From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jan 22 16:15:20 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i0MLFKQ22439; Thu, 22 Jan 2004 16:15:20 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 16:15:20 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200401222115.i0MLFKQ22439@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 #32 TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Jan 2004 16:14:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 32 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Cingular Wireless Reports 4th-Quarter; Full Year Results (Monty Solomon) eBay Inc. Announces 4th-Quarter; Full Year Financial (Monty Solomon) QUALCOMM Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2004 Results (Monty Solomon) Liberty Media Now 2nd-Ranked Voter at News Corp (Monty Solomon) New Search Engine Taps Into Social Networks (Monty Solomon) Nokia Closes 2003 With Excellent Fourth Quarter (Monty Solomon) AT&T Announces 4th-Quarter and Full-Year 2003 Earnings (Monty Solomon) AT&T Wireless Reports 4th-Quarter and Full Year Results (Monty Solomon) BellSouth Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings (Monty Solomon) Can Cingular Connect With AT&T Wireless? (Eric Friedebach) U.S. Judge Denies Qwest Ex-Execs Separate Trials (Eric Friedebach) Re: Ring Through to POTS (NJ) Re: Wireless Home Networks (Rich Greenberg) Re: Wireless Home Networks (Andrew Bell) Re: America's Opinion of AOL (Clarence Dold) Re: Habeas.com and Spam? (totojepast) Re: All-Zeros Numbers (Joseph) Request for Info on Auto-Ack (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, 22 Jan 2004 00:54:04 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Wireless Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full Year Results, Cingular Wireless Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full Year Results, Launches Network Expansion and Customer Service Initiatives - Jan 21, 2004 05:10 PM (PR Newswire) * Fourth-quarter net adds total 642,000 to reach more than 24 million cellular/PCS subscribers; full-year net adds total 2.1 million, up substantially from the previous two years. * Revenues grow 5.6 percent to $3.9 billion in the fourth quarter reaching $15.5 billion for 2003. * Cellular/PCS data revenues grow 85 percent versus the fourth quarter of 2002 -- More than 1 billion SMS messages delivered during the quarter. * Cingular's nationwide GSM/GPRS network conversion continues to progress ahead of schedule, now available to 93 percent of company's operational POPs. ATLANTA, Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless LLC, the United States' second largest wireless company, today reported fourth-quarter results that include continued strong subscriber growth and additional progress in its nationwide GSM/GPRS network overlay. For the three months ended December 31, 2003, Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS), achieved net subscriber additions of 642,000, bringing its nationwide cellular/PCS customer base to over 24 million. Gross adds in the fourth quarter totaled 2.6 million, the second highest quarter in Cingular's history -- bested only by third-quarter 2003's 2.7 million. Churn was 2.8 percent, in line with third-quarter 2003 results. Porting requests under wireless local number portability rules implemented in November were below expectations and not a significant factor in the quarter's results. For the full year 2003, Cingular Wireless added 2.1 million subscribers, the strongest annual net add total in the company's history. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40261334 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 00:55:10 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: eBay Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2003 Financial SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 2004-- Company Reports Record Q4 Net Revenues of $648 Million; Achieves Q4 GAAP Diluted EPS of $0.21 and Pro Forma Diluted EPS of $0.24; Raises 2004 Net Revenue Guidance to $3 Billion eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY)( www.ebay.com ), The World's Online Marketplace, reported financial results for its quarter and full year ended December 31, 2003. eBay reported record consolidated Q4-03 net revenues of $648.4 million, up 57% year over year; record operating income of $203.1 million, up 78% year over year; and record pro forma operating income of $218.5 million, up 65% year over year. Operating income was 31% of net revenues and pro forma operating income was 34% of net revenues. Consolidated net income in Q4-03 was $142.5 million, or $0.21 per diluted share. eBay's pro forma consolidated net income, excluding certain items, was a record $157.0 million, or $0.24 per diluted share. These results exceeded the company's guidance of $590 million for net revenues, $0.19 for earnings per diluted share and $0.21 for pro forma earnings per diluted share. For the full year, eBay generated consolidated net revenues of $2.17 billion, a 78% increase over the $1.21 billion reported in 2002. Consolidated net income increased 77% year over year to $441.8 million, or $0.67 per diluted share. On a pro forma basis, eBay reported a 94% increase in consolidated net income year over year to $494.6 million, or $0.75 per diluted share. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40259580 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 00:56:35 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: QUALCOMM Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2004 Results Revenues $1.2 Billion, EPS $0.43 Revenues $1.2 Billion, EPS $0.51 Excluding QSI Segment SAN DIEGO, Jan. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) today announced its first quarter fiscal 2004 results ended December 28, 2003. Revenues were $1.2 billion in the first fiscal quarter, up 37 percent sequentially and 13 percent year-over-year. First fiscal quarter net income was $352 million and earnings per share were $0.43, up 21 percent and 23 percent sequentially and up 46 percent and 43 percent year-over-year, respectively. Revenues excluding the QUALCOMM Strategic Initiatives (QSI) segment were $1.2 billion in the first fiscal quarter, up 39 percent sequentially and 13 percent year-over-year. First fiscal quarter net income excluding the QSI segment was $419 million and earnings per share were $0.51, up 77 percent and 76 percent, respectively, compared to the prior quarter, and both up 21 percent year-over-year. Detailed reconciliations between total QUALCOMM results and results excluding QSI are included at the end of this news release. Prior period reconciliations are presented on our Investor Relations web page at www.qualcomm.com . - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40258768 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 07:45:43 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Liberty Media Now 2nd-Ranked Voter at News Corp By Kenneth Li and Sonali Paul NEW YORK/MELBOURNE, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Liberty Media (NYSE:L) cut a deal on Wednesday to become the second-largest voting shareholder in News Corp (AUS:NCP) (NYSE:NWS), placing U.S. cable maven John Malone at the centre of power in Rupert Murdoch's media empire. Analysts said Liberty would be able to outvote the Murdoch family if it converted further ordinary shares into voting shares and that Malone may be positioning himself for such a move as insurance on his friendship with the News Corp chairman. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40265753 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 09:39:44 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Search Engine Taps Into Social Networks By Chris Gaither, Globe Staff, 1/21/2004 SAN FRANCISCO -- Google, the most popular Internet search engine, ranks results by polling all of cyberspace to find the most relevant information. But a new start-up thinks your friends' opinions should count more. Eurekster Inc. is trying to build a business by combining two of the Internet's hottest trends: search and social networking. When it launches today after several months of beta testing by consumers, the service at Eurekster.com will let users invite their friends by e-mail to try the search engine. The cluster of friends and friends-of-friends then becomes a social network whose Internet search queries shape the results of all its members. Eurekster gets results like a normal search engine but ranks them according to the interests you and your friends have shown through past searches. For example, if many people in a social network use Eurekster to seek information about the Boston Red Sox, the websites they visit most will rise to the top in future Red Sox searches. Eurekster also lists queries that members of your social network have made -- although it doesn't say who made them -- and recent websites they have visited. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/01/21/new_search_engine_taps_into_social_networks/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 09:43:37 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nokia Closes 2003 with Excellent Fourth Quarter HELSINKI, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2004-- - Nokia Mobile Phones grows sales and delivers record profits for Q4 and full year 2003 - Nokia Networks demonstrates good profitability in Q4 due to strong seasonality and favorable product mix as well as impact of restructuring measures Highlights 4Q 2003 (all comparisons are year on year): Net sales decreased 1% to EUR 8.8 billion (up 8% at constant currency) Nokia Mobile Phones net sales increased 4% to EUR 7.0 billion (up 15% at constant currency) Nokia Mobile Phones volumes grew 20% to 55.3 million units, leading to an estimated 38% market share Mobile phone industry volumes were an estimated 145 million units Excellent profitability with Nokia Mobile Phones pro forma and reported operating margins of 24.7% and 24.4%, respectively Color-screen phones made up half of Nokia Mobile Phones volumes Nokia Networks sales were EUR 1.7 billion, exceeding Nokia expectations Nokia Networks pro forma and reported operating margins improved to 12.1% and 2.4%, respectively Pro forma EPS (diluted) grew 12% to EUR 0.29; reported EPS (diluted) grew 14% to EUR 0.25 Highlights full-year 2003 (all comparisons to full-year 2002): Net sales decreased 2% to EUR 29.5 billion (up 7% at constant currency) Nokia Mobile Phones net sales were up 2% to EUR 23.6 billion (up 12% at constant currency) Nokia Mobile Phones volumes grew 18% to 179.3 million units Total mobile phone industry volumes grew 16% to an estimated 471 million units Nokia's estimated mobile phone market share was slightly above 38% Nokia Mobile Phones achieved record pro forma operating margins of 23.6% (reported 23.2%) Nokia Networks sales decreased 14% to