From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jun 15 02:31:51 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5F6VoN05651; Tue, 15 Jun 2004 02:31:51 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 02:31:51 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406150631.i5F6VoN05651@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 #291 TELECOM Digest Tue, 15 Jun 2004 02:32:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 291 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Reagan and the Digital Age (Patrick Townson) J2 Billing Mystery/ Scam? (Scott Perry) VoIP (Nitoy) Job Openings? (Chris Boone) Phone Giants are Projected to Dominate Internet Calls (Sufaud) Free Resources on VOIP (tekjockey) Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages (Mark Crispin) Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal (John David Galt) Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit (Mark Atwood) Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell (Tom Lynn) Re: Server Requirement For CT-Connect (Chip G) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 00:47:11 -0400 Subject: Reagan and the Digital Age From: Patrick Townson I deliberatly refrained from making any comments last week about President Reagan after he passed. Enough other people on the net were making comments and aside from sending a personal sympathy card in snailmail to Mrs. Reagan and their son Ronnie I let the matter go. But in a recent issue of Washington Times an article appeared which I want to share with you. PAT REAGAN ENABLED DIGITAL PROGRESS By Mark Kellner On Jan. 19, 1979, almost two years to the day before he became president, Ronald Reagan delivered a radio commentary about "the phone company," the old American Telephone & Telegraph combine that held all the elements of telephony in this country, from local service to long distance to equipment. Mr. Reagan noted that a federal antitrust suit against AT&T apparently ignored the relatively low cost of a coast-to-coast phone call: $1.30 a minute in 1979 versus $9.50 in the 1930s. Phone service, he said, was private and affordable, unlike his earlier experience with the family's Depression-era "party line" phone. "Today," he said then, according to the book "Reagan, In His Own Hand" (Free Press), "the miracles we already have are going to be topped by [the] video phone; there are recorder gadgets to take phone calls and messages when you are absent, and now they talk of electronic mail. If the cost differential continues at the present rate, it is possible the telephone may put the Post Office out of business within the next 10 or 20 years." Things unfolded a bit differently than Mr. Reagan envisioned. Video phones are by no means commonplace, but what did unfold owed a lot to Ronald Reagan, his political philosophy and his actions. During the 1980s, it was the Reagan administration that oversaw the divestiture of AT&T's local phone units. That began a wave of change in America's phone network that led to lower prices for phone service. Lower phone costs helped spur the growth of companies like CompuServe and America Online, paving the way for today's Internet. The Reagan White House was the first to use personal computers on a large scale, along with e-mail, the latter coming back to haunt some staffers during the Iran-Contra investigation. The first IBM PCs rolled off assembly lines in August 1981, eight months after Mr. Reagan's inaugural, and at a time when substantial tax cuts for individuals and businesses came along. Those cuts helped make PCs affordable. An improving economy also led many into software and hardware development and gave birth to companies that eventually dominated the field. There was also the public side of his involvement: In 1985, Mr. Reagan presented the National Medal of Technology to Apple Computer co-founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, for "their development and introduction of the personal computer." He also lauded data-processing pioneer Grace Murray Hopper on her promotion from captain to commodore in the U.S. Naval Reserve, hosting an Oval Office ceremony for her in 1983. Mr. Reagan didn't start a telecommunications revolution by himself, of course. In 1987, he named a then-36-year-old attorney, Dennis R. Patrick, to chair the Federal Communications Commission. Mr. Patrick, his predecessor Mark Fowler, and FCC colleagues such as Patricia Diaz Dennis and James Quello were at the vanguard of regulating new services and markets, opening the field for hundreds of companies and thousands of workers. It wasn't the telephone, but rather the data that traveled over deregulated and divested telephone circuits, that challenged the postal monopoly and changed our lives. While the daily mail is still a part of American life, the digital revolution got a major push from the actions of a former radio commentator named Ronald Reagan. You may correspond in email with Mark Kellner at MarkKel@aol.com or visit www.kellner.us. The Washington Times (http://www.washingtontimes.com/technology/20040607-100647-8137r.htm) For more great articles, visit us at http://www.washingtontimes.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, in this instance, News World Communications. