From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Mar 14 22:49:51 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i2F3npu03892; Sun, 14 Mar 2004 22:49:51 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 22:49:51 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200403150349.i2F3npu03892@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 V23 #122 TELECOM Digest Sun, 14 Mar 2004 22:50:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 122 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson TV Changing Rapidly, Viewers Try to Adjust (Monty Solomon) Hoax Soaks Aliso Viejo (Monty Solomon) Shock Jocks My Fly Free with Satellite Radio (Monty Solomon) Re: Snapshots in Time (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Caller ID for PC (J Kelly) Re: Ever Heard of PeoplePC Online? (J Kelly) Re: SkyFILES: The Aftermath of DISH/Viacom (Tony P.) Re: President Bush Wants to Bug the Internet (Sammy@nospam.biz) Re: President Bush Wants to Bug the Internet (William Warren) Re: President Bush Wants to Bug the Internet (Mark Crispin) 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, 14 Mar 2004 13:05:47 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TV Changing Rapidly, Viewers Try to Adjust By DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- The natural rhythms of television used to be as dependable as leaves sprouting in spring and falling in autumn. Broadcast networks would premiere new shows in mid-September, then replace failures when the weather turned cold. Summer was rerun season. Prime-time schedules rarely changed. Those days are long gone. Series pop up and disappear anytime, dispatched around the schedule like chess pieces. Some shows are rerun all the time, others never. You can't even count on a show to start at the top of an hour anymore. For ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, plus upstarts WB and UPN, the landscape is changing rapidly. The reasons include viewers' lackluster response to the current season, cable continuing to grab viewers and awards, and the hyper-competitiveness of TV executives. For viewers, their trusted TV sets can be confusing. Here's a look at how things are changing and why: http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200403092003_APO_V0089 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 13:27:35 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hoax Soaks Aliso Viejo City officials fall for an Internet prank and draft a law to curb the risks of dihydrogen monoxide. By William Wan, Times Staff Writer In large quantities, dihydrogen monoxide can cause medical problems in humans and even destroy property. But in Aliso Viejo, it's only causing red faces. Officials of the south Orange County city were embarrassed to learn Friday that they had tripped over an Internet hoax about dihydrogen monoxide -- commonly known as water -- in an effort to be environmentally correct. A proposed law that was scheduled to go before the City Council next week would have banned foam cups and containers at events requiring city permits. A staff report cited environmental concerns, including the danger posed by dihydrogen monoxide, described as a chemical used in production of the plastic that can "threaten human health and safety." http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-water13mar13,1,7644732.story ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 13:48:56 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Shock Jocks May Fly Free With Satellite Radio By Franklin Paul NEW YORK, March 14 (Reuters) - The maelstrom over indecency at the big U.S. radio conglomerates could propel "shock jocks" like Howard Stern to the freer air of satellite radio, but such a move would likely mean smaller audiences and thinner paychecks. Satellite radio, a nascent business with fewer than 2 million subscribers who pay about $10 a month to hear shows broadcast coast to coast, is being painted as an oasis of artistic freedom in light of a crackdown by federal regulators against indecent broadcasts. Already, dozens of personalities, ranging from hip-hop trailblazer DJ Red Alert to rock radio veteran Kid Kelly, have set up camp on Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s (NASDAQ:SIRI) music system, whose programs are so far unregulated by Washington. Potentially, that could be a boon for Stern, whose popular syndicated daily show was dumped last month by six stations owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc. (NYSE:CCU) after a caller asked Stern's guest if he had ever had sex with a famous black woman, using offensive language. Congress is currently debating a law that would sharply stiffen fines on indecency on radio and TV, and Stern, whose show features raunchy and explicit humor, could be slammed with major penalties if the measure passes. Stern's misfortune may be good news for the satellite radio industry, according to independent media analyst Jack Myers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40817473 ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 20:27:09 EST Subject: Re: Snapshots in Time On Mon, 8 Mar 2004 19:27:24 -0800 Al Gillis wrote: > That's interesting, Wes ... First, I couldn't even imagine such a > feat, then I hear it's not unique! Well, I guess those Texans were > gutsy, too! > Do you have any additional information about this move? About when > did it take place? Where in Dallas was the building located? Any > web resources available to see photos or read accounts of the move? > Thanks!! > Al I posted an inquiry on another list where there are a lot of Southwestern Bell retirees (yes, it's SBC now, but wasn't necessarily when they retired). This is the gist of what I wrote in my inquiry, including what I remembered: "The Dallas Automatic Telephone Company had been moved in service for a street widening project. It's been a long time ago that I heard about it [I heard about it shortly after I went to work for SWBT in Dallas] and I know there was a lot written about it over the years, but I don't know where tho look now. "At the time I went to work for SWBT the Dallas Automatic Telephone Company was still standing, with "D.A.T.Co." and the date in a stone over the lintel. The D.A.T.Co. had apparently been part of SWBT for many years, and the step-by-step equipment in it was still serving part, perhaps most, of downtown Dallas as that time. "There were very detailed stories about how the move was made and how carefully and slowly. Can anyone recall any of the details or tell me where I could look? It was, as I recall, a very interesting operation and well documented." (The building was adjacent to what was then the state headquarters building at 308 S. Akard in Dallas, and the D.A.T.Co. C.O. served much or all of downtown Dallas.) Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com I got several replies, of which this one was the most complete and fits in with what I remember: If memory serves me right the building was moved about 15 - 20 feet. There are pictures that were taken at the time. Public Relations had access to the pictures along with the numerous shots of construction of what is now 3 SBC Plaza (Riverside CO). When I saw the pictures they showed that the exchange had been jacked up and was supported on beams with some type of wheels. It moved very, very slowly; inch by inch over something in excess of a week. This was a stone or brick building, so very, heavy, let alone being full of SxS equipment and operators (yes they worked while the building was moved). This is strictly from memory of reading about this event once; these facts need to be checked! ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Caller ID for PC Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 19:44:58 -0600 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On Sat, 13 Mar 2004 16:54:24 UTC, dold@CallerXIDX.usenet.us.com wrote: > Why not get a $10 caller ID device at Target, and plug it in to the > "phone" port of your modem? Becuase the desk has enough devices sitting on it, and I like the pop-up CID software I have. I just got a new cordless phone so the old one that also had CID moved to the computer room, so I guess that solves my dillema for the most part. I will miss the logging that the software did, but I guess I'll live. Thanks for the reply. ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Ever Heard of PeoplePC Online? Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 19:42:00 -0600 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On Sat, 13 Mar 2004 13:34:22 -0600, Steven J Sobol wrote: > dold@everxheard.usenet.us.com wrote: >> TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: >>> month, you can get the PeoplePC Online 'Accelerated' version where >> They, or at least the name and the kid in the ads on TV, have been >> around for a while. A couple of years ago you could get a PC and >> internet service for $29.95 per month, with a new PC every year or >> two. >> I think they gave up on that one, and just offer the ISP service now. > > And I believe they resell Earthlink. AFAIK they have nothing to dowith Earthlink, but they lease the dialup network from various carriers (Qwest, Sprint, etc). Many ISP's these days are "Virtual ISP's" that buy dialup service wholesale from 7 or 8 national networks. The wholesale price seems to be in the neighborhood of $5-10/user/month depending on the number of customers. I've noticed that there are about a dozen different ISPs in my area that all use the same dial up number (including Earthlink and AOL) which is a Qwest wholesale dial up number. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ditto here in Independence. Almost all of the resellers go through one of the TerraWorld dialups regardless of what they call themselves. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: SkyFILES: The Aftermath of DISH/Viacom Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 21:01:26 GMT In article , ellis@no.spam says: > In article , > Monty Solomon wrote: >> and they may begin to push for the chance to pick and choose >> only the channels they want instead of paying for dozens of >> channels they don't really care to watch. > I've been wanting that chance for years and now that I've heard that > ESPN is the most expensive "basic" cable channel I want it even more. > I have no use for sports channels, shopping channels, channels that > aren't in English, soap opera channels, or Fox News. So why am I > paying for them? Because if they didn't spread the cost among ALL their subscribers the cost to that segment who regularly enjoys having all the sports channels would bear an unreasonable cost. It wouldn't be a viable market for ESPN. ------------------------------ From: Sammy@nospam.biz Subject: Re: President Bush Wants to Bug the Internet Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 05:28:30 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications The Finger wrote: > Hello, fellow techies, > An insidious plot is underway to bug the Internet. Many of you who > have lost jobs know what bad news the Bush administration has been to > the IT community. The story is getting even worse. President Bush > wants to bug the Internet. He wants to read your email, see what you > are downloading and find out what you are buying on Ebay. He also > wants to listen in your VoiP calls. If you are as angry as I am, > please call him or send a fax or email to: > president@whitehouse.gov > Phone: (202) 456-1414 > Fax: (202) 456-2461 You think Bushman cares about what you or I think? Your best message is your vote this coming November. ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: President Bush Wants to Bug the Internet Organization: Comcast Online Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 16:24:20 GMT "The Finger" wrote in message news:telecom23.121.5@telecom-digest.org: > Hello, fellow techies, > An insidious plot is underway to bug the Internet. [snip] Three boxes protect your freedom: soap, cartridge, and ballot. Three letters protect your privacy: GPG. See http://www.gnupg.org/. HTH. Bill ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: President Bush Wants to Bug the Internet Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 10:07:26 -0800 Organization: University of Washington If you are going to push this sort of thing, then you should also post that John Kerry is a big supporter of key escrow. He was a co-sponsor of S.909, the Secure Public Networks Act of 1997, which fortunately did not pass. S.909 was one of those deceptively-written laws that made it appear to be legal to use keys that were not escrowed with the government, but which so narrowly limited the circumstances in which non-escrowed keys were legal that the exemption was meaningless. Ironically, John Ashcroft's counter-proposal that year, S.2067, was to allow strong encryption for everybody without government back doors. That didn't pass either, but a substantially similar encryption policy ended up being adopted. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Purely IMO, purely ... but the only really good politicians I would vote for or support are the Libertarians, however let's face it, they do not stand a chance in hell of ever getting elected. The Demopublicans and the Rebublicrats have things so tied up (and they are essentially the same regards oppressive government legislation, etc) no one else ever gets a chance at it. And when a third party candidate comes along who is at all popular with a large number of people, (i.e. Ralph Nader) then the Demopublicans all grouse about how the new comer is going to spoil the election for the others. What is it they are saying now about Nader running (once again) for office? "He is going to guarentee that Bush gets elected again!" Too bad our political system has to be so corrupted here in the USA. 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, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. 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