EUR 5.6 billion with a pro forma operating margin of - 4.2% (reported -3.9%) Pro forma EPS (diluted) decreased 4% to EUR 0.79, reported EPS (diluted) grew 6% to EUR 0.75 Nokia's Board of Directors will propose a dividend of EUR 0.30 per share for 2003 (EUR 0.28 per share for 2002). - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40267511 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 09:44:08 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Announces Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2003 Earnings AT&T Announces Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2003 Earnings: Board of Directors Authorizes the Repurchase of Up to $3 Billion of Debt - Jan 22, 2004 06:50 AM (PR Newswire) * Fourth-quarter earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of $0.43; Full-year earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of $2.36 * Fourth-quarter revenue of $8.1 billion; Full-year revenue of $34.5 billion * Fourth-quarter operating income of $633 million; Full-year operating income of $3.7 billion BEDMINSTER, N.J., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T (NYSE:T) today announced its fourth-quarter and full-year 2003 earnings. The company reported income from continuing operations of $340 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.43, for the fourth quarter of 2003. The company's current-quarter income from continuing operations compares to a loss of $611 million, or a loss per diluted share of $0.79, in the fourth quarter of 2002, which included more than $1.2 billion of asset-impairment charges. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40267560 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 09:45:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results 2003 Operating Free Cash Flow Exceeds $1 Billion - Jan 22, 2004 07:16 AM (BusinessWire) REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2004--AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) said today its fourth quarter 2003 services revenue grew 4.4 percent from the year-ago quarter to $3.904 billion. Full-year services revenue of $15.659 billion increased 8.1 percent over 2002, meeting the company's guidance for the year. For the fourth quarter, net loss per share (EPS), was ($0.03) per share compared with ($0.05) per share in the year ago quarter. Earnings per share for the year was $0.16, compared with a 2002 fiscal year net loss per share of ($0.87). Fourth quarter OIBDA (defined as operating income before depreciation and amortization) was $890 million, a decrease of 2.6 percent over the same period last year. The quarter-over-quarter decline in OIBDA was driven by both planned events, including a new brand advertising campaign, support of local number portability (LNP) and additional restructuring charges; and unplanned events, such as higher than expected costs tied to both LNP and a newly installed customer relationship management software platform. These factors also contributed to a 160 basis point quarter-over-quarter decline in OIBDA margin, from 24.4 percent last year to 22.8 percent in this fourth quarter. (See Attachment A) Consistent with the company's previous guidance for growth in the mid- to high teens, full-year OIBDA, excluding licensing costs impairments, climbed 17.1 percent to $4.477 billion, from $3.822 billion in 2002. 2003 OIBDA margin, excluding licensing costs impairments, was 28.6 percent, a 220 basis-point increase from 2002's OIBDA margin, excluding licensing costs impairments, of 26.4 percent. Full year OIBDA for 2003 was $4.394 billion, up 76.2 percent from 2002 full year OIBDA of $2.493 billion. Operating free cash flow for the year was $1.03 billion. (See Attachment B) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40267976 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 09:46:23 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: BellSouth Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings * 4 million long distance customers * 1.5 million high-speed Internet customers * 642,000 Cingular Wireless net additional customers * 345,000 Latin America net additional customers ATLANTA, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS) reported earnings per share (EPS) of 43 cents in the fourth quarter of 2003, including special charges totaling 8 cents (see below). This compared to reported EPS of 31 cents in the fourth quarter of 2002, which included special charges totaling 14 cents (see below). For the fourth quarter, consolidated revenues increased 0.9 percent to $5.7 billion compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Net income was $787 million compared to $574 million in the same quarter a year ago. In accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), BellSouth's reported consolidated revenues and consolidated operating expenses do not include the company's 40 percent share of Cingular Wireless. Normalized results include BellSouth's 40 percent proportionate share of Cingular's revenues and expenses. Normalized EPS of 51 cents increased 13.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003 compared to 45 cents in the same quarter a year ago. Normalized revenues were $7.3 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent versus the fourth quarter of 2002. Normalized net income was $949 million, compared to $846 million in the same quarter a year ago. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40268361 ------------------------------ From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: Can Cingular Connect With AT&T Wireless? Date: 22 Jan 2004 10:13:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Aude Lagorce, 01.21.04, Forbes.com NEW YORK - As Valentine's Day approaches, even telecom operators show they aren't immune to a little romance. Rumors about who is wooing whom in the industry have been swirling since late last year, but speculation became reality Jan. 20 when second-ranked U.S. operator Cingular Wireless reportedly made a $30 billion all-cash proposal to free-spirited single AT&T Wireless. So, would this be a marriage from hell or a perfect match? Neither. Not a case of love at first sight, the proposed merger sounds more like a blind date set up by a well-meaning friend: The two parties have things in common, but there's no guarantee of bliss. http://www.forbes.com/2004/01/21/cx_al_0121awe.html Eric Friedebach /Mars: northern Nevada without the legal brothels/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Question for Eric: Lately you have been using as your .sig file the commentary about Mars and northern Nevada. I was wondering if you (or anyone else reading this) have been looking at the visuals of Mars from the NASA web site? They might make for an interesting discussion here in the Digest. PAT] ------------------------------ From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: U.S. judge denies Qwest ex-execs separate trials Date: 22 Jan 2004 10:17:48 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com 01.21.04 DENVER (Reuters) - A federal judge Wednesday denied requests by four former Qwest Communications International Inc. executives to put them on trial separately on charges that they improperly inflated the phone company's revenues. The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn paves the way for the trial to begin in federal court in Denver on Feb 17. http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2004/01/21/rtr1221391.html Eric Friedebach /Mars: northern Nevada without the legal brothels/ ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Ring Through to POTS From: NJ Organization: Please send all replies to the NG Date: 22 Jan 2004 11:56:17 GMT Yes, I have my own domain :) Check out http://spamex.com for addresses you can just throw-away. I use them for signing up for contests, etc ... Gordon S. Hlavenka wrote in comp.dcom.telecom: > BTW you can abstract your email also; buy yourself a domain someplace > (they can be had for $10/year or less) and have the mail forwarded to > your real email address. That way, when you change ISPs you don't > have to tell everybody your new email address; just update the > forwarding with your domain registrar. The downside to this, of > course, is that spam follows you just as easily as people :-/ > Fortunately I find that Mozilla's bayesian filter trashes spam pretty > effectively for me. ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Wireless Home Networks Date: 22 Jan 2004 08:37:22 -0500 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Stan wrote: > Considering this thread, I had a recent experience and I ask the group > for advice. > While setting up my new iPaq, I tried to access the wireless router in > my house in order to download content from the internet without having > to place the device in its docking cradle. Granted, it's not a feature > that I would use while at home, but I was playing. > I have WEP enabled on my network, and no amount of combinations of the > iPaq menu selections and entering my key manually would permit me > access. I'm not really concerned about that right now. > While playing with the options, I found that three of my neighbors > apparently have wireless networks in their houses as well. This is not > an apartment building, this is a subdivision in a former > cornfield. Plenty of space between houses. > While apparently one of my neighbors read the manual and set up some > security, the other two networks were named "Linksys" and > "Netgear". It looks like someone got some new toys for Christmas and > didn't bother to change one setting out of the box. Without any effort > at all (and I mean really NO effort ... automatic wireless is an > option on the iPaq), I accessed Mr. Netgear's broadband connection and > started surfing the web, using Internet Explorer built into the > device. > So now, the 'karma question' comes into play. Do I find out which of > my neighbors is Mr. (or Mrs.) Netgear and Mr. Linksys and tell them to > please turn on some security before someone comes along and downloads > all their birthday party pictures? If I was going to be a nice > neighbor and do that, what stops me from getting hit with the > question, "Well now, what were you doing accessing my network?" > So I leave it to the TD reader. How would you approach this dicey > situation? I would try to locate them and inform them of the exposure. If your portable has a way to see the signal strength of the signal, you can walk around the 'hood and see which house the signal is strongest near. Once informed, if they choose not to fix it, then its their problem. And if they ask "what were you doing accessing my network?", just reply that you weren't, but you spotted theirs while setting yours up. Its for just this reason that my rather small network is all wired with no wireless. Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com + 1 770 563 6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook,CGC,TT), Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: Andrew Bell Subject: Re: Wireless Home Networks Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 09:44:22 -0500 Pat - please delete my email address if you post this. On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 18:01:04 -0700 Joey Lindstrom replied to TELECOM Digest Editor's Note on Re: Wireless Home Networks: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well my suggestion is that if you >> find out who they are that you send them an *unsigned, anonymous* >> email telling them about it. In fact if you can get into NetGear or >> Linksys you can probably send them email in their own names using >> their mail client. > That's a rather large assumption, Pat. Even if I find somebody's > unprotected network, and they've got sharing turned on and are mostly > unsecure, it's *HIGHLY* unlikely I'm going to be able to use their > mail client unless: > 1) They've installed some sort of Remote Desktop service, and > 2) Have not secured it with a username/password (and most of them > won't let you run them that way). > Only then will I be able to use THEIR mail client to do anything. > (Well, unless I'm a REALLY devious bastard and try to shoehorn in one > of those "backdoor trojan" programs, which essentially is the same > thing as a Remote Desktop service except it would be installed by me, > not by the owner of the machine. However, doing this is NON-trivial > and I personally wouldn't know how to do this, nor would probably most > people here.) A workable assumption here is that someone uninformed enough to run an access point in fully default mode is ALSO too uninformed to have set any passwords or applied any patches to their PC. It is, in fact, trivial to load such a trojan in that environment. > If they've got file sharing turned on without passwording, I might be > able to steal their files from their hard drives and figure out what > their email address is, but that's about it. (All of this assumes > Windows operating systems - and in this case, it's about 99.99% > likely. Anyone using a more robust operating system is also probably > smart enough to turn on router security.) Like I said ... > Pat, I know you love the sound of your own voice, but please: Wow. Pot, meet kettle. > reserve your comments for things you know something about. Joey, that comment was entirely uncalled for. Pat was a bit off on the details, since it's not a matter of getting into the WAP itself that is required, but he quite accurately pointed out the potential to take over someone's mail client through an unprotected network access. Andrew [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As far as using defaults is concerned, I have never yet changed from using the Windows default name of WORKGROUP as the group name for my computers (where 'Network Neighborhood' looks at the machines close around it.) I do not know if that is a bad thing or not, but my Canadian consultant tells me since I have a Linksys firewall up and running 'not to worry about it'. Still, the firewall has a couple leaks in it sometimes, where unwelcome visitors have slipped through ports that were open trying to get into my files, even though (at the time of their arrival) Zone Alarm told me visitors had arrived and were attempting unsuccessfully to loot my files. That has happened twice, both times when I was chatting on Yahoo Messenger. I don't really know what to do. Both times, I told the persons to get away from the computer, they both apologized profusely of course, and I did not see them again, or have I? PAT] ------------------------------ From: dold@AmericaXsX.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: America's Opinion of AOL Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 16:21:25 UTC Organization: a2i network Kilo Delta One Sierra wrote: > One nice thing about AOL is that any Time/Warner content is free, > stuff like Time and a few other online magazines that are normally > subsciption only. But once I get the DSL installed I'll just ditch it. Don't ditch it. Use the "bring your own provider" option. Connecting to AOL via some other internet connection has always been faster than AOL dialup. It's easy to do, just drop down the "location" box on the signon screen and select TCP. Save the AOL account for worldwide dialups, if you travel. Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ From: totojepast@atlas.cz (totojepast) Subject: Re: Habeas.com and Spam? Date: 22 Jan 2004 08:54:02 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com >> Recently I've started getting a lot of spam (well, not a lot, but >> perhaps a half-dozen messages a day) signed by "Habeas.com." Habeas' >> website advertises that it is "sender warranted email," and that one >> of the main uses of the website is deliver spam-free e-mail. > Yes, Habeas is real, and someone has been sending out buckets of spam > for bogus drugs with equally bogus Habeas marks. > They are, to put it mildly, not happy about it. In the short run > they're adding every address sending forged Habeas spam to their > DNSBL, which is not a bad one to use to block spam. In the longer run > they're trying to figure out who's behind the spam, which will be > tricky since it's all sent through hijacked PCs and points back to a > web site in China. They've sued people before for misusing their mark > and if they can figure out who to sue, they will most certainly sue > this one. Does anybody know why Anne P. Mitchell was ousted from Habeas.com? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Isn't Anne Mitchell involved with one of the netizen organizations fighting spam? Just a guess, but maybe she got on their nerves. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: All-Zeros Numbers Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 09:12:21 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NOcom On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 22:14:59 -0600, Gordon S. Hlavenka wrote: > When I was in high school, I knew that xxx-9979 (where xxx was any > local exchange) was some kind of test number that would _always_ > return a busy signal. We students had to fill out cards each year > containing, among other things, our home phone number. I always put > down a 9979 number. I know it saved me at least once, because I was > sent up for some offense and the dean gave up dialing after about half > an hour and told me to go back to class :-) In New England New England Tel/NYNEX/Verizon most big city exchanges you could end with 9991 and receive busy. Used to be that calling many exchanges with 9992 produced re-order as well. In that area for S-X-S exchanges if you dialed NXX-XX99 you would also get busy-back as well. Of course that all went away when the exchanges were converted to ESS. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - remove NO from .NOcom to reply ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 05:40:44 -0700 From: TELECOM Digest Editor The auto-ack should have shown you the mess that the one message TDE> arrived in. You are damn lucky I even found it; most of what TDE> like that is just spam, and I do not read it. Then he responded to me this morning: > As others have mentioned to you, the auto-ack no longer works. No, others have not mentioned that to me. > I just checked with a friend of mine, who got a copy of the message > you're referring to - both were sent at the same time (he was BCC'd). > He reports no mangling of subject line or anything else. > As I've told you before, there is something seriously wrong with your > mail setup. Your much-heralded auto-ack hasn't worked in months, and > if something is mangling subject lines, it's happening at your end, > not the sending end. Either the server at massis or Levine's server > is doing the mangling. Well no, I have not been told the auto-ack is broken once again. Not that it couldn't be, just that I have not been told if it is. And most of the legitimate mail I get here arrives just fine. Levine's server only comes into play when mail is addressed to @telecom-digest.org and not when mail is addressed to @massis.lcs.mit.edu. If mail coming through from anywhere is addressed to the former address, then John Levine's server sees it first and forwards it here. Mail from anywhere addressed to the latter address just comes here directly; John's server has nothing to do with it. But when mail gets here (either direct to massis or forwarded/remailed via John [telecom-digest.org]) it then goes through spam assassin first. Mail which does meet my qualifications (and I keep the point score level sort of low) then goes on to the auto-ack. That which does not meet my qualifications goes unanswered (with no auto-ack) into the spam file. It is very rare that spam assassin makes a wrong decision. More often than not, the spam gets an auto-ack and goes into my legitmate file, since I would rather be imposed upon and have to toss spam out manually than to accidentally miss a legitimate letter of inquiry, etc. I always scan (at least in a cursory way) what went to the spam file before I flush it out. Your letter in question went through the routine into the legitimate file, but with a subject line showing all the criteria of spam or otherwise junk mail. Because *your name* and site showed up in a legible way, I ignored the subject line which was illegible gibberish, and chose to read it anyway. I really feel it must have been the spam filtering mechanism *on your end* which chose to dump out the auto-ack, but who knows. To all readers: we are fighting a losing battle here I think. Please consider using this criteria: If you legitimatly write me and (1) do not recieve an auto-ack and (2) see your message printed in the Digest same day or next day [unless you asked it to be non-pub] *then* under those conditions please resubmit your message to me but include a line at the top saying 'I did not recieve an auto-ack earlier for this'. Somehow try to let me know if your legitimate message got tossed. (I'll then either reconstruct it or ask you to send it again to a different email address.) Somehow try to let me know if you have been in the past getting auto-acks and they suddenly stopped arriving, etc. Maybe someday, somehow, the intelligent folks of the net who work to 'kill spam' will find a way to deal with all this. But if my auto-ack thing is not working correctly, I would like to hear from more than just one person saying 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, 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: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 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 2004 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 V23 #32 *****************************