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: scottperry@miraclevision.com (Scott Perry) Subject: J2 Billing Mystery/ Scam? Date: 14 Jun 2004 19:04:48 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Last March I requested cancellation of my J2 number via email, and still have a copy of the original email. One week later, my J2 account was not accessible, and I assumed all had gone as requested. A week after I requested cancellation a mysterious email from someone named James Pitt arrives at J2 requesting reconnection of my account. Now, 4 months and $60 later, J2 tells me that they cannot refund this. Go figure. Anyone else have trouble disconnecting from J2? Scott Perry ------------------------------ From: nitoy69@hotmail.com (Nitoy) Subject: VoIP Date: 14 Jun 2004 19:00:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Does anyone know if the senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation sub-commitee hearings on S.2281 (to provide a clear and unambiguous structure for the jurisdictional and regulatory treatment for the offering or provision of voice-over-Internet-protocol applications)at 9:30 A.M. on June 16th will be broadcast (live or otherwise) on CSPAN and if so on which channel (1, 2, or 3)and if so when the airtimes are? P.S. Pat - Thank you for the most useful group on the net. ------------------------------ From: Chris Boone Subject: Job Openings? Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 01:47:20 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Anyone know of any good telecom job openings anywhere? (PBX, microwave, fiber, etc?) If so, please reply direct for more details. (Remove nospam from my address) Thanks. ------------------------------ From: sufaud@hotmail.com (Sufaud) Subject: Phone Giants Are Projected to Dominate Internet Calls Date: 14 Jun 2004 22:18:09 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com New York Times Phone Giants Are Projected to Dominate Internet Calls By KEN BELSON As much as 30 percent of homes in the United States and Britain could subscribe to Internet-based phone services in the next three years if major telecommunications companies offer services similar in price and quality to traditional phone connections, according to a new survey by Mercer Management Consulting. The findings, based on a poll of 1,000 consumers in the two countries to be released today, suggest that the market for low-priced Internet phone services will most likely be dominated by phone companies like AT&T and cable providers, and possibly local phone carriers, but not the new entrants that control much of the Internet market now. "The companies with existing relationships with consumers have huge advantages," said Martin Kon, a consultant at Mercer and the author of the survey. "It's an uphill battle for the upstarts with no customer base." While Internet calling, which sends voice calls as data packets over the Internet, is considerably cheaper than traditional calling, most consumers will not switch solely because of price, Mr. Kon said. Reception and service, he noted, would have to be comparable to what conventional connections offer. "People won't accept lower quality," Mr. Kon said. "I don't think Vonage or Skype," two young ventures that offer Internet calling, "will eat their lunch." "Love them or hate them," he said, "the local phone companies are perceived as having better quality." With nearly 200,000 subscribers, Vonage, which is based in Edison, N.J., is the market leader by a wide margin. But its share of the market has started to slip since AT&T introduced its Internet phone service, called CallVantage, in March. Cable companies including Cablevision, Time Warner Cable and Cox have also entered the Internet phone market, and other telecommunications companies are preparing services as well. Vonage has worked to shake the perception that its service is only for technophiles and is unreliable and difficult to use. Consumers can use the service without having to install software on computers or buying special phones. The company sells the adaptors needed to access its service in 5,000 retail outlets. According to IDC, a market research firm, nearly 600,000 consumers in the United States are expected to subscribe to Internet calling services by the end of the year. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/14/technology/14voip.html *** 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, in this instance, New York Times. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: tekjockey@gmail.com (tekjockey) Subject: Free Resources - Learn VOIP (H.323, SIP, MGCP, )and QofS (QOS) Date: 14 Jun 2004 22:34:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com All, A great site to FREE RESOURCES ON VOIP. http://www.intersyncsolutions.com -News and resources updated daily. -All free -Great for businesses looking to run voip and tech professionals. ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 16:53:27 -0700 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Mon, 14 Jun 2004, Charles B. Wilber wrote: > You might want to be careful about repeating what you heard on the > scanner to other parties. Newt Gingrich and others learned about some > of the relevant state and federal statutes the hard way. How quickly the facts are forgotten/distorted. What Representative Newt Gingrich found out the hard way was the analog cellular conversations were not safe from eavesdropping, and that the laws against disclosing such conversations are toothless. Representative Jim McDermott, a far-Left Seattle Democrat (also known as "Baghdad Jim"), was given a tape of a cellular conversation of which Gingrich was a participant. McDermott proceeded to use this transcript for political advantage. Attempts to have McDermott prosecuted went nowhere. Laws don't apply to Democrats in Congress. The weak excuse was that since McDermott didn't actually record the tape, he was able to use it for any purpose he wanted. I'm sure that in another few years, it will become "common knowledge" that Gingrich was prosecuted for illegally listening in on cell phone converations. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Subject: Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 17:26:52 -0700 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society John Levine wrote: > No, ILECs could do line splitting if they wanted to. The reason they > don't is partly administrative, they'd have to invent some way to bill > two different parties for the same line and figure out how to do the > moves and changes and repairs. Mostly it's that the lord gave them the > right to have 100% of the phone business so it'd be blasphemous to do > so. It seems to me the only fair answer is to give each individual subscriber ownership of his "local loop" and let CLECs build their COs on its path. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit From: Mark Atwood Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 00:28:23 GMT pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) writes: > writes: >> I'm a poor widows son rummaging around in a rubbish pile in Southeast > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > Ooh fun! That's a Masonic password, or at least a paraphrase of one. >> So mote it be. > And this is a Mormon one, if I remember my Sherlock Holmes. Except that it's not. I've heard it uttered by neo-pagans, but it's not part of a Mormon rite, public or private, not even in paraphrase. Holmes "knows" about Mormons from what A.C.Doyle knew, and what ACD knew he learned from yellow press tabloids carried across the ocean, and those newspapers, when they got something correct, it was purely on accident. Mark Atwood | When you do things right, people won't be sure mra@pobox.com | you've done anything at all. http://www.pobox.com/~mra | http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I can tell you about my 'Mormon Neighbors' as the frequent television commercials for literature from the LDS Church puts it. Two of my friends are the Mormon Missionaries who come calling on me every week or two, and have for several months; much longer than their rule book calls for if doing strictly proseletizing work. I enjoy chatting with them about my own Anglican or Episcopalian background and they enjoy the food I prepare for their supper each time they come around. You might say they 'witness' to me each time they come around and I 'witness' to them; but as one of the boys (all Missionaries are 19-20 year old guys and prefer to be known as 'Elders') said to me a few months ago, "oh, Mr. Townson, we like coming to see you since you do not slam the door in our faces and tell us we are going to burn in hell like so many Christians tell us around Indepen- dence, and because you always feed us supper and take time to chat with us." I must say LDS people have some peculiar ideas on a few things in their religion, and their temples seem to resemble Masonic meeting places with Egyptian symbolism, etc. And they do not seem terribly forthright in discussing some of the finer or higher points of their religion unless you ask them directly and *know what to ask*, in which case the Missionaries will discuss it, and they do not discuss the rituals in their temples in any event. Since their Missionary 'Tour of Duty' is two years, I've seen three or four of them ove the past two or three years, and I seriously think each time a new crop comes to town the old ones always tell the new ones, "be sure to get aquainted with Mr. Townson." I do sort of like the kids; super polite, super clean; always traveling through life on a first class ticket. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tom Lynn Subject: Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 19:17:05 -0700 Reply-To: tl@blarg.net No worries, Pat. What I enjoyed the most from the story is the recognition of how important a single pay telephone can be to a community. Especially in a day and age when the major players are divesting themselves of this cultural icon. Tom On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 08:51:27 -0700, Tom Lynn wrote: > Pat, > One item in the story is problematic. The Illinois state lottery > began in 1974. I know because I was just a wee lad living in Skokie, > IL. at the time and the whole idea was fascinating. Was there another > lottery previously? > Tom Lynn > http://www.tomlynn.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The story was first told to me by Wally > about 1986 or so long after he had retired. If you say the lottery > started in Illinois in 1974, I will assume you are correct and that Wally > got the date a little wrong. And truth be told, I cannot remember > whether or not 'Illinois State Lottery' was in the first part of his > account from 1968 or the second part of his account from around > 1976. He mentioned the lottery in talking to me, I may have assumed it > was a 1968 thing. PAT] Tom Lynn http://www.tomlynn.com ------------------------------ From: Chip G Subject: Re: Server Requirement For CT-Connect Organization: Comcast Online Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 02:43:23 GMT "Srini" wrote in message news:telecom23.289.3@telecom-digest.org: > Ours is a call center which receives about 5 lakh calls per day. I am > exploring the option of CT-Connect for CTI functionality that includes > screen pop. Can any one tell me what would be the sizing for the CTI > server that runs CT-Connect, for this kind of call volume. (Specifically > the server configuration and number of servers). Server could be either > a Unix (Sun Solaris machine) or Windows 2000 advanced server. > Thanks in advance, > Srini I know this sounds a little strange, but the specific switch to which you are integrating can make a difference. Some vendors CT links are much more efficienct than others. In general, with the horsepower available from most servers on the market today, you will probably be just fine with any enterprise class server you can buy new on the market ... assuming enough memory and hard drive. Memory is often a gotcha depending on the specific apps you intend to run. Always go big on RAM, it will stand you well. What switch are you integrating with? ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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. 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