #708 TELECOM Digest Mon, 20 Oct 2003 18:52:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 708 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Internet Society Announces New Board Members (Internet Society) Re: Download Cell Phone Book to Computer or Other Phone (Group Spec) Dumb Question: BIX vs. 110 or 66 Punchdown Blocks (Geoffrey Welsh) Nat'l Mobile Narrows Iraq Mobile Supplier Choices (Eric Friedebach) Re: The Columbia Space Shuttle Accident Report (John A. Weeks III) Theirs For the Taking: Sensitive Credit Data (Monty Solomon) Natick Selectmen Consider RCN Fines (Monty Solomon) EFFector 16.27: Action Alert: Stop MPAA's Broadcast Flag (Solomon) EFFector 16.28: Action Alert: USA-PATRIOT Act Reform (Monty Solomon) Can Cable Fast-Forward Past TiVo? (Monty Solomon) A Game Player That Happens to Be a Phone (Monty Solomon) Dell Turns on Satellite TV (Monty Solomon) Telephone <-> Intercom Application (Transom) Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat (Paul A Lee) Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Last Laugh! Direct Email Lead Generation Services (Wm Warren) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 14:16:33 EDT From: Internet Society Subject: Internet Society Announces New Board Members Date: 20 October 2003 Contact: Julie Williams Phone: +1-(703) 464-7005, x111 Cell: +1-703-402-6715 E-mail: JWilliams@isoc.org Internet Society Announces New Board Members for Public Interest Registry; World-Renowned Internet Leaders to Join Board of .ORG Registry -- Priority is to Ensure Exemplary Operation of .ORG Domain Reston, VA -- 20 October 2003 --The Internet Society (ISOC) today announced the selection and approval of new board members for the Public Interest Registry (PIR). PIR was established by ISOC to manage the .ORG domain last year. An initial Board was appointed for a term of one year with an expiration date of 30 October, 2003. "We want to sincerely thank the founding PIR Board for their energy and diligence. The transition of the .ORG registry to PIR was extremely well executed. The operations of PIR are setting a new and higher standard for the operation of a registry, due in very large part, to the superb execution of the founding PIR Board," said ISOC President and CEO Lynn St.Amour. "That said, the new Board represents a wealth of knowledge and experience, both in the technical name space as well as business. We expect the new Board to continue and further refine the direction that has been established so competently by the founding Board." According to Edward Viltz, PIR President & CEO, PIR is committed to continuing to define a new standard of customer satisfaction and registry operations, while providing resources to empower and educate the Internet community it serves, and positioning .ORG as a valued global brand. "We are excited to have this group of known global Internet leaders to help guide us on that path." The new board will be seated on 1 November 2003, and will have staggered terms of 1 to 3 years. The primary criteria in PIR Board member selection was a thorough understanding of registries, registrar and registrant needs, active board participation, and a strong record of excellence in involvement with professional or community organizations. Below is a summary of some of the member's activities. Returning PIR Board members: David Maher (US - 3 years): Partner Chicago office of the law firm Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal; intellectual property and communications law expert; former ISOC VP - Public Policy; member of the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC); World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration & Mediation Center Panel of Neutrals. Marc Rotenberg (US - 3 years): Executive Director Electronic Privacy Information Center; Adjunct Professor Georgetown University Law Center; Chairman American Bar Association Committee on Privacy and Information Protection; UNESCO Expert Panel on Cyberspace Law. Frode Greisen (Europe - 1 year): Board member Rseaux IP Europens (RIPE NCC) Association; former president European Research and Education Network; former chairman and founding board member ISOC; former president Trans-European Education and Research Networking Association (TERENA). New PIR Board members: Amadeu Abril i Abril (Europe - 2 years): ICANN Board of Directors 1999-2003; member ICANN's Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Names Council; professor of EU Law and Director of European Documentation Center at ESADE Law School; legal counsel for IP/IT group for Cuatrecasas Law Firm; legal and policy advisory to Nominalia. Geoff Huston (Asia Pacific - 2 years): Technical Manager Australian Academic and Research Network 1989-1995; Chief Internet Scientist Telstra 1995-present; Internet Architecture Board (IAB) 1999-present; Executive Director IAB; ISOC Founding Board Member (1992-1995), Board Secretary (1993-1999; 2000-2001), Chairman (1999-2000); Asia Pacific Network Information Center Executive Council 8 years. Eva Frlich (Europe - 1 year): 20 years experience in IT and telecom; member Rseaux IP Europens (RIPE), Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries (CENTRE), Internet Council of Registrars (CORE); Director of European Technology Development for Neulevel; Senior Technical Industry Liaison for Neustar; Network Information Centre Sweden AB (NIC-SE). Kenny Huang (Asia Pacific 1 year): pioneer of Internet Development in Taiwan; ICANN Address Council, Asia Pacific Representative; ICANN Internationalized Domain Name Registry Implementation Committee (IDN-RIC); founding member Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC); co-chair Address Policy SIG, Asia Pacific Network; Advisor Chinese Domain Name Consortium; Co-Chair, JET (Joint Engineer Team, formed by JPNIC, KRNIC, CNNIC, TWNIC); Searchable Internet Resource Name (SIREN). ABOUT PIR Public Interest Registry (www.pir.org) is a not-for-profit corporation created by the Internet Society to manage the .ORG domain. PIR's mission is to manage the .ORG domain in an exemplary manner while educating and empowering the global non-commercial community to more effectively utilize the Internet. PIR is based in Reston, Virginia. 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. ------------------------------ From: Group Special Mobile Subject: Re: Download Cell Phone Book to Computer or Another Phone? Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 11:28:08 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: look@signature_for_reply_instructions On 19 Oct 2003 10:29:16 -0700, psu104@yahoo.com wrote: > I there a way to download your phone book from your cellular phone > to your computer? I have a Motorola V60. With a data cable and appropriate software you should be able to. Do google search for Motorola sync software. To send an email reply send to GSMthemobilestandard (@) yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Dumb Question: BIX vs. 110 or 66 Punchdown Blocks Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 14:48:28 -0400 Organization: Bell Sympatico I've never gotten around to asking this before, though it's been on my mind for a long time. Almost all of the equipment I've seen here in Canada -- Bell Canada, Nortel, Mitel, building station cabling -- is terminated on BIX punchdown blocks, but BIX seems practically unknown anywhere else. Is this a plot by our Heritage Ministry to preserve unique Canadian culture?!? 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! We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Nat'l Mobile Narrows Iraq Mobile Supplier Choices Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 14:10:48 -0500 Organization: Fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads. By Ahmad Mustafa KUWAIT, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Kuwait's National Mobile Telecommunications Co. said on Monday either Nokia, Siemens or Ericsson would be its main equipment supplier for part of a mobile network it is building in northern Iraq. One of these companies will be chosen as the supplier for the western part of that network, David Murray, chief executive officer and general manager, told Reuters. In the east, it will be supplied by China's largest telecom gear maker Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., the existing supplier to consortium partner Asia-Cell, a local Iraqi firm already operating in northern Iraq, he added. http://www.forbes.com/business/newswire/2003/10/20/rtr1115261.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ Subject: Re: The Columbia Space Shuttle Accident Report Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 14:55:24 -0500 From: John A. Weeks III Organization: Newave Communications In article , Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > If the NASA engineers had gotten the images, they would have seen > the hole, the astronauts could have stayed in the space station, > another shuttle (Atlantis) could be sent up, and the astronauts > could return on the second shuttle. This is not true. The shuttle was not on a space station mission when the accident happened. To reach the space station, the shuttle has to launch on a very specific path to obtain both the inclination and altitude needed to be in the same orbit as the space station. The shuttle does not carry fuel on-board to change to a different orbit (other than the OMS and retro fuel to do a small amount of navigation and to re-enter). The space station is not an option unless that is your initial goal. There is also no garantee that any imagery would have seen the problem with Columbia. Any defect in the carbon-carbon leading edge could have lead to tradegy, with the smallest fatal defect being smaller than what imagery could have resolved. The only thing that could have found this problem for sure was an EVA (space walk), and in all likelihood, the EVA would have done more damage, and the Columbia had nothing on board that could have fixed the problem. The Columbia report did state that they could have gone into a mode to conserve consumables, and it may have been possible to launch another shuttle in time to rescue the crew. This would all have to have been done on-the-fly with little time to improvise, train, or simulate. > In the early 80s, the shuttle Challenger took off in cold weather. The > Challenger accident review showed that engineers warned NASA before > launch that the O-rings might fail and they asked for a launch > delay. NASA managers overrode the engineers and went ahead with the > launch. Challenger exploded and all seven astronauts were killed The Challenger actually broke up due to aerodynamic forces, and then the fuel burned. It did not explode, and the vehicle was not blown apart by the fuel. The spacecraft was exposed to the supersonic air- flow at an angle in which it was not designed to survive, and it came apart. It is true that NASA was warned about the o-rings. But to be fair, NASA gets warned about a lot of things. The shuttle is a large and complex vehicle, and a lot of things have to go exactly right for a launch. If they stopped the program everytime someone voiced a concern, they would never fly. It is just too bad that sometimes important flaws get past the system of checks and balances, and due to the unforgiving nature of space, the results can easily be fatal. We see this happen about every 10 years at NASA. 3 of the 4 times it resulted in loss of crew/loss of vehicle. Given the compexity of the job and the number of people involved, some might argue that this is a good or a bad safety record. That is the real question coming out of the Columbia disaster. ==================================================================== John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com ==================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 00:40:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Theirs For the Taking: Sensitive Credit Data CONSUMER BEAT Resale of reports depends on an honor system that goes unpoliced. By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 10/19/2003 Sensitive personal financial information belonging to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney recently ended up on sale online for $125, exposing the inner workings of a credit reporting network that operates largely on an honor system and is rarely policed. As part of a story on the vulnerability of personal financial data, The Boston Globe purchased Romney's TransUnion credit report -- listing his credit card accounts, credit card numbers, credit limits, and payment history -- from a Colorado company calling itself Goldshield Inc. It wasn't hard to do. On its website, Goldshield asked: "What are you looking for?" On sale were Social Security numbers ($30), unlisted telephone numbers ($85), telephone billing information ($95), vehicle information ($65), credit reports ($125), and credit card billing statements ($125). Everything a thief would need to steal an identity. All the information was sold with no questions asked. John Strange, who identified himself as the president of Goldshield, said he could obtain a person's credit report or a credit card billing statement without anyone knowing about it. "I can pull miracles out of the air," he said. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 01:04:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Natick Selectmen Consider RCN Fines Cable company criticized over gaps in service By Alison O'Leary Murray, Globe Correspondent, 10/19/2003 Natick selectmen are expected to decide at their meeting tomorrow night whether to fine telecommunications company RCN up to $500 a day for breach of contract or give the company more time to reach town residents with limited access to cable television, telephone, and Internet providers. Last year the board opted to give RCN a one-year extension on the contract terms, which required the company to make service available to all of the nearly 14,000 residences in Natick. But at a meeting earlier this month, RCN vice president and general manager Bob Sheehan admitted that they have fallen short. He described almost 2,500 of those residences as "cold," meaning the company has been unable to extend its network close enough to offer services. Sheehan said RCN has spent $6 million in Natick so far and that it would cost another $2 million to $4 million to comply with their contract. That kind of money, he said, is harder to come by following a change in the telecommunications industry that makes companies more accountable to investors' expectations. RCN executives were expected to meet with Town Administrator Philip Lemnios and members of the Natick Cable Advisory Board to discuss their plans for reaching more Natick residents before tomorrow's meeting. Lemnios said last week that he was looking for specific information, including a timetable for resolving issues. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/10/19/selectmen_consider_rcn_fines/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 01:19:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 16.27: Action Alert: Stop the MPAA's Broadcast Flag! EFFector Vol. 16, No. 27 October 11, 2003 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 266th Issue of EFFector: * Action Alert: Stop the MPAA's Broadcast Flag! * EFF Expands San Francisco Staff * EFF Co-Founder Mitch Kapor Honored by CPSR * Deep Links (8): Silly Wabbit, RFIDs Are for Kids! * Staff Calendar: 10.20.03 - Wendy Seltzer speaks at ISPCon, Santa Clara, CA; 10.24.03 - Lee Tien speaks at BayNet, San Francisco, CA * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/16/27.php ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 01:16:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 16.28: Action Alert: USA-PATRIOT Act Reform: Tell EFFector Vol. 16, No. 28 October 18, 2003 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 267th Issue of EFFector: * Action Alert: USA-PATRIOT Act Reform: Tell Congress to Ask Tough Questions * RIAA Gets Ready to Sue More Music Fans: EFF's "The Great MP3 Caper" Tells the Story * EFF Defends Alleged Filesharer: Another Error in Record Companies' Crusade * ISP Rejects Diebold Copyright Claims Against News Website: EFF Defends Right to Publish Links to Electronic Voting Memos * SunnComm Threatens Princeton Student Over "Shift Key" Research; Backs Down * EFF Thanks SnapGear for Hardware Donation * Deep Links (11): FCC May Give DTV Hollywood Ending * Staff Calendar: 10.18.03 - Wendy Seltzer speaks at ISPCon, Santa Clara, CA.; 10.24.03 - Lee Tien speaks at BayNet, San Francisco, CA. * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/16/28.php ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 02:26:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Can Cable Fast-Forward Past TiVo? By SETH SCHIESEL TiVo, the best-known maker of digital video recorders, may need to worry about people like Peter S. Palermo. But Mr. Palermo may also represent just what the cable television industry has been looking for. A few weeks before the P.G.A. Championship golf tournament in Rochester in August, Mr. Palermo, a real estate broker, was trying to figure out how he would record the broadcast. Mr. Palermo thought about buying a TiVo, the digital video recorder, or DVR. Using a computer hard drive and advanced software, a DVR lets the user pause, rewind and fast-forward even with live television programs. It also provides a much easier way to automatically record programs than is possible with videocassette recorders. In the end, Mr. Palermo was turned off from TiVo by the prospect of having to connect all kinds of wires and adding a new box to his home entertainment system. So, instead, he ordered a relatively new product that his cable company, Time Warner Cable, a unit of Time Warner, has been pitching: a set-top box made by Scientific-Atlanta with a DVR already built in. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/20/technology/20tivo.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 02:34:41 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Game Player That Happens to Be a Phone By ERIC A. TAUB The world is awash in cellphones that deliver only black-and-white video games that are as archaic looking as Pong. Nokia is hoping to change that landscape with N-Gage, its new mobile phone that offers graphically rich, three-dimensional, full-color video games stored on cards. The handset, with its built-in wireless technology, allows two players to compete in the same room, while software built into each game allows players across the world from each other to compete by way of a special Web site. The unit is also an MP3 player, capable of storing songs downloaded from a PC onto a memory card, and an FM radio. Oh, and by the way, it can make phone calls. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/20/technology/20nokia.html ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Dell Turns on Satellite TV Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 17:32:43 -0400 By John G. Spooner Staff Writer, CNET News.com Dell is finalizing a deal to sell satellite TV systems provided by DirecTV. Beginning next month, the Round Rock, Texas, PC maker plans to sell hardware and to sign up subscribers for DirecTV's digital video recording (DVR) service, a Dell representative said. A DirecTV representative confirmed that the two companies are discussing a deal. The system combines DirecTV's satellite TV with TiVo's digital video recorder (DVR), which can store and play back TV programs. http://news.com.com/2100-1041-5093791.html ------------------------------ From: TransomSailor@excite.com (Transom) Subject: Telephone <-> Intercom Application Date: 20 Oct 2003 14:43:09 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I'd like to consult ($) with someone who knows their way around PBXs and intercoms. I've got an application that is similar to the intercom system of an apartment building where the front door intercom gets connected to a telephone when a visitor presses a switch. If you have some experience on the hardware side of this sort of applications please contact me if you'd like to be considered for a short-term consulting project. I will not be checking this group as often as I check e-mail so please send e-mail to me directly. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Paul A Lee Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 17:13:41 -0400 Subject: Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com In TELECOM Digest V22 #707, Barry Margolin wrote (in part): > This is similar to the "Touch-Tone" surcharge that many phone > companies used to have (maybe some still do -- Verizon appears to > have done away with it, although the option still shows up on my > bill with a zero price). Even though electronic switches made it > *less* expensive to support Touch-Tone than pulse dialing, they > could get away with the surcharge because it added value for the > consumer. I seem to recall that the touch tone surcharge was a means the federal government used to induce the Bell System and independent telcos to build DTMF switching capability. Starting around 1963, the feds (especially the Defense Department) pushed the telcos to upgrade to DTMF switching to support the federal networks (AUTOVON, etc.). The objective was to have a more redundant network -- if a switching center got nuked, the DoD operator could DTMF around the problem. The telcos balked at the cost of rebuilding the entire network to deploy DTMF capability for a small percentage of terminals, but realized how marketable touch tone would be to consumers and businesses. So, the feds supported the telcos in getting state regulatory approval for charging an extra $1 per month per touch tone line for 30 years to defray the cost of building DTMF switching. Some states didn't go along, some surcharges were a bit more or less than $1, some telcos were "decent" enough to eliminate the surcharge once the system had been paid for by revenues and technological advances, and some telcos held out the full 30 years. I think the last of the touch tone surcharge tariffs should have expired in 1999 (having been granted in 1969). The Verizon bill that still itemizes the charge is probably a former GTE division. They were late in adopting touch tone, and I think they held out the full 30 years. I remember having touch tone from GTE in 1976, when they actually did a DTMF-to-pulse conversion to serve me from their crossbar switch. It worked that way for almost 10 years, until they put in a GTD-5. That's my recollection of various accounts I have read. Maybe a real telephone historian can corroborate or correct. Paul A Lee Voice: +1 717 730-8355 Sr Telecom Engineer [Voice & Transmission] Fax: +1 717 975-3789 Rite Aid Corporation, Telecomm, 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:24:55 -0600 Subject: Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:14:04 EDT, Marise wrote: >>> Patrick & Lisa - in an attempt to avoid spam, please do not post my >>> name or e-mail address. Thanks. >> Withholding the email address, I can see. Withholding the name? >> Smacks more of cowardice than of prudence. "That's just my opinion, I >> could be wrong. -Dennis Miller" But hey, at least you're being honest >> about not wanting to be identified. Some people hide behind aliases. > Hey, Joey -- Ever hear of reverse look-up? Not that I owe you or > anyone else an explanation of why I requested my name and e-mail > withheld, since I've joined this group I get 30-40 pieces of crap-mail > per day. I'm not the network manager and have very little control > over the firewalls and spam fighting software. So I'll sign my first > name, if that makes you feel any better. For obviously being part of > a group that has claimed majority and power, you seem a bit hostile. > I did expect that type of response, though. Too bad. > Marise Expect what you want. Some of us get a little tired of people popping in here, setting off grenades, and running away - all while ducking under the "I don't want to get spammed" excuse. Which, in and of itself, is a very valid excuse. But "reverse look-up"? What on earth are you talking about? If you have had your email address expunged by the moderator, then no spammer on earth is going to harvest your email address (if they didn't already have it). Spammers deal in bulk -- addresses by the millions. They're not sitting around reading this group, spotting the name "Marise Smith" (or whatever your last name is), and then performing searches to try to find out what your email address is. They ain't got the time for it, and the returns would be vanishingly small. If your email address is available via any kind of search, THEY ALREADY HAVE IT. So do you mean a reverse look-up as in a reverse telephone directory? Y'think spammers are gonna try to phone you? No Marise, if you're going to defend this argument (and/or attack mine), please use a valid reason. As I said, withholding the email address alone is a valid means of fighting spam (or otherwise munging it into human-readable, but not machine-readable, form). That said, you did not make it clear whether or not this is the only place you've made your email address known. If so, then yes, most of your spam has likely been the result of your address being harvested from here. If not, then it's equally likely that it's happened via other means (or a combination of both -- these guys are thorough). Majority? Yes, I claim to be a part of the majority. Power? I don't claim any power. Talk to Pat/Lisa. Finally, as to your assertion that you owe nobody an explanation of why you're posting anonymously ... ok, well, the final ruling comes from Pat/Lisa, but speaking as somebody who's participated in these public forums for more than two decades, I say with some feeling of moral authority that, yes, you do owe us that explanation. Most of us post "publicly", using our real names and real addresses (munged or otherwise). When somebody wanders into the forum and behaves in a manner inconsistent with the rest of the group, we are going to want to know why. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Direct Email Lead Generation Services From: William Warren Organization: Comcast Online Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 12:47:59 GMT Sir, I hung up when they told me they don't take credit cards. Bill ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301-0050 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #708 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Oct 21 01:21:27 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9L5LR909753; Tue, 21 Oct 2003 01:21:27 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 01:21:27 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310210521.h9L5LR909753@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 #709 TELECOM Digest Tue, 21 Oct 2003 01:21:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 709 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson I-D ACTION: Draft-Stastny-Enum-Numbering-Voip-00.txt (joppenheimer Re: The Columbia Space Shuttle Accident Report (Joey Lindstrom) Rendezvous in Space (was Re: Columbia Space Shuttle Accident (R Chapman) Re: Can Cable Fast-Forward Past TiVo? (Ron Chapman) Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat (COTTP) Re: Dumb Question: BIX vs. 110 or 66 Punchdown Blocks (Al Gillis) Re: Dumb Question: BIX vs. 110 or 66 Punchdown Blocks (COTTP) Re: What on Earth is This? (jmayson@nyx.net) Re: What on Earth is This? (Gary Breuckman) Re: Telephone <-> Intercom Application (Gordon S. Hlavenka) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Reply-To: From: Subject: I-D ACTION: Draft-Stastny-Enum-Numbering-Voip-00.txt Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 19:46:54 -0400 Organization: ICB Inc./WhoSells800.com Interesting. http://ICBTollFreeNews.com _ http://800Consulting.com 160 East 26 Street, Suite 6E New York, New York 10010 212 684-7210, 1 800 The Expert CALL 1-800-EVERYONE for low rates on Business Toll Free Service & Long Distance Service -- Standalone Toll Free Service -- Power Conferencing >>To: IETF-Announce: ; >>From: Internet-Drafts@ietf.org >>Reply-to: Internet-Drafts@ietf.org >>Subject: I-D ACTION:draft-stastny-enum-numbering-voip-00.txt >>Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:41:58 -0400 >>Sender: owner-ietf-announce@ietf.org >>A New Internet-Draft is available from the on-line Internet-Drafts >>directories. >> Title : Numbering for VoIP and other IP Communications >> Author(s) : R. Stastny >> Filename : draft-stastny-enum-numbering-voip-00.txt >> Pages : 43 >> Date : 2003-10-20 >> This document gives advice in setting up E.164 compatible numbering >> and dialing plans in administrative domains set up for IP >> Communications in general and VoIP applications in detail. After >> explaining numbering and dialing plans in principle, it discusses >> which types of E.164 numbers should be used for IP based terminals, >> to achieve proper routing of calls and other communications on the >> PSTN/ISDN and also on the Internet, using ENUM technology. >> A URL for this Internet-Draft is: > http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-stastny-enum-numbering-voip-0 0.txt >> To remove yourself from the IETF Announcement list, send a message to >> ietf-announce-request with the word unsubscribe in the body of the >> message. >>Internet-Drafts are also available by anonymous FTP. Login with the username >>"anonymous" and a password of your e-mail address. After logging in, >>type "cd internet-drafts" and then >> "get draft-stastny-enum-numbering-voip-00.txt". >> A list of Internet-Drafts directories can be found in >> http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html >> or ftp://ftp.ietf.org/ietf/1shadow-sites.txt >> Internet-Drafts can also be obtained by e-mail. >> Send a message to: >> mailserv@ietf.org. >> In the body type: >> "FILE /internet-drafts/draft-stastny-enum-numbering-voip-00.txt". >> OTE: The mail server at ietf.org can return the document in >> MIME-encoded form by using the "mpack" utility. To use this >> feature, insert the command "ENCODING mime" before the "FILE" >> command. To decode the response(s), you will need "munpack" or >> a MIME-compliant mail reader. Different MIME-compliant mail readers >> exhibit different behavior, especially when dealing with >> "multipart" MIME messages (i.e. documents which have been split >> up into multiple messages), so check your local documentation on >> how to manipulate these messages. >> >> Below is the data which will enable a MIME compliant mail reader >> implementation to automatically retrieve the ASCII version of the >> Internet-Draft. >> Content-Type: text/plain >> Content-ID: <2003-10-20144818.I-D@ietf.org> >> ENCODING mime >> FILE /internet-drafts/draft-stastny-enum-numbering-voip-00.txt >> > ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 18:24:34 -0600 Subject: Re: The Columbia Space Shuttle Accident Report Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info Thank you, John, for an excellent rebuttal to what sure seemed like a one-sided trashing of NASA (I note there was very little in that article that tried to show the other side of the story). On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 18:52:21 -0400 (EDT), John A. Weeks III wrote: >> If the NASA engineers had gotten the images, they would have seen >> the hole, the astronauts could have stayed in the space station, >> another shuttle (Atlantis) could be sent up, and the astronauts >> could return on the second shuttle. > This is not true. The shuttle was not on a space station mission when > the accident happened. To reach the space station, the shuttle has to > launch on a very specific path to obtain both the inclination and > altitude needed to be in the same orbit as the space station. The > shuttle does not carry fuel on-board to change to a different orbit > (other than the OMS and retro fuel to do a small amount of navigation > and to re-enter). The space station is not an option unless that is > your initial goal. I heard a lot of this on CNN and other outlets from so-called "experts". "They coulda gone to the space station and waited for rescue!" These aren't Buicks we got running around out there. As you said, the space station wasn't an option. But since you seem well-informed, I'll ask these questions: assuming they had detected this problem prior to de-orbit, was it an option to simply remain in orbit and await rescue? How much food/air/supplies do they have on board for such a contingency? Could a rescue launch have been mounted in a short enough time to get them out of there safely? And, what kinds of technical problems would have been involved in such a rescue? So far as I know, there've never been two shuttles in space at the same time, let alone one trying to reach another for a rescue. The logistics alone would be a nightmare. > There is also no garantee that any imagery would have seen the problem > with Columbia. Any defect in the carbon-carbon leading edge could > have lead to tradegy, with the smallest fatal defect being smaller > than what imagery could have resolved. The only thing that could have > found this problem for sure was an EVA (space walk), and in all > likelihood, the EVA would have done more damage, and the Columbia had > nothing on board that could have fixed the problem. Could you explain more fully your statement that an EVA could have resulted in more damage? As for the imagery, I tend towards being even more pessimistic: I believe it's EXCEEDINGLY doubtful that any imagery would have detected the problem, unless we were talking about a monstrously gaping hole in the wing -- which, as far as we know, probably wasn't the case. > The Columbia report did state that they could have gone into a mode to > conserve consumables, and it may have been possible to launch another > shuttle in time to rescue the crew. This would all have to have been > done on-the-fly with little time to improvise, train, or simulate. See my questions above. I assume, also, that survivability would be increased the earlier into the mission (and thus the earlier they switch to conservation mode) they detect the problem. > It is true that NASA was warned about the o-rings. But to be fair, > NASA gets warned about a lot of things. The shuttle is a large and > complex vehicle, and a lot of things have to go exactly right for a > launch. If they stopped the program everytime someone voiced a > concern, they would never fly. It is just too bad that sometimes > important flaws get past the system of checks and balances, and due to > the unforgiving nature of space, the results can easily be fatal. > We see this happen about every 10 years at NASA. 3 of the 4 times it > resulted in loss of crew/loss of vehicle. Given the compexity of the > job and the number of people involved, some might argue that this is a > good or a bad safety record. That is the real question coming out of > the Columbia disaster. I tend to agree. While there's probably room for improvement (ie: your statement that sometimes an IMPORTANT flaw gets through), I'd have to say that their safety record is pretty damned good. Again, these aren't Buicks and these ain't trips to the store. These are seriously dangerous endeavours (no pun intended) where a great many things can go wrong -- and there ain't no AAA out there. If something breaks, it can easily kill you. This reminds me of a non-fiction essay in Robert A. Heinlein's "Expanded Universe", in which he writes of the trip he and his wife Virginia took to the Soviet Union -- this would have been late 50's or early 60's, PRIOR to Gugarin's historic flight. Anyways, one day during the trip, everybody they met (schoolteachers, tour guides, soldiers, people on the streets) gushed with excitement at the latest triumph for the Soviet Union: they had put a man in space. It was even printed in the local newspaper (in whatever town they were in at the time). By evening, nobody would admit it had happened -- or, rather, that the flight was unmanned and only contained a dummy. The evening newspapers all ran stories containing only the newer "pravda". After their return from the Soviet Union, they confirmed that there had been no (substantiated) reports of a manned Soviet launch in the press OUTSIDE of the Iron Curtain. So the question is: did somebody jump the gun with an incorrect news story, or is there even now a dead cosmonaut orbiting above us? :-) (I know, there's been a lot of debunking of this theory, but still ... y'never know.) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 20:21:14 -0400 From: Ron Chapman Subject: Rendezvous in Space (was Re: The Columbia Space Shuttle Accident In article , John A. Weeks III wrote: >> If the NASA engineers had gotten the images, they would have seen >> the hole, the astronauts could have stayed in the space station, >> another shuttle (Atlantis) could be sent up, and the astronauts >> could return on the second shuttle. > This is not true. The shuttle was not on a space station mission when > the accident happened. To reach the space station, the shuttle has to > launch on a very specific path to obtain both the inclination and > altitude needed to be in the same orbit as the space station. Did anyone see HBO's From The Earth To The Moon? Wonderful TV. It gives you back a reason to have a TV. Anyway, once they decided they were going to do it, and the basic steps, they had a meeting to discuss these steps. Stephen Root (I love him; he can play a wide range of characters, from Milton in Office Space all the way up to this role) as Chris Kraft was heading the meeting, and discussed rendezvous: "OK, you go in back of my house and I'll stand in front. You throw a rock over the roof; I'll throw a tennis ball, and try to hit your rock. That's rendezvous." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 20:26:09 -0400 From: Ron Chapman Subject: Re: Can Cable Fast-Forward Past TiVo? In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > By SETH SCHIESEL > TiVo, the best-known maker of digital video recorders, may need to > worry about people like Peter S. Palermo. But Mr. Palermo may also > represent just what the cable television industry has been looking > for. > A few weeks before the P.G.A. Championship golf tournament in > Rochester in August, Mr. Palermo, a real estate broker, was trying to > figure out how he would record the broadcast. > Mr. Palermo thought about buying a TiVo, the digital video recorder, > or DVR. Using a computer hard drive and advanced software, a DVR lets > the user pause, rewind and fast-forward even with live television > programs. It also provides a much easier way to automatically record > programs than is possible with videocassette recorders. > In the end, Mr. Palermo was turned off from TiVo by the prospect of > having to connect all kinds of wires and adding a new box to his home > entertainment system. So, instead, he ordered a relatively new product > that his cable company, Time Warner Cable, a unit of Time Warner, has > been pitching: a set-top box made by Scientific-Atlanta with a DVR `> already built in. > http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/20/technology/20tivo.html It's interesting to note that with Time Warner's DVR box, the user is UNABLE to record pay per view movies and events. Sure, Time Warner's box has two tuners inside, allowing you to record two separate events simultaneously -- or watch one with full pause and rewind capability while recording another. But the no PPV thing is very telling, because the cable companies really and truly want to control what you watch and how. I bet they end up charging an extra $10 to give you the ability to skip through commercials. And another $10 to allow you to record premium channels. Etc, etc. ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 21:22:52 -0500 In article , palee@riteaid.com says: > The Verizon bill that still itemizes the charge is probably a former > GTE division. They were late in adopting touch tone, and I think they > held out the full 30 years. I remember having touch tone from GTE in > 1976, when they actually did a DTMF-to-pulse conversion to serve me > from their crossbar switch. It worked that way for almost 10 years, > until they put in a GTD-5. No -- that's not it. I'm in Rhode Island -- Providence to be precise and the city had been on a #1ESS since the early 70's and was upgraded to a DMS-100 sometime around 1995 or so. We still see the Touch-Tone charge itemized at $0.00 on our bills too. It's like they want us to know they could be charging for it, but out of the goodness of their hearts they aren't. ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Dumb Question: BIX vs. 110 or 66 Punchdown Blocks Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 17:24:32 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com It's quite possible that, along with radio programs (or should it be programmes?), your government requires that telephone systems have a certain percentage of Canadian content to be legal. You know how governments can be! But, on the other hand, requiring a certain percentage of Canadian content made many Canadian musical groups popular on your radio stations! Maybe the same thinking explains the widespread use of BIX blocks? Geoffrey Welsh wrote in message news:telecom22.709.3@telecom-digest.org: > I've never gotten around to asking this before, though it's been on my > mind for a long time. > Almost all of the equipment I've seen here in Canada -- Bell Canada, > Nortel, Mitel, building station cabling -- is terminated on BIX > punchdown blocks, but BIX seems practically unknown anywhere else. > Is this a plot by our Heritage Ministry to preserve unique Canadian > culture?!? > 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! > We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we > are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but > because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one > stands against crime. ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Dumb Question: BIX vs. 110 or 66 Punchdown Blocks Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 21:15:31 -0500 In article , reply@newsgroup.please says: > I've never gotten around to asking this before, though it's been on my > mind for a long time. > Almost all of the equipment I've seen here in Canada -- Bell Canada, > Nortel, Mitel, building station cabling -- is terminated on BIX > punchdown blocks, but BIX seems practically unknown anywhere else. > Is this a plot by our Heritage Ministry to preserve unique Canadian > culture?!? No it isn't. Verizon used them during a period in the late 90's for breakout on multi-pair drops. Stupid when you consider the rest of wiring was on 110 blocks. ------------------------------ From: jmayson@nyx.net Subject: Re: What on Earth is This? Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 01:24:42 GMT Organization: Road Runner - Texas >> Someone passed this number on to me. 800-522-5380. It's a very strange >> recording. I tried a reverse number lookup on it and turned up nothing. > It's an AT&T number. I have no clue what it's for though. I need to > build a digit grabber. You mean AT&T provides the service or AT&T actually "owns" the number? John Mayson Austin, Texas, USA ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: What on Earth is This? Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 21:48:38 -0500 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , Dave Phelps wrote: > In article , jmayson@nyx.net says: >> Someone passed this number on to me. 800-522-5380. It's a very >> strange recording. I tried a reverse number lookup on it and turned up >> nothing. > It's an AT&T number. I have no clue what it's for though. I need to > build a digit grabber. The voice says (this time) 2167113228206 The touchtone digits are 216#42#7113228206#02 -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 21:51:01 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Telephone <-> Intercom Application Transom wrote: > I'd like to consult ($) with someone who knows their way around PBXs > and intercoms. I've got an application that is similar to the intercom > system of an apartment building where the front door intercom gets > connected to a telephone when a visitor presses a switch. Most PBXs support a "door module" which does this. I know that Panasonic 616 PBXs show up on eBay for under $500 with the door module included. I'm sure other brands/models are available in that price range as well, but I've been keeping an eye out for cheap 616-compatible phones so that's the system I've been keeping up with. Aside to TELECOM Digest folks: Anybody looking to dispose of some KX-T61630 or similar phones, cheap? I see them sold individually for $100+, but I also see 616 systems including the switch, door module and 1 or 2 stations, plus 5 or a dozen 61630/650 stations going at auction for $300 -- $500. I have a 616, I just want more phones. Prefer phones w/LCD. Cosmetics unimportant as long as they work. But I'm looking more in the $10 and under range. Yeah, I know -- the 616 is old and there are niftier units out there. But I've GOT the 616 already :-) Plus, if I can figure out how to add Caller ID to my 616, I just might turn that into a Product. There are a lot of 616s still in service ... Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #709 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Oct 21 14:21:04 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9LIL4A14163; Tue, 21 Oct 2003 14:21:04 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 14:21:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310211821.h9LIL4A14163@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 #710 TELECOM Digest Tue, 21 Oct 2003 14:20:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 710 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Theirs For the Taking: Sensitive Data (Marcus Didius Falco) Cingular Wireless Posts Third-Quarter Net Subscriber Gain (M Solomon) Cingular Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) (Monty Solomon) Microsoft Monopoly Says Apple Monopoly Too Restrictive (Monty Solomon) AT&T Announces Third Quarter 2003 Earnings (Monty Solomon) Government Microsoft Fight Over Online Music (Monty Solomon) EarthLink Reports Net Income of $3.5 Million Third Quarter (M Solomon) Voiceplus (Mohair) Re: Can Cable Fast-Forward Past TiVo? (Barry Margolin) Dropping 1st Digit on Auto ATT (Chris) Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? (Scott Dorsey) Cheap Phonecard to Call Portugal From Florida (zaphod) Re: What on Earth is This? (will) Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful (Marise) Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful (Phil Earnhardt) Re: "Fax Spam" (Tonia Grigg) Removal From Fax (Meg Trafton) 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, 21 Oct 2003 00:06:29 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Theirs For the Taking: Sensitive Data http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/10/19/theirs_for_the_taking_sensitive_credit_data/ http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/10/19/theirs_for_the_taking_sensitive_credit_data?mode=PF By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 10/19/2003 Sensitive personal financial information belonging to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney recently ended up on sale online for $125, exposing the inner workings of a credit reporting network that operates largely on an honor system and is rarely policed. As part of a story on the vulnerability of personal financial data, The Boston Globe purchased Romney's TransUnion credit report -- listing his credit card accounts, credit card numbers, credit limits, and payment history -- from a Colorado company calling itself Goldshield Inc. It wasn't hard to do. On its website, Goldshield asked: "What are you looking for?" On sale were Social Security numbers ($30), unlisted telephone numbers ($85), telephone billing information ($95), vehicle information ($65), credit reports ($125), and credit card billing statements ($125). Everything a thief would need to steal an identity. All the information was sold with no questions asked. John Strange, who identified himself as the president of Goldshield, said he could obtain a person's credit report or a credit card billing statement without anyone knowing about it. "I can pull miracles out of the air," he said. But those miracles apparently were obtained illegally. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act prohibits companies or individuals from obtaining credit reports for other than a "permissible purpose." There are a number of permissible purposes, but the main ones include determining the credit worthiness of an individual, screening new employees, and underwriting insurance. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, any employee at a consumer reporting agency who releases an individual's information to someone who is unauthorized to receive it, or someone who obtains such information under false pretenses, is subject to fines and imprisonment for up to two years. Since Goldshield's sale of Romney's credit report to the Globe and the Globe's purchase of it appeared to violate the law, TransUnion immediately launched an investigation to find out what happened. After 10 days of review, TransUnion spokesman Jeffrey Junkas disclosed that the Chicago-based company had sold the Romney credit report to Savvydata Technologies of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which in turn sold the report to Colorado-based USA Skiptrace. USA Skiptrace and Goldshield share employees and the same toll-free phone number, so it appears USA Skiptrace passed the Romney credit report to Goldshield. Junkas, who said he did not know how many credit reports had made their way to Goldshield in the past, accused Savvydata of violating its contractual obligations to TransUnion by transferring Romney's credit report to a third party for a nonpermissible purpose. "The responsibility lies with the reseller to follow their obligation and comply with the law," Junkas said. TransUnion halted Savvydata's access to its credit reports, but as of late last week it had not referred the case to law enforcement authorities. Savvydata, a company that offers its business clients pre-employment screening, data security assistance, and white-collar crime investigative services, blamed USA Skiptrace. Goldshield for the security lapse. Michael Nevins, the president and chief executive of Savvydata, said all of the firm's customers go through a detailed due diligence process. "We are investigating the current situation and have suspended all business activities with the company in question," Nevins said in a statement. "We are cooperating fully with TransUnion to determine if our customer has violated any of our agreements and policies." Goldshield/USA Skiptrace, which charged the Globe $125 for Romney's credit report, paid less than $7 for it, Nevins said. He did not know what his company paid TransUnion for the report, but said it was probably less than $7 because his firm does such high-volume business with TransUnion. Officials at USA Skiptrace and Goldshield, which as of this week is no longer listing credit reports or credit card statements as being for sale on its website, could not be reached for further comment. Mary Culnan, a professor of management at Bentley College in Waltham who specializes in privacy issues, said the Goldshield incident illustrates the pass-the-buck mentality of the credit reporting industry. She said the industry is dominated by three national credit bureaus -- TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian -- but has a soft underbelly of resellers. "It's just a big chain," she said. "This is supposed to be a lockdown system, but it's not." Critics also say the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general don't do enough to enforce the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in San Francisco sent a letter on Oct. 8 to Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, urging him to investigate the release of Romney's credit report. Reilly declined to comment. "It's basically a black market in information that leads back to one place, the credit bureaus," said Jamie Court, the executive director of the foundation. "This information isn't falling off a truck. It's being delivered." US Representative Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat serving on the House Financial Services Committee, said the law is difficult to enforce. "Part of it's a resources problem. Part of it's a priority problem," he said. "It's hard to prevent the sale of these things, since the purpose of them is to make them available to other people to determine whether to give you credit." Peggy Twohig, assistant director for financial practices at the FTC, said resellers of credit reports have been a problem in the past. She said Congress in 1999 tried to address the issue by requiring that credit reporting agencies and resellers maintain an audit trail of who receives a consumer's credit information and for what purpose. It's unclear how extensive the audit trail was in this instance, but some critics say the Goldshield case illustrates how the security of the nation's credit reporting industry is largely dependent on an honor system. When one link in the credit reporting distribution chain fails to fulfill its responsibilities, these critics say, the entire system collapses. "TransUnion would laugh you out the door if you asked them for this sort of information directly, but they're willing to sell it to another company I've never heard of who's willing to sell it to another company I've never heard of," said Ed Mierzwinski, program director for the US Public Interest Group, a consumer watchdog organization in Washington. "TransUnion just wants to make a lot of money and they don't want to be bothered with the end of the food chain." Bruce Mohl can be reached at mohl@globe.com. Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 08:30:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Wireless Posts Third-Quarter Net Subscriber Gain Cingular Wireless Posts Third-Quarter Net Subscriber Gain of 745,000; Ahead of Schedule in GSM/GPRS Network Conversion - Oct 20, 2003 05:06 PM (PR Newswire) -- Net adds up 38 percent compared with the second quarter of this year, Cingular's third consecutive quarter of strong sequential improvement in net adds -- High-quality subscriber growth with 92 percent of third-quarter net adds post-paid -- 2.7 million gross adds, up 21 percent from the second quarter of this year and up 44 percent versus the third quarter of 2002 -- 4.6 percent year-over-year growth and 4.4 percent sequential growth in revenues to a record $4.0 billion -- Cellular/PCS data revenues up 104 percent versus the third quarter of 2002 -- Cingular's GSM/GPRS network now available to 92 percent of company's POPs ATLANTA, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ Cingular Wireless LLC, the United States' second largest wireless company, today reported third quarter results driven by strong marketplace execution, accelerated subscriber growth and rapid expansion of its GSM/GPRS network coverage. For the three months ended Sept. 30, 2003, Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS), achieved net subscriber additions of 745,000, up 38 percent from net adds of 540,000 in the second quarter of this year. This was Cingular's strongest net add quarter in more than two years, bringing its nationwide cellular/PCS customer base to 23.4 million. Third-quarter gross subscriber adds totaled 2.7 million, the best quarterly total in Cingular's history - up 21 percent from the second quarter of this year and up 44 percent from the third quarter of 2002. While accelerating subscriber growth, Cingular has also moved ahead of schedule in its GSM/GPRS network overlay. As of Oct. 20, Cingular's GSM/GPRS network is now available to 92 percent of the company's total POPs, exceeding and substantially in advance of its previously announced target of 90 percent coverage by the end of 2003. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36151088 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 08:32:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) Snap It, Say It, And Send It With Cingular's New Multimedia Messaging Service - Oct 10, 2003 10:52 AM (PR Newswire) Cingular Wireless First To Offer MMS Notification to Most Mobile Phones ATLANTA, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cingular Wireless, the second largest wireless carrier in the nation, today introduced its next generation messaging service -- Multimedia Messaging (MMS) -- a full-featured, easy to use, and simply priced enhanced messaging service, that includes Cingular's unique MMS notification feature. Cingular's MMS lets its customers shoot and add photos, text, graphics, music, video and voice to send "living" messages instantly to virtually any e-mail address or mobile phone. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36027153 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 08:51:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft Monopoly Says Apple Monopoly is Too Restrictive By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco Posted: 20/10/2003 at 09:15 GMT Microsoft would be negligent if it didn't see Apple's music ambitions as a competitive threat. On the eve of Apple's splashy launch last week, Microsoft offered a Q&A which warned users not to be seduced by iTunes, Apple's integrated MP3 player/ripper/burner/radio/music store, which is now available on Windows. Microsoft's David Fester (and whether Fester is his birthname or an homage[*] to his CEO, we don't know; Intel employs a Mr. Jason 'Ziller', which isn't at all relevant here) warned that iTunes carried several disadvantages. It's worth quoting in full: http://theregister.com/content/7/33468.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 08:58:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Announces Third Quarter 2003 Earnings BEDMINSTER, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 2003--AT&T (NYSE:T) -- Third Quarter Earnings Per Diluted Share from Continuing Operations of $0.58 -- Consolidated Revenue of $8.6 Billion -- Operating Income of $829 Million AT&T (NYSE:T) today reported income from continuing operations of $458 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.58, for the third quarter of 2003. The company's current quarter income from continuing operations compares to income of $525 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.67, in the third quarter of 2002. This quarter's net income of $418 million, or $0.53 per share, included a charge of $27 million, or $0.03 per share, related to the cumulative effect of the adoption of a new accounting standard and $13 million, or $0.02 per share, of losses from discontinued operations. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36157359 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 09:01:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Government, Microsoft Fight Over Online Music By TED BRIDIS AP Technology Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly a year after Microsoft Corp. agreed to end its anticompetitive conduct, the government is raising concerns the world's largest software maker is trying to use its dominant Windows operating system to influence where customers buy their music online. If the dispute isn't resolved by week's end, it could become the first test of Microsoft's landmark antitrust settlement that was approved by a federal court in October 2002. Lawyers for the Justice Department and 19 state attorneys general have formally complained to a federal judge about a design feature of Windows that compels consumers who buy music online to use only Microsoft's Internet browser and steers them to a Web site operated by the company. Microsoft's design "may be inconsistent" with the settlement, government lawyers wrote in court papers asking U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to intervene if the problems aren't resolved. The company said Monday it is willing to work with the government but does not believe the design is illegal. Online music purchases are expected to be one of the most-lucrative areas for Internet commerce. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 08:57:39 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EarthLink Reports Net Income of $3.5 Million for Third Quarter ATLANTA, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EarthLink, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELNK) today announced its financial results for its third quarter that ended September 30, 2003. Financial highlights for the quarter: - Revenues of $347.4 million, an increase of 2.0 percent from the same period a year ago. - Earnings before interest income and expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $45.5 million compared to $22.4 million from a year ago. - Earnings before acquisition-related amortization of $26.4 million, or $0.16 per share, compared to a loss of ($645,000), or $0.00 per share, from a year ago. - Net income of $3.5 million, or $0.02 per share, compared to a loss of ($30.1) million, or ($0.20) per share, from a year ago. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36157611 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 14:05:42 GMT From: Mohair Subject: Voiceplus Organization: Optimum Online What other charges are involved? Are there line charges, taxes, FCC charges, etc? ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Can Cable Fast-Forward Past TiVo? Organization: Level(3) Communications, Woburn, MA Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 14:11:00 GMT In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > In the end, Mr. Palermo was turned off from TiVo by the prospect of > having to connect all kinds of wires and adding a new box to his home > entertainment system. "all kinds of wires"? It's basically the same as hooking up a VCR. The only additional connection is the IR Blaster, which allows the DVR to change the channel on the cable box (something VCR owners have long been wishing for). Of all the arguments against DVRs I've heard, this is the most ridiculous. 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. ------------------------------ From: cshields@mynra.com (Chris) Subject: Dropping 1st Digit on Auto ATT Date: 21 Oct 2003 07:36:18 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am having a problem with a customer's system; Legend with an audix vm system. What it is doing is when a caller comes in to that AA and tries to enter the party's extension, sometimes the system seems to drop the first digit when the second digit is "1". and sends the call to the dispatcher which is dial "1" option in the AA. for example: caller dials 512, system drops the 5 and see's the 1, and sends the call to the dispatcher. This does not happen all the time but it happens enough to be an annoyance to dispatch. I have checked all dial plans, coverage groups and so on. I have even gone as far as to have them keep track of the calls to see if they were possible cell phones that possible didn't have the best signal. This turned out to be false because a good majority of these calls were in fact coming from a land line. Has any body else had this or a similar problem that might be able to help? ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? Date: 21 Oct 2003 12:27:09 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) AES/newspost wrote: > Is there some kind of standard tool kit for signal tracing, with a > signal generator I can clamp onto a pair of wires, or preferably onto > the bundle of twisted pairs inside a cable jacket full of wires at one > end -- hopefully, without having to actually contact the individual > wires -- and a detector I can wave near the possible route or the > possible other end of the cable, to see if it really _is_ the other > end? > Sources for buying such? Go to your local Graybar. Ask for a "fox and hound." --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: uktelecommobile@yahoo.com (zaphod) Subject: Cheap Phonecard to Call Portugal From Florida Date: 21 Oct 2003 04:29:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com A friend needs to call a PSTN line in Portugal from Florida while he's on holiday next month. The cheapest option in the UK would be a prepaid calling card -- could anyone reccomend one for use in Florida? Thanks, z ------------------------------ From: wrampart@hotmail.com (will) Subject: Re: What on Earth is This? Date: 21 Oct 2003 04:35:28 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Dave Phelps wrote in message news:: > In article , jmayson@nyx.net says: >> Someone passed this number on to me. 800-522-5380. It's a very strange >> recording. I tried a reverse number lookup on it and turned up nothing. > It's an AT&T number. I have no clue what it's for though. I need to > build a digit grabber. > Dave Phelps > DD Networks > www.ddnets.com > deadspam=tippenring 225#19#7113228206#02 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful From: Marise_ (Remainder deleted at User's Request) Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 07:53:02 -0500 [Please withhold last name and e-mail address] Joey Lindstrom on Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:24:55 -0600 wrote about Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful > Expect what you want. Some of us get a little tired of people popping > in here, setting off grenades, and running away - all while ducking > under the "I don't want to get spammed" excuse. Which, in and of > itself, is a very valid excuse. > But "reverse look-up"? What on earth are you talking about? A Google search will give you lots of web sites to search for e-mail addresses by the person's name, some for a fee, others not. Perhaps I'm being a little too cautious, but oh well, safety first. I didn't run away -- I'm still here. Although I know I haven't been in this group for as long as many others I have sat quietly for the past 2 years or so, just reading, learning, picking up a few good tips, only submitting a telecom-related question here or there. I've read the heated arguments on non-telecom related topics. I have not been as vocal here as some participants like yourself, so I guess I was only asking for it by participating in such a discussion. Lesson learned. Marise ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 22:52:58 -0600 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 09:27:41 -0500, Name Withheld at Reader's Request wrote: > For obviously being part of > a group that has claimed majority and power, you seem a bit hostile. You really are missing the point here. If you with to make postings that have nothing to do with telecom, they have no place in this newsgroup. It really doesn't matter if your posting advocates the current majority party or lambastes them. It doesn't matter if you promote the main party not in power or criticize them unmercifully. It doesn't even matter if you speak of the positives or negatives of some third party. If it's not about telecommunications, it doesn't belong here in this newsgroup. Period. End of story. Now, given it's a moderated group, the moderator should be taking care of such things. But no moderator is perfect; sometimes they let inappropriate postings get through. > I did expect that type of response, though. Too bad. You're way off base here. All Joey is saying is that this isn't the forum for such discussions. If you had made postings fawning about GW, those would be completely inappropriate. And I bet that Joey would have complained about them, too. There are plenty of USENET groups dedicated to political discussion. This isn't one of them. If you feel a need to make postings about politics that have nothing to do with telecom, please make them in one of those newsgroups. Thanks! > Marise --phil ------------------------------ From: Tonia Grigg Subject: Re: "Fax Spam" Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 08:14:13 -0500 We've noticed a sharp increase in spam from "Wall Street Stock Alerts" as well. A little digging shows that their hands have been slapped once by the FCC already (http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2002/EB-02-TC-071.html). You can submit a new consumer complaint at http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm. Apparently, the spam goes deeper, and is associated with Fax.com. In August 2002, the FCC proposed a $5,379,000 fine against Fax.com for violating "junk fax"prohibition. In March 2003, a judge ruled in favor of Fax.com and ordered a stay of FCC efforts to fine Fax.com. However, this ruling was quickly overturned on an appeal. A table is available at http://privatecitizen.com/fcc-nal-fdc/firm-nmbr.htm with specific opt-out phone numbers (match your spam to the list). Regardless of the history lesson, I'd be inclined to lodge a new complaint since they obviously have not learned their lesson. Tonia Dousay Grigg [tonia.grigg@teexmail.tamu.edu] Instructional Design Specialist Engineering Utilities and Public Works Training Institute Texas Engineering Extension Service Office: 979/845-6565 Fax: 979/845-2443 ------------------------------ From: Meg Trafton Subject: Removal From Fax Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 10:07:39 -0400 We have been trying to get our fax number removed from "Travel Partners" list and always get a recording that the circuits are busy. Any way of having that number removed by you? Our fax number is below. Meg Trafton Dover Secretarial Services 6 Dover Point Rd. Suite B Dover, NH 03801 603-742-1971 FAX: 603-742-6347 dssmeg@c1mail.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well Meg, here at the Digest, we do not remove numbers from lists. I do have here however a number of first rate instuctors who are good at helping companies learn their lessons, as Tonia Grigg in the neighboring message in this issue longs for. What you should have done was supply us with the phone number for 'Travel Partners' for inclusion in our business directory. Their voice and fax numbers would be very important for our instructors to use when helping recalcitrant companies to learn their lessons. This business directory is most useful for all our readers. Instructors and other readers: Do you have any data on 'Travel Partners' and/or 'fax.com'? Look of course at Private Citizen as Tonia suggests, but Meg, would you PLEASE write again, *not* with your fax and office numbers as targets but with 'Travel Partners' numbers in the message so our instructors can compare notes and see what can be done to help you and Tonia. Thanks. 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #710 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Oct 21 23:38:58 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9M3cwO24092; Tue, 21 Oct 2003 23:38:58 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 23:38:58 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310220338.h9M3cwO24092@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 #711 TELECOM Digest Tue, 21 Oct 2003 23:39:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 711 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Who is in Charge of the Internet? The Contest Continues (Ronda Hauben) Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? (COTTP) Re: Can Cable Fast-Forward Past TiVo? (COTTP) Re: USF Recovery Fee (Sid Zafran) Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers->Long Time No See (M Yougth) Re: What on Earth is This? (Al Gillis) Maps of Global Fiber Optic Backbones? (AES/newspost) Re: Removal From Fax (Steven J Sobol) Fax Removal Test Numbers (Carl Navarro) Re: More About Spam Email (Fritz Whittington) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ronda Hauben Subject: Who is in Charge of the Internet? The Contest Continues Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 00:31:16 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC Pat, The question of who controls the Internet's infrastructure continues as an important issue. It is good to see that many in the Internet community are taking it seriously. Here is an article about it that I just wrote for Telepolis. Ronda WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE INTERNET? Verisign's Unilateral Actions versus an Internet model or How to Manage the Internet's Infrastructure? by Ronda Hauben http://www.heise.de/tp/english/inhalt/te/15903/1.html It has been a common perception that nobody is in charge of the Internet, that there is no controlling entity, nor should there be. The recent controversy over Verisign's Site Finder(1), however, shows that it is indeed a misperception that no one controls the Internet. Instead, there is currently a contest over who does and who should exercise this control. This contest is being played out over the question of what management structure is needed for the Internet's infrastructure.(2) On Wednesday, October 15, 2003, Verisign, announced that they will reintroduce their Site Finder advertising site.(3) They believe that there is a vacuum and that they can usurp the power and wealth that will accrue to any company that can seize control of aspects of the Internet's infrastructure. Verisign has a contract with the U.S. government to control the DNS directory (called a registry) for .com and .net domain names. The recent crisis erupted in September, when Verisign directed packets for any unassigned .net or .com domain name to their Site Finder site. In response, there were various soundings of alarm on the Internet. Verisign, on its part, claimed that it was introducing an "innovation" for the Internet's infrastructure. The crisis was abated temporarily when Verisign agreed to halt the use of Site Finder, in response to a threat that they would lose their contract for the .com and .net registry. In some of the many pages of press articles that appeared on the controversy, the question was raised, "Who is in charge of the Internet?"(4) Recently, on the Netizens mailing list, Alexandru Petrescu raised several questions. He wrote(5): "Say, what would a netizen do in this entire context? "Is a netizen hurt by a potentially helpful service? "Is a US netizen hurt by a potentially helpful service? "Is a netizen outraged by the side-effects of the commercialization of the Internet in that private interests (and not public interests) lead to destabilizing the overall working of the Internet? A netizen would need to provide a palpable counter-argument of how this endangers, and make it as visible as the advantage. This can be done, instead of crying 'wolf'." Such questions focus attention on the users of the Internet, particularly the netizens, the active participants working for the Internet's continuing development as a collaborative and ever more inclusive global electronic commons.(6) Verisign's unilateral action was greeted by many netizens with comments and online discussions, appearing on mailing lists, web sites and in Usenet newsgroups. Among the many reasons given to condemn Verisign's actions, was a post in a Usenet newsgroup. The post analyzes how directing Internet packets to Site Finder is a violation of the public nature of the Internet's infrastructure. The Usenet post explains(7): "Whether or not it has any impact, socially or technically, is beside the point. What gives VeriSign defacto ownership of all domain names not registered by someone else? Why is it entitled to use, for its own lucrative commercial purposes, the virtually infinite domain of domains, shutting out all others? Why has no one addressed this?" John Higdon Anytown, USA A subsequent post sarcastically describes some of the implications of Verisign's action to assume private ownership of all unregistered .net and .com domain names: "Can you imagine registering a new domain and getting some angry emails to your postmaster account that blast you for hijacking this 'nifty search engine' that used to come up at your URL? They would accuse YOU of hijacking the domain! "Obviously, VeriSign believes that in return for providing root servers for the two top-level domains that they are entitled to exploit for their own use ANY conceivable second-level domain name that is not, in fact, registered to someone. In other words, when you register a domain name (through any registrar), you are in fact transferring that name from VeriSign's stewardship to yours. The difference is that you have to pay in perpetuity to continue using it; VeriSign gets it at no charge." John Higdon Anytown, USA This post helps to highlight that the nature of the Internet's infrastructure is public. It is like other public utilities, such as the water system and the electricity system. Such systems are vital to people's existence. They need to be administered in a way that recognizes public service obligations. The components of a public infrastructure require protection that government traditionally has been expected to provide. With no reliable management structure dedicated to preserving the public nature of the Internet's infrastructure, there will be a perpetual contest. A second aspect of the infrastructure of the Internet, is that it is international in scope. Hence no single government can fulfill the need to provide the protection for the public nature of the Internet's infrastructure. An international collaboration made it possible to create the Internet and an international collaboration will have the broad and global reach to support the continued development of the Internet. A third aspect of the infrastructure of the Internet is that it has been built by a participatory process. This process welcomed the participation and contribution of all those who had a broad social perspective. There is one Internet. The architecture requires a common agreement among the participating networks to make communication possible across the boundaries of the different forms of technology, of ownership, or of political control of these networks. The common agreement has been reflected in the development and adoption of the TCP/IP protocol. In turn, the TCP/IP protocol respects the diversity of the networks that are part of the Internet. Unilateral actions, like Verisign's, violate such basic aspects of the Internet. In the midst of the furor created by Site Finder, Verisign claims it has the right to introduce what it calls "innovations" into the Internet's infrastructure. If some entity introduces an "innovation" that harms others who are part of the Internet, what are those who are hurt by such actions to do? Not only does Verisign's claim violate the public and international nature of the Internet's infrastructure, it also violates that principle that the networks and their users themselves retain the ability to determine what is in their own interest. Verisign is usurping this right, the very right that has made it possible to create and spread the Internet. No single company, nor multiple companies, were able to create the Internet. Many private companies created the kinds of networks they felt would be the networks wanted by everyone else. These were proprietary networks, which served the companies who created them. The Internet, however, was created by a collaboration of scientific researchers from different countries, who were able to do the research to create the international infrastructure of the Internet.(9) By the broad nature of the objectives of the researchers, they were able to create an Internet which could be open to education, business, government, and citizen networks. When one business starts to try to turn the Internet into its own private network, it is threatening the nature of the Internet as a metasystem of diverse and different networks. By welcoming the participation of researchers from different countries in the development of the protocol TCP/IP, the process of welcoming feedback to guide the continuing development was integrated into the development process. That process, therefore, had the advantage of input from a broad set of experiences and views. The international nature of the collaboration that built the Internet, made it possible for the Internet to be international. Unilateral decisions to change the Internet's infrastructure, can only threaten the international nature of the Internet. The Verisign problem once again brings to the fore the need for a public, participatory process of international collaboration to support and develop the Internet's infrastructure. Fortunately, there is a model for this, the model of how the Internet was developed.(10) This year, 2003, is the 30th anniversary of the creation of the draft paper outlining the philosophy and architecture of the TCP/IP protocol. The paper was presented in Brighton, England, at the University of Suffolk in September, 1973. It was presented to a meeting of researchers from many different countries of the world. Spreading an understanding of the model of how the Internet developed can be helpful in the efforts to create an appropriate management structure for the Internet. The model of the Internet's development is a model of a system that learns from, and builds on the development of the Internet itself. Until an appropriate management structure for the Internet's infrastructure is developed, netizens can continue to utilize the collaborative, participatory, public and international process of Internet development to effectively challenge inappropriate and ineffective management proposals like Verisign's Site Finder. URL's 1) John Leyden, "VeriSign's Site Finder is undead", 16/10/2003 at 13:02 GMT, The Register http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33432.html 2) See for example "The Culture Divide and the Internet's Future" Charles Cooper, October 16, 2003, CNET. http://news.com.com/2008-7347_3-5092590.html 3) ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda October 15, 2003, Site Finder Review http://secsac.icann.org/agenda-15oct03.htm 4) Anick Jesdanun, "Who is in charge of the Internet?" Katu News, September 25, 2003, http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=61010 5) Netizens Digest, Fri, 03 Oct 2003 22:14:17 +0200, http://www.ais.org/~jrh/netizens/digest/Digest_1-525.txt 6) Michael Hauben, Preface, "Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet", N.Y., Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1997 (http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/ch106.xpr) 7)Usenet post: John Higdon Newsgroups: ba.internet Subject: Re: Verisign "sitefinder" traffic and MS IE's "url redirection" hack Date: Wed, 08 Oct 2003 08:28:49 -0700 8)Usenet post: From: John Higdon Newsgroups: ba.internet Subject: Re: Verisign "sitefinder" traffic and MS IE's "url redirection" hack Date: Wed, 08 Oct 2003 09:19:32 -0700 9)Ronda Hauben, "The Internet: On its International Origins and Collaborative Vision" http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/other/misc/haubenpap1.rtf 10) Ronda Hauben, "What Institutional Form is Needed to Replace ICANN?", Telepolis, 16.08.1999 http://www.heise.de/tp/english/inhalt/te/5183/1.html Article on Telepolis in English and German. http://www.heise.de/tp/english/inhalt/te/15903/1.html ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Tracing Old Internal Phone/Computer Wiring? Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 15:03:15 -0500 In article , kludge@panix.com says: > AES/newspost wrote: >> Is there some kind of standard tool kit for signal tracing, with a >> signal generator I can clamp onto a pair of wires, or preferably onto >> the bundle of twisted pairs inside a cable jacket full of wires at one >> end -- hopefully, without having to actually contact the individual >> wires -- and a detector I can wave near the possible route or the >> possible other end of the cable, to see if it really _is_ the other >> end? >> Sources for buying such? > Go to your local Graybar. Ask for a "fox and hound." > --scott > "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." Ack! Stay far away from Graybar for things like this. Find a local electronics distributor (In Providence check out A&J Supply.) and pay half what you would at Graybar. ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Can Cable Fast-Forward Past TiVo? Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 15:02:01 -0500 In article , barry.margolin@level3.com says: > In article , Monty Solomon > wrote: >> In the end, Mr. Palermo was turned off from TiVo by the prospect of >> having to connect all kinds of wires and adding a new box to his home >> entertainment system. > "all kinds of wires"? It's basically the same as hooking up a VCR. > The only additional connection is the IR Blaster, which allows the DVR > to change the channel on the cable box (something VCR owners have long > been wishing for). Of all the arguments against DVRs I've heard, this > is the most ridiculous. Actually Cox tried something similar with their StarSight navigator. That was of course until they revamped the whole system and gave us something WORSE than StarSight but with the promise that in coming revisions we could 'order pizza' etc. using the cable box. In any case, there was a little IR dongle that came from the General Instrument cable box and used a suction cup to position it near the VCR's IR receiver. Thing is, it never worked with my Phillips VCR. From what I heard it didn't work with many VCR's at all. Have the same problem with my Pacific Neo-Tek OmniRemote for the Palm platform. Set it up with an IR receiver hooked to a scope - signal is just barely there and doesn't have a very wide angle. Yet the company still markets this piece of crap same as always. I modified mine with a lens that widens the beam. Seems to work ok now. ------------------------------ From: Sid Zafran Subject: Re: USF Recovery Fee Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 20:40:43 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Sat, 18 Oct 2003 09:22:07 GMT, Michael D. Sullivan wrote: [snip] >> The consumer facts tell us that all telecommunications companies that >> provide service between states (including SBC) must contribute to the >> Universal Service Fund. The FCC does not require telecommunications >> companies to recover their Universal Service contribution from their >> customers. Companies that do choose to recover their contributions >> from customers may do so in different ways, however, they may not >> shift more than an equitable share of the contribution to any customer >> or group of customers. [snip] > I don't know how SBC or Earthlink has structured their DSL offerings, > but that would affect who pays USF. > It is entirely possible that SBC is paying USF on its > telecommunications service revenues from its DSL/ISP affiliate, and > recovering it from that affiliate, which is the end-user; the DSL/ISP > affiliate, as a non- telecommunications service provider, should not > be adding a line item on its bill for USF, but can recover what it > pays SBC as part of its monthly rate for DSL/ISP. > The structure used for Earthlink may be different; if Earthlink, for > example, were to resell DSL to its customers, bundled with ISP > service, instead of selling just ISP with telecom included, then it > would pay USF charges on the resold DSL (and put a line item on its > customer bills to recover USF). The structure you described is what Earthlink is doing. What is not clear, however, is the amount of USF recovery that SBC is getting from its affiliate in California. It should be the same amount, per customer, that I am being billed through Earthlink. There should be a verification mechanism in place to assure that SBC is not shifting more than an equitable share of its contribution to any group of customers. I am unaware of any such verification. ------------------------------ From: anmach914@yahoo.com (Mach Yougth) Subject: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers - Long Time No See Date: 21 Oct 2003 15:10:05 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Wondering if anyone else has had the experience on vonage where a number transfer took an extremely long time? Problem with this ... I am paying for two phone bills ( my original and the vonage one) while this time goes by ... not to mention the fact that I am about to loose my original number because I have moved. For those of you who would like to see what the gripes are first here is a short list. 1. Technique 1: Blame it on someone else - They tend to make the excuse that it is the carrier that is taking a long time ... and they are not specific about what they mean by carrier ... They make it sound like it is your previous carrier that is holding up the transfer when in reality it is the carrier voange has contracted with. So, because Vonage and their contracted carriers act as one virtual entity, it is actually vonage (the virtual entity) that is holding up the process. vonage is one step removed from the whole process than say a LEC (Verizon) - Vonage gets their local numbers from clecs such as Focal, XO, and Quest, hence when they do a number transfer they have to tell the Voange-clec to initiate the transfer and then the Vonage-clec has to contact the "third party transfer folks" ... in my case it is the first two steps (totally vonage controlled) that are taking to long. 2. Technique 2: Isolate the number transfer department - The only way anyone, including the service representatives to get in touch with the number transfer deparment is by email. So basically if they are not doing their job there can be no pressure applied. Also, if you do happen to get an email response to from the number tranfer department (numbertransfer@vonage.com) it is usually just an reiteration of what is on the website ... in my case awaiting response from Vonage-clec .. which has been posted for a month. 3. Technique 3: Confusing terms - a. carrier - I already described the confusing carrier term above b. third party - In number transfers there is a third party that handles the number transfers between entities, Vonage typically will use this language when in fact they should use more specific language to avoid blaming others for their shortfalls. Basically there are 4 parties involved. Vonage --- Vonage-clec --- "the thrird party transfer folks" --- original number holder. 3. The time they sit on the letter of authorization before sending it to one of their contracted carriers is way to long ... in my case it was two weeks. 4. The amount of time Vonage gives to the Vonage-clec party is 1 month ... in my opinion way to long. The general amount of time it takes for a number transfer to take place is about four business days once the initiating carrier, meaning the transfer to carrier or Vonage-clec, submits the request to the "third party transfer folks". Again, it is Vonage that is the problem in this whole transfer process. My experience: 1. Faxed the letter of authorization in; 2. Vonage (to their credit) acknowledged the receipt of the number transfer the next day; 3. (Here is where my rub starts) two weeks later they sent the letter to the carrier (they posted this on their website). They should have turned this around in a day or two; 4. ... One month later from the time that the letter is submitted to the Vonage-clec or 1.5 months since I sent in the paper work and it is still is not transferred ... and there is no ETA of the transfer despite many inquires. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, five or six weeks does seem to be an outragously long time. However, one thing you should remember is that the traditional landline telcos are fit to be tied -- really bent out of shape -- about the amount of business companies like Vonage are taking away from them. A situation which even a few years ago would have been unthinkable. Vonage has very few local numbers here in the midwest; some St. Louis numbers, a few in Denver, etc, so it is sort of a moot point for me, so I wound up taking a San Francisco 415 number and a Chicago 773 number on my Vonage equipment. Regards local number portability ever sometime in the distant future, if Vongage obtains a 620-331 port I *may* consider an LNP on them. But more relevant in our present time, our local telco, Prairie Stream always gets the same kind of stalls from SBC Southwestern Bell, who flatly refuses to give up lines and customers if there is any stall, appropriate or not, that they can use. Take my own case as an example: I wanted to dump SBC totally, and put in an order with Prairie Stream, a far superior and much less expensive alternative. I put in the order with Prairie Stream who told me they would take over my account the next day; no change in service. They got back an answer four days later from SBC saying I could not be changed because there was a PIC freeze on my line, and SBC was refusing to deal with Prairie Stream because of it. I had to call SBC, go through voicemail hell and wait on hold for 45 minutes to talk to a disinterested rep who agreed to remove the freeze. Then it was back to Prairie Stream, where one ring after I dialed a cheery, effecient rep took my order and said Prairie Stream would try again. Two days later, Prairie Stream was back on the phone saying SBC still wouldn't give up the line since I was 'not eligible for conversion' (I had DSL on the line). The same day, I changed my internet to Cable One and went back into the SBC voicemail hell and holding time queue, this time to DEMAND that they turn off the phone service pronto; to expect no more money from me to pay for it and to *please* release the line. This time the lady agreed to do as I asked (lucky me!) but 'it might be two weeks until we get around to it.' I called back to Prairie Stream and they said they would again work on it, 'but given the luck we have with SBC when we try to do this, it may well be a couple weeks more.' It turned out that three or four days later I had Prairie Stream in complete control of my phone line. The moral of this whole story is it may not be Vonage's fault at all. It could be your local telco is playing games and stalling. Is there any reason your local telco might say you are 'ineligible for LNP or conversion'(which they hate anyway) because of DSL on your line or some other untariffed feature on your line which telco does not, under the rules have to give up and the word just has not gotten back to you yet? Call your landline telco and lean on them a little to release your line. By the way, if anyone wants to test drive the Vonage system for free, let me know, I will send you an e-coupon to use for a month of free service. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: What on Earth is This? Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 16:06:57 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com I called the number from the comfort and safety of a nearby coin telephone. A pleasant young-sounding woman's voice reported to me that "This Toll-Free number does not accept calls from pay phones". will wrote in message news:telecom22.710.13@telecom-digest.org: > Dave Phelps wrote in message > news:: >> In article , jmayson@nyx.net says: >>> Someone passed this number on to me. 800-522-5380. It's a very >>> strange recording. I tried a reverse number lookup on it and >>> turned up nothing. >> It's an AT&T number. I have no clue what it's for though. I need to >> build a digit grabber. >> Dave Phelps >> DD Networks >> www.ddnets.com >> deadspam=tippenring > 225#19#7113228206#02 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I tried it again also, this time from the comfort and safety of my cell phone. What the man read back to me was 'two hundred, seventeen, seven, one, one, three, two, two, eight, two, oh, six'. No mention of the pound signs or the final 02 on the end. Then the rapid tones. When I tried it from my Vonage phone (which always registers the SFCA 415 number on caller ID) the response I got was 'two hundred, twenty-nine', then the rest of the above number, again, with no mention of the final 02, and the tones. When I tried it again from Vonage, it was 'two hundred, twenty-seven', etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Maps of Global Fiber Optic Backbones? Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 16:17:00 -0700 Have to give a talk for a general and high-school audience on fiber optics and fiber optics telecom. I can of course Google for myself, but would much appreciate pointers to any sites (or publications) where I could access well-done graphics showing the worldwide web of fiber optics -- fiber optics routes overlaid on world maps or the globe, and the like. Pointers to related fiber optics telecom material also appreciated -- thanks for any assistance. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Removal From Fax Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 17:01:04 -0500 Meg Trafton wrote: > We have been trying to get our fax number removed from "Travel > Partners" list and always get a recording that the circuits are > busy. Any way of having that number removed by you? Our fax number is > below. DON'T SEND THEM ANY INFORMATION! Junkfaxers will never remove you. Professional junkfaxers, that is, and the travel faxes and stock touts are the absolute worst. JustThe.net Internet & Multimedia Services 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Fax Removal Test Numbers Reply-To: cnavarro@wcnet.org Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 01:23:55 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online -- Northeast Ohio Alright. FOUR stock market tip sheets in one day, the last one won't accept my number. Lesson time! Stock Prophet 866-273-2467 Stock Wave USA 800-390-1403 Stock Buyers Alert 888-528-8863 WS Stock Alerts 888-398-2349 I think it's time to get out the old war-dialer (frecom fax board anyone?) and set the calls to 100 or 1000. Carl Navarro ------------------------------ From: Fritz Whittington Organization: Only on odd Tuesdays Subject: Re: More About Spam Email Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 20:07:57 GMT temp7@thewolfden.org wrote: > On Mon, 07 Oct 2002 22:51:40 -0500, Gordon S. Hlavenka wrote: >>> What I WOULD like to see is some way to trivially and accurately locate >>> the PERSON (not just the account) who sends an email. Senders could >>> (for "privacy" reasons) choose not to include this information and I >>> could choose to trash any anonymous mail. > That would be the From: field. Oh, they fake that? Well let's add > another field; surely they won't fake the new field, would they? With a 2048-bit RSA key, if you can fake the digital signature on this message, then your fortune is assured! (an example followed, but since it was binary it failed to go through at many sites): ------------------------------ 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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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 #711 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Oct 22 00:31:58 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9M4VvS02076; Wed, 22 Oct 2003 00:31:58 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 00:31:58 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310220431.h9M4VvS02076@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 #712 TELECOM Digest Wed, 22 Oct 2003 00:32:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 712 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson The NANP is 56-Years-Old Wednesday, October 22 (Mark J Cuccia) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. 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See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 21:09:57 CDT From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: The NANP is 56-Years-Old Wednesday, October 22 The NANP (North American Numbering Plan), as it was originally "finalized", and then built-upon, expanded, and developed, "as we have known it", does "officially" turns 56 this Wednesday, 22-October-2003. AT&T issued a memo, authored by Harold L. Ryan, dated 22-October-1947, regarding the subject "Numbering Plan Area Arrangements -- Toll Area codes -- Letter to all General Traffic Managers -- attached Map and List of Codes". I do *NOT* have a copy of that memo! I wish I did, though! :-) But I do have reference to the date and title of the memo. There were prelminary plans for a nationwide / continent-wide telephone numbering plan for Operator and later customer toll dialing, being drafted in the early to mid 1940s, one of them being where every toll (and tandem) switch in the US and Canada, some 2,600 of them (what an ironic number, twenty-six hundered for the approximate total number of toll switches in the US/Canada! If you know what I mean! :-), would be uniquely identified with an Operator Toll Dialing code of the form 0XXXX, zero followed by four-more-digits. Operators were already using a limited form of regional OTD in some parts of the US and Canada, since the 1920s, using 0XX and 1XX SXS OTD codes, which customers weren't able to access (or at least not supposed to be able to access). These codes *have* continued to this day for internal operator and network routing purposes, and are not supposed to be dialable by customers. Anyhow, to have actual Nationwide Operator Toll Dialing, the use of individual 0XXXX codes for each toll center to reach specific *customers* would have been a bit "awkward" because of the large number of individual routing/area codes, as well as whenever there needed to be "re-homes" or growth. By 1945, the basics of the plan used today were being developed, where there would be a 3-digit "Area Code" of the form N1X, a three-digit office code (based on the office-name and a digit), and the four-digit line-number. There is a map of the US (Canada was intended to be included but wasn't indicated on the map), which divided up the country into sixty numbering plan areas, some states having multiple area codes, some states having one area code, and there were some instances where two or three states would "share" the same area code. The map was published in articles on OTD which appeared in 1945 in Bell Labs Record and also Bell Telephone Magazine. I had posted information on these in previous issues of Telecom Digest (back in 1996 and 1997). By 1946, the area code numbering was revamped to where Canada was specifically included. Also both N0X and N1X format codes would be included. There were 86 area codes for the US and Canada in this draft. States which were to have one and only one area code had N0X format codes. States which were to have more-than-one area code were to have had N1X format codes. Also, all codes within those multiple code states were in a sequential range, i.e., NY State would have had 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, and also in a "linear progression/adjacency" across the state. Canada "as a whole" was to be treated as if it were a "single state" with multiple area codes, and would have had: 912, 913 Ontario 914, 915 Quebec 916 Maritime Provinces 917 Manitoba 918 Saskatchewan 919 Alberta 910 British Columbia And while this might have "looked nice" in that there was a "block" of sequential area codes within multi-code states, and within Canada, the "growth" aspect would have been difficult (maybe impossible) to keep things in these "nice" ranges. To truly accommodate growth, the initial benefits of this particular numbering plan would have to be violated and even discarded completely. I had posted on this plan in 1996/97 issues as well. pwd But by October 1947, AT&T issued yet another numbering plan for area codes in the US/Canada for OTD and ultimate customer DDD. This is the plan that has mostly been built upon since then. And while I have posted the original "chart" of the NPA assignment layout in previous posts to TELECOM Digest, since this *IS* the plan that survived, and has its 56th anniversary this Wednesday, 22-October-2003, I'll go into the details of what was intended in October 1947, and how it developed since. This plan carried over the N0X format for single area code states, and N1X format codes for multi-area code states. There were initially 86 area codes assigned (as in the previous 1946 proposal). But Canada was now treated as multi-province, where the provinces followed the same rules as the states in the US. Ontario and Quebec had (as of Oct. 1947) two area codes each, and were assigned N1X codes. The other provinces were assigned one area code each, and had N0X codes. The Maritime Provinces shared a single N0X code (902). This still "exists" to this day in the smaller form that Nova Scotia *AND* Prince Edward Island both share 902. As growth came about in the 1950s, this N0X vs. N1X "rule" for single code vs. multi-code states/provinces was abolished, first when the states with only ONE area code (N0X) were split in 1953 (the additional code was still of the N1N format), and next when both single-code states (N0X) and multi-code states (N1N) were split and new N0X format codes were assigned as additional codes in 1954. Also in the Oct. 1947 initial assignments was that shorter/quicker dial "pulls" or "spins", or fewer dial PULSES, for an N0X *OR* an N1X code (EACH FORMAT TAKEN SEPARATELY, as N0X and N1X had specific different assignments as mentioned above), were assigned to higher incoming volume locations. 212 for NYCity 213 for Los Angeles 214 for Dallas 312 for Chicago 216 for Cleveland 313 for Detroit 314 for St.Louis 412 for Pittsburgh 414 for Milwaukee 415 for San Francisco etc. and in the N0X states/DC: 201 for NJ 202 for DC 203 for CT 301 for MD 302 for DE 401 for RI Even though RI, MD, DE might not have had a lot of incoming calls, they were still along the eastern seaboard of highly populated surrounding territory, and had more incoming calls than other single-area-code states elsewhere in the US. There is one anomoly in the above, and I think it was an error in printing that became embedded: 413 (4+3 is seven pulses) became western MA (Springfield/etc) 617 (6+7 is thirteen pulses) became eastern MA (Boston/etc) More pulses for inbound to Boston than the seven pulses for inbound to Springfield and the more rural western MA area. There was *NEVER* any "special" DDD tests involving Springfield that have ever been documented, despite what some people claim as the "reason" that Springfield had a shorter/quicker "pull/spin", or "lower" (fewer pulses) area code than Boston. If this was true, documentation to it would have shown up by now and eventually posted to the Digest/Archives "in perpetuity". But that has never seemed to happen. Even if there were some special DDD tests involving Springfield, it would have been sometime in the 1950s or 60s, WELL AFTER 1947. The 413 vs. 617 assignments re Springfield vs. Boston was "embedded" on the paper assignments as of 22-October-1947. (Springfield MA *DID* become an AT&T IOC International Operator Center, a city of gateway overseas operators, but that was in the mid-1970s, LONG after the Oct. 1947 plan was "finalized"). N0X Form (States/Provinces with only ONE code assigned) (40 codes assigned): 201 NJ 301 MD 401 RI 501 AR 601 MS 701 ND 801 UT 901 TN 202 DC 302 DE 402 NE 502 KY 602 AZ 702 NV 802 VT 902 mrtm.prv. 203 CT 303 CO 403 AB 503 OR 603 NH 703 VA 803 SC 204 MB 304 WV 404 GA 504 LA 604 BC 704 NC 205 AL 305 FL 405 OK 505 NM 605 SD 206 WA 306 SK 406 MT 207 ME 307 WY 208 ID (902 originally for all of the Maritime Provinces: NB, NS, PEI, NF/LB) N1N Form (States/Provinces with several codes assigned) (46 codes assigned): 212 NY 312 IL 412 PA 512 TX 612 MN 712 IA 812 IN ------ 213 CA 313 MI 413 MA 513 OH 613 ON 713 TX ------ 913 KS 214 TX 314 MO 414 WI 514 PQ 614 OH ------ 814 PA 914 NY 215 PA 315 NY 415 CA 515 IA ------ 715 WI 815 IL 915 TX 216 OH 316 KS 416 ON ------ 616 MI 716 NY 816 MO 916 CA 217 IL 317 IN ------ 517 MI 617 MA 717 PA 218 MN ------ 418 PQ 518 NY 618 IL ------ 319 IA 419 OH Linc Madison has some of this information at his website: http://www.LincMad.com/table1947.html (the above chart/table) http://www.LincMad.com/map1947.html (a map of the 22-Oct-1947 assignments) Note that in the October 1947 finalized original plan, there are no area codes assigned of the forms N09, N00, N11, nor N10. The N11 format has been used (initially only in Panel and #1XB areas, later many SXS areas also began to use N11, and eventually all central office areas used N11 codes regardless of equipment type) as "short" 3-digit codes for special services (211 for the Long Distance Operator, 411 for Information or Directory, 611 for Repair Service, 811 for the Business Offfice, and later on 911 for Emergencies, and other assignments/reservations over more recent years). The N09 format codes weren't assigned until some ten years later, in 1957. The N10 format codes were first assigned for TWX (Teletypewriter Exchange Service) in Summer 1962, but when TWX service was completely taken over by Western Union (in the United States) on WU's own switch network (separate from the Bell System telephone DDD network) circa 1981, those N10 format codes were now "vacant" and re-assigned starting in the early 1990s. The N00 format codes were first used starting in the mid-1960s, and always for *special* non-geographic services, the first being 800 Toll-Free "Inward-WATS". In addition to the Springfield/413 vs. Boston/617 question, there is yet ANOTHER "old wives' tale" which keeps getting repeated, but which is simply *NOT* true, and that is that c.o.codes/names/letters/exchanges assigned in one area code were NOT (initially) assigned "at all" in "any" adjacent area code. That presumption is *NOT* true one bit! Central Office code assginments were *already* occurring *LONG* before the area code format was even dreamed of. The only thing that telco *tried* to do for "communities of interest" along state-lines, was/is not to assign "duplicate" c.o.codes in adjacent states ALONG THAT LINE, IN THE LOCAL or EAS calling area, so as to TRY to permit 7-digit (2L-5N) dialing within that community of interest along the NPA or state line. But that wasn't always possible, such as in NYCity and northeastern NJ. In the NYCity Metro area and northeastern NJ area, Panel and #1XB (and later #5XB) switching was used. Step (SXS) was *NOT* used at all in this metro area. There was no "routing" need for any 112+ or 1+ type CAMA/DDD access code for toll in this area. If c.o.codes between 212 NYCity and at least the northeastern NJ portion of NJ's 201, then such calls, usually "multi-message-unit" (not "strictly" toll, although from the consumer's perspective these per-minute charges were indeed toll), "could" have been dialed as "just" 7-digits (2L-5N). However, during the later 1940s and throughout the 1950s, such calls between 201 (northeastern) NJ and 212 NYC were *NOT* dialed as 2L-5N (7-d) but rather (in each direction) as 11+ 2L-5N. There *WERE INDEED* "duplicate" c.o.code assignments between the two states/NPAs in this lower Hudson River NYCity/NJ Metro area. Such duplicate code assignments most likely existed long before the idea of area codes was ever thought of. By 1960, the use of "11+" in each direction for such northeast-NJ <=> NYCity calls was abolished, replaced with use of the actual destination 3-digit NPA codes, i.e., 201+7d for calls from NYCity to northeastern NJ, and 212+7d for calls from NJ to NYCity. Anyhow, the 1950s era was quite a period of NPA assignments in the US and Canada. A great deal of this was postwar growth and a stronger economy. Some of it was the expansion of Operator Toll Dialing as well as Customer originated DDD, especially with the installation of automation for switching and routing calls (new XBTandems, 4A/4M XB toll machines, and 5XB machines, as well as AMA/CAMA billing equipment). In November 1951, the towns of Englewood and Teaneck NJ, were the first where *customers* could actually *DIAL* toll calls to distant cities, even clear across the country, although at this time, only to a few limited metro areas. But it *was* a first. The customers in these two towns actually used *real* area codes plus 2L-5N to dial such calls in most cases. One of the exceptions was for calls to the San Francisco/Oakland Bay area. The "official" area code list indicated only 415 for central California. But there were the two sides of the Bay, and different toll machines on each side of the Bay. For the Englewood NJ Customer Long Distance Dialing trials, calls to Oakland (and east Bay metro area points) were reached with NPA 415. However, calls to San Francisco (and west Bay and north-of-the-Golden Gate points that were dialable) were reached with a different 318 area code. I think that Operators dialed 415 for the entire region. I think that some of this may have had to do with the number of digits that could be analyzed and translated up-front in the #5XB machines in Englewood and Teaneck NJ. I think that for discrete routing to Oakland toll vs. San Francisco toll, the machines couldn't translate all six-digits of the NPA-NNX code, but only three-digits of "just" the NPA code. Thus the use of 318 indicated San Francisco "up-front" while the use of 415 indicated Oakland "up-front". This didn't seem to matter for Operators, because they keyed into a 4A XB toll machine, which was probably able to analyze/translate the full six-digits of the 415+NNX code, and thus be able to route directly to Oakland vs. San Francisco on those six digits 415+NNX. By the time full six-digit translation was extended to customer-originated DDD calls, the use of 318 vs. 415 for San Francisco vs. Oakland was no longer needed, thus 318 was fully reclaimed for this use, with 415 being the only code for all calls to the Bay area. In 1957, 318 was assigned to the split of Louisiana's (only) area code 504. During the 1950s, many PBXes became automated and to the point where individual "extensions" began to have "real" dialable 7-digit (ten-digit) "public" telephone numbers. Every hotel or hospital room, or office desk, etc. had a unique public/dialable telephone number. Mobile (IMTS) and paging was becoming available and popular, to where the mobile devices also had dialable "POTS" (NANP) telephone numbers. Manual service was becoming automated and getting dialable c.o.codes in many rural areas, and even in cities where manual service still existed. There were possibly the beginnings of tele-fax, as well as dial-up data connections over the regular DDD or local-dial telephone network. The US possessions of Alaska and Hawaii were about to become states, and in 1957 were assigned area codes. Even the Caribbean area (both the US possessions of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, as well as the Dominican Republic, the "British" West Indies, and possibly even other parts of the French and Dutch Caribbean and maybe even pre-Castro Cuba ... was assigned an Area Code (809) in 1958. However, it wouldn't be until the mid/late 1960s and into the 1970s (and even later) when all of these non-CONUS points could begin to be *directly dialed* by customers in the US and Canada, without the need for operator intervention (at least for non-coin-station-sent-paid calls). With the exception of the *temporary* use of 318 for calling to San Francisco (from Englewood/Teaneck NJ in the customer toll dialing trials starting Nov. 1951), there were *THIRTY-FOUR* new area codes assigned and activated for the US, Canada, Caribbean, between 1948 and 1962. I seem to think that around 1960, it was planned to extend Alberta's 403 area code to include (Canadian National's) Yukon and southern/western Northwest Territories. Customer *dial* service with NPA 403 to the YT/NWT didn't begin until around 1972 though. New telephone service in the eastern/Arctic NWT began in the 1960s/70s, provided by Bell Canada. Eventually, NPA 819 (one of the three NPA codes for Quebec) was "extended" to include this part of the NWT, circa Fall 1975. In 1962/63, the northwest border towns of Mexico were (temporarily) incorporated into the NANP/DDD network, many of these communities actually received their *dialtone* from a Bell telco (or Contel of the West) in the United States, or else if they provided their own dialtone, their toll homings were on an AT&T (or BOC -- Pacific Tel or Mountain States Tel) toll switch in the US. This was the (temporary) use of Area Code 903 for (the northwest border towns of) Mexico. AT&T and/or Pacific Telephone also had a financial interest in Telefonica Fronteriza. Telefonos de Mexico was *NOT* the telco in these northwestern Mexican border towns! In 1980, there were changes where the Mexican Government took over the telephone service in these towns and put them into Telefonos de Noroeste, which was made a subsidiary of the Mexican Government's TelMex. Eventually, the "homings" or dialtone for these towns was provided by *MEXICO*, and these towns were being re-numbered to conform with Mexico (+52) dialing/numbering, under Mexico's 6NXX city codes in other TelMex parts of northwest Mexico. 903 was reclaimed, and instead, 70-6 was assigned, the '6' being the third digit of the NANP area code, but also the first digit of the Mexican "national/domestic" telephone number in that overall part of Mexico. By 1970, AT&T assigned 90-5 for future customer use to dial Mexico City and surrounding communities. The +52 Mexican city-code for Mexico City was '5', and surrounding communities had city codes of the 59X form. The '5' in 90-5 did the same "double duty" that the '6' in 70-6 would do starting ten years later. The use of 70-6 and 90-5 for reaching *limited* parts of Mexico from the US and Canada was eliminated in Feb. 1991, since most US/Canadian customers had the capability of 011+/01+ International/Overseas access. With the exception of the northwestern 903 Mexican border towns in the 1960s/70s, and to a lesser extent in the 1980s, Mexico was *NOT* part of the NANP (+1), but has been its *OWN* ITU-assigned country-code +52. As for the POTS area codes of the US and Canada itself, there were those *thirty-four* new area codes assigned between 1948 and 1962. By the mid-1950s, AT&T was becoming concerned at the "rate" of new area codes being assigned and activated. There were several telco planning meetings that took place in the second half of the decade, and it was ultimately decided to go from 2L-5N (exchange name/letters) over to strictly 7-d ANC (All Number Calling). This would allow potential use of NN0 codes for c.o.codes (the third-digit '0' in c.o.codes was "discouraged" during the "exchange name" days because of confusion with the letter 'O' on the numeral '6', but there were still some NN0 codes with an exchange name with letters on the 'NN' first two digits, especially in the Los Angeles metro area back in the 1920s/30s!), as well as "POTS" use of 55X, 57X, 95X and 97X c.o.codes, which were mostly unused during the EXchange NAme days, because of difficulty in coming up with two letters to form a real use-able/pronounce-able/ easy-to-spell word/name from the letters J/K/L on the 5, P/R/S on the 7, W/X/Y on the 9. Those codes were mostly used for internal telco test purposes in the EXchange NAme days, and even today are still commonly used for special telco purposes, or special functions, although there are now POTS c.o.codes as well of the 55X, 57X, 95X, 97X formats. "ANC" was also going to allow expansion to N0X/N1X format *CENTRAL OFFICE* codes, expected for Los Angeles (NPA 213) by the early 1970s (which did take effect as scheduled), and for New York City (NPA 212) by the mid-1970s (and took effect around 1981). It would also allow NNX format NPA codes to be introduced, anticipated by 1995-2000, and eventually took effect in Jan. 1995, more-or-less on schedule. But with better control over number resources, after the splits of 1962, and except for special code assignements of the 1960s/70s, there were only TWO more "POTS" NPA splits for the remainder of the 1960s, and throughout the 1970s ... In 1965, 305 in eastern/northern Florida split, with 904 for the panhandle and other parts of north-central and northeastern Florida. In 1973, 703 in Virginia (its only NPA code as of 1947) was split, with 804 for southeastern Virginia. It wasn't until almost ten-years-later, when 714 CA split off 619 (effective Nov. 1982), and 713 TX split off 409 (effective March 1983). The breakup of the Bell System officially took effect on 01-January-1984. In 1984, there were two area code splits, even with N0X/N1X format c.o.codes, both 213 Los Angeles and 212 New York City needed to split. 213 split off 818 for the northern part of the city/metro area ... and 212 split off 718 for Brooklyn/Queens/Staten Island, with Manhattan (and initially) Bronx retaining 212. (Bronx was transferred from 212 to 718 during 1992/93). There were a few more area codes splits in the late 1980s, three in 1988 (303/719 CO in March, 305/407 FL in April, 617/508 MA in July), and one in 1989 when Chicago, which had already gone to N0X/N1X c.o.codes, eventually needed to split, the city itself retaining 312, with the suburbs splitting off to 708. The 1990-94 timeframe had thirteen new NPA codes, but even that wasn't a huge number. However, for "POTS" format area codes, it "exhausted" the supply of "traditional" style codes. But it was planned that 1995 would probably be the year that new format NNX codes, for a generalized overall NXX format, would begin to be used. In the early 1990s timeframe, there was the first "overlay" area code, 917 overlaying all of NYC (both 212 and 718), initially for new wireless services, but ultimately for landline service as well. Actually, the original 1991 Bellcore ILs for the 917 overlay to 212/718 *did* indicate that the ultimate intent was for 917 to be "all/full" services and not "just" wireless. There were still several "special function" area codes assigned throughout the 1970s/80s/early 90s, such as 700, 710, the swap of 610 for 600 in Canada, 456, 500, etc. but these were just for special purposes and not geographic/POTS service. The 1995-2001 timeframe saw an *EXPLOSION* in the number of new area codes assigned and activated, now that the NANP was using new NNX format area codes (generalized NXX for "all" codes), for a NANP ten-digit number format of NXX-NXX-xxxx. Some of it was because of more cellular service, some because of emerging and/or *potential* CLECs. The 809 Caribbean/Bermuda area broke off 18 new area codes for a total of 19 codes (including 809 retained by (only) the Dominican Republic). This took effect in a staggered implementation, from 1995-99. In Fall 1997, the Yukon and Northwest Territories (and future Nunavut Territory politically/jurisdicationally splitting off from NWT) in northern Canada, which had been "sharing" from *two* area codes assigned to lower provinces (403 in Alberta for YT and southern/western NWT; 819 as one of three codes in Quebec for eastern/Arctic NWT), now split off into its own new SINGLE area code of 867. Two U.S. territories or possessions in the Pacific, Guam (+671) and the Northern Mariana Islands/ Saipan/etc. (+670) became incorporated into the NANP in Summer 1997. The numerics of their (three-digit) ITU assigned Country Code was migrated to their *AREA* (NPA) code within +1/NANP. There were two more overlays, which from the beginning were full service overlays, in 1997. Maryland's two area codes were each overlaid. 1997 was the fiftieth anniversary of the NANP "as we have known it as it has evolved/developed", but 1997 was also the year that saw the *MOST* number of new area codes activated in a single calendar year, a total of 43 new codes! When divestiture happened, effective 1984, the overall administration of the NANP and assignment of area codes was transferred from AT&T over to the new Bellcore organization, which was spun out of the old AT&T/Bell System. The name of this administering organization within Bellcore was first called the "Numbering and Dialing Plan Group", but was later changed to NANPA, the North American Numbering Plan *Administration". Bellcore was owned 1/7th each by each of the seven regional Bell holding corporations which were carved out of the old Bell System. When competition in the local telco arena was becoming more and more apparant (actually even in the later 1980s, there was competition in cellular, between a BOC wireless subsidiary against a competitive Radio Common Carrier), there appeared to be a "conflict of interest" with Bellcore also being the NANPA. There was also more regulatory oversight over the numbering plan as well. And there was the 1996 Telecom Act. It was decided that Bellcore would divest itself of the NANPA functions, to be turned over to a non-governmental impartial third-party entity. There were several hearings and such over at least five years time, and by 1998, Lockheed-Martin took over the NANPA functions from Bellcore. Also, Bellcore was about to be sold by the regional Bell holding corporations over to a new owner, SAIC, and the name of Bellcore was changed to Telcordia in 1999. Also, Lockheed-Martin announced at the end of 1998, just less than a year of handling the NANPA, that it wanted "out" of numbering. A year later, in late 1999, just before 2000, a new entity named "Neustar" took over the NANPA functions. When the NANPA became separate from Bellcore, even local c.o.code assignments (in the US) were transferred from the BOCs over to (LM) NANPA. In Canada, the incumbent local telcos turned over local c.o.code administration over to SAIC-held "CNA" (Canadian Numbering Adminstration) beginning in 1998. Starting in 1998 were a few more overlays, and there have been overlays ever since. This prevents the need for a "two stage" holding of c.o.codes in existance during an "overlap" period under both the old and new area codes for the permissive dial period. And existing customers do NOT have to change the area code part of their already existing ten-digit telephone number. The US, Canada, and even Puerto Rico (US teritory) in the Caribbean have had some overlays. With the explosion of area code assignments, there was concern about the possible premature exhaust of the NANP ten-digit format "itself" (supply of assignable area codes). There was supposed to be the evolution of "portability" for those who were changing from one local telco to another in a competitive environment, where they could KEEP the same number, and there was also the concept of assigning blocks of assignable numbers in blocks of 1,000 instead of 10,000. This began to happen more and more by 2000, and with OTHER factors involved as well, has actually caused a SIGNIFICANT DOWNTURN in the number of new area codes! :) There were only eight new area codes in calendar year 2002, last year. This year, 2003, there are only THREE new area codes, all co-incidentally within the Republic of Texas. The only "known" new area code for 2004 is 684 for the US Pacific territory of American Samoa, in where it migrates from +684 to +1-684, similar to Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands/Saipan in 1997. Permissive/Parallel dialing for American Samoa's new situation is expected to begin in October 2004, a year from now. (The country of Guyana, +592, did make a request to join the NANP, back in 1999/2000, this is a "British" or former British location on the northern coast of South America, with a community-of-interest with the "British" Caribbean/West Indies; I personally don't think that allowing +592 Guyana or even +501 Belize, into the NANP, would have caused premature exhaust, but the FCC and the CRTC both gave Guyana "thumbs down" at this time on becoming part of the NANP). Many states have actually called off area code implementation or even relief planning. California has been able to hold off any new area codes since Summer 1999. Some planned area code overlays in Canada keep getting pushed further and further into the future (but with planned specific future dates). I have recently posted to TELECOM Digest some articles on the currently viewed situation of future area codes, in more detail. It actually does seem to look more and more like the 1980s (or even 1960s/70s) regarding new area codes, as there are FAR fewer new codes assigned/activated each year than in the past years of the late 1990s thru 2001. There is a lot more I could say here on the history and current/future developement of the NANP and the DDD network. Much of it has already been said over and over by me *AND* others who are all well known. So I will close here, but remember that Wednesday 22-October-2003, could be said to be the 56th Anniversary of the NANP "as we have known it" and "as it has actually developed and evolved", since the first "known" memo identifying the original 86 area codes that "took" was issued by AT&T some 56 years ago, on 22-October-1947. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia (at) tulane (dot) edu New Orleans LA USA +1 504 UNiversity 5-5954 (WORK) +1 504 CHestnut 1-2497 (HOME/voicmail) NWORLASKDS0 (BellSouth #5ESS Cl.5 Local "Seabrook" 504-24x-) NWORLAIYCM3 (BellSouth-Mobility Ericsson Cellular-MTSO NOL) NWORLAMT01T (BellSouth DMS-100 "Metairie" Tndm; Cellular routes thru) NWORLAMA0GT (BellSouth DMS-100/200 inTRA-LATA/fg.B-C-D Tndm "Main" 504+) NWORLAMA20T (BellSouth DMS-200 TOPS:inLATA Opr.Svc.Tndm "Main" 504+053+) NWORLAMA04T (AT&T #4ESS Class-2 Toll 060-T / 504-2T "Main" 504+) JCSNMSPS06T (AT&T #5ESS OSPS:Operator-Services-Tandem 601-0T 601+121) JCSNMSPS14T (AT&T #4ESS Class-3 Toll 040-T / 601-2T; OSPS routes thru) NWORLAELH01 (Tulane U PBX NEC-2400 broken down to the following 504-NXXes and thousands-blocks: 865-4/5/6xxx, 862-3/8xxx, 314-2/7xxx, 247-1xxx) NWORLACADS0 (BellSo.DMS-100 Cl.5 Lcl "Carrollton" 504-86x;PBX 'homes' on) ========================================================= [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My sincere thanks to Mark Cuccia for this very interesting historical account of the telephone area code numbering system, and how it evolved. In addition to this going out to readers early on Wednesday, it will also be archived in the special reports section of the archives and the history area of the archives. 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #712 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Oct 22 22:32:45 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9N2Wje20892; Wed, 22 Oct 2003 22:32:45 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 22:32:45 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310230232.h9N2Wje20892@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 #713 TELECOM Digest Wed, 22 Oct 2003 22:32:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 713 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New Stereo Linked to Online Music Store (Monty Solomon) Three U.S. States Eye EchoStar Interest in Loral (Monty Solomon) Cingular Wireless and RIM Demonstrate Color BlackBerry 7280 (Solomon) FYI on Unlicensed Spectrum For Wireless Use (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers - Long Time (S. Schwartz) Becoming A Switch Technician (Jeremy) Re: Good Connection But no Internet Pages (Al Loy) Dialogic cards in (Hot Swap) PCI Slots (Compaq Dl380) (CoderRob) Re: Fax Removal Test Numbers (Craig Lombardi) Skype (Tom Zachman) 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, 21 Oct 2003 23:45:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Stereo Linked to Online Music Store By KENJI HALL Associated Press Writer TOKYO (AP) -- Four Japanese electronics makers have teamed up to make stereo systems that can download music directly from an Internet service, without a home computer serving as middle man. Sony Corp., Sharp Corp., Pioneer Corp. and Kenwood Corp. unveiled prototypes of the new equipment Tuesday and said they expect the systems to go on sale early next year. There are no plans yet for marketing it overseas, the companies said. Each company owns one-fourth of a joint venture, Any Music Planning Inc., that developed the Linux-based stereo equipment in an attempt to adapt to rapid changes engulfing the music industry. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36165193 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 23:58:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Three U.S. States Eye EchoStar Interest in Loral By Sinead Carew NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Three state attorneys general expressed competition concerns to a U.S. bankruptcy court this week over EchoStar Communications Corp.'s (NASDAQ:DISH) efforts to buy satellites that rival DirecTV had ordered from bankrupt Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (BB:LRLSQ). New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and his counterparts in Missouri and Pennsylvania said competition in the U.S. television market could be at risk if EchoStar buys the satellites from Loral, according to a Loral spokeswoman and letters seen by Reuters on Tuesday. The concerns were the latest chapter in a drama between satellite operator and maker Loral and EchoStar, the No. 2 U.S. satellite television service. Loral, which says it is not up for sale, recently rejected EchoStar's bid for all its assets. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36175581 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 00:06:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Wireless and RIM Demonstrate Color BlackBerry 7280 Cingular Wireless and RIM Demonstrate Color BlackBerry 7280 at CTIA Conference; New BlackBerry Wireless Handheld Targets Additional Markets LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 2003--Cingular Wireless and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq:RIMM) (TSX: RIM) are demonstrating the new BlackBerry 7280(TM) handheld at CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2003 in Las Vegas (Cingular booth #821, RIM booth #320). The BlackBerry 7280 is designed to provide the best combined email/data/phone experience and features a high-resolution color screen with added 850 MHz support allowing it to operate in new markets on the Cingular wireless network. It will operate on Cingular's 850/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS network in the United States and supports international roaming on 1800 MHz networks. The Java-based BlackBerry 7280, the newest wireless handheld to be offered by Cingular, combines phone, email, SMS, organizer, Web and corporate data applications in a single handheld. The new high-resolution screen displays crisp images with support for over 65,000 colors while the handheld continues to offer superior battery life for optimal wireless performance. The BlackBerry 7280 also features cradle-free wireless email synchronization, integrated attachment viewing (including support for popular file formats such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, WordPerfect, PDF and ASCII) and remote address look up in addition to secure, push-based wireless connectivity. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36176221 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 22:40:10 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: FYI on Unlicensed Spectrum For Wireless Use * Original: FROM ... Jay O. Casey Increasing Public Access to Unlicensed Spectrum By Harold Feld, Associate Director, Media Access Project Copyright 2003 to Media Access Project. Released under the Creative Commons BY License An obscure proceeding at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may hold the key to the next evolution in unlicensed wireless services. For the first time, the FCC has proposed dedicating a significant amount of spectrum to unlicensed access on a primary basis. This means that users within the new unlicensed band would not have to worry about whether they interfered with a protected service. Even better, the proposed band includes spectrum immediately adjacent to the existing 2.4 GHz underlay. The existing unlicensed underlay in the 2.4 GHz band has spurred vast amounts of telecommunication innovation and investment; increasing the available bandwidth will reward those who have developed this technology and spur further growth and wider deployment. If the FCC approves the proposal, the benefits to unlicensed wireless technologies would be enormous. At the same time, however, the FCC has also proposed auctioning the rights to an unlicensed underlay. This proposal, if accepted, would entirely defeat the purpose of unlicensed access. Worse, it would set a negative precedent that could severely limit the expansion of unlicensed wireless access. The FCC needs to hear from all users and supporters of unlicensed wireless access in support of allocating the relevant band for primary unlicensed access. This document provides background, general guidelines, and instructions for how to file at the FCC. It is not intended as a form letter or sign on petition. The FCC needs to hear the stories of people using unlicensed access and who are eager to take this technology to the next level of deployment and innovation. However, as described below, anyone with Internet access can file comments at the FCC. Background On April 2, 2003, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, or NPRM. A NPRM is an agency proposal to change existing rules. By law, a federal agency must give the public a chance to see proposed rule changes and to file comments on these changes. The FCC usually has a deadline to file comments and a deadline to file replies to these comments. In addition, however, members of the public can continue to file comments even after these deadlines. This NPRM goes by the rather lengthy name "Amendment of Parts 1, 21, 73, 74 and 101 of the Commission's Rules to Facilitate the Provision of Fixed and Mobile Broadband Access, Educational and Other Advanced Services in the 2150-2162 and 2500-2690 MHz Bands." It's Docket Number is WT 03-66. This information will be important later. The NPRM discusses a proposal by certainly licensees to restructure the Multipoint Distribution Service (MDS) and Instructional Fixed Television Service (ITFS). While this sounds extremely boring and technical and in many ways is the essence of the NPRM is a question: What do we do with a huge band of spectrum covering from 2500 MHz to 2690 MHz. Those familiar with spectrum will recognize this as prime spectrum with excellent propagation characteristics. Furthermore, importantly for unlicensed access aficionados, it sits practically adjacent to one of the existing unlicensed bands (2400 MHz). At the moment, this spectrum is parceled into exclusive licenses that are required to offer fixed point-to-point two way communication on either a commercial basis (MDS service) or non-commercial educational basis (ITFS). Under the current rules, none of the licensees can really exploit the potential of the band. The original rules for the service date back to the 1970s, and the efforts by the FCC to fix these rules over the years to make the spectrum productive have created a confusing patchwork of licenses rights. So the FCC wants to reorganize the band to make better use of the spectrum. The current MDS and ITFS licensees have proposed a restructuring plan which would, unsurprisingly, benefit the existing licensees. The existing licensees would enjoy total flexibility and would be allowed to reorganize themselves to offer mobile as well as fixed services. To its credit, the FCC has asked whether others could benefit from this reorganization. Specifically, the FCC has proposed creating a band dedicated exclusively to unlicensed use. NPRM 79-81. The FCC also proposed extending the existing unlicensed rules (also known as Part 15 rules, for their location in the FCC's rules) to include the 2500-2690 range. 143-148. The effect of either proposal on unlicensed access would be enormously beneficial. Even if the FCC merely extended the Part 15 rules, it would help overcome many congestion issues and help avoid interference with other devices. Creating a significant band devoted exclusively for unlicensed without the fear of interfering with a licensed primary service would open the door to a whole new range of products and services. At the same time, the FCC also proposed allocating the spectrum to exclusive licensees. Worse, it proposed auctioning the right to a Part 15-style underlay. Such an auction would defeat the value of unlicensed and would set a bad precedent for future spectrum restructuring. The New America Foundation/Media Access Project Comments The New America Foundation (NAF) and the Media Access Project (MAP) drafted and submitted comments that supported both the creation of a primary unlicensed band and the extension of the Part 15 rules. The NAF/MAP comments also contained other material relating to auctions and other issues raised in the NPRM. Copies of the NAF/MAP comments are available from both the NAF website (www.spectrumpolicy.org) or on the MAP website (www.mediaaccess.org). A number of parties joined the comments. Most importantly, the comments were joined by wireless ISPs eager to see expansion of wireless access. No other party in this proceeding filed in favor of expanding unlicensed access. Many parties filed against the proposal. While the FCC does not decide policies solely by counting noses, it does look to see if there is interest in expanding unlicensed access in the relevant band. At the moment, the record does not reflect support for expanding unlicensed wireless access. How You Can Help Anyone can file comments at the FCC. Reply comments are due on October 23, 2003. But interested parties can continue to file comments using the procedure outlined below. Contrary to popular belief, the FCC really does read public comments and really does care about them. Most important are comments filed that provide either technical information or real world experiences that underscore the value of unlicensed wireless access. In particular, if you are a WISP, a WISP subscriber, or some other business user of unlicensed access, the FCC will be very interested in your comments. A Style Guide For Posting To The FCC Be polite - The staff at the FCC are real people with human feelings. They do not appreciate hearing that they are morons or losers or corrupt servants of special interests. If you abuse them, they will disregard your comments. That's just human nature. Explain yourself - Many of the people who will read your comments are not engineers or are engineers unfamiliar with the specific issues you describe. If you assume an audience generally familiar with the issues but with no technical training, you will probably hit the right level. At the same time, do include complex technical or economic information where you have to. This is important in building the record. If you have lengthy technical comments, try having a plain English summary at the beginning followed by technical comments. Make sure you explain all acronyms. Be personal - The FCC needs to hear about real world experiences in the field. Even if you are just a general supporter of unlicensed access services such as wi-fi, try to make the comments personal. In particular, if you are a business, discuss the economic impact of unlicensed access and how you would benefit from expanding unlicensed access. While there is no page limit (some filings are hundreds of pages long), try to stick to essentials. A shorter document will be given preferential treatment by staffers than a longer one that says the same thing. This is simply human nature. How To File Comments The FCC will accept written comments in Word, WordPerfect, or PDF format. You can also type in short comments directly to the FCC on its comments webpage at: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi. In other words, anyone with Internet access can file a comment just by going to the FCC's webpage and typing in the window provided (scroll down to the bottom of the page). If you write comments, you should include at the top the name of the proceeding and the Docket No. You must also include in the written comments the date of filing, your name, and an address where you can be reached. You do not need to be a lawyer, or even a U.S. citizen, to write or file comments before the FCC. When you go to file your comments, the docket number should be entered as 03-66 (ignore the WT). The FCC's webpage is relatively self-explanatory about what information is required and how to attach any files. At the end of the process, you will receive a confirmation from the FCC that your comments were filed. You may wish to print this out and save it for your files. You may view other comments in this proceeding by using the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) search function available at: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi Again, the relevant docket Number is 03-66. How To Stay Involved NAF and MAP will continue to update their websites with new information. The NAF website is http://www.spectrumpolicy.org. The MAP website is http://www.mediaaccess.org. In addition, the Washington Internet Project (http://www.cybertelecom.org) is a good resource for FCC proceedings that relate to unlicensed access. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 21:13:04 -0700 (PDT) From: Stan Schwartz Reply-To: stannc@yahoo.com Subject: Re: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers - Long Time No See In TELECOM Digest V22 #71, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in reply: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, five or six weeks does seem to be > an outragously long time. However, one thing you should remember is > that the traditional landline telcos are fit to be tied -- really bent > out of shape -- about the amount of business companies like Vonage are > taking away from them ...] If the traditional landline telcos want to generate or keep service, they need to at least pay attention to the customers who actually WANT their service, let alone getting into LNP issues. I've spent many an e-mail ranting about living in 'telecom purgatory' here, just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina and just outside the service area of BellSouth. I live under the black cloud and curse of 'ALLTEL Carolina, Inc.'. Last year, I moved from an apartment within ALLTEL territory to a single family house in a different Alltel C.O. There was no wire in the house yet, so Alltel had to attach a wire to the telephone pedestal at the curb (on the easement on my lawn), run the wire around the back of my house, and to the entry point that the builder left for them. Easy enough, right? Well, they connected this line and left it strung across my lawn, around the back of my house, and up part of my driveway. This was in November. I asked when it was going to get buried. Supervisors showed up to look at it. They referred it to other departments, more people came to look at it. The winter came, and it was fairly brutal for North Carolina, so I left them alone. Along came February and warmer weather (this IS the south), and the wire was still there. I called them on the Monday before Presidents' Day. I said, "Look, the wire has been running across my lawn for 3 months. If the wire gets tripped over, you might have a problem. I pay for that wire maintenance plan, so if my lawn mower accidentally hits that wire, you'd probably have to re-string it, right?" Well wouldn't you know it? There was a tractor with an auger and a length of pipe on my lawn within three days. They did a nice job of burying the line and running conduit under my driveway. The bottom line: they just didn't feel like doing it. Now I've been running Vonage for the last two months and suddenly they have numbers available all over LATA 424 (Charlotte, NC and surrounding areas). So far, Vonage has beat out my land line for up time. On two separate days in the last three weeks, I've received a call on my cell phone from ADT telling me that the the landline from my house has gone out. This ends up being something that Alltel has messed with in the area. BellSouth would be half the price and give me twice the service. I can only hope that Alltel continues this level of service and runs its system into Chapter 11 and gets taken over. I'd even welcome SBC at this point. I know some nice people there, too. -Stan [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wasn't Alltel originally just into long distance service like Sprint and MCI? Apparently now they are into local service just like Sprint? PAT] ------------------------------ From: essay182@yahoo.com (Jeremey) Subject: Becoming A Switch Technician Date: 21 Oct 2003 22:15:14 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I would really like a job in the telecom industry someday and I was wondering what the best thing to do to become a switch technician would be? I'm really fascinated by telephones and computers and am very good with both, so I was wondering how I would jump into this field? I was thinking of calling a local CO and asking them, but I also wanted to ask here. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: albertoa33@yahoo.com (Al Loy) Subject: Re: Good Connection But no Internet Pages Date: 22 Oct 2003 05:46:25 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I think what is happening is what John Meissen is mentioning. That is that the AP is filtering out connections by the MAC address of the card. I have searched all over the internet to get the software to configure the AP. I have a Lucent Model WP-II-E. I think this model is not being made any more so maybe that is why I am having a hard time getting the software. I don't have the original CD's because the person that originally set up the network to all the software with him. Any help with locating the configuration software would be greatly appreciated. David Clayton wrote in message news:: > albertoa33@yahoo.com (Al Loy) contributed the following: >> John, thank you for your response. Encryption is turned off. Can you >> please tell me how I could change the configuration on the Access >> Point so that it does not filter out MAC addresses or so that I can >> add the new cards? I know that to change the configuration on the >> router you can access 192.168.1.1 through the browser. I am waiting >> till Saturday to try resetting the password using the router's pin >> hole so I can see what settings it has. I want to make sure that I >> have the whole day to fix things in case everything get screwed up. Is >> there another IP for the Access Point that I can access through the >> browser? > Of course, the PC's with the new cards have been set to the correct > Access Point SSID, (like the other cards), haven't they? > Does the Cisco Access Point have a restriction on how many individual > wireless connections it can have? > > David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com, > Victoria, Australia. > (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) > Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag > you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: rob@mindspring.com (CoderRob) Subject: Dialogic Cards in (Hot Swap) PCI Slots (Compaq Dl380) Date: 22 Oct 2003 06:35:25 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am experiencing problems with multiple Dialogic D/480-JCT-2T1 boards in Compaq DL380 server machines. In some cases they work, but in most cases I get problems detecting the boards or starting them once they are detected. I have seen rumors that there were problems with that Dialogic model when running in a Hot Swap slot; the issue was related to high power consumption requirements of the Dialogic card. Allegedly a second revision (Rev 2 or Rev B?) of the D480 hardware resolved this. Does anyone have any information on this or similar problems with the hardware combination that I described above? Thanks, Rob ------------------------------ From: Craig Lombardi Subject: Re: Fax Removal Test Numbers Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 09:48:48 -0400 Organization: 24hoursupport.com We called and did get thru to that last one Wall Street Stock Alerts two days ago, but we STILL got their junk today. The stock tip sheet clearly says at the bottom: "To be removed from our database, call toll free at 1-888-398-2349". Carl Navarro wrote: > Alright. FOUR stock market tip sheets in one day, the last > one won't accept my number. > Lesson time! > Stock Prophet 866-273-2467 > Stock Wave USA 800-390-1403 > Stock Buyers Alert 888-528-8863 > WS Stock Alerts 888-398-2349 > I think it's time to get out the old war-dialer (frecom fax board > anyone?) and set the calls to 100 or 1000. > Carl Navarro ------------------------------ From: Tom Zachman Subject: Skype Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 22:10:34 -0500 Organization: Elpaso Internet Anyone heard or used this application: http://www.skype.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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #713 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Oct 23 00:43:11 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9N4hBg21947; Thu, 23 Oct 2003 00:43:11 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 00:43:11 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310230443.h9N4hBg21947@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 #714 TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Oct 2003 00:43:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 714 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Comcast Launches 'Comcast Teleworker' Internet Service (Monty Solomon) Time Warner Cable Tangles With DSL, Dial-up (Monty Solomon) See You Later, Anti-Gators? (Monty Solomon) Sony Studying Ways to Embed Cell Phones (Monty Solomon) Senate Votes for Tough Limits on Spam (Monty Solomon) Qwest CEO Says He Has no Plans to Leave (Eric Friedebach) Re: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers - Long Time (Sara Garland) Re: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers - Long Time (S Schwartz) Re: The NANP is 56-Years-Old Wednesday, October 22 (Mark Brader) Re: The NANP is 56-Years-Old Wednesday, October 22 (jared) Re: The NANP is 56-Years-Old Wednesday, October 22 (wesrock@aol.com) Re: Can Cable Fast-Forward Past TiVo? (Joey Lindstrom) Re: What on Earth is This? (George Mitchell) Re: A Game Player That Happens to Be a Phone (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Dell Turns on Satellite TV (jbl) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:31:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Launches 'Comcast Teleworker' Internet Service Comcast Launches 'Comcast Teleworker' Internet Service to Serve Corporate Telework Needs - Oct 22, 2003 09:02 AM (PR Newswire) PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Employers wanting to provide their employees with Internet telework solutions now can rely on Comcast, an expert in broadband connectivity, with the launch of Comcast Teleworker. Comcast now offers a business Internet service designed specifically for organizations with large numbers of employees who work remotely. The service is available anywhere Comcast offers high-speed Internet service. Comcast provides Internet service in 35 U.S. states and is the nation's leading provider of residential broadband Internet service. Comcast Teleworker offers a standard set of features tailored to national, regional corporate customers. Comcast Teleworker speeds are optimized for teleworkers to connect to their corporate locations via VPN to access e-mail and transfer corporate files. Comcast also provides business-class customer support including dedicated support representatives specially trained to support business services and customers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36181921 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:38:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Time Warner Cable tangles With DSL, Dial-up By Jim Hu Staff Writer, CNET News.com Time Warner Cable reported another quarter of sagging growth for its broadband Internet business, raising speculation that the market for high-speed cable access is maturing and facing more competition. As part of parent company Time Warner's second-quarter results, the nation's second-largest cable provider reported a 23 percent increase in broadband subscribers, from 2.3 million last year to 3 million this year. That's a significant drop from the growth rate of 69 percent the company saw the year before. The question many analysts and even company executives are asking is whether this is an early indicator that rival digital subscriber line (DSL) services are stealing market share. The answer from them at this point is no, but stay tuned next quarter. http://news.com.com/2100-1034-5095319.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:53:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: See You Later, Anti-Gators? By Paul Festa Staff Writer, CNET News.com In an effort to improve its corporate reputation, adware company Gator has launched a legal offensive to divorce its name from the hated term "spyware" -- and so far its strategy is paying off. In response to a libel lawsuit, an antispyware company has settled with Gator and pulled Web pages critical of the company, its practices and its software. And other spyware foes are getting the message. http://news.com.com/2100-1032-5095051.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:17:16 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sony Studying Ways to Embed Cell Phones By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press Writer TOKYO (AP) -- Sony Corp. is studying ways to let consumers use their cell phones to buy groceries at convenience stores, pick up the tab for lunch and pay train fares, the company said Wednesday. The electronics giant already has its own smart card payment service called Edy _ an acronym for "euro, dollar, yen" _ which is accepted by about 2,700 stores in Japan. Sony said it's working on using the same computer chip technology, called FeliCa, in cell phones. About 2.7 million Edy cards are currently in circulation. But the company declined to confirm a newspaper report Wednesday that it would tie up with NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's largest mobile telephone provider, which accounts for roughly 60 percent of the cell phone market. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36192905 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:14:00 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Senate Votes for Tough Limits on Spam By TED BRIDIS AP Technology Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate agreed Wednesday to impose tough new limits on the irritating but lucrative business of e-mailing unwanted sales pitches to millions of people in the United States. Internet users have complained about mailboxes clogged with offers for prescription drugs, cheap loans, herbal remedies and pornography. The Senate voted 97-0 to approve the "Can Spam" bill. The measure outlaws the shadiest techniques used by many of the Internet's most prolific e-mailers, who pump out millions of unsolicited messages daily. Despite the vote, senators cautioned computer users not to expect an immediate end to overflowing inboxes. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36196210 ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Qwest CEO Says He Has no Plans to Leave Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 22:06:44 -0500 Organization: Muddy Paw Prints On The Corvette CHICAGO (Reuters) - Qwest Communications International Inc. Chief Executive Richard Notebaert denied any interest in the top job at Motorola Inc. Notebaert, in a Monday morning e-mail to the telephone company's employees, said he plans to see the turnaround of the No. 4 U.S. telephone company through to the end. Reuters obtained a copy of the message Wednesday. "I am committed to this company, to each of you and to the customers we serve," he said. "And I am not leaving." http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2003/10/22/rtr1119044.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers - Long Time No See From: no_email_address@hotmail.com (Sara Garland) Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 03:15:25 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Mach Yougth by adding: > five or six weeks does seem to be an outragously long time. I faxed in my transfer form on Sept 9th, they sent it to Verizon on Sept 18th, and I'm still waiting for the transfer to go through. Very annoying. ------------------------------ From: Stan Schwartz Subject: Re: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:20:30 -0400 Organization: what do you want In TELECOM Digest V22 #713, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in reply: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wasn't Alltel originally just into > long distance service like Sprint and MCI? Apparently now they are > into local service just like Sprint? PAT] Back in the '80's and early '90's, there was a long distance company called 'Allnet' (I believe they used CIC 10444 at the time). Alltel is the result of one company buying out independent rural telcos on the outskirts of major cities in the East and Midwest. In the last few years, they've focused more on building out their wireless service more than servicing their existing wireline franchise. From their own propoganda sheet, Alltel is: . Nation's 7th largest wireless company with 7.9 million customers. . Nation's 6th largest local telephone company with approximately 3.1 million customers. The also have a major roaming agreement with Verizon Wireless, which was hammered out at the time of the BellAtlantic-GTE merger. They are the third major CDMA carrier in the US, after Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS. -Stan ------------------------------ Subject: Re: The NANP is 56-Years-Old Wednesday, October 22 Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 10:29:38 EDT From: msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) Thanks to Mark Cuccia for that excellent writeup. One detail. In describing the original codes of 1947, Mark writes: > (902 originally for all of the Maritime Provinces: NB, NS, PEI, NF/LB) Did the dialing plan actually include Newfoundland as well as Canada and the US at that time, or is this a mistake for "NB, NS, PEI"? Mark Brader, Toronto | "Anyone who can handle a needle convincingly can make msb@vex.net | us see a thread which is not there." --E.H. Gombrich My text in this article is in the public domain. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 20:46:45 -0600 From: jared.NospaM@netspace.net.au (jared) Subject: Re: The NANP is 56-Years-Old Wednesday, October 22 Once Lockheed Martin began to acquire Comsat, it was moving into telecommunications and so, reportedly, believed or it was suggested it should no longer run NANPA. > It was decided that Bellcore would divest itself of the NANPA > functions, to be turned over to a non-governmental impartial > third-party entity. There were several hearings and such over at > least five years time, and by 1998, Lockheed-Martin took over the > NANPA functions from Bellcore. Also, Bellcore was about to be sold by > the regional Bell holding corporations over to a new owner, SAIC, and > the name of Bellcore was changed to Telcordia in 1999. > Also, Lockheed-Martin announced at the end of 1998, just less than a > year of handling the NANPA, that it wanted "out" of numbering. A year > later, in late 1999, just before 2000, a new entity named "Neustar" > took over the NANPA functions. ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 20:26:02 EDT Subject: Re: The NANP is 56 Years Old Wednesday, October 22 Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com In a message dated 10/21/03 11:37:09 PM Central Daylight Time, > For the Englewood NJ Customer Long Distance Dialing trials, calls to > Oakland (and east Bay metro area points) were reached with NPA > 415. However, calls to San Francisco (and west Bay and > north-of-the-Golden Gate points that were dialable) were reached with > a different 318 area code. I think that Operators dialed 415 for the > entire region. I think that some of this may have had to do with the > number of digits that could be analyzed and translated up-front in the > #5XB machines in Englewood and Teaneck NJ. I think that for discrete > routing to Oakland toll vs. San Francisco toll, the machines couldn't > translate all six-digits of the NPA-NNX code, but only three-digits of > "just" the NPA code. Thus the use of 318 indicated San Francisco > "up-front" while the use of 415 indicated Oakland "up-front". This may be consistent with the Waxahachie, Texas, #5XB office. I was involved in the planning and cutover of the #5XB there, the second office in then-Southwestern Bell territory to have customer DDD. My part was the advertising, public relations and publicity. One thing everyone agreed on was that none of the printed or published information should include Italy, Texas, as a dialable point. Italy is 15 miles down the road from Waxahachie, and homed on Waxahachie. The reason? The Waxahachie office was equipped for only three-digit translation, and a DDD call to Italy from Waxahachie would go into the 4A in Dallas (30 miles), then be back-hauled through Waxahachie to Italy. Circuits were still in short supply and expensive in the 1950s, and going an extra 30 miles to Dallas and then 30 miles back through Waxahachie would be wasteful. There was nothing, of course, to prevent customers from dialing Italy that way, but we surely didn't want to tell them they could. Not many customers were knowledgable about DDD in those days, and dependent on the telco instructions. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 10:18:21 -0600 Subject: Re: Can Cable Fast-Forward Past TiVo? Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 23:38:58 EDT, COTTP wrote: > In any case, there was a little IR dongle that came from the General > Instrument cable box and used a suction cup to position it near the > VCR's IR receiver. Thing is, it never worked with my Phillips > VCR. From what I heard it didn't work with many VCR's at all. Have the > same problem with my Pacific Neo-Tek OmniRemote for the Palm > platform. Set it up with an IR receiver hooked to a scope - signal is > just barely there and doesn't have a very wide angle. Yet the company > still markets this piece of crap same as always. > I modified mine with a lens that widens the beam. Seems to work ok now. My Bell ExpressVu 3100 and 6000 satellite receivers (which, I understand, have equivalent Dish Network model numbers) have kinda the same feature, except no dongle required. They send out a powerful IR signal that can bounce off the far wall and back into the IR receiver on the VCR. Works like a charm here -- all I hadda do was enter the appropriate VCR model code into the receiver and I was up and running. ------------------------------ From: George Mitchell Subject: Re: What on Earth is This? Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 11:21:50 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I tried it again also, this time from > the comfort and safety of my cell phone. What the man read back to me > was 'two hundred, seventeen, seven, one, one, three, two, two, eight, > two, oh, six'. No mention of the pound signs or the final 02 on > the end. Then the rapid tones. When I tried it from my Vonage phone > (which always registers the SFCA 415 number on caller ID) the > response I got was 'two hundred, twenty-nine', then the rest of the > above number, again, with no mention of the final 02, and the tones. > When I tried it again from Vonage, it was 'two hundred, twenty-seven', > etc. PAT] That initial part (the number in the low two hundreds) sound like it could be a propagation delay measurement of some sort in milliseconds. -- George Mitchell (obfuscated email address) ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: A Game Player That Happens to Be a Phone Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 19:41:19 -0400 Organization: Bell Sympatico Monty Solomon quoted from the New York Times: > The world is awash in cellphones that deliver only black-and-white > video games that are as archaic looking as Pong. > [...] > Oh, and by the way, it can make phone calls. Could somebody please explain to me why forced combinations like this are selling, while seemingly natural combinations like callphone/PDA (a la Handspring Treo) or cellphone with attachment for a laptop (why have a separate card for it if you already have the cellphone?!?) seem to be niche markets? Better yet, can we not make the connectivity plans more affordable? 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! We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. ------------------------------ From: jbl Subject: Re: Dell Turns on Satellite TV Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 17:28:38 -0700 Organization: On the desert Reply-To: jbl@spamblocked.com In , Monty Solomon wrote: > By John G. Spooner > Staff Writer, CNET News.com > Beginning next month, the Round Rock, Texas, PC maker plans to sell > hardware and to sign up subscribers for DirecTV's digital video > recording (DVR) service, a Dell representative said. A DirecTV > representative confirmed that the two companies are discussing a deal. No big surprise -- DTV has had a deal with Dell promote some special deal to DTV customers on a dedicated advertising channel (I don't know if it's still going on). I wasn't in the market so I didn't go over to see if it was a decent deal. /JBL ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #714 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Oct 23 19:15:56 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9NNFtp27647; Thu, 23 Oct 2003 19:15:56 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 19:15:56 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310232315.h9NNFtp27647@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 #715 TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Oct 2003 19:16:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 715 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Victoria's Secret to Pay up For Poor Panty Privacy (Monty Solomon) Number Portability May Spark Wireless Migration (Monty Solomon) Venture to Offer ID Card for Use at Security Checks (Monty Solomon) Spam is Starting to Hurt Email (Monty Solomon) AT&T PrePaid Web Cents Technology (Monty Solomon) AT&T Wireless Signs Number Porting Agreement with T-Mobile (M Solomon) U.S. Cellular Reports Certain Operating Data for Third Quarter (Solomon) Lucent Technologies Reports Results for Fourth Quarter (Monty Solomon) Students Fight E-Vote Firm (Monty Solomon) T-Mobile USA Signs Pacts with All Other Major Carriers (Monty Solomon) T-Mobile USA Deploys New 'Pico-Station' Technology (Monty Solomon) Re: NANP is 56 Years Old (Mark J. Cuccia) Re: Senate Votes for Tough Limits on Spam (Ed Clarke) Re: Senate Votes for Tough Limits on Spam (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. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 03:05:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Victoria's Secret to Pay Up For Poor Panty Privacy By Ashlee Vance in Chicago New York Attorney General Eliot Sptizer has sorted through Victoria Secret's dirty undies and is set to doll out a $50,000 fine to the company for online privacy violations. Spitzer has spent several months looking into charges that Victoria's Secret Web site allowed shoppers to take a peek at other customers' orders. An apparent flaw in the lingerie giant's ordering system made it possible to tweak customer ID numbers and see what kind of knickers people were buying -- a clear violation of Victoria's Secret online privacy policy. The New York AG and Victoria's Secret reached a settlement on Monday, according to the New York Times . Jason Sudowski of Niantic, Connecticut was looking for a nice matching bra and undies set for his loved one when he discovered the panty raid flaw. He reported the incident to a customer service representative that dutifully told him to shove off. http://theregister.com/content/6/33504.html http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/21/technology/21priv.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 03:10:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Number Portability May Spark Wireless Migration CHICAGO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - About one in five U.S. wireless subscribers will change carriers in the next year after a new rule goes into effect allowing them to keep their telephone numbers when switching providers, according to a survey released on Thursday. The survey also found that about 42 percent of consumers are aware of the so-called number portability rule, more than twice the 20 percent level industry observers have estimated. The findings were detailed in a report by communications consulting firm The Management Network Group (TMNG), which conducted a survey of more than 1,000 respondents in September. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36198333 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 03:16:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Venture to Offer ID Card for Use at Security Checks By JOHN SCHWARTZ Americans hate to wait. But will they pay -- and submit to security screenings and even high-technology fingerprinting -- to avoid the long lines snaking behind checkpoints in airports, office buildings and sports arenas? Steven Brill is betting that the answer is yes. Mr. Brill, a journalist and entrepreneur, will announce today a new company, Verified Identity Card Inc., which will offer customers an electronic card containing data showing that they are not on terrorism watch lists and do not have certain felony convictions on their records. If businesses, airports and government agencies sign on to the plan and put Verified's card readers at security checkpoints, cardholders would be able to zip through, avoiding the most thorough searches. Mr. Brill, who created CourtTV and The American Lawyer and Brill's Content magazines, joins a wave of companies hoping to fill a need and make a profit as government agencies and businesses scramble to shore up defenses against terrorism. The card, he said, could serve as a more palatable alternative to a government-mandated national ID card, which is opposed by privacy advocates and the Bush administration. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/23/technology/23secu.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:03:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Spam is Starting to Hurt Email WASHINGTON (October 22, 2003) -- The recent explosion of email spam is beginning to take its toll on the Internet world. A new nationwide survey shows that 25% of America's email users say they are using email less because of spam. Within that group, most say that spam has reduced their overall use of email in a big way. Further, more than half of email users say that spam has made them less trusting of email in general. One of their fears is that legitimate emails might be turned away by filters designed to stop spam. Another is that they'll simply miss incoming email from friends, family, or colleagues amid the clutter of spam in their inboxes. A new report entitled "Spam: Hurting email and degrading the Internet environment," by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, includes scores of stories gathered in a Web-survey by the Washington-based Telecommunications Research & Action Center about how spam has affected people's experience with email and changed their views about the value of email. http://www.pewinternet.org/releases/release.asp?id=67 Spam: How it is hurting email and degrading life on the Internet http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=102 http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_Spam_Report.pdf Questionnaire http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_Spam_Topline.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:17:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T PrePaid Web Cents Technology World's Largest Retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Now Offers Disney Online, SportsLine.com, Shockwave.com and Cellus USA Specialty Cards MORRISTOWN, N.J., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T today announced that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will now carry specialty cards with select online digital content from various providers, using AT&T PrePaid Web Cents(R) technology. All Wal-Mart stores will carry specialty-content cards from Cellus USA, Disney Online, Shockwave.com and SportsLine.com, with more specialty-content cards to come in the future. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36203958 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:18:51 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Signs Number Porting Agreement with T-Mobile REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T Wireless today announced that it has signed an agreement with T-Mobile USA, Inc. detailing how the two carriers will port customers' phone numbers between them once local number portability takes effect on November 24, 2003. After that time, wireless customers in the nation's largest 100 markets will generally be able to take their phone numbers with them when they switch wireless carriers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36203466 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 01:08:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Cellular Reports Certain Operating Data for Third Quarter; CHICAGO, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United States Cellular Corporation (Amex: USM) reported service revenues of $628.4 million for the third quarter of 2003, up 12% from $561.2 million in the comparable period a year ago. The company recorded operating income of $97 million during the quarter, an increase of 55% from the third quarter of 2002. The company's results include operations through July 31, 2003 of markets included in the August 1, 2003 exchange of assets with AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE). Year-over-year comparisons are also affected by the acquisition of the company's Chicago operations on August 7, 2002. Third quarter 2002 results only include the operating results of the Chicago operations subsequent to that date. Third Quarter Highlights: -- Customer units totaled 4,268,000, an 8% increase from 3,943,000 customers one year earlier. During the quarter, 141,000 customer units were transferred to AWE related to the exchange transaction. -- Net customer unit activations from distribution channels totaled 66,000 during the quarter, compared to 76,000 activations for the same quarter of 2002. -- For the quarter, the company recorded postpay churn of 1.6%, favorable to industry averages. -- Average monthly retail service revenue per customer increased 2% year-over-year in the quarter to $39.57, compared to $38.95 in the same period a year ago. President's Comments - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36180296 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 01:09:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Lucent Technologies Reports Results for Fourth Quarter and Year * Records profitable quarter, with net income of 2 cents per share * Generates positive operating cash flow of $145 million * Posts revenues of $2.03 billion for the quarter, an increase of 3 percent sequentially MURRAY HILL, N.J., Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) today reported results for the fourth quarter and year end of fiscal 2003, which ended Sept. 30, 2003, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The company reported its first profitable quarter since March 2000, posting net income for the quarter that was $99 million or 2 cents per share(1). These results compare with a net loss of $254 million or 7 cents per share(2) in the third quarter of fiscal 2003 and a net loss of $2.81 billion or 84 cents per share(2) in the year-ago quarter. The company recorded revenues of $2.03 billion in the quarter, which is an increase of 3 percent from the $1.96 billion in revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2003. The company recorded $2.28 billion in revenues in the year-ago quarter. The fourth quarter's earnings per share included the negative impact of charges associated with the reversal of certain previously recognized income tax benefits, an asset impairment charge related to capitalized UMTS software development costs, and the revaluation of warrants that are expected to be issued as part of Lucent's global settlement of shareowner litigation, all of which were more than offset by the positive impact from bad debt and customer financing recoveries, a net reduction of reserves for certain business restructuring actions, and certain other items, including certain adjustments to employee expenses as well as customer and supplier credits. The net effect of these charges and benefits was a favorable impact of about 2 cents per share on the fourth quarter's results(2). For the fiscal year, Lucent reported revenues of $8.5 billion compared with $12.3 billion in fiscal 2002. The net loss was $770 million or 29 cents per share during fiscal 2003, compared with a net loss of $11.8 billion or $3.49 per share during fiscal 2002. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36178984 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 01:39:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Students Fight E-Vote Firm By Kim Zetter A group of students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania has launched an "electronic civil disobedience" campaign against voting machine maker Diebold Election Systems. The students are protesting efforts by Diebold to prevent them and other website owners from linking to some 15,000 internal company memos that reveal the company was aware of security flaws in its e-voting software for years but sold the faulty systems to states anyway. The memos were leaked to voting activists and journalists by a hacker who broke into an insecure Diebold FTP server in March. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,60927,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:26:39 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: T-Mobile USA Signs Pacts with All Other Major Carriers Now Easier for Consumers and Business People to GET MORE With T-Mobile BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2003-- T-Mobile USA Signs Pacts with All Other Major Carriers to Ease Switching Process: Consumers Won't Have to Worry About Losing Current Number T-Mobile USA, Inc., the nation's fastest growing major wireless services provider, took an important step today in preparation to assist customers of other carriers who want to switch to T-Mobile without losing their phone number. T-Mobile has now completed agreements with AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Nextel Communications, Sprint PCS and Verizon Wireless that allow customers of each carrier to switch with T-Mobile in an efficient manner as of Nov. 24. These agreements facilitate the implementation of Wireless Local Number Portability (WLNP) in accordance with the Federal Communications Commission's mandate and guidelines for WLNP and in a customer friendly and consistent manner. T-Mobile's objective is to make it possible for customers of all carriers to conveniently and easily switch or "port" their number from one carrier to another. These agreements are another important step in a series of preparations T-Mobile is making for porting. In addition, T-Mobile has created a dedicated porting call center; trained thousands of retail store and customer service employees to assist potential customers with tips that make switching to T-Mobile simple; and has provided porting information and tips on the t-mobile.com website. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36202754 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:31:48 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: T-Mobile USA Deploys New 'Pico-Station' Technology T-Mobile USA Deploys New 'Pico-Station' Technology, Makes Other Enhancements As Part of Continuous Coverage Quality Effort; Best Value in Wireless Keeps Getting Better - Oct 23, 2003 09:07 AM (BusinessWire) BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2003--Capping off a year in which T-Mobile USA has shifted its focus from building out major new markets to further enhancing its quality in areas of existing coverage, the company announced today a series of related quality enhancement efforts -- including signing on as the first carrier to use "pico-basestations" to improve coverage inside buildings. The new technology -- the world's smallest basestation, the nanoBTS -- has been developed by ip.access based in Cambridge, England, a subsidiary of TTP Communications plc. It uses a building's existing Ethernet infrastructure to enable the nanoBTS stations to deliver service in a "pico-point" to where the service is actually needed. Deployment will begin this year. These pico-basestations join a long list of other planned enhancements T-Mobile is currently making to its nationwide GSM network: - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36204201 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 08:27:20 -0500 From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Re: NANP is 56 Years Old Mark Brader (Toronto ON Canada) wrote: > Thanks to Mark Cuccia for that excellent writeup. And thank YOU! > One detail. In describing the original codes of 1947, > Mark (Cuccia) writes: >> (902 originally for all of the Maritime Provinces: NB, NS, PEI, NF/LB) > Did the dialing plan actually include Newfoundland as well as Canada > and the US at that time, or is this a mistake for "NB, NS, PEI"? I really don't have any thing "specific" one way or the other regarding Newfoundland/Labrador. I do know that in October 1947, Newfoundland/Labrador was not really part of Canada, jurisdictionally/politically, but rather still officially part of the UK's colonies or territories or whatever (I don't really know all of the minute details on such ... and it is also said that the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey, as well as the Isle of Man, are not really part of the UK "itself", but I don't want to get into that right now!). Anyhow, it wasn't until 1949 (?) when Newfoundland/Labrador became officially part of Canada as a province. However, I would "assume" that because of the close proximity, and other infrastructure arrangements, it was probably intended that Newfoundland (including Labrador) be included in the US/Canada telephone numbering plan from the very beginning. Even though it wasn't until 1949(?) when Newfoundland became part of Canada, wasn't it "known" in 1947 that it was a possibility "in the works"? Also, while the NANP's Area Codes as we have come to know them, was "defined" in October 1947, it was still many years before most customers (and even some operators) could actually *DIAL* to MOST customers throughout the US/Canada. There was *NOT* any customer dialing with area codes until the trials at Englewood/Teaneck NJ starting 10-November-1951. (See my previous archived reports and also posts in back-issues, regarding Englewood NJ 1951). I don't think that Operators could begin using *area codes* until January 1949. Even then, only *certain* originating locations could "dial" *certain* destination locations. Back to the Maritime Provinces ... I have seen maps dated in the early 1950s of the US/Canada showing NPA codes, and 902 is shown as "extending" to include NF/LB. It wasn't until sometime in 1955 when New Brunswick and Newfoundland (including Labrador) was "split" from 902, the new code being 506 for *BOTH* NB and NF/LB. NS/PEI retained 902, both *still* "share" 902. In 1962, NF/LB broke off from 506 into the new 709 area code. NB "alone" does still retain 506. FINALLY, Neustar-NANPA's website has the following specific pages which go into great detail on the current/future (and recent past) of the NANP: http://www.nanpa.com/home/index.html http://www.nanpa.com/press_releases/index.html http://www.nanpa.com/planning_letters/planning_letters_2003.html http://www.nanpa.com/area_codes/ http://docs.nanpa.com/reports/ http://www.nanpa.com/relief_planning/index.cfm http://www.nanpa.com/relief_planning/nruf_cover.html http://www.nanpa.com/number_resource_info/adm_state.html http://www.nanpa.com/number_resource_info/co_assignment_activity.html http://www.nanpa.com/number_resource_info/co_code_assignments1.html Neustar also does "thousands-block" assignments, portability, and other technical standards some involving the Internet: http://www.nationalpooling.com/ http://www.npac.com/ http://www.neustar.com/ SAIC-Telcordia Traffic Routing Administration: http://www.trainfo.com/products_services/tra/index.html ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions): http://www.atis.org/home.htm SAIC-CNA (Canadian Numbering Administration): http://www.cnac.ca/ And there are NUMEROUS other organizations involved with the NANP in one way or another. The Telcordia-TRA site has a great "links" page to various ohter industry/regaulatory resources. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA USA ------------------------------ From: Ed Clarke Subject: Re: Senate Votes for Tough Limits on Spam Date: 23 Oct 2003 11:32:41 GMT Organization: Ciliophora Associates, Inc. Reply-To: clarke@cilia.org In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > By TED BRIDIS AP Technology Writer > WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate agreed Wednesday to impose tough new > limits on the irritating but lucrative business of e-mailing unwanted > sales pitches to millions of people in the United States. > Internet users have complained about mailboxes clogged with offers for > prescription drugs, cheap loans, herbal remedies and pornography. > The Senate voted 97-0 to approve the "Can Spam" bill. The measure > outlaws the shadiest techniques used by many of the Internet's most > prolific e-mailers, who pump out millions of unsolicited messages > daily. Despite the vote, senators cautioned computer users not to > expect an immediate end to overflowing inboxes. > - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36196210 It's an opt-out plan. This means that every person and/or company on the planet can send you at least one piece of spam. Furthermore it tends to make people think that unsolicited bulk email is legitimate. UBE (spam) is not legitimate and neither are the people who send it nor the people who voted for this bill. The Pandora Project is starting to look less insane all the time. http://www.sitetamer.com/strads/spam/pandora.html ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: Senate Votes for Tough Limits on Spam Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 07:59:24 -0600 Organization: Kaos OnLine Coalition On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:14:00 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: > The Senate voted 97-0 to approve the "Can Spam" bill. The measure > outlaws the shadiest techniques used by many of the Internet's most > prolific e-mailers, who pump out millions of unsolicited messages > daily. Despite the vote, senators cautioned computer users not to > expect an immediate end to overflowing inboxes. The bill, as proposed, would still allow "legitimate" e-mailers to send you one message, unsolicited. Recipients would have to explicitly reply to the message to stop getting messages from that one business. The onus would be on the recipient to track any abuses of this system -- similar to the telephone regs we had before the "do not call" lists. Ugh. > - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36196210 "One amendment, by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to establish a do-not-spam list, similar to the agency's popular do-not-call list of telephone numbers that marketers are supposed not to call. The Direct Marketing Association opposes that amendment and has described it as 'a bad idea that is never going to work.' " Of course it could work. It could even work far better than a telephone "do not call" list if domain-wide registrations could be entered in the list. This would have the great effect of stopping e-mail from those "legitimate sources" without compromising the privacy of individual users. One other thing that's perplexing to me: if the Can Spam bill were passed, it's trivial for mail readers to filter the advertisements from "legitimate" e-mailers. How would these advertisers ever have a clue what percentage of their advertisements were actually read by readers? Why would "legitimate" e-mailers pay for such a service when they have no idea whatsoever what they're getting for their money? What exactly is the point of having billions and billions of "legitimate e-mail advertisements" being sent just to be silently and automatically blackholed when they arrive at their destination? Does that really serve anybody? --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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #715 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Oct 23 21:22:26 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9O1MPP28401; Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:22:26 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:22:26 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310240122.h9O1MPP28401@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 #716 TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:22:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 716 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Filings in FCC Rulemakings was FYI on Unlicensed Spectrum (Sullivan) 2003 Foreign Telecommunications Carriers (Brisk Attivo) Tekelec Deploys SanteraOne Switches in Canada (John Wise) Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat (JDS) Re: My New Telecom Discussion Group (JDS) Re: NANP is 56 Years Old (Mark Brader) Dallas Phone Service - SBC versus Comcast? (No-Name) Re: Becoming A Switch Technician (Chip G) Re: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Verizon Charges for Everything Lately (jbl) Apology - Well, Sorta (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. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Filings in FCC Rulemakings was: FYI on Unlicensed Spectrum Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 05:53:53 GMT A few additional suggestions from an FCC practitioner for those who may be interested in filing comments in FCC rulemakings of interest, prompted by a posting by Marcus Didius Falco on 10/21/03 (not specific to the docket on allocation of unlicensed spectrum in 2.5 GHz range, Docket No. WT 03-66 NPRM, so discussion of the docket is omitted.) > A Style Guide For Posting To The FCC > Be polite - The staff at the FCC are real people with human > feelings. They do not appreciate hearing that they are morons or > losers or corrupt servants of special interests. If you abuse > them, they will disregard your comments. That's just human nature. Absolutely correct. If you are abusive or dismissive, they will treat you like a crackpot (or crackhead) and ignore your filing. Be polite, even if you are absolutely certain that they are morons, losers, or corrupt. Do not direct your comments at personalities (e.g., particular Commissioners, Bureau Chiefs, or staffers); if you try to flatter particular persons, others may feel slighted, and if you insult or "dis" particular persons, they will feel slighted, and in either case you won't gain points for persuasiveness. > Explain yourself - Many of the people who will read your comments are > not engineers or are engineers unfamiliar with the specific issues you > describe. If you assume an audience generally familiar with the issues > but with no technical training, you will probably hit the right > level. At the same time, do include complex technical or economic > information where you have to. This is important in building the > record. If you have lengthy technical comments, try having a plain > English summary at the beginning followed by technical comments. Make > sure you explain all acronyms. None of the Commissioners are engineers, and their personal staff assistants are virtually always lawyers, not engineers. Few of the top- level staff decisionmakers (bureau and office chiefs and deputy chiefs) are engineers. The only top-level official who is an engineer is Ed Thomas, the Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology. Many of his staff are engineers. If the docket (like this one) has "WT" in its docket number, primary responsibility for it falls on the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, which is typically not headed by an engineer (I believe its Chief, John Muleta, is a lawyer). The Wireless Bureau has numerous engineers, but the drafts of FCC decisions are usually written principally by lawyers, with substantial input by engineers. The tentative policy decisions will typically be made by lawyers and economists with input from engineers. The Office of Engineering and Technology will provide advice and input to both the staffers drafting the item and the Commissioners' offices. Assuming that your comments are actually reviewed by any of the people responsible for making policy recommendations, it would be best to write them so that they could be understood by an educated person without an engineering background who is familiar with very basic telecommunications engineering concepts. Pitch your position as though you were speaking to a CEO of a telecom company who is more familiar with Wall Street and Capitol Hill than IEEE standards. The reader can be assumed to know what Wi-Fi and MMDS are, but it would be unwise to assume that the reader will understand how a technology such as QTAM-WE (quadrature tertiary amplitude modulation -- whizbang enhanced) or ALOHA (this is a real acronym, but I can't remember what it stands for) works. Go ahead and use the acronym, but explain it in 9th grade terms (e.g., "This provides 166.7 users per square mile with 1 Mbps bandwidth up and down in spectrum that currently accommodates 7 walkie-talkies."). Bear in mind that many FCC staffers are not intimately familiar with cutting-edge technologies. They need to have the details explained. For example, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau staff are familiar with the technologies that they regulate (e.g., cellular, MMDS) to the extent necessary to regulate them. In other words, they know about the RF characteristics of the existing service and about where the industry is regarding policies like CALEA, E911, etc. They don't necessarily know what is on the front or back burner at a particular manufacturer. Some may, but the staffer working on your rulemaking may not. Educate him or her. > Be personal - The FCC needs to hear about real world experiences in > the field. Even if you are just a general supporter of unlicensed > access services such as wi-fi, try to make the comments personal. In > particular, if you are a business, discuss the economic impact of > unlicensed access and how you would benefit from expanding unlicensed > access. Extremely important. > While there is no page limit (some filings are hundreds of pages > long), try to stick to essentials. A shorter document will be given > preferential treatment by staffers than a longer one that says the > same thing. This is simply human nature. True within limits. A filing that is just a page or two (double spaced) will tend to get blown off. If it's that short, either you aren't providing any information much beyond "I agree" or "I oppose", or you are providing information that is too dense to be understood. Moreover, comments that are very short are simply not taken seriously. > How To File Comments Go to , either directly or by going to , clicking on "E-filing", scrolling down to "Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) [main]" and clicking, and then clicking on "Submit a Filing". When entering the docket number, ignore the letters, as Marcus Didius Falco said. (I.e., if the docket number is WT 03-66, enter "03-66" (without the quotes, of course).) > The FCC will accept written comments in Word, WordPerfect, or PDF > format. Use PDF. All filings will be converted to PDF. If you submit in Word or WordPerfect, the FCC will convert it, and the results may not be what you hoped for. There are plenty of filings by law firms and telecom companies with weird symbols, erratic spacing, and aberrant pagination that result from submitting Word or WordPerfect files. The FCC also allows Excel spreadsheets; if you are submitting data files, this is the preferred format. > You can also type in short comments directly to the FCC on its > comments webpage at: > http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi. In other words, > anyone with Internet access can file a comment just by going to > the FCC's webpage and typing in the window provided (scroll down > to the bottom of the page). While you have the option of typing in "short comments" directly, instead of uploading a file, this should be avoided if you want your comments to be taken seriously. If an FCC staffer wants to check out the "significant" comments, and there are 25 uploaded comments and 2500 "short comments", the latter will be ignored for the most part. I wouldn't count on any more than an intern or law clerk checking them for a count of pro or con. If you must, for some reason, use this vehicle for your comments, put the docket number and title at the top of your comments, in the best reproduction of a formal comment you can muster, and include your full name and address information at the bottom of the entry. When these "short comments" are printed out or viewed, there is no identifying information beyond what you typed. > If you write comments, you should include at the top the name of the > proceeding and the Docket No. You must also include in the written > comments the date of filing, your name, and an address where you can > be reached. You do not need to be a lawyer, or even a U.S. citizen, to > write or file comments before the FCC. To make your comments most effective, make them look like "real" comments. Download a few comments in your proceeding or another similar proceeding by companies in the industry. Follow the general style of these comments in order to be taken seriously. Also, if your comments are over 10 pages, there must be a table of contents and summary (and a cover page, although this isn't in the rules). Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. ------------------------------ From: brisk@netins.net (Brisk Attivo) Subject: 2003 Foreign Telecommunications Carriers Date: 23 Oct 2003 03:27:23 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com (COMMENT:I created this list mostly because of my own curiousity about foreign telecommunications, but also because I discovered in my own curiousity that there is not much information on the subject and the need for it was in demand. This is my first time publicly posting the list, so any comments or criticism is appreciated. Hope some people find this useful or interesting:) Foreign Telecommunications Carriers Brisk Attivo (brisk@netins.net) October 20th, 2003 This list is meant to be a reference for the current telecomm- unications carriers for all foreign countries. The countries selected for this list have been chosen because they are recognized by the CIA World Factbook. The telecommunications carriers selected have been chosen because they are the most economically dominant in their associated countries, or because they are state-owned, government- owned, public operators of telecommunications. Information on the telecommunications of some countries -- such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and North Korea -- is limited due to their political instability. Most of this information was found due to help from publications by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), ITU (International Telecomunications Commission), and Google. Afghanistan - Ministry of Communications Albania - AlbTelecom (Albanian Telecom) Algeria - Algerie Telecom American Samoa - American Samoa TeleCommunications Authority (Samoa Telco) Andorra - Servei de Telecomunicacions d'Andorra (STA) Angola - Angola Telecom Anguilla - Cable & Wireless: Anguilla Antartica - I Bet You Looked At This One First (IBYLATOF) Antuiga and Barbuda - Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) Argentina - Telecom Argentina Armenia - ArmenTel (Armenian Telephone Company) Aruba - SETAR Australia - Telstra Austria - Telekom Austria Azerbaijan - Aztelecom Bahamas - Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BaTelCo) Bahrain - Bahrain Telecommunication Company (Batelco) Bangladesh - Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board Barbados - Cable & Wireless: Barbados Belarus - Beltelecom Belgium - Belgacom Belize - BTL (Belize Telecommunications) Benin - Office des Postes et Télécommunications Bermuda - Bermuda Telephone Company Bhutan - Bhutan Telecom Bolivia - Entel Bosnia and Herzegovina - BH Telecom Botswana - Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Brazil - Telebras British Virgin Islands - Cable & Wireless: British Virgin Islands Brunei - Jabatan Telekom Brunei Bulgaria - Bulgarian Telecommunications Company Burkina Faso - Office national des Telecommunications (ONATEL) Burma/Myanma - Myanma Posts & Telecommunications Burundi - Office National des Télécommunications (Onatel) Cambodia - Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Cameroon - Intelcam Canada - Telus and Bell Canada Cape Verde - Cabo Verde Telecom Cayman Islands - Cable & Wireless: Cayman Islands Central African Republic - "Societe Centrafricaine des Postes et Telecommunications" (SOCATEL) Chad - La Poste et les Telecommunications Du Tchad Chile - Telefónica Chile (CTC); ENTEL privatised state provider China - China Telecom Columbia - Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones Comoros - Société Nationale des Postes et Télécommunications (SNPT) Congo - SOTELCO Cook Islands - Telecom Cook Islands Costa Rica - Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) Cote d'Ivoire - Côte d'Ivoire Telecom (CI-Telecom) Croatia - Hrvatski Telekom Cuba - Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba SA (ETECSA) Cyprus - Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CTA) Czech Republic - Ceský Telecom (Czech Telecom) Denmark - TeleDanmark (TLD) Djibouti - Djibouti Telecom (STID) Dominica - Cable & Wireless: Dominca Dominican Republic - La Compañía Dominicana de Teléfonos (CODETEL) East Timor - Timor Telecom Ecuador - Emetel, Andinatel, Pacifictel Egypt - Telecom Egypt El Salvador - Telecom El Salvador Equatorial Guinea - "La Sociedad Anonima de Telecomunicaciones de la Republica de Guinea Ecuatorial" (GETESA) Etritrea - Telecommunication Service of Eritrea (TSE) Estonia - Estonian Telephone Company Ethiopia - Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) Falkland Islands - Cable & Wireless: Falkland Islands Faroe Islands - Faroese Telecom Fiji - Telecom Fiji Finland - Sonera Ltd. France - France Telecom French Guiana - France Telecom French Polynesia - Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT) Gabon - Gabon Telecom Gambia - Gambia Telecommunications Company (GAMTEL) Gaza Strip - Ministry of Post and Telecom Georgia - Telecom Georgia Germany - Deutsche Telekom Ghana - Ghana Telecom Gibraltar - Gibraltar Telecommunications International (GIBTEL) Greece - Hellenic Organization of Telecommunications (OTE) Greenland - TELE Greenland A/S Grenada - Cable & Wireless: Grenada Guadeloupe - France Telecom Guam - Guam Telephone Authority (Guamtel) Guatemala - Telecomunicaciones de Guatemala (Telgua) Guernsey - Cable & Wireless: Guernsey Guinea - Societé des Télécomunications de Guinée (SOTELGUI) Guinea Bissau - Guinea Telecom Guyana - Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) Haiti - Telecommunications d'Haiti S.A.M. Holy See (Vatican City) - Telecom Italia Honduras - Empresa Hondureña de Telecomunicaciones (HONDUTEL) Hong Kong - Hong Kong Telecom Hungary - Hungarian Telecommunication Co. (MATAV) Iceland - Iceland Telecom (Landssiminn) India - Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) Indonesia - PT. Indosat Iran - Iran Telecom (TCI) Iraq - Ministry of Telecommunications Ireland - Eircom Isle of Man - Manx Telecom Israel - Bezeq Italy - Telecom Italia Jamaica - Cable & Wireless: Jamaica Japan - Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation (NTT) Jersey - Jersey Telecom Jordan - Jordan Telecom Kazakhstan - Kazakhtelecom Kenya - Telkom Kenya Kiribati - Telecom Services Kiribati Limited (TSKL) Korea (South) - Korea Telecom Korea (North) - "Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications"; "Cen- tral Telegraph and Telephone Bureau" Kuwait - Ministry of Communications Kyrgyzstan - Kyrgyztelecom Laos - Lao Telecom (LAOTEL) Latvia - Lattelekom Lebanon - Ministry of Telecommunications Lesotho - Telecom Lesotho Liberia - Liberia Telecommunications Corporation (LIBTELCO) Libya - General Post and Telecommunication Company (GPTC) Liechtenstein - Telecom FL Lithuania - Lietuvos Telekomas Luxembourg - Enterprise Des P&T Macau - Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau (CTM) Macedonia - Makedonski Telekomunikacii Madagascar - Telecom Malagasy (TELMA) Malawi - Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) Malaysia - Telekom Malaysia Maldives - DHIRAAGU Mali - Société des Télécommunications du Mali (SOTELMA) Malta - Maltacom Marshall Islands - National Telecommunications Authority (NTA) Martinique - Outremer Telecom Mauritania - Société Mauritanienne des Télécommunications (MAURITEL) Mauritius - Mauritius Telecom Mayotte - France Telecom Mexico - Telefonos de Mexico (TelMex) Micronesia - FSM Telecommunications Moldova - Moldtelecom Monaco - Monaco Telecom Mongolia - Mongolia Telecom Morocco - Maroc Telecom Mozambique - Telecomunicações de Moçambique (TDM) Myanma - Myanma Posts & Telecommunications Namibia - Telecom Namibia Nauru - Nauru Telecommunications Nepal - Nepal Telecommunications Corporation Netherlands - KPN Telecom Netherlands Antilles - Antelecom N.V. New Caledonia - Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT) New Zealand - Telecom New Zealand Limited Nicaragua - ENITEL Niger - Société Nigérienne des Télécommunications (SONITEL) Nigeria - NITEL Niue - Telecom Niue Norfolk Island - Norfolk Telecom North Korea - "Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications"; "Cen- tral Telegraph and Telephone Bureau" Northern Mariana Islands - Verizon Pacifica Norway - Telenor Oman - Oman Telecommunications Company (OmanTel) Pakistan - Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PCTL) Palau - Palau National Communications Corporation (PNCC) Palestinian Territory - PALTEL Panama - Cable & Wireless: Panama Papua New Guinea - Telikom PNG Limited Paraguay - Copaco S.A. Peru - Telefónica del Perú Philippines - Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) Poland - Telekomunikacja Polska SA Portugal - Portugal Telecom Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico Telephone (PRT) Qatar - Qatar Telecom (Q-TEL) Reunion - France Telecom Romania - Romtelecom Russia - Rostelecom Rwanda - RwandaTel SA Saint Helena - Cable & Wireless: Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis - Cable & Wireless: St Kitts & Nevis Saint Lucia - Cable & Wireless: St. Lucia Saint Vincent and Grenadines - "Cable & Wireless: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines" San Marino - Telecom Italia Sao Tome and Principe - Companhia Santomense de Telecomunicações (CST) Saudi Arabia - Saudi Telecom (STC) Senegal - SONATEL Serbia and Montenegro - Telekom Srbija Seychelles - Cable & Wireless: Seychelles Singapore - SingTel Slovakia - Slovenske Telekomunikacie Slovenia - Telekom Slovenije Solomon Islands - Solomon Telekom Company Ltd. Somalia - al-Barakaat South Africa - Telkom SA Limited South Korea - Korea Telecom Spain - Telefonica Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka Telecom Sudan - Sudan Telecom (Sudatel) Suriname - Telesur Svalbard - Telenor Swaziland - Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) Sweden - Telia Switzerland - Swisscom Syria - Syrian Telecomunications Establishment (STE) Taiwan - Chunghwa Telecom Tajikistan - Tajiktelecom Tanzania - Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) Thailand - Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT) Togo - Togo Telecom Tokelau - Telecommunications Tokelau Corporation (TeleTok) Tonga - Cable & Wireless: Tonga Trinidad and Tobago - "Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago" (TSTT) Tunisia - Tunisie Telecom (TUNTEL) Turkey - Turk Telekomunikasyon AS Turkmenistan - Turkmentelecom Turks and Caicos Islands: Cable & Wireless: Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu - Ministry of Labor, Works and Communications Uganda - Uganda Telecom Ukraine - Utel United Arab Emirates - Etisalat United Kingdom - British Telecom United States - SBC, Qwest, Verizon, and BellSouth (RBOCs) Uruguay - Administración Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ANTEL) Uzbekistan - Uzbek Telecom Vanautu - Telecom Vanuatu Limited (TVL) Venezuela - Telecom Venezuela Vietnam - Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT) US Virgin Islands - US Virgin Islands Telephone Company (VITELCO) Wallis and Futuna - France Telecom West Bank - Bezeq; PALTEL Western Sahara - Maroc Telecom Western Samoa - Samoa Communications Ltd. Yemen - TeleYemen Zambia - Zambia Telecommunications Company Limited (Zamtel) Zimbabwe - TelOne Bibliography: [FCC]Federal Communications Commission. May 6, 1999. "List of Foreign Telecommunications Carriers that are Presumed to Possess Market Power in Foreign Telecommunications Markets" www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/Public_Notices/1999/da990809.html [CIA]Central Intelligence Agency. August 1, 2003. "CIA World Factbook" http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ [ITU]International Telecommunications Union. 2003. "ITU Carrier Codes (ICC)" http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/inr/icc/index.html ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: John Wise Subject: Tekelec Deploys SanteraOne Switches in Canada Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:53:45 -0500 Distributel Selects Tekelec's SanteraOne for Local and Long-Distance Switching Installation Helps Canadian Competitive Pioneer Lower Operating Costs Grow New LD Services and Enter Local Telephone Markets PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 2003-- Tekelec (NASDAQ: TKLC), a leading developer of telecommunication products for next-generation fixed, mobile, and packet networks, announced today that Distributel, a Canadian provider of competitive long-distance services, has selected SanteraOne for a now- and next-generation multi-switch deployment. Distributel's purchase of four SanteraOne switches enables the company to eliminate its dependence on telco-based switching. As a result, Distributel anticipates significant network cost reductions and the ability to offer new services. "With the business challenge of becoming a switch-based long-distance carrier, Distributel requires technology that can seamlessly migrate traffic onto new equipment transparently to our subscribers. In addition, we need the ability to offer legacy and next-generation feature-rich services in both the long-distance and local telecommunications markets," said Don Cavanagh, vice president of telecommunications for Distributel. "Distributel selected the SanteraOne product after an extensive review of competing platforms. Key criteria for choosing SanteraOne were the switches' high density and associated economies, the facility for program control of the switches to accommodate customer applications, and Santera's responsiveness and commitment to making its platform work for Distributel. SanteraOne was a clear leader in all of these criteria." Distributel, a 15-year veteran and pioneer in the Canadian competitive long-distance market, is using SanteraOne to consolidate voice traffic from existing switches in two provinces, as well as to migrate voice traffic from leased facilities to its new next-generation Tekelec equipment. A key benefit of SanteraOne is its ability to make these network changes without service interruption or noticeable changes in service for end users. "We're hearing from the marketplace that one of the most critical requirements in the latest network infrastructure is the technology's ability to work with networks right now, as well as those in the future," said Kevin Mitchell, Directing Analyst, Service Provider Networks and Next Gen Voice with Infonetics Research. "As more and more Canadian carriers look to next-gen voice solutions, they're going to need switches that are flexible and scalable supplied by vendors who are willing to work with the carriers to meet their specific needs." Fred Lax, chief executive officer of Tekelec, added, "The amount of subscriber churn in today's Canadian service provider market calls for carriers to be innovative yet loyal to subscribers by making smart technology decisions. By installing SanteraOne switches, Distributel is doing just that. Forward-thinking carriers such as this have helped to make Tekelec a player in the Canadian switching marketplace. Additionally, Distributel now also has the capability to bring this same level of quality and innovation to its new local customers. Distributel's deployment of SanteraOne is representative of Tekelec's commitment to a growing customer base in Canada." About SanteraOne SanteraOne is Tekelec's carrier-grade integrated voice and data switching solution delivering key applications such as full feature IXC Tandem, Class 4/5, PRI Offload, packet/cell switching and Voice over Broadband (VoB) services all on a single platform. SanteraOne has both circuit (TDM) and packet fabrics and supports all of the regulatory requirements of a legacy system (including LNP, CALEA, and E911), enabling a graceful migration from traditional circuit-based networks to next-generation packet-based technology such as ATM, Frame Relay, and IP. SanteraOne is comprised of the Open Feature Exchange (OFX), which includes a media gateway controller, signaling gateway and an applications server; the SanteraOne Broadband Office Exchange (BoX), which is a high-density media gateway; and the SanteraOne element management system (NetScan) that delivers common GUI-based management of the complete system. About Distributel In business since 1988, Distributel Communications is 100 percent Canadian owned and one of the pioneers of the competitive long-distance industry in Canada. Operating in Ontario and Quebec, Distributel provides Canadians with high-quality, competitively priced long-distance services and communications solutions while maintaining an extremely high standard of customer service. About Tekelec Tekelec is a leading developer of telecommunications signaling and switching solutions, packet-telephony infrastructure, network monitoring technology, and value-added applications. Tekelec's innovative solutions are widely deployed in traditional and next-generation wireline and wireless networks and contact centers worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located in Calabasas, Calif., with research and development facilities and sales offices throughout the world. For more information, please visit www.tekelec.com. Tekelec Switching Division Rob Ennis, 972-461-6506 rob.ennis@santera.com or Tekelec Mike Attar, 818-880-7821 michael.attar@tekelec.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat From: JDS Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 17:40:27 GMT > As is taught in most economics courses, prices are generally based on > things like value and supply/demand ratio, not costs... The most important difference between downloaded music and purchased CDs is in what you own. If you buy a CD, you have "rights" in the material you have purchased. These rights are created by laws and common practice, and explicated by courts. For example, you can use a purchased CD forever on any machine that will play it; you can resell it; and you have additional "fair use" rights. When you download a file, you can do only what you agreed to do in the "license agreement" you accepted before you downloaded. Instead of acquiring property rights, you enter into an enforceable license which generally is quite restrictive. So ripping a CD you own so that you can listen to it on your computer or on a portable device is universally accepted as fair use. However, depending on your license agreement, doing what with a downloaded file is likely forbidden. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: My New Telecom Discussion Group From: JDS Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 17:50:48 GMT To save you a lot of work, you might consider allowing anyone to sign up, but requiring approval of the first message they post. Yahoo Groups Management -> Group settings/Messages -> Posting and Archives/Posting options [Edit] -> Moderation -> New members In this way, anyone can sign up, get daily digests, and read the archives. Their first post will be vetted by you (which will eliminate almost all spammers), and thereafter they'll be full-fledged members unless they resign or are kicked out. Your workload will be reduced to checking first posts from new members. Thanks for all your efforts on behalf of this group. [Lisa Minter's note: The above is almost exactly what I have done. In addition, editor@telecom-digest.org is an 'approved new user' on Yahoo so the Digest gets through without approval, and the Digest is also a user at Yahoo which gets messages as they are posted there. Right now there is a flurry of new members signing up over there (at Yahoo) and having to be approved of course. And would you believe there were thus far today, *85* 'Microsoft Urgent Patch' viruses submitted and subsequently destroyed/deleted. About the same number as arrived here at the Digest, I think. Lisa M.] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: NANP is 56 Years Old Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 14:39:06 EDT From: msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) Mark Cuccia: >>> (902 originally for all of the Maritime Provinces: NB, NS, PEI, NF/LB) Mark Brader: >> Did the dialing plan actually include Newfoundland as well as Canada >> and the US at that time, or is this a mistake for "NB, NS, PEI"? Mark Cuccia: > I really don't have any thing "specific" one way or the other regarding > Newfoundland/Labrador. Well, if you have anything that says the plan was for the US and Canada, that would be an answer. > I do know that in October 1947, Newfoundland/Labrador was not really > part of Canada, jurisdictionally/politically, but rather still > officially part of the UK's colonies or territories or whatever.. I'm not sure what the official term was, but in practice it amounted to dependent status, like a colony. This had been chosen voluntarily after an independent Newfoundland had gone broke in 1934. > (I don't really know all of the minute details on such ... and it is > also said that the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey, as well > as the Isle of Man, are not really part of the UK "itself", They're not; again, they're dependencies. > but I don't want to get into that right now!). Oops. :-0 > Anyhow, it wasn't until 1949 (?) when Newfoundland/Labrador became > officially part of Canada as a province. You say "officially" as though it was always "sort of part of Canada". I think this impression comes entirely from its being part of Canada now. > However, I would "assume" that because of the close proximity, > and other infrastructure arrangements, it was probably intended that > Newfoundland (including Labrador) be included in the US/Canada > telephone numbering plan from the very beginning. I know nothing about shared infrastructure arrangements. > Even though it wasn't until 1949(?) when Newfoundland became part of > Canada, wasn't it "known" in 1947 that it was a possibility "in the > works"? Possibility, yes, but it was a very hot political question at the time. The referendum vote in 1948 was 78,323 to join Canada vs. 71,334 for a return to independent status, so it should be clear that in 1947 no one knew what was going to happen. Mark Brader "After all, it is necessary to get behind Toronto someone before you can stab them in the back." msb@vex.net -- Lynn & Jay, "Yes, Prime Minister" My text in this article is in the public domain. ------------------------------ From: No-Name Subject: Dallas Phone Service - SBC Versus Comcast? Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 10:47:25 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: No-Name Looks like I can get either SBC phone service or Comcast in the house I'm buying -- I'll be getting Cable TV and Cable Modem from Comcast (I can't get DSL from SBC) -- is one any better than the other for residential phone service? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Chip G Subject: Re: Becoming A Switch Technician Organization: Comcast Online Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 04:57:00 GMT Hi Jeremey, You're doing the right thing. Ask as many questions as possible of people in the industry. Keep reading this group and comp.dcom.telecom.tech. Network ... get to know local folks in the business. If your schedule allows, volunteer some time to work with local people... perhaps for a local non-profit that needs some help with their systems. It might even start with things like pulling wires... just get exposed to the technologies and real-life experience. There are many certification programs out there and they are great for book-learning which is always good but if you have the knowledge, certifications, and actual experience, you will be a step above your competition when it comes to finding a job in the field. Keep studying and promote your desire to everyone you know. It is fantastic to get as much general knowledge as possible but eventually you will need to decide a one or more vendors systems that you want to become familiar with. Depending on your interest and the area in which you live, you will likely find that there are certain vendors that are popular in your area for certain things. I think that enterprise communications systems are much more interesting than carrier systems personally so my comments below really point in that direction. I don't mean to say that carrier based opportunities aren't good but my personal interest lead me the other direction so feel free to stop here if you are more interested in the carrier aspect of the business as your original post leads me to believe because of your reference to calling your local CO ... not sure if that is what you intended to convey though so here goes ... If you are interested in big business, you will probably find it useful to be familiar with the likes of Avaya, Nortel, NEC, perhaps Alcatel. There are many others too ... this list is just intended to get you started. All of these also have systems for smaller businesses as well. If you are more interested in smaller businesses or find that they are more prevalent in your area, there are many companies to consider ... Mitel, Fujitsu, Tadiran, Intertel come to mind in addition to those listed above. There are a lot of commonalities but each vendor has its own take on the industry and the way their technologies address their customers. Personally, I think you also need to decide on what part of the business you are interested in ... TDM or IP ... administrative systems vs. contact centers vs. unified communications/messaging ... all of these are important concepts and you will need to eventually become familiar with all of them and much more. Just decide what sounds interesting to you and jump right in. One thing you might consider ... just because it is free ... is downloading all of the material about AsteriskPBX. If you happen to have a computer available to load Linux, you could download that for free too and setup your own IP PBX right in your home to play with. If you are just getting into the industry, I believe that you would serve yourself well to learn about IP Telephony and networking first. However, there will be a need for TDM saavy people for many years to come as well ... its up to you and where your interest lie! Best wishes, Chip Jeremey wrote in message news:telecom22.713.6@telecom-digest.org: > I would really like a job in the telecom industry someday and I was > wondering what the best thing to do to become a switch technician > would be? I'm really fascinated by telephones and computers and am very > good with both, so I was wondering how I would jump into this field? I > was thinking of calling a local CO and asking them, but I also wanted > to ask here. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 05:58:45 GMT On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:20:30 -0400, Stan Schwartz posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > Alltel is: > . Nation's 7th largest wireless company with 7.9 million customers. > . Nation's 6th largest local telephone company with approximately 3.1 > million customers. > The also have a major roaming agreement with Verizon Wireless, which > was hammered out at the time of the BellAtlantic-GTE merger. They are > the third major CDMA carrier in the US, after Verizon Wireless and > Sprint PCS. Alltel acquired many of its wireless subscribers by buying properties that were excluded from the BellAtlantic/GTE->Verizon merger. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. ------------------------------ From: jbl Subject: Re: Verizon Charges for Everything Lately Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 02:49:03 -0700 Organization: On the desert Reply-To: jbl@spamblocked.com In , I wrote about some of the history of Verizon and the mergers and acquisitions that caused it to exist. Here's the real graphic deal, found on a Verizon web site: http://www.mv.com/ipusers/levin/vzhist.html /JBL ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:02:33 -0600 Subject: Apology - Well, Sorta Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info In a recent posting, I took "Marise" to task for posting anonymously, and rather harshly at that. I've received a lot of feedback on this, both positive and negative. And while my feelings on anonymous posting to a moderated forum remain largely unchanged, there are two points that, in fairness, need to be considered. 1) Such postings are not against the posted rules of this forum. While I firmly believe that such a rule SHOULD be among them, the fact of the matter is: it ain't. Therefore, Marise (and others whom I've also taken to task) did nothing wrong and acted in a fashion that was well within the rules. Even then, though: expressing my disagreement with behaviour that, while within the rules, I found personally objectionable is still cool -- despite the fact that, as one correspondent pointed out, if I think the speed limit on the road outside my house should be 35 but the posted limit is 50, I wind up looking rather foolish when I stand on the side of the road with a sign exhorting drivers to slow down. :-) (Boy, that was a bit more convoluted than I intended, sorry.) 2) My objections were stated in an overly harsh way. Again, by itself, this is still cool -- in a forum like this, things sometimes get heated, and that's part of the spice -- and also not against the rules. But when you add these two points together, they cross the line. I was overly harsh against someone who hadn't violated the rules of the forum. One or the other is ok, but not both together. I therefore apologize. I went too far, and will endeavour not to repeat this in future. Marise, I'm sorry. Now, any time Pat Townson wants to apologize for inviting me to eat shit, I'll gratefully accept that apology. ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #716 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Oct 24 18:11:00 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9OMAx504406; Fri, 24 Oct 2003 18:11:00 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 18:11:00 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310242211.h9OMAx504406@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 #717 TELECOM Digest Fri, 24 Oct 2003 18:11:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 717 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Remember Those X-10 Popups? X-10 Sued, Files Bankruptcy (Marcus Jervis) Re: 2003 Foreign Telecommunications Carriers (Alan Burkitt-Gray) The Great Library of Amazonia (Monty Solomon) AOL Quietly Combats Pop-Up Spam Messages (Monty Solomon) VeriSign Reports Third Quarter 2003 Results (Monty Solomon) Nortel Networks Reports Preliminary Results for Third Quarter (Solomon) Wireless Switching May be Rocky (Monty Solomon) Nextel Sued in California Over Billing Practices (Eric Friedebach) Motorola's Phone On A Chip (Eric Friedebach) Re: Vonage, and Digressing (Chuk Gleason) Re: Dallas Phone Service - SBC Versus Comcast? (Steven J Sobol) Re: Apology - Well, Sorta (William Warren) Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat (Barry Margolin) PC to PC Voice Link Over IP Link (Bobsa) Re: Becoming A Switch Technician (yeltrabnhoj@email.com) Re: Voiceplus (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. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Marcus Jervis Subject: Remember Those X-10 Popups? X-10 Gets Sued, Files Bankruptcy Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 03:36:14 +0000 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001772635_x10wireless23.html Pop-up ad pusher X10 files for bankruptcy By Tricia Duryee Seattle Times Eastside business reporter The notorious Internet pop-up ads of scantily clad women being viewed from miniature wireless cameras might be gone forever. X10 Wireless Technology, which sells the cameras mainly through the Internet, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday in U.S. District Court, seeking a voluntary reorganization. The filing comes just two weeks after a Superior Court jury in Santa Ana, Calif., ordered X10 to pay $4.3 million in damages to three brothers who claimed the company stole their proprietary technology and failed to pay $564,000 in commissions. The brothers, who had founded AdvertisementBanners.com in Yorba Linda, Calif., were listed as X10's largest unsecured creditor, at $3.9 million. X10 attorney Ada Ko, of Lane Powell Spears Lubersky in Seattle, said the bankruptcy wasn't a result of the lawsuit but of overall business. "The lawsuit was just another creditor." X10 may have been one of the first companies to take full advantage of pop-under and pop-up technology. It used splashy, colorful ads to draw attention to its Web site from such Web sites as The New York Times. At its height two years ago, X10.com was the fourth-most visited Web site ahead of well-known names like eBay and TerraLycos, according to research firm Jupiter in Darien, Conn. The strategy may have backfired. Jupiter found that nearly two-thirds of the people who saw the ads closed the browser within 20 seconds. Todd Hanson, an analyst with Gartner in San Jose, Calif., who used to follow X10, said he was disappointed. "I know they've had sharkish marketing tactics, but the products are clever," said Hanson, who has a wireless camera on his porch and can turn on the TV to see who's there when his doorbell rings. "The user in me says bummer, but the analyst in me says maybe they had it coming." The company, which lists its headquarters in Kent, did not return phone calls seeking comment. It is claiming to have less than 200 unsecured creditors who are owed less than $50 million. It has up to $10 million in assets. Other unsecured creditors listed in the filing include: America Online for $55,413; FedEx, $39,930; Foxnews.com, $40,866; and Google, $69,984. Tricia Duryee: 206-464-3283 or tduryee@seattletimes.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Alan Burkitt-Gray Subject: Re: 2003 Foreign Telecommunications Carriers Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 10:42:13 +0100 Brisk Attivo (brisk@netins.net) wrote: > I created this list mostly because of my own curiousity about > foreign telecommunications, but also because I discovered in my own > curiousity that there is not much information on the subject and the > need for it was in demand. This is my first time publicly posting > the list, so any comments or criticism is appreciated. Hope some > people find this useful or interesting. Your list has a 1980s feel to it, and that's not just because you refer to BT (its name for about 15 years) as British Telecom. But it's because you give a view that there is in general one operator per country. And you list only fixed line operators. Where's China Mobile, China Unicom and China Netcom, where's Reliance in India? Where's Vodafone -- one of the world's biggest telecoms operators? In the UK, where's NTL, Telewest and Cable & Wireless? Where are the South African mobile operators -- they provide service to 12 million people, while Telkom, which you list, has under 5 million lines? There are comprehensive lists of operators on the web -- notably at totaltele.com http://www.totaltele.com/links/list.asp?CategoryID=842 -- where there's a reasonably good country-by-country list. The GSM Association has a comprehensive list of GSM operators country by country at http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml Alan Burkitt-Gray Editor, Global Telecoms Business Euromoney Institutional Investor plc, Nestor House, Playhouse Yard, London EC4V 5EX, UK tel +44 20 7779 8518 fax +44 20 7779 8248 e-mail aburkitt@euromoneyplc.com www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:30:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Great Library of Amazonia By Gary Wolf This story will appear in Wired magazine's upcoming December issue, 11.12. The fondest dream of the information age is to create an archive of all knowledge. You might call it the Alexandrian fantasy, after the great library founded by Ptolemy I in 286 BC. Through centuries of aggressive acquisition, the librarians of Alexandria, Egypt, collected hundreds of thousands of texts. None survives. During a final wave of destruction, in AD 641, invaders fed the bound volumes and papyrus scrolls into the furnaces of the public baths, where they are said to have burned for six months. "The lesson," says Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, "is to keep more than one copy." Kahle recently gave a copy of his digital archive of 10 billion Web pages to a new library in Alexandria. On a visit to the city last year, he sat down with Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of Egypt's president, and discussed his gift, which has all the advantages of a modern electronic resource: It can be instantly updated, easily searched, and endlessly replicated. Mubarak, with diplomatic politeness, allowed that she was impressed. Still, she ventured a protest: "But I love books!" Therein lies a problem. Books are an ancient and proven medium. Their physical form inspires passion. But their very physicality makes books inaccessible to the multi-terabyte databases of modern Alexandrian projects. Books take time to transport. Their text vanishes and their pages yellow in a rash of foxing. Most important, it's still shockingly difficult to find information buried in books. Even as the Internet has revived hope of a universal library and Google seems to promise an answer to every query, books have remained a dark region in the universe of information. We want books to be as accessible and searchable as the Web. On the other hand, we still want them to be books. An ingenious attempt to illuminate the dark region of books is under way at Amazon.com. Over the past spring and summer, the company created an unrivaled digital archive of more than 120,000 books. The goal is to quickly add most of Amazon's multimillion-title catalog. The entire collection, which went live Oct. 23, is searchable, and every page is viewable. To build the archive, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has had to unravel a tangle of technological and copyright problems. His solution promises to remake the publishing business and give Amazon a powerful new weapon in its battle against online competitors such as Yahoo, Google, and eBay. But the most interesting thing about the archive is the way it resolves the paradox of the book, respecting its physical form while transcending its limits. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,60948,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:43:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AOL Quietly Combats Pop-Up Spam Messages By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Even more annoying than junk e-mail are all the spam messages that "pop up" through a little-used feature in Windows. As part of its spam-fighting efforts, America Online has been turning off that feature for its customers without telling them. AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein said the feedback has been all positive, and he knows of no complaints to AOL call centers about side effects on other applications that may need that feature. Nonetheless, AOL's action worries some security experts who were told about it by The Associated Press. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36210647 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The writer was a little mistaken. AOL is not doing it 'without telling the customers'. On my copy of AOL 9.0 (their latest version of their software) AOL does put a little push button on the screen asking users if they want pop ups or not. If the user says no popups by pressing that button, then the popups end. What people may not know, as I didn't know, is that when you clear your screen of AOL, the software does not release that condition, although rebooting the computer should clear it, and anytime the user goes to visit updates.msn.com, the MSN people also make sure it is restored to its default condition, which is 'popups turned on'. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 23:06:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: VeriSign Reports Third Quarter 2003 Results MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), the leading provider of critical infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today reported its results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2003. VeriSign reported revenue of $268 million for the third quarter of 2003. On a pro forma basis, net income was $48 million or $0.20 per fully diluted share. Pro forma results exclude the following items, which are included under generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"): amortization and write-down of goodwill and other intangible assets, the gain and write-down of certain investments, restructuring and other charges and non-cash stock-based compensation charges related to acquisitions. VeriSign's third quarter results were not fully taxed. On a fully taxed basis, applying a 30% effective tax rate to pro forma pre-tax income of $51 million, pro forma earnings per share for the third quarter was $0.15 per fully diluted share. On a GAAP basis, VeriSign reported a net loss of $31 million for the third quarter. The GAAP loss for the third quarter is primarily attributable to a charge of $78 million for the amortization and write-down of goodwill and other intangible assets. A table reconciling the pro forma to GAAP numbers reported above is appended to this release. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36213182 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 23:07:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nortel Networks Reports Preliminary Results for Third Quarter Nortel Networks Reports Preliminary Results for Third Quarter of 2003 and Provides Update on Comprehensive Review of Assets and Liabilities including Planned Restatement TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2003--Nortel Networks Corporation (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT): -- Q3 2003 revenues of US$2.27 billion(1) -- Q3 2003 net earnings of approximately US$179 million; approximately US$0.04 per common share on a diluted basis(1) -- Previously announced comprehensive review of assets and liabilities to lead to restatement of financial statements for 2000, 2001, 2002, Q1 2003 and Q2 2003 -- Restatement primarily relates to the elimination of liabilities of approximately US$900 million, partially offset by a reduction in the net deferred income tax asset of approximately US$160 million(1) -- Principal expected impacts of restatement on previously reported results: reduction in net losses for 2000, 2001 and 2002; increase in shareholders' equity and net assets; no expected impact to cash balance as at June 30, 2003 or to forward business operations - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36213773 ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Wireless Switching May be Rocky Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 14:48:31 -0400 Changing carrier, retaining number By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 10/24/2003 Like millions of Americans, Canton attorney Steve Rosen is counting the days until a new federal policy will let him keep his existing cellphone number when he switches wireless carriers. The Nov. 24 launch of "wireless number portability" is expected to roil the hypercompetitive US wireless sector. Surveys estimate that one quarter or more of the nation's 150 million cellphone owners hope to switch carriers once they don't need to get a new number. But some analysts and industry insiders warn that consumers may be in for a big disappointment, especially if they think wireless number portability will be anything like the normally smooth process of switching long-distance carriers on a home phone. Rosen, who says he is fed up with poor coverage and "horrible customer service" from AT&T Wireless, may discover that his plan to switch his AT&T number to T-Mobile will be more difficult and take longer than he expects. For example, almost without exception, everyone making a switch will have to buy a new phone. Many will have to pay an early termination fee of up to $200 to dump their current provider. When they make the switch, subscribers will not be able to use their new phone for incoming calls for anywhere from two to 24 hours. Opportunities to switch a landline home or business number to a wireless phone account will be sharply limited. And the change takes effect Nov. 24 only in Greater Boston and the 99 other largest US metro areas; residents of northern New England and Central and Western Massachusetts will have to wait until May. Industry analysts and some wireless executives worry that consumer expectations may be too high. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/10/24/wireless_switching_may_be_rocky/ ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Nextel Sued in California Over Billing Practices Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 18:35:19 -0500 Organization: Muddy Paw Prints On The Corvette LOS ANGELES, Oct 23 (Reuters) - A consumer rights group has sued wireless carrier Nextel Communications Inc.in Los Angeles, saying that a new Nextel billing policy unfairly hides details on usage charges from customers. A Nextel spokeswoman on Thursday said the company had not received the suit and could not comment. The suit was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a well-known advocacy group in the state. http://www.forbes.com/technology/newswire/2003/10/23/rtr1121471.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Motorola's Phone On A Chip Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 18:39:06 -0500 Organization: Muddy Paw Prints On The Corvette Arik Hesseldahl, 10.22.03, Forbes.com NEW YORK - Chipmaker Motorola is expected to announce a mobile phone chip it says will combine most of the circuitry for a smart mobile phone onto a single chip. Motorola will announce the news today at a press conference at the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association conference in Las Vegas. It will call the chip the Mobile Extreme Convergence architecture, or MXC. The aim of the chip, the company says, is to give makers of mobile phones and devices that combine mobile phone and wireless data connections, and other sophisticated features, the ability to cut down on the number of components they need to get the job done. The chip will allow those manufacturers to cut costs, as well as design times, in half, Motorola says. http://www.forbes.com/2003/10/22/cx_ah_1022mot.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: Chuk Gleason Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:50:44 -0400 Subject: Re: Vonage, and Digressing FWIW, I work as a two-way tech in the Raleigh, NC area; Land of BellSouth. In three years with my current company I have met almost a dozen telco techs who handle the various leased lines for my customers. Only 2 of these techs are worth anything near worth having on a job. They are both getting closer to retirement age than is comfortable! Most of the younger ones are more concerned with 'clearing the ticket' than clearing the problem; it once took me 6 weeks to get a single circuit cleaned up; I almost had to lead two techs to the pedestal by the street before they found the 20dB loss. Another tactic is to BS the customer with technobabble; one boy (I'm sure he wasn't past 25!) tried to impress me with a 'Stress Test' that his gizmo did; when I asked him >exactly< what that did, he flustered and floundered, then shut up. My EE degree, 5 years in Quality, and 15 years in 'plain old two-way radio' seemed no match for his usual BS skills. When the first one of these two >good< guys retires, I'm gonna run screaming into the hills; ain't no way I can be a full time radio tech AND a phone tech; besides, I don't have SouBell company badge to get in and test up and down the frames, too. When the companies care more for turning numbers than for keeping good customers, it's only natural that company's like Vonage will eat their lunch. And management at the 'older' shops will continue to measure only things that don't matter to customer satisfaction. Chuk Gleason Cary, NC 10/22/03 10:32:45 PM, editor@telecom-digest.org noted in response to Stan Schwartz on the topic of Re: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers - Long Time No See >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, five or six weeks does seem to be >> an outragously long time. However, one thing you should remember is >> that the traditional landline telcos are fit to be tied -- really bent >> out of shape -- about the amount of business companies like Vonage are >> taking away from them ...] > If the traditional landline telcos want to generate or keep service, > they need to at least pay attention to the customers who actually WANT > their service, let alone getting into LNP issues. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Dallas Phone Service - SBC Versus Comcast? Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:30:39 -0500 No-Name wrote: > Looks like I can get either SBC phone service or Comcast in the house > I'm buying -- I'll be getting Cable TV and Cable Modem from Comcast (I > can't get DSL from SBC) -- is one any better than the other for > residential phone service? Thanks. SBC is a horrible company that will screw you over without even thinking about it -- I was without service on my DSL and voice lines for two months and they offered me $5 worth of credits. I had to sic the Public Utilities Commission on them before they'd do the right thing (this was in Ohio.) My general impression is that while phone companies are run by malicious assholes, cable companies are just clueless. I suppose the lesser of the two evils would be the phone company, but heaven forbid you ever have a problem with the service ... I personally would suggest trying to find Comcast customers that have the phone servic. Find out what their experiences are. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: Apology - Well, Sorta Organization: Comcast Online Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 13:11:02 GMT Joey Lindstrom wrote in message news:telecom22.716.11@telecom-digest.org: > In a recent posting, I took "Marise" to task for posting anonymously, and > rather harshly at that. > I've received a lot of feedback on this, both positive and negative. [snip] IMNSHO, anonymity is one of Usenet's core strengths. The ability to say what I _really_ think, without fear of reprisals by my employer or church, is essential to the vigor and candor that only a democracy can encourage. Having said that, I'll admit that there's a fine line between reflection and rant; between activism and arrogance. Althought it is (as Thomas Paine so ably demonstrated.) sometimes necessary to stoke a fire to incandescence, the question will always remain as to whether one obtains more heat or more light. Anonymity is not a necessary evil: it is a necessary tool, and like any tool, it's affect is at the hand of the user. Remember, please, that Usenet is a medium quite literally like no other. Contributors to town meetings or debates on a town commons may be known to those present, but their remarks are likely to be remembered in the context where they gave them: heat or light, it's only in the memory of the crowd of onlookers. Computers change that: those entering politics in the 21st century are the first generation who's public utterances are enshrined at Google for the rest of their lives, available for lookup and quotation until the the heat-death of the universe. Even ordinary people (one might say _especially_ ordinary people) have to adjust: if I type something here that my employer doesn't like, I risk having those statements used against me either during a promotion vetting process or as part of corporate politics afterwards. It does me no good to argue about what's "right": corporatations and their masters are increasingly treating employees as serfs, bound to a company by obnoxious legal agreements that masquerade as "non compete" clauses, but which are actually indentures. Although I'm a "professional", that status doesn't grant me any freedom: my knowledge has become more and more industry-specific as I've advanced, and now I have no option but to stay in the same industry. In a corporate world which is - sorry to sound cynical - becoming more and more arrogant by the day, and less and less tolerant of dissent by the hour, I'd be foolish to provide my opponents with ammunition that could be turned against me every time the business wind shifts direction. I'm not rich, and I'd bet most Usenet posters are in the middle class like me. I choose to be anonymous when I want to write something that can offend the upper class, and lately everything offends the upper class. William Warren P.S. Of course, I'm not speaking of anti-spam measures. It's common practice, and universally accepted, to munge email addresses so as to prevent address harvesting by the spambots. My email address is "valid" in the sense that it really goes to me when modified in an obvious way. (I'm not a Vegan.) ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat Organization: Level(3) Communications, Woburn, MA Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 14:08:31 GMT In article , JDS wrote: > So ripping a CD you own so that you can listen to it on your computer > or on a portable device is universally accepted as fair use. However, > depending on your license agreement, doing what with a downloaded file > is likely forbidden. I think iTunes specifically allows a certain amount of copying. Considering that Apple also makes the iPod, I think they want to encourage people to copy the downloaded tunes to it. I'm not a user, so I don't know for sure. 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. ------------------------------ From: rob@corpustrade.com (Bobsa) Subject: PC to PC Voice Link Over IP Link Date: 24 Oct 2003 09:01:33 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi ... Got a couple of PCs linked via a VPN with a 512k ADSL connection at one end and a 2 meg connection at the other. So with the VPN we are all very much on the same "internal network" I need to have a voice connection between the two so we can speak to each other.. has anyone got any names of software I could use ... or ways to hook it up. Will be spekaing via mikes, etc ... Cheers, Rob ------------------------------ From: yeltrabnhoj@email.com Subject: Re: Becoming A Switch Technician Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 20:19:47 GMT Organization: (reverse to reply) (John Bartley, K7AAY, Portland OR) On 21 Oct 2003 22:15:14 -0700, essay182@yahoo.com (Jeremey) wrote: > I would really like a job in the telecom industry someday and I was > wondering what the best thing to do to become a switch technician > would be? 1. Learn UNIX. 2. Get a low voltage electrician's license & get a job for a PBX installer. 3. Learn radio - get a ham license. > I'm really fascinated by telephones and computers and am very > good with both, so I was wondering how I would jump into this field? I > was thinking of calling a local CO and asking them, but I also wanted > to ask here. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Voiceplus Date: 24 Oct 2003 02:06:17 -0400 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > What other charges are involved? Are there line charges, taxes, FCC > charges, etc? Do you mean Voice Plus, which is a voicemail company in Atlanta, or Voicepulse which is a VoIP provider down the road from Vonage? If you mean the latter, there is a page on their web site that explains exactly what you pay every month, to the penny, including the taxes and charges. ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #717 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Oct 25 04:32:49 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9P8Wn007730; Sat, 25 Oct 2003 04:32:49 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 04:32:49 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310250832.h9P8Wn007730@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 #718 TELECOM Digest Sat, 25 Oct 2003 04:33:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 718 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Very Quaint Old File From Our Archives: Computer State (Editor) Court OKs Loral's Sale of Satellites to Intelsat (Monty Solomon) Rising Sports Tab Ups Cable TV Rates - GAO (Monty Solomon) Best Buy Expands Digital Cable Services (Monty Solomon) Cablevision Falls Following Revamp of Spinoff (Monty Solomon) Re: Dallas Phone Service - SBC Versus Comcast? (Hank Karl) California Wins Anti-spam Lawsuit ... $2 Million Award (Danny Burstein) Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat (Rob Levandowski) New Group: Buy, Sell or Discuss Telephony (KH) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Editor Subject: A Very Quaint 20 Year Old File From Our Archives Date: 25 Oct 2003 00:00:00 CDT This being Neewollah week here in Independence, Lisa and her mother and two more age-appropriate boy friends of hers are downtown for the carnival which has gone on for several days, midst all the very high priced food from the various street vendors, etc. Or maybe by now -- midnight start of Saturday, Lisa and her friends have hustled mom back home and to bed and the young'uns have all gone out to the Independence Country Club for the dancing, or maybe one or more of the various drinking spots around town. 'Neewollah' is Halloween spelled backwards and it amounts to our town's annual OctoberFest celebration. This is the 75th annual such occasion, and it has grown from a one day Halloween thing to nowdays, ten or more days at the end of October each year. The Wicked Witch moderator got to stay home and work on getting Digests out. :( The only people, it seems, who really like Neewollah are the younger guys who get to engage in a ten day period of riotous and sinful living. The older people tolerate it, the businesses downtown love it because of all the traffic it brings in their stores through out of town visitors, etc; the police hate it (I am tempted to say they hate it because everyone else enjoys it); that's not entirely true but the police scanner radio has been talking almost around the clock (quite unusual here) for the past several days with more complaints of rowdy behavior, bar fights, shoplifting from Walmart than usual. We will get back to normal next week. For this weekend I have an interesting period piece from our archives. 'Rise of the Computer State' was written in 1983 and first appeared here in the Digest on January 11, 1984. The book was first written for the end of the period celebrated by George Orwell's book '1984', and Rob Kling reviewed it here in this Digest in January that year, as '1984' became a moot point, however the book is still in print and is interesting reading if you have not seen it. 'Rise of the Computer State' made some predictions about how life would be in the age of computers. Occasionally we review here what we said about telephone service twenty years ago in our archives; now we are going to look at what was said here about computers in those same days. Very quaint, indeed. If only we could have seen ahead twenty years into the future ... anyway, read, and I hope enjoy this report from 1983 about computers taking over everything. PAT] DO NOT USE THESE EMAIL ADDRESSES! SHOWN FOR CURIOSITY PURPOSES ONLY! 11-Jan-84 22:49:51-PST,24630;000000000000 Return-path: Mail-from: DECNET site ECLA rcvd at 11-Jan-84 2248-PST Date: 11 Jan 1984 1353-PST From: Rob-Kling Subject: Review- Rise of the Computer State To: telecom@USC-ECLC Received: from UCI-20b by UCI-750a; 11 Jan 84 14:08:56 PST (Wed) Via: UCI; 11 Jan 84 21:21-PDT Via: Usc-Cse; 11 Jan 84 22:41:56 Rise of the Computer State by David Burnham Published by Random House, New York - 1983. Review by Rob Kling Department of Information and Computer Science University of California, Irvine (KLING.UCI@RAND-relay) This book examines the ways that Federal agencies and elected officials have employed computer-based information systems (CBIS) to increase their power unfairly. Burnham's main theses are: 1) that CBIS have often been effective media for extending the surveillance potential of the host organization; 2) overall, citizens have lost substantial power in their routine dealings with computer-using organizations; 3) attempts to regulate the use of CBIS containing personal records have been frail and largely ineffective relative to the scale of operations that should be regulated; 4) some organizations which employ sophisticated CBIS for intelligence, such as the National Security Agency, are unaccountable to the larger public. These theses have a sinister tinge. As we enter 1984, the United States is far from a police state. However, Burnham fears that the slow, steady, consistent adoption of new surveillance systems and the expansion of existing ones is eroding democratic political processes in the United States. If he is correct, these are arguably the most important consequences of computerization in the United States. This is a trade book aimed at the same audience that reads "Megatrends", "The Third Wave", or "Fifth Generation". Unlike these highly popular books which are permeated with happy talk about the social possibilities of widespread computerization, "The Rise of the Computer State" examines the seamy underside of organizations that employ CBIS to collect, manipulate, and communicate sensitive data about all of us. Burnham, a New York Times reporter, has written this book for a popular audience. Its strengths lie in Burnham's sensitivity to the civil liberties issues in practices that might simply appear "expeditious" and in his eye for graphic detail in explaining how organizations employ CBIS to make their operations efficient and "effective." Burnham examines two themes that link computerization with a certain kind of organizational power: surveillance of "targeted" people or groups and opinion polling. In a separate chapter he examines the National Security Agency which he labels "the ultimate computer bureaucracy." SURVEILLANCE Some organizations act under legislative mandates that many people would label "pro-social". For example, the Bureau of Child Support of the Los Angeles District Attorney's office uses CBIS to seize California State tax refunds from certain runaway fathers who are delinquent in their child support payments. A second group act within the boundaries of legal, but unduly permissive information practices. For example, a company called U.D. Registry provides landlords with histories of disputes with previous landlords, maintains records which are usually unknown to tenants and does little to insure that they are treated fairly. A third group of organizations engage in action that are either illegal or nearly so. For example, U.S. Army's surveillance of liberal and leftist activists in the late 1960's, extended well beyond the scope of "national security." Burnham portrays these activities with sharp detail that give color to routine practices and their participants. Burnham is a staunch civil libertarian and sees all social surveillance as problematic. It is easiest to criticize organizations like the U.S. Army when they intrude upon political minorities and thereby threaten First amendment rights. It is also easy to criticize some of the "holes" in CBIS such as those operated by U.D. Registry, which are unknown to people on whom records are kept, and who are not legally obligated to enable people to see their records, correct errors, or annotate their files case of disputes. Burnham's criticisms reach much further than identifying the problems with CBIS employed by the second and third groups of organizations. He questions the first group as well. Burnham's questions about organizations and systems for tracking runaway fathers who leave their children on welfare illustrates of his concerns about social strategies which depend upon extensive surveillance for enforcement: 1) will the original target group be slowly enlarged until it is much larger than originally intended in the enabling legislation? 2) can the information system be extended by local officials for surveillance upon "others who fall into disfavor?" Burnham reports how the scope of these systems has expanded from locating parents who were avoiding child support payments and whose children were receiving funds from Federal welfare programs to include any parent whose (ex)spouse seeks the other parent of their children. Burnham notes that there are few constitutional limits on the scope of such an surveillance system. Why not, for example, expand its scope so that creditors can track down their debtors? Or why not expand it expand it so that people can locate lost relatives and old friends? While these "information needs" are less heart wrenching than the situations of women who turn to public assistance when their ex-husbands refuse to pay court-mandated child support, they are also "pro-social." Burnham argues that little prevents surveillance systems such as this one from being slowly expanded to track ever larger groups of people than legislative sentiment and a fragile coalition of legislators who are sympathetic to civil liberties values. Burnham uses this example to illustrate another key feature of recent surveillance systems: records systems which are set up for rather narrow purposes of one organization are used by investigators in another organization. The Parent Locator System, for example, is not a particular, specialized CBIS. Rather, it is a set of procedures and arrangements which enable certain investigators to send lists of "missing parents" to the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, the Defense Department, the Veterans Administration, and the National Personnel Center. Each of these organizations honors these requests, searches its CBIS for the current locations of the "missing parents" and returns the information to the requestors on magnetic tape. While many CBIS could be operated as manual systems, these searches would be prohibitively expensive add-ons with manual record systems. However, the marginal costs of search are affordable with computerized record systems. The Parent Locator "System" is one of many "matching programs" in which public agencies use existing files to search for deviants. Organizational payroll files have been "matched" against welfare files to find gainfully employed people who are committing welfare fraud. State Department of Motor Vehicle files have been matched with Selective Service files to identify eligible 18 year olds who have not registered for the draft. In each of these cases, the records of thousands of people who have broken no laws are matched to find the few that have. Burnham finds the principle offensive, even though the applications are expedient and have so far have been aimed at lawbreakers. In his eyes, expediency and efficiency should not be preeminent values for administrative action. PRIVACY REGULATIONS Burnham briefly examines some of the Federal privacy initiatives of the last decade, including the Privacy Act of 1974, the proposals of the Privacy Protection Study Commission, and the 1978 Financial Right to Privacy Act. These laws have provided minimal protections, and important protections of the Federal Right to Privacy Act have been undermined in implementation by Federal agencies under Ford, Carter, and Reagan. Only a few of the 155 recommendations reported by the Privacy Protection Study Commission in 1977 have been enacted in law. Burnham mentions these laws and examines some of their limitations. However, he doesn't evaluate their potential. Would many of the problems of CBIS operated by firms like the U.D. Registry be ameliorated if they were brought under laws like the Fair Credit Reporting Act? Would civil liberties be better protected if the remaining recommendations of the Privacy Protection Study Commission were enacted in law? Unfortunately, Burnham is mute about these possibilities. Burnham is strongest in identifying concrete problems. Most serious there is no permanent institutional counterweight to Federal agencies when they propose new, more efficient, or enlarged personal record systems. Agencies such as the FBI, the IRS, or the Social Security Administration can return to Congress every few years with proposals for massive CBIS which have problematic privacy aspects and expect that sooner or later, the civil libertarians who restricted their last proposal will be weaker or pre-occupied with other matters. POLLING Burnham examines opinion polling as another form of organizational intelligence which has been rendered substantially more efficient and sophisticated by computers. He views opinion polling by elected officials and organizations which are campaigning for specific legislation as selective intelligence which places the target public at an unfair disadvantage. The main problem he sees in market research in the service of electoral politics is the extent to which it helps make propaganda less transparent and the public more manipulable by marketing strategists who target different messages to different groups. While there is nothing new in political actors tailoring their appeals to different audiences, Burnham fears that the modern versions of sophistry are less obvious and consequently far more successful for those who can afford to employ them. He also views opinion polls as easily subject to manipulation by politicians seeking legitimacy or publicity. Polling is not simply a reporting device. Pollers gain leverage relative to the larger public since much of the audience for polls will read headlines and short news items which distort the scientific meaning of a poll by neglecting to explain the nature of the sample, the detailed distribution of responses, or the questions asked. Political polling is not only "information gathering;" it can be a devise for persuading larger publics about the popularity of one's position. NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY In a dramatic chapter, Burnham reports how the National Security Agency (NSA) has operated under a charter which has remained secret it was initiated by President Truman in 1952. The NSA specializes in electronic surveillance. A large fraction of its efforts probably go to observing military force deployments and strategic resources worldwide. Burnham reports how the NSA has also illegally eavesdropped on a significant fraction of international telephone calls and telex messages which leave the United States. Burnham reports on the character of specific programs of domestic surveillance which were illegal. According to Burnham, the NSA developed files on political dissidents including civil rights activists, antiwar activists, members of Congress, and ordinary citizens who were critical of official government policies. While most of the domestic political surveillance appeared to take place in the late 1960's through mid-1970's, the shroud of secrecy that surrounds the NSA makes it difficult to have significant Congressional oversight of its policies and practices. During the last 5 years, the NSA has moved to control cryptographic research in the United States. Recently developed encryption schemes are based on sophisticated algorithms which require digital circuits for rapid coding and decoding. Some of the new schemes even allow the code keys to be public, rather than secret. As more business operations in the United States is computerized, organizations seek ways to protect the privacy of data such as large funds transfers. Thus the market for efficient and effective data encryption devices has expanded beyond the intelligence community to include financial institutions. The NSA has recently taken control of this research out of the hands of the National Science Foundation, even though it has no publicly documented legal mandate for its action. There are deep policy questions about whether national security is well served by the availability of cheap encrypting devices which are effectively unbreakable. These questions are not being raised in public debates, nor does Burnham shed much light on them. Rather he simply adopts the libertarian critique of surveillance. Like other political labels with strong moral content, it has been abused as a cover for unsavory actions carried out by government operatives. The term in not wholly vacuous and Burnham glosses most of the knotty policy issues. TOWARD A POLICE STATE? Burnham's theses are loosely fabricated from dramatic examples. He does not offer explicit hypotheses, strong organizing concepts, and a way of placing his examples in a context which enables a reader to understand their overall significance. Examples of bad outcomes can elicit sympathy for "victims." But systematic information about the frequency and extent of problems and abuses are necessary to demonstrate that the overall social setup within which they happen is badly flawed, corrupt, or perverse. Some of his examples of people victimized by slips in CBIS and organizational practices suggest that Kafka has provided better guiding images than Orwell for appreciating a computer-based, mobile, organizational society. Burnham has little taste for irony, and explores Orwellian abuse rather than Kafkaesque happenings. Do the events Burnham describes indicate that Federal agencies and other large computer users are pushing the the US along a path of political development that is leading to a much less democratic form of Federal government? Unfortunately, Burnham does not describe the changing nature of Congressional oversight and public accountability sufficiently well to provide a clear answer to that question. He succeeds in generating sentiments in favor of this hypothesis by his accumulated cases of organizational seaminess and occasional abuse. But he relies heavily upon a reader's distrust of elected officials and large bureaucracies to help cement his case. He also relies upon general theses about power, such as Lord Acton's maxim. Unchecked power often corrupts and organizations are often less willing to be fair to their clients than efficient and autonomous. But general principles do not make the particular case since the variations in actual organizational practices are significant and vast. One peculiar feature of contemporary police states, such as those in Eastern Europe and Latin America, is the extent to which they have relied upon low technologies for extensive social control and even mass terror. Many abusive ruling cliques rely upon neighborhood informants, secret trials, and mysterious disappearances to maintain control. They don't need database management systems, teleprocessing, and spy satellites. Low technology strategies are especially effective in "small town" societies. Burnham's implicit argument is that less obtrusive forms of surveillance and social control can harm the political culture of liberal democracies. CBIS are attractive to administrators and politicians because they promise heightened efficiencies and sometimes enhanced fairness in providing services to large mobile populations. However, the anecdotes of errors with a human cost and even abuses which Burnham piles on the reader, illustrate problems but do not make his case. Burnham's strongest case is his critique of the NSA's abuses of authority. Like, the secret Law Enforcement Intelligence Units, much of the problem with the NSA comes from its shroud of secrecy and freedom from significant legislative oversight. It's use of computer-based monitoring systems is incidental to its problematic place in American political life. I suspect that one basic issue is accountability of these agencies to the public through the legislatures. At times this is no easy task when the administrative agencies can shroud their actions with the complexities of high technologies. There is a strong case to be made that in the clashes between branches of government, administrative agencies have found legal and technological loopholes to temporarily free themselves from regulatory restraint. Congressional actions are not always right. But there is an argument that administrative agencies have been able to exploit computer-based technologies to shift the balance of governmental power away from elected officials. This systematic shift of power has been best documented in the case of local governments. It is likely to be happening at other governmental levels as well. COMPUTERS AND POLITICS Burnham is sensitive to the shifts of power to executive agencies. But he is at a loss to explain them very well. He misses the deeper politics of computing. I find a clue to his misperception, a very common one, in his reference to "the computer's system of thinking." For Burnham, CBIS are simply highly structured, logical, possibly hierarchical information processing "tools." He misses the ways in which CBIS designs often reflect the "systems of thinking" of those who propose them. CBIS promoters may label their preferences as "required by computers" to help their case, but they often ignore or discourage many technical and administrative alternatives. Many CBIS are usefully viewed as forms of social organization. They are composed of many layers of data, programs, and communications support stretched across different organizations. Those who oversee them need some ability to appreciate technical alternatives and also have some substantive expertise in the organizational functions which have computer support. This dual expertise is rare, particularly among elected officials at all levels of government. As a consequence, they have trouble in providing sensible guidance to executive agency staff. QUALITY OF BURNHAM'S ANALYSIS I would like to like this book more than I do. I like Burnham's eye for detail and his relentless questions about the underside of computer-based surveillance systems. Some new data brokering organizations start up each year. Each year, many existing organizations expand the scope and scale of their record keeping. Laws and administrative practices also change slowly each year. Over ten year periods, these gradual small scale changes accumulate. Periodic reviews of these practices are useful. As a consequence of continuing changes in organizational practices, legal arrangements, and technology, studies published in the early 1970's such as Westin and Baker's "Databanks in a Free Society" or James Rules' "Public Surveillance and Private Lives" have become dated. Both of these studies pre-date the use of computer matching, and several Federal privacy initiatives. Unfortunately, this book is weak in analysis. Even the chapter headings don't guide the argument. The first three chapters are labelled "surveillance," "data bases," and "power." However, themes of power, surveillance, and data bases are strong elements in each of them. The chapter labelled "power" primarily examines political polling. This lax labelling of chapters signifies the way that Burnham eschews tough analysis in favor of easy sentimentalizing. It should be hard for Burnham, a reporter and hence a kind of intelligence agent, to find observation, reporting, and persuasion to be inherently sinister acts. However, Burnham colors his narrative so that people who administer a CBIS are stigmatized in descriptions such as "(speaking) in the quiet monotones of many long-time government employees," or are "slightly Mephistopholean." People who sympathize with civil libertarian values are portrayed without any frailties. Burnham is deeply suspicious of pollsters and politicians who manipulate the public with numbers, but he is very adept at manipulating his audience with images. These images which equate personal goodness with political philosophy grossly mislead. Despite these limitations, "The Rise of the Computer State" is particularly important because it helps articulate and illustrate important questions about computing and social power. Unfortunately, there is no other up-to-date inquiry into organizational surveillance and high technology. "The Rise of the Computer State" is an important contribution to the tiny stream of literature which examines the political dimensions of computer-based technologies in public life. I hope that many people read this book despite its analytical flaws. It helps dramatize the current problems of computer-based surveillance systems. Burnham's graphic episodes can help give people who are not intimate with CBIS a keen appreciation of the dilemmas which their use and users are now creating. It can help more systematic investigators by providing a rich set of clues from which to continue this inquiry. These questions will not go away after 1984 has passed. ---------------------------- Now let's get back to the 'regular' Digest. Don't forget to set your clocks back Saturday night or Sunday morning this weekend. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 00:45:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Court OKs Loral's Sale of Satellites to Intelsat NEW YORK, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Bankrupt satellite maker and operator Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (BB:LRLSQ) said on Friday a U.S. bankruptcy court approved its agreement to sell its North American satellite fleet to Intelsat Ltd. Intelsat won an auction for the assets with a $1.1 billion bid earlier this week. The only other bidder was EchoStar Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), which had also put in a bid for all of Loral's assets. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36234244 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 00:46:39 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Rising Sports tab Ups Cable TV Rates - GAO By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The rising cost of sports programs is a leading factor behind the skyrocketing price of cable television, U.S. congressional investigators said in a report released on Friday. But the General Accounting Office study threw cold water on the idea of letting consumers select individual channels as a way to cut cable prices, saying the extra equipment needed would increase costs and niche channels could disappear. U.S. cable companies' costs for sports programming rose an average 59 percent over the last three years and went up an average 34 percent for all programming, the GAO's report said. The potential impact of the GAO's findings is significant, considering the reach of the nation's top two cable television operators. Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) ranks No. 1, with more than 21 million subscribers, while Time Warner Inc.(NYSE:TWX), serves almost 11 million customers. Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, ordered the review and has been a vocal critic of cable companies for rising subscription prices. The Arizona Republican has argued that the 70 million U.S. cable subscribers should have an "a la carte" selection of channels. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36233738 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 00:49:06 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Best Buy Expands Digital Cable Services, Implements Automated MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2003-- New In-Store Activation Tool Offers One of the Largest Selections of Digital Cable Options Available at Any National Retailer Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) today announced that through its new in-store Digital Cable Activation Tool, customers now have access to one of the largest footprints of Digital Cable providers available at any national retailer. The new tool provides an automated way for Best Buy Product Specialists to qualify customers for Digital Cable and High-Definition TV services, provides a list of available plans for the customer to compare and choose, and the ability to purchase digital cable and high-definition services quickly and easily. The new tool will be available starting Sunday, October 26th at more than 400 Best Buy retail locations. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36230587 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 17:58:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cablevision Falls Following Revamp of spinoff NEW YORK, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE:CVC) shares fell more than 13 percent on Friday as investors balked at the company's plan to spin off its Rainbow cable channels as part of a nascent high-definition satellite TV business. Some analysts skewered the deal, saying the cable operator is shedding some of its most valuable properties -- American Movie Classics, the Independent Film Channel and Women's Entertainment -- to build the risky Voom satellite business. Prudential Securities' Katherine Styponias said the decision shows the company "is willing to destroy Cablevision shareholder value in order to meet its own strategic and financial goals." - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36226725 ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl Subject: Re: Dallas Phone Service - SBC Versus Comcast? Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 21:35:51 -0400 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ YMMV. I have SBC-SNET, and have had them put ISDN, POTS and DSL into several offices I've worked in. They generally did a good, competent job. I had one problem with a DSL line, and they fixed it reasonably promptly. On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:30:39 -0500, Steven J Sobol wrote: > No-Name wrote: >> Looks like I can get either SBC phone service or Comcast in the house >> I'm buying -- I'll be getting Cable TV and Cable Modem from Comcast (I >> can't get DSL from SBC) -- is one any better than the other for >> residential phone service? Thanks. > SBC is a horrible company that will screw you over without even > thinking about it -- I was without service on my DSL and voice lines > for two months and they offered me $5 worth of credits. I had to sic > the Public Utilities Commission on them before they'd do the right > thing (this was in Ohio.) > My general impression is that while phone companies are run by > malicious assholes, cable companies are just clueless. I suppose the > lesser of the two evils would be the phone company, but heaven forbid > you ever have a problem with the service ... > I personally would suggest trying to find Comcast customers that have > the phone servic. Find out what their experiences are. > JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services > 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 > Steve Sobol, Proprietor > 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: California Wins Anti-Spam Lawsuit ... $2 Million Awarded Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 22:50:49 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC SAN JOSE) Attorney General Bill Lockyer today won the State of California's first-ever anti-spam lawsuit when the Santa Clara County Superior Court ordered PW Marketing and owners Paul Willis and Claudia Griffin to pay $2 million in civil penalties for violating state laws prohibiting unsolicited commercial email, false advertising and unfair business practices. [ snippety snip ] http://caag.state.ca.us/newsalerts/2003/03-130.htm _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key Dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: Rob Levandowski Subject: Re: iTunes For Windows May Face New Piracy Threat Organization: MacWhiz Technologies Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 23:22:18 -0400 In article , Barry Margolin wrote: > In article , JDS > wrote: >> So ripping a CD you own so that you can listen to it on your computer >> or on a portable device is universally accepted as fair use. However, >> depending on your license agreement, doing what with a downloaded file >> is likely forbidden. > I think iTunes specifically allows a certain amount of copying. > Considering that Apple also makes the iPod, I think they want to > encourage people to copy the downloaded tunes to it. When you buy music from the Apple Music Store with iTunes, you can * listen to it on up to 5 computers * copy it to your iPod as often as you like * burn it to CD as often as you like, although you can only burn the same playlist (set of songs) to CD 10 times before you must change the playlist -- in other words, no mass production. As digital rights management schemes go, it's pretty liberal. I think that most listeners would find it to be a reasonable fit. There's not a lot of people in iTunes' target market who would have a legitimate need to exceed those limits. Rob Levandowski robl@macwhiz.com Owner, MacWhiz Technologies http://www.macwhiz.com Mac and UNIX Consulting * Web Design * Graphic Arts Local help. World wide answers. (sm) ------------------------------ From: kharper01@hotmail.com (KH) Subject: Buy, Sell or Discuss Telephony Date: 24 Oct 2003 17:59:39 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com http://www.TelecomsTrader.com New website for buying, selling or discussing telephony. Industry sectors include: IVR, CTI, VoIP, SMS, MMS, PRS Internet Telephony Network Telecoms Call Centers Telemedia VoiceXML Audiotext Mobile Telephony [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You guys may want to check out this new website/discussion thing to see if it is any good. Remember also to set that clock backward sometime today/tonight/tomorrow. 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #718 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Oct 26 16:15:48 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9QLFmx15551; Sun, 26 Oct 2003 16:15:48 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 16:15:48 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310262115.h9QLFmx15551@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 #719 TELECOM Digest Sun, 26 Oct 2003 16:15:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 719 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Cinema Rage Showing in Randolph;Theater Gets Stabbing (Monty Solomon) Trio's War Against E-Mail Spam Leads to Global Market Success (Solomon) Cellular Tower Debate Divides Landowners (Monty Solomon) DirecTV Takes No Prisoners (Monty Solomon) TiVo (Monty Solomon) Re: PC to PC Voice Link Over IP Link (Harry) Re: PC to PC Voice Link Over IP Link (shido) Re: Rising Sports tab Ups Cable TV Rates (Neal McLain) Re: Dallas Phone Service - SBC Versus Comcast? (Steven J Sobol) Re: Becoming A Switch Technician (shido) Re: Voiceplus (shido) Irresponsible Techs [was Re: Vonage, and Digressing] (Joel M. Hoffman) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 01:00:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cinema Rage Showing in Randolph;Theater Gets Stabbing By Michael S. Rosenwald, Globe Staff, 10/16/2003 RANDOLPH -- The talk of the weekday matinee buffs at the Showcase Cinemas concerns the horror flick "House of the Dead." More specifically, Sunday's 5:20 p.m. showing, when one man in the theater allegedly stabbed another in the foot because the man wouldn't remove his feet from his seat back. A Randolph police report on the incident said William Dunn and his family were sitting behind Jose Pujols and his friends. Pujols asked if Dunn's daughter could take her feet down from their seat backs. She complied, the report said. Then Pujols's cellphone rang. And rang. William Dunn asked him to shut it off. Pujols didn't comply. "My dad says, 'If you're gonna disrespect me, I'm gonna disrespect you,' " recalled Tequisha Dunn, 15. So William Dunn put his feet up on the back of Pujols's seat, according to the police report. Pujols asked him to take them down and Dunn refused. Pujols then took out a long-blade knife and stabbed Dunn in the foot, police said. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/10/16/cinema_rage_showing_in_randolph/ RANDOLPH Theater calls stabbing an isolated event Says changes to its security unnecessary By Sandy Coleman, Globe Staff, 10/26/2003 Despite a recent stabbing allegedly sparked by a ringing cellphone during a screening at the Randolph Showcase Cinemas, theater management, police, and town officials say they don't plan to step up efforts to curb cellphone use, and theater patrons will not be searched for weapons. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/10/26/theater_calls_stabbing_an_isolated_event/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 01:57:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Trio's War Against Email Spam Leads to Global Market Success By Nancy V. Burns, Globe Correspondent, 10/23/2003 Some of the biggest advances in the fight against spam, those unwanted e-mails that infest computers around the globe, are taking place in a home office in Boxborough. Audiotrieve -- which introduced the antispam product InBoxer in July and released the first update, InBoxer 1.1, on Tuesday -- has built up a global business almost entirely online. The company consists of three principals, each of whom works from a home office, along with independent contractors who pitch in as needed. Chief Executive Roger Matus lives in Boxborough; Sean True, the chief technologist, lives in Natick; and Laura Strassman, vice president of product management, works from her home in Carlisle. They get together in person about once a week -- usually over lunch on Wednesdays at one of their home offices or occasionally at a restaurant. Phone calls and e-mails suffice for the rest of the week. The three founders are speech-recognition specialists who had worked together and kept in touch for many years before deciding to create their own company. Audiotrieve was formed early this year to create software for web searches of audio and video that are currently inaccessible to Google and other search engines. But a technical discovery came along at the right time, which resulted in an abrupt change of focus. InBoxer resulted from a project that True developed in his spare time to address his previous employer's frustrations with spam. True had been working for the permission-based direct marketer WebReply, which sends out newsletters and other items. Spam filters were interfering with legitimate messages, so True started learning about spam and created a prototype of an antispam filter for Audiotrieve. InBoxer works by analyzing both the text of a message and the "invisible parts," including the time it was sent, how it was shipped, where it came from, and what "node" it went through. A custom filter is automatically set up for each person. That way, for example, though a doctor might want to receive messages about certain prescription drugs, such e-mail for most users would be filtered out as spam. In a test conducted by Spamotomy, an online publication that evaluates products developed to combat junk mail, InBoxer screened out 96 percent of spam, with almost no false positives. The filtered messages are not automatically deleted, but are moved to a location where users can find them and decide whether to unblock them. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/10/23/trios_war_against_e_mail_spam_leads_to_global_market_success/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 01:40:51 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cellular Tower Debate Divides Landowners By Kathleen Burge, Globe Staff, 10/26/2003 WESTPORT -- He sees it as soon as he wakes each morning and until the sun sets each night, its silver needle nose poking through the canopy of trees now blushing from fall's chill. The cellular telephone tower on Bill Glaser's land rises across the Westport River from his house, beaming signals to phones around lower Buzzards Bay. When he gazes from his breakfast table to the 195-foot tower that he and his wife host, he says, "I get an immense sense of pride." The Glasers also get a lot of money: about $45,000 a year in rent from the six wireless companies that plunked that tower and one other on their land in this rural town brimming with stone walls and centuries-old harbor homes. The couple, who split their time between Massachusetts and Florida, say the checks from the cellular companies cushion their retirement. The first waves of the wireless revolution brought cellphone service to the cities, and then to the highways. Now, as the number of cellphone users has multiplied over the past few years, wireless companies are increasingly trying to improve service in suburbs and other residential areas. But better cellphone service means more antennas, and often private property has become the battleground for disputes over building new towers. Some homeowners, enticed by leasing fees that can exceed $1,000 per month from a single company, are eager to benefit from the desire of cellular companies to expand their wireless networks. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/299/metro/Cellular_tower_debate_divides_landowners+.shtml [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For many years now, most all of our cellular service (towers) here in Independence have been located in a small (very small) town just to our east called Liberty, Kansas. The guy who owns the Cellular One franchise for this area has a subsid- iary company there in Liberty which rents out cellular tower space. In addition to his own Cellular One operation, the other cellular carriers here in Independence (Cingular Wireless, US Cellular, Alltel) all rent space from him. But Cellular coverage isn't that great in some parts of town (the mile or two going north of downtown out toward the Independence Country Club and golf course, so I am told that AT&T (not really a registered carrier here in town) is going to maybe go in with Cingular Wireless and build a new antenna/tower thing southeast side of town. To avoid complaints from citizens who say 'not in my backyard or where I have to look at it' it will probably be located in the carrilon bell tower at the First Presby- terian Church on 5th and Maple Streets more or less downtown, and coincidentally a city block from the community Bell telephone building (6th and Maple), which should also save some money on the concentrators and leased lines all running over to Liberty. Then people won't have to see the antennas. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 11:34:59 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DirecTV Takes No Prisoners Issue 11.11 - November 2003 Scott Menchin DirecTV has been waging a war on piracy that makes the record labels look nonchalant. The company has filed about 10,000 lawsuits and mailed more than 100,000 "demand letters" giving suspected pirates a brutal choice: Pay $3,500 to settle or go to court. Problem is, the campaign targets anyone who bought smartcard programming gear from certain merchants; officials just assume it's used for hacking. Is that fair? DirecTV enforcement chief Larry Rissler thinks so. - Lucas Graves http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.11/view.html?pg=3 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe some of the affected victims of DirectTV should respond with counter lawsuits regards some of DirectTV's more dubious practices. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 14:36:11 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo Gadgets We Love - TiVo Scott Woolley, 11.10.03 Tivo is both a wonderful -- and wondrously frustrating--product. Anyone who owns one adores it, usually to the point of obsession. A recent cross-country move required putting my stuff into storage for a couple of months. I packed TiVo separately. I wasn't trusting it to movers, and it wasn't spending even a week without me. The frustrating part is this: People without TiVo think our obsession is silly. New owners make it worse by accosting the uninitiated with a half-hour sales pitch. We old owners don't bother. We know the pitch won't work. http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/1110/166.html ------------------------------ From: Harry Subject: Re: PC to PC Voice Link Over IP Link Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 16:19:43 +0100 Organization: ntl Cablemodem News Service Rob, Netmeeting should sort you out. Although the quality of the calls will be affected by several factors; Latency, Jitter, Packet Loss. Bobsa wrote in message news:telecom22.717.14@telecom-digest.org: > Hi ... > Got a couple of PCs linked via a VPN with a 512k ADSL connection at > one end and a 2 meg connection at the other. So with the VPN we are > all very much on the same "internal network" I need to have a voice > connection between the two so we can speak to each other.. has anyone > got any names of software I could use ... or ways to hook it up. Will > be spekaing via mikes, etc ... > Cheers, > Rob ------------------------------ From: shido Subject: Re: PC to PC Voice Link Over IP Link Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 13:30:53 -0500 Organization: Cogeco Cable You can have softphone, IP phones, or regular phones using Asterisk (http://www.asterisk.org). 512k is more than enough bandwidth for 1 or 2 calls. Actually using IAX2 we can fit around 39 simultaneous calls through that connection. Greg Merriweather The NuFone Network G.Merriweather@nufone.net 519-251-8225 x 3000 IM: shido6@msn.com Bobsa wrote in message news:telecom22.717.14@telecom-digest.org: > Hi ... > Got a couple of PCs linked via a VPN with a 512k ADSL connection at > one end and a 2 meg connection at the other. So with the VPN we are > all very much on the same "internal network" I need to have a voice > connection between the two so we can speak to each other.. has anyone > got any names of software I could use ... or ways to hook it up. Will > be spekaing via mikes, etc ... > Cheers, > Rob ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 07:32:43 -0600 From: Neal McLain Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com Subject: Re: Rising Sports tab Ups Cable TV Rates Monty Solomon wrote: > Subject: Rising Sports tab Ups Cable TV Rates - GAO > By Jeremy Pelofsky > WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The rising cost of > sports programs is a leading factor behind the > skyrocketing price of cable television ... > The Arizona Republican (sic) has argued that the > 70 million U.S. cable subscribers should have an > "a la carte" selection of channels. Gee, I wonder if the Arizona Republic would be willing to sell its newspaper on an "a la carte" basis, so readers (like me) who have no interest in sports or classified ads could order only the sections we want? Neal McLain nmclain@annsgarden.com ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Dallas Phone Service - SBC Versus Comcast? Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 13:59:43 -0500 Hank Karl wrote: > YMMV. I have SBC-SNET, and have had them put ISDN, POTS and DSL into > several offices I've worked in. They generally did a good, competent > job. The linemen and technical crew I dealt with when I was with SBC (Ameritech) were professional, clued and a pleasure to deal with. The CSRs are, for the most part, OK, although clue-level varies. The problem is this. Someone created a bridge tap on my DSL line, generating so much static on the copper pair coming to my house that not only did I not have sync on my DSL, I couldn't get above a 9600-baud analog modem connection and I couldn't reliably make voice calls. Fortunately, there were no emergencies during which I would have had to call 911, or I'd have been in trouble. This lasted for two months, and then I was told I'd get a grand total of $5 in service credits because they don't give more than that unless you have dialtone. I was spending over $80 per month on voice and DSL. I *did* have dialtone. I just didn't have a usable phone line. One CSR went as far as telling me that "it seems like management would rather have you call and file a complaint with the state than do the right thing the first time." (At least she was honest!) But that makes no sense. It would be not only easier but CHEAPER -- I'm sure they get fined a lot by the Ohio PUC. That would not happen if they dealt with complaints before they went to the state. Oh yeah, and it was a month before I could get someone out. One of the repair appointments was broken without my knowledge, the weekend that there was a big snowstorm out in Toledo (I lived east of Cleveland). The excuse was "We sent all our techs out to Toledo to fix lines after the storm." WTF? Toledo is nowhere near as large as Cleveland. I'm sure they had all of their techs in Toledo working on getting service back up, and sure, they may have needed to grab people from another market to expedite the repairs, but you're telling me they needed EVERYONE in Cleveland to go out there? Bull. But -- this isn't a problem with the techies or Customer Service. This is a problem created by SBC management. And although I've heard plenty of horror stories about Verizon too, they are the ILEC here in the High Desert and since moving here I haven't had any major issues with them. (I've only been here a few months, but so far -- knock on wood -- things have been OK.) I'm just very happy I *don't* live in a part of California serviced by SBC. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: shido Subject: Re: Becoming A Switch Technician Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 13:29:04 -0500 Organization: Cogeco Cable Learn Asterisk (http://www.asterisk.org) Telecom is changing and becoming much more affordable. Greg Merriweather The NuFone Network G.Merriweather@nufone.net 519-251-8225 x 3000 IM: shido6@msn.com wrote in message news:telecom22.717.15@telecom-digest.org: > On 21 Oct 2003 22:15:14 -0700, essay182@yahoo.com (Jeremey) wrote: >> I would really like a job in the telecom industry someday and I was >> wondering what the best thing to do to become a switch technician >> would be? > 1. Learn UNIX. > 2. Get a low voltage electrician's license & get a job for a PBX installer. > 3. Learn radio - get a ham license. >> I'm really fascinated by telephones and computers and am very >> good with both, so I was wondering how I would jump into this field? I >> was thinking of calling a local CO and asking them, but I also wanted >> to ask here. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks. > Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without > duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: shido Subject: Re: Voiceplus Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 13:31:38 -0500 Organization: Cogeco Cable You could just as easily use NuFone at www.nufone.net. Greg Merriweather The NuFone Network G.Merriweather@nufone.net 519-251-8225 x 3000 IM: shido6@msn.com John R. Levine wrote in message news:telecom22.717.16@telecom-digest.org: >> What other charges are involved? Are there line charges, taxes, FCC >> charges, etc? > Do you mean Voice Plus, which is a voicemail company in Atlanta, or > Voicepulse which is a VoIP provider down the road from Vonage? > If you mean the latter, there is a page on their web site that > explains exactly what you pay every month, to the penny, including the > taxes and charges. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 13:27:42 GMT From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Subject: Irresponsible Techs was Re: Vonage, and Digressing Organization: Excelsior Computer Services In a similar vein, I remember several years ago having not one but TWO dial tones on my pair, due to, I think, water damage and crossed wires. The situation also gave me very loud static. When I was using my line, my dial tone would disappear (as it should), but I'd still have to scream to be heard over the other dial tone and considerable static. One week (!) after placing a trouble report, I got a phone call. "WHO'S CALLING," I yelled, trying to be heard over the noise and static. "mumble mumble" was the response. "WHO IS CALLING!?" I yelled louder. "IT'S THE PHONE COMPANY," I heard someone scream. "WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE TROUBLE?" -Joel ------------------------------ 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 #719 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Oct 27 14:02:08 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9RJ28J21029; Mon, 27 Oct 2003 14:02:08 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 14:02:08 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310271902.h9RJ28J21029@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 #720 TELECOM Digest Mon, 27 Oct 2003 14:02:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 720 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #405, October 27, 2003 (Angus TeleManagement) Re: Voiceplus and Other VoIP Service (John R. Levine) Own Globally, Act Locally? (Monty Solomon) Voicemail to Email / Fax to Email Provider Recommendations (NoodleLover) Re: Rising Sports tab Ups Cable TV Rates (Paul Robinson) Re: Becoming A Switch Technician (zaphod) About Telephone Numbering (qazmlp) Long Distance via DSL/Cable (Pokey) Reinventing the Jukebox on Campus (Monty Solomon) Hotel With $10 Surcharges For 10-Mile LD Calls-Any Recourse (Earnhardt) Re: Dallas Phone Service - SBC Versus Comcast? (Nathan Strom) InterVoice Resources Needed (Vikram) Rupert Murdoch to Buy TiVo? HDTV Sales to Soar in 2004? (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. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 11:22:37 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #405, October 27, 2003 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 405: October 27, 2003 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** CRTC to Limit Telco Pricing Flexibility ** Bell Takes CRTC to Court ** Shaw Considering Local Phone Entry ** Equipment Makers Back in the Black Nortel Avaya Lucent ** Broadband Implementation Funding Awarded ** School Boards Appeal Dark Fibre Order ** Telus Quebec Files Dark Fibre Tariff ** Allstream Offers Outsourced Net Security ** CANARIE Launches $4 Million Research Fund ** MCI Offers Satellite Broadband in Canada ** Tougher Penalties for Satellite Theft? ** CRTC Okays UBS Takeover of Look ** Ontario Community Broadband Conference ** Avaya Sells Cabling Systems Unit ** Onlinetel to Charge for Free Long Distance ** U.S. Senate Passes Anti-Spam Bill ** Financial Results Aliant BCE Emergis Shaw ** Is Your Phone System Secure? ============================================================ CRTC TO LIMIT TELCO PRICING FLEXIBILITY: CRTC Public Notice 2003-8 proposes new "price floor" rules to limit the discounts the incumbent telcos can offer on bundles and other offers. The Commission said existing rules allow potential for discrimination between customers, and for anti-competitive pricing. ** The CRTC invites comments on its proposed rules, and expects to issue an interim decision in early 2004. Fuller submissions--and a possible oral hearing--will take place next year, with a final ruling unlikely before 2005. ** Rogers Communications' application to keep monopoly services out of telco bundles (see Telecom Update #390) is incorporated into this proceeding. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2003/pt2003-8.htm BELL TAKES CRTC TO COURT: Bell has asked the Federal Court for leave to appeal CRTC Decision 2003-63, which ordered the telco to refile 164 customer-specific tariffs with more detail (see Telecom Update #401). Bell says that would violate customer confidentiality and harm Bell's competitive position. Bell wants the order stayed until an appeal can be heard. ** Bell says it will also ask the CRTC itself to rescind the order. SHAW CONSIDERING LOCAL PHONE ENTRY: Speaking to analysts on October 22, Shaw Communications CEO Jim Shaw said the company has started a year-long review of the possibility of entering the local telephone business. This seems to be a shift in policy: last year Jim Shaw said the company didn't expect to offer phone service in the next five years. EQUIPMENT MAKERS BACK IN THE BLACK: Three prominent telecommunications equipment manufacturers reported profitable third quarters: ** Nortel reported net earnings of US$179 million and predicted that 2003 will produce its first profit in six years. Revenue of $2.27 billion was down 3% from the previous quarter and 4% from a year ago. Nortel plans to restate its results since 2000, reducing reported losses by about $750 million. ** Avaya's net income was US$66 million, compared to $8 million the previous quarter and a loss of $544 million during the same period in 2002. Revenue was $1.12 billion, 5% higher than the previous quarter but down 3% from a year ago. ** Lucent recorded its first quarterly profit since March 2000. Net income of US$99 million compares to a loss of $254 million the previous quarter. Revenue of $2.03 billion was up 4% on the quarter and down 11% on the year. BROADBAND IMPLEMENTATION FUNDING AWARDED: Thirty-three organizations will receive a total of $44 million in the first round of funding under Industry Canada's Broadband for Rural and Northern Development pilot program, to extend broadband connectivity to 768 communities (including 83 First Nations communities). Applications for a second round of funding are due November 20. www.ic.gc.ca/cmb/welcomeic.nsf/ddb0aecf65375eb685256a870050319e/85256a5d006b972085256dc9006f5978!OpenDocument http://broadband.gc.ca/index.htm SCHOOL BOARDS APPEAL DARK FIBRE ORDER: The Quebec school boards that had contracted with Bell Canada, Telus Quebec, and Telebec for dark fibre under the Villages Branches program have jointly asked the CRTC to change Telecom Decisions 2003-58 and 2003-59, so that the telcos' prices must only recover costs, not the full amount of a general tariff rate. (See Telecom Update #397, 404) TELUS QUEBEC FILES DARK FIBRE TARIFF: As ordered by the CRTC in Telecom Decision 2003-58, Telus Quebec has filed a general tariff for inter- and intra-exchange dark fibre. Like Bell's, Telus Quebec's tariff offers fibre in increments of two strands on 1, 3, and 5-year contracts, but its proposed rates are significantly lower than Bell's. www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2003/b2/tn6769.zip www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2003/t69/avis362.doc ALLSTREAM OFFERS OUTSOURCED NET SECURITY: Allstream has begun offering a network intrusion detection and response service based on technology developed by Atlanta-based Internet Security Systems. CANARIE LAUNCHES $4 MILLION RESEARCH FUND: CANARIE has announced $4 million in new funding for research in advanced networking applications. The deadline for applications is February 2, 2004; detailed information is available at the CANARIE website. www.canarie.ca/funding/applications/guidelines.html MCI OFFERS SATELLITE BROADBAND IN CANADA: MCI Canada now offers two-way satellite broadband Internet access to businesses in Canada, using a Hughes satellite. Monthly charges range from $595 to $1,295, depending on download speed. Setup, including all necessary hardware, is $1,000. TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR SATELLITE THEFT? Proposed amendments to the Radiocommunication Act would substantially increase fines for unauthorized decoding of satellite TV signals, require licenses for importing satellite decoders, and give broadcasters more power to take legal action against satellite pirates. The bill, tabled in the House of Commons last week, seems unlikely to pass during the current session. www.ic.gc.ca/cmb/welcomeic.nsf/261ce500dfcd7259852564820068dc6d/85256a5d006b972085256dc7006ca120!OpenDocument CRTC OKAYS UBS TAKEOVER OF LOOK: The CRTC has given conditional approval to Unique Broadband Systems' plan to increase its stake in Look Communications from 29.99% to 51.06%. The proposal will now be submitted for a vote at UBS's annual meeting on November 20. (See Telecom Update #395) ONTARIO COMMUNITY BROADBAND CONFERENCE: The Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (formerly MEOI) and Hamilton Connects will hold a conference and trade show on "Broadband for Connected Communities in Ontario: Approaches for Success" in Hamilton, Ontario, November 16-18. The program includes an update on the Connect Ontario programs. www.myhamilton.ca/broadband2003 AVAYA SELLS CABLING SYSTEMS UNIT: Avaya Inc. is selling its Connectivity Solutions division to North Carolina-based CommScope Inc, for US$263 million. Connectivity Solutions makes and sells the Systimax and Exchangemax structured cabling systems; it employs about 2,000 people. ONLINETEL TO CHARGE FOR FREE LONG DISTANCE: Onlinetel, which has been offering free long distance calls between selected Ontario cities since mid-2002, will rename the offering "Freezone" and add a $20 annual fee, effective November 1. As before, callers will hear an advertisement before the call goes through. U.S. SENATE PASSES ANTI-SPAM BILL: On October 22, the U.S. Senate voted 97-0 to impose fines and prison sentences on e-mail marketers who use false return addresses or misleading subject lines. The bill, which requires approval by the House of Representatives and the President before becoming law, would create a "Do Not E-Mail" list administered by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC has said it may not be possible to enforce such a list. FINANCIAL RESULTS: The following results are for the third quarter: ** Aliant's revenues of $646.5 million were up 1.4% from the same quarter of 2002. Local and LD sales slipped 2.2% and 1.8% respectively; wireless and Internet sales rose 18% and 16%. Xwave, the IT unit that Aliant decided four months ago not to sell, has laid off 200 employees; its sales are down 1%. (See Telecom Update #388) ** BCE Emergis had sales of $117 million, 13% less than during the same period last year. But EBITDA rose 9% from a year ago, and net income increased 29% to $6.2 million. ** Shaw Communications reported a profit of $4.1 million, compared to a loss of $74 million during the same quarter of 2002. Shaw added a net 18,935 Internet subscribers in the quarter. Its gain of 2,197 basic cable subscribers compares to a loss of almost 30,000 during the same period a year ago. Revenue of $520 million was 4.4% higher than a year ago. IS YOUR PHONE SYSTEM SECURE? Hackers who target corporate PBXs and voice mail systems are setting new global records in long distance theft. The current issue of Telemanagement begins a special series of reports on protecting voice systems from such attacks. ** For a limited time, save $70 on a new subscription to Telemanagement. Download full details at www.angustel.ca/Telemanagement-Oct2003.pdf. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at 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 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: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Voiceplus And Other VoIP Service Date: 26 Oct 2003 16:40:13 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > You could just as easily use NuFone at www.nufone.net. So I've heard, although if there is info on consumer VoIP service on that web site, it's hidden far too cleverly for my feeble abilities to guess where it is. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 22:33:22 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Own Globally, Act Locally? The FCC's Michael Powell says a shortage of local and community affairs programming has nothing to do with media conglomeration. But at a North Carolina hearing, he heard from his critics. By Eric Boehlert Oct. 24, 2003 | Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell held a public hearing in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday night to address how media companies serve their local communities. But during a marathon open-mike session, many in the standing-room-only crowd were ready to talk about thornier issues, like the controversial media ownership rules the commission passed this summer, and outlandish behavior by local Clear Channel DJs. The message from Powell's FCC was that such topics were irrelevant. But critics had their say anyway. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/10/24/fcc/ ------------------------------ From: NoodleLover Subject: Voicemail to Email and Fax to Email Provider Recommendations Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 04:51:46 GMT Howdy, I am looking for recommendations for providers of voicemail to email and fax to email services with toll free numbers. I am interested in personal experiences with providers and pointers to materials on providers. Thanks in advance. NoodleLover@snet.net [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: One that comes to mind immediatly is 'AOL by Phone'. Its not free, but there are toll free numbers to use to retrieve your spoken email and fax messages. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Paul Robinson Organization: elusive-butterfly.net Subject: Re: Rising Sports tab Ups Cable TV Rates Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 08:40:32 GMT Neal McLain wrote: > Monty Solomon wrote: >> The Arizona Republican (sic) has argued that the >> 70 million U.S. cable subscribers should have an >> "a la carte" selection of channels. > Gee, I wonder if the Arizona Republic would be willing to sell its > newspaper on an "a la carte" basis, so readers (like me) who have no > interest in sports or classified ads could order only the sections we > want? There is a difference. The sports section in the newspaper is created either by the same wire services that they subscribe to or by their own reporters and doesn't cost a whole lot extra. The sports channels on cable networks are additional costs to the cable operator that they have to pass on to everyone because they have to pay for every subscriber. And let's not forget the price of a newspaper is basically the cost of the paper it's printed on, and the newspaper would lose money if it had to make costs on the circulation price, or your daily newspaper would cost about $2.50 a copy. Advertisements such as classified ads bring down the cost of the paper. 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: uktelecommobile@yahoo.com (zaphod) Subject: Re: Becoming A Switch Technician Date: 27 Oct 2003 04:08:58 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com essay182@yahoo.com (Jeremey) wrote in message news:: > I would really like a job in the telecom industry someday and I was > wondering what the best thing to do to become a switch technician > would be? Contact an operator and ask about their training/intake scehemes. The HR department will be able to answer most of your questions about which qualifications you need. Some operators may provide intern placements if you're still in education. There's a great deal more to telecoms engineering than 'just' being a switch tech though- design pays a great deal more and is arguably a more secure career path given increasing automation of operations and maintenance. z ------------------------------ From: qazmlp1209@rediffmail.com (qazmlp) Subject: About Telephone Numbering Date: 27 Oct 2003 05:28:13 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com The international numbers are normally given as: + Where does the convention of '+' prefix come from? Also, Will it always be equal to "00"? If no, where can I get the list of all the international prefixes? Thanks! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It will not always be '00'; for example here in the USA the starting sequence is '11' for automatic dialing or '01' for operator assistance. The next digit is the zone code which runs from '1' for North America (usually) through '9' for other places around the world. I say 'usually' because there are a few places geographically in North America which are politically part of (and administered by) the telecom authorities in other nations. The example which comes to mind are the two French-administered small islands on the east coast of Canada (St. Pierre and Miqulon) which do not fall in the '1' North American zone. Someone here once explained why Canada is part of 'North America' and thus on the same numbering system as the USA (with area codes, etc) but Mexico is not. I do not remember how that was explained. Or, how the Carribean islands are part of the NANP but Cuba is not. I think it has to do with 'historical reasons' and which governments were friendly with each other back when inter- national phone service was first getting started. What other explan- ation is there for why two tiny little islands off of Canada are treated as in the French numbering system, a few other relatively small islands thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean are considered part of the 'North American' numbering plan, but Canada is not treated as a '4' number as part of Great Britain. Consistency there is not! Then the next two, three or four digits in the telephone number are the 'city codes' (which we in the USA/Canada refer to as 'area codes'). Then the remaining digits to the right in the string are the local phone number. Unlike the USA/Canada where the number of digits is fixed at ten (area [3]; phone number [7]) in most countries the number of digits to be dialed varies with the zone, city code, local number taking various lengths. That is why when dialing an international number, you have to terminate the dialing string with a carriage return (#) so the equipment knows you are finished. Where to get a list of such numbers? Our archives http://telecom-digest.org has an old and somewhat out of date list and there are a couple of web sites with perhaps newer lists (lincmad have you any suggestions?) Complete lists of those things are very hard and complex to keep up with. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Pokey Subject: Long Distance via DSL/Cable Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 14:15:07 GMT Does anyone have the names of long distance services via DSL/Cable for residential service? Are you satisfied with your choice? Thxs: Pokey [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I use Vonage ( http://vonage.com ) and find it satisfactory. So satisfactory, in fact, that I give out e-coupons good for a month of free service (the second month) to anyone who wants to give them a try and sign up. Just write and ask me for one. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:16:38 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Reinventing the Jukebox on Campus MIT students have system for streaming pop music By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff, 10/27/2003 http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/10/27/reinventing_the_jukebox_on_campus October 27, 2003 With Cable TV at M.I.T., Who Needs Napster? By JOHN SCHWARTZ http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/27/technology/27mit.html MIT's New Music Sharing Network Posted by Hemos on Monday October 27, @08:00AM http://slashdot.org/articles/03/10/27/1128243.shtml ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Hotel With $10 Surcharges For 10-Mile LD Calls -- Any Recourse? Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 07:55:17 -0700 Organization: Kaos OnLine Coalition I saw this posting in the newsgroup rec.arts.disney.parks and thought some of the local experts could advise this person on where she could effectively complain. The original subject of the message was: BEWARE OF RAMADA INN EASTGATE IN KISSIMMEE The calls-in-question were from the hotel to Walt Disney World -- less than 10 miles. Apparently, these are not local calls in Kissimmee. What sort of a rate could a hotel negotiate for these calls? What would be a fair and equitable rate for the hotel to charge customers for such calls? I'll provide a summary of responses to the OP and back to the disney newsgroup. Thanks. --phil On 23 Oct 2003 07:58:59 -0700, plesset@my-deja.com (plesset) wrote: > ...I just stayed there. They tell customers that many local calls are > free. What they don't tell you--until you check out--is that many > local calls are obscenely expensive. For some of my local calls, I was > charged $10+ -- $10+ for each local call. My final bill was insanely > expensive, and it wrecked my otherwise enjoyable vacation, my first > real vacation in years. Other guests who were checking out were as > horrified as I was. One was cussing loudly. > The lady at the check out counter chided me for not asking about their > surcharge when I checked in. She pointed to a sign warning about the > surcharge, but it was way over on a side wall amongst unrelated > announcements. > I'm thinking of reporting this to the Orlando Chamber of Commerce and > appropriate people at the Ramada company. Does anyone have other ideas > of where to report this? > BTW, on more than one occasion, their shuttle to/from the parks was > half an hour late. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, a horrible rip off like this is almost worth spamming over! . Instead of my usual policy of asking guys to acknowlege me and the original author in their lifting of things from the Digest, I am **encouraging everyone** to cut and paste this message and see that it gets --w i d e-- circulation. By all means, make sure Ramada corporate gets the message. PAT] ------------------------------ From: nstrom@ananzi.co.za (Nathan Strom) Subject: Re: Dallas Phone Service - SBC Versus Comcast? Date: 27 Oct 2003 07:51:29 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hank Karl wrote in message news:: > YMMV. I have SBC-SNET, and have had them put ISDN, POTS and DSL into > several offices I've worked in. They generally did a good, competent > job. I had one problem with a DSL line, and they fixed it reasonably > promptly. FWIW, I'll second the thumbs up for SBC SNET, although most of the local infrastructure and talent here in CT might come from the pre-SBC days of SNET. ------------------------------ From: vikram@realsoftinc.com (Vikram) Subject: InterVoice Resources Needed Date: 27 Oct 2003 08:22:16 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com We are in the process of putting together a team for on of our clients in Delaware. Looking for experienced IVR people on InterVoice. It is a long term opportunity and a very challanging project. Please refer to your friends if you think appropriate. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 08:40:24 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Rupert Murdoch to Buy TiVo? HDTV Sales to Soar in 2004? More HDTV in 2004 By Phillip Swann Rupert Murdoch to buy TiVo? HDTV sales to soar in 2004? Yes, "The Great Swanni" has taken out his crystal ball and is ready to make some predictions on the future of television. So let's get it on: http://www.tvweek.com/technology/102703swann.html ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #720 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Oct 27 22:35:13 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9S3ZDg23090; Mon, 27 Oct 2003 22:35:13 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 22:35:13 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310280335.h9S3ZDg23090@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 #721 TELECOM Digest Mon, 27 Oct 2003 22:35:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 721 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson What's Going on in San Diego and Area? (TELECOM Digest Editor) International Telephone Numbering/Codes/Prefixes (Mark J Cuccia) Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings (Danny Burstein) What Info Comes in on a Trunk? (jfw1947) More on Trunk Trace Post (jfw1947) Re: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers (J Kelly) Re: About Telephone Numbering (Group Special Mobile) Re: Becoming A Switch Technician (Jremey) Re: Voicemail to Email/Fax/Email Provider Recommendations (John Levine) Link Exchange (Dan Baker) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 21:09:55 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: What's Going on in San Diego and Area? All day Sunday and Monday on television and radio news have been these *horrible* reports of several fires burning out of control throughout the San Diego and Los Angeles area. Apparently the fires go along and burn down a few houses, then jump the road and burn houses on the other side as well. Here and there the fires skip a few houses entirely. On the television news today they showed two or three totally burned to the ground houses next to each other, nothing left at all, then the next house was standing there okay, green grass in the front yard, no sign of any damage at all. Then next to that another burned out house. It must be really causing a lot of havac out there not only on wireline telephone service, but also wireless and cable systems. Can anyone there in southern California (still connected to the internet?) give us any reports on this? I tried twice to call someone I know in the 714 area code and a recording told me 'service is unavailable right now due to emergency conditions.' We all know that many areas of the west coast have problems with forest fires, but isn't this one sort of outrageous? PAT ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 14:34:06 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: International Telephone Numbering/Codes/Prefixes qazmlp wrote: > The international numbers are normally given as: > + > Where does the convention of '+' prefix come from? It is from one of the ITU Recommendations on worldwide telephone numbering. Probably ITU Recommendation E.164. However, these days, MOST of the ITU documents require one to have a (paying) subscription account (with username and password) to download those documents. And the fees aren't necessarily inexpensive for individuals doing simple research on such. > Also, will it always be equal to "00"? No, it won't always be 00+, and I'll have some further info below. > If no, where can I get the list of all the international prefixes? The actual document, the list, titled: "Dialing Procedures (International prefix, national (trunk) prefix and national (significant) number) (in accordance with ITU-Recommendation E.164(05/97)" at this point in time is not "free". This list has been "free for the download" at various times in the past, but the 7-May-2003 edition, which can be found at the ITU's website, does not seem to be free, nor have a "free" mirrored version at the ITU's website at this point in time. The current one is associated with (chargeable) ITU Operation Bulletin #787 (dated 1-May-2003). TELECOM Digest Editor then noted: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It will not always be '00'; for example > here in the USA the starting sequence is '11' for automatic dialing > or '01' for operator assistance. The next digit is the zone code which > runs from '1' for North America (usually) through '9' for other places > around the world. I say 'usually' because there are a few places > geographically in North America which are politically part of (and > administered by) the telecom authorities in other nations. Ummmm, not exactly, Pat. The NANP (US/Canada/most-of-Caribbean) uses 011+ for station-sent-paid calling access to points outside of the NANP. 01+ *IS* the code for "special billed" calls (although most NANP-based carriers now recommend using 800-dialups and then follow THEIR instructions of 011+/01+ for collect or card calls to "overseas/international" non-NANP locations when calling from the US/Canada). BUT ... when calling from the NANP, most (all?) carriers do *NOT* allow one to place intra-NANP calls "as if" one were dialing 011+1+etc. Most (all?) carriers in the NANP only allow 1+/0+ access for such intra-NANP calls, even if accessing on an 800-dialup for card/collect calls. As for the "World Zone" scheme, where the first (or only) digit of the country code "identifies" the "region" or "continent" in the world ... even *that* has breaking down in other parts of the world as well. '2', as the first digit of two/three digit country codes 20/27/2XX does not necessarily identify Africa/ south-east Atlantic/ etc. locations anymore. +299 is Greenland +298 is Faeroe Islands (also associated with Denmark) +297 is Aruba and at one time, it was expected that Trinidad (in the Caribbean) would break from +1/NANP and get its own Country Code +296. That never happened though, even though many ITU Country Code listed did show +296 for Trinidad. San Marino was also assigned +295 at one point for "future use", but when there were changes in Europe 10+ years ago (USSR/Russia, Yugoslavia, East Germany, etc), several ranges of "European" country codes had additional free'd up codes, and +378 was assigned or reserved for San Marino. +37 *used* to be East Germany (DDR), but when they were merged into +49 West Germany (BRD) both politically *AND* telephonically some 10+ years ago, the +37 country code was returned to the ITU, and "expanded" into a range of TEN, THREE-digit country-codes now available for assignment, and all ten *have* been assigned. There are some other anomalies as to European vs. Asiatic countries of the former Soviet Union. They have *tried* to make the European ones begin of the +37X and +380 format, and the Asian ones of the +99X format, to follow '3' for Europe (which also has '4' country codes) and '9' for Asia, but I don't think that has been perfectly adhered to. But then again, the "boundary" between Europe and Asia has been "debatable" for years anyhow! The ITU does have a main page for "International Numbering Resources" with links to some free, and some chargeable, ITU documents: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/inr/index.html Anyhow, as for the International Exit Prefixes from various countries around the world... The 1-July-2000 edition of the ITU Dialing Prefixes document *was* free-for-the-download. and ... "for the most part", the NANP uses 011+ (for station sent paid, 01+ for special billed calling, such as collect, card, etc), not all of the NANP-Caribbean necessarily uses 011+/01+. The three NON-NANP (but "pseudo-NANP") former US/UN territories of the Pacific, which have their own country codes (+680 Palau, +691 Micronesia, +602 Marshall Islands) also use 011+ for international exit codes (station) and it seems 010+ for special billed international. "Most of the rest-of-the-world" *DOES* use 00+. Australia still seems to use 0011+ (although there are other 001X+ codes for international data, fax, etc. probably to indicate the type of circuit or transmission requirements). And there are some other scattered countries which have used different codes for IDD (or even national/domestic "toll"), but for the most part many of them "seem" to have been conforming to '0+' for domestic (sent-paid) toll and 00+ for (sent-paid) IDD, over the years, as they have modified their individual domestic numbering/dialing plans. NOTE: even the ITU document isn't necessarily 100% correct. There could be individual typos, etc., or the countries submitted the wrong info. This post also might prompt others reading this to inquire whether or not the NANP will "ever" adopt 00+ to "conform" with what "most-of-the- rest-of-the-world" uses for its IDDD access/exit prefix. This was discussed about a year ago, in Nov/Dec.2002 here in Telecom Digest. While some might think it would be "nice" for the NANP to adopt '00+' for IDDD (exit/access) to "conform", I just do *NOT* see it happening one bit. There is *NO* telecom industry or regulatory (FCC/CRTC) agenda item for adopting or changing over completely to 00+. While I can't predict the future, I still will say to those wanting to see 00+ be "added" to 011+ or even completely replace 011+... DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH! But if you *really* want 00+, then start your own campaign and petition the BOCs/LECs, FCC/CRTC, AT&T, MCI, Sprint, ATIS/INC/NIIF, CSCN/CISC, etc. and I also say (sarcastically) ... "good luck" ... Right now (and I think in the long and/or forseeable future), it just is NOT in the NANP telecom/regulatory (carriers/etc) "best/financial interest" to add 00+ to 011+, or replace 011+ with 00+. But if you want to see it happen, then be my guest and feel free to go ahead and petition the NANP telecom industry (and regulatory). Mark J. Cuccia [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I thought 602 was Arizona, but you say it is Marshall Islands? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 18:59:31 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC (Note the Compuserve refererence - Compuserve started as a small 5,000 watt radio station in Columbus way, way, back.) COLUMBUS Attorney General Jim Petro today filed a complaint against America Online, Inc. (AOL) and its subsidiary CompuServe Interactive Services, Inc. The complaint alleges violations of the Consumer Sales Practices Act and that AOL has failed to honor the terms of a previous agreement with the Attorney General. Consumers complained that the businesses failed to honor cancellation requests and continued to charge consumers without their permission on their credit cards and bank accounts ... [ snip, rest at: http://www.ag.state.oh.us/press_releases/2003/press_release_20031027.htm Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: jfw1947 Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 23:52:54 -0000 Subject: What Info Comes in on a Trunk? Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com I'd like to know if it is possible for a trunk call to come in without any origination information? Last week I got a call from a predictive dialer device. This appears to be prohibited under the regulations issued as part of the DoNotCall list. The way I understand it, to legally use a predictive dialer the following must be true: 1) no more than 3% abandoned calls; 2) must ring minimum of 4 rings / 15 seconds; 3) If no representative is available within 2 seconds of the call being answered, you must play a recorded message with the phone number and company name the called was placed for. What I got was the 2 seconds of dead air, some clicks and the please hangup and redial message from the CO. I tried *57 & *69 to trace the call, but both responded with "can not trace" messages. I called the Verizon Abuse Bureau, which is not open during the dinner hour. I dialed 0# and was told to call the abuse bureau. I asked to be transferred to repair and was told that I should have a "trap" placed on my line. I called the abuse bureau the next day got to listen to a minutes long prerecorded message with several items not up to date. ... had a supervisor superviser call me back and tell me to call the FCC to find out what Verzion was doing about call tracing. /s/ Jim WIlliams ------------------------------ From: jfw1947 Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 00:01:43 -0000 Subject: More on trunk trace post Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com It is my understanding that a trunk normally provides information about the origin of the call as part of the SS7 data. ... that Caller ID information may be passed over a trunk and blocked at the final CO if a privacy flag is set ... that a call to an "800" number will provide, either immediately with the call ANI giving the orgin or at least provide it with the bill later. So 1) can a call lacking ANI be connected to an 800 number? 2) how does Verizon bill incoming calls lacking SS7 orgin info for handling the calls? 3) Are predictive dialers designed or is their connection provisioned to not provide origin information? 4) Is there some move afoot to require "the phone system" to provide trace information in the predictive dialer case? Thanks in advance! /s/ Jim WIlliams ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Beware: Vonage and Local Number Transfers Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 13:11:36 -0600 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Reply-To: usenet200308@screaming-remove-electron.net On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 05:58:45 GMT, Michael D. Sullivan wrote: > Alltel acquired many of its wireless subscribers by buying properties > that were excluded from the BellAtlantic/GTE->Verizon merger. There were a few areas here that were Sprint Wireless, then 360, then Alltel (I remember their "logo-ectomy" commecials on tv at that time), and now are Verizon. It seems at some point they might have been AirTouch but I could be thinking of another market. This is all in the past 7 years or so that I've been in this area (Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, Iowa MSA's). Hard to keep up with these guys changing names/ownership all the time. ------------------------------ From: Group Special Mobile Subject: Re: About Telephone Numbering Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 17:10:21 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: look@signature_for_reply_instructions On 27 Oct 2003 05:28:13 -0800, qazmlp1209@rediffmail.com (qazmlp) wrote: > The international numbers are normally given as: > + > Where does the convention of '+' prefix come from? Also, > Will it always be equal to "00"? If no, where can I get the list of > all the international prefixes? The ITU determined that display of numbers would be well served by making a universal international numbering format. It was determined that they would use the + symbol to indicate that you would use your country's international dialing access before the plus symbol. So anytime you'd see a number written as + with numbers after it you would know that all you need to do to reach that number is to prepend your country's international access number so you could reach the number. e.g. to call a number in London in the UK which is (020) 7654 3210 if they have the number in international format you'd see +44 20 7654 3210. (44 being the country code for the UK.) Similarly if you have a number in Boston, Massachusetts USA (617) 637-1234 in international format it would be +1 617 637 1234. http://www.wtng.info/ To send an email reply send to GSMthemobilestandard (@) yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: essay182@yahoo.com (Jremey) Subject: Re: Becoming A Switch Technician Date: 27 Oct 2003 18:36:54 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Great. Any more insight on maybe what I should do to learn more about the business or technical aspects of it? Would the people at the CO think it was strange for me to call up and ask what to do to train for a telephone switch job? I agree that I should get more involved with unix stuff. I know many telecom products, such as the ess switches, are based on at&t's unix. but how do people go about training for using Nortel DMS Switches, or even Siemens EWSD products? I feel that I have alot of knowledge of networks and such, as I got my Cisco CCNA through my high school my senior year. Also I am currently not a student so I dont know if I could do any intern placements. Thank you for the linux PBX info, it looks really interesting and im gonna read into it, as I dont really know much about PBXs besides a very little NEC, and Nortel SL1 knowledge. Thanks alot and please post anything else you think may help persue this type of job! ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Voicemail to Email and Fax to Email Provider Recommendations Date: 27 Oct 2003 21:49:15 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I am looking for recommendations for providers of voicemail to email > and fax to email services with toll free numbers. I am interested in > personal experiences with providers and pointers to materials on > providers. eFax does fax to e-mail remarkably well. I've used their free service for years, and it's good enough that I've never been tempted to hop up to the paid service. The main difference is that with the free service you have to take whatever random number they assign you, which is unlikely to be anywhere near you, the paid service lets you pick your rate center. (I've had numbers in Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Washington state, but I'm in New York.) Incoming faxes arrive either in a proprietary format for which they provide a free program to display them, or as standard TIFF files which is what I use. The paid service has some way to send faxes. They get very few junk faxes, mostly because they have a consent order with fax.com, who are the source of the majority of junk faxes these days. ------------------------------ From: Dan Baker Subject: Link Exchange Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 14:06:41 -0600 Organization: PhoneContractors.com We would like to swap links with you for our site www.PhoneContractors.com, We would be more than happy to list your site on our links page: www.phonecontractors.com/links.html , just tell us the details as we did for you below. The link info you will need, is as follows: Your website location/category: http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/linkspage.html Title: Phone Contractors.com www.PhoneContractors.com Description: Find Telephone Wiring, Installation, & Repair Contractors by Zip Code. Our Servicemen / Installers add new inside jacks, outlets, lines, cable, wire, for home, residential & business phone systems. Please e-mail with your response/action. Thank You, Dan Baker ------------------------------ 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 #721 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Oct 28 17:00:57 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9SM0u528386; Tue, 28 Oct 2003 17:00:57 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 17:00:57 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310282200.h9SM0u528386@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 #722 TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Oct 2003 17:01:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 722 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson CommScope Reports Third Quarter 2003 Results (Monty Solomon) Cingular Survey of Courteous Cell Phone Use (Monty Solomon) IBM Unveils Services to Protect Online Customer Privacy (Monty Solomon) Critics Press Case on TV Piracy Rules (Monty Solomon) Nokia Launches TV Phone, Sets Shipment Goals (Monty Solomon) Post Office Wants to ID the Mail (Monty Solomon) Amount of New Information Doubled in Last Three Years (Monty Solomon) A Case of Piracy Overkill? (Monty Solomon) Mmm ... Ringtones: Vodafone Inks 'Simpsons' Deal (Monty Solomon) Verizon Reports Third-Quarter Earnings (Monty Solomon) US Court Upholds FCC Digital TV Tuner Requirements (Monty Solomon) Re: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings (COTTP) Re: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings (Ron Chapman) Re: Int'l Codes, a Correction (Mark J Cuccia) Re: International Telephone Numbering/Codes/Prefixes (Paul Coxwell) Re: What Info Comes in on a Trunk? (admin@horatio.agresource.com) Re: Voicemail to Email and Fax to Email Provider Recommend (Mark Atwood) Norvergence (Roger Colosimo) Help NYC Find Dead Spots (Carl Moore) Last Word on 'When a MAJORITY is Useful' (Marise) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 02:13:02 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: CommScope Reports Third Quarter 2003 Results Earnings of $0.02 Per Share on Sales of $149 Million HICKORY, N.C., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CommScope, Inc. (NYSE:CTV) today announced third quarter results for the period ended September 30, 2003. The Company reported sales of $148.7 million and earnings of $1.1 million, or $0.02 per share, for the third quarter. The earnings included after-tax equity in losses of OFS BrightWave, LLC of $0.05 per share related to CommScope's minority ownership interest in this venture. For the third quarter of 2002, CommScope reported sales of $147.8 million and a net loss of $19.6 million or $0.32 per share. The 2002 loss included noncash impairment charges of $0.26 per share primarily related to underutilized and idle production equipment, and after-tax equity in losses of OFS BrightWave of $0.10 per share. CommScope's sales for the third quarter rose to $148.7 million, up from $141.4 million in the second quarter of 2003 and $147.8 million in the year-ago quarter. The 5% sequential rise in sales was due to stronger domestic Broadband/Video sales. The year-over-year sales increase was due to higher Wireless/Other Telecom sales. Local Area Network (LAN) sales were down slightly year over year and sequentially. Orders booked in the third quarter of 2003 were $152.2 million compared to $145.5 million in the third quarter of 2002 and $138.4 million in the preceding quarter. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36242972 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 02:20:08 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Survey of Courteous Cell Phone Use ATLANTA, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey from Cingular Wireless reveals striking regional differences in what Americans believe is the proper and courteous use of cellular phones in public areas. Southerners are most likely to disable their ringers when entering a church while Westerners are most likely to turn off their ringers before entering libraries, theatres, restaurants, and schools. Midwesterners are most likely to silence their phones when going into retail stores. New Yorkers disable their ringers most in libraries and hospitals. " People should disable their ringer in public areas such as these," says Cingular Wireless Chief Operating Officer Mark Feidler. "I'm encouraged to see that people are listening to what we've been saying. Cingular's Be Sensible program urges people to practice simple courtesies when they're in places where people gather. We understand that people want the convenience of their cell phones. At the same time we urge people to think about their neighbors and not let the cell phone become a disturbance." The company's Website www.cingular.co has an entire section dedicated to the courteous use of cell phones in public. The national survey indicates that people are most likely to silence their cell phones in church and least likely to do so in retail stores. Feidler adds, "It's just common sense to show respect to others in places of worship or where we gather for music and movies. A retail store is a busy place where people are having public conversations. A chat on your cell phone is more appropriate in that case." V&L Research & Consulting Inc. conducted the telephone survey among 504 randomly selected cellular telephone owners and users. The survey has an error range of +/- 4.5%. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36244868 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 02:24:23 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: IBM Unveils Services to Protect Online Customer Privacy IBM Unveils Services to Protect Online Customer Privacy; Combines Forces with Watchfire to Help Companies Protect Consumer Privacy and Guard Against Identity Theft NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 2003--Today IBM announced new services designed to help customers comply with regulations governing the collection and use of personal information on company Web sites, and reduce the risk and cost associated with unintended exposures of private customer data. According to a recent study conducted by IBM and Watchfire, a large majority of companies unknowingly expose customer data routinely or otherwise fail to comply with privacy guidelines. The study revealed that 66 percent of financial institutions' Web sites listed in BusinessWeek's Global 1000 list collect personal information via the Web with no security features or practices to protect that data. Additionally, 18 percent of companies use forms that could potentially leak personal data to third parties. IBM Online Business Management Services provide companies with the necessary tools to help ensure that their online operations adhere to their privacy, brand and accessibility standards. Among other things, IBM's new offerings help companies protect consumers' privacy and guard against identity theft. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36245639 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 02:56:28 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Critics Press Case on TV Piracy Rules By STEPHEN LABATON WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 - Federal regulators plan as soon as this week to adopt rules meant to keep people from copying digital broadcasts of television shows and movies and distributing them on the Internet, government officials and industry lobbyists say. The rules, backed by the television networks, movie studios and a group of consumer electronics companies, are meant to encourage a swifter transition to digital broadcasts by television stations. But the proposed regulations, which the Federal Communications Commission may adopt this week, have been criticized by consumer advocacy groups, and others, who say they would not effectively prevent piracy but could curtail the legitimate copying of television programs and might render current consumer electronics equipment obsolete. The companies that designed the technical elements of the rules include important equipment makers like Hitachi, Intel, Matushita, Sony and Toshiba . But some other equipment makers, among them Philips Electronics, say the new rules may be anticompetitive by requiring all manufacturers to use the technologies developed by the group - and quite possibly also pay licensing fees. The critics have suggested that the rules will face court challenges on the grounds that the agency lacks the authority to issue them. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/27/business/27flag.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 08:44:01 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nokia Launches TV Phone, Sets Shipment Goals NICE, France, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The world's top mobile phone maker Nokia launched new phone models on Tuesday including a handset that will allow users to watch television, part of a drive to try to sustain market growth in 2004. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36257576 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 23:59:48 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Post Office Wants to ID the Mail By Ryan Singel Sending a letter may soon require more than a 37-cent stamp. It might also require a valid photo ID. A small change in labeling requirements for bulk mailings announced Oct. 21 requires bulk mailers to identify themselves on the outside of the envelope with a valid address. This marks the first step in the Postal Service's desire to create "intelligent mail." The Postal Service issued the proposal in response to recommendations in a July report (PDF) written by the President's Commission on the United States Postal Service. The outside commission urged the Postal Service to become more like a private business and to take steps to improve security in the wake of the anthrax letter attacks of 2001 that killed five people and contaminated postal facilities and Senate offices. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,60966,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 14:57:45 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Amount of New Information Doubled in Last Three Years BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2003--If you feel like you're experiencing information overload, a team of University of California, Berkeley, researchers have a good idea why. Worldwide information production has increased by 30 percent each year between 1999 and 2002, according to the team led by professors Peter Lyman and Hal Varian of the School of Information Management and Systems. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=36267126 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 23:58:39 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Case of Piracy Overkill? By Kim Zetter Critics of proposed Federal Communications Commission rules designed to prevent consumers from redistributing copies of digital television shows on the Internet say the move won't stop piracy but will curtail technological innovation and the "fair use" of content. The new rules, expected to win approval this week, mandate that devices capable of receiving digital signals -- including TVs, digital recording devices or computers containing a broadcast card -- be able to detect a broadcast flag encoded in the bit stream. The flag would allow users to copy and view digital content on any system in their home network, but would not allow them to upload the content to the Internet. Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the movie industry fought in court for eight years to try to make it illegal for users to copy TV shows with their VCR. He said the industry is simply trying to find new ways to encroach on fair use, an individual's right to use copyright material in a reasonable manner without the consent of the copyright owner. http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,60947,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 14:42:34 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Mmm ... Ringtones: Vodafone Inks 'Simpsons' Deal LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - There was nary a "d'oh!" heard from mobile phone-using fans of "The Simpsons" on Tuesday, as Vodafone (LSE:VOD) signed a deal to offer ringtones, games and other content from the show. In a move that would likely be met with a murmured "excellent" from the show's evil millionaire Mr. Burns, the world's largest mobile phone company by sales inked an agreement with mobile content firm THQ Wireless (NASDAQ:THQI) and Twentieth Century Fox (NYSE:FOX), the show's owner. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36263447 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 08:49:52 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Reports Third-Quarter Earnings Verizon Communications Reports Third-Quarter Earnings Highlighted by Strong Customer Growth, Solid Cash Flow - Oct 28, 2003 07:31 AM (PR Newswire) Fundamentals Remain Strong as Revenues Continue Shift from Traditional Services to Wireless, Long-Distance, Broadband and Bundled Offerings THIRD-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS * Verizon Wireless: 1.3 million retail net customer additions, up 12.5 percent from last year's quarter (1.4 million total net customer additions); strong revenue growth of 18.2 percent over last year's quarter; strong margins; total customers at 36.0 million * Long-Distance: 1.3 million net additional long-distance lines; 15.9 million total lines; growth of 27 percent since year-end 2002 * DSL (digital subscriber lines): 185,000 net additional lines; 2.1 million total lines; growth of 27 percent since year-end 2002 * Diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS): 64 cents in fully diluted EPS, compared with $1.60 per share in third quarter 2002 (last year's quarter included net special gains) * EPS Before Special Items (non-GAAP measure): 67 cents, compared with 77 cents in EPS before special items in third quarter 2002 * Debt Reduction: Net debt (non-GAAP, gross debt less cash and cash equivalents) reduced by $7.1 billion since year-end 2002 to $44.7 billion * Free Cash Flow (non-GAAP, cash from operating activities less capital expenditures and dividends): $5.0 billion in first nine months of 2003 Note: See the schedules accompanying this news release and www.verizon.com/investor for reconciliations to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for the non-GAAP financial measures mentioned in this announcement. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36259157 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 15:25:48 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: US Court Upholds FCC Digital TV Tuner Requirements WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld federal regulations requiring television set manufacturers to install tuners that can receive high-quality digital broadcast signals in new sets starting next summer. The Federal Communications Commission in August 2002 ordered that digital tuners be included in new sets as part of an effort to jump-start the lagging transition to crisper digital television, targeted for completion by 2007. The Consumer Electronics Association, which represents manufacturers such as LG Electronics Ltd.'s (KOREA:66570) Zenith and Sony Corp. (TOKYO:6758), had challenged the rules, arguing that the FCC lacked the authority to impose such a requirement and that the order was arbitrary and capricious. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that the FCC "reasonably determined" that requiring TV manufacturers to phase in digital tuners would increase production and lower costs. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36265151 ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 00:27:01 -0500 In article , dannyb@panix.com says: > (Note the Compuserve refererence - Compuserve started as a small 5,000 > watt radio station in Columbus way, way, back.) > COLUMBUS Attorney General Jim Petro today filed a complaint against > America Online, Inc. (AOL) and its subsidiary CompuServe Interactive > Services, Inc. The complaint alleges violations of the Consumer Sales > Practices Act and that AOL has failed to honor the terms of a previous > agreement with the Attorney General. > Consumers complained that the businesses failed to honor cancellation > requests and continued to charge consumers without their permission on > their credit cards and bank accounts ... > [ snip, rest at: > http://www.ag.state.oh.us/press_releases/2003/press_release_20031027.htm Isn't just AOL who does this. Bought a Dell Inspiron 4100 about two years ago. Used the included 'free' MSN for about two weeks and sent cancelation to MSN. Last week I get a notice that something like $70 is due for services I NEVER used. I called them and told them to pound sand. Guaranteed, six months from now I'll get another bill. It goes on and on and on. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 07:20:56 -0500 From: Ron Chapman Subject: Re: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings In article , Danny Burstein wrote: > (Note the Compuserve refererence - Compuserve started as a small 5,000 > watt radio station in Columbus way, way, back.) Huh?? Not as far as I know, it didn't ... [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I do remember when Compuserve was located in Columbus, Ohio; they were owned by a company called 'Compuserve' (prior to being sold to H&R Block, the tax consultants). Their customer service hours were 2 PM to midnight, with two or three people doing the entire thing. They had just changed their name to 'Compuserve' from something else. Anyone remember what their previous name was? That was in 1975-76. Compuserve also developed and built up the idea of user to user chat, through their 'Citizens Band Simulator Program'. The employee of Compuserve who developed the 'CB Simulator' as it came to be called was laughed at when he first thought of the idea. 'No one will ever want to use something like that' was the answer the (then) owners of Compuserve said. The assumption was that everyone would use their home computers to access the Groliers Encyclopedia and the checkbook balancing program. 'People are not going to want to just sit there and chat with total strangers'. The owners said they would give it a six month trial. 'If it does not become a profit center in that period of time, then it is out of here, and so are you,' was their ultimatum. Well the rest, as 'they' say, is history. After three or four months, Compuserve saw they had a winner, when at 3 in the morning, most of the CB channels were dead but channel one, (the adult channel) was still alive and extremely active. After about six months, CB was paying the mortgage at Compuserve every month. When did AOL first go into business? Was it 1981? They saw the success of Compuserve's CB Simulator program and installed their own chat thing as well right away within a month or two of the first release of their software, which was written DOS, as were the first two or three versions of Compuserve. I do not remember Compuserve as a radio station in Columbus but I do remember their early days in Columbus three or four owners ago and when they were converting from whatever name to Compuserve. In those days (1980-83 mostly) I was a contractor as an 'Information Provider' for them; doing a telecommunications forum, after I had first started using them in the late 1970's. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 21:55:03 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Re: Int'l Codes, a Correction I wrote: > The three NON-NANP (but "pseudo-NANP") former US/UN territories of > the Pacific, which have their own country codes (+680 Palau, +691 > Micronesia, +602 Marshall Islands) also use 011+ for international > exit codes (station) and it seems 010+ for special billed int'l. Pat replied: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I thought 602 was Arizona, but you say > it is Marshall Islands? PAT] Okay, BOTH of us have some form of mistake here ... I did indeed have a typo ... but you have a misconception confusing area vs. country codes. I meant to type +692, *NOT* +602. ITU *COUNTRY* code +692 is Marshall Islands, and that is a *COUNTRY* code, not an *AREA* code. also, ITU *COUNTRY* +60 is Malaysia and probably has some internal/domestic numbering ranges beginning with '2'. But +1/NANP *AREA* code 602 is indeed for Arizona, but that is an *AREA* code, not a *COUNTRY* code. mjc [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And I meant to originally say '011' intead of just '11'. So, typos for both of us! PAT] ------------------------------ From: PaulCoxwell@aol.com Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 11:11:22 EST Subject: Re: International Telephone Numbering/Codes/Prefixes > Also, will it always be equal to "00"? The 00 prefix has become widely used in Europe and many other parts of the world, but only in fairly recent years. Prior to this standard being adopted, access codes around Europe were chosen by the individual national systems to fit in with their own numbering schemes, e.g. U.K. 010, Ireland 16, France 19, Spain 07. There are still some out-of-the-way places with their original codes. The small island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic is one such place. They have no area codes, 4-digit local numbering on the island, and the IDDD prefix is simply 0. >> The three NON-NANP (but "pseudo-NANP") former US/UN territories of >> the Pacific, which have their own country codes (+680 Palau, +691 >> Micronesia, +602 Marshall Islands) also use 011+ for international exit >> codes (station) and it seems 010+ for special billed international. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I thought 602 was Arizona, but you say > it is Marshall Islands? PAT] Pat, That's +602, as in 011-602 when dialed from the U.S., not NANP area code 602. But I think Mark got a typo in there, because according to my lists the Marshall Islands are +692. Paul ------------------------------ Subject: Re: What Info Comes in on a Trunk? Organization: Not Much From: admin@horatio.agresource.com Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 04:08:17 GMT In article , jfw1947 wrote: > I'd like to know if it is possible for a trunk call to come in without > any origination information? Last week I got a call from a > predictive dialer device. This appears to be prohibited under the > regulations issued as part of the DoNotCall list. You're premature, unfortunately. The caller-id info requirement doesn't kick in till January. ------------------------------ From: Mark Atwood Subject: Re: Voicemail to Email and Fax to Email Provider Recommendations Date: 27 Oct 2003 19:54:07 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) writes: > eFax does fax to e-mail remarkably well. I've used their free service > for years, and it's good enough that I've never been tempted to hop up > to the paid service. I just received a fax on my eFax number from eFax announcing that they are discontinuing their free fax service, and you have to either upgrade to paid service, or lose your account (and number). 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 ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Roger Colosimo Subject: Norvergence Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 09:44:18 -0500 Patrick, I am looking for either positive or negative information about Norvergence. I can across your site while searching on Google. Can you help? Thanks, Roger Colosimo Director of Business Sales P.248.465.1448 ext. 200 C.248.982.2805 F.248.465.1449 Motor City Interactive helps companies maximize their marketing efforts using our proven interactive technologies to sustain continued growth in a competitive market place. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: All I know about the company are the messages printd here in the Digest in the past few months, many of which had a negative tinge about them. I would suggest you look in our archives http://telecom-digest.org in the recent single issues area of the back issues section (seven or eight hundred issues there in the past year or so) and grep for Norvergence. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 10:17:18 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Help NYC Find Dead Spots Entry on WINS web page says that Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, says the city will try to get rid of cellphone dead spots. http://1010wins.com/topstories/winstopstories_story_300222801.html ------------------------------ Subject: Last Word on 'When a MAJORITY is Useful' From: Marise (deleted at User's Request) Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 10:35:40 -0600 Patrick & Lisa - Please exclude my name/e-mail address. Thanks. Regarding posting: > From: Joey Lindstrom > Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:02:33 -0600 > Subject: Apology - Well, Sorta > Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info > In a recent posting, I took "Marise" to task for posting anonymously, and > rather harshly at that. > I therefore apologize. I went too far, and will endeavour not to > repeat this in future. Marise, I'm sorry. Joey -- I've been out of town for a few days. Apology accepted. Thanks, Marise and regarding posting: > From: Phil Earnhardt > Subject: Re: When a MAJORITY is Useful > Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 22:52:58 -0600 > Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com > You really are missing the point here. Phil -- I did not miss Joey's point regarding political postings -- the point I was addressing is above. Marise ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #722 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Oct 28 21:52:26 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9T2qQK29820; Tue, 28 Oct 2003 21:52:26 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 21:52:26 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310290252.h9T2qQK29820@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 #723 TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Oct 2003 21:51:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 723 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Mayor Mike's (NYC's) Blackout Critique (Danny Burstein) Re: What's Going on in San Diego and Area? (Hank Fung) Re: What's Going on in San Diego and Area? (Lincoln King-Cliby) Re: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings (Jon Carpenter) Re: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings (COTTP) Re: About Telephone Numbering (Linc Madison) Re: Nokia Launches TV Phone, Sets Shipment Goals (Steven J Sobol) I Need Manuals (Senate2788) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Danny Burstein Subject: Mayor Mike's (NYC's) Blackout Critique Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 21:08:22 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC A refreshingly honest evaluation of NYC's response during the blackout. Typical (telecom related) excerpt: Loss of service at Verizon central offices: Although equipped with backup power generating equipment, which operated appropriately in most Verizon central offices (CO), three Verizon central offices experienced outages of various durations due to failures of generating equipment. These failures resulted in the loss of Verizon CO's that service Manhattan's midtown area and the downtown Brooklyn area. The result of these failures included the loss of Emergency Medical Service and Fire Department (Brooklyn only) dispatch capabilities, and intermittent radio communications disruptions to Police and Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Service dispatch (due to failed T-1 circuits). In the areas serviced by the central offices that experienced outages there was a reduction in cellular capacity, as well as an inability of the public to have inbound and outbound telephone service, which included the ability to dial 911. These CO outages also caused a loss of telephone service at the Office of Emergency Management's Emergency Operations Center, as well as at police precincts, firehouses and hospitals in the areas served by the CO's. 911 call volume overloaded Verizon queuing capacity: Over 132,000 calls were logged into 911 during the outage, a 187 percent increase over an analogous period last year. Queuing slots that control the number of calls that can be placed into 911 at any given time were overloaded. The overload of this system created an inability for callers to reach 911 operators. In order to alleviate this problem Verizon increased the number of slots available to 911; however, this increase did not create sufficient resources, and 911 continued to experience an overload of the system. press release: http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2003b/pr305-03.html The full report, as a pdf, is at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/em_task_force_final_10_28_03.pdf _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: fungus@OCF.Berkeley.EDU (Hank Fung) Subject: Re: What's Going on in San Diego and Area? Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 05:25:36 UTC Organization: Univ. of California Berkeley Open Computing Facility In article , TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > All day Sunday and Monday on television and radio news have been these > *horrible* reports of several fires burning out of control throughout > the San Diego and Los Angeles area. Apparently the fires go along and > burn down a few houses, then jump the road and burn houses on the other > side as well. Here and there the fires skip a few houses entirely. On > the television news today they showed two or three totally burned to > the ground houses next to each other, nothing left at all, then the > next house was standing there okay, green grass in the front yard, > no sign of any damage at all. Then next to that another burned out house. It's not as bad as the television news shows. Despite the several hundred thousand homes that have been threatened, only a thousand or so have been destroyed so far, with another thousand or so damaged. And that is compared with the millions of homes and the 20 or so million people in the Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas. Almost all of the damage has been confined to the foothills, and while there has been concern of fires in the Simi Valley region burning land to the sea, that is a remote possibility at this point, barring new fires starting on the path. In the Oakland fire, ten years ago, there was a serious concern that the fire would burn west all the way down to the bay, impacting several hundred thousand people over a relatively confined area. By contrast, the wildfires in Southern California are spread out and are in suburban areas, although there are some commercial areas in San Diego that are threatened. San Diego is the worst hit of the areas hit by the fire. > It must be really causing a lot of havac out there not only on wireline > telephone service, but also wireless and cable systems. Can anyone there > in southern California (still connected to the internet?) give us any > reports on this? I tried twice to call someone I know in the 714 > area code and a recording told me 'service is unavailable right now > due to emergency conditions.' We all know that many areas of the west > coast have problems with forest fires, but isn't this one sort of > outrageous? I'm out in the 909 area code and have had no problems reaching anyone, even people who are in the evacuation area (but not burned). The network seems to be acting fine here, although there might be concerns in San Diego. Hank Fung fungus@ocf.