From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 7 16:13:30 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i67KDUL07124; Wed, 7 Jul 2004 16:13:30 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 16:13:30 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407072013.i67KDUL07124@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 #321 TELECOM Digest Wed, 7 Jul 2004 16:12:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 321 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Starbucks Builds Continued Success with T-Mobile HotSpot (Monty Solomon) VoIP Hacks Gut Caller I.D. (Monty Solomon) Nitke v. Ashcroft - Expert Witness Report (Monty Solomon) Us Like Spies / How Computer Users Ask to be Doomed to Viruses (Solomon) Linksys Launches New Line of High-Gain Antennas for Wi-Fi (M Solomon) Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat (John McHarry) Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat (Gene S. Berkowitz) Telephony Education (Pete Romfh) "Overseas Blackberry" Service: Free Trial Participants Needed (John A) A Strange Phone Call Yesterday Evening (John R. Covert) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Lisa Hancock) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Scott Dorsey) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (Matt Simpson) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (Tony P.) Re: Replay it Again, Sam (Carl Moore) Re: Philadelphia Marks 20 Years of Cell Phones (Scott Dorsey) 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, 6 Jul 2004 23:34:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Starbucks Builds Continued Success with T-Mobile HotSpot Starbucks Builds Continued Success with T-Mobile HotSpot -- the Nation's Largest Commercial Wi-Fi Network SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 6, 2004-- High-Speed Wireless Internet Service is Now Available in More Than 3,100 Starbucks Coffeehouses Nationwide as T-Mobile HotSpot Locations Are Added to Stores in Five States Finding a fast, convenient and reliable Wi-Fi Internet connection is now much easier for Starbucks customers in Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico and Wisconsin. Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq:SBUX), T-Mobile USA, Inc. and HP (NYSE:HPQ) (Nasdaq:HPQ) have expanded their leadership role in offering consumers the ability to stay connected on-the-go. The T-Mobile HotSpot wireless broadband Internet service has been added to more than 110 Starbucks stores in these five states. With more than 3,100 Starbucks coffeehouses now offering Internet access nationwide, the Company continues to build on the success of T-Mobile HotSpot in its stores. Starbucks has extended the reach of the T-Mobile HotSpot service to new markets, and is providing customers with exclusive digital entertainment content found only by connecting at Starbucks. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42376117 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 13:27:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: VoIP Hacks Gut Caller I.D. Implementation quirks in Voice over IP are making it easy for hackers to spoof Caller I.D., and to unmask blocked numbers. By Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus Jul 6 2004 1:54PM Caller I.D. isn't what it used to be. Hackers have discovered that the handy feature that tells you who's calling before you answer the phone is easily manipulated through weaknesses in Voice over IP (VoIP) programs and networks. They can make their phone calls appear to be from any number they want, and even pierce the veil of Caller I.D. blocking to unmask an anonymous phoner's unlisted number. At root, the issue is one of what happens to a nugget of authentication data when it leaves the tightly-regulated realm of traditional telephony, and passes into the unregulated domain of the Internet. On the old-fashioned phone network, Caller I.D. works this way: your local phone company or cell phone carrier sends your "Calling Party Number" (CPN) with every call, like a return address on an envelope. Transmitted along with your CPN is a privacy flag that tells the telephone switch at the receiving end of the call whether or not to share your number with the recipient: if you have blocking on your line, the phone company you're dialing into knows your number, but won't share it with the person you're calling. This arrangement relies on telephone equipment at both ends of the call being trusted: the phone switch providing you with dial tone promises not to lie about your number to other switches, and the switch on the receiving end promises not to reveal your number if you've asked that it be blocked. In the U.S. that trust is backed by FCC regulations that dictate precisely how telephone carriers handle CPNs, Caller I.D. and blocking. Most subscribers have come to take Caller I.D. for granted, and some financial institutions even use Caller I.D. to authenticate customers over the phone. http://securityfocus.com/news/9061 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 00:02:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nitke v. Ashcroft - Expert Witness Report UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK BARBARA NITKE, THE NATIONAL COALITION FOR SEXUAL FREEDOM, and THE NATIONAL COALITION FOR SEXUAL FREEDOM FOUNDATION, Plaintiffs, -against- 01 Civ. 11476 (RMB) JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Defendants. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ EXPERT REPORT OF SETH FINKELSTEIN November 10, 2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I. Opinion of Witness with Basis and Reasons Therefore A provider of content via the Internet cannot reasonably be expected to know the location of readers, if the context is one in which location would lead to a denial of the ability to read the content. This is because material can be read on the Internet through many alternate geographic routes, where the content can intentionally be relayed through third-party intermediaries which act to mask and obscure location. Further, intrinsic inaccuracies such as changes in address assignment and proxying by such large providers as America Online (AOL) mean many users cannot be reliably located. ... http://sethf.com/nitke/ashcroft.php http://sethf.com/nitke/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 00:15:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Us Like Spies / How Computer Users Ask to be Doomed to Viruses By Clive Thompson The digital pests never seem to let up. For years we've dealt with worms and viruses, and now we've got spyware and adware invading our computers-hijacking browsers, popping up ads, and harvesting personal information. A recent study found that 90 percent of computers harbor this stuff, and spyware and adware are the No. 1 reason people call Dell tech support. We could be forgiven for wondering whether there's any light at the end of the tunnel. Will we ever halt these digital epidemics? Here's a dismal answer: No. These afflictions stem from a thorny cultural problem: The entire software industry has been designed around our computer illiteracy. That isn't an easy, or even a possible, thing to change. More than any other modern tool, computers are a total mystery to their users. Most people never open them up to fix them or to see how they work. Software is shrouded in particularly Delphic obscurity. When we want to install a new program, we just click on the installer, and presto, the elves arrive and magically scatter a zillion files all over our hard drives. Who cares how Microsoft Word works, as long as it does? http://slate.msn.com/id/2102856/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 11:01:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Linksys Launches New Line of High-Gain Antennas for Wi-Fi The Linksys High Gain Antennas Help Increase the Effective Range of Wireless-B or Wireless-G Networks IRVINE, Calif., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Linksys(R), a division of Cisco Systems, Inc., the leading provider of broadband, wireless and networking hardware for the consumer and Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) markets, today announced a line of high-gain antennas to be used with select Linksys Wireless-B and Wireless-G products. The high-gain antennas were developed to help increase the effective range of a Linksys home or small business wireless network. The antenna solutions include a pair of TNC Connector Antennas (HGA7T), a single SMA Connector Antenna (HGA7S) and Antenna Stands (AS1SMA and AS2TNC) for mounting the antennas to walls or ceilings. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42382691 ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 23:43:15 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Al Gillis wrote: > John McHarry wrote in message > news:telecom23.318.8@telecom-digest.org: >> They will probably call in Col. Bat Guano. > Good old Colonel Guano - "Peace is our Profession". He was always > worried about his "precious bodily fluids" and how he withheld them > from women! > Years ago, as an Airman Last Class I recall seeing that movie in the > Lackland AFB theatre. Being right in the middle of the nonsense we > called Basic Training made it even more hilarious to us! You are thinking of General Ripper. Colonel Guano is the one Mandrake told to shoot the lock off the Coke machine. ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 00:12:21 -0400 In article , alg@aracnet.com says: > John McHarry wrote in message > news:telecom23.318.8@telecom-digest.org: > Momo wrote: > >> I clipped this from comp.risks and thought it might be worth >> discussion. Mo >> Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 08:48:23 -0400 >> From: Dominey, Jack M, NEO >> Subject: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat >> Security Managers: >> The Coca Cola Company has a summer game promotion running from 5/17 - >> 7/12/04 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that has the >> capability to compromise classified information. >> They will probably call in Col. Bat Guano. > Good old Colonel Guano - "Peace is our Profession". He was always worried > about his "precious bodily fluids" and how he withheld them from women! No, that was Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper. Col. Guano was the one ordered to shoot the Coke machine because he didn't carry loose change into battle. "Gentlemen! We must not allow a mine shaft gap!" --General 'Buck' Turgidson --Gene ------------------------------ From: Pete Romfh Subject: Telephony Education Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 08:02:24 -0500 Organization: Not Organized I've been asked to develop a training process to cross train a group of data technicians to handle voice support as well. Obviously there's a series of product specific topics that will need to be covered but I'm looking around for on-line or PC-based education in basic telephony. I'm thinking they will need to learn some basic concepts, terminology, and the TLA's (three letter acronyms) we're all so fond of. They will be dealing with station side work and some basic PBX admin. There's no requirement for outside plant info other than an overview so they can communicate with facilities vendors. I'm open for suggestions on topics and sources. They can't spend the years most of us took to learn "Phone-Guy" stuff. How to I get them started down the right path? Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet. promfh at Texas dot net ------------------------------ From: johnambulance@hotmail.com (John A) Subject: "Overseas Blackberry" Service: Free Trial Participants Needed Date: 7 Jul 2004 08:01:10 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com What do non-GSM Blackberry users do when they travel abroad? I would really like to hear your experiences. Why? Because I have been asked to put together an "overseas Blackberry" service for my company. We will either be renting or selling overseas Blackberry handsets, at surprisingly low prices. I want to design the service around the needs of the customers, so I would like to hear your wishes. If you would like to be involved in a trial of the service, please let me know. (My email address is h_rockingham@yahoo.com). Henry International Development Director [A Major Overseas Phone Provider] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 12:48:29 EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: A Strange Phone Call Yesterday Evening Phone rang yesterday evening: This is [a company I do business with, but how do I know it's them and not a scam] with an important message [about the product they sell] for a member of your household. If you are John Covert, please press "1". OK so far, so I press 1. We value your privacy. To be sure we are talking with John Covert, please enter the four digits of your birth year. No way. What's the next question going to be? Is this really the company it claims to be, or is it some new clever phishing scam? There was no way to break out of the question asking loop; the thing just repeatedly asked the question, and "operator", "help", "no", "0" on the keypad, etc., all simply got the question repeated. I called their customer service number, and asked the rep who answered if he was familiar with scams on the internet that appear to be from companies you might do business with that ask personal questions in order to engage in identity theft. He said he was. Then I told him that he would certainly understand why I was very concerned about a call claiming to be from them which asked personal questions. He said it was a new reminder system for re-ordering. I told him there was no way anyone could tell that the call is really coming from them, and that they really can't be asking questions like that. People should not get used to systems like this and start trusting them, because if they do, the phishers will show up right behind them. /john ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 04:05:01 GMT Monty Solomon posted on that vast internet thingie: > Michael Oh, president and founder of Tech Superpowers, a Boston-based > specialist on wireless networking, said it's difficult to tell how > many people are piggybacking on or sharing the wireless high-speed > Internet access of their neighbors. But he is convinced a lot of > people are trying it in densely populated neighborhoods where wireless > connections overlap. It is astounding how many people are running wide open wireless. I went to my car to check a power supply for my laptop and a wireless connection just popped up, and it wasn't mine. I went to a free WiFi coffee shop and had my choice of two free connections, one due to the kindness/wisdom of the coffee shop owner, the other probably some local business that was not aware that they were giving away free Internet. I think the limitation on range gives some people the feeling that if someone does use it that it is a neighbor so they don't really mind. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: 7 Jul 2004 07:30:47 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote > The problem is that Windows has now grown to such an enormous size, > with literally thousands of individual systems calls, that no one > human being can be familiar with more than a small part of the > internals. This, I might add, is a recipe for trouble. There are many computer systems, both internal operating systems as well as external application programming that are so huge that "no one can be familiar with more than a small part". It doesn't mean the systems are bad or have potential problems. If the system was developed carefully, following tried-and-true design techniques with thorough testing and debugging, using good dedicated people, and gradual rollout, it will run well. The problem is that way too many computer systems are rushed into service too fast, with inadequate design, buildup, and testing/debugging. Some managements like fancy development tools that actually hinder quality, not help it. Some managements hire bodies, not members of a team. "The bearing of a child takes nine months no matter how many women are assigned"; "adding more people to a late project only makes it more late" --Fred Brooks, developer of IBM's MVS. ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: 7 Jul 2004 10:49:58 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Paul Vader wrote: > Lisa Minter writes: >> I know that Bill Gates started Microsoft, back in 1976, I think (?) > and one of his first products was Microsoft Basic. Does anyone know > if he wrote all that code himself? > The original Microsoft Basic (GWBASIC) was written by Bill > Gates. Has he written anything else since then? It doesn't appear > so. MSDOS was purchased for $50,000 from a hobbyist (who had no > idea how bad the deal was for him), and by that time Microsoft had > staff to get the real work done. Some day they might even get around > to doing it. GWBASIC was not the original Microsoft Basic. At the time the IBM PC came out, Microsoft had well over a hundred different versions of BASIC available, from a crude integer BASIC for the KIM-1 to Applesoft for the Apple ][, to a couple minicomputer versions. By the time they were asked by IBM to come up with an operating system and ROM BASIC for the PC, Microsoft was a very well-established company with a wide range of products. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: news01@jmatt.net (Matt Simpson) Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Date: 7 Jul 2004 10:31:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Jack Decker wrote in message news:: > for the first time in > about half a century you can be without service from a traditional > phone company and not be something of a social outcast. You can do > that by using either a wireless phone, or a VoIP service in lieu of a > standard phone line. Actually, I can't. Nobody will sell me broadband, so I can't use VoIP, and my cellphone can't find service near my house. > The regulations in question probably never should have existed in the > first place, because they set up the situation where phone companies > think it is their God-given right to gouge the public, even to the > point that they look upon fines as just a cost of doing business. I've got mixed feelings about regulations. I certainly have no love for the large telecomm companies. On the other hand, there's a good chance that I might not even have dial-up service if the telcos had not been regulated in the past. A law was recently passed in KY relieving BellSouth from having the state Public Service Commission regulate their broadband service. Now they're regulated only by the Feds. Is this good or bad? I honestly don't know. Will it improve my chances of being able to purchase broadband service in my lifetime? I honestly don't know. One major issue was BellSouth's reluctance to being required to give competitive services access to their network. Their argument was that they couldn't invest in providing DSL service if they had to wholesale it to other ISPs. Maybe true. But even without regulation, there's still no guarantee that they're going to make the service available. So what did the public get in exchange for freeing BellSouth from regulation? Not much ... I couldn't get DSL before, I still can't get it. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 00:49:41 GMT In article , ellis@no.spam says... > In article , Matt Simpson > wrote: >> That's a crock. We are still a very long way from "Internet Phone >> Service For Every Home". Before that can happen, we need broadband in >> every home. And that's a long way off. > The bigger crock is the claim that VoIP is somehow superior to circuit > switched service. The biggest "virtue" of VoIP is its ability to > circumvent regulations and that has nothing to do with technology. > Not to worry, the FCC is busy figured out how to tank VoIP services at > this very moment. They're planning to saddle them with the ridiculous > Universal Service fee for one thing. I'm sorry but if you want to live in the boonies, you damn well should be paying the price to string the cable out to your location. I shouldn't have to pay for it. And yes, I know USF pays for discounts for the elderly etc. But get a measured service line, in most places they're < $10 a month anyhow. While the FCC is at it, maybe it should look at all those bogus fees listed on our bills that approximately double the price of telephone service. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 10:37:42 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Replay it Again, Sam Responding to something in Dec. 2002: I guess that was also "fair use" in what I heard earlier regarding taping of TV programs via VCR. I guess "fair use" comes into play in the case of a program you are interested in but which has not been available for years (for example, I was YEARS late in seeing the I Love Lucy Christmas episode, which is not part of the "regular" 179-episode package). Also, there is my web site with music I selected, arranged, and transcribed myself, and among the criteria for what I choose for it is relative obscurity (for example, arranging based on children's records of 1950s vintage). The Beatles themselves headed toward writing their own material, as well as looking for obscure "B" sides, because of the problem of another group unwittingly performing songs the Beatles had planned on performing. ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Philadelphia Marks 20 Years of Cell Phones Date: 7 Jul 2004 10:51:43 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Carl Moore wrote: > That is the title of a story on KYW news-radio web page. > "Philadelphia joined the cellular telephone revolution exactly 20 > years ago -- on July 6, 1984. It was on that date that Bell Atlantic > Mobile got its cell tower license for the area, three months after the > first cellular service was installed in Chicago." It also says that > in 20 years, cell phone usership jumped from 100 to 100 million. > However, a car phone was depicted in a 1960 TV episode (Lucy-Desi Comedy > Hour, the last episode before the divorce of Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz). That was IMTS, which was VERY MUCH not cellular. Something like fifteen possible simultaneous calls for a whole city, on low-band VHF. Very popular with doctors, real estate agents, and the like. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ 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'. 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