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 22:52:29 -0800 From: Withheld at User's Request Organization: Is the sign of a sick mind Subject: Re: What's Going on in San Diego and Area? [Pat - Please remove my email address if you choose to publish] I'm in Temecula, which is the in the southern part of Riverside County -- any further south and I'd be in San Diego County, and I'm a student at California State University San Marcos (nid-northern SD county). I've been watching San Diego news all day because, in the words of the campus website "Campus closed Monday 10/27 due to wildfire activity in San Diego County." On the non-telecom front -- All of the universities in the county (San Diego State University, University of California at San Diego, University of San Diego, Cal State University San Marcos ... ...) were closed as were practically all of the grade schools in the county (Earlier today the SD County Office of Education reported that ALL 42 of 42 school districts in the county would also be closed tomorrow, some will be closed through Wednesday) (UCSD will also be closed Tuesday: http://www.ucsd.edu/more2.html) Most of the county's large employers and the military bases were closed for non-essential personnel at the request of San Diego's mayor; for a time portions of every major freeway in the county (except I-5) were closed ... There are still some closures. Utility wise -- From what I've heard there were major problems with water preassure and resivor levels yesterday and this morning, but this was mostly resolved with local officials showing up on TV and begging people not to use any water they didn't have to. Same thing with power, but not nearly as severe. Telephone wise -- From the media reports, there have been problems with 911 (all volume related ... much of the volume was from non-emergency calls, with a high emergency call volume as well) ... Also "all telephone lines in the Valley Center" area were reported down for a time -- KUSI had live video of a PacBell running new fiber on the ground next to a road to try to restore service to affected areas. I'm assuming that cable television in the areas that were burned probably isn't working, but there hasn't been a whole lot of news about telecommunications services except for the "Only call 911 if you or someone you know is in the process of dying" montre that has been repeated all day. The one interesting thing I saw while perusing the California Highway Patrol's Computer Aided Dispatch (http://cad.chp.ca.gov) logs yesterday something to the effect of: 08:02 AM - 08:02 AM - The command post at has just caught fire. 08:02 AM - 08:04 AM - Ovbiously, it will be moved. San Diego News KFMB-TV (CBS) - http://www.kfmb.com XETV/XUPN (Fox/UPN) - http://www.xetv.com KGTV-TV (ABC) - http://www.thesandiegochannel.com (Live Video Feed) San Diego Union-Tribune - http://www.signonsandiego.com North County Times - http://www.nctimes.com Los Angeles News KCBS-TV (CBS) - http://www.cbs2.com KTTV-TV (Fox) - http://www.fox11la.com KNBC-TV (NBC) - http://www.nbc4.tv KABC-AM (ABC Radio) - http://www.kabc.com The Los Angeles Times - http://www.latimes.com 1,500 Homes Lost state wide; 600 in SD County In the words of one of the San Diego talking heads: "No school tomorrow, no work tomorrow, just stay home and study" -- As far as I can tell CSUSM is the only educational institution in the county that WILL be open tomorrow, and that may change by the time anyone reads this. Lincoln TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > All day Sunday and Monday on television and radio news have been these > *horrible* reports of several fires burning out of control throughout > the San Diego and Los Angeles area. Apparently the fires go along and > burn down a few houses, then jump the road and burn houses on the other > side as well. Here and there the fires skip a few houses entirely. On > the television news today they showed two or three totally burned to > the ground houses next to each other, nothing left at all, then the > next house was standing there okay, green grass in the front yard, > no sign of any damage at all. Then next to that another burned out house. > It must be really causing a lot of havac out there not only on wireline > telephone service, but also wireless and cable systems. Can anyone there > in southern California (still connected to the internet?) give us any > reports on this? I tried twice to call someone I know in the 714 > area code and a recording told me 'service is unavailable right now > due to emergency conditions.' We all know that many areas of the west > coast have problems with forest fires, but isn't this one sort of > outrageous? > PAT ------------------------------ From: Jon Carpenter Subject: Re: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 17:27:15 -0500 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I do remember when Compuserve was > located in Columbus, Ohio; they were owned by a company called > 'Compuserve' (prior to being sold to H&R Block, the tax consultants). > Their customer service hours were 2 PM to midnight, with two or three > people doing the entire thing. They had just changed their name to > 'Compuserve' from something else. Anyone remember what their previous > name was? That was in 1975-76. Compuserve also developed and built up Before they were called CompuServe, their name was MicroNet. > the idea of user to user chat, through their 'Citizens Band Simulator > Program'. The employee of Compuserve who developed the 'CB Simulator' > as it came to be called was laughed at when he first thought of the > idea. > 'No one will ever want to use something like that' was the answer the > (then) owners of Compuserve said. The assumption was that everyone > would use their home computers to access the Groliers Encyclopedia > and the checkbook balancing program. 'People are not going to want to > just sit there and chat with total strangers'. The owners said they > would give it a six month trial. 'If it does not become a profit > center in that period of time, then it is out of here, and so are > you,' was their ultimatum. Well the rest, as 'they' say, is history. > After three or four months, Compuserve saw they had a winner, when > at 3 in the morning, most of the CB channels were dead but channel > one, (the adult channel) was still alive and extremely active. After > about six months, CB was paying the mortgage at Compuserve every > month. > When did AOL first go into business? Was it 1981? They saw the > success of Compuserve's CB Simulator program and installed their own > chat thing as well right away within a month or two of the first > release of their software, which was written DOS, as were the first > two or three versions of Compuserve. Before they were called AOL, their name was QuantumLink. There first version was for the Commodore 64, in 1985. After the C-64, they came out with a version for the Macintosh and Apple II in 1988, at which time I think they changed their name to America On-Line. The DOS version wasn't available until 1991. I don't think Compuserve had a GUI version of their client until several years after AOL came out. Up to that point, you had to use a terminal emulator to dial into CompuServe. It was very expensive. During business hours, I think it was $24 per hour for a 2400 baud connection. By the way, CompuServe ran on 36-bit computers based on DEC's PDP-10 architecture. > I do not remember Compuserve as a radio station in Columbus but I do > remember their early days in Columbus three or four owners ago and > when they were converting from whatever name to Compuserve. In > those days (1980-83 mostly) I was a contractor as an 'Information > Provider' for them; doing a telecommunications forum, after I had > first started using them in the late 1970's. PAT] ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 19:19:14 -0500 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I do remember when Compuserve was > located in Columbus, Ohio; they were owned by a company called > 'Compuserve' (prior to being sold to H&R Block, the tax consultants). > Their customer service hours were 2 PM to midnight, with two or three > people doing the entire thing. They had just changed their name to > 'Compuserve' from something else. Anyone remember what their previous > name was? That was in 1975-76. Compuserve also developed and built up > the idea of user to user chat, through their 'Citizens Band Simulator > Program'. The employee of Compuserve who developed the 'CB Simulator' > as it came to be called was laughed at when he first thought of the > idea. My first exposure to CompuServe was in 1979 -- I had just gotten a TRS-80 Model 1 and about a year later their first direct connect modem. At the time there was but one BBS in Rhode Island - NYBBLINK. That shut down about a month after I got the modem. My friend Don worked for Radio Shack at the time so I'd get all the account numbers that they used for demo. As time went on I convinced him that he should write a replacement -- that became known as Syslink. By this point the Model 3 was available. Well, my friend is a hardware/software wizard and that was one seriously tricked out Model 3. Had multiple RS-232 ports and the TRSDOS operating system had been re-worked to included ISAM files, etc. This gave Andy, a TI-99/4a user the chance to upgrade to a TRS-80 Model 3 and write his own BBS called PowerCorr, and it's brother system PowerNet. The Power* became Intelecom Data Systems or IDS when a stolen MicroVax II entered the picture. After he got busted, Andy went the legitimate route and propelled IDS to the point of being Rhode Island's first internet provider. IDS was bought out by Conversent a few years ago. But during my time at Rhode Island College, another friend and I wrote a chat simulator on DEC's PDP-11/70 running RSTS/E. Worked really well, lab computers were tied up for chat most for the time. Administration looked down on us for doing it but hey -- it was there for the taking. Probably didn't hurt that my aunt was responsible for a PDP-11/40 running RSTS/E and let me borrow ALL the docs for it. RSTS/E wasn't the most secure multi-user system in the world. You could allocate/assign terminals and devices to a user account. Well, they didn't turn on the systat command so I wrote a little program to allocate the system console to me, then wrote a login simulator that would take the logins, record UID and password, then pass those on to the system login routines. To them it looked like it always looked except for that one difference. Well, one night the system puked while my little program was running. I get called into the ops center head office and told I'm out of the computer science program. Oh well. A trip down memory lane. ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: About Telephone Numbering Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 13:11:43 -0800 Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org In article , qazmlp wrote: > The international numbers are normally given as: > + > Where does the convention of '+' prefix come from? Also, > Will it always be equal to "00"? If no, where can I get the list of > all the international prefixes? The plus symbol was chosen because it is not used in any other context for the display of telephone numbers. It expands to '00' in many countries, but by no means all. Indeed, it is only within the last 10 years that it has been adopted throughout most of Europe. In the UK, it used to be 010, and in France it was 19, followed by a secondary dialtone. In the US and Canada, it is '011'; in Australia, '0011'; in New Zealand, '000'; and so on. It is difficult to find a reliable listing, but the World Telephone Numbering Guide, makes a solid effort. You can look up the country alphabetically by name and see its country code, national and international access codes, and a link to information about its national numbering plan. The country codes are divided into nine zones: 1 = North America (US, Canada, and some nearby islands) 2 = Africa (plus a few oddballs like Greenland) 3 & 4 = Europe 5 = the rest of North and South America 6 = Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands 7 = the former USSR, now just Russia and Kazakhstan 8 = east Asia 9 = west/south Asia Greenland was assigned a code in Zone 2 because there were no available codes in Zone 5, where it would ordinarily belong. The guidelines allow for such out-of-zone assignments if there are no appropriate codes available. Except for 1 and 7, codes are either 2 or 3 digits. The minimum length of the number after the country code is 4 digits, with a maximum total length for country code, city code, and local number, of 15 digits, not including the international access prefix. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Nokia Launches TV Phone, Sets Shipment Goals Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 16:10:05 -0600 Monty Solomon wrote: > NICE, France, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The world's top mobile phone maker > Nokia launched new phone models on Tuesday including a handset that > will allow users to watch television, part of a drive to try to > sustain market growth in 2004. > - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36257576 And in other news, automobile accident status shot through the roof in France as people tried to actually view the TV programs on their 96x84 screens. :) JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: senate2788@aol.com (Senate2788) Date: 28 Oct 2003 23:58:42 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: I Need Manuals I'm interested in finding old telecom manuals of all sorts ... old and new ive tried online searches and this is my last resort ... anyone with information on where I might be able to get this sortof thing please reply and/or email me at Senate2788@aol.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 Yahoo Groups and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #723 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Oct 29 15:35:22 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9TKZMK05413; Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:35:22 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:35:22 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310292035.h9TKZMK05413@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 #724 TELECOM Digest Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:35:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 724 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson DMCA Censorware Exemption Win! (Monty Solomon) TiVo and Universal Pictures Extend Their Relationship (Monty Solomon) Blackout Cost NYC $1 Billion, Shows 911 Flaws - Mayor (Monty Solomon) R.H. Donnelley Reports Third Quarter Results (Monty Solomon) Re: International Telephone Numbering/Codes/Prefixes (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: I Need Manuals (Tim) Re: Help NYC Find Dead Spots (Justin Time) Re: Fax Removal Test Numbers (Dean B) Re: Hotel With $10 Surcharges For 10-Mile LD Calls (Phil Earnhardt) Re: Apology - Well, Sorta (Phil McKerracher) Re: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings (Nathan Strom) Help With DSL Modem (Rick London Upgrade AMA Billing System (Terry Robertson) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 08:59:54 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DMCA Censorware Exemption Win! [How sweet it is ...!] http://www.copyright.gov/1201/docs/fedreg-notice-final.pdf The Register's recommendation in favor of this exemption is based primarily on the evidence introduced in the comments and testimony by one person, Seth Finkelstein, a non-lawyer participating on his own behalf. In addition to identifying a class of works that related to the specific facts presented, he identified the qualitative nature of the noninfringing uses for which circumvention was necessary and generally identified the technological measure which controlled access to this class. There was no dispute that the lists of Internet locations blocked by filtering software are generally encrypted or otherwise protected by an access control measure. The remedy sought was causally related to the noninfringing uses that are necessary to conduct research, comment and criticism on the filtering software at issue. Mr. Finkelstein also anticipated objections to the exemption and proved that available alternatives to the exemption were insufficient to remedy the adverse effect caused by the prohibition. The insufficiency of alternatives was supported by testimony and demonstrative evidence at the hearing in California by James Tyre. Finally, Mr. Finkelstein's succinct initial comment addressed the statutory requirements and thoughtfully analyzed each of the statutory factors required to be considered in this rulemaking. http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/000457.html U.S. Copyright Office, Anticircumvention Rulemaking http://www.copyright.gov/1201/ Determination of the Librarian of Congress and Text of the Regulation http://www.copyright.gov/1201/docs/fedreg-notice-final.pdf The Recommendation of the Register of Copyrights http://www.copyright.gov/1201/docs/registers-recommendation.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 09:11:47 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo and Universal Pictures Extend Their Relationship TiVo and Universal Pictures Extend Their Relationship in New Multi-Film, Multi-Year Agreement Universal to Promote More Than 20 Films, TiVo to Get Promotion in DVD Releases for Major Feature Films SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO), creator of television services for digital video recorders (DVR), and Universal Pictures announced today the two companies have signed a multi-film promotional agreement that will also promote TiVo on DVD releases of major feature films. Universal Pictures will promote more than 20 films and DVD titles using TiVo Showcases, the promotional platform that allows advertisers to distribute long-form branded content to the rapidly growing TiVo subscriber base. Universal will also produce a Showcase touting the film companies Oscar contenders. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36279215 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 09:13:42 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Blackout Cost NYC $1 Billion, Shows 911 Flaws - Mayor By Joan Gralla NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The blackout in mid-August, the worst in North American history, cost New York City's economy as much as $1 billion, according to a report released on Tuesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The power outage, which left thousands of New Yorkers stranded in the sweltering heat on Aug. 14 when the electricity went off shortly after 4 p.m., put a spotlight on serious problems with New York City's emergency preparedness and showed the flaws of the 911 emergency call system, the report said. New York's subways were paralyzed in the blackout, which hit U.S. and Canadian cities from Manhattan to Detroit. Manhattan's restaurants had to throw out millions of dollars' worth of melted ice cream, spoiled meat and other perishables. Verizon Communications Inc.(NYSE:VZ) was faulted in the report for its role in problems with the 911 telephone system that New York City's 8.4 million residents rely on to report fires, crimes, accidents and other emergencies. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36274176 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 09:14:50 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: R.H. Donnelley Reports Third Quarter Results PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2003--R.H. Donnelley Corporation (NYSE:RHD) -- Systems Integration Completed Ahead of Schedule -- Full Year 2003 Cash Flow, Earnings and EBITDA Guidance Increased -- $97 Million Reduction in Net Debt in Quarter; -- Year End Debt Target Lowered Again R.H. Donnelley Corporation (NYSE:RHD), a leading publisher of yellow pages directories, today announced a net loss to common stockholders of $1.2 million or $0.04 per share for the third quarter of 2003. Excluding purchase accounting and other adjustments related to the Sprint Publishing & Advertising (SPA) acquisition and related financing described within the attached Schedules, R.H. Donnelley's adjusted third quarter 2003 net income before preferred dividends was $29.0 million or $0.71 per share. The Company also announced free cash flow in the quarter of $92.2 million, bringing year-to-date free cash flow to $218.2 million. Cash flow from operations in the quarter was $94.6 million, with year-to-date cash flow from operations of $226.1 million. See Schedule 9 for a reconciliation of these and other non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36271948 ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 19:23:56 EST Subject: Re: International Telephone Numbering/Codes/Prefixes Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 14:34:06 CST Mark J Cuccia wrote: > TELECOM Digest Editor then noted: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It will not always be '00'; for example >> here in the USA the starting sequence is '11' for automatic dialing >> or '01' for operator assistance. The next digit is the zone code which >> runs from '1' for North America (usually) through '9' for other places >> around the world. I say 'usually' because there are a few places >> geographically in North America which are politically part of (and >> administered by) the telecom authorities in other nations. > Ummmm, not exactly, Pat. > The NANP (US/Canada/most-of-Caribbean) uses 011+ for station-sent-paid > calling access to points outside of the NANP. 01+ *IS* the code for > "special billed" calls (although most NANP-based carriers now recommend > using 800-dialups and then follow THEIR instructions of 011+/01+ for > collect or card calls to "overseas/international" non-NANP locations > when calling from the US/Canada). How about Saint-Pierre et Miquelon? Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Tim Subject: Re: I Need Manuals Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 08:06:08 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Exactly what are you looking for? I have a few I might part with. On 28 Oct 2003 23:58:42 GMT, Senate2788 wrote: > I'm interested in finding old telecom manuals of all sorts ... old and > new ive tried online searches and this is my last resort ... anyone > with information on where I might be able to get this sortof thing > please reply and/or email me at Senate2788@aol.com ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Help NYC Find Dead Spots Date: 29 Oct 2003 06:43:46 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Carl Moore wrote in message news:: > Entry on WINS web page says that Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York > City, says the city will try to get rid of cellphone dead spots. > http://1010wins.com/topstories/winstopstories_story_300222801.html Will they start with Gracie Mansion? Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: deanberch@aol.com (Dean B) Subject: Re: Fax Removal Test Numbers Date: 29 Oct 2003 06:51:11 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am getting Wall Street Stock Alerts every few days at very late hours. Now the new removal number is 888-399-7563. How can I get off this thing or collect my $500???. There is no header phone # or business address. For some reason, my telephone number is on the header. Sure would like to nail these bastards some way. ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: Hotel With $10 Surcharges For 10-Mile LD Calls -- Any Recourse? Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 08:06:55 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 07:55:17 -0700, Phil Earnhardt wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, a horrible rip off like this > is almost worth spamming over! . Instead of my usual policy of > asking guys to acknowlege me and the original author in their lifting > of things from the Digest, I am **encouraging everyone** to cut and > paste this message and see that it gets --w i d e-- circulation. By > all means, make sure Ramada corporate gets the message. PAT] That might be a bit difficult to do. Ramada is not a hotel chain; it's a franchise. Cendant ( www.cendant.com ) provides franchises for a whole bunch of chains: Amerihost Inn, Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Knights Inn, Ramada, Super 8 Motel, Travelodge, Villager, Wingate Inn. If you look at the Ramada site, you'll see that all hotels are independently owned and operated. I wasn't asking for anyone to send a message; I was simply curious if there was any recourse through local, state, or federal regulatory agencies. Are hotels allowed to charge absurdly high rates for intrastate LD charges in Florida? Thanks. --phil [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not think there is any recourse through a government agency. But whether Ramada is a franchise as you point out, or a part of a larger corporation, *someone, somewhere* collects money for allowing the property to use the name 'Ramada'. Likewise all McDonald's Restaurants are privately owned, but if you have a fuss with such a place, there is definitly a group of people in Elk Grove, Illinois who want to hear from you. Customer dissatis- faction with the brand name (whether the brand name is Ramada or McDonalds or Burger King or 7/Eleven) is an important matter to the owners of those names. When the owners of those various brand names (who market and allow the use of the names as 'franchises') cannot find someone to purchase the right to use the name in a community, then the business retains the name it always had, but becomes (hopefully for the owners) a corporate location on a 'temporary' basis. Did you know that every single 7/Eleven for example has an actual 'owner' who really bought nothing more or less than the right to use his business under the 7/Eleven name and according to design specs laid out by the parent company? Ditto McDonalds; the one in Skokie, Illinois is officially owned by the '4950 West Dempster Corporation' (its street address). They do that to make it more difficult for attornies and others to sue, and limits the amount the litigant can collect in the event of such a suit. You may say Ramada Inns are privately owned, and indeed they are. But the corporation which owns the property has *many, many* restraints on it and is severely limited in what it can do on its own by virtue of the franchise agreement. I am certain things like telephone rates are *not* under the control of the individual 'owner' of the property but are set by the franchisor of the 'Ramada' name. Those things are usually deals cut by 'corporate' for the 'benefit' of all the franchisees. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Phil McKerracher Subject: Re: Apology - Well, Sorta Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 16:36:48 GMT Organization: blueyonder (post doesn't reflect views of blueyonder) William Warren wrote in message news:telecom22.717.12@telecom-digest.org: > ... It's common > practice, and universally accepted, to munge email addresses ... Er, not quite "univerally accepted". In fact, it's frowned upon in some newsgroups, and will get you flamed. The rationale is that any response to spam, including bounces resulting indirectly from munged addresses, creates extra internet traffic and work for abuse administrators. It can also encourage the spammers. Best practice is to silently delete it. Phil McKerracher www.mckerracher.org ------------------------------ From: nstrom@ananzi.co.za (Nathan Strom) Subject: Re: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings Date: 29 Oct 2003 10:17:06 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Jon Carpenter wrote in message news:: > Before they were called AOL, their name was QuantumLink. There first > version was for the Commodore 64, in 1985. After the C-64, they came > out with a version for the Macintosh and Apple II in 1988, at which > time I think they changed their name to America On-Line. The DOS > version wasn't available until 1991. When cleaning the attic, I found a 5.25" AOL version 1.20 floppy for the Apple II. It's copyrighted 1989, and claims that America Online is a service mark of Quantum Computer Services, Inc., so they apparantly hadn't changed their corporate name even though they were marketing and selling America Online service. Same logo, though. http://nstrom.chaosnet.org/ebay/aol-front.jpg http://nstrom.chaosnet.org/ebay/aol-back.jpg ------------------------------ From: londonstimes@cablelynx.com (Rick London) Subject: Help With DSL Modem Date: 28 Oct 2003 20:17:46 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com A friend of mine just started college (online). He's disabled and wanted my help with his DSL modem. He does not have DSL service but the seller who sold it to him told him it would work with regular dial up. He has Windows ME. I connected the modem to his computer and when we tried to connect it just gave an error message that Windows did not recognize a modem. Is there something in Windows ME I should be configuring differently to recognize it? It's a Speedstream Modem. Please email me at your earliest convenience at londonstimes@cablelynx.com if you know what to do. It would be greatly appreciated. Rick ------------------------------ From: terry@cds.net (Terry Robertson) Subject: Upgrade AMA Billing System; Replace Your 9-Track Tape Drives Date: 29 Oct 2003 11:44:18 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com If you still have 9-track tapes recording your AMA data on your Alcatel, Lucent, or Nortel Switch, I have a suprisingly affordable solution that will completely replace your old 9 track tape drives. This unit is up and running at several LECs and a Long Distant Carrier using our Magnetic Tape Replacement Unit. 100% reliable and fully redundant. Gain information in minutes that normally would take hours or even days to obtain, which results in accurate, timely invoices to your customers. This unit has helped one customer collect an additional 8% in billable usage revenues, that was previously lost revenue. Identifies and reformats each call record to standard billing center format. Send your call records directly to your billing center. Increase revenue and decrease customer billing complaints. Call or email Terry, terry@cds.net or call me direct at 732-517-0919 ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #724 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Oct 30 02:25:21 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9U7PLN08339; Thu, 30 Oct 2003 02:25:21 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 02:25:21 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310300725.h9U7PLN08339@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 #725 TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 Oct 2003 02:25:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 725 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. (Mark J Cuccia) Cellular Phone Tracking, Pakistan Style (Danny Burstein) Outrageous Hotel Phone Surcharges (Wesrock@aol.com) Free eFax Going Away? (Clarence Dold) Re: Fax Removal Test Numbers (Burris) Re: International Telephone Numbering/Codes/Prefixes (John R. Levine) Re: International Telephone Numbering/Codes/Prefixes (Linc Madison) Area Code? (rphil2003@sbcglobal.net) Re: Help With DSL Modem (Dave Garland) Re: Poor Left Out as Courts Enter Web Age (Geoffrey Welsh) Do Not Buy CELL TALK or Other Excite Telecom Calling Cards (M. Galecki) Want to Buy General System Mechanical Pencil (Oliver Penn) Share Day Message for October (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. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 22:02:28 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. Wes wrote, regarding the thread where there was discussion about the differences between "International/Overseas" vs. the NANP: > How about Saint-Pierre et Miquelon? St.Pierre & Miquelon are those French islands off the coast of Newfoundland (Canada). They are *NOT* numbered as part of +1 (the NANP). They were assigned "ITU" (CCITT) Country Code +508 sometime in the early 1980s. That's *NOT* to be confused with NPA (area) code 508 (which in the NANP is for part of eastern Massachusetts that split off from 617 in Summer 1988), but rather *COUNTRY* code +508 which begins with a '5', that zone-5 is "associated" mostly with Latin America (and most non-NANP parts of the Caribbean). At the time that St.Pierre & Miquelon were assigned +508, there were *NO* more available zone '3' or '4' (European) country codes. It is "possible" that they "could" have been assigned a "European-based" country code, since they aren't part of the NANP, nor are they in the Caribbean/Latin American community-of-interest, and they *are* a French possession. I forget the *exact* term, but there are various terms that France uses for different possessions and the degree of French oversight vs. self- government. In more recent years, many (but not all) of France's overseas possessions have "dual numbering", but I don't know if they have "dual dialability" from everywhere in the world. I don't know if +508 St.Pierre & Miquelon is one that is "dual numbered" -- i.e., such "dual numbered" locations have their own ITU-assigned country code, which is how they are dialed from "the rest of the world", but their country code's digits are *ALSO* their internal +33 France *AREA* code (or whatever it is called within France), and are dialed "as a domestic type" call from France proper! I don't know what type of *rates* are charged, though. It is sort-of, but *NOT* identical, to the way Guam, Mariana Islands (Saipan/etc), and starting next year, American Samoa, are... However, in the case of those three US possessions in the Pacific, they are *NOT* "dual numbered" or "dual dialable", except for a brief "transition" period of parallel/permissive dialing. +670 Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan, Rota, Tinian) *completely changed* to +1-670 from 7/1997 to 7/1998. (even Country Code +670 has since been re-assigned to East Timor) +671 Guam *completely changed* to +1-671 from 7/1997 to 7/1998. +684 American Samoa will completely change to +1-684 from 10/2004 to 4/2005. Guam and Mariana Islands are now dialable *ONLY* as "part of +1/NANP" from *EVERYWHERE ELSE* in the World, as listed above, American Samoa will be so after 4/2005. And calls to all other NANP-based points *FROM* those US Pacific Possessions are to be dialed as completely intra-NANP calls. I think that those French dependencies or whatever they are called, are treated, as least w/r/t France (and each other) as "domestic", yet with the "rest of the world", they are treated as unique places in the world with their own ITU-assigned country codes, and possibly might *NOT* be dialable as if they were part of +33/France. I also think that the IDD access prefix from all of these French dependencies (as well as France proper, now), is 00+. But at one time, these places used the old "French" format of 1X+ for access codes and special services as well. The Caribbean is part NANP, part non-NANP. The following are the non-NANP parts of the Caribbean: +53 Cuba, +509 Haiti, and the various French Antilles (including Martinique and Guadeloupe, St.Barthelemy, and the *French* side of St.Martin, and I'm not always sure each week as to what is +590 and what is +596), and +599 Dutch Antilles (includes Saba, St.Eustatius, the Dutch side of St.Maarten, and also Bonnaire and Curacao, as well as +297 Aruba which has since become independent from Holland). Greenland and the Faeroe Islands are jurisdictionally/politically part of Denmark (country code +45). Sine the 1980s, Greenland has been ITU Country Code +299. I think that the Faeroe Islands were assigned +298 at about the same time as well. I can remember in the 1970s timeframe, looking up the instructions for reaching Greenland and the Faeroe Islands, in the front of the Kobenhaven directory at the main branch of the New Orleans Public Library. At that time, calls to Greenland (from Denmark and everywhere else) had to be placed with the complete assistance of an operator. The Faeroe Islands at that time, were shown in the Kobenhaven directory as having a two-digit city code followed by a five (or was it six?) digit local number, while the mainland part of +45 Denmark had single-digit "city" (zone) codes, followed by six (or was it seven?) digit local numbers. I don't understand why both Greenland and the Faeroe Islands couldn't be numbered/dialed (in the automated network) as part of +45 Denmark "proper", but I would guess that when they got their own country codes, they both "would" have been assigned "European" codes beginning with '3' or '4' had there been any available at that time. And finally, one last thing regarding St.Pierre & Miquelon, which is truly non-NANP and rather pseudo-French in their internal numbering/dialing/etc. (and possibly even part of +33 France's numbering plan at least w/r/t calls with France), back in the 1970s, I *can* remember thinking that they might have become part of the dialable/automated NANP in the future, since their Operator routing code was 709+121, which was via Newfoundland (Canada) Inward Opeator! But I think that operator routing for assistance via Newfoundland on calls to St.P&M (on calls *from* the US/Canada) was discontinued around the time that St.P&M was assigned ITU Country Code +508. Mark J. Cuccia ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Cellular Phone Tracking, Pakistan Style Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 23:11:44 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC A little different from our usual stuff, but definitely shows something about something. from "A Mighty Heart", Mariane Pearl's book about her husband's (the WSJ reporter Daniel Pearl) murder by terrorists in Pakistan: p. 155, after the counter intelligence captain has grabbed one of the suspects and "convinced" him (via methods implied but not described) to call another one and ask for an emergency meeting: ... and he turns off the phone Captain snatches the cell phone from Suleiman's hands and calls the cellular provider's headquarters, demanding to know which geogrpahical section, or cell, Adil's phone was in. Their computers automatically monitor the weakness or strength of the signals, in order to switch a phone's signal from tower to tower as needed. If the cell provider can tell Captain which tower transmits to Adil's phone, we'll know what cell Adil is in. That's an area with a radius of roughly three kilometers. Not inconsiderable but small enough to establish whether Adil is staying at his family house. But the phone company takes its time in providing the information. One hour passes ... another half hour ... and Captain explodes. He orders his men to go to the phone company, break down the doors, and at gunpoint ask the questions again: Which cell tower? Which cell? _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 16:49:53 EST Subject: Outrageous Hotel Phone Surcharges Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com In a message dated Wed, 29 Oct 2003 08:06:55 -0700 Phil Earnhardt < pae@dim.com> wrote: > Ramada is not a hotel chain; it's a franchise. Cendant > (www.cendant.com) provides franchises for a whole bunch of chains: > Amerihost Inn, Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Knights Inn, Ramada, Super > 8 Motel, Travelodge, Villager, Wingate Inn. If you look at the > Ramada site, you'll see that all hotels are independently owned and > operated. > I wasn't asking for anyone to send a message; I was simply curious > if there was any recourse through local, state, or federal > regulatory agencies. Are hotels allowed to charge absurdly high > rates for intrastate LD charges in Florida? Usually the franchiser sets certain standards which its franchisees must meet. If they fail to meet those standards, they can remove the right to use the franchiser's name and logo. With hotels, it happens all the time. Many years ago my wife and I stayed at a Ramada Inn in Sulphur Springs, Texas, which charged us more than the maximum rate shown on the notice posted in the room under the Inkeepers Act. The attitude of the desk was, well, we haven't changed the notices since we raised our rates. I wrote to the head office for Ramada, wherever it was, and complained. In a week or two there was a check from the hotel refunding the difference between the maximum rate posted and what we were charged. That was before it was purchased by Cendant, but I would guess they have an office that deals with such complaints and takes action when called for. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: dold@FreeXeFaxX.usenet.us.com Subject: Free eFax Going Away? Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 21:22:55 UTC Organization: a2i network I've used a free eFax account for a couple of years. I don't get many faxes, but it is handy to be able to give someone a fax number that ends up as email that I can review and print at my leisure. When I got a cable modem, and dropped my second phone line at home, I thought I might get the paid service so I could send faxes, but I never quite got around to it ;-) Yesterday, I received an email stating that they would no longer be able to provide me with free service, although it looks like they are accepting new applications for free service. I've always wondered how they could provide the service for free, but I didn't let it bother me much. www.efax.com Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ From: burris Subject: Re: Fax Removal Test Numbers Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:48:37 -0500 I get them all the time. I was sending the faxes to the FCC Enforcement Bureau in Washington. They sent a reply each time that said they really can't do anything at the moment as the existing laws are vague. To save paper and ink, I installed a program called Mighty Fax and since I am connected 24/7, the faxes come in on my PC and I can either delete or print them. If you find a better solution, please share it. burris Dean B wrote: > I am getting Wall Street Stock Alerts every few days at very late > hours. Now the new removal number is 888-399-7563. How can I get off > this thing or collect my $500???. There is no header phone # or > business address. For some reason, my telephone number is on the > header. Sure would like to nail these bastards some way. ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: International Telephone Numbering/Codes/Prefixes Date: 29 Oct 2003 15:57:14 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> using 800-dialups and then follow THEIR instructions of 011+/01+ for >> collect or card calls to "overseas/international" non-NANP locations >> when calling from the US/Canada). > How about Saint-Pierre et Miquelon? They're a French territorial collectivity, so they use the same dialing plan as Martinique, Guadeloupe, and the rest of overseas France. Local calls are six digits, all numbers start with 41, calls to metropolitan France are 0+number, calls elsewhere are 00+country+number. They don't seem to have shortcut dialing to Newfoundland. Calls to St Pierre are dialed +508 41 XX XX, where + is as always your international access code, 011 in the US and Canada. From the rest of France, you can dial 0508 41 XX XX rather than 00508 41 XX XX. Regards, John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator: "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be http://iecc.com/johnl Sewer Commissioner "A book is a sneeze." - E.B. White, on the writing of Charlotte's Web ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: International Telephone Numbering/Codes/Prefixes Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 13:06:56 -0800 Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org In article , wrote: > On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 14:34:06 CST Mark J Cuccia > wrote: >> The NANP (US/Canada/most-of-Caribbean) uses 011+ for >> station-sent-paid calling access to points outside of the NANP. 01+ >> *IS* the code for "special billed" calls (although most NANP-based >> carriers now recommend using 800-dialups and then follow THEIR >> instructions of 011+/01+ for collect or card calls to >> "overseas/international" non-NANP locations when calling from the >> US/Canada). > How about Saint-Pierre et Miquelon? What about them? They're not part of the NANP, and never have been. Regular calls from the NANP to SP&M are dialed as 011 + 508 + number. Calls from SP&M to the rest of the world are dialed as 00 + country code + city code + local number. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Subject: Area Code? Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:27:33 -0600 Patrick, Just out of curiosity where is area code 297? Just got a call from there and can't find the area code anywhere. Thanks, Robert [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I answered this directly in email and told Robert I was unable to find it either. Name/Place (through Rate and Route) said there was no such area code, and attempts to dial it as 1-297-(some seven) got me a fast busy after the '297' part. Then he wrote back to me a few minutes later ... Pat, Turns out it was a friend of mine calling from Aruba who just got off a cruise ship. I found it on decoder.americom.com search results. Thanks for your help. Robert [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So it must have not been AREA CODE 297 but instead, COUNTRY CODE 297 ?? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Help With DSL Modem Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 21:27:18 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when londonstimes@cablelynx.com (Rick London) wrote: > wanted my help with his DSL modem. He does not have DSL service but > the seller who sold it to him told him it would work with regular dial > up. It is unlikely that any DSL "modem" will work with regular dialup, or that any computer will recognize it as a modem. ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Poor Left Out as Courts Enter Web Age Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2003 15:36:36 -0400 Organization: Bell Sympatico John R. Levine wrote: > Yes, but that's not enough to get access to court records. Nonetheless, access to the documents is now much easier, faster, and cheaper than before for a large number of people and, as far as I can tell, it's certainly no worse for the poor - in fact, it could be argued that the organizations acting on their behalf now have quicker/easier/cheaper access to the documents and that, in turn, is a benefit for the poor. Let's face it: nothing will ever be enough. We can never do enough to feed the hungry, we can never do enough to shelter the homeless, etc. Do not criticize an important step in the right direction only because it is not perfect. 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! We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against evil. ------------------------------ From: mark_galeck_spam_magnet@yahoo.com (Mark Galecki) Subject: Do Not Buy CELL TALK or Other Excite Telecom Calling Cards Date: 29 Oct 2003 18:34:54 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I bought the CELL TALK calling card by Excite Telecom, from a reseller (CallingCards.com). It has been a disaster - they constantly overcharge me for calls and maintenance fees. This post is meant as an advice to customers to not buy that stuff - it will be easy to Google Usenet for CELL TALK or Excite Telecom and see the post. I can calculate the advertised charges and they are less than what they charge me. Their first and second level customer support are morons who cannot do basic arithmetic. Then they forwarded me to the corporate office, where the person quickly agreed to my calculation, refunded money. Of course I don't care about my couple-of-bucs, but I do care if someone is stuffing their pockets with that multiplied by 1000's of customers, so I told them if this continues, I will contact the appropriate authorities. Which it does, and which I will. Mark Galecki ------------------------------ Reply-To: Oliver Penn From: Oliver Penn Subject: Want to Buy General System Mechanical Pencil Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 02:38:55 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net I would like to purchase pre-GTE General System mechanical pencil. You ex-GTE folks remember them. Dark green octagonal, some with ball-top dialer and some just pencils. Contact me if you have any with which you could part. Looking for lead too. I think it's 1.2mm. 0.9mm drops right through the barrel. ccis4sofi at yahoo dot com or +1 214 764 0764 Oliver (didn't save any I found in my first GTE desk) Penn ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For October Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 2:00:00 EST Instead of changing the Digest over to an advrtising supported forum, I have always elected to keep it as a user supported forum, and for the most part keep it spam and virus free. I am *only* able to do this because of financial support from readers here, and if you would rather not see these messages every month, then please pitch in and help now and then! Consider it sort of like public radio, which goes on for days at a time trying to raise money ... and maybe I should adopt the same system. Turn over the entire Digest once or twice a year to fund raising (entire issues, etc) and stop doing it when the budget for the year has been raised. But for now, I will stick with the present system of devoting a few messages at the end of each month to raising money for the Digest publication expenses. Out of 400-500 messages per month, in a spam, virus free environment, two or three (only) devoted to fund raising. You know who you are; please provide some help here financially. You can use Pay Pal to donate with a credit/debit card by going to our web site http://telecom-digest.org and at the bottom of the home page look for the PayPal 'donate' button. Or if you prefer, send a check or money order to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, Kansas 67301-0050. The amount you send is entirely up to you. You know best how much you can afford and whether or not this Digest has any value for you. Thank you very much. Patrick Townson, Editor/Publisher TELECOM Digest ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #725 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Oct 30 20:55:55 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id h9V1tsl13593; Thu, 30 Oct 2003 20:55:55 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 20:55:55 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200310310155.h9V1tsl13593@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 #726 TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 Oct 2003 20:56:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 726 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Mobile Phone Sales Near 500 Mln in 2003 - Survey (Monty Solomon) Comcast Reports Third Quarter 2003 Results (Monty Solomon) Re: VeriSign to Suspend Site Finder at 6 p.m. on Saturday (Dave Oatley) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (Steven J Sobol) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Old Telco Operator Mark-Sense Pencils (Mark J Cuccia) Verizon: @#$%! Service (Darren Harris) Re: Help With DSL Modem (Carl Navarro) AT&T Pushes Further Into BellSouth Territory (Eric Friedebach) Re: Help With DSL Modem (yeltrabnhoj@email.com) Re: Help With DSL Modem (SELLCOM Tech Support) Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands (Wes Leatherock) Share Day Message for October, 2003 (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. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 09:56:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Mobile Phone Sales Near 500 Mln in 2003 - Survey AMSTERDAM, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Some 492 million mobile phones will be sold this year, due to strong demand for colour screen models with built-in cameras and rapidly rising subscriber numbers in developing countries, a survey found Thursday. U.S. research group Strategy Analytics published its new forecast, up from its earlier expectation of 455 million phones, after statistics showed third-quarter sales of 132 million phones, versus 109 million in the same period last year. "The combined dynamic of new subscriber growth in emerging markets and surging sales of camera and colour-enabled handsets in mature markets has pushed growth to impressive levels," analyst Neil Mawston said in a statement. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36304088 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 09:57:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Reports Third Quarter 2003 Results Consolidated Revenue Increased to $4.546 Billion Consolidated Operating Income Increased to $493 Million Consolidated Operating Cash Flow Increased to $1.632 Billion Comcast Cable Reports Pro Forma Operating Cash Flow Growth of 35.3% to $1.6 Billion Cable Operating Cash Flow Margin Reached 37% Cable Operating Income Increased to $534 Million Comcast Increases Guidance for High-Speed Internet Subscriber Additions for 2003 to 1.7 Million From 1.6 Million High-Speed Internet Subscribers Increased 472,700 to 4.9 Million Digital Cable Subscribers Increased 318,300 to 7.3 Million Exceptional Progress Made In Debt Reduction Debt Reduced by Nearly $5 Billion Year to Date PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) today reported results for the quarter ended September 30, 2003. Comcast will discuss third quarter results on a conference call and webcast today at 10:30 AM Eastern Time. A live broadcast of the conference call will be available on the investor relations website at www.cmcsa.com or www.cmcsk.com . - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36303768 ------------------------------ From: oatleyd@myway.com (Dave Oatley) Subject: Re: VeriSign to Suspend Site Finder at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4 Date: 30 Oct 2003 07:22:39 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Phil Earnhardt wrote in message news:: > VeriSign's spokesmen originally said they did this to "enhance the > user experience" of the WWW. Did they ever present any surveys > indicating that any users out there actually *wanted* this service? They presented their interpretation of surveys they paid to have conducted, but they never showed the surveys. In fact, they refused to reveal them, claiming they were "proprietary". The Eschalot has some theoretical survey text: http://www.TheEschalot.com/verisign-survey-text.html -Dave ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 10:12:01 -0600 dold@freexefaxx.usenet.us.com wrote: > I've used a free eFax account for a couple of years. > I don't get many faxes, but it is handy to be able to give someone a > fax number that ends up as email that I can review and print at my > leisure. When I got a cable modem, and dropped my second phone line > at home, I thought I might get the paid service so I could send faxes, > but I never quite got around to it ;-) > Yesterday, I received an email stating that they would no longer be > able to provide me with free service, although it looks like they are > accepting new applications for free service. Since JFax/J2Global bought them a while ago, I'm not surprised. Faxwave still has free incoming faxes, although they only apparently have phone numbers in Nevada's AC 775. I use them; they work. www.faxwave.com JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 10:27:14 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? dold@FreeXeFaxX.usenet.us.com wrote: > I've used a free eFax account for a couple of years. > Yesterday, I received an email stating that they would no longer be > able to provide me with free service, although it looks like they are > accepting new applications for free service. I received an email about a month ago telling me my free account would be canceled due to excessive traffic. It read, in part: >> When you signed up for your Free account, you agreed to the eFax >> Customer Agreement, which states the following: "THE FREE SERVICE IS >> SUBJECT TO j2 GLOBAL'S 'FAIR USE' POLICY FOR FREE ACCOUNTS. YOU WILL >> BE IN VIOLATION OF THIS POLICY IF, WITHIN ANY MONTH, YOU RECEIVE MORE >> THAN TWENTY (20) FAX PAGES." >> In the last three months, you received an average of 21 or more pages >> at this fax number No argument -- the main reason I signed up was that I was going through a roll of paper every month and throwing most of it away because it was junk. Heck, there were times I went through 20 pages a DAY ... I did think it was a bit odd that they would notice this /now/, considering how long it's been going on. I really don't remember anything about a page limit, though -- it was probably behind an "Accept" button someplace but who reads that crap? To their credit, they gave me a month's advance warning, with the option to convert to their "Plus" product and retain the number. About that time I got an email from SBC/Yahoo, my DSL provider, informing me that as their customer I qualified for a free eFax number! So I signed up for that. This time I read all the legalese carefully: Not a word about page limits anyplace. Maybe the "Free Trial" link from the eFax homepage goes to a different agreement than the SBC/Yahoo referral link. On the other hand, I got the email telling me my original account was officially "suspended" effective a couple of weeks ago but it's still working today. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I find all this quite interesting. I have had similar problems with Yahoo mail. The spam just pours in there daily; most days at least a couple dozen 'microsoft variety' viruses arrive. You know, the 'install this patch immedialty' type things. I go in a couple times each day and zap them all out, yet the next time I connect for email I will see where I am at 125 percent or greater of the allowable limit. Since this is a totally free email account, with the ability to sign up for additional space in exchange for money from your bank account etc. Would you believe that in the past couple weeks there, Yahoo has hit on me twice to buy additional storage space, 'since you are going to be getting that much email, you need to buy additional space, just X dollars per month.' I guess Yahoo assumes I am so grateful for all that spam and viruses arriving each day I will be more than happy to pay for the room. Oh, of course I will! PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 11:08:00 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Old Telco Operator Mark-Sense Pencils Oliver (didn't save any I found in my first GTE desk) Penn wrote: > I would like to purchase pre-GTE General System mechanical pencil. > You ex-GTE folks remember them. Dark green octagonal, some with > ball-top dialer and some just pencils. Contact me if you have any > with which you could part. Looking for lead too. I think it's > 1.2mm. 0.9mm drops right through the barrel. It wasn't just General Telephone (and Electronics) who issued such pencils. I know that Bell/AT&T issued identical style mechanical pencils as well many years ago. I think that it was called an Operator's "Mark-sense" pencil since she used it to write up a "mark-sense" billing ticket. It was also called a "dialing tool" with the roller-ball on the back end, used to insert into finger holes in a rotary dial. I was given one of those Bell System mechanical pencils by a retired telephone operator, but ... sorry, I'm not really willing to part with it! :-) There are some 1940s/50s era Operator Toll Dialing training films at the Prelinger Archives at www.archive.org which show the use of the "dialing tool" on old rotary dials at cordboard operator positions. (Of course the Multifrequency Keyset for Operators was also in use at that time as well). The Bell System's "dialing tool" / mark-sense pencil was also either hexagonal or octagonal for the dark green stem, but it was stamped along one side (near the dialing roller-ball end) in yellow or gray as "BELL SYSTEM". Was your old General Telephone (and Electronics) pencil as "GENERAL TELEPHONE SYSTEM"? And speaking of old GT&E / General Telephone System, does anyone have a *decent* copy of *OLD* (pre-1970s; i.e., 1950s/60s era) logo for General Telephone, as a jpg or gif or even bmp? That was the logo which was trapezoidal in shape, and curved slightly, almost like an *OLD* 1950s/60s era TV CRT-screen (the logo itself came out in the mid-50s, I think, and probably was designed as a carriacature of that style of TV screen in common use at the time)... With the word GENERAL spelled out inside the border, across the top; SYSTEM spelled out inside the border, across the bottom; and then in the middle was a carriacature of a desk telephone with a horizontally placed OVERSIZED handset, to represent the word TELEPHONE, as in GENERAL TELEPHONE SYSTEM, probably a "knock off" of the BELL (Telephone) SYSTEM. In the early 1970s, GT&E shortened its acronym to simply GTE, with the 1970s/80s/90s (pre-VeriZon) l rounded corners rectangular logo with the unique font for 'GTE' in caps. But the older 1950s/60s logo would still have "legacy" embeddedness in GT&E service areas, on payphones, etc. until slowly replaced by the 1970s/80s/90s era logo. However, GTE-held (via its Anglo-Canadian subsidiary) BC-Tel in British Columbia (CANADA) seemed to retain that older 1950s/60s era logo into the 1980s (at least), but with the lettering 'B.C. TEL' (slanted font) on the logo, probably on payphones/etc. until BCTel adopted its own unique "modern" logo probably in the 1990s. Of course all of that GTE presence in Canada (BCTel, QuebecTel, etc) is now part of "Telus", which VeriZon *does* (still) have a significant, yet now minor share of. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA USA ------------------------------ From: Searcher7@mail.con2.com (Darren Harris) Subject: Verizon: @#$%! Service Date: 30 Oct 2003 09:23:18 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am having serious problems with my internet connection. I have Verizon for phone service, as well as Verizon online. My line is used mostly for my internet connection and I don't even make one regular call a week. I've been having trouble with line noise that Verizon will not fix. As a result, whenever it rains I lose the ability to receive data and have to wait for whatever needs to dry out to return to normal so I can have normal internet access again. I can only assume that there is something in Windows/Explorer that puts a stop on attempts to load web pages whenever line noise exceeds a certain level. This makes re-booting necessary in order to reset my sytem so I can try again. The times between when I have to re-boot my pc can vary greatly. I may have to re-boot every few minutes(if I'm lucky). Other times the noise is just too much and I can't even get as far as loading a single page. I estimate that over the last several years, Verizon's incompetence has cost me well over $1000 just in reconnecting charges alone, resulting from the continuous re-booting and logging-on that I have to do. And things have gotten worst recently. Taking off time from work to be home, only to have the Verizon tech not ring my doorbell is no longer an option. When I call Verizon back, I'm generally told the tech was here, but could not find a problem with the line outside(which is relatively clear when I'm speaking with someone unless it is raining). The Verizon representatives tell me that I will be billed if the problem is inside, but that was already checked out, so I know that the problem which has gotten progressively worse over the last five years is outside. In fact, two days ago, after I explained my internet connection issues to a Verizon representative, she said that they are not responsible for correcting my internet connection problems.(Did I mention that I have Verizon Online?). So I had to remind her that I still have an increase in line noise when it is damp out. Verizon's e-mail site is crap, and if I had another option for an ISP(and phone company) right now I would have dropped them. Anyway, has anyone else had a simular problem? And if so, how was it resolved? I'm really tired of having to go the the library whenever I have to log-on on a rainy day. Thanks a lot. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York. ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Help With DSL Modem Reply-To: cnavarro@wcnet.org Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 17:35:06 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online -- Northeast Ohio On 28 Oct 2003 20:17:46 -0800, londonstimes@cablelynx.com (Rick London) wrote: > A friend of mine just started college (online). He's disabled and > wanted my help with his DSL modem. He does not have DSL service but > the seller who sold it to him told him it would work with regular dial > up. He has Windows ME. I connected the modem to his computer and when > we tried to connect it just gave an error message that Windows did not > recognize a modem. Let's see. Either the salesman was ignorant or your friend misheard. Guessing that it's the latter, you're right. The computer doesn't recognize a modem because there is none there. WTP? There are USB dial-up modems, but every reference to Speestream says USB/(A)DSL Ethernet adapter. Carl Navarro > Is there something in Windows ME I should be configuring differently > to recognize it? It's a Speedstream Modem. Please email me at your > earliest convenience at londonstimes@cablelynx.com if you know what to > do. It would be greatly appreciated. > Rick ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: AT&T Pushes Further Into BellSouth Territory Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 12:38:41 -0600 Organization: Muddy Paw Prints On The Corvette PHILADELPHIA, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Long-distance telephone company AT&T Corp. said on Thursday it started providing local telephone service in Alabama and Tennessee, pushing further into markets currently dominated by BellSouth Corp. http://www.forbes.com/technology/newswire/2003/10/30/rtr1129294.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: yeltrabnhoj@email.com Subject: Re: Help With DSL Modem Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 21:56:59 GMT Organization: (reverse to reply) (John Bartley, K7AAY, Portland OR) On 28 Oct 2003 20:17:46 -0800, londonstimes@cablelynx.com (Rick London) wrote: > A friend of mine just started college (online). He's disabled and > wanted my help with his DSL modem. He does not have DSL service but > the seller who sold it to him told him it would work with regular dial > up. Seller lied. DSL looks for frequencies well above normal phone service. Telco must put data onto the copper (and also avoid stripping it out with pair gain devices and the like). If telco does not enable DSL service, the DSL modem will never receive a bit of data. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Help With DSL Modem Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 17:35:17 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com londonstimes@cablelynx.com (Rick London) posted on that vast internet thingie: > A friend of mine just started college (online). He's disabled and > wanted my help with his DSL modem. He does not have DSL service but > the seller who sold it to him told him it would work with regular dial > up. He has Windows ME. A DSL modem is a type of router and not a dialup modem. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Vtech 5.8Ghz; EnGenius NEW EP490 4line (the longest range), TMC ET4000 Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, WatchGuard firewall, Polycom! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Minuteman UPS systems If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 16:54:42 PST From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. Saint-Pierre et Miquelon appear to be less than 10 miles off the southeast coast of Newfoundland. The World Almanac has this to say about them, in the Franch section under the heading "Overseas Territorial Collectivities [sic]": "St. Pierre and Miquelon, formerly an overseas territory (1816-1976) and department (1976-85) made the transition to territorial collectivity in 1985. It consists of two groups of islands near the SW coast of Newfoundland, inhabited by fishermen. The exports are chiefly fish products. The St. Pierre group has an area of 10 sq. mi., Miquelon 83 sq. mi. Total pop. (1999 est.) 6,966. The capital is St. Pierre. "Both Mayotte and St. Pierre and Miquelon elect a deputy and a senator to the French Parliament." (Mayotte, a much more populous island northwest of Madagascar, is the only other place listed in the Almanac under "Overseas Territorial Collectivities.") I wonder what offices St. Pierre and Miquelon home on. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com --- Mark J Cuccia wrote: > Wes wrote, regarding the thread where there was discussion about the > differences between "International/Overseas" vs. the NANP: > How about Saint-Pierre et Miquelon? > St.Pierre & Miquelon are those > French islands off the coast of Newfoundland (Canada). They are > *NOT* numbered as part of +1 (the NANP). They were assigned "ITU" > (CCITT) Country Code +508 sometime in the early 1980s. That's *NOT* > to be confused with NPA (area) code 508 (which in the NANP is for > part of eastern Massachusetts that split off from 617 in Summer > 1988), but rather *COUNTRY* code +508 which begins with a '5', that > zone-5 is "associated" mostly with Latin America (and most non-NANP > parts of the Caribbean). At the time that St.Pierre & Miquelon were > assigned +508, there were *NO* more available zone '3' or '4' > (European) country codes. It is "possible" that they "could" have > been assigned a "European-based" country code, since they aren't > part of the NANP, nor are they in the Caribbean/Latin American > community-of-interest, and they *are* a French possession. I forget > the *exact* term, but there are various terms that France uses for > different possessions and the degree of French oversight vs. self- > government. In more recent years, many (but not all) of France's > overseas possessions have "dual numbering", but I don't know if they > have "dual dialability" from everywhere in the world. > Mark J. Cuccia ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For October, 2003 Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 19:45:00 EST Instead of changing the Digest over to an advertising supported forum, I have always elected to keep it as a user supported forum, and for the most part keep it spam and virus free. I am *only* able to do this because of financial support from readers here, and if you would rather not see these messages every month, then please pitch in and help now and then! Consider it sort of like public radio, which goes on for days at a time trying to raise money ... and maybe I should adopt the same system. Turn over the entire Digest once or twice a year to fund raising (entire issues, etc) and stop doing it when the budget for the year has been raised. But for now, I will stick with the present system of devoting a few messages at the end of each month to raising money for the Digest publication expenses. Out of 400-500 messages per month, in a spam, virus free environment, two or three (only) devoted to fund raising. You know who you are; please provide some help here financially. You can use Pay Pal to donate with a credit/debit card by going to our web site http://telecom-digest.org and at the bottom of the home page look for the PayPal 'donate' button. Or if you prefer, send a check or money order to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, Kansas 67301-0050. The amount you send is entirely up to you. You know best how much you can afford and whether or not this Digest has any value for you. Thank you very much. Patrick Townson, Editor/Publisher TELECOM Digest ------------------------------ 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 #726 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Oct 31 20:31:53 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA11Vqn19985; Fri, 31 Oct 2003 20:31:53 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 20:31:53 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311010131.hA11Vqn19985@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 #727 TELECOM Digest Fri, 31 Oct 2003 20:32:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 727 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Implementing Intrusion Detection Systems" (Rob Slade) Lucent 854 4-Line Phones (Cliff Keeney) TV Networks Pin Hope on Sweeps as Ratings Grim (Monty Solomon) Verizon DSL Available to 66,000 More Customers in Mass. (Monty Solomon) For Media-Savvy Tots, TV And DVD Compete With ABCs (Monty Solomon) E-Vote Software Leaked Online (Monty Solomon) Mac Supercomputer Just Got Faster (Monty Solomon) EPIC Alert 10.22 (Monty Solomon) DirecTV Deal May Need More Conditions - Source (Monty Solomon) FTC Complaint Number For Excite Telecom (Mark Galecki) Re: Help With DSL Modem (Hank Karl) Re: AT&T Pushes Further Into BellSouth Territory (Nathan Strom) Re: Help With DSL Modem (John Hines) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (Steven J Sobol) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (yeltrabnhoj@email.com) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (COTTP) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (Natalie Wills) Avaya Display Phone Question? (c_oves) Fiber Characterization Services, How To Create Business ? (Marc) Share Day for October, 2003 (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. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 07:44:25 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Implementing Intrusion Detection Systems" BKIMPIDS.RVW 20030909 "Implementing Intrusion Detection Systems", Tim Crothers, 2003, 0-7645-4949-9, U$40.00/C$62.95/UK#29.95 %A Tim Crothers %C 5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor, Etobicoke, ON M9B 6H8 %D 2003 %G 0-7645-4949-9 %I John Wiley & Sons, Inc. %O U$40.00/C$62.95/UK#29.95 416-236-4433 fax: 416-236-4448 %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764549499/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764549499/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764549499/robsladesin03-20 %P 316 p. %T "Implementing Intrusion Detection Systems" The preface implies that this book is a professional reference for building and maintaining intrusion detection systems (IDSs). I'd say it has a fair way to go before it could make that claim. Chapter one is an overview of intrusion detection. The basic concepts are all included, but it is often difficult to understand the point that the author is making. Net-based IDS gets a somewhat limited review in chapter two, alongside a very brief introduction to TCP/IP. There are lots of printouts of event and audit logs in chapter three but very little explanation of the basic ideas behind host-based IDS. Chapter four is supposed to tell us how to handle alerts, but the long listings of packet traffic related to specific attacks (and not interpreted particularly well) do not really provide any useful advice on incident response. Chapters five and six raise a number of issues to consider when planning and maintaining an IDS, but the collection of information is neither organized nor exhaustive in terms of the factors which need to be dealt with. Supposedly about tuning, chapter seven is mostly about analysis of logs for an example attack. The scripts involved in installing Snort on Linux are listed in chapter eight. This work is vague, unstructured, and incomplete. Yes, it would help you get an intrusion detection system running, but it has neither the conceptual depth of either of the two "Intrusion Detection"s, by Amoroso (cf. BKINTDET.RVW) or Bace (cf. BKNTRDET.RVW), the detail of "Intrusion Signatures and Analysis" (cf. BKINSIAN.RVW), nor even the practicality of Koziol's "Intrusion Detection with Snort" (cf. BKINDTSN.RVW). copyright Robert M. Slade, 2003 BKIMPIDS.RVW 20030909 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu Chaos, panic, and disorder - my work here is done. http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 21:35:39 -0800 Subject: Lucent 854 4-line Phones From: Cliff Keeney Speaking of the 4-line Lucent 854's, I have 5 of them in use and cannot stop them from cross line interference. Doesn't matter which phone, or which line is being used. You can hear the conversations from the other lines. Is there something that needed to be installed in the original installation" Or is there anything that can be added to stop it at each phone? Please let me know if you can help! Thanks in advance. Cliff Keeney ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 22:32:04 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TV Networks Pin Hope on Sweeps as Ratings Grim By Ben Berkowitz and Michele Gershberg LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Where have all the couch potatoes gone? The answer could mean hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising revenue for the top six U.S. television networks. Average total viewership has dropped since the start of the fall season by nearly 1 million compared with last season, and the audience of younger men has fallen off sharply. Everything from video games, to flawed ratings surveys, to bad TV have been cited as reasons, but whatever the cause, the networks are pinning their hopes for a rebound on the crucial "sweeps" ratings period that starts on Thursday night. Have men ages 18 to 34 tuned out because shows such as "The Next Joe Millionaire" on Fox and "Coupling" on NBC failed to connect, as critics say? Or is the problem that they are still watching but not being counted, as the networks complain? The stakes are high: analysts said a drop of a few percentage points in total viewership over the year could translate into $300 million to $500 million in free commercial time top networks would have to dish out to advertisers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36315745 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 22:30:44 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon DSL Available to 66,000 More Customers in Mass. Makes DSL Available to 66,000 More Customers Across 30 Communities BOSTON, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- More consumers and businesses in more than 30 communities in Massachusetts can now enjoy the benefits of high-speed Internet access from Verizon. In the third quarter of this year, Verizon Online introduced additional DSL availability in communities in Greater Boston, Cape Cod and Western Massachusetts, as well as in cities and towns north, south and west of Boston. The expansion over the past three months includes the increased presence of broadband in communities where DSL is already available to many customers. With the majority of the company's switching centers in Massachusetts already set up to provide DSL, Verizon has focused its efforts on finding ways to expand broadband access even further. Today, that effort has paid off as DSL is available to an additional 66,000 customers in various urban and rural areas throughout the state including, Amesbury, Attleboro, Beverly, Boston, Braintree, Bridgewater, Canton, Franklin, Hopkinton, Harwich, Hyannis, Lawrence, Malden, Manomet, Marlboro, Milford, Needham, New Bedford, Northampton, Norwood, Pittsfield, Quincy, Rockland, Sagamore, Sharon, Walpole, Wareham, Wellesley, Weymouth, Wilmington, Winchester and Worcester. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 22:59:26 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: For Media-Savvy Tots, TV And DVD Compete With ABCs By Natalie Hopkinson Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 29, 2003; Page A01 Infants, toddlers and preschoolers are spending far more time watching DVDs and clicking TV remote controls and computer mice than with books, according to a Kaiser Foundation study released yesterday. The effect of such high-intensity media exposure is unclear, researchers said, but what is clear is that the under-6 set is becoming far more media-savvy than anyone expected. "We are pushing all these media further and further down to the crib," said Matthew Melmed, executive director of the Washington-based children's advocacy group Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families. Melmed and a host of other children's advocates, educational experts and children's TV producers were on hand yesterday to discuss the Kaiser findings at the foundation's Barbara Jordan Conference Center downtown. According to the 1,065 parents surveyed for the national study "Zero to Six: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers," a quarter of children under 2 have televisions in their bedrooms. Two-thirds of kids under 2 use some kind of screen media (computer, DVD, television) on a typical day, for an average of about two hours a day. And for children under the age of 6, the average of two hours a day spent with screen media is more than three times the amount of time they spend reading or being read to. The foundation noted that the study is the first of its kind and that more research is needed. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31913-2003Oct28.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 23:06:16 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: E-Vote Software Leaked Online By Kim Zetter Software used by an electronic voting system manufactured by Sequoia Voting Systems has been left unprotected on a publicly available server, raising concerns about the possibility of vote tampering in future elections. The software, made available at ftp.jaguar.net, is stored on an FTP server owned by Jaguar Computer Systems, a firm that provides election support to a California county. The software is used for placing ballots on voting kiosks and for storing and tabulating results for the Sequoia AVC Edge touch-screen system . The security breach means that anyone with a minimal amount of technical knowledge could see how the code works and potentially exploit it. According to a computer programmer who discovered the unprotected server, the files also contain Visual Basic script and code for voting system databases that could allow someone to learn how to rig voting results. The programmer spoke on condition of anonymity. Jaguar blocked public access to the FTP site late Wednesday. Representatives from Jaguar did not return calls for comment. Sequoia said it was disturbed that the proprietary code had been accessed in an "inappropriate manner," and went on to blast Jaguar in an e-mail to Wired News about the security gaffe. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61014,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 23:11:19 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Mac Supercomputer Just Got Faster By Leander Kahney SANTA CLARA, California -- The latest semi-official numbers concerning the speed of Virginia Tech's "Big Mac" supercomputer rank it as the third-fastest machine on the planet. The system's architect, Srinidhi Varadarajan, said Tuesday evening that the newly completed supercomputer operates at 9.55 trillion operations a second, or 9.55 teraflops. The number has been in flux in the last few weeks as Varadarajan tunes the system. Early numbers suggested the Big Mac was the world's second-fastest supercomputer. A subsequent report dropped the machine to fourth place. The latest test vaults Big Mac -- the first supercomputer made of Macs -- to the third slot among the world's Top 500 fastest machines, trailing Japan's Earth Simulator and Los Alamos National Laboratory's ASCI Q. The final rankings will be revealed in mid-November at the International Supercomputer Conference . The latest number won't go lower, and may go even higher, Varadarajan said. System optimization is nearly finished, but "we still have a few more tricks," he said. "We're hoping for a 10 percent boost, hopefully shortly." Whatever the final score, the Big Mac supercomputer is an astonishing achievement, one that is propelling Varadarajan to prominence in the supercomputing world. A 30-year-old assistant professor of computer science at Virginia Tech, Varadarajan was unheard of before planning, financing and building the Big Mac in about six months for just $5.2 million. Most other machines of its class cost upward of $40 million and take years to assemble. http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,61005,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 23:24:44 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 10.22 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 10.22 October 30, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] Supreme Court to Review Nevada ID Law [2] Senate Approves Weak Spam Legislation [3] Maryland Legislators Question Voting Machine Report [4] Worldwide NGO Coalition Urges ICANN To Safeguard Privacy [5] EU Set to Implement Privacy Directive [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Bookstore: How to Get Anything on Anybody [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.22.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 22:24:45 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DirecTV deal may need more conditions-source By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell has concerns about News Corp.'s purchase of a controlling stake in satellite television service DirecTV that may necessitate more conditions, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Powell has previously said the agency would focus in its review on the combined company's potential power over content distribution. News Corp. owns a television network, movie studio and a television program production studio. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36322639 ------------------------------ From: mark_galeck_spam_magnet@yahoo.com (Mark Galecki) Subject: FTC Complaint Number For Excite Telecom Date: 30 Oct 2003 18:21:24 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, yesterday I posted a message here warning not to buy Excite Telecom cards. Today I contacted the Federal Trade Commission, which investigates fraudulent calling cards. They took my complaint and assigned case number 3488157. If you have calling cards from Excite Telecom, you might want to check that you are charged exactly as advertised. If you are overcharged, please direct the complaint to FTC at toll-free 1-877-382-4357, and you can hook it up under the above case number. If enough people complain, they will prosecute. Let's not allow some exec from Excite Telecom stuff their pockets with our money. Thank you for your attention, Mark Galecki ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl Subject: Re: Help With DSL Modem Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 09:21:37 -0500 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ My DSL modem is a separate device from the router. You can use either a standard (e.g. V.90) modem or a DSL modem with a router. On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 17:35:17 -0500, SELLCOM Tech support wrote: > londonstimes@cablelynx.com (Rick London) posted on that vast internet > thingie: >> A friend of mine just started college (online). He's disabled and >> wanted my help with his DSL modem. He does not have DSL service but >> the seller who sold it to him told him it would work with regular dial >> up. He has Windows ME. > A DSL modem is a type of router and not a dialup modem. > Steve at SELLCOM > http://www.sellcom.com > Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, > Vtech 5.8Ghz; EnGenius NEW EP490 4line (the longest range), > TMC ET4000 Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, WatchGuard firewall, Polycom! > Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Minuteman UPS systems > If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: nstrom@ananzi.co.za (Nathan Strom) Subject: Re: AT&T Pushes Further Into BellSouth Territory Date: 31 Oct 2003 06:32:58 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Eric Friedebach wrote in message news:: > PHILADELPHIA, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Long-distance telephone company AT&T > Corp. said on Thursday it started providing local telephone service in > Alabama and Tennessee, pushing further into markets currently > dominated by BellSouth Corp. > http://www.forbes.com/technology/newswire/2003/10/30/rtr1129294.html Interesting considering that AT&T just left the local telephone service business here in CT ... Maybe they'd rather compete with BellSouth vs. SBC. ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Help With DSL Modem Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 09:45:11 -0600 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org londonstimes@cablelynx.com (Rick London) wrote: > A friend of mine just started college (online). He's disabled and > wanted my help with his DSL modem. He does not have DSL service but > the seller who sold it to him told him it would work with regular dial > up. I just got ADSL on my phone line, and along with the DSL unit came a bunch of filters. If you don't plug a phone in through one of these filters, the line is full of high pitched static. If for some reason you have DSL enabled on the line, you can't use regular phone gear w/o special care (filters). And the unit is useless without those noises. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 10:29:38 -0600 Darren Harris wrote: > I am having serious problems with my internet connection. I have > Verizon for phone service, as well as Verizon online. My line is used > mostly for my internet connection and I don't even make one regular > call a week. > I've been having trouble with line noise that Verizon will not fix. As > a result, whenever it rains I lose the ability to receive data and > have to wait for whatever needs to dry out to return to normal so I > can have normal internet access again. > I can only assume that there is something in Windows/Explorer that > puts a stop on attempts to load web pages whenever line noise exceeds > a certain level. Nah -- DSL calls are just like voice and regular data calls in that too much line noise will cause the data to be unusable -- remember, DSL data is transferred across your phone line as audio, just like a regular modem call or a fax call is. The only difference is that DSL lines use much higher frequencies than regular data calls ... but they can interfere with each other, which is why you need filters on the phones connected to your phone line (so you don't hear the annyoing DSL datastream while in the middle of a voice convo, and so it doesn't mess up traditional data/fax calls). If they won't fix the problem, file a complaint with your state Public Utilities/Public Service commission. > I estimate that over the last several years, Verizon's incompetence > has cost me well over $1000 just in reconnecting charges alone, Reconnecting charges? You shouldn't be charged each time you connect, or am I misunderstanding you ...? > In fact, two days ago, after I explained my internet connection issues > to a Verizon representative, she said that they are not responsible > for correcting my internet connection problems.(Did I mention that I > have Verizon Online?). So I had to remind her that I still have an > increase in line noise when it is damp out. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Verizon Online is undoubtedly a separate division of the company that is not regulated by the state utility regulators. SBC pulls the same BS. Then they can claim that they are different companies and just point fingers. Escalate with Verizon the telco and with Verizon Online, and file complaints with the New York utilities regulator. I had to do it with SBC, and it worked. Ohio has spanked SBC to the tune of millions of dollars in fines, and if you call the Ohio PUC on them, they will suddenly find religion. I don't know about Verizon, as I've only lived out here in SoCal and been a Verizon customer for a few months. And I can't get DSL anyhow (about 5 1/2 miles from my CO). JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: yeltrabnhoj@email.com Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 19:41:01 GMT Organization: (reverse to reply) (John Bartley, K7AAY, Portland OR) On 30 Oct 2003 09:23:18 -0800, Searcher7@mail.con2.com (Darren Harris) wrote: > Anyway, has anyone else had a simular problem? And if so, how was it > resolved? I'm really tired of having to go the the library whenever I > have to log-on on a rainy day. Most state PUCs don't care if you can't get data over a POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) line. It isn't written into the tariffs (the standards the phone companies have to adhere to), so telco is within their rights to tell you to go fly a kite, and not to do anything unless you buy broadband of some kind. POTS lines weren't designed for digital data, and cleaning up all the problems with POTS lines so they all worked properly for data would bankrupt most phone companies. HOWEVER, you _can_ work around this by claiming you have _fax_ problems when it rains. Tell telco faxes received have multiple black horizontal lines, or you can't connect at all after dialing. Of course, fax is just data over a phone line at 9600 baud, but for no good reason fax problems are resolvable whereas modem problems are ignorable. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 15:30:37 -0500 In article , Searcher7@mail.con2.com says: > I am having serious problems with my internet connection. I have > Verizon for phone service, as well as Verizon online. My line is used > mostly for my internet connection and I don't even make one regular > call a week. > I've been having trouble with line noise that Verizon will not fix. As > a result, whenever it rains I lose the ability to receive data and > have to wait for whatever needs to dry out to return to normal so I > can have normal internet access again. > I can only assume that there is something in Windows/Explorer that > puts a stop on attempts to load web pages whenever line noise exceeds > a certain level. This makes re-booting necessary in order to reset my > system so I can try again. The times between when I have to re-boot my > pc can vary greatly. I may have to re-boot every few minutes (if I'm > lucky). Other times the noise is just too much and I can't even get as > far as loading a single page. It's not IE, but your operating system that keeps sending requests to the DSL modem and then gets not response from it. At that point it just hangs. Only advice I can give you is to become the biggest pain in the ass that you can be to the Verizon service folks. But you have to know the rules. 1) NEVER, EVER say it's a line used for data. Service droids are told to automatically dismiss complaints when that issue is brought up. You probably get some attenuation and whining when it's raining or windy. Tell them that instead. 2) Keep a record of who you talked to, time/date etc. Hell, check your state laws on recording and record it if you must. 3) Ask for a supervisor when a droid doesn't give you what you want. 4) When all else fails, invocation of the Utilities Commission doesn't hurt at all. 5) Be persistent. Daily calls until it's resolved. Had the very same problem here in the pre-DSL days. Every time it would rain or there was a little wind my line would go to crap. I called, and called, and used the above tactics for about three or four months. Finally they re-cabled my entire neighborhood. The main problem in most communities is that the cable plant is so old (Sometimes up to 60 years in some locations.) that insulation breaks down, water gets in and the rest is history. I think Verizon is taking the long run look at cable plant. They desperately want to string fiber (They SHOULD bury it.) but didn't want to actively share it with competitors. I think the FCC addressed that issue recently so we should start seeing a build out start in a couple of quarters, more likely in one of their more profitable areas. I am so hoping Providence is one of those places and suspect it will be. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? From: null@mail.org (Natalie Wills) Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 21:58:36 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Gordon S. Hlavenka by saying: > I have had similar problems with Yahoo mail. The spam just pours Turn *ON* the Yahoo spam blocker in your settings, this puts spam in a separate folder. If you do, I bet 85-90% of your spam will disappear. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's true, and I do that. But the spam folder counts against the total allotment allowed (I think it is 6 mb allowed). Yahoo graciously says "we will automatically dump out this spam in fourteen days if you wish." Trouble is I cannot go nearly that long without having it dumped. Hell, some days, one or two of the daily virus spams ostensibly from Microsoft takes up all my allowed space. I've cleaned it out -- dumped the entire 'bulk mail' (as Yahoo calls it) unread into the trash bin then forced an erasure on it all, then come back an hour later and found I was once again at 125 percent of capacity and a snotty note from Yahoo admins saying "if you are going to keep on using this much space, you should agree to buy a bigger box" (along with the other amenities they have for sale such as yourname@yourname.com vanity addresses. One day I sent them a note and said I would buy a larger amount of space for a mailbox as soon as they began paying reparations to netizens who get victimized by the sloppy job they (Yahoo) does of filtering out worthless, virus-ridden spam. I can see why they bought out SBC and get along so famously with SBC. SBC doesn't believe in filtering either, with their holier than thou attitude of "we have no idea what you want in your mailbox" so therefore they do nothing with it. Yahoo at least makes a feeble attempt which is more than SBC thinks about. PAT] ------------------------------ From: c_oves@bellsouth.net (c_oves) Subject: Avaya Display Phone Question? Date: 31 Oct 2003 14:48:28 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com My shop has a Definity G3R switch and Avaya 8410D display phones. With our current setup when calling someone inside the office the persons name and number is displayed on the person's phone receiving the call (name on top - number on the bottom of the display). I would like to eliminate the number from displaying for a select few associates. Avaya support said it can be done, but they were going to charge me $290/hr to make the programming change. Can anyone tell me what I need to do to make this change, or point me to some documentation? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: miniotdr@yahoo.com (Marc) Subject: Fiber Characterization Services, How To Create Business ? Date: 31 Oct 2003 12:28:59 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com By Marc Duchesne, U.I. user interface 1. *Fiber Characterization Services* market opportunities. There is a tremendous need for *Fiber Characterization Services* and associated services (e.g. Fiber Plant Documentation) because of the current turmoil in the Telecoms marketplace. For instance, the survivor telcos have to maintain their existing networks with downsized internal resources, hence the need for outsourcing in fiber plant documentation and/ or maintenance. In the meantime, the consolidation leads those survivors to take over the infrastructures of their former rivals - now dead or under bankruptcy. Hence the need for help documenting the fiber plant, characterizing the fibers, etc. This newly marketed "Fiber Characterization" arena is still quite a green field, with a handful key players, which all launched their services over the last two or three years. Those are mainly the Test & Measurement vendors : EXFO, Acterna, NetTest, and some Network Equipment manufacturers & integrators : Corning, NCR... 2. *Fiber Characterization Services* business plan in brief. When starting from scratch, the best way to enter the FCS market segment is to go step by step through the following offers : - step one : Fiber Plant Documentation. Typically, the FPD service consists of processing the Acceptance test data gathered by the installer/contractor/telco in the field, for the FPD contractor to put together the Test Report and send it back to his customer. The next level is to provide also data analysis, which requires technical expertise and good knowledge of the fiber plant. Then comes the top level, when the customer wants its fiber plant to be documented but doesn't have any existing database. The FPD "premium service" will therefore include both "Visual" inspection of the cable plant and "Testing" of the fibers. The tests are the basic ones : OTDR, Loss test, Return Loss test, plus (today) optical connectors inspection. - step two : Fiber Plant Maintenance. Leverage on the perfect understanding and knowledge of the customer 's optical network infrastructure acquired with the FPD as described above. FPM requires know-how and expertise, for the contractor to manage high-standard SLAs with his customer(s). - step three : Fiber Characterization Services. Those are the *hot stuff* in today 's optical networking marketplace. Are meant for WDM high-speed networks, in the Long-Haul and the Metro arenas. Consist of the "basic tests" as shortly described above : OTDR, OLT, ORL, plus the "high-end" measurements : CD chromatic dispersion, PMD polarization mode dispersion, and upon request active wavelength measurement (i.e. testing live WDM transmission) - this last for maintenance purpose. All tests are *easy* to perform in the field, but require high-level expertise with the Dispersions analysis. In the "Fiber Characterization Services" business plan, the FCS by itself represents "only" 20% of the market potential for Fiber Testing : the first two levels FPD (Documentation) and FPM (Maintenance) are 80% of it. They target 100% of the optical networks carriers/owners/providers : Telecoms, but also LAN, Utilities, etc., whilst the FCS per say addresses "only" the WDM networks. FPD and FPM are mainstream cash-cows, FCS is the "image" and "high-profit" maker. 3. How to get started. Either go right upfront as a standalone contractor for the telcos and associates, or partner with an established FCS provider. Follow the step-by-step method : start with simple Fiber Plant Documentation services, then after acquisition of strong know-how extend the portfolio towards outsourced maintenance, finally going into full-blown Fiber Characterization services when a reputation of excellence is established. -------------------------- copyright (c) July 2003, Marc Duchesne, U.I. user interface marc_duchesne@userinterface.cc ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For October Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 2:00:00 EST Instead of changing the Digest over to an advrtising supported forum, I have always elected to keep it as a user supported forum, and for the most part keep it spam and virus free. I am *only* able to do this because of financial support from readers here, and if you would rather not see these messages every month, then please pitch in and help now and then! Consider it sort of like public radio, which goes on for days at a time trying to raise money ... and maybe I should adopt the same system. Turn over the entire Digest once or twice a year to fund raising (entire issues, etc) and stop doing it when the budget for the year has been raised. But for now, I will stick with the present system of devoting a few messages at the end of each month to raising money for the Digest publication expenses. Out of 400-500 messages per month, in a spam, virus free environment, two or three (only) devoted to fund raising. You know who you are; please provide some help here financially. You can use Pay Pal to donate with a credit/debit card by going to our web site http://telecom-digest.org and at the bottom of the home page look for the PayPal 'donate' button. Or if you prefer, send a check or money order to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, Kansas 67301-0050. The amount you send is entirely up to you. You know best how much you can afford and whether or not this Digest has any value for you. Thank you very much. Patrick Townson, Editor/Publisher TELECOM Digest ------------------------------ 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 #727 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Nov 1 21:45:03 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA22j2s25782; Sat, 1 Nov 2003 21:45:03 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2003 21:45:03 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311020245.hA22j2s25782@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 #728 TELECOM Digest Sat, 1 Nov 2003 21:45:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 728 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Verizon Wireless May Benefit From Rule Change (Monty Solomon) SBC Deploys Massive Effort to Restore; Maintain Network (Monty Solomon) High-Res Satellite Images of California Fires Show Effects (M Solomon) Blogger Dismissed From Microsoft (Monty Solomon) The Worst Place to Drop a Cellphone? Here's One (Monty Solomon) Gator Sinks Teeth Into New Image (Monty Solomon) How Good is Google? (Monty Solomon) +297 Aruba; NANP "Expansion" (Mark J Cuccia) Fax Spam: "Info 4 U Ltd" (John R. Covert) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (Al Gillis) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (Tom Betz) ISP Spam Filtering (was Re: Free eFax Going Away?) (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (Steve Michelson) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 21:18:07 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless May Benefit From Rule Change By Yukari Iwatani CHICAGO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - As wireless companies prepare for a new rule that will soon make it easier for cell phone users to switch carriers, Verizon Wireless looks poised to steal many of its rivals' customers. In the past, unhappy cell phone users might have put up with poor network quality or bad customer service because they did not want the hassle of a new phone number. But starting on Nov. 24, wireless operators must allow customers to keep their phone numbers when changing services. By some measures, about one in five U.S. wireless customers will change carriers in the 12 months after the rule takes effect. Many customers are committed to one- or two-year contracts, and businesses will wait to see how the wireless operators fare. But the new rule is still likely to increase turnover and costs in an already cut-throat industry. Analysts agree that Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. wireless operator, stands to draw the most migrating customers, followed by fifth-ranked Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTL). Opinions are mixed about Cingular Wireless , AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (NYSE:AWE), and Sprint PCS Group (NYSE:PCS) (NYSE:FON). - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36335051 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 21:21:34 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: SBC Deploys Massive Effort to Restore and Maintain Phone Network SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 31, 2003-- Nearly 3,000 technicians working to restore copper and fiber cable lines; back-up systems maintain service amidst power outages Responding to the series of devastating fires in Southern California, SBC California (NYSE:SBC) has engaged in one of the largest network restoration and maintenance efforts in its history. Nearly 3,000 technicians throughout the Southern California region are working to restore more than 400,000 feet of aerial cable burned during the fires, as well as an additional 300,000 feet of fiber cable. In the days following the start of the fires, SBC crews have already restored service to 65 remote terminals and placed 93,000 feet of fiber cable and 62,360 feet of copper cable in San Diego County. In the Moorpark, Simi Valley and Piru communities near Los Angeles, crews have replaced 30,190 feet of copper cable and 8,250 feet of fiber. As of Friday, October 31, approximately 11,900 SBC customers remained without service in San Diego County. Another 2,650 are without service near Los Angeles. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36340765 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 21:32:36 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: High-Resolution Satellite Images of California Fires Show Effects IKONOS Satellite Collects 2,000 sq km of Imagery East Of San Diego and Los Angeles Within Five Minutes DENVER, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- High-resolution satellite images of the California wild fires show wide area destruction along I-15 in San Bernardino, Calif. The images were taken by Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite on Tuesday, Oct. 28 while orbiting 423 miles above the Earth. The images show billowing plumes of cloud-like smoke near the town of Devore and around Arrowhead and Gregory lakes in the San Bernardino area approximately 80 miles east of Los Angeles. Some of the images are displayed using the near-infrared light spectrum. In these images the bright red areas actually show green or living vegetation. The blackened or charred areas in the satellite images show areas that have been burned by the wildfire. In one image, IKONOS has captured flames burning the forest near I-15 and I-215. These images are available to the public and media for free at http://www.spaceimaging.com/gallery/2003_fires . The news media may download these 300-dpi jpeg images as long as a mandatory photo credit is given to Space Imaging with each use. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200310302314_PRN__LATH126 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 21:41:02 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Blogger Dismissed From Microsoft Copy shop worker loses position after posting Mac photo By Jon Bonné MSNBC Oct. 30 - Michael Hanscom admits it probably wasn't the best idea. He thought the photo on his personal blog of Apple computers being offloaded at a Microsoft loading dock might get a couple of smirks from friends. He never imagined it would cost him his job. http://www.msnbc.com/news/986750.asp Even Microsoft wants G5s http://www.michaelhanscom.com/eclecticism/2003/10/even_microsoft_.html Of blogging and unemployment http://www.michaelhanscom.com/eclecticism/2003/10/of_blogging_and.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 22:04:32 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Worst Place to Drop a Cellphone? Here's One By MICHELLE O'DONNELL It was a natural reaction to a simple problem: a cellphone falls into a toilet, and the phone's owner seeks to retrieve it with some exploratory handiwork. But the bathroom happened to be on a Metro-North Railroad train. And in a twist worthy of a screwball comedy, the man's fishing expedition left his arm all too intimately attached to the stainless steel commode. Before too long, the ill-fated expedition on Wednesday and its rippling effects had left thousands of commuters inconvenienced as trains were rerouted while workers feverishly tried to free the man's arm. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/31/nyregion/31POTT.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2003 11:36:51 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Gator Sinks Teeth Into New Image By Stefanie Olsen Staff Writer, CNET News.com Gator, the controversial advertising software and e-wallet company, on Thursday changed its name to Claria, in a bid to distance itself from a brand that has become associated with allegations of "spyware." As previously reported, the Redwood City, Calif.-based company took the new name, saying it better reflects its other businesses. Shortly after its creation in 1998, the company began distributing a browser plug-in millions of people use to automatically fill in Web forms and passwords. That business is supported through the sale of advertising, which is targeted to specific users by monitoring their behavior as they surf the Web. Claria later spun off the ad business, called GAIN (Gator Advertising and Information Network) so that it could support other third-party plug-ins and build up the number of Web surfers in its ad network. As a result, it also created a large Internet advertising research and analysis unit. http://news.com.com/2100-1024-5099601.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2003 11:42:55 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: How Good is Google? The next hot internet stock From The Economist print edition Google is now more than a business: it is a cultural phenomenon. But where will it be in a few years? IF THE ultimate measure of impact is to have one's name become a new verb in the world's main languages, Google has reason to be proud. When they founded the company five years ago, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, friends at Stanford University, chose a word play on "googol"-the number 1 followed by 100 zeros-because their ambition was to organise the information overload of the internet in a transparent and superior way. These days, singles "google" suitors before agreeing to a date, housewives "google" recipes before cooking, and patients "google" their ailments before visiting doctors. Dave Gorman, a comedian, even has a popular show, the "Googlewhack Adventure"-a Googlewhack being what happens when two words are entered into Google and it comes back with exactly one match. As search engines go, in other words, Google has clearly been a runaway success. Not only is its own site the most popular for search on the web, but it also powers the search engines of major portals, such as Yahoo! and AOL. All told, 75% of referrals to websites now originate from Google's algorithms. That is power. http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2173573 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 19:38:03 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: +297 Aruba; NANP "Expansion" As was mentioned in two separate posts in a recent issue of TELECOM Digest, COUNTRY code +297 is for Aruba (and has been since the 1980s since Aruba in the southern Caribbean got its independence both politically *and* telephonically from +599 Dutch Antilles). As for NPA/Area code 297, within +1/NANP, it was mentioned by Pat that there is *NO* area code 297. (And Pat, if you used AT&T's "place name" services through the AT&T Operator to inquire if there was an Area Code 297 in use/existence, you were probably *charged* something like $2.00 for that bit of information. At least they started charging for that in Spring 1999 and continuing into 2000; I don't know if they were since forced by the FCC or complaints to stop charging; you *COULD* always dispute such charges when your bill comes or simply refuse to pay this unethical and IMO illegal charge altogather ... and as far as I know, *NO* other LD carrier/operator in the US charges one penny for such basic public information, despite the "claims" of AT&T; And then there's always the websites of Neuster-NANPA, http://www.nanpa.com and others, who have lists of area codes and such, available for free, remember that Neuster NANPA is the main source these days, right from the "horses' mouth"), Anyhow ... within the NANP (+1), the eighty *area* codes of the format N9X, of which 297 is part of, are all at this time presently reserved for some "future expansion of the NANP to a format longer than its ten-digit number structure". Present NANP-telco-industry predictions are that this may become necessary in the 2030-50 timeframe, and possibly even later than that. This is more-or-less what was predicted for the "exhaust of the current NANP format", some ten years ago, in the 1993-95 timeframe, that the NANP's current batch of three-digit area codes of the more generic NXX format would exhaust possibly at or shortly before the middle of the 21st Century. (The subject line I used, 'NANP "expansion"', right after '+297 Aruba' has *ABSOLTUELY NOTHING* to do nor is NOT to suggest, that +297 Aruba "could" become part of the NANP ... However, +297 Aruba is one of those few Caribbean area islands that has its own ITU-assigned country code that is *NOT* part of the NANP. NO, NANP expansion has to do with expanding the length of the existing ten-digit NANP format telephone number, NOT expanding the geographic boundaries of the NANP's coverage area). The *method* in which the NANP would expand beyond ten-digits has *NOT* been officially determined by the NANP-telco-industry forums (ATIS-INC, etc), even though there is a "draft" for how it will be done. And even if this draft proposal becomes "official", who knows if/how it could be changed or even discarded altogather whenever the NANP would need to expand, if there are new technologies and/or policies in place at that point "in the future". But right now, there has been talk that "maybe" the eighty N9X format codes that are "set aside" for expansion purposes could be "reclaimed" for actual assignment within a "ten-digit NANP", and that a completely different method could be used for going past ten-digits. The thought was that existing area codes could expand to four (or more) digits, by inserting a '9' between the first and present second digits of the present three-digit area code, with or without extra digits added in the number further down in the ten-digit format, thus giving an eleven (or more) digit overall NANP telephone number. (BTW, I am *not* counting any initial digit of +1 for the NANP's "Country" code; that would add an extra digit to the overall count, but that's how the NANP number would look "ovarall" from the "rest ... of-the-world") 212 NY "could expand" to 2912, 504 LA "could expand" to 5904, 671 Guam "could expand" to 6971, 403 AB "could expand" to 4903, 441 Bermuda "could expand" to 4941, 800, 888, 877, 866, toll free "could expand" to 8900, 8988, 8977, 8966, and so forth. By *NOT* assigning any three-digit codes of the N9X format, you could preserve this nice and free'd up "expansion range" where you could have a cutover period of parallel/permissive dialing allowing both the old and future formats co-existing for a period of time, without any clashes or ambiguities, or code/numbering/dialing conflicts. But if 297 had been assigned, whenever the current 27X area codes would be expanded to 297X, you would have a conflict with existing ten-digit numbers based on "assgined" 297 (as 297-NXX-xxxx) vs. the use of dialing in the expanded format for older 27X area codes (as 297X+ etc). This has all been mentioned here before in the Digest, and has also been mentioned that the NXX -> N9XX method of future NANP expansion was *NOT* a final/official word on the issue by the ATIS-INC. And even now, they "draft" proposal has discarded this possible method altogather, in favor of one which to me is more cumbersome and possibly unworkable in the long run. However, since the need for expansion beyond ten-digits is now projected for several more decades into the future, and IMO will probably be pushed out even further since there is now a good "grip" on numbering and code assignments, there "could" probably be a sane re-review by industry and regulatory of just *how* NANP expansion should occur at some point (hopefully WAY WAY well out into) the future. Mark J. Cuccia ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 21:39:24 EST From: John R. Covert Subject: Fax Spam: "Info 4 U Ltd" City of Coquitlan Bylaw Enforcement & Licencing Fax: (604) 927-3445 Dear Sir or Madam: Attached is an unsolicited commercial Fax I've recently received from a company calling itself "Info 4 U Ltd" operating out of a P.O. Box at B3-1410 Parkway Boulevard in your fair city. As you will notice, this company is attempting to induce me to send a fax to a 900 number at a price of $3.95 per minute in order to get them to stop sending me faxes. Although they also appear to provide an 800 number for opting out of future advertisements, I have found the 800 number always busy. Now, I don't know anything about Canadian Fax Spamming laws, but I do know that here in these United States, under federal law, specifically 47USC227(b)(1)(C), each such fax sent to an unwilling recipient may incur a private right of action for between $500 and $1500. That applies even to the first unsolicited commercial fax; US law is intended to protect my privacy and not require me to waste my time asking to be taken off hundreds of random companies' fax spam lists. I'm also wondering what sort of business permit this company has allowing it to operate in your town, and if you can give me any more information to help identify the people behind this operation. I will contact your office by telephone in a week or two, and hope you will have a bit of time to research this company's licence by then. Sincerely, John R. Covert ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 20:38:42 -0800 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com These symptoms sound like those suffered by a friend of mine. Phone worked fine but DSL line was lousy UNLESS someone was on the phone! To me, that meant sealing current problems! Since data connections don't draw much current across the line, corrosion can build up in the numerous splices and terminals between your demarc and the CO. That corrosion introduces noise, bit errors and all sorts of what's called transmission impariments. Back in the "good old days" those problems were corrected by introducing some DC flow on the line -- called sealing current. That small current would punch through corrosion and improve the transmission characteristics of the line for a while (until the corrison built back up again. It didn't take much, either, in some cases). When your telephone is off-hook it causes ~20 milliamps of current to flow, enough to breakdown the corrison and possibly clear up the DSL connection. When the telephone is back on-hook the impariments begin to return and cause trouble again. So try this: When your line is having difficulties take the phone off hook for a few minutes (use a pillow on the handset so the howler doesn't drive you nuts). Don't hang up but try your DSL and see if it's improved. If it has, call your telephone company and complain about a noisy telephone line. DON'T say a word about data, DSL, computers or anything but a noisy line. Chances are good they'll find something to fix! Or as someone else recommended complain about poor fax transmissions, with black spots and bars all over the faxes you send (don't say it happens on faxes you receive -- they might one to see one!) Good luck! Steven J Sobol wrote in message news:telecom22.727.14@telecom-digest.org: > Darren Harris wrote: >> I am having serious problems with my internet connection. I have >> Verizon for phone service, as well as Verizon online. My line is used >> mostly for my internet connection and I don't even make one regular >> call a week. >> I've been having trouble with line noise that Verizon will not fix. As >> a result, whenever it rains I lose the ability to receive data and >> have to wait for whatever needs to dry out to return to normal so I >> can have normal internet access again. >> I can only assume that there is something in Windows/Explorer that >> puts a stop on attempts to load web pages whenever line noise exceeds >> a certain level. > Nah -- DSL calls are just like voice and regular data calls in that > too much line noise will cause the data to be unusable -- remember, > DSL data is transferred across your phone line as audio, just like a > regular modem call or a fax call is. The only difference is that DSL > lines use much higher frequencies than regular data calls ... but they > can interfere with each other, which is why you need filters on the > phones connected to your phone line (so you don't hear the annyoing > DSL datastream while in the middle of a voice convo, and so it doesn't > mess up traditional data/fax calls). > If they won't fix the problem, file a complaint with your state Public > Utilities/Public Service commission. >> I estimate that over the last several years, Verizon's incompetence >> has cost me well over $1000 just in reconnecting charges alone, > Reconnecting charges? You shouldn't be charged each time you connect, > or am I misunderstanding you ...? >> In fact, two days ago, after I explained my internet connection issues >> to a Verizon representative, she said that they are not responsible >> for correcting my internet connection problems.(Did I mention that I >> have Verizon Online?). So I had to remind her that I still have an >> increase in line noise when it is damp out. > Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Verizon Online is undoubtedly a > separate division of the company that is not regulated by the state > utility regulators. > SBC pulls the same BS. Then they can claim that they are different > companies and just point fingers. > Escalate with Verizon the telco and with Verizon Online, and file > complaints with the New York utilities regulator. > I had to do it with SBC, and it worked. Ohio has spanked SBC to the > tune of millions of dollars in fines, and if you call the Ohio PUC on > them, they will suddenly find religion. I don't know about Verizon, as > I've only lived out here in SoCal and been a Verizon customer for a > few months. And I can't get DSL anyhow (about 5 1/2 miles from my CO). > JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services > 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 > Steve Sobol, Proprietor > 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 02:27:40 UTC Organization: XOme > I've been having trouble with line noise that Verizon will not fix. As > a result, whenever it rains I lose the ability to receive data and > have to wait for whatever needs to dry out to return to normal so I > can have normal internet access again. Verizon is particularly careless in my area (Yonkers, NY) about properly protecting its copper from water. We have had several lines that have the same problem. |I always wanted to be someone,| Tom Betz, Generalist | |but now I think I should have | Want to send me email? | |been a wee bit more specific. | | ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 23:55:14 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: ISP Spam Filtering (was Re: Free eFax Going Away?) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: > ... I can see why they [Yahoo] bought out SBC and get along so famously > with SBC. SBC doesn't believe in filtering either, with their holier > than thou attitude of "we have no idea what you want in your mailbox" I would dump my ISP like yesterday's dishwater if they started messing with my mail. I don't _expect_ them to have any idea what I want in my mailbox, and if they start getting delusions of clairvoyance I'm hitting the street. While it's true that I don't want spam in my mailbox, I don't trust anyone else to know what my definition of "spam" is. I'll deal with it locally, thank you. While I probably don't get the volume of mail that TELECOM Digest generates, I do get 200 - 300 messages daily (most of them spam) and I take care of the filtering myself. It just so happens, coincidentally, that my current ISP is SBC/Yahoo :-) They do segregate "junk" messages into a separate folder, but I have my account set to dump the "Junk" folder into my inbox along with everything else. It's OK if an ISP wants to _offer_ spam filtering -- but they'd better have a way to turn it off or bypass it! Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have Yahoo email; I used to have SBC-DSL as an ISP with email. When Yahoo merged (bought out, whatever) with SBC to become SBC-Yahoo, I had that for awhile also. SBC does *not* have any sort of filtering of spam. They just toss (or rather, flood) you with it. SBC/Yahoo it all depends. If you get your email from the SBC 'side' of it, then still no filtering. If you get email from the Yahoo 'side' of it, then there is a spam trap. Yahoo still offers free email and on that free email 'side' they offer the spam trap. I suppose I should be thankful for having free email at all from Yahoo (where SBC gives *nothing* for free.) Yahoo at least makes a rudimentary effort to sort spam from real mail by putting what they perceive is spam in a separate file. Yahoo makes some really intelligent choices; it is very seldom upon my examination of the spam box that there is anything there I would treat differently. If anything, spammers are getting sophisticated enough that their junk passes muster and gets into the real mail box. My complaint was that SBC (on its 'side' regards email) doesn't even attempt to sort any thing into a 'spam file'. There is no such thing. On SBC, if you get 300 pieces of mail they're just all listed there. Yahoo on the other hand does a reasonably good job of sorting spam into its box, **but after you have examined it and taken out what you want, YOU have to toss out the rest.** Even that is fine, but Yahoo only gives you 6 mb space for all mail total, and sometimes the spam takes up all of it! Then I get a note from Yahoo saying 'well if you are going to use that much space for email you will need to buy more space from us.' Dammit, if sorting out the virus email purporting to be from Micosoft every hour or two isn't fast enough then having Yahoo saying 'as a courtesy we will dump it out every fourteeen days as needed' sure won't work! That was my complaint, that Yahoo keeps telling me to buy more space to hold spam/viruses I don't want anyway. And the 'telecom_news' group over there gets at least a couple dozen viruses each day, usually more. Lisa goes over there and whacks it out a couple times daily. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steve Michelson Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2003 11:04:17 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net I believe it is more a legal decision, than a religious "holier than thou" decisision about whether or how to block spam. If a service provider blocks certain e-mail based on their own criteria, they are now in the business of filtering (or censuring) content, and that implies, I believe, some legal liabilities if they end up blocking a certain important e-mail, or if an unwanted (e.g., containing a certain type of graphic) e-mail shows up in the wrong mailbox and causes harm to an individual. For better or worse, they have made a decision not to take on this potential liability. TELECOM Digest Editor noted, in news:telecom22.727.17@telecom-digest.org: > with SBC. SBC doesn't believe in filtering either, with their holier > than thou attitude of "we have no idea what you want in your mailbox" > so therefore they do nothing with it. Yahoo at least makes a feeble > attempt which is more than SBC thinks about. PAT] TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No one is asking SBC to try and think for themselves on what is and what is not spam. If they would simply make some *reasonable choices* about what to put in a spam box which you, the user, still had to review and toss as desired. Do they think *anyone* wants to get a dozen 'enlarge your penis' messages every day and a dozen or more Nigerian fraud emails every day? Even Yahoo can figure out what to do with all those every day, along with the 'install this important patch' messages. On Yahoo I can go along with one huge checkmark and send them all straight to hell. On SBC you have to go through every damn one of them and check them off one by one. I think SBC's problem is they are too cheap to buy a good program like Spam Assassin or similar so they let their users fight with it, then claim "we just do not know what you want and don't want". I don't expect them to know what I want, just make a few simple decisions. Cable One ( http://cableone.net ) can do that. 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #728 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Nov 2 15:52:12 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA2KqC501216; Sun, 2 Nov 2003 15:52:12 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 15:52:12 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311022052.hA2KqC501216@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 #729 TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 Nov 2003 15:52:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 729 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson MIT Stops the Music/Legal Problems Cloud Future of MIT's Cable (Solomon) EFFector 16.29: Students Fight E-Voting Firm (Monty Solomon) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (Hank Fung) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (Steven J Sobol) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (COTTP) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (Linuxfreak) Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. (Ken Nelson) Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. (John McHarry) How to Get a Frame or MMS From an IP Cam Using a Mobile Phone? (Mario) Re: +297 Aruba; NANP "Expansion" (jbl) Re: Hotel With $10 Surcharges For 10-Mile LD Calls (Ken Nelson) ZPDI (Mark) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (COTTP) KX-TD816 With SBC Voicemail (Paul Stew) Re: ISP Spam Filtering (was Re: Free eFax Going Away?) (Ed Clarke) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 01:24:26 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: MIT Stops the Music / Legal Problems Cloud Future of MIT's Cable By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff, 11/1/2003 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shut down a much-heralded campus music network that was supposed to provide a legal alternative to unauthorized file-swapping software. The MIT LAMP (for Library Access to Music Project) network, although not a download service, was to have offered thousands of popular tunes over the school's cable television network, in an arrangement that MIT officials had believed was legal under US copyright law. But this week, the school was informed that the music files that it had purchased for about $30,000 from Seattle-based Loudeye Inc. could not be legally used for this purpose. Loudeye sells digital copies of music from major record companies. But according to the Los Angeles Times, record company officials told Loudeye that their contracts did not permit Loudeye recordings to be used on the MIT network. Loudeye informed MIT of the problem, and the school shut down the LAMP network to avoid the possibility of a legal dispute with the record companies. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2003/11/01/mit_stops_the_music/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 00:48:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 16.29: Students Fight E-Voting Firm EFFector Vol. 16, No. 29 October 25, 2003 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 268th Issue of EFFector: * Students Fight E-Voting Firm with Electronic Civil Disobedience * IEEE E-Voting Update: Progress at Austin Meeting * EFF Seeks Media Interns, Spanish Translator * Deep Links (9): MPAA Debuts Classroom Guide to "Digital Citizenship" * Staff Calendar: 10.27.03 - Gwen Hinze speaks at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH; 10.29.03 - Fred von Lohmann speaks at the Beverly Hills Bar Association, Beverly Hills, CA. * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/16/29.php ------------------------------ From: fungus@OCF.Berkeley.EDU (Hank Fung) Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 05:38:11 UTC Organization: Univ. of California Berkeley Open Computing Facility In article , Steven J Sobol wrote: > Escalate with Verizon the telco and with Verizon Online, and file > complaints with the New York utilities regulator. > I had to do it with SBC, and it worked. Ohio has spanked SBC to the > tune of millions of dollars in fines, and if you call the Ohio PUC on > them, they will suddenly find religion. I don't know about Verizon, as > I've only lived out here in SoCal and been a Verizon customer for a > few months. And I can't get DSL anyhow (about 5 1/2 miles from my CO). Different Verizons have different reputations. Up in your neck of the woods, the old ConTel has an excellent reputation of planning and customer service, at least before it was swallowed by GTE. GTE has been described as some as "America's answer to third world telephony", and legally speaking, even to this day, the DSL service is provided by GTE, only doing business as Verizon Online. Hank Fung fungus@ocf.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 01:26:04 -0600 yeltrabnhoj@email.com wrote: > On 30 Oct 2003 09:23:18 -0800, Searcher7@mail.con2.com (Darren Harris) > wrote: >> Anyway, has anyone else had a simular problem? And if so, how was it >> resolved? I'm really tired of having to go the the library whenever I >> have to log-on on a rainy day. > Most state PUCs don't care if you can't get data over a POTS (Plain > Old Telephone Service) line. It isn't written into the tariffs (the > standards the phone companies have to adhere to), so telco is within > their rights to tell you to go fly a kite, and not to do anything > unless you buy broadband of some kind. This is true. DSL isn't regulated. OTOH, when I had my recently-documented problem, PUCO made SBC give me my DSL money back as well as my POTS money. OT*O*OH, if I didn't have major problems with dialtone, I would probably have been screwed out of about $100 of DSL charges - or would have had to take SBC to court. [snip good suggestions] JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2003 22:26:23 -0500 In article , spammers_lie@pobox.com says: >> I've been having trouble with line noise that Verizon will not fix. As >> a result, whenever it rains I lose the ability to receive data and >> have to wait for whatever needs to dry out to return to normal so I >> can have normal internet access again. > Verizon is particularly careless in my area (Yonkers, NY) about > properly protecting its copper from water. We have had several lines > that have the same problem. As I posted earlier -- it's because cable plant in the northeast is by and large, ancient. They may have tried to make those cables UV resistant but over time that resistance breaks down, and plastics/vinyls etc. break down too. That means water gets in. Add to that the bridging etc. that's happened over the years and you're setting up for one hellish time in the future. But hopefully they'll start deploying fiber sooner than later. It'll give the telecom sector a little boost when they do, and more importantly we'll have another broadband provider that's more than just voice but video and data. ------------------------------ From: Linuxfreak Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Date: 01 Nov 2003 22:15:52 -0600 Organization: Linuxfreaks Of Tuxas. Searcher7@mail.con2.com (Darren Harris) writes: > I am having serious problems with my internet connection. I have > Verizon for phone service, as well as Verizon online. My line is used > mostly for my internet connection and I don't even make one regular > call a week. > I've been having trouble with line noise that Verizon will not fix. As > a result, whenever it rains I lose the ability to receive data and > have to wait for whatever needs to dry out to return to normal so I > can have normal internet access again. Yeah, I know what a pain it is when this happened to me. First, there would be the noise, interfering with my internet connection. Then, the noise would get louder and louder. Finally, the phone line would stop working altogether. I just kept reporting it each and every time it happened. Weeks would go by without any rain, yet when it rained more than just a little bit, then the noise would return to the phone line. I would immediately unplug everything connected to the phone line except one phone, the rotary dial wall phone. The noise, that distinctive noise that seems to come only from water coming into contact with the phone line somehow, would still be there, demonstrating that the noise was not coming from any equipment on my phone line. Then, I would call the repair number, report the problem, then they would use their test equipment to examine the line, always confirming the problem. After the first time this happened, every time I had to report it again, I would also report that this had happened before, and that the problem had not been fixed the last time I reported it. Sometimes the line had dried out by the time a telephone repair person came out to take a look at it. I don't know how many times I reported it. I just kept reporting it until the problem was finally fixed. Yeah, I never mentioned internet connection problems to them. Just kept reporting the noise on the phone line. Of course, my problem was different in that the phone line would completely stop working. Every time it rains and you can hear the noise on the line, report the problem. Keep notes, in case you want to bring the matter to the attention of your state's Public Utility Comission or equivalent. In my case, even though it took far too long, my phone line was finally fixed. But, every time it happened, I reported it. Later, Your friendly neighbourhood Linuxfreak. (The email address will be good once you change the dot 0 dot to dot 20 dot.) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. From: Ken Nelson Reply-To: Ken Nelson Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 02:07:10 GMT About this: > "St. Pierre and Miquelon, formerly an overseas territory > (1816-1976) and department (1976-85) made the transition to > territorial collectivity in 1985. It consists of two groups > of islands near the SW coast of Newfoundland, inhabited by > fishermen. The exports are chiefly fish products.... Fish? Isn't the biggest export booze? Probably the next exchange earner, if not an export, is tourism. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 13:05:17 -0500 Wes Leatherock wrote: > I wonder what offices St. Pierre and Miquelon home on. Somewhere, way back in the archives, is a posting about back in the old days when you weren't supposed to call there after a certain time at night because the operator went to bed. I guess the operator in Canada could ring in for a real emergency. ------------------------------ From: mandm@flashnet.it (Mario) Subject: How to Get a Frame or MMS From an IP Cam Using a Mobile Phone? Date: 2 Nov 2003 06:53:56 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello, Excuse me if I am not so clear on what I a looking for, but its getting very hard to find any software,application or information that will let me access or get a frame (still image) from a web cam or ip cam. I have different ip cams connected to the internet, they continuously send images refreshed over the internet. I would like some kind of software, application or the necessary routines in order to be able to send a frame to the mobile phone that tried to access the ip address of the given ip cam. Or some other way will be the mobile sends an sms with the mobile cam ip address and in return gets an mms with the cam image frame. Something like this. I am not sure if what I need is wap, xhtml, java, or mms sending after a a mobile requests it. How can I achieve this? Please refer me to some software developer that you may know that let's me achieve this. Do you know any websites that already provide such a service? I mean they have web cams from which you can get an image from the mobile cellular phone? I may contact them and ask them how they did it. All your help regarding this is deeply appreciated. Thanks, Mario ------------------------------ From: jbl Subject: Re: +297 Aruba; NANP "Expansion" Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 12:20:00 -0700 Organization: On the desert Reply-To: jbl@spamblocked.com In , Mark J Cuccia wrote: > As for NPA/Area code 297, within +1/NANP, it was mentioned by Pat that > there is *NO* area code 297. (And Pat, if you used AT&T's "place name" > services through the AT&T Operator to inquire if there was an Area Code > 297 in use/existence, you were probably *charged* something like $2.00 > for that bit of information. At least they started charging for that > in Spring 1999 and continuing into 2000; I don't know if they were since > forced by the FCC or complaints to stop charging; you *COULD* always > dispute such charges when your bill comes or simply refuse to pay this > unethical and IMO illegal charge altogather ... and as far as I know, > *NO* other LD carrier/operator in the US charges one penny for such basic > public information, despite the "claims" of AT&T; And then there's always > the websites of Neuster-NANPA, http://www.nanpa.com and others, who have > lists of area codes and such, available for free, remember that Neuster > NANPA is the main source these days, right from the "horses' mouth"), My favorite site for this sort of information, in part because of the rich auxiliary and historical information, is of course the one maintained by long-time c.d.t poster Linc Madison and available at http://www.lincmad.com/ . /JBL ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Hotel With $10 Surcharges For 10-Mile LD Calls -- Any Recourse? From: Ken Nelson Reply-To: Ken Nelson Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 02:03:44 GMT Ramada Inns seem to have a unique approach to revenue enhancement, and it's with the corporate headquarters' approval. Here's another example. After staying at a Ramada Inn near Virginia Beach, I received an offer to buy something from another company. To make it really easy for me, the offer said that if I accepted they would charge the credit card that I had recently used at Ramada. Note well: Ramada had sold, not only my name, but also my credit card number. I called Ramada's general number to complain. The woman who answered was completely unsympathetic to me. She said that this was legal, since the other business was affiliated. She would not remove me from their database. ------------------------------ From: tmsmark@comcast.net (Mark) Subject: ZPDI Date: 1 Nov 2003 11:11:02 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com This place (1-800-collect) is a rip off, I do not see how the regulators allow them to stay in business. I got a 14.22 charge for a 7 minute local collect call. Does anyone know how to dispute these charges and not pay the bill without being turned over for collection? Talk about a rip off! ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2003 22:12:15 -0500 In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted: >> attempt which is more than SBC thinks about. PAT] > TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No one is asking SBC to try and think > for themselves on what is and what is not spam. If they would simply > make some *reasonable choices* about what to put in a spam box which > you, the user, still had to review and toss as desired. Do they think > *anyone* wants to get a dozen 'enlarge your penis' messages every day > and a dozen or more Nigerian fraud emails every day? Even Yahoo can > figure out what to do with all those every day, along with the > 'install this important patch' messages. On Yahoo I can go along with > one huge checkmark and send them all straight to hell. On SBC you > have to go through every damn one of them and check them off one by > one. I think SBC's problem is they are too cheap to buy a good program > like Spam Assassin or similar so they let their users fight with it, > then claim "we just do not know what you want and don't want". I > don't expect them to know what I want, just make a few simple > decisions. Cable One ( http://cableone.net ) can do that. PAT] I've been running PopFile for nearly a month now and love it to death. After only a week and a half of training I was running at a 99% accuracy rate, with it leaning on the side of a spam getting through rather than a legitimate email getting tagged as spam. You can also setup 'magnets' i.e.. items like newsletters, etc. if you have an idea of the email address used to send it, it will automatically classify it in that bucket. The only drawback is bandwidth consumption. But even if Cox put filtering on and started tagging potential spam, I'd still be downloading it. BTW, I also collect email from the Ocean State Free Net and from Johnson & Wales university utilizing POP3 for the first, and a web interface for the second. The OSFN allows users to opt-in to using Spam Assasin. Good balance if you ask me. JWU implements a filter that gives you a report of things it thinks are spam. You can correct it if it messes up but the volume of mail I get there is relatively light. Back to SBC -- buy SA? SA is free from what I gather. OSFN doesn't have a monstrous budget yet utilizes it just the same. ------------------------------ From: Paul Stew Subject: KX-TD816 With SBC Voicemail Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2003 17:52:51 GMT I was wondering if the Panasonic digital phone systems will work with SBC voicemail. Specifically, will my voicemail waiting light on an analog phone light up when plugged into a KX-TD816 and I'm using SBC voicemail? ------------------------------ From: Ed Clarke Subject: Re: ISP Spam Filtering (was Re: Free eFax Going Away?) Date: 2 Nov 2003 12:32:20 GMT Organization: Ciliophora Associates, Inc. Reply-To: clarke@cilia.org In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Gordon S Hlavenka: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: >> ... I can see why they [Yahoo] bought out SBC and get along so famously >> with SBC. SBC doesn't believe in filtering either, with their holier >> than thou attitude of "we have no idea what you want in your mailbox" > I would dump my ISP like yesterday's dishwater if they started messing > with my mail. I don't _expect_ them to have any idea what I want in > my mailbox, and if they start getting delusions of clairvoyance I'm > hitting the street. I agree with you in general, but there's one exception that I enforce at my business. I will not EVER pass along mail to a customer that contains a virus that I have detected. It gets dropped. Period. No copy kept. I offer spamassassin as a standard feature for all accounts, but the user has to turn it on themselves. I have the program stuff "spam" into a folder called "caughtspam" and delete the real spam by hand. So far I've had only one false positive. ------------------------------ 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 #729 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Nov 3 15:33:00 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA3KWxl06927; Mon, 3 Nov 2003 15:33:00 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 15:33:00 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311032033.hA3KWxl06927@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 #730 TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 Nov 2003 15:33:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 730 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson North Sound 911 Service Repeatedly Targeted (yeltrabnhoj@email.com) Telecom Update (Canada) #406, November 3, 2003 (Angus TeleManagement) Before the Web, There Was Viewtron ; Viewtron Remembered (Monty Solomon) Charge to Make 800 Toll Free Calls? (Jamie Fulton) Cheaper Cellular LD - gorillamobile.com (yeltrabnhoj@email.com) Re: Fax Spam: "Info 4 U Ltd" (yeltrabnhoj@email.com) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (yeltrabnhoj@email.com) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (COTTP) Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands (John R. Levine) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (Linc Madison) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (David Esan) Re: Share Day For October (Harry Dodsworth) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: yeltrabnhoj@email.com Subject: North Sound 911 Service Repeatedly Targeted Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 17:04:02 GMT Organization: (reverse to reply) (John Bartley, K7AAY, Portland OR) Chris Halsne KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Investigative Reporter UPDATED: 2:48 PM PST October 31, 2003 A KIRO Team 7 Investigation has uncovered disturbing details of a plot to disrupt all telephone, computer and cell service to the North Sound. Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne proves our most precious infrastructures are still vulnerable to attack. The FBI won't tell you this, but we will: For the past two years, federal investigators have been trying to catch a criminal who has repeatedly tapped into a major fiber optics cable north of Seattle. This person hasn't been randomly chopping entire bundles of cables, but rather he or she is using surgical precision to black out one particular 911 emergency call center. Early in the morning of Sept. 3, some criminal strolled into a Qwest Telecommunications server station with tools in hand and carefully sliced one strand of wire. For the next 8 hours and 41 minutes Whatcom County, Bellingham and northern Snohomish County lost all telecommunications. Even 911 service was disconnected. "If phone lines go out, somebody could call for help and die as a result of not being able to receive help. We are very concerned," said Bill Eflo, Whatcom County Sheriff. Operators couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu. KIRO Team 7 Investigators have learned that someone intentionally rerouted, cut or altered 911 service to Whatcom County on three occasions in two years. Each time the criminal entered the same Qwest fiber optics "hut" to create the chaos. "Communications can be vulnerable if you don't safeguard them," said Chuck Busick. Busick is a retired Army Special Ops commander and now a telecommunications security expert. He says it's naive for the FBI and Qwest to pretend the series of fiber optics cuts is "vandalism." "From a special operations perspective, it's called 'probing the target.' Trying to find out what their true vulnerabilities are. Sometimes you hit it the first time, sometimes you don't. So going in and doing multiple tests to make sure this is, in fact, a good way to disrupt the communications system is certainly feasible," said Busick. While the FBI scrambles to find a suspect, KIRO Team 7 Investigators went to check out security measures at the Qwest routing station. We walked straight through an unlocked gate, a wide-open door, and then mapped the interior of the building with our hidden camera. Nobody asked for ID or questioned our motives. KIRO Team 7 Investigators then headed to Qwest Corporate Headquarters in downtown Seattle. Ironically, it was lots tougher getting in there. Guard: "I hope you're not recording." Halsne: "Is there a problem recording in this building?" Guard: "Right now there is, without express approval from corporate security." We had an appointment to interview a public relations person but the hassles continued for 15 minutes. When we finally sat down, Qwest Public Relations specialist Michael Dunne stuck to the corporate line that this four-time-broken-into routing station was secure. "We have stepped up security significantly for that particular area and there's various surveillance and electronic equipment we've added to make that is what really a state of the art security facility in our network now," said Dunne. But the sad truth is our hidden videotape proves security remains lousy. Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo couldn't be more disgusted. "We're really concerned about the lack of Quest response to the problem. We were assured two years ago security precautions had been taken to prevent that from happening again, obviously they weren't," said Elfo. The FBI won't comment about its ongoing investigation into the cut phone lines. Agents can't even ask the public for help because doing so might reveal the location of the Qwest building in question. http://www.kirotv.com/news/2601577/detail.html Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 10:03:51 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #406, November 3, 2003 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group www.angustel.ca Number 406: November 3, 2003 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Major Carriers Report Financial Results BCE Telus Allstream Call-Net MTS ** Vancouver Phone Service Restored ** Videotron Offers Voice Service in Toronto ** Aliant Appeals Centrex Ruling ** Craig Drops Suit Against Look ** Wireless Consultation to Review Spectrum Cap ** Yak Expands to Atlantic Provinces ** BT, MIT Test Nortel Wireless LAN ** Bell Seeks Access to FCI Buildings ** Telus Opens Wi-Fi Hotspot at Vancouver Airport ** CRTC Finalizes Competitor QoS Rules ** BellSouth Abandons AT&T Deal ** Globalstar Acquisition in Doubt ** IP Telephony Comes to Health Care ============================================================ MAJOR CARRIERS REPORT FINANCIAL RESULTS: Key third quarter financial reports released last week: ** BCE's profit jumped 28% to $446 million, driven primarily by strong wireless results. Total revenue was $4.88 billion, up slightly. ** Telus reports net income of $115.9 million, compared to a loss of $107 million a year ago. Total revenue for the quarter was up 2.3%, and wireless service revenue grew 16%. ** Allstream had net income of $24.1 million, compared to a net loss of $256.8 million a year ago. Total revenue fell to $309 million from $360 million in 2002. ** Call-Net Enterprises' consolidated revenue was $204.9 million, up 3.2% from the same period last year. Net loss for the first nine months of 2003 was $19.1 million, compared to $125.1 million in the same period last year. ** Manitoba Telecom's net income was $24.5 million, up 9% from 2003. Total revenues rose less than 1%, to $212.1 million. VANCOUVER PHONE SERVICE RESTORED: Telephone service in downtown Vancouver has been fully restored, following one of the worst third-party underground cable cuts in Telus's history. ** On October 22, a construction crew drove steel rods through 10,200 underground copper pairs and three fibre optic cables, cutting service to thousands of residential and business customers. ** The fibre optic cables were repaired within 24 hours, but Telus employees had to jackhammer through 60 feet of concrete, 14 feet below ground level, to reach the copper cables. Crews worked round the clock, restoring 7,000 lines by October 27 and about 2,000 more by October 30. ** Telus made alternative arrangements for customers with special needs and provided cellphones for customers with medical problems. VIDEOTRON OFFERS VOICE SERVICE IN TORONTO: Videotron Telecom has begun offering Centrex, PRI, and other business telephone services in downtown Toronto. The Montreal-based Competitive Local Exchange Carrier ported its first Toronto local service customer on October 24. ALIANT APPEALS CENTREX RULING: Aliant wants the CRTC to reverse Decision 2003-50, which turned down a special Centrex rate for Halifax customers with more than 12,000 lines (see Telecom Update #392). The telco says "market forces ... should be accepted as sufficient rationale for price reductions" in a competitive market. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8662/a53_200314865.htm www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2003/dt2003-50.htm CRAIG DROPS SUIT AGAINST LOOK: Craig Wireless has given up its fight to gain control of Look Communications, and abandoned a lawsuit that aimed to force Look to reverse several transactions made last spring. UBS Wireless is expected to expand its share of Look to 51% later this month. (See Telecom Update #395, 405) WIRELESS CONSULTATION TO REVIEW SPECTRUM CAP: Industry Canada DGTP-007-3 invites comment on new spectrum to be allocated for Advanced Wireless services, and launches a full review of the current mobile spectrum cap policy. http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/vwGeneratedInterE/sf08084e.html YAK EXPANDS TO ATLANTIC PROVINCES: Yak Communications has begun offering its dial-around long distance services in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, and Newfoundland. BT, MIT TEST NORTEL WIRELESS LAN: Nortel Networks says it has developed a new architecture for wireless LANs that connects access points over a wireless backbone, significantly reducing the cost of deployment. British Telecom and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are conducting public trials of the technology. BELL SEEKS ACCESS TO FCI BUILDINGS: Bell Canada says it has been unable to provide service to customers in apartment buildings where FCI Broadband is currently the sole telecom provider; it has asked the CRTC to order FCI to ensure competitive access. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8622/b2_200315053.htm TELUS OPENS WI-FI HOTSPOT AT VANCOUVER AIRPORT: Telus Mobility now offers Wi-Fi Internet access throughout the terminals at Vancouver International Airport. The service includes free access to the airport's website for arrival and departure information. CRTC FINALIZES COMPETITOR QoS RULES: CRTC Decision 2003-72 gives final approval to 10 quality standards of incumbent telcos' service to competitors. Public Notice 2003-9 invites comments on how competitors should be compensated for below- standard service. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2003/dt2003-72.htm www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2003/pt2003-9.htm BELLSOUTH ABANDONS AT&T DEAL: BellSouth has terminated discussions aimed at acquiring its former parent company, AT&T. Published reports say the regional U.S. telco decided AT&T's asking price was too high. GLOBALSTAR ACQUISITION IN DOUBT: Globalstar is again searching for a buyer. Craig McCaw's ICO Communications, which had agreed to buy a majority stake in the bankrupt satellite telecom carrier for US$55 million, now says the transaction may not close. IP TELEPHONY COMES TO HEALTH CARE: A growing number of hospitals view Voice over IP as a way to reduce costs and improve patient care. The current issue of Telemanagement reviews several recent applications -- and explains why some hospital telecom planners strongly disagree with the trend. ** Also in this issue: An in-depth review of software for collaboration among dispersed work groups. ** For the next two weeks only: save $70 on a new one-year subscription to Canada's #1 source of information, analysis and advice for Canadian telecom professionals. For full details, go to www.angustel.ca/teleman/Telemanagement-Oct2003.pdf ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at 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 www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2003 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 02:45:08 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Before the Web, There Was Viewtron ; Viewtron Remembered By Howard I. Finberg Before there was the Web, there was Viewtron. Twenty years ago on Oct. 30, Knight Ridder and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company launched in Miami one of the boldest experiments in new media: a U.S. consumer videotext service. http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=52769 Viewtron Remembered Roundtable By Howard I. Finberg On the 20th anniversary of Viewtron's birth, Interactive Faculty Howard Finberg interviewed some people involved in the project about its impact on new media and their careers. http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=52775 ------------------------------ From: Jamie Fulton Subject: Charge to Make 800 Toll Free Calls? Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 23:29:45 -0500 Jurisdiction: USA I was under the impression that you cannot be charged to make 800/888/etc calls, under FCC regulations. Is this correct? I recently stayed at a Hyatt Hotel. The hotel had no information about how much phone calls cost and I expected a surcharge for local calls and sky high long distance rates. I used an 800 number to access my long distance company's calling card. I was charged $1.00 for the call to that 800 number. Calls to other 800 numbers were not surcharged. Is this proper? In other words can you be charged to access 800 numbers? Next there will be a surcharge to call 911 too. ------------------------------ From: yeltrabnhoj@email.com Subject: Cheaper Cellular LD - gorillamobile.com Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 18:57:17 GMT Organization: (reverse to reply) (John Bartley, K7AAY, Portland OR) $6/yrs + $0.15/call + $0.04/minute (plus Gore tax) for US long distance if not included in your cellphone plan. US -> Canada $0.05/min, other nations listed. Billed to credit card. http://www.gorillamobile.com/plans.html No connection at all to these folks, just thought it looked neat. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: yeltrabnhoj@email.com Subject: Re: Fax Spam: "Info 4 U Ltd" Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 19:15:47 GMT Organization: (reverse to reply) (John Bartley, K7AAY, Portland OR) On Fri, 31 Oct 2003 21:39:24 EST, John R. Covert wrote: > City of Coquitlan Coquitlam Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: yeltrabnhoj@email.com Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 19:18:27 GMT Organization: (reverse to reply) (John Bartley, K7AAY, Portland OR) On Sun, 02 Nov 2003 01:26:04 -0600, Steven J Sobol wrote: > yeltrabnhoj@email.com wrote: >> On 30 Oct 2003 09:23:18 -0800, Searcher7@mail.con2.com (Darren Harris) >> wrote: >>> Anyway, has anyone else had a simular problem? And if so, how was it >>> resolved? I'm really tired of having to go the the library whenever I >>> have to log-on on a rainy day. >> Most state PUCs don't care if you can't get data over a POTS (Plain >> Old Telephone Service) line. It isn't written into the tariffs (the >> standards the phone companies have to adhere to), so telco is within >> their rights to tell you to go fly a kite, and not to do anything >> unless you buy broadband of some kind. > This is true. > DSL isn't regulated. OK. Broadband-other-than-DSL, e.g., a regulated service such as T-1, partial T-1 or ISDN. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 17:39:12 -0500 In article , cdt- 000000.0.linuxfreak@spamgourmet.com says: > After the first time this happened, every time I had to report it > again, I would also report that this had happened before, and that the > problem had not been fixed the last time I reported it. > Sometimes the line had dried out by the time a telephone repair person > came out to take a look at it. > I don't know how many times I reported it. I just kept reporting it > until the problem was finally fixed. > Yeah, I never mentioned internet connection problems to them. Just > kept reporting the noise on the phone line. Of course, my problem was > different in that the phone line would completely stop working. > Every time it rains and you can hear the noise on the line, report the > problem. Keep notes, in case you want to bring the matter to the > attention of your state's Public Utility Comission or equivalent. > In my case, even though it took far too long, my phone line was Yes it can take months. I became such a pain in the ass to the repair guys that every time it rained or was windy I'd get a call from them asking if everything was ok. ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 19:55:50 EST Subject: Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com In a message dated Sun, 02 Nov 2003 13:05:17 -0500 John McHarry < jmcharry@comcast.net> writes: > Wes Leatherock wrote: >> I wonder what offices St. Pierre and Miquelon home on. >> Somewhere, way back in the archives, is a posting about >> back in the old days when you weren't supposed to call >> there after a certain time at night because the operator >> went to bed. I guess the operator in Canada could ring >> in for a real emergency. This was true in a great many small places in the U.S.A. where the (manual) switchboard was in the operator's home. I once dated a girl in the next town over, which was served by such an office. (The girl's phone was on a grounded rural magneto line from that office. I think some of the phones in town were on metallic pair magneto lines.) That particular office was non-Bell, but there were a great many Bell offices which were the same. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. Date: 2 Nov 2003 16:32:20 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> "St. Pierre and Miquelon, formerly an overseas territory >> (1816-1976) and department (1976-85) made the transition to >> territorial collectivity in 1985. It consists of two groups >> of islands near the SW coast of Newfoundland, inhabited by >> fishermen. The exports are chiefly fish products. > Fish? Isn't the biggest export booze? I hope this doesn't come as a big surprise, but the US repealed prohibition in 1933. Considering French tax rates, if there's any incentive to smuggle booze, it'd be into St Pierre, not out of it. > Probably the next exchange earner, if not an export, is tourism. No, it's fish, and since the fisheries collapsed a few years back that's a big problem because there isn't a heck of a lot else for the locals to do unless the test oil wells they've been drilling find something. They've always had a little tourism, but the islands and population are so small that the touristic opportunities, though quaint, are limited. [ another message ] >> I wonder what offices St. Pierre and Miquelon home on. > Somewhere, way back in the archives, is a posting about back in the > old days when you weren't supposed to call there after a certain > time at night because the operator went to bed. I guess the operator > in Canada could ring in for a real emergency. That was a long time ago. Now they have an automatic exchange with a satellite link back to France. I'd think it'd be a lot cheaper to run a cable 15 miles over to Newfoundland and hop on one of the many trans-Atlantic cables from there, but what do I know about French geopolitics? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think in fact they were served or 'homed' somewhere on the southern tip of Newfoundland and from there, 'hardwired' into a Trans-Atlantic cable; i.e leased equipment and resources from some telecom company serving most or all of Newfoundland, but that arrangement was changed back in the 1980's at the time of the massive changes in telco service here. I seem to remember back in the 1960's or 70's talking to a phone operator there asking for information (directory assistance) in St. P & M. The operator said they were 'only allowed' to connect to an operator in St. P & M for subscribers in the 'local calling area' which were subscribers along the southern tip of Newfoundland. All other inquiries and connections had to go through the international operator at AT&T in (then) White Plains, NY (and later) Pittsburgh. All that has long since been discontinued, although I think (am not sure) that 'local dialing arrangements' still exist between St P& M and Newfoundland. Anyone know how calls are dialed in either direc- tion between southern Newfoundland and St. P&M? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 07:19:43 -0800 Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org In article , wrote: > Yesterday, I received an email stating that [eFax] would no longer be > able to provide me with free service, although it looks like they are > accepting new applications for free service. I had a freebie fax number -- I don't remember if it was JFax or eFax before the merger -- that got terminated because the state PUC reclaimed a prefix that was below the required threshhold of utilisation. I went through the sign-up process again and got another free number in some other random area code. Indeed, it seemed for a while that they were biasing the selection of the free number in favor of maximum distance -- I signed up with an address in San Francisco and got a number in New Hampshire; a friend in Boston got a number in Arizona. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: david_esan@hotmail.com (David Esan) Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? Date: 3 Nov 2003 07:42:28 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Steve Michelson wrote in message news:: > I believe it is more a legal decision, than a religious "holier than > thou" decisision about whether or how to block spam. If a service > provider blocks certain e-mail based on their own criteria, they are > now in the business of filtering (or censuring) content, and that > implies, I believe, some legal liabilities if they end up blocking a > certain important e-mail, or if an unwanted (e.g., containing a > certain type of graphic) e-mail shows up in the wrong mailbox and > causes harm to an individual. For better or worse, they have made a > decision not to take on this potential liability. I'm not sure this is true. I turned on the SPAM filter at hotmail, and they dumped the mail into a new mailbox labeled Junk Mail. During the next month I sifted through the junk mail, finding that only one piece of legitimate mail went there, which was easily rescued from the Junk Mail box and permanently redirected to my inbox. During that month I got messages from Hotmail asking me to buy more space. At the end of the month I chose the option of having my junk mail automatically deleted. Hotmail doesn't bother me anymore about space issues (except when well-meaning friends send me really huge graphic files), and only about one message a day creeps through the filter. Microsoft has not always been perfectly in compliance with the law, but I would expect that we would have heard a hue and cry if they were out of compliance with this activity. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 10:47:33 EST From: af877@freenet.carleton.ca (Harry Dodsworth) Subject: Re: Share Day For October Hello Pat, I sent you a check towards digest running expenses. I realized I hadn't noted that although I live in Canada, it is a regular US check, as I have a US bank account for cross-border use. I have had people who didn't recognize a US check :-) Best wishes to yourself, and the Digest. Harry Dodsworth Ottawa Ontario Canada af877@freenet.carleton.ca [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This response is not just for Harry, but for all the non-USA readers here. With the international nature of the Internet, readers should feel free to use services such as PayPal if they wish, or Yahoo, both of which will transfer your money instantly in the desired currency for little or no cost to yourself. See http://telecom-digest.org and the PayPal donation template at the bottom of the main page. That method not only works for credit cards, but for anyone who has funds available through PayPal. If you wish to send a paper check to me you can do that also, and if you have a USA-based bank account (as many folks do, even if they live in Canada for example), that is perfectly acceptable. Even a bank account from another country will work; just be certain on the line where you write the dollar amount following 'pay to the order of' to write the phrase, 'pay United States dollars'. Our bank here in Independence has direct accounts with banks in some larger cities, and are a 'correspondent bank' with some New York City bank for all other transactions. Send to P. Townson/TELECOM Digest at Post Office Box 50, Independence, Kansas 67301-0050. Thanks! 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #730 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Nov 4 00:31:51 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA45Vos09967; Tue, 4 Nov 2003 00:31:51 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 00:31:51 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311040531.hA45Vos09967@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 #731 TELECOM Digest Tue, 4 Nov 2003 00:32:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 731 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Toshiba DK-424 Flash Over Centrex Trunk? (Jay Hennigan) Router For High Speed Serial? (Jim) Definity Prologix (G3?): Local Phone Line Assigned to Station? (Rod) Hunt Group (Ken) 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam Bud! (GORDON) Service Provider Operational Expense & Economics (Shannon Lake) Fox and Henhouse. Or Something. FCC vs. ATT (Danny Burstein) Re: Cheaper Cellular LD - gorillamobile.com (Group Special Mobile) Re: North Sound 911 Service Repeatedly Targeted (COTTP) Re: Saint P&M Dialing Arrangements (John R. Covert) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (dold@FreeXeFaxX.usenet.us.com) Microsoft Windows Security Bulletin Summary for October (Monty Solomon) Re: Charge to Make 800 Toll Free Calls? (John R. Levine) Registrar Giving Free Domains Away (TELECOM Digest Editor) Re: Spam Filtering, was Re: Free eFax Going Away? (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. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jay Hennigan Subject: Toshiba DK-424 Flash Over Centrex Trunk? Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 19:15:22 -0800 Organization: Disgruntled Postal Workers Against Gun Control I've inherited responsibility for a Toshiba DK-424 PBX, but my expertise is primarily Mitel-centric. This box is fed with loop-start Centrex CO trunks. Is it possible to program the Toshiba to send a hookflash towards the CO trunk to access Centrex features such as forward and conference? If so, what's the secret? I'm looking for both a way to program a button as "flash" that will generate a 600 ms. or so hookflash, and ideally a way to insert such a flash into a speed-dial string. I would RTFM if I had the FM to R. :-) Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Administration - jay@west.net WestNet: Connecting you to the planet. 805 884-6323 WB6RDV NetLojix Communications, Inc. - http://www.netlojix.com/ ------------------------------ From: D3xx@hotmail.com (Jim) Subject: Router For High Speed Serial? Date: 3 Nov 2003 18:23:21 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have a client who wishes to route their WAN traffic onto their central network (100mb ethernet). The WAN consists of 60 field offices connected via frame relay into a 4mb frame relay service. Its my understanding that standard Cisco WIC modules only do serial up to 2mb. Can someone please recommend a small Cisco router capable of handling a 4mb frame service? Would this be a 26XX router with HSSI card? Or do any of the latest Cisco fixed config routers have serial ports capable of 4mb sync for frame relay already? ------------------------------ From: wolfing1@yahoo.com (Rod) Subject: Definity Prologix (G3?): Local Phone Line Assigned to Station? Date: 3 Nov 2003 12:26:47 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi. I have two stations that I want each to use (incoming and outgoing) a particular phone line. Basically, when people dial the local phone number, it should ring in that station, and when someone calls from that station, the call goes through that phone line. Like if each was a separate CO line but I want the stations in the switch so they can have call pickup, voice mail, etc. What would be the easiest way to do this? I tried putting one of the local lines in its separate trunk with the "Incoming Destination" as the station's ID (this takes care of the incoming calls), then assigning a separate COR to this trunk with FRL 0, assigning another COR to the station with FRL 0 and only giving it access to the trunk's COR. This takes care of the outgoing calls, but now I don't know what to do with the other station. I mean, I can kinda do the same thing with FRL 1 or so, but everything in the system is configured for FRL 1 and I don't want to mess things up. Is there a better/easier way to do this? ------------------------------ From: Ken Subject: Hunt Group Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 19:36:12 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet I have two lines in my home (Verizon local service.) This is set up so that a busy signal on one line bumps an incoming call to the other (hunt group.) I am thinking of switching to another local provider. Will this hunt group capability be transferred to the new carrier? Can I assume that all providers offer this function? I am writing here because the support people at the companies I called seem clueless when I ask these questions. Ken ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 21:39:22 GMT Subject: 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam, Bud! From: GORDON I used 1010220 from (301) 604 6626 a bill came for $17.42 I paid this bill with check number 516 and it was cashed a long time ago. When I tried to use 1010220 my call was blocked for non payment or a billing problem. This won't stop here because I paid for any service provided and who knows where the payment went. Do you think this is a deal? For who? Thanks, Mary Gordon mary.gordon@bigfoot.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you have your cancelled check 516 or a copy of it. This sounds to me like your payment was misapplied to some other person's account. 'Mary Gordon' is a very common name when taken in the context of how many telephone subscribers there are in the USA. Have your cancelled check and billing statements at hand when you call the carrier to ask about this problem. Pay special attention to the carrier's endorsement on the back of your cancelled check in the event (very likely) the carrier asks you for some details, or the carrier may ask you to mail them a ledgible copy of the front and back of the check. Its not the end of the world, Mary, just more than likely a clerical error. They probably applied your payment to someone else's account in error. Let us know how it works out. PAT] ------------------------------ From: shannon@omnivergent.com (Shannon Lake) Subject: Service Provider Operational Expense & Economics Date: 3 Nov 2003 14:48:24 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Ladies and Gentlemen: Does anyone have a breakdown of the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) or Operational Expense (OPEX) incurred by carriers? I hear large expense numbers associated with the Operational Support Systems (OSS), but I am looking for more than that. I would like to know what goes under the line item "Operations" and what the breakdown is accordingly. Best regards, Shannon M. Lake Sr. ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Fox and Henhouse. Or Something. FCC vs. ATT Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 17:28:14 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC FCC PROPOSES TO FINE AT&T CORPORATION $780,000 FOR APPARENT VIOLATIONS OF DO-NOT-CALL RULES Washington, D.C. Today, the Federal Communications Commission proposed to assess a forfeiture of $780,000 against AT&T Corporation for apparent violations of the Commission's Do-Not-Call telemarketing rules. This is the Commission's first major Do-Not-Call enforcement action. The Commission found that AT&T apparently made telephone solicitation calls to 29 consumers on 78 separate occasions after those consumers had requested that AT&T not call them again. The Commission therefore concluded that AT&T had apparently violated the FCC's company-specific Do-Not-Call rule, section 64.1200(e) of the Commission's rules. [ snippety snip, rest at: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240617A1.pdf or http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240617A1.doc ] danny " now who got the FCC/FTC contract to run the Do Not Call List again? " 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: Group Special Mobile Subject: Re: Cheaper Cellular LD - gorillamobile.com Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 14:58:41 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: look@signature_for_reply_instructions On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 18:57:17 GMT, yeltrabnhoj@email.com wrote: > $6/yrs + $0.15/call + $0.04/minute (plus Gore tax) for US long > distance if not included in your cellphone plan. US -> Canada > $0.05/min, other nations listed. Billed to credit card. > http://www.gorillamobile.com/plans.html > No connection at all to these folks, just thought it looked neat. No $.15 surcharge if you use the local NY city number. Since most cell plans include free domestic long distance it's a good deal. I've been using it for more than a year now. To send an email reply send to GSMthemobilestandard (@) yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: North Sound 911 Service Repeatedly Targeted Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 21:21:21 -0500 In article , yeltrabnhoj@email.com says: > "From a special operations perspective, it's called 'probing the > target.' Trying to find out what their true vulnerabilities are. > Sometimes you hit it the first time, sometimes you don't. So going in > and doing multiple tests to make sure this is, in fact, a good way to > disrupt the communications system is certainly feasible," said Busick. > While the FBI scrambles to find a suspect, KIRO Team 7 Investigators It doesn't take a whole lot to figure out where these things are. And in an area where say, lots of construction is going on the Dig-Safe folks like to circle the comm circuits with bright orange paint. Oh, and the state E-911 answering point is in North Providence on Smith Street. Right around the corner from the Centredale CO. One can only bet where those connections are. Unless you put alarms, post guards and a multitude of other security measures on every potential access point you're never going to be able to protect vital infrastructure. And we're talking about companies that don't see the value of power protection on SLC's and the like. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 16:25:56 EST From: John R. Covert Subject: Dialing Arrangements in Saint P&M > I think (am not sure) that 'local dialing arrangements' still exist > between St P&M and Newfoundland. Anyone know how calls are dialed > in either direction between southern Newfoundland and St. P&M? No "local arrangements" at all. From SPM to anywhere in the NANP: 00 1 NPA NXX NNNN. From Newfoundland to SPM: 011 508 xx xx xx. From SPM to SPM xx xx xx. From SPM to anywhere else in France 0x xx xx xx xx. This includes, for example, to Guadeloupe: 05 90 xx xx xx xx. From a cellphone in SPM to a landline in SPM 05 08 xx xx xx. It's cheaper to call Paris from SPM than to call right across the straits to the closest phone in Newfoundland. /john ------------------------------ From: dold@FreeXeFaxX.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 21:36:26 UTC Organization: a2i network Linc Madison wrote: > In article , > wrote: >> Yesterday, I received an email stating that [eFax] would no longer be >> able to provide me with free service, although it looks like they are >> accepting new applications for free service. > I had a freebie fax number -- I don't remember if it was JFax or eFax > before the merger -- that got terminated because the state PUC > reclaimed a prefix that was below the required threshhold of > utilisation. I went through the sign-up process again and got another > free number in some other random area code. That could be. My eFax is 509-272. That used to be Moses, Washington, I forget what carrier. Now it shows as XO, Spokane. Maybe I will give it another free shot. > Indeed, it seemed for a while that they were biasing the selection of > the free number in favor of maximum distance -- I signed up with an > address in San Francisco and got a number in New Hampshire; a friend > in Boston got a number in Arizona. Given that most people don't pay much for long distance, and I usually only give the number to businesses, I didn't think it mattered much. Sometimes people think they didn't get the number right, but that usually goes away if I tell them it's eFax, not that it actually means anything to them ;-) Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 17:34:35 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: REVISED: Microsoft Windows Security Bulletin Summary for October Title: Microsoft Windows Security Bulletin Summary for October 2003 Issued: October 15, 2003 Updated: October 29, 2003 Version Number: 3.0 Bulletin: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/winoct03.asp Reason for Major Revision ========================= Subsequent to the release of the Windows Security Bulletin Summary for October, the following bulletins have undergone a major revision increment. Please see the appropriate bulletin section of this email for more details. - - MS03-042 - - MS03-043 - - MS03-045 http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/winoct03.asp [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But of course we **NEVER** click on anything which purports to be from Microsoft these days since chances are it will be some evil person(s) spreading viruses around. We only go directly to Microsoft Updates and take any drivers/security changes/other software directly from their site. On my Windows 2000 machine it tells *me* when to go there and get stuff. Never, never, never click on a piece of email from 'Microsoft' claiming to be some 'latest security patch' etc. Not from me, not from Monty, not from anyone else. You have been warned. Would you believe Lisa gets twenty to thirty of those daily over at Yahoo Telecom News? PAT] ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Charge to Make 800 Toll Free Calls? Date: 3 Nov 2003 22:51:08 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I was under the impression that you cannot be charged to make > 800/888/etc calls, under FCC regulations. Is this correct? Sort of. The party you're calling can't put a charge on your bill, like a fake 900 call, but the hotel can rip you off however they want. > I used an 800 number to access my long distance company's calling > card. I was charged $1.00 for the call to that 800 number. Calls to > other 800 numbers were not surcharged. > Is this proper? Is it legal? Sure. Is it a way to encourage people to stay at the hotel again? Hardly. Response A: get a more obscure calling card whose 800 number the PBX doesn't recognize. In my experience, they only recognize numbers from big telcos like AT&T, MCI, and Sprint, whose calling cards are all overpriced anyway. Response B: bring your cell phone and use it. Response C (preferred): find a different hotel and send a note to Hyatt telling them why they won't be seeing you again any time soon. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 23:20:32 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Registrar Giving Free Domains Away A registrar named UNONIC (United Names Organization) is giving away free domains mostly under the '.tf' and '.tt' groups. For instance, I was invited to register 'patricktownson' (or whatever I pleased) in any of these areas: .net.tf .edu.tf .com.tf .(various country codes).tf etc. They're free ... just go pick one at either unonic.com or joyinc.com. Just enter what you want, whether or not it is available is checked and you get it. For instance, I picked http://dantownson.us.tt for my younger brother who does art work, and photography work. I also selected http://weatherforecast.us.tt for my weather station. All they do is alias what you pick to existing web sites. They also say they have email arrangements but I did not see how those worked. They ask you -- but do not insist upon -- to put a banner on your domain advertising their free service. They also offer various admin tools for free, including a way to password your domain and lock out people you don't want there. I don't know what the catch is, but there must be one somewhere. I tried all the domain names I registered, and they went through using my ISP which is cableone.net and they worked using the Lynx server here at lcs.mit.edu . You all may want to check it out. PAT ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: spam filtering, was Free eFax Going Away? Date: 3 Nov 2003 23:22:51 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> ... If a service provider blocks certain e-mail based on their own >> criteria, they are now in the business of filtering (or censuring) >> content, and that implies, I believe, some legal liabilities if >> they end up blocking a certain important e-mail,or if an unwanted >> (e.g., containing a certain type of graphic) e-mail shows up in the >> wrong mailbox and causes harm to an individual. Many people believe this urban legend. The reality is that 47 USC 230 gives a service provider broad immunity against liability due to good faith efforts to block offensive material. I don't think you can find a case since that law was passed (part of the CDA, but not the part that was challenged and overturned) that found a provider liable. ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #731 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Nov 4 14:05:56 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA4J5tX13988; Tue, 4 Nov 2003 14:05:56 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 14:05:56 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311041905.hA4J5tX13988@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 #732 TELECOM Digest Tue, 4 Nov 2003 14:06:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 732 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Need For 'Do-Not-Call' List Unproven - Telemarketers (Monty Solomon) FCC Wants to Fine AT&T Over 'Do Not Call' (Monty Solomon) BPL Extending WiFi Access Outside Downtown Branch (Monty Solomon) TiVo Reaches 1 Million Subscriptions Milestone (Monty Solomon) Swisscom/Bluewin Selects IPTV Solution From Microsoft TV (Monty Solomon) Students Buck DMCA Threat (Monty Solomon) Re: 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam, Bud! (jbl) Re: 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam, Bud! (Linc Madison) Re: Hunt Group (admin@horatio.agresource.com) Re: Hunt Group (Justin Time) Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. (John Levine) Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. (L Halliday) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (Carl Navarro) Re: Service Provider Operational Expense & Economics (Justin Time) Re: North Sound 911 Service Repeatedly Targeted (Justin Time) Re: Registrar Giving Free Domains Away (Joey Lindstrom) Calling Card For Calling USA From Paraguay?? (Matt) Nextel Echo (Ccaann Yyoouu Hheeaarr Mmee Now?) (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 23:53:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Need For 'Do-Not-Call' List Unproven - Telemarketers DENVER, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has not shown there is a real need for a "do-not-call" registry that allows consumers to stop telephone solicitations, a telemarketer said in a court filing on Monday. Mainstream Marketing Services Inc, a telemarketing group, also said the registry is unfair because telemarketers must pay for access to the registry. A substantial portion of the money raised will be used for general Federal Trade Commission agency functions and a technical system to address "fraud-related" complaints. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36356266 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 23:55:17 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Wants to Fine AT&T Over 'Do Not Call' By JONATHAN D. SALANT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- AT&T faces a $780,000 fine for reaching out and touching consumers who had asked to be left alone, federal regulators said Monday. The Federal Communications Commission said it was the first major penalty for violating do-not-call rules for telemarketers. The FCC said AT&T made 78 phone calls to 29 consumers who had asked the company to leave them alone. The proposed fine is $10,000 per call. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36354107 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 00:31:20 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: BPL Extending WiFi Access Outside Downtown Branch By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 11/3/2003 Over the last year, the Boston Public Library has rolled out high-speed WiFi wireless Internet access for patrons at its landmark Copley Square facility and 27 branches. Within a few weeks, patrons won't even have to go inside the downtown branch to use the service. Working with technology vendors including Cisco Systems, Burlington-based Bluesocket Inc., and Dimension Data of Framingham, BPL officials are preparing to activate new WiFi transmitters that will bring coverage out to the Dartmouth Street pavilion on the Trinity Church side of the library. Owners of WiFi-enabled laptop computers who have a Boston library card and Net access code will be able to surf the Web and BPL catalogs and databases as easily outside as they can now in the main reading and research rooms. http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/11/03/bpl_extending_wifi_access_outside_downtown_branch/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 08:18:32 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo Reaches 1 Million Subscriptions Milestone Sales Momentum Pushes Company Past Million Subscription Mark; Lower Price Point, Greater Availability at Retail Expected to Result in Best Holiday Season Yet for TiVo SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO), creator of television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), announced today it has surpassed the one million subscription milestone and expects surging momentum to result in the best holiday season in the company's history. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36358105 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 08:19:34 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Swisscom/Bluewin Selects IPTV Solution From Microsoft TV Switzerland's Largest Broadband Services Provider to Trial IP Broadcast TV Services Based on a New IPTV Technology From Microsoft TV ZURICH, Switzerland and REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Swisscom/Bluewin today announced their intention to work together to test and deploy television services based on newly announced Internet Protocol television (IPTV) technology being developed by Microsoft(R) TV. As the premier broadband services provider to Swisscom, Switzerland's leading telecommunications company, Bluewin plans to be one of the first companies in Europe and among the first in the world to conduct a trial of pay-TV services over an IP broadband network using IPTV technology being developed by Microsoft TV. Bluewin and Microsoft will jointly explore delivery of engaging, high-quality digital TV programming and video over Swisscom's asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) broadband network through the use of Microsoft TV IPTV technology. Through this initiative, Bluewin plans to provide an interactive new way for subscribers to receive the information and entertainment they want, where and when they want it. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36357659 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 08:51:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Students buck DMCA threat By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com Story last modified November 3, 2003, 5:17 PM PST When Diebold Election Systems learned that its internal e-mail correspondence had popped up on the Web, it used a common legal tactic: sending cease-and-desist letters to Webmasters. But in the months since the North Canton, Ohio-based company began trying to rid the Internet of those copyrighted files, it has arrived at a very unusual impasse. Far from vanishing, the files have appeared on more than 50 Web sites, run mostly by students who claim Diebold has a suspiciously cozy relationship with the Republican Party and that the e-mail conversations demonstrate its election software is flawed and should not be trusted. On Tuesday, Diebold will find itself on the defensive in court as well. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society are planning to file a lawsuit asking for a temporary restraining order that would effectively halt Diebold's campaign against the loosely organized network of mirror sites. A hearing could be held as early as Tuesday in federal district court in San Francisco. http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5101623.html ------------------------------ From: jbl Subject: Re: 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam, Bud! Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 23:42:55 -0700 Organization: On the desert Reply-To: jbl@spamblocked.com In , GORDON wrote: > I used 1010220 from (301) 604 6626 a bill came for $17.42 1010220 is a scam anyways, if it's the one I'm thinking about -- 99 cents for 20 minutes and 7 cents/minute after that. Check out 1010987 that they've been advertising lately, 39 cents per call plus 3 cents/minute. A twenty minute call is exactly the same price on both services; both shorter and longer calls are cheaper on the -987 service. Thing is: both of them are heavily advertised, and they're both offered by the same company (Telecom*USA, which I understand to be a sub of MCI). (Also -987 includes Canada and W. Europe, which most other LD companies don't. I don't know if it's competitive for those.) Then again there are cheaper dialarounds that have shorter minimum times and/or no minimum charge per call, so you can do better than either of these; but there's no excuse for using -220 at all. /JBL ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam, Bud! Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 23:30:17 -0800 Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org In article , GORDON wrote: > I used 1010220 from (301) 604 6626 a bill came for $17.42 I paid this > bill with check number 516 and it was cashed a long time ago. When I > tried to use 1010220 my call was blocked for non payment or a billing > problem. This won't stop here because I paid for any service > provided and who knows where the payment went. > Do you think this is a deal? For who? PAT is probably correct that this is just a simple clerical error, but the simple truth is, 1010220 is not an especially good deal. For very short calls, you get a bad deal because the base charge is for 15 minutes, even if you use only 2 minutes. (For that 2-minute call, 1010220 will cost you 49.5 cents per minute!) If you go over the 15-minute base rate, their per-minute rate is outrageously high. Even if you hit the "sweet spot" of a call of exactly 15 minutes, though, you can still get cheaper rates elsewhere, by about half. I recommend that you check out the ABTolls web site, , for information about other long-distance plans -- either dialaround 101-XXXX numbers or plain-old 1+ carriers -- that can offer you a much better deal. For example: MINUTES 1010220 OTHER PLAN 1 0.99 0.03 -- 33 times less! 2 0.99 0.06 10 0.99 0.29 15 0.99 0.43 -- less than half, at 1010220's best! 20 1.74 0.57 30 3.24 0.86 60 7.74 1.71 -- less than 1/4 the cost! Of course, do follow up to find out why your previous payment wasn't credited properly, but don't keep throwing your money away on a bad deal. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Hunt Group From: admin@horatio.agresource.com Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 10:55:20 GMT In article , Ken wrote: > I have two lines in my home (Verizon local service.) This is set up > so that a busy signal on one line bumps an incoming call to the other > (hunt group.) I am thinking of switching to another local provider. > Will this hunt group capability be transferred to the new carrier? If and _only_ if: (a) the new carrier offers the functionality (b) you -order- it from the new carrier, when you change service providers > Can I assume that all providers offer this function? Practically all modern switching equipment has the capability to do this. Whether the people "know how" to configure it is an entirely different question. > I am writing here because the support people at the companies I > called seem clueless when I ask these questions. If 'hunt group' doesn't get you anywhere, try asking about "call forward busy'. ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Hunt Group Date: 4 Nov 2003 07:24:38 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Ken wrote in message news:: > I have two lines in my home (Verizon local service.) This is set up > so that a busy signal on one line bumps an incoming call to the other > (hunt group.) I am thinking of switching to another local provider. > Will this hunt group capability be transferred to the new carrier? > Can I assume that all providers offer this function? I am writing > here because the support people at the companies I called seem > clueless when I ask these questions. > Ken If the business office at the CLEC is clueless about their ability to provide a basic feature, I would hesitate to put my communications in their hands as they would probably be just as clueless about providing service. (And I'm not necessarily a Verizon fan, but I use them because they are the better game in my part of town.) Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. Date: 4 Nov 2003 02:58:35 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > All that has long since been discontinued, although I think (am not > sure) that 'local dialing arrangements' still exist between St P& M > and Newfoundland. Anyone know how calls are dialed in either direc- > tion between southern Newfoundland and St. P&M? PAT] I looked around and didn't see any evidence of it. If the phone service really is via satellite from France, which seems to be the case, there wouldn't be much point in shortcut dialing. Besides, from SP&M or anywhere else in France, you call North America by dialing 00 1 NXX NXX XXXX How much shorter is it likely to get? ------------------------------ From: marsgal42@hotmail.com (Laura Halliday) Subject: Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. Date: 4 Nov 2003 09:26:57 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) wrote in message news:: >> Probably the next exchange earner, if not an export, is tourism. > No, it's fish, and since the fisheries collapsed a few years back > that's a big problem because there isn't a heck of a lot else for the > locals to do unless the test oil wells they've been drilling find > something. > They've always had a little tourism, but the islands and population > are so small that the touristic opportunities, though quaint, are > limited. While not specifically Telecom-related (though there is relevant information on the subject under "Communi- cations"), one of my favourite quick-look references on countries is the CIA World Factbook. Go to and select St. Pierre and Miquelon. Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..." ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 09:14:26 -0700 Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Tue, 4 Nov 2003 00:31:51 -0500 (EST), dold@FreeXeFaxX.usenet.us.com wrote: >> Indeed, it seemed for a while that they were biasing the selection of >> the free number in favor of maximum distance -- I signed up with an >> address in San Francisco and got a number in New Hampshire; a friend >> in Boston got a number in Arizona. > Given that most people don't pay much for long distance, and I usually > only give the number to businesses, I didn't think it mattered much. > Sometimes people think they didn't get the number right, but that > usually goes away if I tell them it's eFax, not that it actually means > anything to them ;-) It's slightly worse for me. I live in 403-land, Alberta. My efax number is in area code 413. Whenever I give it out, I have to specifically tell them "it's really 413, not 403", otherwise they assume I mistyped or misspoke and write down 403. There's probably some poor slob at the equivalent 403 phone number who's been getting "mystery" fax calls as a result. :-) ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? Reply-To: cnavarro@wcnet.org Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 14:27:00 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 07:19:43 -0800, Linc Madison wrote: > In article , > wrote: >> Yesterday, I received an email stating that [eFax] would no longer be >> able to provide me with free service, although it looks like they are >> accepting new applications for free service. > I had a freebie fax number -- I don't remember if it was JFax or eFax > before the merger -- that got terminated because the state PUC > reclaimed a prefix that was below the required threshhold of > utilisation. I went through the sign-up process again and got another > free number in some other random area code. > Indeed, it seemed for a while that they were biasing the selection of > the free number in favor of maximum distance -- I signed up with an > address in San Francisco and got a number in New Hampshire; a friend > in Boston got a number in Arizona. I guess I was just lucky, because I got my eFax number a looonnng time ago and got a Detroit suburban number (I'm in Ohio). I always tell them they can eFax it to me and give the 810 area code number. I would guess that in the 6 years I've had it, I have averaged about 4 pages a month. The reason was that on the road, if I needed a fax and the jobsite didin't have one, I could get it via eFax. It saved my butt a lot early on, but now most people have the capability to just email the document. Carl Navarro ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Service Provider Operational Expense & Economics Date: 4 Nov 2003 07:21:23 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com shannon@omnivergent.com (Shannon Lake) wrote in message news:: > Ladies and Gentlemen: > Does anyone have a breakdown of the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) or > Operational Expense (OPEX) incurred by carriers? I hear large expense > numbers associated with the Operational Support Systems (OSS), but I > am looking for more than that. I would like to know what goes under > the line item "Operations" and what the breakdown is accordingly. > Best regards, > Shannon M. Lake Sr. If the figures are not broken out in their annual report or other required filings, they would be considered as proprietary. The disclosure would provide their competitors with highly sensitive information that could be used as a competitive advantage against them. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: North Sound 911 Service Repeatedly Targeted Date: 4 Nov 2003 07:35:37 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com yeltrabnhoj@email.com wrote in message news:: > Chris Halsne KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Investigative Reporter > UPDATED: 2:48 PM PST October 31, 2003 > A KIRO Team 7 Investigation has uncovered disturbing details of a plot > to disrupt all telephone, computer and cell service to the North > Sound. > Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne proves our most precious > infrastructures are still vulnerable to attack. > The FBI won't tell you this, but we will: For the past two years, > federal investigators have been trying to catch a criminal who has > repeatedly tapped into a major fiber optics cable north of Seattle. > <> > The FBI won't comment about its ongoing investigation into the cut > phone lines. Agents can't even ask the public for help because doing > so might reveal the location of the Qwest building in question. > http://www.kirotv.com/news/2601577/detail.html The entire effect of the article is to lay blame for the lack of security and alternate routing on Quest. The "investigative reporter" obviously failed to look for any indication that Whatcom County had done any disaster planning for their 911 center by utilizing an alternate serving wire center or even something as simple as diverse routing of the cable. This is the failure of the county, not Quest. You can't hold Quest accountable for the failure to plan by the county. If the county did not have plans for alternative service in the case of such a disaster, shame on the county -- especially when it has happened multiple times. Granted, Quest may need to improve security at their locations, but what about the county? Are they working with their provider to keep something similar from happening in the future or are they worried that the citizens won't like the cost of making certain their emergency center -- and there should be a backup center in another location -- is too costly. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 09:34:38 -0700 Subject: Re: Registrar Giving Free Domains Away Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Tue, 4 Nov 2003 00:31:51 -0500 (EST), TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > A registrar named UNONIC (United Names Organization) is giving away > free domains mostly under the '.tf' and '.tt' groups. For instance, I > was invited to register 'patricktownson' (or whatever I pleased) in > any of these areas: > .net.tf .edu.tf .com.tf .(various country codes).tf etc. > They're free ... just go pick one at either unonic.com or joyinc.com. > Just enter what you want, whether or not it is available is checked > and you get it. > For instance, I picked http://dantownson.us.tt for my younger brother > who does art work, and photography work. I also selected > http://weatherforecast.us.tt for my weather station. > All they do is alias what you pick to existing web sites. They also > say they have email arrangements but I did not see how those worked. > They ask you -- but do not insist upon -- to put a banner on your > domain advertising their free service. They also offer various admin > tools for free, including a way to password your domain and lock > out people you don't want there. > I don't know what the catch is, but there must be one somewhere. I > tried all the domain names I registered, and they went through using > my ISP which is cableone.net and they worked using the Lynx server > here at lcs.mit.edu . As near as I can tell, the only things the domain can be used for is as a "forwarder" to another website. By registering a domain with these people, you don't get full control of the name, like you would if you registered with most other registrars (ie: a ".com" or ".us"). You therefore can't, say, set up "ftp.mydomain.us.tf" and aim that at your FTP site, nor can you install the domain on your email server and start creating mail addresses. (Like you, I was unable to tell just what sort of email service they've got: it said "coming soon"). I believe in TANSTAAFL(*) and am really, really skeptical about this bunch -- sooner or later, you'll be required to "pay" for this "free" service, in some manner or other. If they can't make it pay, it's gonna go belly up, probably with no warning. I would certainly not use this for anything critical -- it might be ok for "hobby" websites and/or a cool "vanity" email address, but not for anything you really depend on being there for you. (*)TANSTAAFL = There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. See Robert A. Heinlein's "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" ------------------------------ From: mattbrentnz@yahoo.com (Matt) Subject: Calling Card For Calling USA From Paraguay?? Date: 4 Nov 2003 10:01:19 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Does anyone know of a company that sells calling cards for calling the USA from Paraguay? Or any companies that sell cards for calling the USA from abroad in general? All of my internet searching seems to turn up is cards for calling internationally FROM the USA. Thanks in advance, Matt ------------------------------ From: chsvideo@hotmail.com (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) Subject: Nextel Echo (Ccaann Yyoouu Hheeaarr Mmee Now?) Date: 3 Nov 2003 20:38:43 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello, the company that I work for (a fairly large state educational institution) provides many of the staff with Nextel phones to communicate within the campus and with the outside world. I _Love_ DirectConnect. It is awesome, clear, ... I HATE with a passion talking on the thing as a cell phone (To the point where if at all possible I'll run to my desk and call the person on a real phone). I used to have a Motorola i1000plus and 90% of the time when I placed a call there was a slight echo on my end, but the party on the other end of the line didn't admit to hearing any echo. (Although three calls in a row to Extron Electronics were abandoned because it was kind of an infinite echo type thing ... the audio equivilent of holding two mirrors in front of each other) The i1000 died (aparently very common, at least on our campus) and I was given an i90c to replace it ... now I only hear the echo on about 50% of the calls, but the person on the other end of the line will comment on it every once in several calls. Today I received a call on my desk phone from someone in our Planning, Design and Construction (PD&C) office who has a Blackberry with Nextel service and there was the same, fairly low volume echo all through the call. Although the campus is literally right across the street from a cell site (could that be a cause of the problem?) I have noticed this phenomena in other locations in Southern CA ... and the PD&C person who called me tonight was on the freeway on his way home, so even if proximity was a potential cause ... Any idea what the source is? Any ideas about what could be done to minimize or eliminate the cause? Thanks, Lincoln ------------------------------ 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 #732 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Nov 4 19:07:49 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA507nZ15567; Tue, 4 Nov 2003 19:07:49 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 19:07:49 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311050007.hA507nZ15567@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 #733 TELECOM Digest Tue, 4 Nov 2003 19:08:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 733 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson SP&M/NF(Can); Local Dialing, or Local CALLING/Billing (Mark J Cuccia) Echo Primer (was Nextel Echo) (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Registrar Giving Free Domains Away (yeltrabnhoj@email.com) Re: Hunt Group (No Spam) Re: Hunt Group (Ken) Re: Lucent 854 4-Line Phones (SELLCOM Tech support) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 13:58:05 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: SP&M/NF(Can); Local Dialing, or Local CALLING/Billing Regarding the French islands of St.Pierre & Miquelon (+508) off the coast of Newfoundland CANADA (+1-709): I think we all understand that there is no local *dialing* between the two. Calls from the ferryboat landing in NF (Canada) to the ferryboat landings in SP&M have to be dialed *as* international, 01(1)+508+etc., and in the reverse direction also *as* international, 00+1+709-NXX-xxxx. I would also assume that for more recent years, calls in both directions are also *billed/rated* as international/overseas, although there might be some discount plans that subscribers can apply for. BUT ... was there *EVER* any *locally rated CALLING* between the two ??? i.e., calls in either/both direction which were not "billed as intl/ovs", EVEN THOUGH they might have had to be placed through the operator in years gone by, or else dialed since the 1980s as 00+1+709-seven-d from SP&M to NF (Canada), 01(1)+508+etc. from NF (Canada) to SP&M ??? The North American Numbering/Dialing Plan is *not* really structured for "easy" shortcut local-type dialing if there is locally rated calling between two a NANP point and an adjacent non-NANP point. For a few years now, the local city/county and state/equivolent governments along the US-Mexican border of the towns of Laredo TX USA and Nuevo Laredo TAM MEXICO have been pushing the respective federal regulatory agencies for ordering both SWBell (SBC), AT&T, MCI, Sprint, etc. and TelMex to implement a FREE CALLING (local calling) setup within the international metro area. This "could" be set up TODAY if it were to be agreed to or ordered by Cofetel (Mexico) and the FCC (USA). BUT ... It might not be "easy" for the US-side to be able to have shortcut "local-like" *DIALING* to the Nuevo Laredo TAMAULIPAS MEXICO side. Calls from the US to Mexico side would probably still have to be dialed as 01(1)+52+ten-digits, the ten-digits of the Mexican national number in Nuevo Laredo TAM MEX, and there would be no "easy" way to prevent inadvertant mis-dialed *international toll* calls to other Mexican points outside of any such "free calling area". There would be COCOT private payphones (on the US side) that would refuse to comply in programming the chips in their sleazy one-armed bandits to allow "local coin rate" calling to 011+52+ ten-digits for Nuevo Laredo. PBXes might not necessarily allow extension users to dial 9+ 011+52-etc. for Nuevo Laredo. Cellular carriers might not necessarily comply, and dittos for CLECs, despite any order by the FCC. And there could be comparative things on the Mexican side for calling the US, since it might still have to be dialed as 00+1+956+whatever seven-digit NXX-xxxx number might be in the local arrangement. There would be CPE (customer-side) toll-restrictive devices preventing ANY/ALL 011+ dialing (including to the toll-free country code +800 since it has to be dialed as 01(1)+800-eight-digits), and PBXes and COCOT payphones are perfect examples of such toll-restriction devices. But even single line phones can have a toll-restrictor placed "in-line" as well. SWBell (SBC) might have to re-program customers who have SBC c.o.switch based toll-code restriction so that they could dial to 011+52+ONLY THOSE ten-digit numbers on the Mexican side that were in the Nuevo Laredo TAM local region. There are some documents at the Texas PUC website on the petitions and proposals for such an arrangement, but it seems to have laid dormant for over a year and a half now since the last documents were issued. As I said, the state/equivilent and city/municipal and county/equivilent "local" governments on either side of the border are in favor of a "free calling" arrangement, but the federal regulators (FCC and Cofetel) don't seem to be all that enthusiastic. I don't even think that Telmex, SBC/SWB, AT&T, MCI, Sprint are all that "enthusiastic" about it neither! There *ARE* a few toll-free (local) calling arrangements between some US/Canada border points, but both the US and Canada are in the NANP/DDD network. The dialing in each direction varies from place to place where such is in effect. There are some with seven-digit dialing, some with ten-digit (miniumum) dialing, and some require 1+ ten-digits mandatory (even though FREE), and it might not be the same overall procedure in each/both directions! Back in the 1960s/70s, I understand that Nogales AZ (USA) had free calling (dialed) to Nogales SONORA (Mexico), dialed as 69+ the five-digit number in Nogales SON (MEX). The local number in Sonora was five-digits, as 2-XXXX back then. There were *NO* 69x prefixes in Mountain Bell's Nogales AZ (USA) which was SXS at the time, so the code 69 routed directly over the border to the Telmex office which received the dialpulsed digits 2-xxxx. (There *WAS* a 602-692 prefix elsewhere in Arizona, but well outside of the local calling area of Nogales AZ, and at that time, toll calls were simply 1+/0+ seven-digits, so a toll call to 602-692 from Nogales AZ was dialed 1+692-xxxx, the 1+ routing to the homing tandem of AT&T/Mtn.Bell, which wouldn't cause a conflict with a 69+2-xxxx dialed call for Nogales SON MEXICO. I understand that this local arrangement was discontinued YEARS ago, probably some years BEFORE divestiture. Calls between the two towns are dialed AND billed as international. When the local dialing/billing arrangement was in effect, I do *NOT* know how calls from Mexico to the US were dialed. However, El Paso TX USA (and nearby communities right across the state line in the *US STATE* of "New Mexico" (NM) had a NANP-like *dialing* arrangement to Cd.Juarez CHIHUAHUA MEX back in the 1970s, but this was BILLED as an international toll call, although a short-haul one. This dialing arrangement was set up because at the time, AT&T Long Lines hadn't yet set up US/Canada-to-Mexico dialing as 011+52+, although there were a few of those dozen-plus northwest Mexican border communities of +1-903-nxx-xxxx which back in the 1960s/70s were *TRULY* part of the NANP/DDD network, at that time they were *NOT* part of +52 Mexico ... But Cd.Juarez CHIH Mexico was *NOT* part of the northwest border community's area code 903. What AT&T and its Mountain Bell and SWBell BOCs did was to make Cd.Juarez "appear" to be part of west Texas' area code 915. There were *NO* 915-32x c.o.codes assigned at all, and SWBell must have specifically *reserved* them for Mountain Bell's use for shortcut NANP-like toll dialing to Cd.Juarez CHIH Mexico. The numbers in Juarez were five-digits at that time, N-xxxx. US customers in the El Paso TX (and NM) metro area dialed 1+/0+ (915)+ 32n-xxxx. If you were in Texas, you didn't dial the 915. If you were calling from across the state line in towns such as Anthony NM, you dialed the 915 area code "as if" you were dialing a (toll) call to west Texas. (There was protected seven-digit *LOCAL* dialing between certain TX/NM points though, but Juarez was (international) toll though, so it was 1+/0+915 and then 32-n-xxxx. At the time, the western tip of Texas (El Paso/etc) was part of MOUNTAIN BELL. But when divestiture was approaching, they were transferred to Southwestern Bell (now SBC) rather than continuing as Mountain Bell (later US West, now part of the Qwest corporation). The New Mexico side which still is local to the El Paso TX side, is a different LATA though, even though local, and is part of US-West-now-Qwest-LEC. Also, that El Paso part of Texas is in the MOUNTAIN time zone, not the Central time zone! I mentioned the +1-903 area code for the dozen-plus northwest Mexican border communities back in the 1960s/70s. A few of these actually got their *DIALTONE* from Mountain Bell (or in the case of Las Palomas CHIH in Mexico, it got its dialtone from Contel-of-the-West SXS c.o.switch in Columbus NM). Those specific situations were apparantly FREE calls, and might have been dialable as just seven-digits, or even less (four or five digits maybe?) since it was rural SXS at the time! I don't have any specific dialing instructions in the way of directory front pages, but I wish I did though! BUT back to St.Pierre & Miquelon ... Was there ever a local "billing" set-up between the two, even if calls had to be placed via the operator or dialed *AS* IDDD/International/ Overseas? (011+508+etc from NF/Canada to St.P&M, 00+1+709+etc. from St.P&M to NF/Canada). I had mentioned that in the late 1970s, I asked a South Central Bell TSPS operator about St.P&M, and she checked with 141 Rate & Route while keeping me *ON THE LINE* with her (i.e., she did *NOT* "split" the connection! :) Rate & Route told her that it was operator handled, operator routing was 709+121. Thus you had to go to Newfoundland Telephone INWARD operator. (Newfoundland Telephone has been part of the "Bell Canada family" for decades though). But it was in the early/mid 1980s when the ITU assigned St.P&M its own +508 country code. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA CSA ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 14:34:15 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Echo Primer (was Nextel Echo (Ccaann Yyoouu Hheeaarr Mmee Now?)) Lincoln J. King-Cliby wrote: > Today I received a call on my desk phone... > and there was the same, fairly low volume echo all through the call. > Any idea what the source is? Any ideas about what could be done to > minimize or eliminate the cause? You know how there are only two wires (red/green or blue/white) needed to hook up a standard analog type telephone? That's called a "2-wire" connection. Your telephone puts your audio on the two wires, and so does the telephone on the other end. Your phone then subtracts _your_ audio from the two wires and plays the result (which should be the distant audio) in your earpiece. Echo shows up because this process is not perfect -- some amount of your audio still gets to your earpiece. This audio (called "sidetone") is actually desired, because it allows you to regulate your own speaking volume instinctively. One trick of "tweaking" telephone equipment is this: If you need someone to talk louder (to cover background noise, or because your equipment has a problem) just turn _down_ their sidetone. Works every time :-) Usually, sidetone is about 10dB down from the distant end's audio. Set it to maybe -18 and you can have people yelling at their phones ... Unfortunately many (most? all?) connections involve a "4-wire" link for most of their path, and here's where the trouble begins. A 4W link involves separate paths for inbound and outbound audio. In simplest form, it's actually 4 wires (2 balanced pairs) (not the same as 2W with E&M signaling). But it can also be a radio link, VOIP, etc. At the 2W/4W interface (called a "hybrid"), the audio from the distant end needs to be canceled as completely as possible. This is a problem that has been fought with since the dawn of telephony and will continue as long as there are 2W/4W conversions. Because here's what happens in a cellphone: You speak, and your voice is digitized and sent out on a unique radio frequency. At the cell site, your audio stream is multiplexed with many others, dumped into the telephone system (or maybe the internet) and routed to the person you're calling. At their CO the signal is converted to analog and sent through a hybrid for the "last mile". At their telephone there's another hybrid to split the audio back out to the earpiece. But your audio, reduced 10dB, circulates back out of that hybrid and makes the same trip in reverse back to your cellphone! Because the trip itself involves significant delay (digitization, mux/demux, ordinary propagation) you hear your own voice coming back, faintly, a fraction of a second later. This is where echo comes from. Since the phone company has no control over the hybrids in their customers' phones, they use "echo cancelers" to strip off that unwanted return audio. Echo cancelers are sophisticated DSP-based devices that buffer a few hundred milliseconds of audio and attempt to filter out the echo based on examining recent audio. This gets fun because different frequencies are delayed by different amounts. Echo cancelers need to be set up and "trained" to the characteristics of the individual phone line they're connected to. Also, there's that hybrid in the CO; it's usually a precision device that can be adjusted to provide nearly 30dB of separation. (Maybe hybrids are all digital nowadays -- I've been out of the field for a few years :-) If the echo cancelers and/or CO hybrids are not properly adjusted, the call will have echo. The hybrid in your telephone is not adjustable. In actual practice there may be several stages of echo cancelers and hybrids in a single call. Echo may occur at more than one point in the link. Weather, car wrecks, and other factors can change the characteristics of radio links and "balanced" copper pairs, so that something which was perfectly adjusted yesterday might be out of spec today. All these adjustments are moving targets... Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: yeltrabnhoj@email.com Subject: Re: Registrar Giving Free Domains Away Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 20:55:51 GMT Organization: (reverse to reply) (John Bartley, K7AAY, Portland OR) On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 23:20:32 EST, TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > A registrar named UNONIC (United Names Organization) is giving away > free domains mostly under the '.tf' and '.tt' groups. For instance, I > was invited to register 'patricktownson' (or whatever I pleased) in > any of these areas: > .net.tf .edu.tf .com.tf .(various country codes).tf etc. > They're free ... just go pick one at either unonic.com or joyinc.com. > Just enter what you want, whether or not it is available is checked > and you get it. > I don't know what the catch is, but there must be one somewhere. I > tried all the domain names I registered, and they went through using > my ISP which is cableone.net and they worked using the Lynx server > here at lcs.mit.edu . Well, cjb.net has done the same thing for years. They offer the limited service and hope you will step up to their pay services. If they don't go broke, it could be useful. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 17:40:44 -0500 From: No Spam (address deleted at reader's request) Subject: Re: Hunt Group > In article , Ken > wrote: >> I have two lines in my home (Verizon local service.) This is set up >> so that a busy signal on one line bumps an incoming call to the other >> (hunt group.) I am thinking of switching to another local provider. >> Will this hunt group capability be transferred to the new carrier? > If and _only_ if: > (a) the new carrier offers the functionality > (b) you -order- it from the new carrier, when you change service providers >> Can I assume that all providers offer this function? > Practically all modern switching equipment has the capability to do this. > Whether the people "know how" to configure it is an entirely different > question. >> I am writing here because the support people at the companies I >> called seem clueless when I ask these questions. > If 'hunt group' doesn't get you anywhere, try asking about "call > forward busy'. I have found that the 'hunt' feature does not incur per-call charges, but the 'call forward-busy' and 'call forward-don't answer' features DO incur per-call charges if you're in a 'measured' service area. Joshua (please delete my email address as I'm emailing from work) ------------------------------ From: Ken Subject: Re: Hunt Group Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 19:55:14 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet Is "call forward busy" identical to "hunt group"? With Verizon, at least, "hunt group" costs me nothing additional. "Call forward busy" costs $2/line/month. Thanks! wrote in message news:telecom22.732.9@telecom-digest.org: > In article , Ken > wrote: >> I have two lines in my home (Verizon local service.) This is set up >> so that a busy signal on one line bumps an incoming call to the other >> (hunt group.) I am thinking of switching to another local provider. >> Will this hunt group capability be transferred to the new carrier? > If and _only_ if: > (a) the new carrier offers the functionality > (b) you -order- it from the new carrier, when you change service > providers >> Can I assume that all providers offer this function? > Practically all modern switching equipment has the capability to do this. > Whether the people "know how" to configure it is an entirely different > question. >> I am writing here because the support people at the companies I >> called seem clueless when I ask these questions. > If 'hunt group' doesn't get you anywhere, try asking about "call > forward busy'. ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech Support Subject: Re: Lucent 854 4-line Phones Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 18:09:17 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Cliff Keeney posted on that vast internet thingie: > Speaking of the 4-line Lucent 854's, > I have 5 of them in use and cannot stop them from cross line > interference. Doesn't matter which phone, or which line is being used. > You can hear the conversations from the other lines. Is there something > that needed to be installed in the original installation" Or is there > anything that can be added to stop it at each phone? Please let me know > if you can help! Have you checked your wiring? If so try unplugging every device and then testing and then plugging more units back in. If none of that helps then you might want to upgrade. The TMC ET4000 phones are relatively inexpensive and work quite well. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Vtech 5.8Ghz; EnGenius NEW EP490 4line (the longest range), TMC ET4000 Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, WatchGuard firewall, Polycom! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Minuteman UPS systems If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ 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 #733 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Nov 5 15:36:56 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA5KauO21443; Wed, 5 Nov 2003 15:36:56 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 15:36:56 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311052036.hA5KauO21443@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 #734 TELECOM Digest Wed, 5 Nov 2003 15:37:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 734 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Hughes to Devote More Satellites to Television (Monty Solomon) Calif. Halts E-Vote Certification (Monty Solomon) Patent Ruling Tugs at Net Downloads (Monty Solomon) EFFector 16.30: Librarian of Congress Fails Public Interest (M Solomon) FCC Adopts Anti-Piracy Protection For Digital TV (Monty Solomon) FCC Provides Information for Consumers Wireless Local Number (Solomon) Nokia Demos World's First Dual Stack IPv4/IPv6 CDMA Handset (M Solomon) Terra Lycos Improves Net Income Through September by 59% (Monty Solomon) Traffic-Signal Change Devices a Concern (Monty Solomon) Re: SP&M/NF(Can); Local Dialing, or Local CALLING/Billing (Wesrock@aol) Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands (Stuart Friedman) Re: FCC Wants to Fine AT&T Over 'Do Not Call' (Thomas A. Horsley) Cell Users Soon Could Take Home Digits Along (Group Special Mobile) Re: Hunt Group (Gary Breuckman) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (C. Lowell) Re: ISP Spam Filtering (was Re: Free eFax Going Away?) (Gordon Hlavenka) Qwest To Roll Out Internet Voice Service In Minn. (Eric Friedebach) Re: Router For High Speed Serial? (Jim) Derby Line VT and Stanstead Plain QC (was SP&M/NF) (John R. Covert) Re: Hunt Group (admin@horatio.agresource.com) Attention LEC's New Product Announcement-Upgrade AMA Billing (Robertson) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 19:05:42 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hughes to Devote More Satellites to Television NEW YORK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Hughes Electronics Corp., (NYSE:GMH), owner of satellite broadcaster DirecTV, said it plans to reconfigure new satellites that had been intended for high-speed data transmission to provide additional bandwidth for advanced television services. The shift in strategy, on the eve of the planned takeover of Hughes by News Corp. Ltd. (AUS:NCP) at the end of the year, shows that DirecTV is focusing on offering next-generation television services like providing local television channels in high-definition format rather than on consumer Internet access. The satellites to be reconfigured are part of Hughes' $1.5 billion Spaceway project and were intended to provide broadband data services for businesses and consumers. But in comments made to the SkyForum satellite industry conference last week, and first reported in the Wall Street Journal, DirecTV chairman and CEO Eddy Hartenstein said Hughes is looking at ways to use part of the Spaceway satellites' capacity "to fill a big need for DirecTV." A DirecTV spokesman declined to elaborate but said that the potential use of Spaceway capacity for DirecTV broadcasts was disclosed in an SEC filing at the beginning of the year. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36361799 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 19:16:59 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Calif. Halts E-Vote Certification By Kim Zetter 05:49 PM Nov. 03, 2003 PT SACRAMENTO, California -- Uncertified software may have been installed on electronic voting machines used in one California county, according to the secretary of state's office. Marc Carrel, assistant secretary of state for policy and planning, told attendees Thursday at a panel on voting systems that California was halting the certification process for new voting machines manufactured by Diebold Election Systems. The reason, Carrel said, was that his office had recently received "disconcerting information" that Diebold may have installed uncertified software on its touch-screen machines used in one county. He did not say which county was involved. However, secretary of state spokesman Douglas Stone later told Wired News that the county in question is Alameda. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,61068,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 18:52:35 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Patent Ruling Tugs at Net Downloads By Stefanie Olsen Staff Writer, CNET News.com SightSound Technologies, a digital media company, has won a ruling in its patent case against Bertelsmann subsidiaries that could have wide-reaching effects on the business of Net music and video downloads. Mount Lebanon, Penn.-based SightSound holds three patents related to the sale and download of digital music and video over the Internet. In 1998, the company sued the Internet site CDNow, owned by media titan Bertelsmann, for infringement of patents filed in the late 1980s. The case is the first and only test so far of the validity of SightSound's intellectual property holdings. Last Thursday, a federal judge in the Western District Court of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh granted SightSound's motion for summary judgment against Bertelsmann's divisions, paving the road for the 5-year dispute to go to jury trial. The court also dismissed Bertelsmann's request to avoid trial, which was based on the assertion that SightSound had not filed the proper information with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. http://news.com.com/2100-1025-5101490.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 18:44:39 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 16.30: Librarian of Congress Fails Public Interest EFFector Vol. 16, No. 30 November 1, 2003 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 269th Issue of EFFector: * Librarian of Congress Fails Public Interest in Copyright Regulation * Nominate a Pioneer for EFF's 2004 Pioneer Awards * Oops--We Goofed: EFF Still Seeks Media Interns, Spanish Translator * Deep Links (13): The MATRIX: Total Information Awareness Reloaded * Staff Calendar: 11.08.03 - Wendy Seltzer speaks at "Copyright and the Networked Computer, Washington, DC; 11.09.03 - Kevin Bankston speaks "Shaking the Foundations," Stanford, CA. * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/16/30.php ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 19:16:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Adopts Anti-Piracy Protection For Digital TV News Release: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A1.pdf Order: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-273A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-273A1.pdf Powell Press Statement: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A2.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A2.pdf Abernathy Statement: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A3.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A3.pdf Copps Statement: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A4.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A4.pdf Adelstein Statement: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A5.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A5.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 19:23:01 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Provides Information for Consumers on Wireless Local Number FCC Provides Information for Consumers on Wireless Local Number Portability. News Release: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240702A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240702A1.pdf Factsheet: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240702A2.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240702A2.pdf LPN Availability List: Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240702A3.pdf LPN Availability Map: Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240702A4.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 02:56:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nokia Demonstrates World's First Dual Stack IPv4/IPv6 CDMA Handset - Flexible Prototype Device Marks Emergence of New Internet Standard For Advanced Mobile Applications - BANGKOK, Thailand, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nokia (NYSE:NOK) today demonstrated the world's first dual stack IPv4/IPv6 CDMA handset, setting the standard for future mobile Internet devices. This prototype handset addresses the increasing demand for advanced Internet-connected mobile devices in an environment in which existing Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses are rapidly being depleted, and will soon be replaced by nearly infinite Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) addresses. Nokia is currently offering prototype IPv6 CDMA handsets to operators for testing purposes, and will be ready for commercial delivery of dual stack IPv4/IPv6 handsets during 2004. First standardized in 1981, IPv4 has served as the basis of the Internet as it has exploded over the past two decades. However, this very success has stretched the IPv4 standard to its limit, and the growth in Internet-connected mobile devices and emerging Internet markets, especially those in the Asia - Pacific region, is necessitating a change in standards. Interim solutions like network address translation (NAT) that are currently being implemented work reasonably well for fixed devices, but create additional problems for mobile devices. IPv6 is the long-term solution for the issue of limited IPv4 addresses for all types of connected Internet devices. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36369080 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 03:28:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Terra Lycos Improves Net Income Through September by 59% Expects to Post Positive EBITDA in 4Q - Nov 5, 2003 02:58 AM (PR Newswire) Key highlights of the January-September 2003 performance compared to the same period last year: -- Growth in revenues in local currency was 15%, excluding the impact of the Bertelsmann agreement and Telefonica strategic alliance. -- Revenues in local currency amounted to 463 million euros. The depreciation of all currencies outside the Euro zone yielded a negative impact of 72 million euros. In current euros, Terra Lycos reported revenues of 391 million euros. -- In line with the continuous positive EBITDA performance in the last 13 quarters, the Company expects to reach positive EBITDA in 4Q03. -- EBITDA in current euros was -37 million euros, an improvement of 63% or 63 million euros since last year. The EBITDA margin improved 11 basis points to -10%. -- The EBITDA margin in local currency was -8%, an improvement of 13 basis points. -- Net income in current euros rose 59%, or 195 million euros, to -137 million euros. --- Terra Lycos exited the quarter with a total of 4.6 million paying access, communication and portal services customers, an increase of 82%. --- In September 2003, the Company surpassed the half-million mark for broadband customers, ending the month with a total of 543,203, a rise of 59%. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36369453 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 03:51:49 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Traffic-Signal Change Devices a Concern By TRAVIS REED Associated Press Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- It's every motorist's fantasy to be able to make a red traffic light turn green without so much as easing off the accelerator. That naughty dream may now be coming true, with perilous implications. The very technology that has for years allowed fire trucks, ambulances and police cars to emergencies faster _ a remote control that changes traffic signals _ is now much cheaper and potentially accessible. No bigger than a dashtop radar detector, the device is known as a mobile infrared transmitter, or MIRT, and can be had for about $300. The possibility of its proliferation is unnerving public safety and transportation officials. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200311050842_APO_V6801 ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 10:29:08 EST Subject: Re: SP&M/NF(Can); Local Dialing, or Local CALLING/Billing Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com On Tue, 4 Nov 2003 13:58:05 CST Mark J Cuccia wrote: > At the time, the western tip of Texas (El Paso/etc) was part of > MOUNTAIN BELL. But when divestiture was approaching, they were > transferred to Southwestern Bell (now SBC) rather than continuing as > Mountain Bell (later US West, now part of the Qwest corporation). At one time, in Mountain States days, Cd. Juarez, Chih., was dialed as 70+the Juarez number. Don't recall whether it was toll or not. > I had mentioned that in the late 1970s, I asked a South Central Bell > TSPS operator about St.P&M, and she checked with 141 Rate & Route > while keeping me *ON THE LINE* with her (i.e., she did *NOT* "split" > the connection! :) > Rate & Route told her that it was operator handled, operator routing > was 709+121. Thus you had to go to Newfoundland Telephone INWARD > operator. (Newfoundland Telephone has been part of the "Bell Canada > family" for decades though). Toll operators often left you on the line when they consulted "R&R." That was so you could give the operator the route the next time you called, eliminating the need to go to R&R every time. Some of the R&R information even included such information as "Mark other place" or "Mark 604-353+" (the latter often for a place dialed with a fictitious code in another NPA or as 121 for inward in either the same or another NPA. Many customers who called such places would give you the full R&R instructions. That was a change from earlier instructions to ignore any rate and route information given by customers, particularly as it was found such information was almost always accurate and a big timesaver for the outward operator and R&R. Many points in Mexico in manual days homed on a Texas toll center, in many cases even for Mexico-to-Mexico calls. The classifications of calls, as I recall, were domestic (which included Canada) calls, Mexico calls, and overseas calls. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Stuart Friedman Subject: Re: St.Pierre & Miquelon, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, etc. Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 01:57:19 GMT >> fishermen. The exports are chiefly fish products ... > Fish? Isn't the biggest export booze? Probably the next exchange > earner, if not an export, is tourism. FM Radio signals as well, (e.g. OZ FM). ------------------------------ Subject: Re: FCC Wants to Fine AT&T Over 'Do Not Call' From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 23:50:33 GMT > WASHINGTON (AP) -- AT&T faces a $780,000 fine for reaching out and > touching consumers who had asked to be left alone, federal regulators > said Monday. Well, the list can't possibly apply to them, after all, AT&T are the ones running the do not call web site for the gummint (do not bind the mouth of the kine who tread the grain and all that... :-). >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ From: Group Special Mobile Subject: Cell Users Soon Could Take Home Digits Along Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 15:55:58 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: look@signature_for_reply_instructions By Paul Davidson November 4, 2003 About 5.8 million people have cut off wired home phone service to go wireless-only, says the Yankee Group. And Gartner estimates that would double if customers could take their numbers with them. The growing band of renegades who are ditching their home phones to use only cell phones will likely get an early Christmas gift: the ability to transfer their home numbers to their wireless phones. The Federal Communications Commission's staff is recommending that local phone companies be required to let customers switch their home or business numbers to wireless phones starting Nov. 24. http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/22625.html To send an email reply send to GSMthemobilestandard (@) yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: Hunt Group Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 23:49:36 -0600 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , "address deleted at reader's request" wrote: >> In article , Ken >> wrote: >> If 'hunt group' doesn't get you anywhere, try asking about "call >> forward busy'. > I have found that the 'hunt' feature does not incur per-call charges, > but the 'call forward-busy' and 'call forward-don't answer' features DO > incur per-call charges if you're in a 'measured' service area. It gets much worse if you have a lot of lines. Let's say you have 10 lines and use call-forward-busy. A call forwarding from each line to the next ...etc... to the last line would cost YOU nine units of local calls. We used this on some modem lines, because the telco had problems with large hunt groups -- but this was on Centrex service and we were not charged for the forwarding. -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ From: clowell@mx2.geometry.co.in (C. Lowell) Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 13:35:48 +0100 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com > I've used a free eFax account for a couple of years. > Yesterday, I received an email stating that they would no longer be > able to provide me with free service, although it looks like they are > accepting new applications for free service. There are 2 efax companies, an Irish one and an American one. You are talking about the American one, which is also called j2 Global Communications. If j2 wrote that it is not "able" to provide you with free service, it lied. J2 is able to. > I've always wondered how they could provide the service for free, but > I didn't let it bother me much. In the past, statements by j2 to a specific customer that j2 will end his free service, or that j2 has already ended his free service, have not always been true. J2 gets paid to send advertising to its free customers. Also, free service from j2 sometimes leads to paid service. Some people have unsuccessfully tried to end their free j2 service. Try Faxwave for free email-fax gateway service. For more informatuion about j2, the contact info below may be helpful. J2 TELEPHONE NUMBERS 1-323-860-9200 (headquarters) 1-888-438-5329 (headquarters) toll free 1-800-251-5212 (investment information) toll free 1-800-718-2000 (sales) toll free 1-800-958-2983 (sales) toll free 1-800-362-8624 (DocuMagix Inc, CA, Personal Content Management) toll free 1-800-552-8352 (J2 Telcom, CT) toll free 1-800-541-8447 (J2 Wholesale Distributors, CA, Computer Supplies) toll free 1-888-438-5329 (JFAX Personal Telecom, NY, Internet) toll free 1-415-218-4872 (ip tech) EMAIL ADDRESSES affiliates@mail.j2.com, investor@j2.com, investorinfo@j2.com, jadelman@j2.com (Jeff Adelman at j2 headquarters), press@j2.com, r.karpman@socketmedia.com and info@socketmedia.com (media relations and investor relations for j2), ekahn@ekms.com (licensing agent for j2's patents), ipadmin@j2.com (ip tech), Josh.Evans@j2global.com (Joshua Evans, Director Business Development), MPugh@j2.com (Mike Pugh, VP of Marketing). ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 08:44:42 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: ISP Spam Filtering (was Re: Free eFax Going Away?) Ed Clarke wrote: > ... I will not EVER pass along mail to a customer that > contains a virus that I have detected. It gets dropped. Period. No > copy kept. This seems like a good idea at first glance, but I'm still opposed to it. (NB my comments are regarding an ISP -- Businesses running their own mailservers for their employees' use are a whole 'nother ball of wax.) First, I don't trust scanning software. I _use_ it, but when it hits on a file I look at that file and its provenance before deciding what to do next. I have received software by email and I expect I will again in the future -- and there are documented instances of false positive virus detection. If you drop my mail, I have no evidence that ANYTHING happened; maybe I get an email from you saying, "We dropped an email from so-and-so because it was infected with this-and-such," (or maybe I don't) but without the original mail I have only your word to go on. Even if your scanner is 100% accurate, I'm still against it. It's the thin end of a dangerous wedge. Those "social engineering viruses" -- will those get filtered next? You know, "Bill Gates will pay $100 to everybody who forwards this to ten friends" and that kind of rot. Nigerian scam letters are flat-out _illegal_ -- will you drop them? What about an email with a pointer to a DeCss download site? Something with an encrypted attachment and a return address in a .iq domain? You are a data pipe; nothing more. Once you start looking inside your customers' mail, the line gets gray and fuzzy. I don't need my ISP to be my net-mommy. I'm a big boy. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Cable One sends you ONE piece of email now and then saying 'please inspect your spam/virus box' and it is up to the customer to go there and check it out, and retrieve anything which by chance (not very often) they really want, and with a single check mark dismiss the other stuff. That is what I wish SBC would do instead of stacking it all in your inbox; all the penis enlargements and 'Microsoft corrections' along with what legitimate mail I get. And since spammers and virus writers have gotten smart and use bogus subject lines you wind up having to read a lot of it anyway. That was my main objection to SBC. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Qwest To Roll Out Internet Voice Service In Minn. Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 10:46:26 -0600 Organization: Muddy Paw Prints On The Corvette By Jeremy Pelofsky ARLINGTON, Va., Nov 4 (Reuters) - Local U.S. telephone company Qwest Communications International Inc. plans to roll out telephone service via the Internet in Minnesota since traditional, costly regulations do not apply there, the company's chief executive said on Tuesday. The decision by the No. 4 local telephone carrier, which may expand the service to other states, comes after a federal judge's ruling last month that protects information services from regulation and preempts state limits on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2003/11/04/rtr1134536.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: D3xx@hotmail.com (Jim) Subject: Re: Router For High Speed Serial? Date: 4 Nov 2003 18:13:49 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com D3xx@hotmail.com (Jim) wrote in message news:: > I have a client who wishes to route their WAN traffic onto their > central network (100mb ethernet). The WAN consists of 60 field > offices connected via frame relay into a 4mb frame relay service. Its > my understanding that standard Cisco WIC modules only do serial up to > 2mb. Can someone please recommend a small Cisco router capable of > handling a 4mb frame service? Would this be a 26XX router with HSSI > card? Or do any of the latest Cisco fixed config routers have serial > ports capable of 4mb sync for frame relay already? Some things I have discovered: Standard Cisco sync serial modules such as WIC-2T and NM-4T are actually capable of driving one port as high as 8mb. But telcos usually recommend against it. The smallest router that can host a HSSI card is a 2691. The 36XX series will be EOL next month. The 3725 and 3745 are decent replacements. However they are much more expensive (in Australia) than their 36XX predecessors. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 11:49:39 EST From: John R. Covert Subject: Derby Line VT and Stanstead Plain QC (was SP&M/NF...) Apropos the cross-border calling discussion: There's this very interesting place in Vermont called Derby Line which is a cross-border community with Stanstead, Quebec. Possibly the most interesting building in town is the Haskell Free Library and Opera House (see http://www.scenesofvermont.com/haskell.htm). The border goes right through the middle of the building and is painted on the floor. The Library phone numbers are 802-873-3022 and 819-876-2471; both numbers appear in a single key system. To call from Vermont numbers, you must dial 1+819+876-xxxx, but it is a local call. To call from Quebec numbers, you need dial 873-xxxx only. Many buildings are right on the border, and the interesting thing is to see power, telephone, and cable television going into the same building from both sides of the border. See also http://www.townshipsheritage.com/Eng/Articles/Places/ stanstead.heritage.tour.html (combine the two lines to form the URL). /john [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why do you suppose between the USA and Canadian government they could not have reached some agreement to place the *entire town* on one side or the other and let it go at that. What do they do about someone committing a crime in one part of the library for example, then running and hiding in some other part? Do police have to get extradition papers to get the person or do they wind up calling Interpol? PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Hunt Group Organization: Not Much From: admin@horatio.agresource.com () Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 18:06:43 GMT In article , Ken wrote: > Is "call forward busy" identical to "hunt group"? With Verizon, at > least, "hunt group" costs me nothing additional. "Call forward busy" > costs $2/line/month. The two are "functionally equivalent", yes, from the point of view of the customer. Pricing is, as you point out, a whole different animal. *AND* why some "upstart" carriers may disclaim any knowledge of 'hunt group'. > wrote in message > news:telecom22.732.9@telecom-digest.org: >> In article , Ken >> wrote: >>> I have two lines in my home (Verizon local service.) This is set up >>> so that a busy signal on one line bumps an incoming call to the other >>> (hunt group.) I am thinking of switching to another local provider. >>> Will this hunt group capability be transferred to the new carrier? >> If and _only_ if: >> (a) the new carrier offers the functionality >> (b) you -order- it from the new carrier, when you change service >> providers >>> Can I assume that all providers offer this function? >> Practically all modern switching equipment has the capability to do this. >> Whether the people "know how" to configure it is an entirely different >> question. >>> I am writing here because the support people at the companies I >>> called seem clueless when I ask these questions. >> If 'hunt group' doesn't get you anywhere, try asking about "call >> forward busy'. ------------------------------ From: terry@cds.net (Terry Robertson) Subject: Attention LEC's, New Product Announcement-Upgrade AMA Billing Date: 5 Nov 2003 11:10:40 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com If you still have 9-track tapes recording your AMA data on your Alcatel, Lucent, or Nortel Switch, I have a suprisingly affordable solution that will completely replace your old 9 track tape drives. This Magnetic Tape Emulator Replacement Unit is up and running at several LECs and a Long Distant Carriers. Identifies all AMA records, converts each call record to your billing record format of choice and forwards the record to your billing center. It is 100% reliable and fully redundant. Retrieve billing data in minutes that normally would take hours or even days to obtain, which results in accurate, timely invoices to your customers. Save time, save labor, save money. This unit has helped customers collect an additional 8% in billable usage revenues (previously lost revenue). Send your call records directly to your billing center. Other solutions were goin to cost our clients ten times as much as our solution. Our solution produced better results. Don't take my word for it, not with millions of dollars of recorded AMA data at stake. Talk to our customers. "Best thing to come along since sliced bread" said one of our LEC customers. (corny but true) Call or email Terry, terry@cds.net or call me direct at 732-517-0919. ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #734 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Nov 6 01:28:27 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA66SQY24205; Thu, 6 Nov 2003 01:28:27 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 01:28:27 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311060628.hA66SQY24205@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 #735 TELECOM Digest Thu, 6 Nov 2003 01:28:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 735 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson GILC Alert v7i7 (Monty Solomon) In Positive Quarter, Broadband Aids Cable Industry (Monty Solomon) QUALCOMM Announces Fourth Quarter; Fiscal 2003 Results (Monty Solomon) Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages (Monty Solomon) Spain's Terra Says to Beat 2003 EBITDA Guidance (Monty Solomon) News Corporation Reports 1st Quarter Operating Income of $719 (Solomon) Cisco Systems Reports First Quarter Earnings (Monty Solomon) Re: Derby Line VT and Stanstead Plain QC (was SP&M/NF...) (Wesrock@aol) Re: Derby Line VT and Stanstead Plain QC (was SP&M/NF...) (COTTP) Border Towns (Joey Lindstrom) El Paso TX USA, Juarez CHIH Mexico, etc. (Mark J Cuccia) Re: FCC Wants to Fine AT&T Over 'Do Not Call' (Barry Margolin) Re: Verizon @#$! (Charles G Gray) Re: Free eFax Going Away? (dold@FreeXeFaxX.usenet.us.com) Re: Traffic-Signal Change Devices a Concern (Ron Chapman) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 17:25:55 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: GILC Alert v7i7 GILC Alert Volume 7, Issue 7 10 October 2003 Welcome to the Global Internet Liberty Campaign Newsletter. Welcome to GILC Alert, the newsletter of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign. We are an international organization of groups working for cyber-liberties, who are determined to preserve civil liberties and human rights on the Internet. We hope you find this newsletter interesting, and we very much hope that you will avail yourselves of the action items in future issues. If you are a part of an organization that would be interested in joining GILC, please contact us at . If you are aware of threats to cyber-liberties that we may not know about, please contact the GILC members in your country, or contact GILC as a whole. Please feel free to redistribute this newsletter to appropriate forums. =============================================== Free expression [1] Hollywood Net lawsuit blitz generates outcry [2] China prosecutes gov't official over Net speech activities [3] India bans Yahoo chat group over political content [4] US gov't threatens reporters over Net security story [5] World info society summit in turmoil [6] Thai gov't pushes Net censor plans despite problems [7] Australian measure may stop oversight of Net censors [8] German anonymizing service receives favorable court ruling [9] Court upholds weblinks' legality in Scientology case [10] Uzbek free speech website censorship flap [11] Russian gov't searches news Web site's office [12] Report: Net censorship increasing worldwide Privacy [13] Lawsuit: Microsoft dominance leads to Net security woes [14] Loverspy service may violate Net privacy laws [15] Controversy mounts over Bangladesh Net spy plans [16] Congress agrees to shutdown TIA spy program [17] British gov't again unveils a "Snoopers' Charter" [18] Multiple bills would restore US privacy protections [19] Privacy fears haunt built-in mobile phone recorders [20] Report: Trusted Computing systems bad for Net rights [21] Euro study calls for privacy rights restoration http://www.gilc.org/alert/alert77.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 18:44:50 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: In Positive Quarter, Broadband Aids Cable Industry By Michael Learmonth NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The cable television industry has found a way to grow again, but it has nothing to do with ESPN, HBO, or even television. As increased programming costs and competition from satellite services eat into profits, cable companies have been saved by high demand for faster Internet connections. All the major companies reported dramatic increases in high-speed data subscribers in recent weeks. Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA), the nation's largest cable operator, saw its high-speed data subscribers swell 49 percent in the past year, and it had 473,000 net additional subscribers in the third quarter. Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX)-owned Time Warner Cable data subscribers grew 37 percent over the past year. Cox Communications (NYSE:COX) grew 45 percent and Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR), 60 percent. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36375657 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 18:46:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: QUALCOMM Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2003 Results FY2003 Revenues $4.0 Billion, EPS $1.01 SAN DIEGO, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) today announced its fourth quarter and fiscal 2003 results ended September 28, 2003. Revenues were $909 million in the fourth fiscal quarter, up 4 percent year-over-year. Fourth quarter net income was $291 million and earnings per share were $0.35, up 53 percent and 52 percent year-over-year, respectively. Revenues were $4.0 billion in fiscal 2003, up 31 percent compared to fiscal 2002. Fiscal 2003 earnings were $827 million and earnings per share were $1.01, both up 130 percent compared to fiscal 2002. Revenues excluding the QUALCOMM Strategic Initiatives (QSI) segment were $870 million in the fourth fiscal quarter, up 4 percent year-over-year. Fourth quarter net income excluding the QSI segment was $236 million and earnings per share were $0.29, down 5 percent and 6 percent year-over-year, respectively. In fiscal 2003, revenues excluding the QSI segment were $3.8 billion, up 32 percent compared to fiscal 2002. Fiscal 2003 net income excluding the QSI segment was $1.2 billion and earnings per share were $1.42, up 46 percent and 45 percent, respectively, compared to fiscal 2002. 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=36376022 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 18:49:59 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages By BRUCE MEYERSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- For anyone who answers their cell phone at home, here's an idea so simple it's hard to imagine why it took so long to arrive: why not have your wireless calls automatically ring on your home phone whenever you're there? The unique FastForward service from Cingular Wireless promises to do just that, rerouting all cellular calls to your home number whenever you drop your mobile handset into a special $40 cradle that doubles as a phone charger. I did encounter a very minor bug with the service, which is $2.99 a month or free with some packages, but Cingular has made refinements that may address the blip. Otherwise, the advantages of FastForward are many and obvious. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36376308 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 18:53:23 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Spain's Terra Says to Beat 2003 EBITDA Guidance Spain's Terra says to beat 2003 EBITDA guidance - Nov 5, 2003 12:38 PM (Reuters) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36373414 MADRID, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Spanish Internet service provider Terra Lycos (MC:TRR)(NASDAQ:TRLY) said on Wednesday it would meet or exceed the high end of its 2003 revenue guidance and beat its forecasts for EBITDA margin over revenues. "We gave revenue guidance for 2003 of 570 to 620 million euros at a constant 2002 exchange rate and an EBITDA range of minus 8 to minus 12 percent," Terra Lycos Chairman Joaquim Agut told a conference call with analysts. "We can now announce that we expect to reach or exceed the revenue high end ... and beat our EBITDA guidance." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 19:07:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: News Corporation Reports First Quarter Operating Income News Corporation Reports First Quarter Operating Income of $719 Million, a 31% Increase, on Revenue Growth of 22% - Nov 5, 2003 04:12 PM (BusinessWire) NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 2003--The News Corporation Limited (NYSE:NWS, NWS.A) Net Profit before Other Items More Than Doubles to $386 Million; Net Profit Increases $260 Million to $422 Million QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS -- Filmed Entertainment operating income more than triples on robust home entertainment sales of film and television titles as well as strong syndication contributions. -- Sustained ratings and advertising growth at Regional Sports Networks and Fox News Channel drives 13% operating income growth at Cable Network Programming. -- Television Stations increase market share, grow operating income 7%; STAR delivers another quarter of profits; overall Television segment down slightly due to the inclusion of American Idol in the quarter a year ago. -- All print businesses report higher earnings contributions led by circulation revenue gains in U.K. newspapers, advertising demand in Australian newspapers and increased page volume at free-standing inserts. The News Corporation Limited (NYSE:NWS, NWS.A) today reported first quarter consolidated revenues of $4.6 billion, a 22% increase over the $3.8 billion reported in the prior year, and consolidated operating income of $719 million. These results, representing a 31% increase over the $548 million reported a year ago were achieved despite the inclusion of $117 million in losses from SKY Italia in the current quarter. The year-on-year operating income growth was driven primarily by a three-fold increase at Filmed Entertainment as well as double-digit increases at the Cable Network Programming, Newspapers and Magazines and Inserts segments. Net profit for the first quarter was $422 million, a $260 million increase over the $162 million reported in the first quarter a year ago. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36376132 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 18:54:26 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cisco Systems Reports First Quarter Earnings SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 2003--Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO) -- Q1 Revenues: $5.1 Billion (5.3% increase year over year; 8.5% increase quarter over quarter) -- Q1 Earnings Per Share: $0.15 GAAP (87.5% increase year over year); $0.17 Pro Forma (21.4% increase year over year) Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today reported its first quarter results for the period ended October 25, 2003. Net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2004 were $5.1 billion, compared with $4.8 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2003, an increase of 5.3 percent, and compared with $4.7 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003, an increase of 8.5 percent. Net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2004, on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, was $1.1 billion or $0.15 per share, compared with $618 million or $0.08 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2003, and compared with $982 million or $0.14 per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003. Pro forma net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2004 was $1.2 billion or $0.17 per share, compared with pro forma net income of $1.0 billion or $0.14 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2003, and compared with $1.1 billion or $0.15 per share for the fourth 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. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36376077 ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 19:55:17 EST Subject: Re: Derby Line VT and Stanstead Plain QC (was SP&M/NF...) Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com Pat wrote, in a comment about the posting from John R. Covert about calling between Derby Line VT and Stanstead Plain QC (was SP& M/NF...): > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why do you suppose between the USA > and Canadian government they could not have reached some agreement > to place the *entire town* on one side or the other and let it go > at that. What do they do about someone committing a crime in one > part of the library for example, then running and hiding in some > other part? Do police have to get extradition papers to get the > person or do they wind up calling Interpol? PAT] In the USA, area codes are assigned to a phone according to the state it is in, regardless of where the serving exchange is located. An example close to Pat is Coffeyville, Kansas, and South Coffeyville, Oklahoma, both of which are served from the Coffeyville office. But phones on the Kansas side have a 620 area code and those on the Oklahoma side have a 918 area code and a different prefix, although there is simple 7-digit local dialing between the two states. There are many such examples in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Of course, that is not the same as the Derby Line-Stanstead situation, where apparently no carrier's lines cross the international border (but how, then, can the numbers appear in the same key system if at least one carrier's lines don't cross the border?). Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suspect the Canadians (or the USA telco) made their drop to a demarc somewhere in or around the building (probably the basement) then whoever maintains their phone system installed a key system telephone and terminated both lines there. A multi-line telephone does not care *what* is there, as long as the wiring is correct. I've seen cases like that in Whiting, Indiana which sits on the border with Chicago. For example, many years ago (and still today as far as I know) the Commonweath Edison Company had a coal burning/steam generated electric generating station on the corner of 106th Street and Indianapolis Boulevard. In the office there, they had a multi-line phone there with the Chicago (312) number SOUth Chicago-8-8000 and a Whiting (later to be 219 number in the old manual days) of Whiting 39. The phone had to have a dial on it to use the Chicago number(s) but the dial was simply ignored when someone lifted the reciever to get a 'local number' from the Whiting operator. Ditto where my grandfather worked, as assistant superintendent at the Whiting refinery. The switchboard and PBX was an interesting thing. You dialed '9' for an outside line of course, or '8' plus more digits to use the Chicago 312 lines. But if you dialed '9' to get an outside line, then you sat there and waited for the Whiting operator to ask you for 'number please?' You could also dial '7' plus additional digits to use the Stanotel network. While the Whiting number for the refinery was simply '2111' (or most subscribers simply asked the operator for the refinery) the Chicago 312 number was SOUth Chicago 8-2000 as I recall. On the Stanotel network a caller would dial WHIting (or 944) to get that location. PAT] ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Derby Line VT and Stanstead Plain QC (was SP&M/NF...) Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 16:05:08 -0500 In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to nospam@covert.org: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why do you suppose between the USA > and Canadian government they could not have reached some agreement > to place the *entire town* on one side or the other and let it go > at that. What do they do about someone committing a crime in one > part of the library for example, then running and hiding in some > other part? Do police have to get extradition papers to get the > person or do they wind up calling Interpol? PAT] In this day and age, it all has to do with tax revenue. RI and CT are fighting a battle over the border. Seems some of the markers set well over a hundred years ago have moved. CT claims GPS data says that many people who thought they were in RI are actually in CT. It was just starting to bubble when I was at the AG's office. Seems Voluntown, CT sent tax bills to those residents the y felt were within their domain. Problem was, they were also getting tax bills from RI. It's still being argued to this day. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 15:31:33 -0700 Subject: Border Towns Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 15:36:56 -0500 (EST), editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why do you suppose between the USA > and Canadian government they could not have reached some agreement > to place the *entire town* on one side or the other and let it go > at that. What do they do about someone committing a crime in one > part of the library for example, then running and hiding in some > other part? Do police have to get extradition papers to get the > person or do they wind up calling Interpol? PAT] The city (well, a small city) of Lloydminster straddles the Alberta and Saskatchewan borders. Unlike in some situations, it retains the same name on both sides of the border (ie: it is "Lloydminster, Alberta" and "Lloydminster, Saskatchewan"). Telephones on the Alberta side are in area code 780, while phones on the Saskatchewan side are in 306. There is 7-digit dialing between the two sides. I don't know all of the specifics, but the two provincial governments have made certain arrangements with each other to cover situations where one side might otherwise be at a disadvantage. For example, the Saskatchewan government charges higher gasoline taxes than the Alberta government does - except in Lloydminster, where they match Alberta's tax rate. I'm not sure if the same applies to provincial sales taxes or not (Saskatchewan has one, Alberta does not), and/or provincial income taxes, etc., but some accomodations are made. As for policing, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has jurisdiction throughout Canada and thus there are no jurisdictional problems when someone robs a Saskatchewan-side gas station and ducks behind a building on the Alberta side. Your idea sounds good in principal, but you have to consider that when one side "gives up" the community in question to the other side (ie: let's say Saskatchewan "gave up" all of Lloydminster to Alberta), they also give up the tax base for the community in question. Which leads to the question: who pays for the roads that lead into and out of Lloydminster on the Saskatchewan side? Who pays for the electric lines, the phone lines, all the other infrastructure? It'd be a fairly complicated thing to work out -- but certainly possible. At least, this situation would be possible. I'd think that the Vermont/Quebec situation, where this thread started, would be far, far less likely to see that sort of a solution. Can't see the USA giving up territory to ANYBODY for ANY reason. Ditto the fiercely-sovereigntist Quebeckers. (No problem with our federal government: they'll roll over for anybody). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How do the authorities in Lloydminster (either province) handle things like stop and go lights at mutual intersections now, or street repairs at the same intersections? They probably do the same as Chicago, Illinois/Whiting, Indiana or Calumet City, Illinois/Hammond, Indiana. One municipality handles it entirely with authority from the other side. The electric bill to run the stop-and-go lights is paid by one side and pro-rated by agreement to the other side. You see Hammond, Indiana police cars driving south on State Line Avenue (of neccessity) on the Illinois side of the road; ditto Calumet City Police driving north on the Indiana side for the same reasons. But neither of the police cars make a right turn into the other's territory. I have to wonder though, if in the Vermont/Quebec situation the town authorities couldn't cut deals to make it all a bit more transparent for the citizens. I mean, electric power lines coming into a building from two directions is a bit ridiculous, isn't it? Does anyone know, are there customs stations all along the way to provide for keeping 'terrorists' out of each other's countries? Since Bush got on the terrorist kick a couple years ago, you should see -- just see -- the horrendous traffic jams at the Detroit/Windsor border (ditto Calexico/Mexicali border) as people going both directions weave in and out of customs interrogation/inquisition check points in their automobiles and trucks. What would prevent me, as a 'terrorist' from going in one door in Derby at the Opera Building and walking out the other door and getting lost in the other country? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 18:36:50 -0600 (CST) From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: El Paso TX USA, Juarez CHIH Mexico, etc. Mark J. Cuccia wrote: > At the time, the western tip of Texas (El Paso/etc) was part of > MOUNTAIN BELL. But when divestiture was approaching, they were > transferred to Southwestern Bell (now SBC) rather than continuing as > Mountain Bell (later US West, now part of the Qwest corporation). Wes replied: > At one time, in Mountain States days, Cd. Juarez, Chih., was dialed as > 70+the Juarez number. Don't recall whether it was toll or not. That must have been in the 1960s and possibly early 1970s era. Maybe even the later 1950s? What I remember seeing instructions in the El Paso TX (and vicinity which included listings for towns across the stateline in the US state of New Mexico, and also included listings for Telefonos de Mexico's Cd.Juarez CHIH MEX) back in the *later 1970s* and into the 1980s. Those calls were dialed as: 1+/0+ (915 if calling from those nearby towns in NM)+ 32+ N-xxxx . N-xxxx is for the five-digit number in Juarez CHIH Mexico. This was still in the days when (for the most part) you did *NOT* dial your same NPA code on toll calls to locations within your home-NPA. You were actually *restricted* from doing so in most places if you attempted to dial in that way! Calls from El Paso TX and other nearby towns on the TEXAS (915) side of the Metro area did NOT dial the '915'. But callers from those nearby towns across the state line on the (US state of) NEW MEXICO (505) side of the metro area *HAD* to dial that 915, "as if" they were placing a toll call to western TX 915 points. Southwestern Bell was the assignment authority for NNX c.o.codes within the 915 NPA. They "reserved" all 32N c.o.codes within the 915 NPA for this "shortcut" El Paso to Juarez dialing/calling. However, the 4A machine in Sweetwater TX (and any other 4As or later 4ESS machines, except for the El Paso tandem/toll machine itself) which did full six-digit translation of an entire customer-dialed-and-MF-signaled 915+NNX code did *NOT* have those 915-32N codes reserved for El Paso access to Juarez loaded into their translations (whether ETS or punched cards). Customers wanting to call Juarez from *OUTSIDE* of the immediate metro area of El Paso TX and vicinity of TX/NM had to place their calls *THRU THEIR LOCAL BELL (or independent) DIAL-0 OPERATOR*. Though SHE probably directly dialed (keyed) the call with operator routing codes (180+eight-digits, Juarez was 161-N-xxxx at that time, I think), without having to call a Mountain States Bell operator or other AT&T operator or even a Telefonos de Mexico operator ... but 915-32(N) was strictly an "El Paso area kludge" and not intended for (customer dialed) access from "outside". By the time of divestiture in 1984, El Paso dialed their calls to Juarez using standard IDDD proceudres ONLY, 01(1)+52+161-N-xxxx, and handled strictly via AT&T/MCI/Sprint or whoever you chose *if* they could handle and also marketed US-to-Mexico calling; The use of 1+/0+(915)+32-N-xxxx was eliminated by 1984. And as I mentioned earlier, Juarez (or any other Texas areas) were *NOT* part of the +1-903 NPA code that was used for northwestern Mexican border towns, which in the 1960s/70s were *truly* part of the NANP/DDD network, as they either got their dialtone from the US or else "homed" on CA (Pacific Telephone) or AZ (Mountain States) AT&T/Bell toll switches in the US ... But when El Paso and its "US" vicinity of nearby TX/NM did use 70+n-xxxx to call Juarez at one time (1960s? even earlier?), that does *APPEAR* to be some kind of *LOCAL* (Free) calling arrangement (or MAYBE a modest fixed per-call fee, possibly? Maybe something like 5-c or 10-c a call untimed?) between Mountain States Telephone (Bell) and Telefonos de Mexico! It seems that dialing '70' would force the call from your originating STEP end-office, to/thru the downtown El Paso STEP tandem selecting a trunk over the border to Telefons de Mexico in Juarez, and then Juarez would pick up on the El Paso/vicinity calling customer's live realtime dialing/pulsing of the remaining N-xxxx digits. Even if there were any #5XB offices at that time, 70+n-xxxx could "easily" be put into "translations" as a valid LOCAL/FREE seven-digit call, and then translate/route the call AFTER all seven-digits had been dialed by the customer. This would also *NOT* conflict with any El Paso toll dialing to other US/Canada 70X area codes, because those would be dialed as 1+/0+ (or intially maybe something like 112+) followed by the ten-digits of that NANP number, 70X-NXX-xxxx. AND, this use of 70+five-digits for "local" dialing from El Paso to Juarez in the later 1950s thru early 1970s timeframe would also have *NOTHING AT ALL* to do with the later temporary use of 1+/0+ 70-6nxx-xxxx in the 1980s (intended mostly) for (non-IDDD-capable) US/Canada customers to continue to place dialed calls to (now an even larger area of) the northwestern Mexico region. This 70+five-digits for El Paso to Juarez dialing arrangement seems VERY similar to the local/free dialing arrangemnet from Nogalez AZ USA to Nogalez SON MEX that was in effect in the (1950s? 1960s? 1970s?) that I described in the previous post on this related topic: 69+ the Nogalez SON number (2-xxxx). That also is *VERY* SXS-like! The digits '69' would "force" the call from the local central office in Nogalez AZ USA on to a trunk over the border to Telefonos de Mexico in Nogalez SON MEX. *ALL* calling from the US to Mexico is now billed as "international US-to-Mexico toll", any residual "local", or even shortcut toll dialing, was eliminated by the time 1984 divestiture came about. And the actual *dialing* from the NANP to Mexico is dialed using IDDD procedures ONLY, 01(1)+52+ the domestic number in Mexico (previously eight digits, now lengthened to ten-digits for about two years now). But the use of Nogalez' 69+2-xxxx, and the earlier use of 70+n-xxxx for El Paso TX (and TX/NM vicinity) to call to Cd.Juarez Chih MEXICO, as being very step-like for local special-access dialing, is also VERY much like SXS "kludge" codes to call between the main town and the suburbs, that were in common/popular use ALL OVER SXS areas in the US/Canada even into the 1970s/80s, and in other countries with heavy SXS use as well (esp. in the UK, with their "so-called" 'D-E' digit local-area access codes!) Wes also continued: > Many points in Mexico in manual days homed on a Texas toll center, in > many cases even for Mexico-to-Mexico calls. The classifications of > calls, as I recall, were domestic (which included Canada) calls, > Mexico calls, and overseas calls. Yes, there were quite a number of "ringdown" and other manual points in Mexico in those Mexican states across the Rio Grande from Texas. These ultimately became TelMex points, but they were served out of the US as late as the 1970s and even a few residual ones in the very early 1980s. Calls between these points and other (TelMex) points in Mexico *HAD* to go through the US-based AT&T/SWBell (or independent telco in any cases?) operators. Even callers in Mexico who could have dialed 95+/96+ NPA-NNX-xxxx to call the US/Canada NANP had to place their calls thru their TelMex operators, as these points were manual. The US-based operator would be reached who would finalize the connection/termination. And even though there were those towns in the northwestern Mexican border states of Baja California N and Sonora which "homed on" or even got dialtone from, US-based (AT&T/PacTel/MtnBell, or Contel) switches, and had +1-903 numbering (and those towns were mostly Telefonica Fronteriza, NOT Telefonos de Mexico) back in the 1960s/70s, there were still some scattered Mexican towns along their northwest border with the US, which were manual (or even ringdown) which were routed via AT&T/PacTel/MtnStates Bell operators in the US, even for calls between them and other interior Telefonos de Mexico points. I think these manual/ringdown Mexican towns were ultimately taken over TelMex (similar to those similar such towns in Texas), rather than TelNor, Telefonos de Noroeste, which is a subsidiary of TelMex, created in the late 1970s to "takeover" Telefonica Fronteriza, at the orders of the Mexican Federal Government. Telefonica Fronteriza in those dozen or so +1-903 northwestern Mexican border towns was mostly owned by executives and other shareholders of AT&T and its Pacific (Bell) Telephone as the *US* historically invested in the installation and operation of the initial telephone service down there LONG ago. But eventually, the Mexican government wanted to "kick out the gringos" and own/operate their "own" telephone system even in that part of Mexico "so distant" from the interior and Cd.Mexico D.F. Even in the 1980s, when Telefonos de Noroeste had taken over those Telefonica Fronteriza towns, and had them renumbered to conform with the Mexican national dialing/numbering plan of the time, as +52-6nxx-xxxx (thus the elimination of +1-903 and replaced with +1-70-6-etc. for US/Canada calling to Mexico if the customer didn't have IDDD for 01(1)+52+), those Mexican communities didn't yet conform to TelMex local dialing standards of 0X for operator and special services. They instead continued to dial 11X for services (113 Information, 114 for Repair Service), "0" for the local/toll assistance operator. In the late 1970s or by October 1980, they did adopt the use of those (now changed again) 9X+ access codes (replacing the older Telefonica Fronteriza use of 112+ for calls to the NANP: US/Canada) to conform with what TelMex had been using throughout the rest of Mexico's interior for several decades, but the use of 11X and '0' is very "NANP-like"! Most SXS areas had used 11X codes until they began to slowly change them to N11 codes (or seven-digit numbers) in the 1960s and continuing. BTW, the use of "NPA" 903 *WAS* however also used in the 1970s for "mark-sense billing-ID only" codes for non-dialable points ALL OVER Mexico. These were *NOT* codes that were "dialed" or "keyed" by customer or operator, but rather numeric codes that the originating US/Canada NANP toll operator used to write up a toll ticket for downstream automated billing preparation. Automated points in Mexico were identified as 52X-NXX-xxxx, which was their +52 Mexican telephone number at that time, but made to "seem like" a ten-digit NANP number for subsequent automated processing of the billing of calls to that Mexican number. But the NON-dial points of Mexico (ALL OVER, whether at the border with CA/AZ/NM in the northwest, or at the border with TX across the Rio Grande, or in Mexico's TelMex interior) didn't have such a number. So, in the 1970s, the use of 903-XXX identified these points for BILLING IDENTIFICATION ONLY. Later, when the use of +1-903 for dialing those dozen or so northwest border towns was eliminated, AT&T renumberd the billing-id-codes as 881/882/883/885 and then XXX to identify the non-dial Mexican towns for downstream billing processing. NPA 903 was eliminated in Oct.1980 around the time that Telfonica Fronteriza was taken over by the Mexican Government and reorganized as Telefonos de Noroeste. Those former 903 points were being reformatted and rehomed as "Mexican" +52 locations. AT&T instituted the use of "pseudo" NPA 70-6 for US/Canadian customers to continue to be able to dial to those northwestern Mexican border towns and now an even larger area of northwestern Mexico which all had city codes beginning with '6'. The third digit '6' of "pseudo" NPA 70-6 was also first digit '6' of those northwestern Mexican "city codes". In the early 1980s, 01(1) IDDD to +52 Mexico was made available to customers, but not all customers yet had IDDD originating/dialing capability. Thus the use of 90-5 and 70-6 was retained for them to continue to be able to dial to those "limited" parts of Mexico without having to use operator assistance on THOSE calls since they didn't yet have 01(1)+ IDDD capability. NPA 903 was subsequently reassigned to the 1990 split of NPA 214 in northeastern TX (Dallas Metro retained NPA 214, the rest of northeastern TX split off to NPA 903). NPA 70-6 and NPA 90-5 for "kludge" NANP-access-to-PARTS-of-Mexico (intended for customers who didn't have automated IDDD 01(1)+ origination from their older c.o.switch equipment, and thus couldn't "dial" to +52-etc), were "reclaimed" in Feb.1991 by Bellcore-NANPA for subsequent re-assignment: NPA 706 was subsequently reassigned to the 1992 split of 404 in northern GA (Atlanta Metro and exurbs retained NPA 404, the rest of northern GA split off to new NPA 706). NPA 905 was subsequently reassigned to the 1993/94 split of 416 in southern ON (Toronto ON "itself" retained NPA 416, the remaining area of *THAT PART OF* southern ON, all "other" areas of the "old" NPA 416 region, split off to new NPA 905). Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA CSA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Does anyone here remember a few years ago when John Higdon and myself were exchanging some snotty remarks to each other (what about I do not remember) and concurrently there was a discussion here in the Digest about an area code split planned for San Jose, CA and whether it should be an overlay or a direct geographic splice down the middle somewhere? I suggested it would be interesting if the split went through the center of John's home, (he has a sort of large house, with multiple phones in various rooms served from a PBX like thing of his own). We suggested that if the area code split went through his home his bathroom would be in a different area code than his bedroom or computer area, thus requiring eleven digit dialing from one part of his house to the other part. That is, unless he implemented some sort of 'local dialing arrangments'. :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: FCC Wants to Fine AT&T Over 'Do Not Call' Organization: Level(3) Communications, Woburn, MA Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 20:51:37 GMT In article , Thomas A. Horsley wrote: >> WASHINGTON (AP) -- AT&T faces a $780,000 fine for reaching out and >> touching consumers who had asked to be left alone, federal regulators >> said Monday. > Well, the list can't possibly apply to them, after all, AT&T are the > ones running the do not call web site for the gummint (do not bind the > mouth of the kine who tread the grain and all that... :-). From what I've heard, the list they're talking about in this case is *not* the government-sponsored list. It's AT&T's internal list, I assume from people who, when they received a call from AT&T, told the telemarketer "Please put me on your do-not-call list." Barry Margolin, barry.margolin@level3.com Level(3), Woburn, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Verizon @#$%! From: Charles G Gray Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 15:16:56 -0600 Darren Harris wrote about Verizon: @#$%!: Sounds like wet cable to me. Go to www.mccartyinc.com/osparticles/dec00.html to get a quick tutorial on what happens when telco cable gets wet. It is written for outside plant (OSP) people, but if you have the info, you can at least beat down their defenses. Regards, Charles G. Gray Senior Lecturer, Telecommunications Oklahoma State University - Tulsa (918)594-8433 ------------------------------ From: dold@FreeXeFaxX.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Free eFax Going Away? Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 00:04:54 UTC Organization: a2i network C. Lowell wrote: > If j2 wrote that it is not "able" to provide you with free service, it > lied. J2 is able to. That was a quote. It may, as someone else pointed out, be tied to a particular prefix that they no longer service. > J2 gets paid to send advertising to its free customers. Also, free > service from j2 sometimes leads to paid service. I only recall receiving a few unsolicited faxes, and a few emails. Maybe the spam is bouncing base don content from my ISP spam filter, but faxes are getting through. They might consider that not getting paid for the service. Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 21:33:10 -0500 From: Ron Chapman Subject: Re: Traffic-Signal Change Devices a Concern In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > By TRAVIS REED Associated Press Writer > MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- It's every motorist's fantasy to be able to make a > red traffic light turn green without so much as easing off the > accelerator. That naughty dream may now be coming true, with perilous > implications. > The very technology that has for years allowed fire trucks, ambulances > and police cars to emergencies faster _ a remote control that changes > traffic signals _ is now much cheaper and potentially accessible. > No bigger than a dashtop radar detector, the device is known as a > mobile infrared transmitter, or MIRT, and can be had for about $300. > The possibility of its proliferation is unnerving public safety and > transportation officials. > http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200311050842_APO_V6801 As I read this Lycos article, it occurred to my conspiratorial mind two things: 1) 3M has spent many, many years seeding the field with the very inexpensive in-the-clear receiver units; 2) 3M has quite a lot to gain by renegade transmitters finding their way into the hands of the public, as municipalities will now scramble to pay the exorbitant fees to switch their in-the-clear receivers to encrypted receivers. Just an observation. I promote no causal relationships whatsoever. ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #735 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Nov 6 20:06:51 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA716pe29595; Thu, 6 Nov 2003 20:06:51 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 20:06:51 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311070106.hA716pe29595@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 #736 TELECOM Digest Thu, 6 Nov 2003 20:05:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 736 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Coca-Cola, TiVo To Deliver Revolutionary Music Program (Monty Solomon) Re: Calling Card For Calling USA From Paraguay?? (John R. Levine) Re: Derby Line VT and Stanstead Plain QC (was SP&M/NF) (John R. Levine) Re: Border Towns; Lloydminster (Mark Brader) U.S. FCC Seen Rejecting Delay of Phone Number Moves (Eric Friedebach) Do You Fear Me Now? (Eric Friedebach) Re: Traffic-Signal Change Devices a Concern (Gary Breuckman) Call Accounting -- Who do You Use? (Amber Ebelo) Handheld DTMF Phone Dialer? (dg) MIT Technology Review presents Innovation Futures (Innovation Futures) URL Shortener (Bill Berbenich) Cheap Cheap Long Distance (softwarepacific@aol.com) Its So Sad to See Such Wonderful Concepts Not Being Noticed (Distressed) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 04:21:42 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Coca-Cola, TiVo To Deliver Revolutionary Music Program Top Music Acts From Geffen, Interscope A&M Records to Provide 'Exclusive Artist Content in "Coca-Cola ... Real" Branded Program Product Highlights TiVo's Unique Capabilities for Delivering Long Form Branded Content SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Starting Thursday, October 9, TiVo viewers will have an up-close and personal look at some of the hottest acts in entertainment, thanks to a new agreement between TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), and The Coca-Cola Company. Through the agreement, Coca-Cola will be the first exclusive sponsor of a 25 minute entertainment program titled "Sound Check," that will feature exclusive behind-the-scenes content from Geffen, Interscope A&M artists such as Ashanti, Sting, Mary J. Blige and Leona Naess, and will be delivered exclusively to TiVo subscribers that schedule a recording to receive the special content. The agreement marks the first time that TiVo has signed a sponsorship agreement for delivering full-length exclusive entertainment programming directly to its subscriber base. Under the agreement, Coca-Cola will sponsor the monthly music program featuring some of the nation's top music acts. Viewers will have the opportunity to preview the program in TiVo "Showcases," and then simply click their remote to request that the full half-hour program be delivered directly to their TiVo DVR. The show will be stored on the TiVo DVR, giving viewers on-demand control over when and how often they watch the program. Viewership of the program will also be driven by a telescope tag embedded in "Coca-Cola ... Real" spots using TiVo's exclusive telescoped tagging technology, which will enable TiVo viewers to schedule a recording for the music program directly from the spots. When TiVo viewers see an interactive "Thumbs Up" icon on a "Coca-Cola ... Real" ad, even while fast forwarding, they can click with their remote and instantly schedule a recording of the branded program. Viewers will then return to the exact spot in their programming where they left off. The half-hour program will feature Geffen, Interscope A&M artist interviews, music videos, behind-the-scenes footage, live performances and recording sessions. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=35941277 ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Calling Card For Calling USA From Paraguay?? Date: 5 Nov 2003 23:41:59 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Does anyone know of a company that sells calling cards for calling the > USA from Paraguay? Or any companies that sell cards for calling the > USA from abroad in general? Cognigen at http://ld.net has a few calling cards with international origination, but none from Paraguay. Their Cognidial card is a good choice for casual use from the U.S. No monthly minimum, reasonable rates, not prepaid. ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Derby Line VT and Stanstead Plain QC (was SP&M/NF...) Date: 6 Nov 2003 00:05:11 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > There's this very interesting place in Vermont called Derby Line which > is a cross-border community with Stanstead, Quebec. Rock Island, really. Canada has been consolidating towns in recent decades, so what was always the town of Rock Island is now part of the larger consolidated town of Stanstead. The two sides of the border feel very different. The US side is the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, a remote impoverished corner of New England with marginal dairy farms and occasionally harvested wood lots. The Canadian side is the chic sophisticated Eastern Townships resort district of Quebec, where half of Montreal have their weekend cottages and you can find some of the best inns and restaurants in Quebec, which of course means some of the best restaurants in North America. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why do you suppose between the USA > and Canadian government they could not have reached some agreement > to place the *entire town* on one side or the other and let it go at > that. Rock Island was supposed to be in Quebec, but they made a surveying error and built it a wee bit too far south. When the error was discovered they renamed the American part Derby Line since it's in the town of Derby VT. Negotiating a kink in the straight-line border between Vermont and Quebec wasn't gonna happen. > What do they do about someone committing a crime in one part of the > library for example, then running and hiding in some other part? Do > police have to get extradition papers to get the person or do they > wind up calling Interpol? PAT] It's a pretty rural area, so I doubt that's much of a problem in practice. The US has a very long border with Canada, and it's hardly the only place where governments on both sides have to work together. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Border Towns; Lloydminster Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 18:26:20 EST From: msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) Joey Lindstrom writes: > The city (well, a small city) of Lloydminster straddles the Alberta > and Saskatchewan borders. ... > I don't know all of the specifics, but the two provincial governments > have made certain arrangements with each other to cover situations > where one side might otherwise be at a disadvantage. ... Pat Townson comments: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How do the authorities in Lloydminster > (either province) handle things like stop and go lights at mutual > intersections now, or street repairs at the same intersections? They > probably do the same as Chicago, Illinois/Whiting, Indiana or Calumet > City, Illinois/Hammond, Indiana. One municipality handles it entirely > with authority from the other side. ...] Actually, it's simpler than that. Thanks to a special agreement made in 1930 between the Alberta and Saskatchewan governments, Lloydminster exists as a *single* municipality extending into both provinces. See . Mark Brader, Toronto "Truth speak from any chair." msb@vex.net -- Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum My text in this article is in the public domain. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sounds a little bit like the City of Chicago. Back in the 1950's, when Orchard Field was expanded into the present Ohare International Airport, the City of Chicago and its Democratic politicians and mayor, in their greed, decided Ohare was going to be part of the City of Chicago, even though the airport is not continquous (or touches) the city in any way. At best, you have to go through the villages of Rosemont and Schiller Park, Illinois to reach Ohare. Not to worry, said the mayor, we will figure it out somehow. So they wound up slicing a *tiny* line down the center of Foster Avenue in those towns and across a nearby forest preserve which then expanded like a balloon when the little line got to the edge of Ohare. Ohare is geographically in Rosemont, Illinois but politically in Chicago. All those towns get their drinking water from the Chicago pumps, and I think a deal was cut where Rosemont would get free water in perpetuity from Chicago for the necessary 'arrange- ments' to be made. Not that Rosemont passed along the deal to its residents, of course, who still haveto pay for the water they consume/use. In those days, Rosemont had a crook as its mayor; Chicago has always had crooks, liars and cheats for mayors and council members. Anyway, when the deal was done, they found out that a wee- tiny corner of Dupage County went through one corner of Ohare Airport. "We will take that over, too" said the Democratic politicos in Chicago. "Like hell you will" responded the Republicans who have kept Dupage tightly in their control for many years. So, theoretically at least, if there was some action in that little corner of Ohare, let's say some 'terrorists' on the loose, it would be the problem of the Dupage County sheriff. In real practice of course, Mayor Daley II would claim the glory for their capture. But speaking of Lloydminster, on my map it *appears* to be geographi- cally more in Alberta than Sask by a small shade. And what about the smaller towns of Loverna and Alsask (I wonder who that was named for?) which are both a bit south of Lloydminster. Did they get special treatment also? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: U.S. FCC Seen Rejecting Delay of Phone Number Moves Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 11:01:58 -0600 Organization: Muddy Paw Prints On The Corvette WASHINGTON (Reuters) 11.05.03 - U.S. consumers will likely be able to move their home telephone number to their wireless phone as long as they remain in the same calling area, despite carriers' requests to limit such moves, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to reject a request by local telephone companies such as BellSouth Corp. to narrow some moves because of difficulties in routing and charging for the calls, the officials said. Starting Nov. 24, consumers will be able to switch wireless carriers without giving up their telephone numbers. They will also be able, under certain conditions, to shift their number between a traditional home phone and wireless phone. http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2003/11/05/rtr1137190.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Do You Fear Me Now? Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 11:24:02 -0600 Organization: Muddy Paw Prints On The Corvette Scott Woolley, 11.10.03 (newsstand date), Forbes Magazine Verizon Wireless wants to dominate the phone business and doesn't care who gets in the way -- whether competitors or even its own parent company. Dennis Strigl, chief executive of Verizon Wireless, fired a warning shot at his competitors in a June speech. The head of the nation's biggest wireless company came out in favor of a federal mandate that lets customers keep their cell phone numbers when they switch carriers, a rule his competitors have fought for fear it will spark an all-out war for customers in a business already shredded by competition. Strigl's move shattered his industry's united front and helped smooth the way for number portability, now slated to take effect on Nov. 24. Regulators lauded Strigl, and customers deluged him with e-mails praising his decision. "We had a big fan club," recalls Strigl, "but we also had a hate club -- which was our own industry saying: 'You traitors!'" http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2003/1110/078.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: Traffic-Signal Change Devices a Concern Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 13:01:51 -0600 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com > In article , Monty Solomon > wrote: >> The very technology that has for years allowed fire trucks, ambulances >> and police cars to emergencies faster _ a remote control that changes >> traffic signals _ is now much cheaper and potentially accessible. >> No bigger than a dashtop radar detector, the device is known as a >> mobile infrared transmitter, or MIRT, and can be had for about $300. >> The possibility of its proliferation is unnerving public safety and >> transportation officials. One solution to this problem, which some traffic controllers already do, is to go to "4-way-red" when the signal is seen. This may not be as convenient for the emergency vehicle, since traffic is stopped in front of them -- course they can use the oncoming lanes. -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ From: amrebelo@msn.com (Amber Ebelo) Subject: Call Accounting -- Who Do You Use? Date: 6 Nov 2003 12:22:07 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, My org is pushing for implementing a call accounting package all of a sudden. So, I've started wading thru the surprising number of vendors out there. Who is everyone using? I'm currently intrigued by InfoCall -- www.infogrp.com --primarily because they also offer invoice management which is the other hot issue floating around. Also, how does e-911 PSAP-updating fit in with call accounting? Does it? Anyone? Bueller? Thanks. ------------------------------ Reply-To: dg From: dg Subject: Handheld DTMF Phone Dialer? Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 21:18:56 GMT I am looking for a small battery powered DTMF generator. I know Radio Shack used to sell one years ago but since cell phones are so popular they have become less common. Any tips appreciated. Thanks, --Dan ------------------------------ Date: 6 Nov 2003 15:53:59 -0000 Subject: MIT Technology Review presents Innovation Futures Reply-To: edeployments@technologyreview.com From: Innovation Futures MIT's Technology Review: Innovation Futures November 6, 2003 Technology Review Reader, Now you can use your knowledge of the technology marketplace to Predict the Future. The top trader will win a 42" Gateway PLASMA TV. Innovation Futures is FREE TO PLAY. Get started today at: http://www.uptilt.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=5fo,42n1,i4a,4b18,3xoo,ak4q,8dze About Innovation Futures Technology Review has created a predictive market system that synthesizes the collective wisdom of the Technology Review audience. The market does not involve real money, but top traders will be awarded prizes. Technology Review readers, like you, are already buying and selling futures on the technology marketplace. Some of our hottest markets topics are: - When will there be a commercially available electronic device using ultrawideband technology? - What will Boeing's Board of Directors decide regarding the fate of the 7E7? - Where is the NASDAQ headed? The top 10 traders will be awarded prizes on January 31, including a 42" Plasma TV and a 40GB Apple iPod. Remember: it is FREE to play. So get started TODAY! ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Bill Berbenich Subject: URL Shortener Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 06:30:34 -0500 I just wanted to alert everyone to a very handy web site. If you post a really long URL on here, chances are that it will be broken up into two lines. However, if you paste the url into http://smlnk.com/ , it will give you a much shorter URL that you can post on here without it being split up. Smlnk.com is a redirector service specifically for this purpose -- and it's free! Cheers, Bill ------------------------------ From: softwarepacific@aol.com Subject: Cheap Cheap Long Distance Date: 6 Nov 2003 05:17:42 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Really Cheap Long Distance Service or Calling Cards http://www.vsisystems.com/callingcards.htm ------------------------------ From: ranja_4heer@yahoo.com (Distressed) Subject: Its So Sad to See Such Wonderful Concepts Not Being Noticed Date: 6 Nov 2003 13:15:36 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Its so sad to see that really amazing projects such as www.mutualphone.com and www.phonebazooka.com were closed due to lack of funds. I dunno why people can't make some much needed donations to these sites to get them back up and running or maybe some company could step forward. I kept trying these services and then eventually I contacted both of the owners, one on Yahoo Messenger and the other on his phone. I was so disheartened to see that both the servers were closed but both are hopeful to get them back up in the future. Best of luck you both. ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #736 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Nov 7 00:32:56 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA75WuW01602; Fri, 7 Nov 2003 00:32:56 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 00:32:56 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311070532.hA75WuW01602@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 #737 TELECOM Digest Fri, 7 Nov 2003 00:33:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 737 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Lloydminster AB/SK and Other Bordertowns (Mark J Cuccia) El Paso TX USA, Juarez CHIH Mexico, etc. (Julian Thomas) Re: Traffic-Signal Change Devices a Concern (Mark Brader) Re: Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages (DevilsPGD) Re: Registrar Giving Free Domains Away (Ray Normandeau) Re: 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam, Bud! (Ray Normandeau) Re: Cheaper Cellular LD - gorillamobile.com (Ray Normandeau) Re: North Sound 911 Service Repeatedly Targeted (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: URL Shortener (Group Special Mobile) Re: URL Shortener (Arthur Kamlet) Re: URL Shortener (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Last Laugh! Re: New Wrinkle - Nigerian Scam (Fritz Whittington) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 20:29:32 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Lloydminster AB/SK and Other Bordertowns As was mentioned before, the community of Lloydminster lies right on the AB/SK province line. It *IS* one *SINGLE* local government municipality (unlike Texarkana TX/AR, which is really two *separate* local governments, but the two sides of Texarkana *DO* co-operate with each other for various city/metro services despite being in different counties/states). Prior to the 1990s, AGT, Alberta Government Telephones, the provincial government owned/operated telco (which has since "evolved" into non-governmental "Telus") was the telco for *BOTH* the AB and SK sides of Lloydminster and vicinity. There was a single central office switch serving the entire area, physically located on the AB side (and homing on the AGT Tandem in Vegreville AB), but there were dedicated c.o.code prefixes as to whether the AB side or the SK side. 403-871 and 403-875 were the long-established prefixes for the AB side. 403-825 was the prefix for the SK side. AND YES, that *IS* NPA 403 (AB) in Lloydminster SK's old prefix. They did *NOT* use NPA 306 (SK) to identify the SK side of Lloydminster. And the 825 prefix was *NOT* "duplicated" in SK's 306 NPA. Dialing to/from the SK side of Lloydminster was as if it were part of 403/AB, thus (at that time) toll calls between most every other (non-local) part of AB with the SK side of Lloydminster were simply dialed as 1+/0+ SEVEN-digits (you didn't dial your home/same NPA on 1+/0+ home-NPA toll calls in most places back then). Toll calls from the SK side of Lloydminster with the rest of Saskatchewan were dialed as 1+/0+ ten-digits, using NPA 403 to call Lloydminster SK from the rest of SK, using NPA 306 to call the rest of SK from Lloydminster SK, because Lloydminster SK was "treated as if" it were numbered in Alberta, which it *really WAS*. However, they still had their dedicated NNX c.o.code for the SK side but still under AB's 403 NPA code. SOMETIME in the early 1990s, after 1989 and before 1994, I don't know the exact date/year, there was a change for the SK side of Lloydminster. A separate central office (remote) switch was created for the SK side and located in the SK side ... hosted by a switch nearby elsewhere in SK. The telco providing this SK service was now SaskTel (which was also owned by the province government of Saskatchewan). And the 825 c.o.code prefix was now "transferred" over to SK's 306 NPA. There is still "protected" seven-digit LOCAL dialing between the two sides, AB and SK, of the Lloydminster Metro area/vicinity. But now the SK side and AB side also each have their own additional and different local/free calling areas within adjacent communities of their own province. There *IS* some overlap of these further extended local/EAS in the other provinces, though, but still not complete and consoliated local (free) calling between the most distant "end-point" locations in each province, as you get further out from Lloydminster in each province sdie though! Since the telco "split" of the AB and SK sides in the early 1990s, the Lloydminster telephone directory is now jointly published by both Telus and Sasktel, although I think that there are two "mirror" editions, one with the Telus/AB/NPA-403-now-780 side made prominant first, and anther edition with the SaskTel/SK/NPA-306 side more prominant. Also, since early 1999, the central and northern parts of Alberta (which includes the Provincial Capital of Edmonton in central AB) have split off from NPA 403 into their own new NPA 780. The southern third of AB which includes the Calgary metro area, has retained NPA 403. The AB-side of Lloydminster now falls within the NPA 780 central/northern two-thirds of Alberta, and all of those c.o.codes for the AB side of Lloydminster have since been changed to be part of the 780 NPA. I also think that there are now ADDITIONAL 780-NXX c.o.codes and 306-NXX c.o.codes for their respective sides, as there are cellular/wireless providers and maybe now even CLECs. Also, since 1994, in preparation for "NNX" format area codes, Alberta (and Saskatchewan) changed over to requiring 1+/0+ ten-digits (i.e., you were *required* to now dial your own area code) for "home-NPA" toll calls. When you dial '0' from the AB side, you now route to a Telus Operator/TOPS system. When you dial '0' from the SK side, you now route to a Sasktel Operator/TOPS system. There are some other interesting oddities regarding Lloydminster AB/SK ... The main north-south street lies right on the province line. It is also Provincial Hwy 17, but WHICH province?! Actually *BOTH*! It is both AB-Hwy.17 and SK-Hwy.17 ... The northbound lanes which are on the SK/east side have dual signage which puts the AB hwy shield/logo on the west/LEFT side of the sign and the SK hwy shield/logo on the east/RIGHT side of the sign. The southbound lanes which are on the AB/west side have dual signage which puts the AB hwy shield/logo on the west/RIGHT side of the sign and the SK hwy shield/logo on the east/LEFT side of the sign. And this might have changed since I checked into this about three or four years ago, but regarding time-zones (Mountain vs. Central) and daylight-vs-standard: Alberta is in the Mountain Time Zone; Saskatchewan is in the Central Time Zone. Alberta observes Daylight Savings Time (sync'd with most of the US observed dates of Spring-Forward / Fall-Back). At least three or four years ago (I don't know if this changed or no), the "rest of" Saskatchewan did *NOT* observe Daylight Time. At least during the Summer months, their clocks were "identical" with MDT, even though they referred to it as CST. But because of the relationship with the more dominant AB side of Lloydminster which was on MST/MDT depending on the season, the SK side of Lloydminster set their clocks according to whatever the AB side was using that season, MST or MDT. This meant that during the Winter months, the SK side of Lloydminster was on MST while the "rest of" SK was on CST. During the Summer, both provinces were "identical" (obviously including both sides of Lloydminster) even though one AB (including the SK side of Lloydminster) called it MDT while SK (except for Lloydminster SK) called it CST. I was also informed that the AB side is "officially" T9V-[n][a][n], while the SK side is "officially" S9V-[n][a][n]. However, the next three num-alpha-num characters are not "reassigned". In theory, you could mail a letter to the SK side with T9V and then the "correct" next three chars num-alpha-num, and vice-versa, you could mail a letter to the AB side with S9V and then the "correct" next three chars num-alpha-num, and the mail "should" arrive at the desired place. Bascially, both S9V- and T9V- identify the Lloydminster office of Canada Post, even though the 'S' is intended for the SK side and the 'T' is intended for the AB side, probably because (and I'm not all that expert on Canada Post's "zip" codes) the province of SK itself uses 'S' and the province of AB itself uses 'T' throughout their respective provinces. Finally, as for the one-time oddity of the SK side (825-xxxx) being placed under NPA 403 (AB's area code) rather than SK's 306 NPA ... this is rather common in some parts of Canada. Prince Edward Island continues to "share" 902 from Nova Scotia. St.Regis PQ/QC was originally NPA 514 (Quebec) and if it remained NPA 514 by 1998, it would have split off to Quebec's new 450 NPA, but sometime between 1989 and 1994, St.Regis PQ/QC 514-575 was CHANGED to use one of Ontario's NPA codes (613) and has since been 613-575! St.Regis PQ/QC is an indian reservation on the QC side of the line, but you have to drive through NY State to get there. They do have local/EAS calling with NYT/NYNEX/BA/VZ 518-358 Ft.Covington NY. Southbound local dialing is just seven-digits, but northbound local dialing is 1+ten-digits. Bell Canada's St.Regis PQ/QC is across the St.Lawrence River/Seaway from Cornwall ON, and it is a Nortel remote hosted by the DMS in Cornwall ON, thus I think that's why it was changed from NPA 514 (PQ) over to NPA 613 (ON) back in the early 1990s. I seem to think that in the Step (SXS) days, while it homed on a XB in Cornwall, it didn't matter that there were two NPA codes involved, but with the host/remote situation at the time it went digital in the early 1990s, that MIGHT explain why it has ON NPA 613, the NPA of its Cornwall ON "host" DMS. The northern territories (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut) all "share" NPA 876. And that was a mess prior to 1997 when Yukon and the western/southern NWT under CNCP-then-Northwestel shared off AB/403, while the eastern/Arctic NWT under Bell Canada shared off one of Quebec's three NPAs, 819. And at one time prior to the 1980s, about two or three communities in the NWT bordering BC were using c.o.codes under BC's 604 NPA although they were later changed to AB/403, and now are part of NPA 867. And Hyder AK gets dialtone *AND* numbering from Stewart BC! Hyder AK in the panhandle (which can only be reached by road via Stewart BC) is NOT part of AK's 907 NPA, but rather BC's! It *WAS* 604-636 until 604 split with the new 250 NPA covering most of the province in 1996, and has been 250-636. That NPA-NXX actually identifies the rate-area and c.o.switch of BC-Tel/Telus in Stewart BC Canada. Point Roberts WA is also another oddity that can only be reached by car via Canada. It *USED* to receive dialtone from GTE-BC-Tel's c.o.switch in Ladner/Beachgrove BC, and it had local dialing with their Local/EAS calling area as well. But it seems that Point Roberts WA was always identified with a WA area code (206) as 206-945, but is now 360-945 when 206 split off 360 in 1995. The Beachgrove/Ladner BC area does use several 604-94x prefixes though (but none are 945). I don't know if one could possibly reach Pt.Roberts as 604-945 at one time though (years back) ... But since 1988, there has been a complete telephonic separation in that area. Whidbey Tel (an independent in the upper Puget Sound area) is now the telco for Pt.Roberts WA, with its own 5ESS-Remote that is hosted by a 5E-host further south in Whidbey's service area. There are *NO* direct (local) trunks between Pt.Roberts WA own switch with GTE-BC-Telus in Ladner/Beachgrove BC. It is a US/Canada *TOLL* call between the two communities right next door to each other across the border, since 1988. I think that the northern tip (the "Lakes" part) of northern Minnesota, has some strange transportation, telecom, and basic service oddities involving Manitoba and/or Ontario in Canada too ... but I can't remember the details. There *ARE* still several local calling arrangements between bordering communities in the US and Canada, such as the Derby Line VT and Rock Island PQ (Stanstead Plain QC) situation. But there haven't been any local dialing/calling arrangments between Mexico and the US along the border since the 1980s. I'd mentioned about some frequent "oddities" in Canada where there is a different area code for a particular settlement than what that province regularly uses. That is VERY rare but still has happened in some remote rural parts of the US though, and where possible, telco and regulatory try to "correct" the situation. The Hyder AK / Stewart BC situation is one that still exists, but the Sandy Valley NV situation was corrected a few years back. There were some customers on the California side opposite the desert community of Sandy Valley NV. Those CA-located customers were identified as if they were part of Sandy Valley *NEVADA* in their telephone nubmers, 702-723 (the original prefix, of SBC-NV*Bell, although a CLEC also now has a prefix there as well). But about five years ago, those few CA-side customers were given a new NPA-NXX code based on a CA NPA code (760): 760-657 now identifies those CA customers right across from Sandy Valley NV. The ratecenter is Sandy Valley *CALIFORNIA*. Those customers retained their same -xxxx last-four digits line-numbers but changed to NPA 760 and their c.o.code prefix (under NPA 760) to 657. They still get dialtone from across the stateline in Nevada, from the SBC-NV*Bell remote in Sandy Valley NV (hosted by a DMS in Pahrump NV). And it is a local call to call between the two sides. BUT ... because of the dialing standards of California/Nevada Pac/NV*Bell, while local calls within one's own "state" and NPA-NXX are dialed as seven-digits, local calls across the CA/NV stateline (even served out of the same Sandy Valley NV remote switch) MUST be dialed as 1+ten-digits (the other state's area code and then seven-digits). And other bordering oddities have been discussed here in Telecom Digest over the years, such as Jim and Tammy Faye's complex which straddled the NC/SC stateline and also ratecenters/service areas of BellSouth and Alltel ... That led to some "stink" as to who (which telco) should be handling various calls originating/terminating at the Bakker Compound with the "rest of the world". Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA CSA ------------------------------ From: Julian Thomas Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 20:12:54 -0500 Subject: El Paso TX USA, Juarez CHIH Mexico, etc. Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com In <1068121095.758.86799.m12@yahoogroups.com>, on 11/06/03 at 12:18 PM, telecom-news@yahoogroups.com typed: > Customers wanting to call Juarez from *OUTSIDE* of the > immediate metro area of El Paso TX and vicinity of TX/NM had to place > their calls *THRU THEIR LOCAL BELL (or independent) DIAL-0 OPERATOR*. I can confirm this from bittersweet personal experience -- 1971 was when the Mexican divorce became a thing of the past; I was in my lawyer's office when he placed a call (dial 0) to the law office in Juarez that he worked with (to find out that in fact the process had been shut down). 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 -- -- Murphy's Anachronism: disk failures occur immediately before backing up. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Traffic-Signal Change Devices a Concern Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 20:31:35 EST From: msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) Gary Breuckman writes: > One solution to this problem, which some traffic controllers already > do, is to go to "4-way-red" when the signal is seen. This may not > be as convenient for the emergency vehicle, since traffic is stopped > in front of them -- course they can use the oncoming lanes. In Ontario, this would also mean that the emergency vehicle would have to stop at every light. They're allowed to run a red (when responding to an emergency call, with lights and sirens) but only after coming to a stop. In practice they usually just slow to 5-10 mph. For a fire truck in particular, that's still a significant delay. If bogus preemption devices became a serious problem here, we'd probably do better to just turn off preemption than to try this. (I don't actually know if preemption is even used here at present; on that point I'm speaking hypothetically.) Mark Brader | "Nitwit ideas are for emergencies. The rest of the Toronto | time you go by the Book, which is mostly a collection msb@vex.net | of nitwit ideas that worked. -- Niven & Pournelle My text in this article is in the public domain. ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 18:44:41 -0700 In message <> Monty Solomon did ramble: > NEW YORK (AP) -- For anyone who answers their cell phone at home, > here's an idea so simple it's hard to imagine why it took so long to > arrive: why not have your wireless calls automatically ring on your > home phone whenever you're there? > The unique FastForward service from Cingular Wireless promises to do > just that, rerouting all cellular calls to your home number whenever > you drop your mobile handset into a special $40 cradle that doubles as > a phone charger. > I did encounter a very minor bug with the service, which is $2.99 a > month or free with some packages, but Cingular has made refinements > that may address the blip. Many cellphones/carriers offer the ability to call forward busy, no answer, and unreachable independently. If you call forward unreachable to your home, then your cell's voicemail will act normally when it's on and in service, and transfer calls to your landline when the phone is off, or out of range. Oh yeah, and it's free/month on many/most plans (in my area, anyway) and doesn't need a $40 cradle Ah, the miracle mile, where value wears a neon sombrero and there's not a single church or library to offend the eye. ------------------------------ From: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: Re: Registrar Giving Free Domains Away Date: 6 Nov 2003 18:36:14 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com yeltrabnhoj@email.com wrote in message news:: > On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 23:20:32 EST, TELECOM Digest Editor > wrote: >> A registrar named UNONIC (United Names Organization) is giving away >> free domains mostly under the '.tf' and '.tt' groups. For instance, I >> was invited to register 'patricktownson' (or whatever I pleased) in >> any of these areas: Am I the only one who keeps getting IE crashes at the UNONIC site? What are they trying to put on my computer? ------------------------------ From: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: Re: 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam, Bud! Date: 6 Nov 2003 18:43:31 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com jbl wrote in message news:: > In , GORDON > wrote: > Then again there are cheaper dialarounds that have shorter minimum > times and/or no minimum charge per call, so you can do better than > either of these; but there's no excuse for using -220 at all. > /JBL There certainly are cheaper ones. Long Distance =<2.9 Cents Per Minute, no other fee: https://www.onesuite.com/ Promotion Code 034720367 USA 2.5-2.9 CPM, Canada 2.5-3.5 CPM, UK 2.5-3.9 CPM Will work on cell phones! Great international rates! ------------------------------ From: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: Re: Cheaper Cellular LD - gorillamobile.com Date: 6 Nov 2003 18:51:29 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Group Special Mobile wrote in message news:: > No $.15 surcharge if you use the local NY city number. Since most > cell plans include free domestic long distance it's a good deal. I've > been using it for more than a year now. Long Distance =<2.9 Cents Per Minute, no other fee: https://www.onesuite.com/ Promotion Code 034720367 USA 2.5-2.9 CPM, Canada 2.5-3.5 CPM, UK 2.5-3.9 CPM Will work on cell phones! Great international rates! I use it to Canada frequently. I use a local dial-up from cell and pay 2.5CPM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 21:27:33 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: North Sound 911 Service Repeatedly Targeted yeltrabnhoj@email.com wrote about North Sound 911 Service Repeatedly Targeted > Eyewitness News Investigative Reporter >UPDATED: 2:48 PM PST October 31, 2003 > A KIRO Team 7 Investigation has uncovered disturbing details of a > plot to disrupt all telephone, computer and cell service to the North > Sound. Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne proves our most > precious infrastructures are still vulnerable to attack. > The FBI won't tell you this, but we will: For the past two years, > federal investigators have been trying to catch a criminal who has > repeatedly tapped into a major fiber optics cable north of Seattle. > This person hasn't been randomly chopping entire bundles of cables, > but rather he or she is using surgical precision to black out one > particular 911 emergency call center. Early in the morning of > Sept. 3, some criminal strolled into a Qwest Telecommunications > server station with tools in hand and carefully sliced one strand of > wire. <> > The FBI won't comment about its ongoing investigation into the cut > phone lines. Agents can't even ask the public for help because doing > so might reveal the location of the Qwest building in question. > http://www.kirotv.com/news/2601577/detail.html How is this possible? Fiber Optic cables are usually installed in rings, so a single cut can't destroy the service. Moreover, cutting a single strand of fiber in a fiber cable isn't that easy, particularly when a specific single strand has to be located. They're all identical, and not identified. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are reading the report of a television talking head to his/its viewers. The not-too-intelligent talking head is explaining to his even-less-intelligent viewers what has happened. They don't know anything about rings or specific strands of fiber. All the viewers know is their 911 service has gone out and he is trying to explain why, albiet with a sort of dramatic flair for details. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Group Special Mobile Subject: Re: URL Shortener Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 19:58:13 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: look@signature_for_reply_instructions On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 06:30:34 -0500, Bill Berbenich wrote: > I just wanted to alert everyone to a very handy web site. If you post > a really long URL on here, chances are that it will be broken up into > two lines. However, if you paste the url into http://smlnk.com/ , it > will give you a much shorter URL that you can post on here without it > being split up. Smlnk.com is a redirector service specifically for > this purpose -- and it's free! There's also http://tinyurl.com and http://makeashorterlink.com which do the same thing also free. To send an email reply send to GSMthemobilestandard (@) yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: kamlet@panix.com (Arthur Kamlet) Subject: Re: URL Shortener Date: 6 Nov 2003 20:14:56 -0500 Organization: PANIX -- Public Access Networks Corp. Reply-To: ArtKamlet@aol.REMOVE.com In article , Bill Berbenich wrote: > I just wanted to alert everyone to a very handy web site. If you post > a really long URL on here, chances are that it will be broken up into > two lines. However, if you paste the url into http://smlnk.com/ , it > will give you a much shorter URL that you can post on here without it > being split up. Smlnk.com is a redirector service specifically for > this purpose -- and it's free! Or try tinyurl.com Art Kamlet ArtKamlet @ AOL.com Columbus OH K2PZH ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 20:39:31 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: URL Shortener Besides smlnk.com, there are also http://tinyurl.com and http://makeashorterlink.com (although that last one seems pretty long all by itself :-) I've used tinyurl pretty heavily. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: Fritz Whittington Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Re: New Wrinkle - Nigerian Scam Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 18:10:45 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet On or about 2003-10-10 14:27, Linc Madison whipped out a trusty #2 pencil and scribbled: > Somewhere around here, I have a photo I took of a lovely banner that > was hanging outside a local doughnut shop when it changed hands. As a > special promotion, they were offering two-for-one on boxes of a dozen. > I expect the promotion is still running, since the sign said "Offer > Expires Feb. 30." That may be a while yet. As described in section 2.2.4 of the Calendar FAQ, February had 30 days in Sweden in 1712. See for the details. But who knows how long before it might happen again? :-) Fritz Whittington It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that. (G. H. Hardy) ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #737 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Nov 7 14:22:49 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA7JMn006123; Fri, 7 Nov 2003 14:22:49 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 14:22:49 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311071922.hA7JMn006123@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 #738 TELECOM Digest Fri, 7 Nov 2003 14:23:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 738 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Border Towns (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Border Towns; Lloydminster (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Lloydminster AB/SK (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Lloydminster AB/SK (Michael Newton) Re: North Sound 911 Service Repeatedly Targeted (Justin Time) Delaware Valley RFID Users Group (Tom R.) Re: 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam, Bud! (Clarence Dold) Re: Calling Card For Calling USA From Paraguay?? (John R. Levine) Re: Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages (Ron Chapman) Re: Cheap Cheap Long Distance (Ray Normandeau) Re: URL Shortener (Nathan Strom) U.S. Sues Over 'Pop-Up' Ad Software (Monty Solomon) Yikes! was Re: we Take on Phil (Gail M. Hall) Spam? Who Knows? trabajo de secretaria o administracion (Ropa Argentina) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 10:23:51 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: Border Towns Wesrock@aol.com wrote about Re: Derby Line VT and Stanstead Plain QC > Pat wrote, in a comment about the posting from John R. Covert > about calling between Derby Line VT and Stanstead > Plain QC (was SP& M/NF...): >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why do you suppose between the USA >> and Canadian government they could not have reached some agreement >> to place the *entire town* on one side or the other and let it go >> at that. What do they do about someone committing a crime in one >> part of the library for example, then running and hiding in some >> other part? Do police have to get extradition papers to get the >> person or do they wind up calling Interpol? PAT] > In the USA, area codes are assigned to a phone according to the > state it is in, regardless of where the serving exchange is located. > An example close to Pat is Coffeyville, Kansas, and South Coffeyville, > Oklahoma, both of which are served from the Coffeyville office. But > phones on the Kansas side have a 620 area code and those on the > Oklahoma side have a 918 area code and a different prefix, although > there is simple 7-digit local dialing between the two states. > There are many such examples in the Kansas City metropolitan area. > Of course, that is not the same as the Derby Line-Stanstead > situation, where apparently no carrier's lines cross the international > border (but how, then, can the numbers appear in the same key system > if at least one carrier's lines don't cross the border?). > Wes Leatherock > wesrock@aol.com The problem is the 1982 Consent Decree (called the MFJ by the Bell Heads). If there was an existing local calling arrangement (as in Kansas City) prior to 1982, it was grandfathered, and 7-digit calling was permissible. Nowadays, with splits, 10 or 11-digit local calling would probably be used. However, where there was no local calling arrangement in 1982, then there were problems. For example, many towns in northern Maine (along US 1) homed on Class 4 (toll) offices in New Brunswick in 1982. But under the Consent Decree, it was no longer legal for New England Telephone to deal directly with New Brunswick Telephone. So, they had to re-home the central offices. This was a major problem because there were no direct toll circuits from northeastern Maine (Presque Isle, Caribou, Fort Kent) to New England Tel's toll office (probably in Bangor or maybe Houlton). I think they had to use some circuits that previously had been dedicated to the former Presque Isle air force base. Anyhow, that would occur everywhere there is a cross-border situation that didn't have local calling in 1982, including the examples on the Mexican border that started this thread. And that's probably why there are now no circuits between Derby Line VT and Magog (or Stanstead) Quebec (I don't know what the situation was in 1982). Indeed, it occurs in a lot of inter-LATA situations. For example, with the growth of Washington DC and Baltimore MD, the former distinction between the two "Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas" (SMSAs) had been partially erased, and they are now considered a single market by the Dept of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, the arbiter of such things. However, calls from Annapolis (in the Baltimore LATA) to Washington (in the Washington LATA) remain rated as "inter-LATA toll" and must be carried by an IXC. There are provisions in Judge Greene's 1982 order for the Maryland PSC to petition the FCC to extend the local calling area, but, despite some interest from people in Annapolis, they have not chosen to do so. Naturally, none of this applies to towns on provincial borders in Canada. Judge Greene's writ does not run there. :-) ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 10:48:55 -0700 Subject: Re: Border Towns; Lloydminster Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 20:06:51 -0500 (EST), editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > But speaking of Lloydminster, on my map it *appears* to be geographi- > cally more in Alberta than Sask by a small shade. And what about the > smaller towns of Loverna and Alsask (I wonder who that was named for?) > which are both a bit south of Lloydminster. Did they get special > treatment also? PAT] I can't speak for Loverna, but I've been to Alsask a few times. It's a town of (I'm guessing) about 100-200 people. While most maps tend to show it as touching or even astride the border, it is in fact entirely within the province of Saskatchewan. The corporate limits end before the Alberta border, and there is privately owned Saskatchewan farmland in between Alsask and the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. Indeed, I've just looked it up on Mapquest. If you zoom in tightly enough, you can see what I mean. Do it in stages though: the location of the "star" and the location of the actual town do not quite match. :-) Running a Google search to find some Alsask phone numbers reveals that they're all 306-968. According to Ray Chow's website, that matches to Kindersley, SK -- which is 65 kilometers further east. In looking up Loverna, SK, it appears that the situation is nearly identical -- it's entirely within Saskatchewan. It is listed as a "ghost town" on the website www.ghosttownpix.com, though it says a few die-hard residents remain. I've drawn a complete blank trying to find even a single phone number listing for that town. It's probably akin to the situation in Bateman, Saskatchewan, where I lived as a young lad for about a year. Back then the population was about 40-50 people, and it had its own prefix, 306-269. At some point between then and now, it was switched over to 306-648, which is the prefix for Gravelbourg (about 27 kilometers away), and all telephone listings for the people in the area (there's nobody left in Bateman) say "Gravelbourg", not Bateman. It's likely Loverna's served by another town's prefix, though I don't know which one. (To date, Bateman's old 269 prefix has not been reassigned.) (As for Mapquest, try looking up Compeer, Alberta. You see the actual town streets on the Alberta side, but the little "dot" and the name "Compeer" appear on the Saskatchewan side for some reason.) I've driven the Alsask stretch of highway many, many times (though it's been a few years since my last trip), taking train crews between Calgary, Alberta and Kindersley, Saskatchewan. You never needed to worry about falling asleep on those long trips (most of which were late at night). As you left rich, prosperous Alberta on highway 9 and entered poor, impoverished Saskatchewan ("last one to leave Saskatchewan, please turn out the lights!") on highway 7, you are literally jolted awake. The quality of the roads is substantially different, and this is especially apparent along this stretch of highway. You go from smooth, well-maintained Alberta highway to rough, pothole-infested Saskatchewan highway literally in the blink of an eye. It's quite jarring. :-) (And then it's another 65 kilometers or so on to Kindersley -- by the time you get there, you think your car is going to fall apart like the Bluesmobile did at the end of Blues Brothers). ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 11:01:01 -0700 Subject: Re: Lloydminster AB/SK and Other Bordertowns Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Fri, 7 Nov 2003 00:32:56 -0500 (EST), Markus of Cuccia wrote: > 403-871 and 403-875 were the long-established prefixes for the AB > side. > 403-825 was the prefix for the SK side. AND YES, that *IS* NPA 403 > (AB) in Lloydminster SK's old prefix. They did *NOT* use NPA 306 (SK) > to identify the SK side of Lloydminster. And the 825 prefix was *NOT* > "duplicated" in SK's 306 NPA. Dialing to/from the SK side of > Lloydminster was as if it were part of 403/AB, thus (at that time) > toll calls between most every other (non-local) part of AB with the SK > side of Lloydminster were simply dialed as 1+/0+ SEVEN-digits (you > didn't dial your home/same NPA on 1+/0+ home-NPA toll calls in most > places back then). > Toll calls from the SK side of Lloydminster with the rest of > Saskatchewan were dialed as 1+/0+ ten-digits, using NPA 403 to call > Lloydminster SK from the rest of SK, using NPA 306 to call the rest of > SK from Lloydminster SK, because Lloydminster SK was "treated as if" > it were numbered in Alberta, which it *really WAS*. However, they > still had their dedicated NNX c.o.code for the SK side but still under > AB's 403 NPA code. > SOMETIME in the early 1990s, after 1989 and before 1994, I don't know > the exact date/year, there was a change for the SK side of > Lloydminster. > A separate central office (remote) switch was created for the SK side > and located in the SK side ... hosted by a switch nearby elsewhere in > SK. The telco providing this SK service was now SaskTel (which was > also owned by the province government of Saskatchewan). And the 825 > c.o.code prefix was now "transferred" over to SK's 306 NPA. And 403-825 has not been reassigned. When that list of "reserved" NPA's was leaked out a few years ago, 825 was identified as a future relief code for 403 (whether a split or an overlay, we don't know yet - they'll probably shrink 403 to cover only Calgary and area, and assign 825 to the remainder of current 403). Additionally, 780-825 has also not been assigned, though I'm really not sure why it couldn't be, so long as it was assigned in a community some distance away from the 403/780 border. Saskatchewan has reserved 306-403, but Alberta has not reserved 403-306 (currently in use in Calgary). Such protections don't really seem necessary except in areas close to those borders - IMHO. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 11:01:56 -0800 From: Michael Newton Subject: Re: Lloydminster AB/SK and Other Bordertowns > Point Roberts WA is also another oddity that can only be reached by > car via Canada. It *USED* to receive dialtone from GTE-BC-Tel's > c.o.switch in Ladner/Beachgrove BC, and it had local dialing with > their Local/EAS calling area as well. But it seems that Point Roberts > WA was always identified with a WA area code (206) as 206-945, but is > now 360-945 when 206 split off 360 in 1995. The Beachgrove/Ladner BC > area does use several 604-94x prefixes though (but none are 945). I > don't know if one could possibly reach Pt.Roberts as 604-945 at one > time though (years back) ... Actually, 604-94x is also used in the Westwood exchange, about an hours drive north of there. 604-945 is (and has been for some time) associated with the Vancouver suburbs of Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam. Any calls to Point Roberts from BC were dialled as 1-206-945-xxxx. I was too young back then to worry about whether or not they were billed as local or toll calls though! Michael Newton ------------------------------ From: Rodgers Platt (munged in processing) Subect: Re: North Sound 911 Service (munged, but assumed) Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 00:00:00 (munged in processing) (partially munged in processing) > when a specific single strand has to be located. They're all > identical, and not identified. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are reading the report of a > television talking head to his/its viewers. The not-too-intelligent > talking head is explaining to his even-less-intelligent viewers what > has happened. They don't know anything about rings or specific strands > of fiber. All the viewers know is their 911 service has gone out and > he is trying to explain why, albiet with a sort of dramatic flair > for details. PAT] Just as a point of clarification -- not all fiber is installed in rings. And we are not necessarily talking about SONET when you speak of feeding a PSAP. It is more than 99.9% of the time a single tail circuit. The fair city in which I toil was, until recently, served by a single feed into the PSAP. The serving CO was on multiple rings, but the feed to the PSAP was a single cable. Over the summer the city spent several weeks and a many thousands of dollars to lay in a diverse path from an alternate wire center (CO). The city had known about the problem for at least 5 years, and possibly more, but as we had a backup facility that was also manned 24 hours a day, it wasn't a real priority. It wasn't until they built a new facility at one of the locations and consolidated that the problem became critical. We still have a backup facility, but that facility is no longer manned around the clock. They have to shift the call takers from the primary to the backup and that takes about 30 minutes -- once transportation arrives. As there was little chance of the primary facility going down, because of backup power and redundant equipment, it suddenly pointed out the biggest single point-of-failure was the lack of a diverse feed. Now, if they can just get enough people to man the call stations ... Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: dv_rfid@yahoo.com (Tom R.) Subject: Delaware Valley RFID Users Group Date: 7 Nov 2003 07:33:57 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com If you reside in the Philadelphia area and would like to join the Delaware Valley RFID Users Group, please visit our web page at www.geocities.com/dv_rfid or send an email to dv_rfid@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: dold@1010220Xis.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam, Bud! Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 06:05:46 UTC Organization: a2i network jbl wrote: > Check out 1010987 that they've been advertising lately, 39 cents per > call plus 3 cents/minute. A twenty minute call is exactly the same I've used 1010987 a couple of times for international calls. Good connection, and rates so far below the "I don't have a $3.00 per month International Plan" from AT&T that it's crazy. Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Calling Card For Calling USA From Paraguay?? Date: 7 Nov 2003 01:20:31 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> Does anyone know of a company that sells calling cards for calling the >> USA from Paraguay? Or any companies that sell cards for calling the >> USA from abroad in general? I see that Telecom*USA a/k/a MCI has a prepaid card that has a surprisingly reasonable 3 cent/minute domestic rate and can be used to call back to the US from many countries including Paraguay. See www.minutepass.com. Call-home prices aren't on their site, you'll have to call them. (Since it's MCI, better record the call so you can send a copy to your state regulators when they overcharge you.) AT&T also has a prepaid card and their web site says you can use it clumsily with AT&T Direct, call AT&T Direct number (008-11-800 in Asuncion), then the prepaid service's 800 number, then your card number, then the number you want to call. Rates not disclosed, maybe they'll tell you if you call them. AT&T Direct will also let you charge calls to normal credit cards, who knows at what price. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 06:35:46 -0500 From: Ron Chapman Subject: Re: Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages In article , DevilsPGD wrote: > In message <> Monty Solomon > did ramble: >> NEW YORK (AP) -- For anyone who answers their cell phone at home, >> here's an idea so simple it's hard to imagine why it took so long to >> arrive: why not have your wireless calls automatically ring on your >> home phone whenever you're there? >> The unique FastForward service from Cingular Wireless promises to do >> just that, rerouting all cellular calls to your home number whenever >> you drop your mobile handset into a special $40 cradle that doubles as >> a phone charger. >> I did encounter a very minor bug with the service, which is $2.99 a >> month or free with some packages, but Cingular has made refinements >> that may address the blip. > Many cellphones/carriers offer the ability to call forward busy, no > answer, and unreachable independently. If you call forward > unreachable to your home, then your cell's voicemail will act normally > when it's on and in service, and transfer calls to your landline when > the phone is off, or out of range. > Oh yeah, and it's free/month on many/most plans (in my area, anyway) > and doesn't need a $40 cradle What you're missing is that normal call forwarding -- what you describe -- costs 10 cents per minute PLUS airtime. The new Cingular FastForward, though, is a $2.99/month add on which covers all you can eat. No extra per minute cost, and the forwarded calls do NOT go against your air time. So now you can happily give your cell number to everyone, knowing that when you're at home or work you won't be burning up airtime even though people are calling your cell number. ------------------------------ From: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: Re: Cheap Cheap Long Distance Date: 7 Nov 2003 06:11:21 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com softwarepacific@aol.com wrote in message news:: > Really Cheap Long Distance Service or Calling Cards > http://www.vsisystems.com/callingcards.htm How about an idea on the rates? I, as well as many here have been happy with OneSuite. Long Distance =<2.9 Cents Per Minute, no other fee: https://www.onesuite.com/ Promotion Code 034720367 USA 2.5-2.9 CPM, Canada 2.5-3.5 CPM, UK 2.5-3.9 CPM Will work on cell phones! Great international rates! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I really resent regular users here sending in the same message two or three times in a row then when I attempt to return it to them their email address is bogus. Please be warned. PAT] ------------------------------ From: nstrom@ananzi.co.za (Nathan Strom) Subject: Re: URL Shortener Date: 7 Nov 2003 07:52:54 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Group Special Mobile wrote in message news:: > On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 06:30:34 -0500, Bill Berbenich > wrote: >> I just wanted to alert everyone to a very handy web site. If you post >> a really long URL on here, chances are that it will be broken up into >> two lines. However, if you paste the url into http://smlnk.com/ , it >> will give you a much shorter URL that you can post on here without it >> being split up. Smlnk.com is a redirector service specifically for >> this purpose -- and it's free! > There's also http://tinyurl.com and http://makeashorterlink.com which > do the same thing also free. In my experience tinyurl.com has been quite reliable, but I also should mention http://snurl.com/ since nobody else has. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 23:57:11 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Sues Over 'Pop-Up' Ad Software WASHINGTON (AP) -- Regulators disclosed a new legal campaign Thursday against an annoying method for delivering unwanted "pop-up" Internet advertisements, accusing a California company of "high-tech extortion" in its offers for software to block the very ads it was sending. The courtroom effort by the Federal Trade Commission could dampen some of the most irritating practices by Internet marketers, who have learned ways to display intrusive messages on computer screens using a technology built into most versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36387924 ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Yikes! was Re: we take on Phil Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 00:41:10 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net Pat, please put this guy in your kill file! I know there are some anti-Nike people out there, so maybe posting some of those makes sense in a telco-related group. After all, telco repair persons have to wear some kind of shoes. In our part of the world, they probably aren't Nike, though. ;-) This guy's message went crazier and crazier. He's off his meds! On Fri, 6 Nov 2003 23:40:14 GMT, in comp.dcom.telecom message , Waleed Agha al-Bar wrote: > On 6 Nov 2003 23:40:14 GMT, Candy@ilurnem.org wrote: >> Rethink the Cool + the Shoe >> phil knight had a dream. And it goes downhill from there on. Gail in Ohio USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Dear Gail in Ohio USA ... First of all, you did NOT get the above message from me. Second of all, that is not the kind of crap I send out. Third of all, Usenet has become essentially useless (remember when there used to be a joke about the 'death of the net'? ) The 'news' (i.e. spam, viruses, miscellaneous crap) in Usenet has become almost unmanageable in recent years. Fourth of all, the concept of moderated newsgroups in recent years has become such an unfunny joke since there are so many news adminstrators who do not give a damn -- even an iota of a damn -- about configuring their systems correctly to at least push all that crap off on the moderators directly for handling rather than let it go directly into the news stream. It used to be (still is the case) that I personally sweep tons of that dinner for fifty million flies into my trash can each day; but now I am getting more and more instances like yours where people write me and bitch and moan about seeing it directly in the comp.dcom.telecom newsgroup -- i.e. it never even came past me here. The coincidence is just to great, Gail in Ohio, do you use SBC as your ISP? That bunch of morons can't manage to do anything but totally ruin email and the newsgroups. Lisa is not around today, so I have been looking after her telecom-news thing at Yahoo. In the short time it has taken me to make this reply to you, I have gotten *three* popup alerts from Yahoo about Microsoft 'install this patch' messages which have gone there. What do you want to bet if I took the trouble to investigate the source that all three of them were given birth through SBC, the ISP with the holier than thou attitude "oh we wouldn't dream of trying to decide what you want to see in email and news" ? What they should really say is "we are too incompetent to figure out how to sort spam and viruses from real, honest to god messages and news'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ropa Argentina Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 12:50:15 -0500 Subject: trabajo de secretaria o administracion Reply-To: clothes@reforce.net Organization: Reforce internacional Hola mi nombre es Romina tengo 26 aos y soy Argentina, hace 10 meses que vivo en miami y estoy buscando trabajo de oficina/administracion. Trabaje durante 9 aos en puestos similares, tengo manejo del idioma ingles y herramientas de computacion e internet. tengo licencia de conducir y automovil propio por lo cual no tengo problema en transaladarme para cualquier sitio Te envio mi curriculum en caso de que sepas de alguien que esta buscando una secretaria o empleada administrativa. Mi e-mail es ranbinder@reforce.net Desde ya muchas gracias y disculpa las molestias DATOS PERSONALES: Anbinder, Romina Paula FECHA DE NACIMIENTO: Octubre 21,1977 LUGAR DE NACIMIENTO: Buenos Aires, Argentina DOMICILIO: 6280 Nw 173 St. #1217 CIUDAD: Miami, Florida CÓDIGO POSTAL: 33015 TELÉFONO: 305-698-7220 CELULAR: 786-356-8845 E-MAIL: ranbinder@reforce.net FORMACIN ACADMICA * Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE) Licenciatura en Comercio Internacional 1996-2002 * Instituto Argentino Excelcior Perito Mercantil con Orientacin Contable e Impositiva 1991-1995 EXPERIENCIA PROFESIONAL " 7 Aos de experiencia en todas las facetas de la Administracin " Excelente habilidad en la comunicacin interpersonal " Motivacin para el trabajo en equipo, iniciativa y liderazgo CURSOS Y CONGRESOS: Importacin Y Exportacin Una nueva Era Fundacin Bank Boston 1997 ACTIVIDAD PROFESIONAL: *Signal International Inc. Asistente Administrativa y Contable Anlisis de cuentas, Atencin al cliente, Conciliacin Bancaria, Apertura de cuentas Julio 2001-Diciembre 2002 *Bialostocky Y Asoc. Asistente Contable Liquidacin de Impuestos, Atencin al cliente, administracin en General Enero 1995-Junio 2001 IDIOMAS: Espaol Nativo Ingles HERRAMIENTAS DE COMPUTACION Windows 2000, Windows XP, Microsoft Office , Word, Excel, Internet [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, if someone wants to read this to me, I will appreciate it. I eagerly wait for word that once again I have been burned with spam. It used to be (am I showing my age?) that I had a lot of faith in Usenet, as a way for people around the world to communicate, and I was eager to put things here in telecom which were legitimate questions and commentaries from guys all around the globe. I did not, and do not want telecom to be a USA-centric news group. I want *everyone* who wants to do so to be able to partipate. But I have been burned so often by spammers sneaking in their messages in other languages I have reached a decision that if the above turns out to be spam then I am going to pass an iron-clad rule to speak in English in this newsgroup, period. I just now got flags on the third and fourth viruses planted in telecom-news (yahoo.com) so far today. I can really see where Lisa has started to lose her enthusiasm. She after all, has never known a time when Usenet was anything other than a hell-hole, as I and many of you used to know it. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #738 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Nov 7 19:58:39 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA80wcX07703; Fri, 7 Nov 2003 19:58:39 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 19:58:39 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311080058.hA80wcX07703@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 #739 TELECOM Digest Fri, 7 Nov 2003 19:57:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 739 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Inter-State In-TRA-LATA Local/Free Calls (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Inter-state In-TRA-LATA Local/Free Calls (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Inter-state In-TRA-LATA Local/Free Calls (Wesrock@aol.com) Anyone Know of a POTS/DSL Technology Primer Out There? (Michael Newton) Re: Calling Card For Calling USA From Paraguay?? (Matt) Re: trabajo de secretaria o administracion (Clive Dawson) Re: trabajo de secretaria o administracion (Curtis Smith) Re: trabajo de secretaria o administracion (admin@horatio.agresource) Re: URL Shortener (dold@URLXShorte.usenet.us.com) WTB: Philips Call Controller (spiers@primus.ca) Girovagando in Internet. Un Sito da Non Perdere (risposta@mail15.com) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 14:22:56 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Inter-state In-TRA-LATA Local/Free Calls more, re "bordertowns" ... Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > Wes wrote: >> An example close to Pat is Coffeyville, Kansas, and South Coffeyville, >> Oklahoma, both of which are served from the Coffeyville office. But >> phones on the Kansas side have a 620 area code and those on the >> Oklahoma side have a 918 area code and a different prefix, although >> there is simple 7-digit local dialing between the two states. >> There are many such examples in the Kansas City metropolitan area. >> Of course, that is not the same as the Derby Line-Stanstead situation, >> where apparently no carrier's lines cross the international border >> (but how, then, can the numbers appear in the same key system least one >> carrier's lines don't cross the border?). > The problem is the 1982 Consent Decree (called the MFJ by the Bell > Heads). If there was an existing local calling arrangement (as in > Kansas City) prior to 1982, it was grandfathered, and 7-digit calling > was permissible. Nowadays, with splits, 10 or 11-digit local calling > would probably be used. But the Kansas City MO/KS metro area, while straddling a state line, is still all within the same *LATA*. The breakup of the Bell System as it was occurring during the planning (1982/83) and actual implementation/ operation (1984-88 and really continuing to this day), created those LATA regions where the BOC (or independent LECs) operated. LATAs can contain all or part of one or more states. *SUPPOSE* that IF there was no local-free calling between the KS and MO sides of Kansas City Metro (which like Texarkana TX/AR is really two separate distinct political/juurisdictional municipalities, unlike Lloydminster AB/SK) as of 1982-84, because they fall within the same LATA yet are in different states, could mean that MO and KS could implement local/EAS (free) calling between the two sides at a later date. I don't think that Judge Greene/DOJ would necessarily have to be involved in the proceedings since this was in-TRA-LATA, but the FCC "might" have to approve because it was in-TER-State! And POST-divestiture, there HAVE been several *NEW* (post-1984 petitioned and implemented) local/free/EAS calling arrangements between different exchanges in different LATAs, even in-TER-STATE combined with in-TER-LATA. But it does require FCC and possibly DOJ approval. > However, where there was no local calling arrangement in 1982, then > there were problems. For example, many towns in northern Maine (along > US 1) homed on Class 4 (toll) offices in New Brunswick in 1982. But > under the Consent Decree, it was no longer legal for New England > Telephone to deal directly with New Brunswick Telephone. So, they had > to re-home the central offices. This was a major problem because > there were no direct toll circuits from northeastern Maine (Presque > Isle, Caribou, Fort Kent) to New England Tel's toll office (probably > in Bangor or maybe Houlton). I think they had to use some circuits > that previously had been dedicated to the former Presque Isle Air Force > Base. But there is *some* local calling and quite possibly has been *some* local calling (as of 1982-84 and prior to that) between various communities in Maine and New Brunswick. Ray Chow's website on Local Calling Areas/etc. throughout the US and Canada indicates some of these ME/NB situations: http://www.hwcn.org/Information/NEST/technol/communic/lca/ For various US/Canada border local calling arrangements, as well as intra-Canada inter-province/territory local calling, see the following page at his site: http://www.hwcn.org/Information/NEST/technol/communic/lca/saq.html Now of course, there were probably some TOLL calls between ME and NB where the Maine (USA) c.o.switch (New England Tel) did "home" on a NB (CAN) toll switch (Bell's NBTel) and maybe some things vice-versa. But there apparantly were some local crossborder calling arrangements that were grandfathered OR if not in existance in 1982-84 but came later, were petitioned for and granted by the DOJ (and FCC). Even in recent years, there are some ME/NB "border oddities" that show up in the LERG. I don't know if they still are this way, but there were some NB c.o.switches that appeared in the ME LATA or maybe it was the other way around where some ME c.o.switches were still shown to "home" on NBTel tandems. And even those could be given "waivers" by Green/DOJ when all of this was being reviewed during 1982-84. However, these days, things are becoming even more deregulated in these areas, with CLECs, unlimited LD plans provided by all levels of the industry (LEC, IXC, wireless, CLEC, etc), wireless "itself" as well as their "unlimited" plans, etc. I don't know if there was any dedicated trunking between Derby Line VT and Rock Island PQ/QC in recent years. Even though each side has a prefix of the 87x block (Derby Line VT USA 802-873, Rock Isl PQ/QC CAN 819-876) which would lead one to believe that at ONE time years back, both communities got their dialtone from the same switch (but on what side of the border?) that also "homed" on a particular toll or tandem switch on that same side of the border, as of 1975 (according to a TRG I have from that year), each side "homed" on a toll switch of its particular country/ state/province. Of course, there could have been dedicated toll trunks to a single local central office from each sides' tandems, but I have no way to know that at this late date. MAYBE there was and still is dedicated local trunking between the two sides' own LOCAL c.o.switches? Presently, both *ARE* "remotes" off of a host switch on each others' respective sides of the state/province and international boundary, but remotes HAVE been known to have some dedicated trunking to switches outside of their host switch. REGARDLESS, there *IS* local/free EAS between Derby Line VT USA and Rock Island PQ/QC CAN, whether post-1984 petitioned and approved, or the more likely pre-existing local/EAS (especially with both having 87x prefixes) that was grandfathered as of 1982-84 and still remains to this day. But anyhow ... In-TRA-LATA calling *CAN* cross state boundaries yet still be intra-LATA local, and because it is within the same "multi-state" LATA, I don't think that (the now late) Judge Greene and the DOJ really "have" to get involved. And there are *NUMEROUS* examples of such inter-state local calling situations within the same LATA. And there are grandfathered in-TER-LATA (whether intra- or inter- state) local or LEC-provided calling situations (i.e., northeastern NJ and NYCity, southwestern NJ and Phily), as well as *NEW* POST-divestiture in-TER-LATA in-TER-State local/EAS "free" calling situations as well, but the latter (post-1984 in-TER-LATA local, whether across a state line or within the same state) *HAS* to get DOJ and FCC approval, which when petitioned, always seems to be given. > Naturally, none of this applies to towns on provincial borders in > Canada. Judge Greene's writ does not run there. But Canada also doesn't have "LATAs" as we have them in the US in a political/jurisdictional/regulatory MFJ/Divestiture sense. For the LERG and other numbering/routing/switching/etc. databases and documents, Canada has been "identified" by a single "LATA" code '888' now, but that is for recordkeeping consistancy. So in a way, everything within Canada is in-TRA "LATA" even if in-TER-province! Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA CSA ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 16:22:32 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: Inter-state In-TRA-LATA Local/Free Calls At 03:22 PM 11/7/03, Mark J Cuccia wrote: >more, re "bordertowns" ... Marcus Didius Falco wrote: >> The problem is the 1982 Consent Decree (called the MFJ by the Bell >> Heads). If there was an existing local calling arrangement (as in >> Kansas City) prior to 1982, it was grandfathered, and 7-digit calling >> was permissible. Nowadays, with splits, 10 or 11-digit local calling >> would probably be used. > But the Kansas City MO/KS metro area, while straddling a state line, > is still all within the same *LATA*. The breakup of the Bell System as it > was occurring during the planning (1982/83) and actual implementation/ > operation (1984-88 and really continuing to this day), created those LATA > regions where the BOC (or independent LECs) operated. LATAs can contain > all or part of one or more states. > *SUPPOSE* that IF there was no local-free calling between the KS and MO > sides of Kansas City Metro (which like Texarkana TX/AR is really two > separate distinct political/juurisdictional municipalities, unlike > Lloydminster AB/SK) as of 1982-84, because they fall within the same LATA > yet are in different states, could mean that MO and KS could implement > local/EAS (free) calling between the two sides at a later date. I don't > think that Judge Greene/DOJ would necessarily have to be involved in the > proceedings since this was in-TRA-LATA, but the FCC "might" have to > approve because it was in-TER-State! Don't forget that LATAs were originally determined by the Consent Decree. They were originally designed so that each LATA contained one and only one SMSA, or was a single state if there was no SMSA in the state. Thus, putting the two Kansas Cities in the single SMSA was an exception to the basic rule, and was agreed to by the Justice Dept. (and ratified by Judge Greene) because of the early Supreme Court case that allowed "local" calling that crosses state lines, specifically in the case of Kansas City. (This became statutory language in the Communications Act of 1934.) > And POST-divestiture, there HAVE been several *NEW* (post-1984 petitioned > and implemented) local/free/EAS calling arrangements between different > exchanges in different LATAs, even in-TER-STATE combined with in-TER-LATA. > But it does require FCC and possibly DOJ approval. Both must approve. And then the court had to rule. I think the 1996 Telecommunications Act eliminates the need for court approval. >> However, where there was no local calling arrangement in 1982, then >> there were problems. For example, many towns in northern Maine (along >> US 1) homed on Class 4 (toll) offices in New Brunswick in 1982. But >> under the Consent Decree, it was no longer legal for New England >> Telephone to deal directly with New Brunswick Telephone. So, they had >> to re-home the central offices. This was a major problem because >> there were no direct toll circuits from northeastern Maine (Presque >> Isle, Caribou, Fort Kent) to New England Tel's toll office (probably >> in Bangor or maybe Houlton). I think they had to use some circuits >> that previously had been dedicated to the former Presque Isle Air Force >> Base. > But there is *some* local calling and quite possibly has been *some* local > calling (as of 1982-84 and prior to that) between various communities in > Maine and New Brunswick. Ray Chow's website on Local Calling Areas/etc. > throughout the US and Canada indicates some of these ME/NB situations: > http://www.hwcn.org/Information/NEST/technol/communic/lca/ > for various US/Canada border local calling arrangements, as well as > intra-Canada inter-province/territory local calling, see the following > page at his site: > http://www.hwcn.org/Information/NEST/technol/communic/lca/saq.html > Now of course, there were probably some TOLL calls between ME and NB where > the Maine (USA) c.o.switch (New England Tel) did "home" on a NB (CAN) toll > switch (Bell's NBTel) and maybe some things vice-versa. But there > apparantly were some local crossborder calling arrangements that were > grandfathered OR if not in existance in 1982-84 but came later, were > petitioned for and granted by the DOJ (and FCC). The 1982 Consent Decree did allow and "grandfather" all such cross-border LOCAL calling arrangements. There were many in nearly every state, and, in most cases, the two communities were placed in separate LATAs. Where the local calling was toll-rated, however, then there was no grandfathering (with some exceptions in the NY-NJ area where there was only one toll tandem (Class 4) used for the call). The cases I mentioned involved toll calls. All toll traffic from Northern Maine to the rest of the US went through Canada, and had to be re-routed. > Even in recent years, there are some ME/NB "border oddities" that show up > in the LERG. I don't know if they still are this way, but there were some > NB c.o.switches that appeared in the ME LATA or maybe it was the other way > around where some ME c.o.switches were still shown to "home" on NBTel > tandems. And even those could be given "waivers" by Green/DOJ when all of > this was being reviewed during 1982-84. Yes. Some of the waivers were temporary. Some were permanent. Some were for only certain types of traffic. > But anyhow... > In-TRA-LATA calling *CAN* cross state boundaries yet still be intra-LATA > local, and because it is within the same "multi-state" LATA, I don't think > that (the now late) Judge Greene and the DOJ really "have" to get > involved. And there are *NUMEROUS* examples of such inter-state local > calling situations within the same LATA. The FCC and DOJ have to get involved in any NEW arrangements. The DC Circuit Court (the late Judge Greene's court) is out of it since 1996, as noted above. > And there are grandfathered > in-TER-LATA (whether intra- or inter- state) local or LEC-provided calling > situations (i.e., northeastern NJ and NYCity, southwestern NJ and Phily), > as well as *NEW* POST-divestiture in-TER-LATA in-TER-State local/EAS > "free" calling situations as well, but the latter (post-1984 in-TER-LATA > local, whether across a state line or within the same state) *HAS* to get > DOJ and FCC approval, which when petitioned, always seems to be given. Although some state commissions are amazingly reluctant to petition. I suspect that there is some company pressure on the commissions not to petition, because the companies would rather collect access charges than local revenues (usually flat rate). However, now some LEC companies are starting to re-think their former preference for measured rates, so this may change. >> Naturally, none of this applies to towns on provincial borders in >> Canada. Judge Greene's writ does not run there. > But Canada also doesn't have "LATAs" as we have them in the US in a > political/jurisdictional/regulatory MFJ/Divestiture sense. True. LATAs are an artifact of the 1982 Consent Decree. Canada does have provinces, but in 1988 the Supreme Court of Canada interpreted the 1918 Railway Act to give the CRTC jurisdiction over almost all telephone companies in Canada (previously there had been provincial regulation of local calling). Thus, there are no jurisdictional issues in providing cross-provincial-boundary local calling arrangements. > For the LERG > and other numbering/routing/switching/etc. databases and documents, Canada > has been "identified" by a single "LATA" code '888' now, but that is for > recordkeeping consistancy. So in a way, everything within Canada is in-TRA > "LATA" even if in-TER-province! ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 16:41:24 EST Subject: Re: Inter-state In-TRA-LATA Local/Free Calls Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com Mark J Cuccia wrote: > more, re "bordertowns" ... Marcus Didius Falco wrote: >> The problem is the 1982 Consent Decree (called the MFJ by the >> Bell Heads). If there was an existing local calling arrangement >> (as in Kansas City) prior to 1982, it was grandfathered, and >> 7-digit calling was permissible. Nowadays, with splits, 10 or >> 11-digit local calling would probably be used. > But the Kansas City MO/KS metro area, while straddling a state line, > is still all within the same *LATA*. The breakup of the Bell System > as it was occurring during the planning (1982/83) and actual > implementation/ operation (1984-88 and really continuing to this > day), created those LATA regions where the BOC (or independent LECs) > operated. LATAs can contain all or part of one or more states. > *SUPPOSE* that IF there was no local-free calling between the KS > and MO sides of Kansas City Metro (which like Texarkana TX/AR is > really two separate distinct political/juurisdictional > municipalities, unlike Lloydminster AB/SK) as of 1982-84, because > they fall within the same LATA yet are in different states, could > mean that MO and KS could implement local/EAS (free) calling > between the two sides at a later date. I don't think that Judge > Greene/DOJ would necessarily have to be involved in the > proceedings since this was in-TRA-LATA, but the FCC "might" have to > approve because it was in-TER-State! The Kansas City KS/MO LATA (and toll-free calling area) includes much more than two cities. It involves Jackson County, Missouri, Wyandotte and Johnson County, Kansas, each of which has multiple municipalities and multiple central offices, which do not necessary follow any municipal boundaries. The Kansas side is NPA 913, the Missouri side in 816, but there is 7-digit dialing throughout the metropolitan toll-free calling area. Independence, Mo., the home town of Harry Truman and site of his presidential library, is the county seat of Jackson County, not Kansas City. > In-TRA-LATA calling *CAN* cross state boundaries yet still be > intra-LATA local, and because it is within the same "multi-state" > LATA, I don't think that (the now late) Judge Greene and the DOJ > really "have" to get involved. And there are *NUMEROUS* examples of > such inter-state local calling situations within the same LATA. Besides the Kansas City interstate LATA already mentioned, another example is the the entire Oklahoma Panhandle, which is in the Amarillo LATA. (And toll calls from/to the Oklahoma City LATA [NPA 405 and all of 580 EXCEPT the Oklahoma Panhandle] to/from the Oklahoma Panhandle are interLATA calls and can only be handled by interLATA carriers.) As to local infrastructure arrangements, the towns of Texhoma (separate municipalities in Texas and Oklahoma in the Amarillo LATA) have arrangements -- sanctioned by legislation in both states -- where elementary students go to the school in one state and high school students go to the school in the other state). Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 12:37:21 -0800 From: Michael Newton Subject: Anyone Know of a POTS/DSL Technology Primer Out There? I recently got a job doing support for DSL customers, working for a wholesaler. When I send issues off to the telco for resolution, I end up with all sorts of stuff listed in the trouble ticket and I have NO IDEA what they are talking about. See the example below. Obviously I know what's up with cable length, attainable transfer rates, attenuation, but the rest is a mystery. I don't need to know this stuff, but would like to anyway. Just what is a foreign battery, and how do I read Fortel test results? Things like that. Just wondering if anyone has put together anything anywhere on the web that would let me get a handle on this stuff. I hate not knowing what people are talking about! Mike Test Result : TESTED OK Cable Length : 12700 Feet Insulation : OK Ringer(s) : Bridged Cable Length : 12700 Feet Resistance : > 1 MOhm > 1 MOhm > 1 MOhm > 1 MOhm > 1 MOhm > 1 MOhm DC Current : 21.6 uA -13.2 uA -20.0 uA 20.0 uA 4.4 uA -4.0 uA Line Cct : 0.0 V -52.2 V DC Voltage : 0.3 V 0.4 V 0.0 V 0.0 V AC Voltage : 0.0 V 0.0 V 0.0 V 0.0 V Reference : -51.8 V Background : 11.2 uA 12.4 uA Cable Mutual Capacitance: 221 nF 224 nF 1.047 uF 1.047 uF 200 nF 1.087 uF Susceptance: -52.7 uS -53.3 uS -116.8 uS -116.8 uS Attainable Rate : 1760 kbps 704 kbps Margin : 0 dB -9 dB Attenuation : 56 dB 33 dB Output Power : 15 dBm 12 dBm Interleave Delay : 0 ms 3 ms CURRENT CONDITIONS Fast Interleave Fast Interleave Tx Rate : 0 1536 0 640 kbps CONFIG PORT 1-4-7 s ------------------------------ From: mattbrentnz@yahoo.com (Matt) Subject: Re: Calling Card For Calling USA From Paraguay?? Date: 7 Nov 2003 14:13:48 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Thanks for the info although I've already checked out the big companies and they charge the earth, around $2 a minute it seems. Some hours of internet searching uncovered a prepaid card that could do the trick at around 60 cents a minute: http://www.goldprepaid.com/goldprepaid/index.cfm Matt johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) wrote in message news:: >>> Does anyone know of a company that sells calling cards for calling the >>> USA from Paraguay? Or any companies that sell cards for calling the >>> USA from abroad in general? > I see that Telecom*USA a/k/a MCI has a prepaid card that has a > surprisingly reasonable 3 cent/minute domestic rate and can be used to > call back to the US from many countries including Paraguay. See > www.minutepass.com. Call-home prices aren't on their site, you'll > have to call them. (Since it's MCI, better record the call so you can > send a copy to your state regulators when they overcharge you.) > AT&T also has a prepaid card and their web site says you can use it > clumsily with AT&T Direct, call AT&T Direct number (008-11-800 in > Asuncion), then the prepaid service's 800 number, then your card > number, then the number you want to call. Rates not disclosed, maybe > they'll tell you if you call them. AT&T Direct will also let you > charge calls to normal credit cards, who knows at what price. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 14:34:53 -0600 From: Clive Dawson Subject: Re: Spanish Translation Pat, Here's a translation of that Spanish message: ------------------ Hi my name is Romina I am 26 years old and I'm an Argentinian, I've lived in Miami for 10 months and I'm looking for office/administrative work. I worked for 9 years in similar positions, I can manage the English language as well as computing tools and Internet. I have a driver's license and my own automobile so I don't have a problem in getting to any location. I'm sending my resume in case you know of somebody who is looking for a secretary or administrative assistant. My email is ranbinder@reforce.net Many thanks and sorry for the bother. (PERSONAL DATA) DATOS PERSONALES: Anbinder, Romina Paula (DATE OF BIRTH) FECHA DE NACIMIENTO: Octubre 21,1977 (PLACE OF BIRTH) LUGAR DE NACIMIENTO: Buenos Aires, Argentina (HOME ADDRESS) DOMICILIO: 6280 Nw 173 St. #1217 (CITY) CIUDAD: Miami, Florida (ZIP CODE) CÓDIGO POSTAL: 33015 (TELEPHONE) TELEFONO: 305-698-7220 CELULAR: 786-356-8845 E-MAIL: ranbinder@reforce.net (EDUCATION) FORMACIN ACADMICA * Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE) Licenciatura en Comercio Internacional 1996-2002 (Bachelors in International Commerce) * Instituto Argentino Excelcior Perito Mercantil con Orientacin Contable e Impositiva 1991-1995 [Clive note: (Not sure-- Something along the lines of a CPA)] (PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE) EXPERIENCIA PROFESIONAL " 7 Aos de experiencia en todas las facetas de la Administracin -7 years experience in all facets of administration " Excelente habilidad en la comunicacin interpersonal - Excellent interpersonal communication skills " Motivacin para el trabajo en equipo, iniciativa y liderazgo - Motivation for teamwork, initiative and leadership (COURSES AND CONFERENCES) CURSOS Y CONGRESOS: Importacin Y Exportacin Una nueva Era Fundacin Bank Boston 1997 (PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES) ACTIVIDAD PROFESIONAL: *Signal International Inc. Asistente Administrativa y Contable Anlisis de cuentas, Atencin al cliente, Conciliacin Bancaria, Apertura de cuentas Julio 2001-Diciembre 2002 *Bialostocky Y Asoc. Asistente Contable Liquidacin de Impuestos, Atencin al cliente, administracin en General Enero 1995-Junio 2001 (LANGUAGES) IDIOMAS: Espaol Nativo Ingles (COMPUTING TOOLS) HERRAMIENTAS DE COMPUTACION Windows 2000, Windows XP, Microsoft Office , Word, Excel, Internet ---------------------------- There you have it ... not spam in the technical sense of the word, but certainly nothing we'd want on the digest ... It's not even Telecom related. Cheers, Clive Dawson [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks very much Clive. And Romina, if this has helped you land a job, then I feel good about it for you. But Romina, you really should attempt to communicate in the 'normal' lang- uage of a Usenet newsgroup, and attempt to use the newsgroups where your message will do the most good. Good luck! :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: Curtis Smith Subject: Re: trabajo de secretaria o administracion Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 21:32:36 GMT Pat, You wrote: > Well, if someone wants to read this to me, I will appreciate it. I > eagerly wait for word that once again I have been burned with spam. It is someone in Florida looking for a secretary job. It is their resume. Spam but on a individual level. Hey at least it isn't about how to enlarge portions of your body! The funny thing is one of the reasons they give to hire them is that their English is good. :-) Try http://babelfish.altavista.com/. It makes a good rough translation. It doesn't translate grammar very well and gets about 1 of 10 words wrong but you can tell what the message is about. For example the phrase: > Hola mi nombre es Romina tengo 26 aos y soy Argentina, hace 10 meses > que vivo en miami is: Hello my name is Romina, I am 26 years old and from Argintina, I have lived for 10 months in Miami ... Bablefish gives you: Hello my name is Romina has 26 aos and is Argentina, makes 10 months that alive in Miami ... Thanks, Curtis ------------------------------ Organization: Not Much Subject: Re: trabajo de secretaria o administracion From: admin@horatio.agresource.com Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 22:41:37 GMT In article , Ropa Argentina wrote: > Hola mi nombre es Romina tengo 26 aos y soy Argentina, hace 10 meses > que vivo en miami y estoy buscando trabajo de oficina/administracion. [[.. munch ..]] > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, if someone wants to read this to > me, I will appreciate it. I eagerly wait for word that once again I > have been burned with spam. Well, "sort-of". It's a resume (obvious from the layout :), and a cover-letter. to wit: "Hello my name is Romina, age 26 years and Argentina-born, for the last 10 months I have lived in Miami, and I am looking for work in office/administration. I have worked during the last 9 years in similar positions; have knowledge of the English language and tools of computation and Internet. I have a license to drive and own automobile, thus I do not have problem in transporting myself to any work-site. You envio(??) my resume' in case that you know of someone who is looking for a secretary or administrative employee." If I was in a mean mood, I'd suggest the everybody write him, scheduling an employment interview with the "South Florida spammer of your choice". But I'm not in a mean mood, so I won't suggest it. TELECOM Digest Editor continues: > It used to be (am I showing my age?) that I had a lot of faith in > Usenet, as a way for people around the world to communicate, and I > was eager to put things here in telecom which were legitimate > questions and commentaries from guys all around the globe. I did > not, and do not want telecom to be a USA-centric news group. I want > *everyone* who wants to do so to be able to partipate. But I have > been burned so often by spammers sneaking in their messages in other > languages I have reached a decision that if the above turns out to > be spam then I am going to pass an iron-clad rule to speak in > English in this newsgroup, period. The "babel fish", at does an 'adequate' job of machine translation -- where you just need to get the 'sense' of what was being said, and not precise linguistic nuances. Just type the text into the input-box (or cut-and-paste), select the language to translate from and to, and hit "sic 'em". I expect you can master it in less than a day. If you _do_ let *valid* items through, in "other than English" -- and I _am_ in favor of that -- suggest you _include_ the BabelFish translation, for the benefit of those -not- fluent in additional languages. > I just now got flags on the third and fourth viruses planted in > telecom-news (yahoo.com) so far today. I can really see where Lisa > has started to lose her enthusiasm. She after all, has never known a > time when Usenet was anything other than a hell-hole, as I and many > of you used to know it. PAT] Yup, it's absolutely true. Many of us used to know it as a hell-hole. It's just in those days it was *OUR*KIND* of a hell-hole. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You may think it is funny; I do not, and fail to see the humor. Usenet has gone to hell so badly in recent years -- since about 1993-94 -- since about the time that Clinton/Gore discovered the Internet and made it an infamous thing, just like that hillbilly country and western singer did to our beloved citizens band radio in the middle 1970's. We lost that, but at least the technology improved to the point that we got a new community news mechanism a few years later in the form of Usenet. After a decade or so, Clinton/Gore (may they both be damned forever because of it) started the process of losing control over Usenet; indeed the entire Internet. After the last issue went out, I went downtown to get my annual flu shot at the Rexall Drug Store, where the nurse gave them free of charge to all the senior citizens. After lunch I came back home, found a mere ten or twelve more virus things posing as Microsoft updates in the Yahoo telecom-news group and bashed them all. This has not been a good day for me. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dold@URLXShorte.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: URL Shortener Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 19:53:30 UTC Organization: a2i network Nathan Strom wrote: >> There's also http://tinyurl.com and http://makeashorterlink.com which >> do the same thing also free. > In my experience tinyurl.com has been quite reliable, but I also > should mention http://snurl.com/ since nobody else has. And why do these places exist? They have to take and translate all of these short URLs that we're making, keeping them online. Where is the profit? Are they selling click-counts? Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is what Internet has come to these days, hasn't it? Where is the profit for me? If I cannot count you, spy on you, pick your purse clean or otherwise abuse you, then what am I doing here, right? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 21:19:03 GMT From: speirs@primus.ca Subject: WTB: Philips Call Controller Reply-to: speirs@primus.ca Send details to me. ------------------------------ From: Subject: Girovagando in Internet. Un Sito da Non Perdere Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 23:40:10 +0100 Girovagando in internet. un sito da non perdere. e se avessero ragione loro ... If they would be right? www.liberidiscegliere.org N.B. Legge 675/1996:Tutela delle persone e di altri soggetti rispetto al trattamento di dati personali. Vi informiamo che gli indirizzi e-mail presenti nel nostro archivio provengono da elenchi e servizi di pubblico dominio pubblicati anche via web o per autorizzazione dei possessori. Secondo quanto previsto dall'art. 13 della legge, in qualsiasi momento, potrete non ricevere più comunicati da parte nostra, cliccando su: rispondi e scrivendo nell'oggetto rimuovi. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since the last one didn't exactly blow up in my face, as these usually do, I will try another one. This one appears to be Italian, but what do I, with my deseased brain, know about anything? Send a translation, or if it is spam or yet another virus posing as a Microsoft update, let me know. I do agree with the person who said all guys should feel at home using Usenet, and I intend to run this newsgroup openly, until I, like so many others, eventually burn out which will happen sometime. 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #739 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Nov 8 19:45:50 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA90jou13444; Sat, 8 Nov 2003 19:45:50 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 19:45:50 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311090045.hA90jou13444@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 #740 TELECOM Digest Sat, 8 Nov 2003 19:46:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 740 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Nortel Does Not Endorse NorVergence (ultra72e) Hallo. I`m Seeking PBX (328.28.00) What to Get to Replace FDM L Carrier Multiplexer (Dana) Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Al Dykes) Re: Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages (DevilsPGD) Re: URL Shortener (Garrett Wollman) Re: URL Shortener (dold@URLXShorte.usenet.us.com) Re: Traffic-Signal Change Devices a Concern (Geoffrey Welsh) Procomm Settings-Mitel SX200 (Larry) Thanks - was Re: Yikes! was Re: we take on Phil (Gail M. Hall) IBM to VOIP (George B.) Operator Switch (dnhunt) New Pioneer DVD-Recorders Unveiled (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. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ultra72e@hotmail.com (ultra72e) Subject: Nortel Does Not Endorse NorVergence Date: 7 Nov 2003 15:49:41 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com For all of the individuals that have been approached by NorVergence recently. I have a small Auto Repair Garage and I was approached by NorVergence. They took a look at my bills and took photocopies of them. They sounded really good. Too good so I decided to check on them. Because the NorVergence representative's business card and the brochure he left me with stated "Solutions by Nortel Networks" on it, I decided to call Nortel to play it safe and verify if Nortel Networks and NorVergence are in fact a "Strategic Alliance" as the NorVergence rep put it. Another way he put it was that NorVegence was a "matchmaker" for NorVergence by finding clients for Nortel. I went on Nortel Networks' website: www.nortelnetworks.com and didn't find anything on NorVergence. So I found the Nortel Networks North American toll-free telephone number: 800-4NORTEL and I called it. When I got a Nortel Networks representative he told me, and I quote: "We've been getting a lot of calls about NorVergence lately". He then went on to tell me that Nortel Networks is in no way affiliated with NorVergence and does not endorse NorVergence. When I pressed him for further information, he told me that Nortel Networks is actually suing NorVergence for using the Nortel Networks logo without permission. That basically answered my question about if NorVergence is strategically aligned with Nortel Networks and that the "solutions" are not by Nortel Networks. This Nortel rep told me that the easiest way to reach any of them to verify Nortel's relationship with NorVergence is by calling 1-800-466-7835 and then, when the answer system answers, pressing 2 and then pressing 4. That way you don't go through the legnthy automatic answer system. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2003 02:51:08 +0100 From: 328.28.00 Subject: Hallo. I'm Seeking PBX Organization: home.pl news server Hallo all, I'm seeking any good small and cheap :) small PBX for about 8 port external, 12-16 internal. Do you have any info. Please offer me. Thanks. R, : "Z tylu roznych drog przez zycie, kazdy ma prawo wybrac zle". : GG: 328.28.00 Email: studio(a.t)post.pl (Staszewski) : Zanim przeslesz do mnie email: http://www.lafinion.com/nospam/ ------------------------------ From: Dana <***@&^&.com> Subject: What to Get to Replace FDM L Carrier Multiplexer Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 17:10:22 -0900 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Hi, We have some Lumda FDM L carrier multiplex systems we are looking to replace. Here is the configuration: 1 four wire audio circuit/channel. 1 four wire audio circuit/channel used for a modem line for data. 1 Four wire circuit that is two wire at the end points giving us a pots line with E&M signalling. Present arrangement is FXO-FXS. The Lumda receives it's input and sends it's output to a service channel converter, which is then sent to the analog microwave link. So what we are looking for is a device that has the capability of giving us one audio circuit, one data circuit, and one POTS circuit. This of course will interface to the analog microwave interface to the hub site. What would be nice is if this device was capable of passing through a 525 line video signal. Because of the age of terminal equipment would like to stay with the analog microwave paths. We can go to digital Microwave though, we just have to convert it back to analog to feed the terminal equipment. So any ideas for a solution? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: adykes@panix.com (Al Dykes) Subject: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: 7 Nov 2003 21:29:01 -0500 Organization: PANIX -- Public Access Networks Corp. Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my cell phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early because their clock was fast. I called 411 several times and got a different number each time. None of them were reachable from a cell phone. One 411 operator said they'd never heard of a phone number that gave the time. Another offered to tell me what time it was, which could of lead to a discussion of time zones. The last 411 query gave me a 540-xxxx number and bells went off in my memory about ripoff per-call charge phone numbers. I didn't call it. It wasn't worth $19.99 to know the time. Have all the speaking clocks gone away ? I wouldn't mind funding credits ("this minute was brought to you by....") Al Dykes adykes@panix.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 202-651-1920 is the Naval Observatory Master Speaking Clock. It alternates UTC and Eastern Standard time. PAT] ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 19:53:28 -0700 In message <> Ron Chapman did ramble: > What you're missing is that normal call forwarding -- what you > describe -- costs 10 cents per minute PLUS airtime. I thought that had gone the way of the dodo -- I have unlimited call forwarding airtime on my account. ---------------- Ah, the miracle mile, where value wears a neon sombrero and there's not a single church or library to offend the eye. ------------------------------ From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: URL Shortener Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 03:28:45 UTC Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , wrote: > And why do these places exist? They have to take and translate all of > these short URLs that we're making, keeping them online. Where is the > profit? Are they selling click-counts? The cost to operate such a service is minimal, particularly if it can be piggybacked onto an existing hosting contract. Let's consider some SWAG numbers: Assume 10,000 new URLs every day. Assume the target of each one averages 512 bytes of database storage (including overhead for indexes and administrative information). Assume 1,000,000 referrals every day. The HTTP transaction for such a referral will take no more than about 400 bytes each way. So the database might be growing at a little more than 5 (disk-drive-manufacturer) megabytes per year. If the database is stored on a RAID 1 array of cheap IDE disks, it will take almost 43 years to use $100 worth of disk space. The hardware to do it, if you made an effort to buy particularly reliable systems, might cost $2000 at most. All the software is free. As for communications costs: Those 1e6 referrals amount to a daily average data rate of about 75 kbit/s, which is essentially free (I could do that for less than $100 a month and still use the line for something else). -- 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: dold@URLXShorte.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: URL Shortener Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 17:49:53 UTC Organization: a2i network TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to dold@urlxshorte.usenet.us.com: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is what Internet has come to these > days, hasn't it? Where is the profit for me? If I cannot count you, > spy on you, pick your purse clean or otherwise abuse you, then what am > I doing here, right? PAT] Oops ... Are you suggesting that they might actually be doing it because it is a good thing, and doesn't cost them too much? You're right. I hadn't considered that possibility ;-( Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's right, and Hell froze over yesterday also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Traffic-Signal Change Devices a Concern Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 13:10:47 -0500 Organization: Bell Sympatico Mark Brader wrote: > (I don't actually know if preemption is even used here at present; on > that point I'm speaking hypothetically.) I've seen the receivers on the traffic light booms in most major intersections of several large Ontario cities. 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! We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.537 / Virus Database: 332 - Release Date: 06/11/2003 ------------------------------ From: L352515@msn.com (Larry) Subject: Procomm Settings-Mitel SX200 Date: 8 Nov 2003 11:07:20 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Can anyone supply the Procomm settings used to communicate remotely with a Mitel SX200 PBX:Data Options, Transfer Protocol, Terminal Options, System Options. I'm still having a problem trying to communicate with the PBX. I am using a USRobotics 28K Modem at the PBX. Any help would be much appreciated !!! Thanks, Larry L352515@msn.com ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Thanks - was Re: Yikes! was Re: we take on Phil Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 19:06:31 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net Hi Pat, Thanks! It's a HUGE relief to know YOU didn't let that through! My ISP's news has been good in the past, but since the new ISP owner took over recently, I think they aren't doing quite as good a job about it as the old owners did. Is this problem with Usenet why you are letting the Digest go out via Yahoogroups? I might consider that except Yahoogroups is less reliable than the Usenet I am getting now. It also has lots more ads in their messages. Regarding Yahoogroups, I do subscribe to some groups, and I have my setting to get plain text messages. One advantage is that I don't see all the ads. :-) On Fri, 7 Nov 2003 12:44:45 -0500 (EST), TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > First of all, you did NOT get that message via me! Second of all, the > man is a total nut! Third of all, Usenet and its viruses and spam has > made community news almost unusable. Fourth of all, you have some leak > in your news feed which allowed that through. Fifth of all, I cannot > do anything about YOUR source of news (i.e. spam, viruses, general > crap.) Send the offending message to whoever handles your news feed > and don't bother me with it. Do you honestly think I would have allowed > that moron through my front door? > >PAT Thanks again! Gail in Ohio USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yahoo has pre-built software to use for newsgroups, which make it ideal for 'junior moderators' like Lisa Minter. You just tell Yahoo the general conditions you want to have apply then Yahoo builds the newsgroup for you. Yahoo also tosses in a 'files transfer' section, a 'chat room' and a few other features. It seriously is ideal for a person just beginning as a moderator, as the person needs to know little about newsgroup functions, FTP, IRC or almost anything. I helped gerry rig it so that this newsgroup goes there and her stuff comes over here. It has nothing to do with Usenet, which is a separate thing entirely. PAT] ------------------------------ From: georgeb@944ecology.com (George B.) Subject: IBM to VOIP Date: 8 Nov 2003 03:58:13 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, Pat, This article found here: http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid7_gci935769,00.html Networking Decisions notebook: IBM's case for VoIP By Eric B. Parizo, SearchNetworking.com News Editor 07 Nov 2003 | SearchNetworking.com ATLANTA -- When it comes to IP telephony, IBM believes now is the time to act. During a presentation Tuesday at TechTarget's Networking Decisions conference, Johnny Barnes, IBM's vice president of global IT solutions and standards, told attendees that his company plans to migrate at least 80% of its more than 300,000 employees to voice over IP by 2008. Though the ambitious project will replace approximately 900 PBXs around the world with regional IP installations, Barnes said the effort will not only reduce voice costs significantly, but will improve worker productivity by enabling application convergence, as every new application going forward will have embedded voice capabilities. "It allows us to get to a point where we have a more concentrated set of IT resources, fewer than we have today," which will reduce the overall cost of IT, Barnes said. As a bonus, he said, the IP telephony system will enable remote workers to use IBM's voice service as easily as they could from their offices. IBM's server-based IP telephony platform will run on Linux and provide gateways for connection to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). It will also feature carrier-grade resilience, integrated support service and interoperable agents and end points. Conference attendee David Vinson, a telecommunications manager with Atlanta-based Printpack Inc., said that his company is investigating IP telephony, but will likely pursue a hybrid implementation instead of IBM's rip-and-replace strategy. Vinson said his firm has a significant number of new PBX systems that it wants to continue using, though he added that Barnes' presentation "brought up some interesting questions" about which strategy is best. Dude, it's about the enterprise ... Dell Dude Steve was nowhere to be found this week, but Dell Inc. was well represented by Kim Goodman, vice president of the company's public sector group and founder of its enterprise networking business. In an on-stage interview with Paul Gillin, TechTarget's vice president of editorial, Goodman told attendees that Dell is very proud of its 2-year-old enterprise switching business. However, that doesn't mean it's trying to compete in every enterprise networking category. "We will not do all things across technology, but we will do a few things really well," Goodman said, adding that Dell will only enter markets in which the technology has either already been standardized, or is on the verge on the verge of mass adoption. Goodman said the company has been able to compete with more established enterprise switching vendors because it offers lifetime software upgrades, a three-year warranty and its own network management software, all for no additional charge. Printpack's Vinson said that, based on Goodman's remarks, he feels good about Dell's strategy: "Even though they're still working out some things, I can see where there's value in where they're going." Vinson's company currently uses networking equipment from Cisco Systems Inc. but has a heavy investment in Dell servers. Vinson was intrigued by the possibility of having a network environment based on Dell equipment. "They might be a good fit for us in some places," he said. Save a buck or two ... Don't believe in spending a lot of money on pricey disaster recovery equipment? Neither does Damian Walsh. During a session on disaster recovery, Walsh -- the vice president of consulting for T-Systems North America, an IT services branch of Deutsche Telecom -- told attendees that even though DR is very important, DR budgets are better spent training employees, leveraging current network capabilities and developing an easy-to-understand emergency blueprint. However, that plan shouldn't run as long as War and Peace. Walsh said the best DR plans aren't more than a few pages long. "It needs to be something you can keep in a briefcase or a PDA so you can carry it around with you," Walsh said. "You're not going to carry a heavy binder around." "I've helped 10 companies recover from disasters," he added, "and none of them have used a long plan." In fact, he said, some well-designed plans start with a picture that describes what happens to workers, systems and other resources during a worst-case scenario, in which key DR personnel aren't available to execute the strategy. Ten minutes of fame ... During the first two days of the conference, a number of small networking vendors embraced opportunities to pitch their wares from the stage in rapid-fire format, with each company given only 10 minutes. The audience held its breath when Singlestep Technologies Inc. CEO Chris Noble appeared to trip while stepping up onto the stage. However, he gracefully performed a barrel roll and landed on his feet, quickly noting that in networking, "It's not about the fall; it's about the recovery." Another stage gimmick saw MetaInfo's Grant Asplund address attendees in a totally dark room with only a flashlight strapped to his forehead. Fortunately, no fire marshals were in attendance. Other companies presenting included SIPquest Inc., Caymas Systems Inc. and Valt-X Technologies Inc. ------------------------------ From: dnhunt Subject: Operator Switch Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 11:51:03 -0500 Does anyone know of an Operator Services/DA platform that will work with the newer versions of the Nortel DMS-100/200/500 other than the Nortel version? David N. Hunt, Executive Vice President - Business Development Mid-South Consulting Engineers, Inc. 3901 Rose Lake Drive, Charlotte, NC 28217 dnhunt@msceng.com, Tel: 704/357-0004, Fax: 704/357-0025 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 00:42:10 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Pioneer DVD-Recorders Unveiled Included in Pioneers new slate of consumer and professional-grade writers and recorders are units that utilize TiVo's time-shifting technology. http://www.dvd-recordable.org/modules.php ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #740 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Nov 8 23:17:57 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA94Hvf14391; Sat, 8 Nov 2003 23:17:57 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 23:17:57 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311090417.hA94Hvf14391@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 #741 TELECOM Digest Sat, 8 Nov 2003 23:18:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 741 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 101-0220, 101-0987, "Dialarounds", CICs in General (Mark J Cuccia) Re: trabajo de secretaria o administracion (admin@horatio.agresource) Re: Girovagando in Internet. Un Sito da Non Perdere (admin@horatio.com) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 07:34:40 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: 101-0220, 101-0987, "Dialarounds", CICs in General There has been the recent thread about 101-0220, with many replies "praising" how 101-0987 is "such a better deal" in some ways. Yet both "dialarounds" are provided by Telecom-USA, a subsidiary or whatever of MCI-Worldcom. THAT in itself should set off some alarms! ... ALL THREE "company" names there -- Telecom-USA, MCI, Worldcom -- what an UN-holy three!!! Anyhow, some months back, when Telecom-USA started the 101-0987 code and rates, there was a thread here about someone who was *NOT* charged the true advertized discounted rates, and instead charged FULL TARIFFED MCI-Worldcom rates for whatever overseas/international location they were regularly calling on 101-0987, along with the also exhorbitant "casual user fees" since that originating-line/ANI wasn't associated with any current/valid MCI account. It took a LOT of back-and-forth with "customer service" (big joke there), as well as regulatory before the matter was finally resolved. During the back-and-forth, some MCI-Worldcom "reps" told the person that they "couldn't re-rate the calls" or maybe that they "could" but that the person would have to sign up with MCI-Worldcom which includes changing their 'PIC' (primary inter-LATA carrier) over to '0222' MCI. The explanation as to WHY this person was being billed as a non-subscriber of *MCI* at their full tariffed rates, instead of the 0987 rates seemed to have something to do with a misconfiguration between either the local telco's switch/tandem and MCI-Worldcom's originating tandem switch. And if I remember right, this was *NOT* an "isolated" case. I don't know if ALL possible customers who were incorrectly billed such exhorbitant rates all had everything properly adjusted to what it SHOULD have been. And I don't know if this problem is still happening to some customers in certain locations or not -- OR if the problem has been settled at this time, if the SAME or similar over-charging could reappear in the future becuase of the same (or similar) type of misconfiguration happening yet again! BTW, the 4-digit '0220' CIC (of the 7-digit CAC 101-0220), back in the old pre-mid-1990s 5-digit CAC (10-XXX) three digit CIC (XXX) days, as '220' back then, was originally assigned to Western Union Long Distance (and WU-LD also had '988' as well, which spells out 'WUT' on the dial for Western Union Telegraph). During the early 1990s, most of the little bit of what still remained of Western Union was taken over by AT&T. This included all 'CIC' codes that had previously been assigned to WUTCo's Long Distance and other POTS-based telecom services, which really wasn't that many codes. Eventually AT&T must have returned most of these un-needed or under-used CICs of various "other" entities that were absorbed into AT&T during the 1980s/90s, back to (Bellcore => LM-CIS-IMS => Neustar) NANPA in the mid-to-late 1990s. While AT&T does have quite a number of 'CIC' codes for various "discrete" network routing and billing applications, for the most part, AT&T does NOT seem to be abusive in obtaining and retaining 'CIC' codes that are unnecessary altogather, or unnecessarily redundant or under-utilized. One can check the Neuster-NANPA website a downloadable file of the assignments of fg.D CIC codes, the ones that are used as 101-XXXX (the fg.B CIC codes are used as 950-xxxx, which is mostly an obsolete but still legacy application today). http://www.nanpa.com/number_resource_info/carrier_id_codes.html http://www.nanpa.com/number_resource_info/text_db/bcic_031030.zip for the fg.B (950-xxxx) assignments http://www.nanpa.com/number_resource_info/text_db/dcic_031030.zip for the fg.D (101-XXXX) assignments These .zip files unzip into ASCII .txt files and I think the code lists are in ascending numerical order. But any-and-all "leading zero's" in a CIC are eliminated in the ascending numerical order list. I mentioned that AT&T seems to have been "reasonably good" about returning unused or underused CIC codes back to NANPA. That is in STARK CONTRAST to MCI-Worldcom and its use of CIC codes over the years. Sprint has quite a number of CIC codes assigned to it (at least they did about four or five years ago), possibly more than AT&T. But MCI-Worldcom (due to mergers and takeovers over the years) had something like 150 or more CIC codes that were associated with them in one way or another. Instead of trying to consolidate usage and returning un-needed ones back to NANPA, they kept "growing" their list of codes. And just imagine if MCI-Worldcom had taken over US-Sprint like they tried to do about four years ago! That would have "grown" their list of CIC codes even MORE so! Regarding the Telecom-USA part of MCI-Worldcom, in addition to 0220 and 0987, they used to advertise 10-321 later 101-0321. According to the most recent Neustar-NANPA list of fg.D CICs (dated 30-Oct-2003), 0321 is *STILL* assigned to Telecom-USA/MCI-Worldcom. And in addition to those three (0220, 0321, 0987), the Telecom-USA side of MCI-Worldcom -- only that one entity of MCI (Telecom-USA) also has the following fg.D CICs (NINE MORE) according to the 30-Oct-2003 Neustar-NANPA list: 0224, 0737, 0771, 0826, 0832, 0835, 0852, 0857, 0876 That's a total of TWELVE fg.D CIC codes associated with Telecom-USA alone, so just imagine how many are associated with the overall MCI-Worldcom entity! The NANPA lists of CIC codes do *NOT* give any indication of "how" of "why" they are assigned or used, only that they are assigned and to who, what entity they are assigned to. It will NOT indicate if it is for a LEC's traditional intra-LATA toll use (such as BellSouth's 101-5124 or US-West/Qwest's 101-5123), or for IXC use, or discount dialaround use, nor even "necessarily" if it is for a Canadian or Caribbean subsidiary or entity, but if the carrier assigned to is located in Canada or the Caribbean, you "could" assume that it is for their Canadian or Caribbean network. Some of these CICs are for "semi-private" networks, some are used by cellular/wireless/mobile subsidiaries or companies, etc. And *ALL* ten-thousand possible four-digit -XXXX combinations are NOW being assinged as *BOTH* fg.B 950-xxxx and fg.D 101-XXXX+ codes. The fg.B 950 format (which was originally dialed as 950-10XX, then 950-0XXX and 950-1XXX) was expaned to allow ANY -xxxx as 950-XXXX back in the early/mid-1990s. When fg.D began to be expanded from 10-XXX to 101-0XXX in the early/mid-1990s, the first "new" ranges after the (now expanded to) '0XXX' range, was 5XXX and 6XXX. That's because there had been *NO* 10-15X nor 10-16X codes ever assigned in the older shorter-format days of the 1980s/early 90s. There also had never been any short-format 10-10X codes, so that allowed a non-ambiguous expansion range for parallel/ permissive dialing. In 1996, the FCC decreed that in 1997, mandatory use of 101-0XXX+ had take place for "existing" 10-XXX+ codes, to allow eventual assignment of OTHER 101-Xxxx ranges in the future. I think there was some stone-walling on the part of many IXCs and resellers, and the FCC postponed the "shut off" of the 10-XXX format until 1998. The irony and hypocrisy is that many of the "scramie-meemies" were mid/small carriers and resellers who benefit MOST from having a larger pool of available CIC codes, rather than a limited pool available only to the "big boys". And the biggest complainers were also those who were hogging up CICs themselves anyway! That FCC ruling applied only to the United States. The CRTC in Canada had a similar order which I think took effect in 1999 or 2000. And since sometime in late 2001 or early 2002, Neustar NANPA now assigns not only -0XXX, -5XXX, -6XXX ranges of fg.D codes, but ANY possible thousand range -Xxxx for 101-XXXX fg.D CIC codes. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA CSA ------------------------------ Organization: Not Much Subject: Re: trabajo de secretaria o administracion From: admin@horatio.agresource.com Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2003 22:05:39 GMT In article , wrote: > In article , > Ropa Argentina wrote: >> Hola mi nombre es Romina tengo 26 aos y soy Argentina, hace 10 meses >> que vivo en miami y estoy buscando trabajo de oficina/administracion. >[[.. munch ..]] >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, if someone wants to read this to >> me, I will appreciate it. I eagerly wait for word that once again I >> have been burned with spam. > Well, "sort-of". It's a resume (obvious from the layout :), and a > cover-letter. to wit: > "Hello my name is Romina, age 26 years and Argentina-born, for the > last 10 months I have lived in Miami, and I am looking for work in > office/administration. I have worked during the last 9 years in > similar positions; have knowledge of the English language and tools > of computation and Internet. I have a license to drive and own > automobile, thus I do not have problem in transporting myself to any > work-site. You envio(??) my resume' in case that you know of someone > who is looking for a secretary or administrative employee." > If I was in a mean mood, I'd suggest the everybody write him, > scheduling an employment interview with the "South Florida spammer of > your choice". > But I'm not in a mean mood, so I won't suggest it. > TELECOM Digest Editor continues: >> It used to be (am I showing my age?) that I had a lot of faith in >> Usenet, as a way for people around the world to communicate, and I >> was eager to put things here in telecom which were legitimate >> questions and commentaries from guys all around the globe. I did >> not, and do not want telecom to be a USA-centric news group. I want >> *everyone* who wants to do so to be able to partipate. But I have >> been burned so often by spammers sneaking in their messages in other >> languages I have reached a decision that if the above turns out to >> be spam then I am going to pass an iron-clad rule to speak in >> English in this newsgroup, period. > The "babel fish", at does an > 'adequate' job of machine translation -- where you just need to get > the 'sense' of what was being said, and not precise linguistic > nuances. > Just type the text into the input-box (or cut-and-paste), select the > language to translate from and to, and hit "sic 'em". I expect you > can master it in less than a day. > If you _do_ let *valid* items through, in "other than English" -- and > I _am_ in favor of that -- suggest you _include_ the BabelFish > translation, for the benefit of those -not- fluent in additional > languages. >> I just now got flags on the third and fourth viruses planted in >> telecom-news (yahoo.com) so far today. I can really see where Lisa >> has started to lose her enthusiasm. She after all, has never known a >> time when Usenet was anything other than a hell-hole, as I and many >> of you used to know it. PAT] > Yup, it's absolutely true. Many of us used to know it as a hell-hole. > It's just in those days it was *OUR*KIND* of a hell-hole. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You may think it is funny; I do not, > and fail to see the humor. I suggest you need to visit the clue department. If you look at what you _actually_wrote_ in the original poster's message, it *does* read that "I and many of you" "used to know" USENET as a "hell-hole". Poor wording on your part, and obviously _not_ what you meant. > Usenet has gone to hell so badly in recent > years -- since about 1993-94 -- since about the time that Clinton/Gore > discovered the Internet and made it an infamous thing, just like that > hillbilly country and western singer did to our beloved citizens band > radio in the middle 1970's. We lost that, but at least the technology > improved to the point that we got a new community news mechanism a few > years later in the form of Usenet. After a decade or so, Clinton/Gore > (may they both be damned forever because of it) started the process of > losing control over Usenet; indeed the entire Internet. I have to laugh at the depth of ignorance displayed in those remarks. It isn't even good enough blather to qualify as 'revisionist history'. Most of the "Children's Band" was pretty-much dead as far as _legal_ use went, *years* before "that" song came out. (I operated a legal, *licensed*, station from the mid 60's through 1977; one with a whopping 2-1/8 watts of RF output. and with an antenna that was just under 20' above the building it was mounted on.) Credit the SOB's who ran unlicensed rigs, KILOWATT-plus amplifiers (where 4 watts was the max legal output), 'dirty' transmitters/amps that clobbered half-a-dozen channels on each side of the one they were actually talking on, illegal antenna installations, "handles" instead of call-signs, and all the other *DELIBERATE*AND*INTENTIONAL* violations of the law. The fact that the FCC "couldn't be bothered" with an active enforcement program didn't help matters any, either. By 1967, they'd effectively "given up" on enforcing CB regulations. All that "that" song accomplished was to grossly multiply the mass of 'illegal' operators. So many 'clueless newbie' illegals, that the experienced, hard-core, *illegal* operators couldn't engage in _their_ established pastimes, without suffering the same cr*p that they'd been inflicting on 'legal' users for the preceding TEN-PLUS years. As for USENET ... The government *NEVER* had _any_ control over USENET, so there was no possible way for them Clinton/Gore, or any other gov't official to have "started the process of losing control over USENET". With regard to the changes in the Internet as a whole, the _correct_ place to lay responsibility for -that- is on the "commercial providers". In the "good old days", you got "Internet access" because you were part of an organization (University, DOD contractor, etc.) that had direct connectivity to the NSF(nee DARPA) backbone, or you 'knew somebody' at such an organization who could set you up with 'guest' access. EITHER WAY, the organization was 'responsible for' you actions, *knew* it was responsible if you misbehaved, and stood to have *IT'S* connectivity pulled by the 'upstream' if they didn't enforce proper behavior. The NSF (nee DARPA) backbone was the ultimate authority, and arbitrator. Do something =they= disapproved of, and your access was *gone*. One got "Internet connectivity" by 'knowing somebody' who was willing to pass traffic for you -- *and* take responsibility for your behavior. This 'upstream' _did_ care what you did, because *their* connectivity was 'at risk' if you misbehaved. As the "utility" of _inter-network_connectivity_ proved itself in the real-world, the 'restrictions' of the NSF backbone _were_ limiting. Several of the 'big guns' in _private_network_operations_ started rolling out networks that were 'functionally inter-operable' with the NSF backbone, but did _not_ transit any traffic to/from the NSF. UUNET, when it shifted from a non-profit to a for-profit operation, was one of the first to do so -- under the name ALTERnet. Designed and intended for _commercial_ business transactions and similar uses. Things which were _strictly_forbidden_ on the NSF (nee DARPA) backbone. And they sold =that= connectivity to anybody who was willing to pay for it. If you wanted to be able to route packets through their 'gateway' to the NSF backbone, you -did- have to agree to separate contract terms regarding limiting traffic directed that way to that which was "acceptable" under NSF terms. Not too long thereafter, SPRINT, GTE, BBN, and others were offering equivalent services. There was an 'obvious need' for connectivity between the various providers 'commercial networks', by means _other_ than through the NSF backbone. The 'miracle' is that all the big players saw it, and *did* it. As more-and-more traffic went over the 'commercial' backbone -- *without* government 'governance', the importance of the NSF backbone lessened. Lessened to the point that it was -- *justifiably*! -- deemed that that a government operated/sanctioned primary infrastructure was "no longer needed", and plans were made to phase it out. Well, not really. The original backbone was scheduled for de-commissioning, and that did occur. At the same time, a 'replacement' *research* network (what the _original_ "Internet" was) was being deployed. That replacement network _is_ in place, with 'limited access', and restricted use -- just like the old ARPAnet. The 'real world' obsoleted the NSF backbone, _before_ the government decided to bail on it. The *reason* USENET has become the 'hell-hole' you perceive it to be is because the 'commercial providers' gave *everybody* (read "ANYbody that would pay for it") access to it. And made: (a) no attempt to educate those customers as to the history, customs, etc. -- after all, that'd cost money, and reduce the revenues, (b) enforce any policies re: 'objectionable behavior' -- again, that might cost them customers, and reduce revenues. And there _wasn't_ anybody "above them" to -force- them to do so. It's an _inevitable_ consequence of a "free market". Heck, if the old NSF rules were still in place, the Telecom Digest *wouldn't* be allowed to traverse the backbone, period. Not over USENET; not by e-mail, not on a web-page look-up. nor any other way that one might think up. It would be deemed a forbidden 'commercial' activity, due to (a) the occasional commercial sponsorship, and (b) the recurring requests for 'donations'. > After the last issue went out, I went downtown to get my annual flu > shot at the Rexall Drug Store, where the nurse gave them free of > charge to all the senior citizens. After lunch I came back home, found > a mere ten or twelve more virus things posing as Microsoft updates in > the Yahoo telecom-news group and bashed them all. This has not been a > good day for me. PAT] Ah. so. I'm averaging 60+/day, to -one- account. *ATTEMPTS*, that is. My (Yes, I run my _own_servers_, for precisely these kinds of reasons, rather than trusting some 'supposedly' competent 3rd party) servers won't accept mail with an 'executable' attachment (even if it's masquerading as something 'innocent'), nor will they accept mail that has stigmata of a MicroSoft HTML exploit. It's fully automated; the rejected mails never hit my inbox, so there's no 'filling up' problem. Every once-in-a-while, I run statistics on the logfiles. Over the last 2 months, roughly TWO GIGABYTES of attempts have 'not made it' to my mailbox. Rejected mail exceeds delivered mail by a factor of FORTY-TO-ONE. Unfortunately, about _half_ the *delivered* messages were 'virus mail' where an _outgoing_ mail filter had detected the virus, *removed* the virus itself, and still *sent* the message. Of the rest, fully half were '419' scams. and 75% of the remainder were spam of the 'conventional' (medications, mortgages, porn, and a bunch of 'make money fast') spams. Over-all, 'legitimate' e-mail is less than _one-in-a-thousand_ delivery attempts. The *only* thing that keeps it workable for me is the automation, I only see about 20 pieces of garbage for each legit message. The automated filtering *is* going to be getting much more aggressive -- right now it is _only_ sure 'virus sign' that gets rejected. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wish to correct you on only one point for now. You said: > if old NSF rules were in place, TELECOM Digest would not be allowed > on the net. As a matter of fact, this Digest began in *1981* when ARPA/NSF were well established facts. It was published for fourteen years, until around 1995 without a nickle ever being asked of anyone to pay for it. NSF was still around then, I think. It was paid for entirely by my money, and the largesse of Boston University, MIT, and Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. So you are incorrect on that point. I was around and Telecom Digest was around. My first real patron here was Microsoft with a modest grant. Yes, in 1993-94 I did try my hand at peddling a few things including calling cards and long distance service and even tollfree 800 voicemail and arbitrage calling. I am certain you can easily see how filthy rich I got from all those things. Did you ever see telecom-digest.org listed on the stock exchange ala E-bay, AOL, etc. No, you did not! And does anyone remember 'Digital Detective'? I have NEVER made any money from this Digest; the *once per month only* requests for donations have the effect of barely keeping me out of bankruptcy court. I should not say I am thankful for my brain aneurysm, but in some ways, the *assured, guarenteed* money which arrives in my bank account every month on the fourth Wednesday was the best thing to happen to me in years, along with the 'freebies' I get from the feds and the State of Kansas SRS (Social and Rehabilitative Services). You can make mock all you want of my 'ignorant blather' and tell me I should get a clue. And like yourself, I was a *licensed* CB radio operator and in the 1960's and 70's talked all over the entire Chicago region on two and a half watts. In those days I was also told I was full of BS because I knew how to make radios *TALK* and talk legally. In the sixties you know, two watts would get you from Chicago all the to the west coast. And if you think the FCC quit enforcing CB regs as of the sixties sometime, I would be happy to tell you how the Federal Bureau of Inquisition guys learned about kicking doors down and seizing computers by watching the Federal Communications Commission guys doing the same thing with radios, linear amplifiers and related gear during the 1970's and 80's. Oh, and how many spy cookies have you found in TELECOM Digest? No doubt everytime you clean out your computer you find a bunch of data miners and malware I put there, right? And all my 'popups'; I would not be eligible for ARPA/NSF would I, no sireee! Make all the mock you want; I know what I am talking about. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Girovagando in Internet. Un Sito da Non Perdere Organization: Not Much From: admin@horatio.agresource.com Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2003 22:39:40 GMT In article , wrote: > Girovagando in internet. un sito da non perdere. > e se avessero ragione loro ... If they would be right? > www.liberidiscegliere.org > N.B. Legge 675/1996:Tutela delle persone e di altri soggetti rispetto > al trattamento di dati personali. Vi informiamo che gli indirizzi > e-mail presenti nel nostro archivio provengono da elenchi e servizi di > pubblico dominio pubblicati anche via web o per autorizzazione dei > possessori. Secondo quanto previsto dall'art. 13 della legge, in > qualsiasi momento, potrete non ricevere più comunicati da parte > nostra, cliccando su: rispondi e scrivendo nell'oggetto rimuovi. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since the last one didn't exactly blow > up in my face, as these usually do, I will try another one. This one > appears to be Italian, but what do I, with my deseased brain, know > about anything? Try running it through the BabelFish (http://babelfish.altavista.com> and taking a guess at the language. > Send a translation, or if it is spam or yet another > virus posing as a Microsoft update, let me know. I do agree with the > person who said all guys should feel at home using Usenet, and I > intend to run this newsgroup openly, until I, like so many others, > eventually burn out which will happen sometime. PAT] Babelfish () says: Girovagando in Internet. a situated one not to lose. and if they had reason ... If they would be right? www.liberidiscegliere.org N.B. Law 675/1996:Protection of the persons and other subjects regarding the treatment of personal data. We inform you that present addresses email in our archives come from list and services of public public domain to you also via web or for authorization of the possessory ones. According to previewed how much from the art. 13 of the law, anytime, you will be able not to receive devout? it communicates from part ours to you, cliccando on: you answer and writing in the object you remove. Looks like a 'notification' that they have the telecom digest e-mail address on file -- that it was aquired from 'public sources', rather than your having given it to them directly) -- and that they (and/or their subsidiaries [i.e. 'parts']) may send things to it. The last part looks like this was an HTML based message, with a 'click here; ... and put in the Subject line the word remove' IIRC Italy -did-, within the last few months, pass a rather *strong* 'anti-spam' law; and there is an EU directive requiring 'opt in' e-mail lists. This looks like somebody going through some 'hoop jumping' to make sure that 'pre-existing' data remains useable. Note: I'm -not- sure that they've got things right. I think the law requires a 'positive response' to remain on the list, as distinct from a 'negative response' to be removed. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So what you are saying is if NSF was still running things they would not be acceptable either? 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #741 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Nov 9 00:42:32 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA95gVt15027; Sun, 9 Nov 2003 00:42:32 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 00:42:32 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311090542.hA95gVt15027@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 #742 TELECOM Digest Sun, 9 Nov 2003 00:42:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 742 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Don't Use Net2phone (mrxcoffee) Va. Tech Creates Third-Fastest Computer (Monty Solomon) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Hudson Leighton) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Herb Stein) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Gary Breuckman) Re: Inter-state In-TRA-LATA Local/Free Calls (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages (Ron Chapman) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Reed) Re: ISP Spam Filtering (was Re: Free eFax Going Away) (Daniel McDonald) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mrxcoffee@yahoo.com (mrxcoffee) Subject: Don't Use Net2phone Date: 8 Nov 2003 20:14:02 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com On net2phone.com the quality is ok but don't ever, ever, ever hope to get ANY kind of support. I signed up for the service and while there was a delay in the transmission it wasn't terrible and it was cheap. But when I had a problem reaching customer support was IMPOSSIBLE. No I am not being dramatic here it was IMPOSSIBLE. Below is a copy of the letter I sent to the ceo: To whom it may concern, I am writing this letter out of total frustration with Net2phone. Here is my situation. I moved to Japan last year and was looking for a low cost alternative to calling the US. I signed up with Net2phone and with the initial trial minutes I received I called my parents back home. I really liked the service: sound quality was good, software was easy to use and most importantly it provided me a low cost alternative to calling cards in Japan. However, shortly after I used my trial minutes I noticed my account had been disabled. I received an email stating my credit card address didn't match my billing address. This was correct my billing address was at my previous address. So I logged in updated my billing address to match my credit card address and waited paitently for my account to be enabled. Unfortunately my account was never enabled and when I sent an email inquiry I received the same automated letter over and over saying my problem had been sent to the proper department and I would usually receive a vague email about how there was some problem. The thing that was the most frustrating was that I never worked with one sales representive; I would receive a vague email and when I responded it was like starting from square one. I have attached my correspondance with your company to this letter so you can look at your support teams work. So after WEEKS of doing the run around with automatic emails and shoddy email support I bought a calling card and called your toll free number. The first person I reached was "Jennifer". Jennifer acted like I interrupted her from doing some other important thing such as surfing the internet to help me with my situation. This was apparent by her deep sighs and long pauses whenever I would ask her a question. She immediately dumped me into a priceline.com voicemail, why? What does my account have to do with Priceline? nothing as far as I know. Maybe Jennifer knows because I certainly have no clue. Now mind you 9:00 AM California time is about 2:00 AM Tokyo time. So here I am standing in the cold Tokyo night paying about .50 cents a minute to talk with a girl that is acting like I am bothering her by trying to be your customer. After unsucessfully trying to get out of the priceline loop I hang up and call back. This time I get a girl who has the same attitude as Jennifer (Didn't get her name) but who at least gives me 30 seconds before dumping me into voicemail. I tell her my problem, I ask her what I need to do to enable my account and she acknowledges everything looks correct BUT she can't enable my account. She says "yeeeah ill tell the tech guys and see if it can be done in a few days or something ... but it's Friday ya know so maybe not 'till next week." (Yes, this is an actual quote). So I hang up in utter disbelief. I can't believe you can have such low value for your customers. The only reason I bring this to your attention is that I hope that maybe I was just unlucky and not all customers are treated like this. While you have a good product there are plenty of other players in the IP phone market so I will try a competitor. Will you please delete my account from your database. Sincerely, xxx I will let you know how they respond ... if they respond at all ... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 22:32:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Va. Tech Creates Third-Fastest Computer By CHRIS KAHN Associated Press Writer BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- A cluster of 1,100 Macintosh PCs stacked like library books in a squat cement building at the outskirts of Virginia Tech's campus _ arranged by students in exchange for football tickets and pizza _ is about to rank as the world's third-fastest supercomputer, at 10.3 trillion operations per second. The off-the-shelf G5 Power Macs, or the "Big Mac" as students have begun calling it, costs about $7 million, significantly less than the custom supercomputers that labs use for weather and weapons simulations, drug experiments and other highly complex projects. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36400558 ------------------------------ From: hudsonl@skypoint.com (Hudson Leighton) Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2003 21:04:38 -0600 Organization: MRRP In article , adykes@panix.com (Al Dykes) wrote: > Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my > cell phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early > because their clock was fast. Some sort of voice software on a PDA with a GPS? -Hudson http://www.skypoint.com/~hudsonl ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 22:46:46 -0600 Al Dykes wrote in message news:telecom22.740.4@telecom-digest.org: > Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my > cell phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early > because their clock was fast. > I called 411 several times and got a different number each time. None > of them were reachable from a cell phone. One 411 operator said > they'd never heard of a phone number that gave the time. Another > offered to tell me what time it was, which could of lead to a > discussion of time zones. > The last 411 query gave me a 540-xxxx number and bells went off in my > memory about ripoff per-call charge phone numbers. I didn't call > it. It wasn't worth $19.99 to know the time. > Have all the speaking clocks gone away ? I wouldn't mind funding > credits ("this minute was brought to you by....") > Al Dykes > adykes@panix.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 202-651-1920 is the Naval Observatory > Master Speaking Clock. It alternates UTC and Eastern Standard time. > PAT] Try again, Pat. Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What did I say wrong, Herb? Is there a typo in the phone number somewhere. Tell me what I should have said, Herb. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2003 23:14:11 -0600 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , Al Dykes wrote: > Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my cell > phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early because > their clock was fast. > I called 411 several times and got a different number each time. None of > them were reachable from a cell phone. One 411 operator said they'd > never heard of a phone number that gave the time. If you have a digital cellphone, the clock in the cellphone is (can be) set from the system, so the clock on your phone should be as accurate as an announcement number. -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 14:15:11 EST Subject: Re: Inter-state In-TRA-LATA Local/Free Calls Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com In a message dated Fri, 07 Nov 2003 16:22:32 -0500> Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > Don't forget that LATAs were originally determined by the Consent > Decree. They were originally designed so that each LATA contained one > and only one SMSA, or was a single state if there was no SMSA in the > state. Thus, putting the two Kansas Cities in the single SMSA was an > exception to the basic rule, and was agreed to by the Justice > Dept. (and ratified by Judge Greene) because of the early Supreme > Court case that allowed "local" calling that crosses state lines, > specifically in the case of Kansas City. (This became statutory > language in the Communications Act of 1934.) Kansas City, MO/KS is, and I believe always has been, a single SMSA. (The counties on the Kansas side, if they were a separate SMSA, would probably be the largest SMSA in Kansas. Johnson County, Kansas, has the highest per-capita income of the Kansas City MO/KS SMSA.) The boundaries of the LATAs were originally recommended by the BOCs, and most of them were accepted as proposed. > The 1982 Consent Decree did allow and "grandfather" all such > cross-border LOCAL calling arrangements. There were many in nearly > every state, and, in most cases, the two communities were placed in > separate LATAs. Where the local calling was toll-rated, however, then > there was no grandfathering (with some exceptions in the NY-NJ area > where there was only one toll tandem (Class 4) used for the call). In the cases I am familiar with along the Oklahoma borders with Arkansas, Texas and Kansas, most of them involving places served from the same office, the LATA boundaries were moved so the entire exchange was in the LATA of the larger city. (The "larger city" may, and indeed did, involve such a small place as Mena, Arkansas.) So the LATA boundaries have all kinds of bumps and dents where the LATA boundary was moved to reflect this reality. Every one of these was spelled out -- in the text and in the maps -- in the description of each LATA in Judge Greene's order. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 20:00:59 -0500 From: Ron Chapman Subject: Re: Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages In article , DevilsPGD wrote: >> What you're missing is that normal call forwarding -- what you >> describe -- costs 10 cents per minute PLUS airtime. > I thought that had gone the way of the dodo -- I have unlimited call > forwarding airtime on my account. What provider? I'm interested. Cingular still charges. ------------------------------ From: Reed Organization: None Whatsoever Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2003 01:15:38 GMT Al Dykes wrote: > Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my > cell phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early > because their clock was fast. > I called 411 several times and got a different number each time. None > of them were reachable from a cell phone. One 411 operator said > they'd never heard of a phone number that gave the time. Another > offered to tell me what time it was, which could of lead to a > discussion of time zones. > The last 411 query gave me a 540-xxxx number and bells went off in my > memory about ripoff per-call charge phone numbers. I didn't call > it. It wasn't worth $19.99 to know the time. > Have all the speaking clocks gone away ? I wouldn't mind funding > credits ("this minute was brought to you by....") > Al Dykes > adykes@panix.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 202-651-1920 is the Naval Observatory > Master Speaking Clock. It alternates UTC and Eastern Standard time. > PAT] NIST has the WWV time announcement at 303-499-7111. Time spoken each minute in UTC. 1 second ticks in between. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: ISP Spam Filtering (was Re: Free eFax Going Away?) Organization: io.com From: djmcdona@fnord.io.com (Daniel J McDonald) Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2003 20:37:10 -0600 In article , Gordon S. Hlavenka wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Cable One sends you ONE piece of email > now and then saying 'please inspect your spam/virus box' and it is > up to the customer to go there and check it out, and retrieve anything > which by chance (not very often) they really want, and with a single > check mark dismiss the other stuff. That is what I wish SBC would do > instead of stacking it all in your inbox; all the penis enlargements > and 'Microsoft corrections' along with what legitimate mail I get. And > since spammers and virus writers have gotten smart and use bogus > subject lines you wind up having to read a lot of it anyway. That was > my main objection to SBC. PAT] The other big problem with SBC is that they won't troubleshoot their own servers. I run linux, and they "don't support it" (as if I wanted their support). Anyway, I sent an e-mail to a friend at Road Runner and I got a nice bounce message: ----- Transcript of session follows ----- .... while talking to txmx01.mgw.rr.com.: >>> MAIL From: <<< 550 5.7.1 Mail Refused - 207.115.63 - See http://security.rr.com/mail_blocks.htm#security - 20031108 554 5.0.0 Service unavailable So I looked on http://rbls.org, and sure enough, sbcglobal's main mail system is on several blackhole lists. So, being the nice fellow that I am, I called them. When you call about mail problems, you have to select either "windows" or "mac". Since they don't specify Microsoft Windows, I choose "windows" since I run X Windows ;-). I explain to them that their mail server is on a real-time blackhole list, and they ask what MUA I use. I foolishly tell them that I use Ximian Evolution and they get all huffy on me and tell me that they can't support me. So ... hopefully someone else will tell them that they are listed as a SPAM site. If I could find someone else to provide my data needs, I'd switch in an instant. Daniel J McDonald CCIE # 2495, CNX Visit my website: http://www.austinnetworkdesign.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, you know I got the very same thing from them about my Linux partition. On my (basically) Windows 2000 machine I can either boot it in Windows 2000 or in RedHat Linux. Often times to work on this Digest, I boot up in Linux. Linux and massis seem to work better together than Windows and massis. In either mode I do ssh massis.lcs.mit.edu but when on Windows 2000 I actually use a front end called 'putty' to make the connection. That should have nothing to do with the huge amount of spam and viruses that SBC passes all around the net. I was on the phone one day asking them about why they could not create a spam box to put in mail they *perceived* to be spam; give it all to me, but make a sort of half- assed attempt to sort it for me. Would you believe the guy asked me what my OS was, a bunch of trivial questions that had nothing to do with anything. I accidentally let it slip that I was on the Linux side; the guy froze up. He was refusing to answer any more questions at all. All he would say is 'we do not support that' and he wanted me off the line and out of his hair. I then told him it was 'actually' a Windows 2000 that had been a Windows XP prior to that, and I thought he was going to make me find every serial number on the machine. He never could or would say why making some kind of effort to separate spam and viruses from real mail was so hard to do. After the parent company SBC gave me a lot of sass about my phone service as well one day, that was when I dumped the bunch of them totally, going with Prairie Stream for my phones and cableone for my internet. Not only no more sass and irrelevant questions, but a lot cheaper as well. Imagine a full service phone package for $24.95 per month (Prairie Stream simply mirrored my existing account from SW Bell) and to get attention from a service rep it rings *one time* at most, and is immediatly answered by a knowlegeable rep. When I am walking around downtown I stop in once a month on Penn Street to pay my cable bill, then walk over to Terraworld's office at the Arco Building and chat with them while I pay my phone bill. That $24.95 plus tax also gets me a hundred minutes of long distance calls for nothing extra. About a week ago I got a letter from SBC saying how much they missed me as a customer, and if I would come back to them for phone and DSL they would give it all to me for $45 per month and to please let them know what they had done wrong, and that they would waive all the reconnection charges AND send me a fifty dollar VISA gift card for returning to them. I wrote back and said 'if you can afford to give me all my service for $45 per month, then you *should* have been at that rate all along. Your first mistake was when you closed the local business office on Maple and 6th Street in Indy and started making everyone go through voicemail hell at your one single office in Dallas. I find you all very offensive.' I doubt they will answer, or if they do, ask me if I have *nix (which they do not support) or some flavor of Windows. 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #742 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Nov 9 17:45:02 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hA9Mj1D19380; Sun, 9 Nov 2003 17:45:02 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 17:45:02 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311092245.hA9Mj1D19380@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 #743 TELECOM Digest Sun, 9 Nov 2003 17:45:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 743 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Operator Switch (Lou Jahn) Netbank ATM PIN: Stored on Card? (Charles Sampson) Re: Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages (DevilsPGD) Re: Definity Prologix (G3?) Local Phone Line Assigned to Station (ChipG) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Paul Coxwell) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Al Dykes) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Va. Tech Creates Third-Fastest Computer (Marc) The TELECOM Digest Moderator (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Don't Use Net2Phone (Sellcom Tech Support) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 01:19:42 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time) From: Lou Jahn Subject: Operator Switch In regard to DNHUNT's message on Operator Switch: > Does anyone know of an Operator Services/DA platform that will work > with the newer versions of the Nortel DMS-100/200/500 other than the > Nortel version? Our firm in partnership with two others fully supports alternatives to Nortel.DA solutions. Our partners are former Nortel employees, all dropped when IWS and Quest support was curtailed. We can solve not only DA and National DA, but also the traditional Toll and Assist application. We support full alternatives, but also partial replacement integration alternatives. We currently support about 40 small Independent LECs. Some using Nortel IWS, others alternative positions with DMS switching and finally, some using alternatives to both DMS and Nortel DA All have implemented National DA for the additional revenues. We also support high quality audio announcement and release alternatives to Nortel (with or without the Nortel switches). Lou Jahn President, Info Partners Corp. 609-823-6602 609-823-2202 Fax www.InfoPartnersCorp.com ------------------------------ From: Charles Sampson Subject: Netbank ATM PIN: Stored on Card? Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2003 01:24:09 -0500 Netbank claims that their ATM cards cannot have their PINs changed, because the PIN is stored on the magnetic strip. If this is true, that is a major security flaw, as the magnetic strip can be read and the PIN obtained using whatever process necessary. (Early ATM standards, which are no longer used, did put the PINs on cards long ago, and were promptly compromised.) When you type your PIN into an ATM, it should be encrypted and then sent via the telecom lines (dial up or leased line) to a host computer, where the PIN is eventually checked with the issuer bank. Why would Netbank be storing their PINs on the magnetic strip? Do any other US banks do this? Finally, the ability to change your password or PIN is an important security feature. ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Call Forward Service Has Many Advantages Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2003 00:07:20 -0700 In message <> Ron Chapman did ramble: >>> What you're missing is that normal call forwarding -- what you >>> describe -- costs 10 cents per minute PLUS airtime. >> I thought that had gone the way of the dodo -- I have unlimited call >> forwarding airtime on my account. > What provider? I'm interested. TELUS Mobility, Mike service. iDEN, same technology as Nextel. It's in Canada though. -- Ah, the miracle mile, where value wears a neon sombrero and there's not a single church or library to offend the eye. ------------------------------ From: Chip G Subject: Re: Definity Prologix (G3?): Local Phone Line Assigned to Station? Organization: Comcast Online Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2003 15:58:29 GMT Use a Personal Central Office Line (PCOL) administered on a feature button on the phone. Rod wrote in message news:telecom22.731.3@telecom-digest.org: > Hi. I have two stations that I want each to use (incoming and > outgoing) a particular phone line. Basically, when people dial the > local phone number, it should ring in that station, and when someone > calls from that station, the call goes through that phone line. Like > if each was a separate CO line but I want the stations in the switch > so they can have call pickup, voice mail, etc. > What would be the easiest way to do this? I tried putting one of the > local lines in its separate trunk with the "Incoming Destination" as > the station's ID (this takes care of the incoming calls), then > assigning a separate COR to this trunk with FRL 0, assigning another > COR to the station with FRL 0 and only giving it access to the trunk's > COR. This takes care of the outgoing calls, but now I don't know what > to do with the other station. I mean, I can kinda do the same thing > with FRL 1 or so, but everything in the system is configured for FRL 1 > and I don't want to mess things up. Is there a better/easier way to > do this? ------------------------------ From: PaulCoxwell@aol.com Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 07:46:17 EST Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? > Have all the speaking clocks gone away ? I wouldn't mind funding > credits ("this minute was brought to you by....") They are still around. In the NYC area the clock is on (212) 976-1616 (also accessible via NPA 516, 718, etc.). Some places give the time to the nearest minute on their weather service lines. Try (304) 345-2121 for an example (Charleston, WV). The British speaking clock is still available ("The time sponsored by Accurist will be ..."), accessed from anywhere in the country with the service code 123. Unfortunately, that means it's no longer possible to reach it from outside the U.K. as used to be the case when it was assigned a regular local number (usually 8081). > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 202-651-1920 is the Naval Observatory > Master Speaking Clock. It alternates UTC and Eastern Standard time. > PAT] That number is reported as not in service Pat. It's now available on (202) 762-1401. The U.S. Naval Observatory website has some interesting information: http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/ Paul Coxwell Norfolk, England [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So that is what his complaint was about yesterday. The old number (651-1920) is no longer in service! Now it is 762-1401 ... well, okay, sorry. PAT] ------------------------------ From: adykes@panix.com (Al Dykes) Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: 9 Nov 2003 11:23:13 -0500 Organization: PANIX -- Public Access Networks Corp. In article , Reed wrote: >Al Dykes wrote: >> Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my >> cell phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early >> because their clock was fast. >> I called 411 several times and got a different number each time. None >> of them were reachable from a cell phone. One 411 operator said >> they'd never heard of a phone number that gave the time. Another >> offered to tell me what time it was, which could of lead to a >> discussion of time zones. >> The last 411 query gave me a 540-xxxx number and bells went off in my >> memory about ripoff per-call charge phone numbers. I didn't call >> it. It wasn't worth $19.99 to know the time. >> Have all the speaking clocks gone away ? I wouldn't mind funding >> credits ("this minute was brought to you by....") >> Al Dykes >> [Telecom Digest Editor's Note: 202-762-1401 is the Naval Observatory >> Master Speaking Clock. It alternates UTC and Eastern Standard time. >> PAT] > NIST has the WWV time announcement at 303-499-7111. Time spoken > each minute in UTC. 1 second ticks in between. I just tried both of these #s, The Navel Observatory # is no longer in service and the NBS^H^HIST is RNA, maybe they take Sunday off. In response to the person that suggested my cell phone # was an alternative; no, my phone doesn't have a second, and it's not a third party that I can refer to, to prove a point. Al Dykes adykes@panix.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: See the earlier message for my screw-up. The number now is 202-762-1401. I guess the 'you pay for it' version of 900-410-TIME is still around also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 10:38:58 EST Subject: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com In a message dated 7 Nov 2003 21:29:01 -0500 adykes@panix.com (Al Dykes) writes: > Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my > cell phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early > because their clock was fast. > I called 411 several times and got a different number each time. None > of them were reachable from a cell phone. One 411 operator said > they'd never heard of a phone number that gave the time. Another > offered to tell me what time it was, which could of lead to a > The discussion of time zones. > last 411 query gave me a 540-xxxx number and bells went off in my > memory about ripoff per-call charge phone numbers. I didn't call > it. It wasn't worth $19.99 to know the time. > Have all the speaking clocks gone away ? I wouldn't mind funding > credits ("this minute was brought to you by....") > Al Dykes > adykes@panix.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 202-762-1401 is the Naval Observatory > Master Speaking Clock. It alternates UTC and Eastern Standard time. > PAT] The SBC Oklahoma City directory lists seven different time, or time and temperature, or time and weather, telephone numbers. They are sponsored by various businesses. Interestingly, the traditional time number for Oklahoma City, 599-1234, still exists, too, and is sponsored by a major regional hospital chain. It is not listed in the SBC directory, but is included in the Feist directory. Don't know if the 599 prefix is still a bus that exists in each central office so that calls to 599-1234 go to that bus in the local office and do not tie up the interoffice trunking network. (A problem at the beginning and end of daylight savings time and after big power outages.) Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: miniotdr@yahoo.com (Marc) Subject: Re: Va. Tech Creates Third-Fastest Computer Date: 9 Nov 2003 11:50:04 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote in message news: > By CHRIS KAHN Associated Press Writer > BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- A cluster of 1,100 Macintosh PCs stacked like > library books in a squat cement building at the outskirts of Virginia > Tech's campus _ arranged by students in exchange for football tickets > and pizza _ is about to rank as the world's third-fastest > supercomputer, at 10.3 trillion operations per second. > The off-the-shelf G5 Power Macs, or the "Big Mac" as students have > begun calling it, costs about $7 million, significantly less than the > custom supercomputers that labs use for weather and weapons > simulations, drug experiments and other highly complex projects. See also www.apple.com/hotnews/ for more details, like Dr. Srinidhi Varadarajan, Terascale Cluster Project Director, being the World's Largest [Windows to Mac] Switcher. Vadarajan says he placed the order directly online at the Apple Store ;-) Possibly, the Virginia Tech's G5 cluster could be the very first real-world application (or field trial ?) of the rumored Apple's solution for parallel and distributed high-performance computing, so-called "Xgrid", as per the corresponding mailing-list the company has put together for its developers. HTH, Marc ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2003 13:47:23 -0700 Subject: The Telecom Digest Moderator On Sat, 8 Nov 2003 23:17:57 -0500 (EST), editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > I should not say I am thankful for my brain aneurysm, but in some > ways, the *assured, guarenteed* money which arrives in my bank > account every month on the fourth Wednesday was the best thing to > happen to me in years, along with the 'freebies' I get from the > feds and the State of Kansas SRS (Social and Rehabilitative Services). > You can make mock all you want of my 'ignorant blather' and tell me I > should get a clue. And like yourself, I was a *licensed* CB radio > operator and in the 1960's and 70's talked all over the entire Chicago > region on two and a half watts. In those days I was also told I was > full of BS because I knew how to make radios *TALK* and talk > legally. In the sixties you know, two watts would get you from Chicago > all the to the west coast. And if you think the FCC quit enforcing CB > regs as of the sixties sometime, I would be happy to tell you how the > Federal Bureau of Inquisition guys learned about kicking doors down > and seizing computers by watching the Federal Communications > Commission guys doing the same thing with radios, linear amplifiers > and related gear during the 1970's and 80's. > Oh, and how many spy cookies have you found in TELECOM Digest? No > doubt everytime you clean out your computer you find a bunch of > data miners and malware I put there, right? And all my 'popups'; > I would not be eligible for ARPA/NSF would I, no sireee! Make all > the mock you want; I know what I am talking about. PAT] Perhaps once, you did. Now the TELECOM Digest has been reduced to a bully pulpit for Patrick Townson, as demonstrated here, and in your followup remarks to someone else: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So what you are saying is if NSF was > still running things they would not be acceptable either? PAT] I wasn't around in the early days of this forum so I have no idea if you were the best moderator in the world or not. I've been here only for the last few years, and what I see is somebody who is clinging desperately to the "job" of moderator because of the "prestige" and control it brings. The job you're doing is terrible: you continually engage in on-the-edge behaviour and then prevent others from doing the same thing. Pat gets to prattle on about any topic under the sun, but others must toe the line and not offend Pat, or see their posts wind up in the bit-bucket. I have no idea whether your "diseased brain" is the reason for all of this, or whether you've always done such a lousy job -- perhaps others can comment. But since your return, you've proven again and again you're simply not up to the job. You want us to pay you for this? No thanks. I'd rather see you hand over the reins to somebody else. Somebody other than Lisa Minter, that is. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa thanks you for your kind assessment of her work on Yahoo and formerly here on this group. She reminded me that no matter how much we may try to present a decent forum on the net it is normal for all of us to be abused now and then. Be sure to quote your message and this response in your little mailing list you distribute. Oh, and how many messages have you heard about arriving here that went to the bit bucket? Oh, never mind, don't tell me ... its likely to result in another four to ten thousand byte response from you. I hope you don't mind that I corrected a couple of your typographical errors. PAT] ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Don't Use Net2phone Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2003 16:43:19 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com-To: support@sellcom.com mrxcoffee@yahoo.com (mrxcoffee) posted on that vast internet thingie: > On net2phone.com the quality is ok but don't ever, ever, ever hope to > get ANY kind of support. I signed up for the service and while there > was a delay in the transmission it wasn't terrible and it was cheap. > But when I had a problem reaching customer support was IMPOSSIBLE. No > I am not being dramatic here it was IMPOSSIBLE. Below is a copy of > the letter I sent to the ceo: Most cost club yadda yadda places, don't they have a 3 cent or 4 cent a minute calling cards now anyway? Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Vtech 5.8Ghz; EnGenius NEW EP490 4line (the longest range), TMC ET4000 Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, WatchGuard firewall, Polycom! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Minuteman UPS systems If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ 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 #743 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Nov 10 16:33:00 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAALWx526239; Mon, 10 Nov 2003 16:33:00 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 16:33:00 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311102133.hAALWx526239@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 #744 TELECOM Digest Mon, 10 Nov 2003 16:33:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 744 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #407, November 10, 2003 (Angus TeleManagement) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Reed) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (COTTP) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (S Falke) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Garrett Wollman) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (John R. Levine) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Gene S. Berkowitz) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Touch Tone Tommy) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Jack Hamilton) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (yeltrabnhoj@email) Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? (telecom43877@workbench.net) Derby Line, VT & Rock Island CO (John Murawski) Re: Netbank ATM PIN: Stored on Card? (Herb Stein) Re: KX-TD816 With SBC Voicemail (SayNoToCrossposters) AOL History was: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings (KimBrennan) Removal From Fax (Rsofcortez@cs.com) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 10:23:52 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #407, November 10, 2003 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 407: November 10, 2003 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Bell Seeks VoIP Review, Regulatory Parity ** Nortel Cuts Optical Staff ** Teleglobe Merges With VoIP Carrier ** Avaya Allies With Extreme Networks ** Telcos Want Floor Price Proceeding Delayed ** Bell Exec Named Competition Commissioner ** Cabinet Responds to Heritage Committee Report ** New President at Avaya Canada ** Microsoft Offers Anti-Virus Rewards ** Microcell Sales "Slightly Ahead of Plan" ** Cisco Quarterly Profit Up ** Warburton Joins TeraGo ** Last Chance for Telemanagement Saving ============================================================ BELL SEEKS VOIP REVIEW, REGULATORY PARITY: Bell Canada has asked the CRTC to immediately launch a public hearing to consider what rules will apply to providers of local telephone service based on Voice over IP. Bell also wants the Commission to apply similar rules for bundling, resale and winbacks to both incumbent telcos and cablecos. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8663/b2_200316101.htm ** On December 1, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission will hold a forum on Internet telephony. Chairman Michael Powell says the FCC will begin an expedited proceeding on the subject shortly after the forum. NORTEL CUTS OPTICAL STAFF: Nortel Networks has laid off 275 people in its Optical networking division. 200 of the job losses were in Ottawa, 45 in Ireland, and 30 in Montreal. ** Also last week, Nortel took full control of its Israel distributor, purchasing the 28% share held by Koor Industries. TELEGLOBE MERGES WITH VOIP CARRIER: Teleglobe International has agreed to buy New Jersey-based ITXC Corp, an international wholesaler of Voice over IP services, in a an all-stock deal. When the acquisition is completed, ITXC shareholders will own 28% of the combined firm. AVAYA ALLIES WITH EXTREME NETWORKS: Avaya and Extreme Networks have formed an alliance to "jointly develop and market converged communications solutions." Avaya will add Extreme's Ethernet switching products to its portfolio, and has the right to purchase 2.6 million common shares of Extreme for a penny each. TELCOS WANT FLOOR PRICE PROCEEDING DELAYED: Aliant, Bell Canada, MTS, SaskTel, Telus, and Telebec have jointly asked the CRTC to give them until January to file evidence opposing the CRTC's proposed new floor price rules, and not to impose interim rules until all evidence is examined. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8663/the_companies/031103_1.doc BELL EXEC NAMED COMPETITION COMMISSIONER: Sheridan Scott, who has been Chief Regulatory Officer of Bell Canada for the past four years, has been appointed Commissioner of the federal Competition Bureau. CABINET RESPONDS TO HERITAGE COMMITTEE REPORT: On November 6, the government released its response to last spring's report from the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage (see Telecom Update #387). As it did in its response to the Industry Committee (see Telecom Update #401), Cabinet said the recommendations require more study. ** On foreign ownership, Cabinet said the government will "immediately launch an analysis" so that it "will be in a position to examine possible solutions" by next spring. www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/ri-bpi/pubs/lincoln/index_e.cfm NEW PRESIDENT AT AVAYA CANADA: Mario Belanger, former President of Paradyne Worldwide Corporation, has been named President of Avaya Canada. MICROSOFT OFFERS ANTI-VIRUS REWARDS: Microsoft Corporation created a US$5 million Anti-Virus Reward Program. Initially, it is offering up to $250,000 for information leading to the capture and conviction of the original authors of the MSBlast worm and the SoBig virus. MICROCELL SALES "SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF PLAN": For the three months ended September 30, Microcell Telecommunications reports net income of $1.3 million, compared to a loss of $152.3 million a year ago. The Company added 41,292 new net retail customers, which it described as "slightly ahead of plan." It had lost 28,153 customers in the previous quarter. CISCO QUARTERLY PROFIT UP: Cisco Systems reports first quarter sales of US$5.1 billion, up from $4.8 billion a year ago. Net income was $1.1 billion, compared to $4.8 billion last year and $4.7 billion in the previous quarter. WARBURTON JOINS TERAGO: Robert Warburton, former Vice- President and General Manager of Group Telecom, has joined TeraGo Networks as VP of Sales and Marketing. LAST CHANCE FOR TELEMANAGEMENT SAVING: "The best, most reliable source of Canadian telecom information I know of. It always gets opened first, and read completely." -- Peter Lee, Senior Telecom Specialist, Nova Chemicals ** This is your last chance to save $70 on a new subscription to Telemanagement, the #1 source of information, analysis, and advice for Canadian telecom professionals. Offer expires Friday November 14, so download your application and return it today. www.angustel.ca/teleman/Telemanagement-Oct2003.pdf ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at 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 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: Reed Organization: None Whatsoever Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 00:29:05 GMT >> NIST has the WWV time announcement at 303-499-7111. Time spoken >> each minute in UTC. 1 second ticks in between. > I just tried both of these #s, The Navel Observatory # is no longer in > service and the NBS^H^HIST is RNA, maybe they take Sunday off. Found this at NIST site: http://www.bldrdoc.gov/timefreq/stations/sig.html "NOTICE: The NIST Telephone Time-Of-Day Service might be unavailable on Saturday, November 8th, 2003 from 9 a.m. to midnight Eastern Time (1400 UTC on November 8th until 0500 UTC on November 9th), due to scheduled maintenance on the NIST telephone system. The audio portions of the WWV and WWVH broadcasts can also be heard by telephone. The time announcements are normally delayed by less than 30 ms when using land lines from within the continental United States, and the stability (delay variation) is generally < 1 ms. When mobile phones are used, the delays are often more than 100 ms due to the multiple access methods used to share cell channels. In rare instances when the telephone connection is made by satellite, the time is delayed by 250 to 500 ms. To hear these broadcasts, dial (303) 499-7111 for WWV (Colorado), and (808) 335-4363 for WWVH (Hawaii). Callers are disconnected after 2 minutes. These are not toll-free numbers; callers outside the local calling area are charged for the call at regular long-distance rates. The telephone service is very popular. The WWV number receives over 1 million calls per year, and the WWVH number receives more than 50,000." ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 19:29:34 -0500 In article , reedh@rmi.net.N0SPAM says: > Al Dykes wrote: >> Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my >> cell phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early >> because their clock was fast. >> I called 411 several times and got a different number each time. None >> of them were reachable from a cell phone. One 411 operator said >> they'd never heard of a phone number that gave the time. Another >> offered to tell me what time it was, which could of lead to a >> discussion of time zones. >> The last 411 query gave me a 540-xxxx number and bells went off in my >> memory about ripoff per-call charge phone numbers. I didn't call >> it. It wasn't worth $19.99 to know the time. >> Have all the speaking clocks gone away ? I wouldn't mind funding >> credits ("this minute was brought to you by....") >> Al Dykes >> adykes@panix.com >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 202-651-1920 is the Naval Observatory >> Master Speaking Clock. It alternates UTC and Eastern Standard time. >> PAT] > NIST has the WWV time announcement at 303-499-7111. Time spoken > each minute in UTC. 1 second ticks in between. Why not just write a quick app that takes the NTP string and speaks it. Voila! Speaking clock. Or get on of the atomic clock sync programs for you PC. ------------------------------ From: S Falke Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 02:15:39 GMT 767-8900 for time is listed at http://www.textfiles.com/phreak/NUMBERS/dial30.phk {age unknown} for {PacBell} NorCal area codes 209, 408, 415, 707, 916. Not listed are "new" codes 510, 530, 650, 925. In NorCal in the 1950-60s, 76-any-five-digits worked, too. --s falke ------------------------------ From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 04:28:00 +0000 (UTC) Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , Gary Breuckman wrote: > If you have a digital cellphone, the clock in the cellphone is (can be) > set from the system, so the clock on your phone should be as accurate > as an announcement number. But unless it's on a CDMA system, the clock in the cellphone may be no more accurate than the wall clock at the MTSO. -- 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: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: 10 Nov 2003 00:19:25 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > They are still around. In the NYC area the clock is on (212) > 976-1616 (also accessible via NPA 516, 718, etc.). That's a surcharged number, so you can't call it from outside the LATA. (I think the surchage is only a quarter, but it's still too much.) The Boston time-of-day number is 617-637-1234. I just tried it, and it's about 15 seconds fast. There's no ad other than "Verizon time is ..." The whole prefix is time-of-day, the last four digits don't matter, so I often pick a number in that range when some bureaucrat demands a phone number. ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 22:53:34 -0500 In article , reedh@rmi.net.N0SPAM says: > Al Dykes wrote: >> Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my >> cell phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early >> because their clock was fast. In the Boston area, Verizon Time is: (617) 637-1234 Actually, you can dial (617) 673-XXXX, where X is any digit, and it still works. It's about 20s fast, according to my NIST-set PC clock. --Gene ------------------------------ From: Touch Tone Tommy Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2003 22:46:57 -0800 Organization: Acme Telephone Works Reply-To: touch_tone_tommyNOSPAM@yahoo.com On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 01:15:38 GMT, Reed wrote: >> Have all the speaking clocks gone away ? I wouldn't mind funding >> credits ("this minute was brought to you by....") >> Al Dykes >> adykes@panix.com What you want to do is find out where your cell phone is "really" based, by calling one of the toll-free anac numbers. Even though mine is based in the 805 area code, I get a readback of 626. The local time number for 626 is 626-853-1212, instead of my local 805-767-7000. So I just dial 853-1212 and get the time recording. ------------------------------ From: Jack Hamilton Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2003 23:01:48 -0800 Reply-To: jfh@acm.org Gary Breuckman wrote: > If you have a digital cellphone, the clock in the cellphone is (can be) > set from the system, so the clock on your phone should be as accurate > as an announcement number. That depends on the phone and the carrier -- some do, some don't. There's been discussion of this on the wireless phone newsgroups, and it seems to depend on the mood of the carrier, or the phase of the moon. I can tell you that my Siemens S46 (GSM/TDMA) on AT&T Wireless doesn't set the time in Sacramento. Sprint PCS used to and probably still does (I think their cellular technology requires it), but it might not be worth going with Sprint just to have the correct time. Locally, I can get the time by dialing POP-CORN. That's probably good in any former Pac Bell area in northern California. I just tried that number in the 916, 415, 510, and 650 area codes, and they all gave me the time. The 213 area code (Los Angeles) gave me a "call cannot be completed" message. Jack Hamilton jfh@acm.org If men are to wait for liberty until they become wise and good in slavery, they may indeed wait for ever. - Lord MacCaulay ------------------------------ From: yeltrabnhoj@email.com Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 15:09:26 GMT Organization: (reverse to reply) (John Bartley, K7AAY, Portland OR) > In article , Al Dykes > wrote: >> Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my cell >> phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early because >> their clock was fast. >> I called 411 several times and got a different number each time. None of >> them were reachable from a cell phone. One 411 operator said they'd >> never heard of a phone number that gave the time. On Sat, 08 Nov 2003 23:14:11 -0600, Gary Breuckman wrote: > If you have a digital cellphone, the clock in the cellphone is (can be) > set from the system, so the clock on your phone should be as accurate > as an announcement number. For CDMA, yes. Other systems, no. However, people being funny, an automated annoucnement such as 303-499-7111 is more authoritative. It also means you don't have to let go of your celfon if it has speakerphone mode. Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2003 18:35:51 -0500 From: telecom43877@workbench.net Subject: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? I am wondering, does anyone know of a reasonably priced lightning arrestor that can be used on Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable (on a run between buildings)? I'm looking for something that can stop the voltage surge from a nearby lightning strike from getting into the computing equipment on each end. I'm aware of the Tripp Lite DNET1 (http://www.tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=151) but I am not entirely convinced that would stop a direct lightning hit (this is an underground cable, but passes near some tall trees that are the tallest things in the surrounding terrain, as the vertical scar marks on the trunks attest). The one thing I ask is that no one suggest using fiber, unless you know of some way to terminate it without having $1500 worth of equipment to attach the ends. I know you can buy fiber with the ends already attached, but that would not fit in the 1/2" plastic pipe that connects the two buildings (that now holds the Cat 5 cable), and it would not be feasible to replace the pipe. I'd actually love to use fiber on this run (about 100 meters), but apparently no one realizes that there's a need for pre-terminated fibers that are not significantly larger at the ends than the rest of the cable, and there's no way you're going to get a dual SC or ST connector through a 1/2" pipe (plus, I'd be afraid of breaking the fiber during the pull, and I really can't afford to experiment - if I spent over $100 for a fiber patch cable and then broke it during the pull, I'd probably shoot myself). (Someone should make fiber patch cable that have just the center part of the ST cable attached, with a way for the user to attach the outer ring of the ST connector after the cable is pulled, if you understand what I'm saying. It would require a little ingenuity but I'm sure it could be done, and it would allow fiber cables partially pre-terminated with ST connectors to be pulled through much smaller spaces, without requiring expensive equipment to splice the ends onto the cable.) This is NOT a commercial installation and I'm not spending someone else's money, and I'm not rich. Think "computer in the detached workshop on the far side of the property" (but in an area were it is definitely NOT convenient to lay new pipe now) and you'll have the general idea. Also I don't want to do wireless. I just want to find some decent, inexpensive Cat5 lightning arrestors, if such a thing exists. ------------------------------ From: skeeterj@comcast.net (John Murawski) Subject: Derby Line, VT & Rock Island CO Date: 10 Nov 2003 07:07:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com A number of years ago, I had to do some telecomm business with a company in Derby Line, VT. At the time I worked for New England Telephone Co. Yes, the dial tone is provided by the Rock Island, CO and it is part of Quebec Telephone. Yes, New England Telephone Co and now known as Verizon does have an agreement with Quebec Telephone Co. so that the Rock Island CO will provide dial tone to the local population and business. Yes, parts of the buildings along the river are divided into Canada and USA. The particular one I was in had an office with about 10 to 15 desks. Diagonaly across the room there were two brass plaques. Draw an imaginary line across the floor and voila, international boundary. The employess on one side of that line were Canadian and on the other they were USA. What I can remember is that the PBX on the USA side, at the time was an old 800. Some trunk lines were coming in via cable through an window from the Canadian side which was across the small stream/river. The remainder were coming in via cable and telephone poles. The owners of this establishment pleaded with me to provide them with FX lines from Newport. This could have been done but it still had to be cabled from Rock Island. This didn't allow them to be isolated from the Rock Island CO. ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Netbank ATM PIN: Stored on Card? Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 09:29:00 -0600 Charles Sampson wrote in message news:telecom22.743.2@telecom-digest.org.: > Netbank claims that their ATM cards > cannot have their PINs changed, because the PIN is stored on > the magnetic strip. If this is true, that is a major > security flaw, as the magnetic strip can be read and the PIN > obtained using whatever process necessary. (Early ATM > standards, which are no longer used, did put the PINs on > cards long ago, and were promptly compromised.) > When you type your PIN into an ATM, it should be encrypted > and then sent via the telecom lines (dial up or leased line) > to a host computer, where the PIN is eventually checked with > the issuer bank. Why would Netbank be storing their PINs > on the magnetic strip? Do any other US banks do this? > Finally, the ability to change your password or PIN is an > important security feature. I don't use netbank. The last time I changed my PIN on my ATM card, the girl at the bank placed the card in a reader and had me type in the new PIN. Whether the new PIN was written back to the card or whether the card was just used to obtain the correct account information, I have no idea. I would like to find a reference to the technical aspects of the procedure though. Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: SayNoToCrossposters Subject: Re: KX-TD816 With SBC Voicemail Organization: Comcast Online Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 19:58:10 GMT No. Paul Stew wrote in message news:telecom22.729.14@telecom-digest.org: > I was wondering if the Panasonic digital phone systems will work with > SBC voicemail. Specifically, will my voicemail waiting light on an > analog phone light up when plugged into a KX-TD816 and I'm using SBC > voicemail? ------------------------------ From: kimbrennan@aol.comfrtz.com (KimBrennan) Date: 10 Nov 2003 20:00:03 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: AOL History was: Ohio Sues AOL Over Customer Billings The first online service provide by the company that would one day be renamed America Online, was QLink a service for C64 (and C128) computers. That was when the company was Quantum Computer Services. Later they developed versions for other computers. Apple Link Personal Addition was for Apple II and Macintosh Computers. PCLink was for DOS computers. There was another service (name escapes me) which was a deal with IBM. All of these services were separate from each other (no interoperablility or communicability). In 1992 Quantum Computer Services changed their name to America Online and went public. I believe (historians with access to archival information can correct me) that 1992 also marked the first use of AOL as a service name (Apple Link Personal addition, changed it's name to America Online). Apple II and Mac users were interoperable on the same "service". In that year the "IBM" service client got opened up (the IBM service remained, but separate from the others) and it too joined the AOL service. This client used the GEOS operation system (a motif interface on top of DOS). 1992 also was the year that AOL was working on the first WINDOWS client, which made its debut in January of 1993. Several years later, AOL closed the door on the first and second generation clients (sunsetted them) and Qlink, PCLink and Apple II users were no longer able to sign on to AOL. Geos users lasted quite a few more years, but finally got dropped from the service. I've been an AOL (Apple Link) user since 1988. An employee since 1992. I was using the Apple II service up through the wee hours of the morning they finally turned it off. "I'm sorry, all my money is tied up in currency." W.C.Fields ------------------------------ From: Rsofcortez@cs.com Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 15:10:27 EST Subject: Removal From FAX Per Steven J. Sobol's suggestion to Meg Trafton, 21 Oct 2003 I am sending info from unwanted faxes so that "instructors can compare notes". 10/22/2003 from Mortgage Services 800-642-3418 "To Be Removed From Our Database, Call Toll-Free At 800-390-1403" 10/24/2003 from Work from Home 1-800-417-3739 or www.financialsanity.com "To have your number removed .... 800-766-0816" 10/31/2003 from QuickBooks Training Made Easy "Call (800) 609-1875 or Fax ... completed registration ... to (800) 609-1874 or mail to: 5405 Alton Parkway, Suite 5A-114, Irvine, CA 92604" "To be removed ... 1-800-274-4978" 11/10/2003 from Lowest Mortgage Rates Available 800-929-6914 "To Be Removed ... 800-390-1403" I phoned 800-390-1403 this morning (before reading of how futile this is). Operator: "68-4, number invalid or not available from your area code." 'Hope this helps to put an end to unwanted faxes. Before the above were received, I had almost no unwanted faxes. Is there anything more I may do to eliminate span faxes? Bob Stewart ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #744 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Nov 11 02:40:23 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAB7eMb28424; Tue, 11 Nov 2003 02:40:23 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 02:40:23 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311110740.hAB7eMb28424@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 #745 TELECOM Digest Tue, 11 Nov 2003 02:40:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 745 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? (J Kelly) Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? (SELLCOM Tech Support) Re: Derby Line VT (USA) & Rock Island PQ/QC (CAN) (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Derby Line VT & Rock Island CO (John R. Levine) Re: Removal From FAX (Steven J Sobol) Re: Removal From FAX (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More (Seises de Corazones) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Herb Sutherland) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Bob Vaughan) Time of Day Clocks (Michael Muderick) Where to Get a Copy of RFID Savant Software (Ryan) Voicemail Gateway Numbers for Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless, etc. (russ) Comcast to Deliver RealNetworks' Rhapsody Digital Music (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. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 16:12:56 -0600 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Reply-To: usenet200308@screaming-remove-electron.net On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 18:35:51 -0500, telecom43877@workbench.net wrote: > I just want to find some decent, inexpensive Cat5 lightning > arrestors, if such a thing exists. There are more issues with running Cat5 between two buildings than just lightning. That is why everyone tells you to use fiber. Ground loops is one good reason to avoid Cat 5. Also, how long of a run is this? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 16:42:19 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? telecom43877@workbench.net wrote: > This is NOT a commercial installation and I'm not spending someone > else's money, and I'm not rich. Think "computer in the detached > workshop on the far side of the property"... I just want to find > some decent, inexpensive Cat5 lightning arrestors Use the TrippLite arrestors (or APC's equivalent) but put a cheap 4-port switch on each end too. That way if something fries it should be the switch and hopefully not the PC. Put a switch and an arrestor on each end of the run. You can probably get them cheap on ebay or something. You might be able to use hubs (which would be cheaper than switches) but you have to be careful how you stack them. If you chain too many hubs your LAN falls apart -- if this is news to you then just use switches and nevermind about the hubs :-) It's a tossup whether you should go PC-hub-suppressor-cable or PC-suppressor-hub-cable; I could argue either way. I ran about 100' of CAT5 through the air to a neighbor's house for about 2 years without trouble. Used the LAN protection in an APC SmartUPS 420v/s on one end and an APC NET10(?) suppressor on the other end. Chicago area: plenty of thunderstorm activity but no direct strikes. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 01:27:30 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com telecom43877@workbench.net posted on that vast internet thingie: > This is NOT a commercial installation and I'm not spending someone > else's money, and I'm not rich. Them little wireless thingies are getting amazingly cheap. (Just a thought that came to mind reading your post). Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Vtech 5.8Ghz; EnGenius NEW EP490 4line (the longest range), TMC ET4000 Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, WatchGuard firewall, Polycom! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Minuteman UPS systems If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 17:15:49 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Re: Derby Line VT (USA) & Rock Island PQ/QC (CAN) On Monday 10-Nov-2003, 07:07:17 (-0800), John Murawski wrote: > A number of years ago, I had to do some telecomm business with a > company in Derby Line, VT. At the time I worked for New England > Telephone Co. > Yes, the dial tone is provided by the Rock Island, CO and it is part > of Quebec Telephone. > Yes, New England Telephone Co and now known as Verizon does have an > agreement with Quebec Telephone Co. so that the Rock Island CO will > provide dial tone to the local population and business. NOTE: That would be Bell Canada, not Quebec Telephone, for the PQ/QC Canadian-side local telephone company serving Rock Island PQ/QC CAN. Quebec Telephone, now Telus-Quebec, was/is a telco entirely separate from Bell Canada, serving most of eastern Quebec, mostly east of Quebec City, all of its territory in Area Code 418. Also ... On Fri-7-Nov-2003 2:22pm CST, in the TELECOM Digest post titled "Inter-state In-TRA-LATA Local/Free Calls, I (Mark J. Cuccia) wrote: > I don't know if there was any dedicated trunking between > Derby Line VT (USA) and Rock Island PQ/QC (CAN) in recent years. > Even though each side has a prefix of the 87x block > (Derby Line VT USA 802-873, Rock Island PQ/QC CAN 819-876) > which would lead one to believe that at ONE time years back, > both communities got their dialtone from the same switch > (but on what side of the border?) that also "homed" on a > particular toll or tandem switch on that same side of the border, > as of 1975 (according to a TRG I have from that year), each side > "homed" on a toll switch of its particular country/state/province. > Of course, there could have been dedicated toll trunks to a single > local central office from each sides' tandems, but I have no way > to know that at this late date. > MAYBE there was and still is dedicated local trunking between the > two sides' own LOCAL c.o.switches? Presently, both *ARE* "remotes" > off of a host switch on each others' respective sides of the > state/province and international boundary, but remotes HAVE been > known to have some dedicated trunking to switches outside of their > host switch... > REGARDLESS, there *IS* local/free EAS between Derby Line VT USA and > Rock Island PQ/QC CAN, whether post-1984 petitioned and approved, > or the more likely pre-existing local/EAS (especially with both having > 87x prefixes) that was grandfathered as of 1982-84 and still remains to > this day. If you don't mind "dating" yourself, how long ago was it when you worked for New England Telephone when you were up in the Derby Line VT (USA)/ Rock Island PQ (CAN) area? The 1975 era Traffic Routing Guide I have shows 802-873 Derby Line VT (USA) as "homing" on the NETel tandem STBYVTSM01T in St.Johnsbury VT (USA). 819-876 Rock Island PQ (CAN) homed on the Bell Canada tandem SHBKPQ4001T (a Northern Electric XBTandem) in Sherbrooke PQ (CAN). IN MORE RECENT YEARS (the 1990s through today), the LERG (Local Exchange Routing Guide) indicates that VeriZon/BA/NYNEX/NETel has its *own* 5E-Remote DRBYVTMARS1, hosted by a 5ESS "host" STBYVTSMDS0 St.Johnsbury VT (USA). Bell Canada has its own remote RCISPQ18RS1 (some kind of Nortel Remote), hosted by a Nortel DMS-100 MAGOPQ15CG0 in Magag PQ/QC (CAN). Both the 1975 Traffic Routing Guide data, and more recent (1990s) LERG data, does make it appear that Derby Line VT (USA) is *NOT* getting dialtone from Canada, although ... I *DO* believe that *AT ONE TIME*, the community of Derby Line VT (USA) 802-873 *DID* get its dialtone from Bell Canada's Rock Island PQ (CAN) 819-876. But it seems like it would have had to have been *BEFORE* 1975. The fact that both have 87x c.o.code prefixes does lead one to think that this WAS the case at one time. Also, the 1975 Traffic Routing Guide *DOES* indicate *several* other US-side border communities (ratecenter/exchange area) as getting dialtone from a Canadian-side based central office *switch*, and homing on a Canadian-side tandem or toll switch. This was even the case with Point Roberts WA (USA) getting dialtone from (GTE) BC-Tel's Ladner-Beachgrove BC (CAN) c.o.switch until 1988. But it does seem that the ratecenter/exchange area if Derby Line VT (USA) did have its own local New England Tel central office switch by 1975, separate from the Bell Canada c.o.switch of Rock Island PQ (CAN), although local/free (EAS) calling has continued between the two sides ever since. However, over time, due to NYNEX "standard" dialing procedures, the northbound local/free (EAS) calling from Derby Line VT (USA) over to Rock Island QC (CAN) has to be 1+ 819-876-xxxx (i.e., 1+ten-digits), because it is in a different area code. However, Bell Canada (nor any other telco in Canada) has ever seemed to require customers to dial a 1+ on local/EAS "free" calls that are ten-digit dialed because of being in a different area code (except for calling to toll-free 800/888/877/866/etc). In metro areas that require ten-digits for local calls, both adjacent area code local, or same-as-well-as-co-overlaid-area-code local, it is JUST ten-digits, usually 1+ten-digits is *NOT* permitted and rejected with "It is not necessary to dial a '1' before this number". And in the case of southbound free local calling from Bell Canada's Rock Island PQ/QC (CAN) to VeriZon/BA/NYNEX/NETel's Derby Line VT (USA), only SEVEN-digits is necessary even though Derby Line VT (USA) is in NPA 802 while Rock Island QC (CAN) is in NPA 819! I do wonder if when (prior to 1975?) Derby Line VT (USA) actually got its dialtone from Bell Canada's Rock Island PQ (CAN) c.o.switch, most likely a Northern Electric SXS, since both had 87x prefixes, if local calling in BOTH directions was only five-digits, or maybe even just the last FOUR-digits! Even when (by-and-after 1975?) Derby Line VT (USA) was made its own New England Tel & Tel local SXS c.o.switch, local calling between the two sides could still have been possible on a five digit-basis, the initial digit of '3' (from 802-87-3-xxxx) or '6' (from 819-87-6-xxxx) would indicate whether to trunk the call across the border, or trunk the call to the "thousdands" level selectors within the same building/side-of- the-border. These border-line situations have also been known to exist all over the NANP between the US/Canada, between individual US states, between individual Canadian provinces, and also in a few cases between the US and Mexico -- all as mentioned in previous posts on this and related recent threads. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA ------------------------------ Date: 10 Nov 2003 22:28:11 -0000 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Derby Line, VT & Rock Island CO Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > A number of years ago, I had to do some telecomm business with a > company in Derby Line, VT. At the time I worked for New England > Telephone Co. > Yes, the dial tone is provided by the Rock Island, CO and it is part > of Quebec Telephone. > Yes, New England Telephone Co and now known as Verizon does have an > agreement with Quebec Telephone Co. so that the Rock Island CO will > provide dial tone to the local population and business. I believe that was true in the past, but now NANPA says that both Derby 802-766 and Derby Line 802-873 are served from DRBYVTMARS1, and it seems unlikely that the main Derby exchange is served from Canada. RS1 sounds like a remote. Newport, the largest town in the area, is NWPTVTSERS1 which also sounds like a remote. I'd guess that all of the VZ exchanges in the Northeast Kingdom are now remotes from the DMS-100 in St Johnsbury. The Bell Canada Rock Island CO is RCISPQ18RS1 which is probably a remote from one of the switches in Sherbrooke. 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: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Removal From FAX Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 16:04:23 -0600 Rsofcortez@cs.com wrote: > I phoned 800-390-1403 this morning (before reading of how futile this > is). Operator: "68-4, number invalid or not available from your area > code." > 'Hope this helps to put an end to unwanted faxes. Before the above > were received, I had almost no unwanted faxes. Is there anything more > I may do to eliminate span faxes? Try: http://www.junkfaxes.org/ JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Removal From FAX Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 01:31:08 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Rsofcortez@cs.com posted on that vast internet thingie: > Is there anything more I may do to eliminate span faxes? I dunno what ultimate good it does beyond giving me a warm fuzzy feeling but I just change the date on my cover letter to "Dearest FCC enforcement division" and mail it with the month's FAXes to: FCC Enforcement, Telecommunications 445 12th St SW Washington, DC 20554 Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Vtech 5.8Ghz; EnGenius NEW EP490 4line (the longest range), TMC ET4000 Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, WatchGuard firewall, Polycom! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Minuteman UPS systems If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? From: Seises de Corazones Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 03:33:28 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Aaarr, Gene S. Berkowitz What ye be sayin'? > In article , reedh@rmi.net.N0SPAM > says: >> Al Dykes wrote: >>> Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my >>> cell phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early >>> because their clock was fast. > In the Boston area, Verizon Time is: (617) 637-1234 > Actually, you can dial (617) 673-XXXX, where X is any digit, and it > still works. > It's about 20s fast, according to my NIST-set PC clock. 637 or 673? Let's not be calling any poor joe in the middle of the night. Aaarr, adykes@panix.com (Al Dykes) What ye be sayin'? > Have all the speaking clocks gone away ? I wouldn't mind funding > credits ("this minute was brought to you by....") 772-287-6500 is the one I grew up with. I just checked it and it still works. (I had to look up the latest area code. 305->407->561->772) Ted Rathkopf ------------------------------ From: herbsu@netscape.net (Herb Sutherland) Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: 10 Nov 2003 13:39:26 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com And if you want to know what time it is in California, dial (626) 357-1212 ------------------------------ From: techie@tantivy.stanford.edu (Bob Vaughan) Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 04:57:51 UTC Organization: Tantivy Associates In article , S Falke wrote: > 767-8900 for time is listed at > http://www.textfiles.com/phreak/NUMBERS/dial30.phk {age unknown} for > {PacBell} NorCal area codes 209, 408, 415, 707, 916. Not listed are > "new" codes 510, 530, 650, 925. 650-767-1234 works fine ... (and probably any 650-767-xxxx number as well.) -- Welcome My Son, Welcome To The Machine -- Bob Vaughan | techie@{w6yx|tantivy}.stanford.edu | kc6sxc@w6yx.ampr.org | P.O. Box 19792, Stanford, Ca 94309 -- I am Me, I am only Me, And no one else is Me, What could be simpler? -- ------------------------------ From: Michael Muderick Subject: Time of Day Clocks Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 23:37:40 -0500 Philadelphia area has been left out of this endless thread. 610-846-1212. Verizon = Making progress every day - 642 and 10 seconds. ------------------------------ From: ryan_luan@yahoo.com (Ryan) Subject: Where to Get a Copy of RFID Savant Software Date: 10 Nov 2003 15:00:18 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I am very interested in RFID technology and would like to play with a software. I read somewhere that a generic software, Savant, has been developed by AutoID center and is a free open-source product. Does anyone know where to get this software? Thanks in advance, Ryan ------------------------------ From: russk1@earthlink.net (russ) Subject: Voicemail Gateway Numbers for Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless, etc. Date: 10 Nov 2003 15:56:14 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi Everyone, I'm looking for the voicemail gateway numbers for Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless, Cingular, and Nextel. Specifically, I'm looking for the number you call from a land line phone that lets you leave a message directly to voicemail, without calling the cell phone first. Typically, you dial the number, hear a prompt to enter a 10 digit phone number, and the system transfers you directly to that voicemail box. For example, TMobile uses 1-805-MESSAGE and AT&T uses 1-909-213-2104. If anyone has these please let me know. Thanks, Russ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 01:48:05 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast to Deliver RealNetworks' Rhapsody Digital Music Service Comcast to Deliver RealNetworks' Rhapsody Digital Music Service to its Nearly Five Million Broadband Internet Customers - Nov 10, 2003 11:00 AM (PR Newswire) Nation's #1 Broadband Provider and #1 Digital Music Subscription Service To Launch Major TV and Online Promotion Providing Free Access to Rhapsody's 400,000 Song Library Rhapsody Provides Broadband Customers Fun and Legal Way to Enjoy Music PHILADELPHIA and SEATTLE, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Comcast, the nation's leading broadband Internet provider, and RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK), the global leader in digital media services and software, today announced that Comcast will provide its nearly five million high-speed Internet customers and broadband music enthusiasts the ability to maximize their broadband connections by offering RealNetworks' Rhapsody, the country's leading Internet jukebox service, via a co-branded website accessible on Comcast's premier broadband customer destination home page at Comcast.net. Rhapsody's digital music service provides unlimited access to a vast library of music from all five major music labels plus more than 200 independent music labels. From Elvis Presley and Sting to Outkast and Clay Aiken, the easy-to-use Rhapsody service features more than 400,000 songs. The Rhapsody service is unique in that it allows subscribers to access more than 30,000 albums instantly, listen to complete albums, create custom playlists and burn CDs for 79 cents per track from hundreds of genres of music. Further, the service offers more than 50 commercial-free radio stations. There are no limits or meters for use of the service. The service is easy to use and better for consumers than the illicit sharing of music via peer-to-peer networks. With Rhapsody, customers don't have to wait for downloads or contend with other users' cluttered hard drives. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36407567 ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #745 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Nov 11 15:15:22 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hABKFM702804; Tue, 11 Nov 2003 15:15:22 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 15:15:22 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311112015.hABKFM702804@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 #746 TELECOM Digest Tue, 11 Nov 2003 15:15:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 746 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Portal ND USA / N.Portal SK Canada (Mark J Cuccia) Tracking the Elusive Hot Spot (Monty Solomon) Satellite TV in the car, on the Move -- New Technology (Monty Solomon) Handspring's Last Hurrah (Monty Solomon) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Mark Brader) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Stanley Cline) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Seth Theriault) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Paul Coxwell) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Group Special) Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? (John Hines) Re: Netbank ATM PIN: Stored on Card? (John Reiser) Re: Voicemail Gateway Numbers for Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless (N Strom) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 12:56:29 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Portal ND USA / N.Portal SK Canada With all of the discussion about various "border towns", I wonder if anyone knows if there had *EVER* been local calling between Portal ND USA with North Portal SK Canada ... and also if AT ONE TIME IN THE PAST (prior to 1975) if one side actually provided dialtone to the other side ??? In 1975, Portal ND (USA) was its own c.o. switch (most likely SXS), the independent telco "Midstate Telephone Company" (HQ in Stanley ND). Portal ND USA homed on Northwestern Bell's/AT&T's Minot ND tandem/toll switch MNOTNDBC01T. North Portal SK (Canada) was its own c.o. switch (most likely SXS), homing on the Estevan SK toll and tandem services switch ESTVSK0101T, both the local switch and the tandem/toll switch it homed on being SaskTel. Today and in more recent years, PRTLNDXADS0 is now a digital switch, still "Midstate Telco", now homing on Qwest-LEC/USWest/NWBell's Bismark ND LATA tandem BSMRNDBC12T. On the Canadian side (all SaskTel), NPTLSK01RS1 is a (Nortel) remote switch hosted by the Weyburn SK DMS-100 WYBNSK03DS0, all homing on the tandem/toll switch REGNSK0603T in Regina SK. There does *NOT* seem to presently be any local/free EAS calling between the two "sister" bordertown communities, and probably hasn't been any since BEFORE the 1982-84 period of preparation for divestiture. I don't know if there was any local/free EAS calling between the two in 1975. But maybe there was some prior to that, as well as maybe one side actually giving dialtone to the other, such as how Derby Line VT USA *USED* to get dialtone from Rock Island PQ Canada prior to 1975, and how Pt. Roberts WA USA *USED* to get dialtone from Ladner-Beachgrove BC Canada. What makes me think that *AT ONE TIME* there was local service between the two sides, as well as one-side giving dialtone to the other-side (but which side having the c.o.switch?), is the fact that both use c.o. codes of the same "92x block" ... Portal ND is 701-926 North Portal SK is 701-927 So, was there *EVER* any local/free/EAS calling between the two sides AT ONE TIME IN THE PAST? And if so, did one side actually get its DIALTONE from the other side AT ONE TIME IN THE PAST?! Thanks! Mark J. Cuccia New Orleans LA ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 03:44:38 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Tracking the Elusive Hot Spot By WALTER S. MOSSBERG Coffee shops, airports, restaurants and other establishments have been setting up Wi-Fi wireless Internet connections, or "Wi-Fi hot spots," for quite some time now. That's exciting news for anyone with a Wi-Fi ready laptop, because you can just stroll into these places and get onto the Internet, for a fee, or even in some cases free. The problem is finding the hot spots. Wi-Fi locations aren't well advertised, and there's no universal sign or symbol identifying them. Occasionally, you'll see a sign in a coffee-shop window, like the T-Mobile signs that are posted in many Starbucks branches. But for the most part, wireless hunting is luck of the draw. I often arrive in an airport and have to take out my laptop, boot it up and then let my computer tell me if a Wi-Fi network is present. To see if we could take some of the guesswork out of this wireless trial and error, my assistant Katie Boehret and I tested two methods of finding Wi-Fi hot spots: Web sites that let you search for locations and a device that "sniffs" for Wi-Fi and notifies you when a signal is near. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20031105.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 04:06:31 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Satellite TV in the Car, on the Move -- New Technology New technology makes dish receivers small enough to fit atop an SUV Benny Evangelista, Chronicle Staff Writer Sandy Montag doesn't worry now when he takes his young children on a long drive in his SUV. He has a new toy that most parents will understand -- an in-car digital satellite television system. With hundreds of channels of entertainment, from the Disney Channel to HBO, to keep them occupied, they're silent. "It's like you don't even have them. You can baby-sit and drive at the same time," Montag said. Montag, a New York sports agent, was one of the first customers to get his hands on the TracVision A5, a product designed to bring the clear, digital satellite TV signals into passenger vehicles anywhere in the country, even while they are in motion. Mobile satellite TV technology has been around for years, but it has been useful only on boats, buses and RVs with enough space to mount a big, bulky satellite dish. Now, TracVision-maker KVH Industries Inc. of Middletown, R.I., has built a low-profile, saucer-shaped antenna designed to mount unobtrusively to the roof rack of a regular van, sport utility vehicle or car. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/10/BUG6B2T6U81.DTL ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 04:14:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Handspring's Last Hurrah Ten O'Clock Tech Arik Hesseldahl, 11.10.03, 10:00 AM ET NEW YORK - A great deal has gone into the quest to create the proper synthesis of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone. Attempts have been many, but true successes have been few. The Treo 600 from Handspring, now a unit of Palmone (nasdaq: PLMO - news - people ), comes awfully close to being just such a success, and is a terrific sendoff for Handspring as an independent company. It is everything one would want from a thoroughly modern mobile phone, and everything one would want from a PDA running Palmsource's (nasdaq: PSRC - news - people ) Palm OS 5.2 operating system. We liked the first Treo devices because they were useful, but felt they were a tad flimsy. The 600's rigid candy bar-style construction solves that worry. It feels far more like a phone than any device of its kind to come before, and less like a PDA with a phone added as some kind of an afterthought--like so many other devices that have sought to bind the two together. http://www.forbes.com/2003/11/10/cx_ah_1110tentech.html ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 03:29:46 EST From: msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) And if Ottawa is the most convenient place for you to dial, there's the National Research Council of Canada. 613-745-1576 if you want the time in English, 613-745-9426 if you prefer French. (Source: ) Mark Brader, Toronto | Any company large enough to have a research lab msb@vex.net | is large enough not to listen to it. --Alan Kay ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Organization: Roamer1 Communications - Dunwoody, GA, USA Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 08:30:20 GMT On 7 Nov 2003 21:29:01 -0500, adykes@panix.com (Al Dykes) wrote: > Have all the speaking clocks gone away ? I wouldn't mind funding > credits ("this minute was brought to you by....") Unlike many other phone companies (Verizon, SBC/PacBell, various independents) BellSouth has never had its "own" time numbers that I know of. Around here, most time numbers are sponsored and/or run by banks: 423-265-1411 SunTrust Bank, Chattanooga, TN 865-977-5395 First Tennessee Bank, Maryville/Knoxville, TN 423-476-1111 First Tennessee Bank, Cleveland, TN 770-253-8463 Bank of Coweta, Newnan, GA or churches: 770-455-7141 churches vary, Atlanta (IIRC, this number is actually run by a company that *makes* the "time and temperature" machines!) 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: slt@mail.utexas.edu (Seth Theriault) Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: 11 Nov 2003 01:01:40 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Gene S. Berkowitz wrote: > In the Boston area, Verizon Time is: (617) 637-1234 Verizon also provides a local weather forecast, something useful for those braving the ever-changing New England climate. Dial (617) 936-1111. And, their provider is AccuWeather. Seth ------------------------------ From: PaulCoxwell@aol.com Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 09:30:28 EST Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? >> They are still around. In the NYC area the clock is on (212) >> 976-1616 (also accessible via NPA 516, 718, etc.). > That's a surcharged number, so you can't call it from outside the LATA. > (I think the surchage is only a quarter, but it's still too much.) You can reach 976 numbers from the U.K., billed at normal international rates for a call to the U.S. The same goes for NPA 800, 888 etc. (preceeded by a recording from the American end of the connection: "This number is not toll-free if dialed from outside the United States. If answered you will be charged at international direct-dial rates for this call. If you do not wish to proceed, hang up now"). I don't think 540 prefixes are accessible, although with all the different carriers these days it might just be possible with the right combination. NPA 900 is always blocked. Calls to (NPA) 555-1212 are blocked by some carriers but not others. As in Britain, many TelCos outside the NANP seem to have switched speaking clock numbers to local service codes, making them unreachable from outside the local C.O. Does anyone know of any foreign countries where time-of-day service is still on a regular number? Paul Coxwell Norfolk, England ------------------------------ From: Group Special Mobile Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 10:54:21 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: look@signature_for_reply_instructions On 7 Nov 2003 21:29:01 -0500, adykes@panix.com (Al Dykes) wrote: > Today I really really wanted to get hold of a time service from my > cell phone to prove to someone that they's closed a gate too early > because their clock was fast. > I called 411 several times and got a different number each time. None > of them were reachable from a cell phone. One 411 operator said > they'd never heard of a phone number that gave the time. Another > offered to tell me what time it was, which could of lead to a > discussion of time zones. > The last 411 query gave me a 540-xxxx number and bells went off in my > memory about ripoff per-call charge phone numbers. I didn't call > it. It wasn't worth $19.99 to know the time. > Have all the speaking clocks gone away ? I wouldn't mind funding > credits ("this minute was brought to you by....") > Al Dykes > adykes@panix.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 202-653-1920 is the Naval Observatory > Master Speaking Clock. It alternates UTC and Eastern Standard time. > PAT] +1 207-775-4321 Portland, Maine (unsponsored) 617-637-1234 Boston, Massachusetts (sponsored by Verizon) 410-844-1234 Baltimore, Maryland (unsponsored) 202-844-1234 Disctrict of Columbia (unsponsored) 202-762-4101 DC (National Bureau of Standards) 407-646-3131 Orlando, FL (sponsored with two messages!) 303-499-7111 WWV, Ft. Colllins, Colorado (male announcer occasional weather info) 808-335-4363 WWVH, Hawaii (female announcer) On Sat, 08 Nov 2003 23:14:11 -0600, Gary Breuckman wrote: > If you have a digital cellphone, the clock in the cellphone is (can be) > set from the system, so the clock on your phone should be as accurate > as an announcement number. CDMA has time as part of the system spec (Verizon, Sprint, etc.) GSM (T-Mobile, ATTWS, cingular etc.) has NITZ (Network Informed Time Zone) as a possibility, but not all GSM systems provide the facility to automatically update the time. To send an email reply send to GSMthemobilestandard (@) yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 09:11:10 -0600 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org telecom43877@workbench.net wrote: > The one thing I ask is that no one suggest using fiber, unless you > know of some way to terminate it without having $1500 worth of > equipment to attach the ends. Could I suggest a short run of fiber? A pair of transducers, and 5' of fiber patch cable, at one end or the other, should isolate the two networks, with the benefit of fiber, w/o the pain of the long run. The typical wall-wart transformer should provide basic ground loop protection, for the one end that gets hooked to remote power. ------------------------------ From: John Reiser Subject: Re: Netbank ATM PIN: Stored on Card? Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 10:02:52 -0800 > The last time I changed my PIN on my ATM card ... > I would like to find a reference to the technical aspects of the > procedure though. http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/TechReports/UCAM-CL-TR-560.pdf documents an attack on some ATM PIN handling, and along the way documents how it works [and doesn't work very securely.] ------------------------------ From: nstrom@ananzi.co.za (Nathan Strom) Subject: Re: Voicemail Gateway Numbers for Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless Date: 11 Nov 2003 10:44:58 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com russk1@earthlink.net (russ) wrote in message news:: > Hi Everyone, > I'm looking for the voicemail gateway numbers for Sprint PCS, Verizon > Wireless, Cingular, and Nextel. Specifically, I'm looking for the > number you call from a land line phone that lets you leave a message > directly to voicemail, without calling the cell phone first. > Typically, you dial the number, hear a prompt to enter a 10 digit phone > number, and the system transfers you directly to that voicemail box. > For example, TMobile uses 1-805-MESSAGE and AT&T uses 1-909-213-2104. > If anyone has these please let me know. For Sprint, it's generally (NPA) NXX-MAIL, where (NPA) and NXX correspond to a SprintPCS exchange. (203) 589 and (412) 656 work, for example. These are generally used to check your voicemail from a landline phone, though. I don't think you can leave messages on other people's voicemail if you don't "log in" to your own voicemail with phone number and PIN. ------------------------------ 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #746 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Nov 12 00:31:03 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAC5V2605013; Wed, 12 Nov 2003 00:31:03 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 00:31:03 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311120531.hAC5V2605013@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 #747 TELECOM Digest Wed, 12 Nov 2003 00:31:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 747 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson DIRECTV Achieves 12 Millionth Customer Milestone (Monty Solomon) Cingular/AOL Mobile Instant Messaging (Monty Solomon) EchoStar Reports Third Quarter 2003 Financial Results (Monty Solomon) PluggedIn: TV Viewers Find TiVo Addictive (Monty Solomon) Clocks ... (Paul A Lee) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Group Special) Re: Voicemail Gateway Numbers for Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless (Stan) Wireline Carriers Weigh LNP Appeal (John Stahl) Microsoft Patches Three Critical Security Problems (John Stahl) Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? (w_tom) Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? (Gary Breuckman) Re: Netbank ATM PIN: Stored on Card? (Charles Sampson) Recent Alaska Telecom History (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Where to Get a Copy of RFID Savant Software (Ryan) Re: Netbank ATM PIN: Stored on Card? (Gary Breuckman) TYPO! Portal ND / N.Portal SK (Mark J Cuccia) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 15:28:10 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DIRECTV Achieves 12 Millionth Customer Milestone DIRECTV Achieves 12 Millionth Customer Milestone; World's Leading Digital Multichannel Television Service Redefines the Way People Watch Television EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 2003--Nine short years after its national launch, DIRECTV, Inc., provider of the world's leading digital multichannel television service and a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation (NYSE:GMH), announced today that this past weekend it activated its 12 millionth customer. With 12 million customers, DIRECTV has become the television entertainment service of choice in more than one of every nine TV households in the United States. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36417078 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 15:29:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular/AOL Mobile Instant Messaging Cingular Customers Can Now Take AOL(R) Instant Messenger(TM) On the Go for a True Instant Messaging Experience Premier Service Based on the Wireless Village Standard Cingular Wireless, the second largest wireless carrier in the nation, and America Online, Inc., the world's leading interactive services company, today announced the launch of Mobile Instant Messaging for Cingular customers using AOL(R) Instant Messenger(TM) (AIM(R)) and ICQ services. The expanded partnership with America Online lets Cingular customers see when their friends, family and colleagues are online and are able to send and receive real-time text messages on their wireless phones. Access to the AIM and ICQ services will allow Cingular customers to easily use their wireless phones to manage their AOL Buddy Lists(R), check presence and availability of friends and family, and instant message with anyone in the AOL instant messaging community, for a true mobile IM experience. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36417081 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 15:33:04 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EchoStar Reports Third Quarter 2003 Financial Results EchoStar Reports Third Quarter 2003 Financial Results; Company's DISH Network Adds 285,000 Net New Subscribers; Announces $1 Billion Authorization to Repurchase Stock - Nov 11, 2003 09:09 AM (BusinessWire) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36417359 ECHOSTAR COMMUNICATIONS CORP FILES FORM 10-Q (DISH) - Nov 10 2003 5:28PM (EDGAR Online) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36412588 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 19:27:19 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: PluggedIn: TV Viewers Find TiVo Addictive By Elinor Mills Abreu SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - TiVo television recorders that allow viewers to replay programs and skip commercials have turned casual TV watchers into prisoners shackled to sofas, unable to keep up with the flood of their favorite shows. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36418867 ------------------------------ From: Paul A Lee Subject: Clocks ... Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 15:43:26 -0500 Many people wrote about clocks ... For overall convenience, accuracy, and economy, I would recommend a Casio WaveCeptor watch (or similar competitive product). Mine keeps time within 0.5 sec/day, updates at least once a day from the NIST WWVB signal, and cost me less than $40. It comes in real handy for setting times on small phone systems, standalone computers, etc. ----- Paul A Lee Voice: +1 717 730-8355 Sr Telecom Engineer [Voice & Transmission] Fax: +1 717 975-3789 Rite Aid Corporation, Telecomm, 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 20:19:40 EST Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? In a message dated Tue, 11 Nov 2003 03:33:28 GMT Seises de Corazones writes: > In the Boston area, Verizon Time is: (617) 637-1234 >> Actually, you can dial (617) 673-XXXX, where X is any digit, and it >> still works. >> It's about 20s fast, according to my NIST-set PC clock. > 637 or 673? Let's not be calling any poor joe in the middle of the > night. It's no fun. When I moved back to Oklahoma City probably about 1956, I was assigned VIctor 3-6056 (843-6056). The Time number for Oklahoma City then was REgent 6-0561 (736-0561). Most, probably all, offices in Oklahoma City were SxS. From most offices the second digit "4" was absorbed when you dialed 8-4-XXXXX, and you could dial 843-6056 as 83-6056. So if your hand slipped, as drunks often do when dialing 736-0561, and they dial 836-0561, they got our telephone several times a night. They were shocked to hear a human answer "Hello" and from the background noise most of them were calling for places where alcoholic beverages were likely to be found. After two or three weeks, we'd had enough and got SWBT to change our number. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: Group Special Mobile Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 14:37:28 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: look@signature_for_reply_instructions On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 03:29:46 EST, msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) wrote: > And if Ottawa is the most convenient place for you to dial, there's > the National Research Council of Canada. 613-745-1576 if you want > the time in English, 613-745-9426 if you prefer French. (Source: > ) Just out of curiosity is there telephone access to CHU (Dominion Observatory) similar to the WWV by telephone? To send an email reply send to GSMthemobilestandard (@) yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Stan Subject: Re: Voicemail Gateway Numbers for Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 19:39:45 -0500 Organization: picture your ad here Verizon Wireless is in the midst of changing its voicemail system to a single nationwide platform. As each region is converted over, the gateway number is eliminated. In order to retrieve my voicemail from a landline, I have to dial my own cell phone number. If my phone is on, I can hit the 'end' key to dump the phone to voicemail, where I have to hit # on the landline phone to be prompted for my password. If my phone is off, the call will dump into voicemail immediately. VZW doesn't charge airtime to retrieve voicemail messages when calling from a landline. -Stan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 19:55:09 -0500 From: John Stahl Subject: Wireline Carriers Weigh LNP Appeal Another potential roadblock on the Number Portability issue is now centered between wireline and wireless networks. Verizon may have helped to start this with their statement that their wireline customers could port their landline phone numbers to their wireless phones. Or perhaps the wireline carriers are really afraid that they will lose more business to the wireless networks. From other sources, I hear the number of people "disconnecting" from the wireline services is still growing. John Stahl Aljon Enterprises Telecom/Data Consultants From Wireless Week On-line issue: > Wireline Carriers Weigh LNP Appeal > By Mark Rockwell > November 11, 2003 > WASHINGTON -- Wireline carriers are poised to throw a roadblock in front > of new wireline-to-wireless number portability rules, which could > partially derail the upcoming Nov. 24 LNP deployment, telephone company > officials say. > The wireline carriers' response comes after the FCC issued a clarifying > order yesterday saying it would require wireline carriers to port wireless > numbers when the requesting wireless carrier's coverage area overlapped > the wireline carrier's. [See Related Story] > "We're considering an appeal. We're still reviewing the order," said one > wireline company official who asked not to be named. "We could go to the > FCC and ask for a stay, but given the fast-approaching deadline, we may > move to federal court," he added. The federal court may offer a quicker, > more definitive answer, wireline officials contend. > Wireline carriers are concerned they're being required to unfairly > bend their networks to port their numbers to wireless carriers. The > FCC has said that wireline carriers have to port to wireless > carriers operating in geographically overlapping coverage areas, > regardless of the "rate centers" they use to bill calls. Complete article at: http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=newsat2direct&starting=1&pubdate=11/11/03 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 20:03:32 -0500 From: John Stahl Subject: Microsoft Patches Three Critical Security Problems John Stahl Aljon Enterprises Telecom/Data Consultant From Computer World On-Line: > SECURITY NEWS > Microsoft patches three critical security problems > Total of four patches released in second monthly bulletin > Story by Paul Roberts > NOVEMBER 11, 2003 ( IDG NEWS SERVICE ) - Microsoft Corp. released the > second installment of its now monthly security bulletins, patching three > software holes in Windows systems that it said were "critical" security > risks and a fourth problem with Microsoft Office that the company rated > "important." > Taken together, the security holes could allow attackers to set up > Web pages to take advantage of vulnerable systems and read files or > run attack code on a remote user's Windows machine, Microsoft said. URL of complete story: http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,87058,00.html?nas=PM-87058 ------------------------------ From: w_tom Subject: Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 14:33:42 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Don't think of lightning arrestors as the protection. They are not. An incoming wire is protected IF it is earthed when it enters the building. But an earthed wire will not conduct data. So we earth that wire only during the transient. Earth ground is the protection. If the wire cannot be earthed directly (as CATV and satellite dish wires are), then a lightning arrestor must make the less than 3 meter connection to earth. That is what the DNET10, et al do if properly installed. But then there are ground loops and other related problems. It is why all incoming wires must enter the building at the same location - the service entrance. All utilities must be earthed to the same single point earth ground. IOW you can put all the protectors in the world on that CAT5/6 wire. When lightning strikes that telephone pole, it seeks earth ground. Perfect connection would be incoming on AC electric, through NIC and surge protector, to earth ground. NIC or hub is damaged because transient entered on AC electric. No plug in protector such as the APC UPS is going to provide such protection. Notice they don't even mention earthing? Why? They don't claim protection from the typically destructive surge. Effective protection is earth ground. Surge protector only makes that connection when a copper wire cannot. A surge protector (or that UPS) is not surge protection. Surge protection is earth ground - the all so important single point earth ground: http://www.erico.com/erico_public/pdf/fep/TechNotes/Tncr002.pdf (the buried wire even carries destructive transients) http://www.xantrex.com/support/docserve.asp?id=337 http://www.cinergy.com/surge/ttip08.htm http://www.polyphaser.com/ppc_PEN1002.asp http://tinyurl.com/l3m9 telecom43877@workbench.net wrote: > I am wondering, does anyone know of a reasonably priced lightning > arrestor that can be used on Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable (on a run between > buildings)? I'm looking for something that can stop the voltage surge > from a nearby lightning strike from getting into the computing > equipment on each end. I'm aware of the Tripp Lite DNET1 > (http://www.tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=151) but I am > not entirely convinced that would stop a direct lightning hit (this is > an underground cable, but passes near some tall trees that are the > tallest things in the surrounding terrain, as the vertical scar marks > on the trunks attest). > The one thing I ask is that no one suggest using fiber, unless you > know of some way to terminate it without having $1500 worth of > equipment to attach the ends. I know you can buy fiber with the ends > already attached, but that would not fit in the 1/2" plastic pipe that > connects the two buildings (that now holds the Cat 5 cable), and it > would not be feasible to replace the pipe. I'd actually love to use > fiber on this run (about 100 meters), but apparently no one realizes > that there's a need for pre-terminated fibers that are not > significantly larger at the ends than the rest of the cable, and > there's no way you're going to get a dual SC or ST connector through a > 1/2" pipe (plus, I'd be afraid of breaking the fiber during the pull, > and I really can't afford to experiment - if I spent over $100 for a > fiber patch cable and then broke it during the pull, I'd probably > shoot myself). > (Someone should make fiber patch cable that have just the center part > of the ST cable attached, with a way for the user to attach the outer > ring of the ST connector after the cable is pulled, if you understand > what I'm saying. It would require a little ingenuity but I'm sure it > could be done, and it would allow fiber cables partially > pre-terminated with ST connectors to be pulled through much smaller > spaces, without requiring expensive equipment to splice the ends onto > the cable.) > This is NOT a commercial installation and I'm not spending someone > else's money, and I'm not rich. Think "computer in the detached > workshop on the far side of the property" (but in an area were it is > definitely NOT convenient to lay new pipe now) and you'll have the > general idea. Also I don't want to do wireless. I just want to find > some decent, inexpensive Cat5 lightning arrestors, if such a thing > exists. ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 18:15:28 -0600 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , "telecom43877" wrote: > I am wondering, does anyone know of a reasonably priced lightning > arrestor that can be used on Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable (on a run between > buildings)? I'm looking for something that can stop the voltage surge > from a nearby lightning strike from getting into the computing equipment > on each end. I would suggest using two wireless access points, setting them up as bridges. In this mode they only talk to the bridge on the other end of the connection, known to each other in setup by their MAC addresses. This can even work over long distances with the proper external antenna systems (yagi or the popular pringle-can type). The two buildings are then essentially one network, a hub on each end. Depending on the number of computers in the other building, you could just use 'conventional' wireless setups. The advantage of the wireless bridge is that you can place the two units in good locations to see each other, whereas a 'normal' wireless network has certain problems where one poor connection can slow the entire network down. -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ From: Charles Sampson Subject: Re: Netbank ATM PIN: Stored on Card? Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 16:00:38 -0500 Herb Stein wrote: > Charles Sampson wrote in message > news:telecom22.743.2@telecom-digest.org.: >> Netbank claims that their ATM cards >> cannot have their PINs changed, because the PIN is stored on >> the magnetic strip. If this is true, that is a major >> security flaw, as the magnetic strip can be read and the PIN >> obtained using whatever process necessary. (Early ATM >> standards, which are no longer used, did put the PINs on >> cards long ago, and were promptly compromised.) >> When you type your PIN into an ATM, it should be encrypted >> and then sent via the telecom lines (dial up or leased line) >> to a host computer, where the PIN is eventually checked with >> the issuer bank. Why would Netbank be storing their PINs >> on the magnetic strip? Do any other US banks do this? >> Finally, the ability to change your password or PIN is an >> important security feature. > I don't use netbank. > The last time I changed my PIN on my ATM card, the girl at the bank > placed the card in a reader and had me type in the new PIN. Whether > the new PIN was written back to the card or whether the card was just > used to obtain the correct account information, I have no idea. I > would like to find a reference to the technical aspects of the > procedure though. They need to know your ATM card number so that they can update your account with the PIN. I've banked at institutions that allow you to change your PIN via an 800 number, and there's no way THAT could have changed the mag strip ... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 16:11:34 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Recent Alaska Telecom History? In the TELECOM Digest Archives, there is a report on the history of telecom in Alaska, dated April 1992: http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/reports/alascom.story While an EXCELLENT report on the subject of telecom in Alaska through 1992, it is still a report that is over ten years old. It the past ten years, there have been some significant changes in the Alaskan telecom industry, since PTI (Pacific Telecom Inc) sold Alascom to AT&T, and then PTI's local exchange Alaska properties now seem to be part of ACS (Alaska Communications Systems). I remember that CenturyTel (HQ'd in Monroe LA, although Monroe LA has BellSouth for its incumbent LEC), had bought out PTI circa 1997, however, they held on to the mainland holdings of PTI (mostly on the west coast and in the Mountain and some Plains states), but CenturyTel had already planned on selling off the Alaskan operations of PTI. I think that former PTI executives in Alaska "took back" those Alaskan exchanges temporarily part of CenturyTel. Many of these local operations that PTI (now ACS) had been acquiring over the years were either local rural-like co-ops, or *municiapally held* telcos, as in the case of Anchorage and Fairbanks. Alascom (once RCA, later PTI-held), while mainly the "DDD-Toll" carrier in Alaska, also owned and operated small local (usually satellite interconnected) ratecenters/exchanges in the remote "bush". I don't know if PTI retained these exchanges or if AT&T "inherited" them when PTI sold Alascom to AT&T in the mid-1990s. As for ACS, I've been to their website to see if I can find a history of the company, or even telecom in Alaska. But I can't find any. They claim that they serve some 74 communities throughout the state, but I can only find a brief list of only seven ACS-served communities which includes: Anchorage, Fairbanks, Homer, Juneau, Kenai-Soldotna, Kodiak, Sitka. http://www.acsalaska.com/aboutacs/index.stm BTW, ACS is also a "full services" telecom provider, including intrastate, domestic interstate, and international long-distance (their own network? or maybe resale?), cable-TV/satellite pay-TV, Internet, etc. I do remember when Alascom was held by PTI in the 1980s (and RCA before that in the 1970s), they also were the "brand" that was the "incumbent" which connected with AT&T down-south. But the Alascom "brand" also offered *international/overseas* service under tariff, possibly with some direct interconnections with Pacific-Rim countries without having to have such calls routed via AT&T in the mainland. (Connections to countries *outside* of the "Pacific Rim" probably had to have negotiations with AT&T for transiting thru the AT&T network) ... GTE's Hawaiian Telephone Company also has had Pacific-Rim international tariffs outside of having to interconnect with AT&T, as well as intra-state toll. I wonder if ACS is now operating what had been Alascom's Pacific-Rim international network, or if that went to AT&T-Alascom where PTI-now-ACS is running its *own* branding and possibly network "in competition against" AT&T-Alascom??? And whatever became of GCI (General Communications Inc)? They were the first and largest (and for a while ONLY) "competitor" to (PTI) Alascom back in the 1980s, for calling from Alaska down to the lower 48/DC, and possibly to Canada. I *THINK* they had a relationship with MCI for this, but I'm not 100% positive about that. If I remember right, MCI and Sprint never really offered "originating" service "from" Alaska for many years. But other than someone *travelling* in AK and dialing an 800-type dialup for their (mainland-US-based) MCI or Sprint Card, I don't know if MCI and Sprint actually offer "regular" competitive service (under their own names) for toll calls originating *from* Alaska. The *other* "General", General Telephone & Electronics, GTE announced that it was selling off its Alaska operations (including the Hyder AK USA-side arrangement with Telus-BC in Stewart BC), to ATEAC (whoever they are, but I think one of the letters 'A' in their acronym stands for Alaska), as of Summer/Fall 2000, probably as part of the agreement to merge GTE-Contel into BA/NYNEX, for VeriZon. Hyder AK is *NOT* served by PTI-now-ACS, at least not according to the ACS website, although they list the town amongst a HUGE list of communities and settlements in the state, in a "drop down menu" to click on a town name. Hyder AK USA still gets its dialtone from Stweart BC Canada. AND ... Hyder actaully *SHARES FROM* the NPA-NXX of Stewart BC, 250-636 (formerly 604-636 prior to late 1996, when 604 was split with the new 250 covering that part of British Columbia). Telus-BC used to be GTE-held BCTel, but the US-side (Hyder AK) customers were billed in US Dollars for telephone service and wrote their checks to GTE-of-Alaska, rather than GTE-held BC-Tel (later and currently known as Telus-BC, partially held by VeriZon). But I have *absolutely no idea* of who this ATEAC entity is that GTE sold their remaining Alaska exchanges/ratecenters to back in Aug/Sept.2000. And what ever became of Contel's legacy operations in Alaska? (and also in Ontario/Quebec Canada as well from back in the 1960s/70s?) Back in the 1970s/80s (and possibly earlier in the 60s too?), the Continental Telephone Company/Corporation, aka Contel, also owned and operated some exchange areas in Alaska. The one that stands out in my mind was that of Juneau-Douglas AK. But during the 1970s/80s, while it was part of the Contel organization, the local name of the telco was still referred to as the Juneau & Douglas Telephone Company. In the early 1990s, Contel was taken over by GTE. I don't know if Contel still owned the Juneau & Douglas Telco when GTE took them over, or if they (Contel) did (still own Juneau/Douglas telco), what actually became of Juneau/Douglas at that time. Presently, Juneau AK is served by PTI-now-ACS, as most every other "major" population center of Alaska has become. So, I wonder if there are any websites or "recent" histories of telecom in Alaska which could "fill-in" some of these gaps about the "history" and "formation" of ACS (which I tend to think is the successor of PTI's local telco operations in Alaska which didn't get sold to AT&T in 1995 nor continued under CenturyTel in their buyout of PTI circa 1997), what exactly became of Contel's operations in Alaska (especially Juneau/Douglas, and "when"), any history of Juneau/Douglas and any OTHER Contel exchanges in Alaska over the years, who is this "ATEAC" that took over Hyder AK USA side of (GTE/VZ) Telus-BC's Stewart BC Canada (and any other remaining GTE-of-Alaska exchanges), whatever became of GCI-Alaksa, and exactly what is the current activity of AT&T-Alascom, and so forth. Finally, I think that there are STILL some remaining government/military telco operations in Alaska, which would be telecom operations associated with military bases and establishments throughout the state. Thanks for any info to fill in the "gaps" both recent *AND* historical! Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA ------------------------------ From: ryan_luan@yahoo.com (Ryan) Subject: Re: Where to Get a Copy of RFID Savant Software Date: 11 Nov 2003 14:49:53 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com If someone is interested, this is the link of the Savant specifiction published on the Web site of epcglobal. http://www.epcglobalinc.org/standards_technology/Secure/v1.0/WD-savant-1_0-20030911.doc Again, anyone knows where to get this software? Ryan ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: Netbank ATM PIN: Stored on Card? Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 18:21:56 -0600 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , Charles Sampson wrote: > Netbank claims that their ATM cards cannot have > their PINs changed, because the PIN is stored on the magnetic strip. If > this is true, that is a major security flaw, as the magnetic strip can > be read and the PIN obtained using whatever process necessary. (Early > ATM standards, which are no longer used, did put the PINs on cards long > ago, and were promptly compromised.) If they are stored there, they are not necessarily stored 'in the clear'. They could be run through some sort of one-way algorithm and the result stored on the card. The PIN entered is run through the same algorithm and the results compared. While trying all the potential PINs might be non-trivial, without knowing the algorithm you wouldn't know if the result was correct. These algorithms also often using a random key that's somewhere else, like a time or date the key was created, so two cards with the same PIN won't have the same encrypted key. -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 18:24:49 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: TYPO! Portal ND / N.Portal SK I wrote: > What makes me think that *AT ONE TIME* there was local service between > the two sides, as well as one-side giving dialtone to the other-side > (but which side having the c.o.switch?), is the fact that both use > c.o. codes of the same "92x block" ... > Portal ND is 701-926 > North Portal SK is 701-927 WOOPS ... That should read North Portal SK (Canada) is 306-927 (NOT 701-927) > So, was there *EVER* any local/free/EAS calling between the two sides > AT ONE TIME IN THE PAST? And if so, did one side actually get its > DIALTONE from the other side AT ONE TIME IN THE PAST?! ... prior to the mid-1970s era. mjc ------------------------------ 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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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 #747 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Nov 12 14:19:52 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hACJJqC08727; Wed, 12 Nov 2003 14:19:52 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 14:19:52 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311121919.hACJJqC08727@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 #748 TELECOM Digest Wed, 12 Nov 2003 14:20:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 748 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 'Connect Idaho' Broadband Conference 11/19-21 Coeur d'Alene (Dan Yurman) Holes Found in Online Job Search Privacy (Monty Solomon) Belkin Disables Router Spamming Feature (Monty Solomon) Re: Don't Use Net2phone (Steveroy Williams) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Mark Brader) Long Distance Services - Group Gold Line - Just Dial Comm) (Harun Tasci) Re: 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam, Bud! (Steveroy Williams) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (Steveroy Williams) Re: Outrageous Hotel Phone Surcharges (Steveroy Williams) Re: Long Distance via DSL/Cable (Steveroy Williams) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: djysrv@hotmail.com (Dan Yurman) Subject: 'Connect Idaho' Broadband Conference 11/19-21 Coeur d'Alene, ID Date: 12 Nov 2003 09:48:58 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Connect Idaho 2003 Conference Hank Artis, TechConnect North 509-868-6497 hpartis@juno.com Nancy Bergmann, INEEL 208-526-1375 nrb1@inel.gov Rick Ritter, TechConnect Boise 208-426-3870 rritter@boisestate.edu FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * State and local officials, economic development professionals, broadband technology and Internet service providers will gather in Coeur d'Alene, ID, November 19-21 to discuss ways to improve broadband telecommunications access and applications in Idaho * Keynote speakers will include Idaho Lt. Governor Risch and Idaho Congressman "Butch" Otter, and also Bruce Franca, Deputy Chief, Federal Communications Commission, Office of Engineering & Technology * Two-day session is co-sponsored by the Idaho Rural Partnership, Bechtel BWXT Idaho LLC, and nine other organizations. Meeting to be held in concert with Idaho Rural Summit scheduled for 11/18-19 Participants at the 2003 Connect Idaho Conference will identify Idaho's current and future states of broadband connectivity. Approximately 150-200 people from across Idaho will attend the meeting. Educators, health care providers, and local government officials are seeking to use broadband to improve the quality of life for the people of Idaho. The acquisition of broadband connectivity that is needed for economic growth is beyond the capacity of government or industry acting alone. Advanced telecommunications services are essential to maintaining and improving the viability of Idaho's agricultural and business communities. Conference attendees are looking for solutions. The conference will address these issues in three domains – building infrastructure, deploying applications, and identifying opportunities for action to close gaps. Finding synergy between public policies and market demand factors is a key to the path forward for a "Connected Idaho." Registration for the Connect Idaho Conference, which will be held at the Coeur d'Alene Resort, is $125. Scholarships are available for students and nonprofit organizations. Online registration is available at the following website. http://www.idahosbdc.org/connect_idaho/index.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 08:41:05 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Holes Found in Online Job Search Privacy By BRIAN BERGSTEIN AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Some career Web sites, recruitment services and automated job-application kiosks offer flimsy privacy protections and might even violate employment and credit laws, a report released Tuesday asserts. Many job sites still let too much information from resumes posted online get into the hands of third parties through online "cookies" that monitor Web surfing, according to the report, led by Pam Dixon, formerly of the University of Denver's Privacy Foundation and now head of her own group, the World Privacy Forum. The report also faults self-service job application computers commonly used by chain stores. It says they almost always demand social security numbers and perform background checks on applicants without clearly stating who will see the information. Dixon is urging job seekers to demand more stringent privacy protections. She also wants the Federal Trade Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to look more closely at how job sites and recruitment services handle information. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36422485 ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Belkin Disables Router Spamming Feature Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 13:26:31 -0500 By John Leyden Belkin, the consumer networking and connectivity firm, has promised customers a firmware upgrade to disable a controversial 'spamming' feature built into its routers. As first reported on The Reg last week, the feature hijacks random HTTP requests every eight hours and redirects users to a page advertising Belkin's parental control software. There is an opt-out link but that failed to appease Net users who accused Belkin of creating a new mechanism for spam. In response the negative user feedback, Belkin is to give users the option of disabling the feature. In an announcement on its home page, Belkin said: In response to a recent Usenet group posting stating that Belkin spams its customers through its routers, Belkin Corporation apologizes for the concern this has caused and is taking action to address the issue. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33918.html ------------------------------ From: info@maticmax.com (Steveroy Williams) Subject: Re: Don't Use Net2phone Date: 12 Nov 2003 07:20:44 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com mrxcoffee@yahoo.com (mrxcoffee) wrote in message news:: > On net2phone.com the quality is ok but don't ever, ever, ever hope to > get ANY kind of support. I signed up for the service and while there > was a delay in the transmission it wasn't terrible and it was cheap. > But when I had a problem reaching customer support was IMPOSSIBLE. No > I am not being dramatic here it was IMPOSSIBLE. Below is a copy of > the letter I sent to the ceo: > To whom it may concern, > I am writing this letter out of total frustration with Net2phone. > Here is my situation. I moved to Japan last year and was looking for > a low cost alternative to calling the US. I signed up with Net2phone > and with the initial trial minutes I received I called my parents back > home. I really liked the service: sound quality was good, software > was easy to use and most importantly it provided me a low cost > alternative to calling cards in Japan. However, shortly after I used > my trial minutes I noticed my account had been disabled. I received > an email stating my credit card address didn't match my billing > address. This was correct my billing address was at my previous > address. So I logged in updated my billing address to match my credit > card address and waited paitently for my account to be enabled. > Unfortunately my account was never enabled and when I sent an email > inquiry I received the same automated letter over and over saying my > problem had been sent to the proper department and I would usually > receive a vague email about how there was some problem. The thing > that was the most frustrating was that I never worked with one sales > representive; I would receive a vague email and when I responded it > was like starting from square one. I have attached my correspondance > with your company to this letter so you can look at your support teams > work. So after WEEKS of doing the run around with automatic emails > and shoddy email support I bought a calling card and called your toll > free number. > The first person I reached was "Jennifer". Jennifer acted like I > interrupted her from doing some other important thing such as surfing > the internet to help me with my situation. This was apparent by her > deep sighs and long pauses whenever I would ask her a question. She > immediately dumped me into a priceline.com voicemail, why? What does > my account have to do with Priceline? nothing as far as I know. Maybe > Jennifer knows because I certainly have no clue. Now mind you 9:00 AM > California time is about 2:00 AM Tokyo time. So here I am standing in > the cold Tokyo night paying about .50 cents a minute to talk with a > girl that is acting like I am bothering her by trying to be your > customer. After unsucessfully trying to get out of the priceline loop > I hang up and call back. This time I get a girl who has the same > attitude as Jennifer (Didn't get her name) but who at least gives me > 30 seconds before dumping me into voicemail. I tell her my problem, I > ask her what I need to do to enable my account and she acknowledges > everything looks correct BUT she can't enable my account. She says > "yeeeah ill tell the tech guys and see if it can be done in a few days > or something ... but it's Friday ya know so maybe not 'till next > week." (Yes, this is an actual quote). So I hang up in utter disbelief. > I can't believe you can have such low value for your customers. The > only reason I bring this to your attention is that I hope that maybe I > was just unlucky and not all customers are treated like this. While > you have a good product there are plenty of other players in the IP > phone market so I will try a competitor. Will you please delete my > account from your database. > Sincerely, > xxx > I will let you know how they respond ... if they respond at all ... Sad to hear about your disappointing experience with Net2phone. You can use this software called the best rate calculator, it will find you the lowest rates for the country you are calling with no hidden fees. Check out http://www.maticmax.com/international_calls for more information. SELLCOM Tech support wrote in message news:: > mrxcoffee@yahoo.com (mrxcoffee) posted on that vast internet thingie: >> On net2phone.com the quality is ok but don't ever, ever, ever hope to >> get ANY kind of support. I signed up for the service and while there >> was a delay in the transmission it wasn't terrible and it was cheap. >> But when I had a problem reaching customer support was IMPOSSIBLE. No >> I am not being dramatic here it was IMPOSSIBLE. Below is a copy of >> the letter I sent to the ceo: > Most cost club yadda yadda places, don't they have a 3 cent or 4 > cent a minute calling cards now anyway? > Steve at SELLCOM > http://www.sellcom.com > Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, > Vtech 5.8Ghz; EnGenius NEW EP490 4line (the longest range), > TMC ET4000 Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, WatchGuard firewall, Polycom! > Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Minuteman UPS systems > If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. You can find long distance as low as 3.49 cents per minute. Check out www.maticmax.com/domesgtic_rates Steveroy Williams Maticmax.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 00:46:03 EST From: msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) >> And if Ottawa is the most convenient place for you to dial, there's >> the National Research Council of Canada. ... > Just out of curiosity is there telephone access to CHU (Dominion > Observatory) similar to the WWV by telephone? According to http://inms-ienm.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/time_services/shortwave_broadcasts_e.html CHU is also based in the Ottawa area and has been operated by the NRC, not the Dominion Observatory, for more than 30 years. So there would be no point in having a separate phone number from the NRC one I posted. Mark Brader, Toronto Don't put all your X in one window. msb@vex.net -- Peter Neumann My text in this article is in the public domain. ------------------------------ From: info@justdial.ca (Harun Tasci) Subject: Long Distance Services - Group Gold Line - Just Dial Comm Date: 12 Nov 2003 01:31:15 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com For US and Canadian residents only - Just Dial Communications has lunched their second website to provide prepaid Long distance services to US and Canadian Residents. 249,186 Customers has signed to long distance services of Group Gold line as of 10-30-2003. You can check their website at www.justdial.ca Just Dial Communications www.justdial.ca ------------------------------ From: info@maticmax.com (Steveroy Williams) Subject: Re: 1010220 is Some Sort of Scam, Bud! Date: 12 Nov 2003 07:31:58 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com dold@1010220Xis.usenet.us.com wrote in message news:: > jbl wrote: >> Check out 1010987 that they've been advertising lately, 39 cents per >> call plus 3 cents/minute. A twenty minute call is exactly the same > I've used 1010987 a couple of times for international calls. Good > connection, and rates so far below the "I don't have a $3.00 per month > International Plan" from AT&T that it's crazy. > Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 There are other great companies that offer 1010 services like Accudial. Check out http://www.maticmax.com/1010_numbers Steveroy Williams Maticmax.com ------------------------------ From: info@maticmax.com (Steveroy Williams) Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Date: 12 Nov 2003 07:42:30 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > Verizon's e-mail site is crap, and if I had another option for an > ISP(and phone company) right now I would have dropped them. > Anyway, has anyone else had a simular problem? And if so, how was it > resolved? I'm really tired of having to go the the library whenever I > have to log-on on a rainy day. > Thanks a lot. > Darren Harris > Staten Island, New York. I know how it is not to get online. I ive in the Bronx, NY and I used to have Verizon DSL which is overpriced. I'm now using dial up and another local telephone provider. They do not treat existing customers good. They are nicer when they want you back. Check out http://www.maticmax.com for options. Steveroy Williams Maticmax.com ------------------------------ From: info@maticmax.com (Steveroy Williams) Subject: Re: Outrageous Hotel Phone Surcharges Date: 12 Nov 2003 07:56:32 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com >> I wasn't asking for anyone to send a message; I was simply curious >> if there was any recourse through local, state, or federal >> regulatory agencies. Are hotels allowed to charge absurdly high >> rates for intrastate LD charges in Florida? > I wrote to the head office for Ramada, wherever it was, and > complained. In a week or two there was a check from the hotel > refunding the difference between the maximum rate posted and what we > were charged. Your best bet is to use a billed or prepaid calling cards for all calls made from hotels. Their rates are slightly higher than normal. Use the best rate calculator at: http://www.maticmax.com/international_rates for cheaper and better rates. Steveroy Williams Maticmax.com ------------------------------ From: info@maticmax.com (Steveroy Williams) Subject: Re: Long Distance via DSL/Cable Date: 12 Nov 2003 08:00:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Pokey wrote in message news:: > Does anyone have the names of long distance services via DSL/Cable for > residential service? > Are you satisfied with your choice? > Thxs: Pokey Are you looking for long distance and local together or just long distance providers. Whatever your choice is, check out http://wwww.maticmax.com Steveroy Williams Maticmax.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! 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #748 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Nov 14 03:36:19 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAE8aJ819961; Fri, 14 Nov 2003 03:36:19 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 03:36:19 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311140836.hAE8aJ819961@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 #749 TELECOM Digest Fri, 14 Nov 2003 03:36:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 749 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T Wireless Glitch Delays New Service (Monty Solomon) F.B.I.'s Reach Into Records Is Set to Grow (Monty Solomon) Bid to Backdoor Linux Kernel Detected - smh.com.au (Monty Solomon) Friendster Rivals Merge; Evite Enters (Monty Solomon) The Broadcast Flag Decision: The FCC Bends Over Backward (Monty Solomon) Spain's Telefonica 9-mo Net Profit 2.01 bln Euros (Monty Solomon) T-Mobile International Reports Third Quarter 2003 Results (M Solomon) PanAmSat Expands Global Satellite/Fiber Hybrid Network (Monty Solomon) Dell Third Quarter Results (Monty Solomon) FCC Expands Frequencies for Wireless Net (Monty Solomon) Treo 600 for Cingular Wireless GSM/GPRS Customers (Monty Solomon) Microsoft Details First-Ever MSN Profit (Monty Solomon) Oldest Living Start-Up Tells All (Monty Solomon) High-Tech Microscopes Expose Americans' Private Lives (Monty Solomon) Re: Portal ND USA / N.Portal SK Canada Telephone Service (Mark J Cuccia) Retroactive Long Distance Fight (Helping_a_friend) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 00:58:02 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Glitch Delays New Service REDMOND, Wash (AP) -- AT&T Wireless Services Inc. is struggling to activate wireless phone service for new customers after a software upgrade problem crippled its ability for a week to start the accounts. The Redmond, Wash.-based wireless phone company is working through the backlog of customers who signed up for service on its advanced GSM network since Nov. 1, company spokesman Mark Siegel said Monday. The company upgraded its customer service software on that date, resulting in glitches that prevented the company from activating new accounts, he said. Although the problems are mostly fixed, the company still has to set up service for those who have signed up in the past nine days. Siegel would not say how many customers were affected. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36429779 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 01:12:31 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: F.B.I.'s Reach Into Records Is Set to Grow By ERIC LICHTBLAU WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 -- A little-noticed measure approved by both the House and Senate would significantly expand the F.B.I.'s power to demand financial records, without a judge's approval, from car dealers, travel agents, pawnbrokers and many other businesses, officials said on Tuesday. Traditional financial institutions like banks and credit unions are frequently subject to administrative subpoenas from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to produce financial records in terrorism and espionage investigations. Such subpoenas, which are known as national security letters, do not require the bureau to seek a judge's approval before issuing them. The measure now awaiting final approval in Congress would significantly broaden the law to include securities dealers, currency exchanges, car dealers, travel agencies, post offices, casinos, pawnbrokers and any other institution doing cash transactions with "a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax or regulatory matters." Officials said the measure, which is tucked away in the intelligence community's authorization bill for 2004, gives agents greater flexibility and speed in seeking to trace the financial assets of people suspected of terrorism and espionage. It mirrors a proposal that President Bush outlined in a speech two months ago to expand the use of administrative subpoenas in terrorism cases. Critics said the measure would give the federal government greater power to pry into people's private lives. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/12/politics/12RECO.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 01:44:58 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Bid to Backdoor Linux Kernel Detected - smh.com.au Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 09:21:16 -0600 From: "Douglas W. Jones" Subject: Thwarted Linux backdoor On 5 Nov 2003, an attempt to insert a very cleverly crafted backdoor into Linux was averted. This is a really good example of the subtle kinds of hacks a source code examiner must be waiting to catch if we want genuinely secure voting systems under the current model of proprietary DRE systems with a closed-door source code examination. Someone broke into a server at kernel.kbits.net and inserted the following code into the Linux kernel: http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/23.02.html#subj7 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/07/1068013371170.html http://kerneltrap.org/node/view/1584 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 02:02:49 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Friendster Rivals Merge; Evite Enters By Paul Festa Staff Writer, CNET News.com In further evidence of a boomlet in social networking start-ups, InterActiveCorp said its Evite invitation service will compete with Friendster, and a San Francisco start-up acquired a competing personal networking service. Evite said that on Thursday it will debut version 2.0 of its online invitation service, promising to transform the InterActiveCorp unit into "a community site with public event planning tools." Evite 2.0, which will launch as a test or "beta" version, will mimic social networking sites, such as Friendster, with the introduction of personal profiles, called "My Info" pages, and bulletin board messages. The test phase is scheduled to end in the first quarter of the coming year. http://news.com.com/2100-1026-5106742.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 02:07:01 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Broadcast Flag Decision: The FCC Bends Over Backward The Broadcast Flag Decision: The FCC Bends Over Backward to Protect Over-the-Air Television and the HDTV Transition by Adam Thierer Just how far will policymakers go to protect "free, over-the-air" television and our ongoing industrial policy experiment with high-definition television (HDTV)? To answer that question, one need look no further than last week's decision by the Federal Communications Commission mandating that by July 1, 2005, every consumer electronic device in America capable of receiving digital TV signals must be able to recognize a "broadcast flag"-or string of digital code-that will be embedded in digital broadcast programming in the future. In theory, this little bit (excuse the pun) of regulatory engineering will encourage content creators and broadcasters to air more digital programming "in the clear" (i.e., through the broadcast television spectrum), knowing that the broadcast flag will allow them to prohibit mass redistribution through peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. In other words, the broadcast flag mandate will prevent the "Napster-ization" of video programming. http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/031113-tk.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 23:13:56 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Spain's Telefonica 9-mo net profit 2.01 bln euros - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36436757 MADRID, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica (MC:TEF) said on Thursday its nine-month net attributable profit reached 2.01 billion euros ($2.34 billion), compared with a 5.04 billion euro loss a year earlier when it took a hefty UMTS writedown. Telefonica said its revenues slipped 3.0 percent to a 20.83 billion euros due to the impact of Latin American currency depreciation on its accounts. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 4.1 percent to 9.29 billion euros. Twelve analysts polled by Reuters had forecast on average a net profit of 2.10 billion euros, EBITDA of 9.17 billion euros and sales of 20.81 billion euros. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 23:16:08 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: T-Mobile International Reports Third Quarter 2003 Results of U.S. BONN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2003--T-Mobile International (NYSE:DT): -- Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization ("OIBDA") of $461 million in the third quarter -- OIBDA margin to service revenues of 24% -- 670,000 net new customers in the third quarter -- Service Revenue ARPU of $54, up $1 sequentially and $4 year-over-year - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36436827 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 23:26:15 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: PanAmSat Expands Global Satellite/Fiber Hybrid Network Transaction Results in One of the First Hybrid Multi-Media Delivery Systems for Video and Government Customers WILTON, Conn., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PanAmSat Corporation (Nasdaq: SPOT) today announced the acquisition of Sonic Telecom Ltd., a provider of international high-definition multimedia transmission services and business applications. The all-cash transaction will extend and enhance the reach of PanAmSat's 24-satellite global fleet and its extensive fiber network throughout the US, Europe and Asia. As a result, the integration of Sonic Telecom to the PanAmSat infrastructure will provide customers with a seamless satellite/fiber network that will deliver video content virtually to or from anywhere in the world in a cost-efficient, secure manner with robust redundancy. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36439290 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 23:33:52 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Dell Third Quarter Results Strong Growth in Servers, Storage Systems Leads Dell to Record Operating Results in Fiscal Third Quarter; Company Anticipates $11.5 Billion in Revenue, EPS of 28 Cents in Q4 - Nov 13, 2003 03:19 PM (BusinessWire) ROUND ROCK, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2003--Dell (Nasdaq:DELL) again demonstrated its unique ability to simultaneously deliver high customer value, solid worldwide share gains and leading profitability, achieving record company operating results in the fiscal third quarter. Dell's global server shipments increased 30 percent, almost twice the combined rate of other companies. Sales of external storage systems jumped 68 percent in the quarter. The company's total revenue from enterprise computing systems was up 32 percent. For the three months ended Oct. 31, Dell's net revenue was $10.6 billion, 16 percent higher than in the year-ago quarter. Company revenue was more than 40-percent higher than two years ago; sales by the rest of the industry are essentially flat over the same period. Third-quarter Dell earnings were 26 cents per share, a 24-percent increase. Third Quarter Year to Date (in millions, except FY'04 FY'03 Change FY '04 FY'03 Change share data) Revenue $10,622 $ 9,144 16% $29,932 $25,669 17% Operating Income $ 912 $ 758 20% $ 2,563 $ 2,025 27% Net Income $ 677 $ 561 21% $ 1,896 $ 1,519 25% Earnings Per Share $ 0.26 $ 0.21 24% $ 0.72 $ 0.57 26% - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36446569 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 23:35:32 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Expands Frequencies for Wireless Net By JONATHAN D. SALANT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Regulators said Thursday they would help bring high-speed Internet connections to rural areas by expanding the spectrum of frequencies for wireless devices that do not require modems and phone jacks. Consumer groups were skeptical. The Federal Communications Commission said the action would mean an 80 percent boost in the amount of spectrum that these wireless networks could use to connect computers and other electronic devices to the Internet. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36450634 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 23:30:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Treo 600 for Cingular Wireless GSM/GPRS Customers Award-Winning Smartphone Simplifies Business and Personal Life ATLANTA, and MILPITAS, Calif., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless and palmOne, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLMO) today announced the immediate availability of the Treo(TM) 600 smartphone, an integrated wireless smartphone with a built-in QWERTY keyboard, on Cingular's nationwide GSM/GPRS network. The Treo 600 smartphone seamlessly combines a full-featured mobile phone and Palm OS(R) organizer with wireless applications such as email, text messaging and web browsing into one compact, powerful device. (1) The Treo 600 smartphone's quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) world phone allows customers to make and receive calls on GSM/GPRS networks worldwide. (2) The Treo 600 operates on the Palm OS 5.2 operating system, providing everything you need to stay organized including calendar, contact list, to-do list, and memo pad. The Palm OS also allows customers to take advantage of thousands of existing applications including games, office document readers, multimedia applications, and valuable utilities for both personal and business needs. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36439860 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 23:38:00 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft Details First-Ever MSN Profit SEATTLE, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ:MSFT) MSN Internet division posted its first-ever quarterly operating profit of $58 million since it was launched eight years ago, the world's largest software maker said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. The results show that four of Microsoft seven business divisions are generating an operating profit, which excludes taxes and investment charges. The other three divisions: Business Solutions, cell phone and device software business, and home and entertainment, are still posting operating losses, according to data from the latest quarter ended Sept. 30. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft had indicated on its quarterly earnings call three weeks ago that MSN had reached profitability, but had not disclosed how profitable the Internet portal, access and content business had become. A 50 percent jump in advertising revenue from the previous quarter helped fuel MSN revenues to $128 million in the September quarter, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer John Connors told analysts and reporters on the call. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36455117 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 23:36:08 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Oldest Living Start-Up Tells All By STEVE LOHR LOS GATOS, Calif. - RFco Inc. is a paradox: a hot new Silicon Valley start-up, with plenty of history. The nugget of innovation that RFco, a semiconductor company, is trying to commercialize has its roots in the mid-1990's. The search for venture financing took more than two years. And the company's top five executives are all about 60 years old. "This is probably the oldest start-up ever funded," said Rich Forte, 60, the chief executive of RFco. Jim Kubinec, the 63-year-old chief technology officer, recalls being recruited to Fairchild Semiconductor in 1964 by Robert Noyce, co-inventor of the integrated circuit and later a founder of Intel. A Stanford-educated electrical engineer, Mr. Kubinec at the time left a job at Lockheed to take a chance on the fledgling semiconductor business. "I've been a 'chip head,' silicon under my nails, ever since," he said. Mr. Kubinec met Mr. Forte at Fairchild Semiconductor nearly four decades ago, "when we were both young men," Mr. Kubinec said. The executives at RFco are part of a renaissance of analog and radio frequency technology brought about by the rapid expansion in wireless communications including cellphones, hand-held devices and Wi-Fi computer networks. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/10/technology/10start.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 00:51:20 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: High-tech microscopes expose Americans' private lives By Don Campbell Too many of us (accept) the argument that the concept of personal privacy in the Internet era is as outdated as the Model T. Americans can get pretty upset about the ways in which modern technology drives us nuts -- such as telemarketers who disrupt our dinner and spam e-mailers who make pornographic sales pitches. But a more insidious invasion of Americans' privacy quietly has taken root in Florida. It has received little attention from the media except in Florida and a handful of other states being recruited to join the enterprise. The project underscores how our fascination with technology blinds us to violations of our privacy -- and highlights the inadequacy of today's mishmash of federal and state privacy laws. "MATRIX," an acronym for Multistate Anti-Terrorist Information Exchange, is, according to its creator, the largest database on the planet, with more than 20 billion records. Working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and $12 million in federal funding, a company called Seisint designed MATRIX with the objective of compiling an electronic dossier on every citizen in the nation. Not surprisingly, the cover story is that MATRIX is needed to fight terrorism. If that doesn't ping the strings of your patriotic heart, it's also being touted as the cat's meow when it comes to catching kidnappers and child molesters. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-11-10-campbell_x.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 12:08:40 -0600 (CST) From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Re: Portal ND USA / N.Portal SK Canada Telephone Service More regarding Portal ND USA / North Portal SK Canada ... Portal ND USA, Midstate Telco, 701-926, PRTLNDXADS0 (digital switch) homing on Qwest-LEC/US-West/NWBell LATA tandem in Bismark ND BSMRNDBC12T. On the Canadian side (ALL SaskTel): North Portal SK Canada, 306-927 NPTLSK01RS1 (Nortel remote switch hosted by Weyburn SK Nortel DMS-100 WYBNSK03DS0), all homing on the tandem/toll switch REGNSK0603T in Regina SK. Take a look at some of these pages re Portal/N.Portal http://www.portalnd.org/ http://www.portalnd.org/page0002.html http://www.portalnd.org/page0003.html http://www.portalnd.org/page0004.html http://www.portalnd.org/page0006.html http://www.portalnd.org/page0007.html http://www.portalnd.org/page0009.html http://www.rootsweb.com/~ndburke/burke2.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~ndburke/phonedir.jpg (1932 one-page phone 'book') http://www.rootsweb.com/~ndburke/49phone.jpg (1949 one-page phone 'book') While I don't think that there has been local/EAS/free dialing between the two sides for at least recent years and MAYBE not even in the mid-70s, in 1975 there were separate switches/homings for each side Portal ND USA and N.Portal SK Canada, there most likely WAS local calling for each side as well as a single (SXS?) c.o.switch on one side (US-side? Canada-side?) providing dialtone and local for BOTH sides, prior to 1975. Note above the link to a scan of the SINGLE-PAGE 1932 telephone subscriber list, and the scan of the SINGLE-PAGE 1949 telephone subscriber list. It was the "International Telephone Company" for both sides, and there is really nothing formal to differentiate which customers are on the US side and which are on the Canadian side. There obviously was local calling, it was obviously manual (possibly magneto) with party lines, two or three digit numbers. I've already emailed the webmaster of this site regarding the history and culture of Portal/N.Portal and (ND/USA) Burke County, with some comments, and the FOLLOWING QUESTIONS, regarding telephone service/history: > When did DIAL telephone service come to Portal/N.Portal? > And how long did local service for both sides of the border last? > When did the US/ND side go to MidState Telco, and the Can/SK go to > SaskTel? > During the "dial" days (after there was the 701-926 and 306-927 assigned > sometime in the 1960s I guess), who was the local telephone company, [note that both sides have c.o.codes of the 92x range] > and which side of the border provided the service to both sides? > I'm curious about all kinds of "unique" telephone situations, and this > Portal/N.Portal was "unique" at one time, even though it seems like it > has been a TOLL call to call across the border for at least 25+ years > now. > Thanks for any info you could supply on the history of telephone service > in the Portal/N.Portal border community! So, I'll wait and see what (if) reply I get ... Mark J. Cuccia New Orleans LA CSA ------------------------------ From: VerochkaMD@hotmail.com (Helping_a_friend) Subject: Retroactive Long Distance Fight Date: 13 Nov 2003 11:20:32 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Short version: I was wondering if anyone had ever had a success story with convincing a long distance company to apply a new plan rate for the past month's billing period. The real story: I have a friend in distress who has a $1200 Long Distance Sprint phone bill for October. A friend (admittedly not the genius of this world) did not realize how much regular sprint international rates are. The $1200 was actually only 5 phone calls to Germany (each about 4 hours long). If that friend had signed up for "Sprint 50 at HomeSM with International Savings", the rate to Germany would have been $0.12 a minute with a $3 monthly fee. In other words, had he had this plan, his bill would have been less than $150 for October. I'm trying to convince him to call Sprint and ask what they can do for him. It would encourage him even more if there were success stories to this effect. Also if anyone has any advice on how to talk to Sprint about this issue, I and my friend would really appreciate it. Thank you for your time! ------------------------------ 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, Yahoo Groups 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: 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 fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. 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 #749 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Nov 14 21:52:06 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAF2q6V24922; Fri, 14 Nov 2003 21:52:06 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 21:52:06 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311150252.hAF2q6V24922@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 #750 TELECOM Digest Fri, 14 Nov 2003 21:52:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 750 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Multicast and Group Security" Hardjono/Dondeti (Rob Slade) Norvergence Is Not A Scam, It's a Solid Business Solution (a1graphics) Norvergence (LaQuan Sanders) Re: Norvergence (FREETECHBOARD.com) Re: Norvergence (Jets Guy22) VoIP Troubleshooter (Hank Karl) Routing Help (Mitch) 951 Area Code Officially Created (Hank Fung) California: 909 Splits Off 951 Possibly Summer 2004 (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Retroactive Long Distance Fight (JDS) Re: Retroactive Long Distance Fight (COTTP) Re: Retroactive Long Distance Fight (Nathan Strom) Re: Retroactive Long Distance Fight (DevilsPGD) Cisco TAC Calling Instructions For Panama (Garrett Wollman) New Telco Central Office website up (Sdsewage) Obituary: Charles Brown, Oversaw Breakup of Ma Bell (Yahoo! Finance) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (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. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 07:58:31 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Multicast and Group Security" Hardjono/Dondeti BKMCGPSC.RVW 20030915 "Multicast and Group Security", Thomas Hardjono/Lakshminath R. Dondeti, 2003, 1-58053-342-6, U$89.00/C$137.95 %A Thomas Hardjono %A Lakshminath R. Dondeti %C 685 Canton St., Norwood, MA 02062 %D 2003 %G 1-58053-342-6 %I Artech House/Horizon %O U$89.00/C$137.95 617-769-9750 artech@artech-house.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580533426/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580533426/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580533426/robsladesin03-20 %P 307 p. %T "Multicast and Group Security" Multicast security may involve a problem of confidentiality in a situation where confidential information is distributed to a number of parties simultaneously, and also where you may wish to authenticate the user, while simultaneously preserving his (or her) privacy. This is a very interesting problem in another area of security, that of emergency preparedness and communication. Technically, the problem has solutions. Practically, it may not: can you completely trust the recipients not to redistribute the confidential information that you sent? The other obvious application lies in the realm of the ultimate promiscuous network: wireless. Chapter one seeks to point out the motivation and need for multicast security, but it does not do a convincing job due to a lack of detail about the multicast process. This deficiency is partially made up in chapter two, but it does mean that much of the text in the second chapter echoes that already presented in the first. Authentication is addressed in chapter three with regard to the need to verify that a given message came from either any member of the group or a specific member, and that an individual cannot deny having sent a communication. Having overexplained the basic cases, when the authors move into the details of specific (and sometimes very complicated) signing operations, they frequently fail to make clear the reasons for the use of these systems. Although there is no formal division in the book, chapter four is the first of three chapters dealing with key management for groups. The difficulties of such a practice have already been raised in the introductory material, and this chapter provides very little more, primarily making analogies with the security associations (SAs) of IPSec (Internet Protocol Security). Chapter five presents various key management architectures and protocols. The details of operation are clear enough, but the intent of the different procedures is not always made clear, so that it is difficult to understand when a new process is said to be an improvement. Key management algorithms, in chapter six, are primarily concerned with reissuance of group keys after a member has left the group. Chapter seven's discussion of group security policy is limited to procedures and standards, and thus generally repeats much that has gone before. Even if privacy of transmission is assumed, security concerns can still posit denial of service situations where false control messages are sent to join, leave, or submit to groups, and so routing, in chapter eight, is vital. Reliable transport, or guaranteed delivery, also needs to be considered separately, as is done in chapter nine. Cases and specific applications are reviewed in chapter ten. Chapter eleven looks at future directions and research. The writing is unnecessarily verbose and repetitive. Background information is provided in support of the concepts covered, but in a disorderly manner. The structure and organization of material could be improved with little effort, and would result not only in text that was easier to read, but also in a simpler logical flow. In addition, the "alphabet soup" of acronyms is particularly thick in this work, and the authors are not careful about defining an abbreviation before they use it: some acronyms are never defined. This book does provide an introduction to multicast security, but you'll have to work for it. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2003 BKMCGPSC.RVW 20030915 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu Sometimes I think that the patron saint of lawyers ought to be Pontius Pilate, for surely he said it best: What is truth? - Sharyn McCrumb http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ From: a1graphicsinc@hotmail.com (a1graphicsinc@hotmail.com) Subject: Norvergence Is Not A Scam, It's a Solid Business Solution Date: 12 Nov 2003 19:35:26 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com We have been a NorVergence customer for 2 years. Norvergence has provided everything they promised. It's crazy to read these posting of ex Norvergence employees and competitors making Norvergence sound bad. If Norvergence didn't have a solid solution, than NorVergence competitors wouldn't be resorting to these terrorist type tactics Do you your own homework http://www.norvergence.com Norvergence is a 150 million dollar company. http://www.norvergence.com/PDFs/DNBReport.pdf I am prepared to talk to anyone that wants honest, real, solid experiences a1graphicsinc@hotmail.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not know what sort of 'terrorist type tactics' you think people have been engaging in. I do know that several days ago there was one or two messages printed here in the Digest from people who did not speak too highly of the company. I do know that at least some people have represented the company as having some affiliation or connection with Nortel; and one reader here took the trouble to call Nortel for confirmation on that point. That reader reported that not only did Nortel fail to mention any connection but apparently is thinking about 'going legal' (i.e. filing suit) because of this claimed misrepresentation. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jessie.sanders@norvergence.com (LaQuan Sanders) Subject: Norvergence Date: 14 Nov 2003 06:55:10 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Norvergence is a Company that is growing faster then any other Telecommunication Solution Company. The company is supplying jobs to the urban community in Newark, NJ. Norvergence is currently working with the Mayors Office of Employment to supply more jobs to the inner city residents. Norvergence is the only company that pays you a high base salary with a healthy commission package and always has room for advancement. We are growing as a company and like everyone knows there are going to be hurtles that need to be jump and we are jumping those hurtle as fast as we can. So for all the people that think the company is so bad they haven't been around long enough to make any judgments because everyone knows a start up company takes at lease 4-5 years to get where Norvergence is in not even 2 years. ------------------------------ From: mc5_2001@yahoo.com (FREETECHBOARD.com) Subject: Re: Norvergence Date: 14 Nov 2003 13:32:02 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Here is what I can tell you. I worked for them last month and even though they have lots of problems internal with paperwork getting lost and stuff, they were ok. I left because I found a director position at BT telco. Listen why would you guys call them fraud. They have figured out a way to cut your costs, why do you care how they do it. DOES IT WORK? if it works and saves you money WHO CARES how they do it. As far as Tom and Pete I have no clue who is who. The good thing is that they will save you money. The bad thing is that they will probably lose your paperwork and you will have few free months (oh wait that's a good thing for you as a customer). Anyway good luck. Len Roger Colosimo wrote in message news:: > Patrick, > I am looking for either positive or negative information about > Norvergence. I can across your site while searching on Google. Can > you help? > Thanks, > Roger Colosimo > Director of Business Sales > P.248.465.1448 ext. 200 > C.248.982.2805 > F.248.465.1449 > Motor City Interactive helps companies maximize their marketing > efforts using our proven interactive technologies to sustain continued > growth in a competitive market place. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: All I know about the company are the > messages printd here in the Digest in the past few months, many of > which had a negative tinge about them. I would suggest you look in > our archives http://telecom-digest.org in the recent single issues > area of the back issues section (seven or eight hundred issues there > in the past year or so) and grep for Norvergence. PAT] ------------------------------ From: everettlippel@hotmail.com (Jets Guy22) Subject: Norvergence Date: 14 Nov 2003 13:07:45 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Ok,so here's the deal ... it's no secret to people that when a new emerging company starts to become successful that people are going to have negative feedback about it, especially competitors. When Microsoft first emerged everyone had negative things to say about them. Why? Because people are scared of new ideas and concepts that they aren't familiar with. The company of NorVergence itself has grown exponentially and has been very thorough with their clientele in making sure they provide services in an efficient manner. Not only do they take care of their customers but they also take care of their employees unlike some other sweat-shop companies out there in the malicious corporate world especially in the telecommunications industry. They also have a stringent application process in which customers are contacted several times BEFORE they're installed to make sure that they understand how the process works and what type of services that they'll receive. There is no misunderstanding between the company and NorVergence and it seems that companies are really quite happy that they are saving money. That's the bottom line. They get services that they've already been using for years; the only difference is that it's all cheaper and unlimited. The tactics that NorVergence have used are ingenious in actuality. They developed a way to eliminate the buyer /seller animosity and to create a business solution that lets companies work more cost efficiently. Last time I checked there was nothing wrong with helping companies save money, giving them high speed internet and allowing them the ability to make unlimited calls. If that's wrong then I don't know what's right. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since you seem to have some knowledge about the company, perhaps you could explain what the animosity with Nortel is about? To the readers in general: What was the name of that other telecom company in recent years (maybe still?) which seemed to be more interested in recruiting new sales representatives than in telecom service itself ... almost like a pyramid scheme. I know that in the past when there were sort of mild inquiries from people about that company the response would be that several of their sales reps would write here to the Digest complaining about the earlier inquiries which I thought had been made in good faith. Back to our letter writer now: Could you elaborate on these 'ingenious tactics' Norvergence is using to eliminate buyer/seller animosity? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 11:37:25 -0500 From: Hank Karl Subject: VoIP Troubleshooter Organization: Nine-9s Please consider listing www.nine-9s.com in the Telecom Archives. This is a goof anyone experiencing voice quality problems on a VoIP call. Regards, Hank Hank Karl Eastern Regional Manager +1 (203)207-0047 (v) mailto:hk@ntplx.net Representing: http://www.telchemy.com Quality Monitoring software ------------------------------ From: mitch@blackfam.com (Mitch) Subject: Routing Help Date: 13 Nov 2003 19:26:41 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I recently ran into a routing issue that has baffled me. Making a long story short, when someone from the 202 NPA (DC) is trying to call someone in 703-871 (VA) -- a Local/IntraLATA call -- the Verizon designers are telling me I need to route that traffic to ARTNVAAR78T. They say that information is in the LERG. Well when I look in the LERG for 703-871, I see that it is owned by Cavalier and is homed to end office switch WASJDCDBDS1. When I cross reference WASJDCDBDS1 into LERG 7 SHA, I do not find an entry for H-TRM LOCAL TDM or H-TRM INTRA-L TDM nor do I find ANY reference to ARTNVAAR78T ... so what am I missing? Can someone from explain to me what step I must be missing to connect 703-871 (WASJDCDBDS1) to ARTNVAAR78T. Thanks, Mitch ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 00:56:18 -0800 From: Hank Fung Subject: 951 Area Code officially created http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_split14.ed08.html Use username/password for Belo sites or laexaminer@laexaminer.com, laexaminer. Riverside Press-Enterprise By JOHNATHAN SHIKES Riverside County, welcome to the 951. The California Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to split the 909 area code, allowing San Bernardino County residents to keep their familiar digits while assigning new numbers in most of western Riverside County. Callers will not be able to use the 951 area code until July 17, but phone companies will begin to notify customers about the switch within 90 days. The rapid growth of Inland Southern California and the dwindling supply of phone numbers here were the main reasons the commission voted to split the code. But Commissioners Carl Wood and Susan Kennedy also noted that unlike other parts of the state where an area code has been split, there was virtually no opposition to the notion of dividing the 909. [That's not true. See http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/word_pdf/REPORT/29707.pdf for the number of people who were clearly opposed and expressed their concerns at public meetings. Although not major, the commissioners were understating the opposition, including myself. -HF] [...] Commissioner Loretta Lynch, who has been a vocal opponent of area code splits, was the only commissioner out of four to vote against this one. She said it is too early to force the change on Riverside County residents and businesses, and that there may end up being enough numbers after all. Lynch has argued that "number conservation techniques" and a pending FCC rule requiring wireless carriers to let customers keep their phone numbers if they switch providers will drastically slow the rate at which phone numbers are distributed. She also said she hopes the people of the 909 were in favor of the split more for technical reasons than social ones. The 909 is often referred to by LA-area radio DJs, and others, as a code word to disparage the Inland Empire. "They should all be 909-proud, even if the 909 is getting smaller," Lynch said. [See also the decidedly concise press release at http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUBLISHED/NEWS_RELEASE/31553.htm] - Hank Fung fungus@ocf.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 11:17:34 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: California: 909 Splits off 951 Possibly Summer 2004 At the moment as I compose this, there is no "press release" nor "Planning Letter" nor DDS yet at Neustar NANPA's website. But at NANPA's "Planned NPAs Not Yet in Service" in the "Area Codes" section of their website, there is an update dated (Thu) 13-November-2003 http://docs.nanpa.com/cgi-bin/npa_reports/nanpa?function=list_npa_not_in_service and there is now an "in service" (permissive dial ??) date for the 909/951 NPA Split in southern California, 17-July-2004. This is consistant with what an Administrative Law Judge proposed a month or two ago ... and there would be a three-month (and two weeks) permissive dial period and his recommendation also indicated Saturday 30-October-2004 being the date of mandatory dialing. At this moment, I don't see any updated "official" info at the Ca.PUC's website, the page which would have the specific info would be: http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/static/industry/telco/area+code+info/909areachange.htm Here is some ratecenter/etc. profile for the 909/951 split region, according to what I've been keeping up with from Neustar/TRA/Ca.PUC/etc. I simply refer to the incumbent as GTE or Bell for each ratecenter/ exchange area. GTE is now part of VeriZon; Bell is now SBC (formerly Pac*Bell for California). 909 => 909 / 951 NPA Split: NPA 909 will be retained by TWENTY-ONE ratecenters in the northern part of the existing (pre-split) NPA 909, which includes San Bernardino County and a small part of eastern Los Angeles County: (GTE) CLAREMONT-SAN DIMAS (in eastern Los Angeles County) (GTE) POMONA (in eastern Los Angeles County) (GTE) DIAMOND BAR (in eastern Los Angeles County) (GTE) CHINO (GTE) ONTARIO (GTE) UPLAND (GTE) ETIWANDA (GTE) MARSHALL (GTE) CRESTLINE (GTE) ARROWHEAD (GTE) SAN BERNARDINO (GTE) REDLANDS (GTE) MENTONE (GTE) CALIMESA (a small part extends into Riverside County) (Bell) FONTANA (Bell) RIALTO (Bell) HIGHLAND (Bell) COLTON (half in San Bernardino County, half in Riverside County) (GTE) RUNNING SPRINGS (GTE-formerly-Contel) (GTE) BIG BEAR LAKE (GTE-formerly-Contel) (GTE) BIG BEAR CITY (GTE-formerly-Contel) NPA 951 will be used by TWENTY ratecenters in the southern part of the existing (pre-split) NPA 909, all within Riverside County: (Bell) CORONA (Bell) MIRA LOMA (Bell) RIVERSIDE (Bell) ARLINGTON (Bell) TEMESCAL CANYON (Bell) WOODCREST (GTE) MORENO (GTE) LAKEVIEW NUEVO (GTE) PERRIS (GTE) ELSINORE (GTE) SUN CITY (GTE) MURRIETA (GTE) TEMECULA (GTE) HEMET : SAGE DA (District Area) (GTE) HEMET : ANZA DA (District Area) (GTE) HEMET : HEMET DA (District Area) (GTE) HEMET : HOMELAND DA (District Area) (GTE) HEMET : SAN JACINTO DA (District Area) (GTE) BANNING (GTE) IDYLLWILD (Riverside County use of name for locality/ratecenter) Test Number -- 951-800-0951 ... 951-800 is SBC-Pac*Bell's ARTNCA11DS0 (Lucent-5ESS) in Arlington CA; Note that there is NO "pre-existing" 951-800 prefix at all! This split was ORIGINALLY intended to take effect in Feb.2000 (mandatory Sept.2000), but was "indefinately postponed" JUST PRIOR to Feb.2000 by the Ca.PUC. The test number announcement was initially activated by SBC-Pac*Bell, and AT&T/MCI/Sprint routed to it. It is not working "at present", I think that SBC-Pac*Bell has turned off the announcement/etc., an also AT&T/MCI/Sprint may have removed 951-800 from their toll switches' six-digit NPA-NXX translations. NPA 951 does still seem to be "valid" on a three-digit translation basis in most/all AT&T 5E-OSPS (Opr/Card) switches/platforms, but it has no-where to go in the 4Es or even if it does, SBC-Pac*Bell doesn't have 951 up and running even for the test number on the distant terminating end. BellSouth does *NOT* (and never did) load NPA 951 into valid-NPA translations for originating dialing in the local cl.5 end-offices in the New Orleans area. At least NPA 951 is *NOT* in my "home" 5ESS "Seabrook" central office, NWORLASKDS0 (traditional/default is MOST but not all 504-24x's). BTW, some of the northern/eastern parts of NPA 909 and which will be *retaining* NPA 909, is what was affected by the wildfires recently. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA CSA ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Retroactive Long Distance Fight From: JDS Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 17:40:19 GMT > ... success story with convincing a long distance company > to apply a new plan rate for the past month's billing period. > ... $1200 Long Distance Sprint phone bill for October. I got Sprint to cut a $400 bill in half ... I was a subscriber to "Sprint Sense International." I actually checked the Sprint web site and read that "all calls" to the UK were 10 cents/minute, and then allowed my daughter to talk with a friend in London for roughly 500 minutes. The bill was $400, and because I had signed up for automatic debit and the bank didn't act on my request to cancel the automatic debit, Sprint got the money. The Web site didn't say that calls to UK -wireless- phones were 80 cents/minute. I complained to Sprint in a polite letter, and also wrote to the FCC with lots of documentation -- prints of the Sprint Web page, competitors' Web pages (which mentioned different rates for wireless targets), the bill, etc. Anyway, I got a call from the Sprint executive office, and we quickly agreed to split the difference - and they sent me a check! In a really unusual Sprint screwup, they sent me a second duplicate check, but my Eagle Scout ethics compelled me to return that to them. Your friend should check on Sprint's published rates and advertisements, and see if something misleading was going on -- he needs something to hang his argument on. In any case, your friend should switch to another service. I pay 5.81 cents/min to Germany with ECG (ecglongdistance.com). -- JDS ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Retroactive Long Distance Fight Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 12:55:52 -0500 In article , VerochkaMD@hotmail.com says: > Short version: > I was wondering if anyone had ever had a success story with convincing > a long distance company to apply a new plan rate for the past month's > billing period. > The real story: > I have a friend in distress who has a $1200 Long Distance Sprint phone > bill for October. A friend (admittedly not the genius of this world) > did not realize how much regular Sprint international rates are. The > $1200 was actually only 5 phone calls to Germany (each about 4 hours > long). If that friend had signed up for "Sprint 50 at HomeSM with > International Savings", the rate to Germany would have been $0.12 a > minute with a $3 monthly fee. In other words, had he had this plan, > his bill would have been less than $150 for October. > I'm trying to convince him to call Sprint and ask what they can do for > him. It would encourage him even more if there were success stories to > this effect. Also if anyone has any advice on how to talk to Sprint > about this issue, I and my friend would really appreciate it. > Thank you for your time! Whew -- that's steep. I use USADataNet -- 1,200 minutes would cost me $96.00 You might catch a sympathetic rep at Sprint. They know full well that $1.00 a minute to an EU country is a rip-off. Explain that to them and just maybe they'll knock it back into reality. This scam among the main carriers is getting on my nerves. Sign up for package X at $x per month, get your calls for .10 a minutes, or what have you. But the reality is, there is so much excess LD capacity in the United States at the given time that the actual costs to carry the call are minimal, the price should be minimal too. ------------------------------ From: nstrom@ananzi.co.za (Nathan Strom) Subject: Re: Retroactive Long Distance Fight Date: 14 Nov 2003 07:10:53 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com VerochkaMD@hotmail.com (Helping_a_friend) wrote in message news:: > Short version: > I was wondering if anyone had ever had a success story with convincing > a long distance company to apply a new plan rate for the past month's > billing period. > The real story: > I have a friend in distress who has a $1200 Long Distance Sprint phone > bill for October. A friend (admittedly not the genius of this world) > did not realize how much regular sprint international rates are. The > $1200 was actually only 5 phone calls to Germany (each about 4 hours > long). If that friend had signed up for "Sprint 50 at HomeSM with > International Savings", the rate to Germany would have been $0.12 a > minute with a $3 monthly fee. In other words, had he had this plan, > his bill would have been less than $150 for October. > I'm trying to convince him to call Sprint and ask what they can do for > him. It would encourage him even more if there were success stories to > this effect. Also if anyone has any advice on how to talk to Sprint > about this issue, I and my friend would really appreciate it. > Thank you for your time! I would try posting this to alt.cellular.sprintpcs, the people there might know. ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Retroactive Long Distance Fight Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 17:16:12 -0700 In message <> VerochkaMD@hotmail.com (Helping_a_friend) did ramble: > I was wondering if anyone had ever had a success story with convincing > a long distance company to apply a new plan rate for the past month's > billing period. When I worked at a telco, this was at the rep's discretion. If you called in screaming mad that you changed your rate a month ago and it didn't take effect, chances are we'd just issue the credit to get you off the line. Whether Sprint would do this or not, I don't know. In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal. ------------------------------ From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Cisco TAC calling instructions for Panama Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 18:25:42 UTC Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science I was just looking at a list of Cisco TAC phone numbers, when I noticed the following: > Panama2 001 800 507 1422 Note (2) says: > 2 The Panama phone number is only accessible from Cable and Wireless > LEC. Dialing from another LEC results in an unsuccessful call unless > you have a Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier (PIC) code. Contact > your internal telecom team or carrier to get the PIC code for Cable > and Wireless before making the call. I did not know that Panama had a competitive telephone industry -- I'm surprised that the country would be able to support more than one. I also noticed that many Latin-American countries had instructions like the following: > Argentina Telefonica: 0800-222-6249, > Card number1 XXX XXX XXX XYY YY > Telecom: 0800-555-1002, > Card number1 XXX XXX XXX XYY YY ...where note (1) says: > 1 Instructions for Special Dial Access > 1. Dial the Local Access number > 2. After the chime, dial the Card Number and PIN number YYYY > 3. When you hear a few beeps, dial *99 > 4. If the *99 doesn't work, the operator will ask what number > you wish to dial; use the Card Number I'm guessing that this is some sort of IXC-operated USA-direct service, where the card number and PIN (that I have X'ed out here) are used to authenticate the user as a Cisco customer who has access to the customer-only part of Cisco's Web site. I note that the PIN is the same for all of the countries which use this scheme, but the card number is not. Most of the countries in question seem to use a card number that looks like a NANP phone number in the Durham, N.C. area (perhaps RTP?). -- 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: sdsewage@aol.com (Sdsewage) Date: 14 Nov 2003 00:43:43 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: New Telco Central Office Website Up New website dedicated to pictures and info on telephone central offices is up at: www.thecentraloffice.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 07:56:41 PST From: Michael Chance Subject: Obituary: Charles Brown, Oversaw Breakup of Ma Bell OBITUARY-Charles Brown, oversaw breakup of Ma Bell http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/031112/telecoms_att_brown_1.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I knew Charlie Brown only as a neighbor when we both lived many years ago in Rogers Park, a neighborhood on the north side of Chicago. At the time, he was the President of (the old) Illinois Bell Telephone Company. After various lateral job transfers, he eventually became Chairman of AT&T, a position he held for several years during the 1980's; thus his nickname in the late 1980's: 'the Divestiture Chairman'. His intelligence and hard work over many years at Illinois Bell got him many acolades and awards. Do go over to Yahoo Business News and read about his passing. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 20:39:02 UTC Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , Mark Brader wrote: > CHU is also based in the Ottawa area and has been operated by the NRC, > not the Dominion Observatory, for more than 30 years. So there would > be no point in having a separate phone number from the NRC one I > posted. ... unless you happen to have an HF receiver and are trying to verify that the signal you are listening to on 3330 and/or 7335 is in fact CHU and not some other station. (Although those modem tones are pretty distinctive ...) -- 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 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, Yahoo Groups 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 #750 ******************************