From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Aug 2 01:11:41 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i725Bew20596; Mon, 2 Aug 2004 01:11:41 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 01:11:41 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200408020511.i725Bew20596@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 #359 TELECOM Digest Mon, 2 Aug 2004 01:10:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 359 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Time Warner Cable Loses Sports Channels (Monty Solomon) South Korea's Daum to Buy Lycos (Monty Solomon) Lingo (Michael Hynes) SIP and TAPI (JustSomeGuy) Re: Latest Internet Rumor: Nick Berg Alive (KarlJ) Re: Latest Internet Rumor: Nick Berg Alive (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: History of TV (was Bare-Bones DNC Coverage) (Paul Coxwell) Re: POTS' Dirty Little Secret: Big-Time Downtime (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Re: The Convention in 1904, One Hundred Years Ago (Russell Blau) 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: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 11:16:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Time Warner Cable Loses Sports Channels NEW YORK, August 1 (Reuters) - New York sports channels Fox Sports New York and MSG were dropped from Time Warner Cable systems on Sunday after it failed to reach a deal with channel owners, leaving more than 1.4 million New York area cable customers without popular baseball, basketball and hockey game broadcasts. Time Warner said it plans to pay a $2.00 rebate a month to subscribers. Cablevision Systems Corp (NYSE:CVC), which owns the two regional sports channels demanded hikes on rates it charges operators to carry its networks that were as high as 38 percent for channels targeting New York customers, a source familiar with the talks said. The two channels broadcast the games of New York Mets baseball, the New York Knicks basketball and the New York Rangers hockey teams. The disagreements also include a third channel, Metro Channel, which carries local news and some sports. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42832416 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 23:52:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: S.Korea's Daum to Buy Lycos for $95 Mln By Jean Yoon and Rhee So-eui SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's top Web site operator Daum Communications Corp., said on Monday it would acquire Lycos Inc., the U.S. business of Spain's Terra Lycos, owner of popular sites such as Wired News and Tripod, for $95 million. ... http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=5839577 ------------------------------ From: Michael Hynes Subject: Lingo Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 03:17:38 -0400 I would avoid Lingo at all costs. The service never worked. I called tech support at which they promised to call me back within 48 hours (48 hours!) but in point of fact it took them 6 days days days to return my call. I cancelled and sent everything back for a refund. Which I haven't recieved yet. I've recontacted them about same. No response. I'll be contacting my credit card company next ... avoid them. Oh -- PS -- my Vonage service hasn't exactly been great lately either ... [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lingo I cannot help you with. And although I am not employed by Vonage, I can only make some suggestions about them now and them. What exactly is your problem with Vonage? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Aug 2004 17:04:18 GMT From: JustSomeGuy Subject: SIP and TAPI Organization: Shaw Residential Internet I'm sorta new to the VoIP standards. I see there is SIP and H.323. As I understood it H.323 was a video teleconfrencing standard. Reading more I see that it can also be used to do an IP to PSTN session. I have found Microsofts TAPI 3.0 and I am wondering if I need to study SIP in detail as well or is TAPI sufficient? ------------------------------ From: kjones0509@aol.com (KarlJ) Subject: Re: Latest Internet Rumor: Nick Berg Alive Date: 1 Aug 2004 02:41:09 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Virus. Just a virus and nothing else. Rather lame one though isnt it, got about as far as the door mat before getting trod over. Look forward to be added to your spam list, though god knows how your gonna figure out my email addy ;) sonhardy@washingtonpost.com wrote in message news:: > Conspiracy theories of Nick Berg being alive and well in Iraq have > today been proven true. Aljazeera have released video footage of the > supposedly beheaded American captive. The clip was first "discovered" > on an Islamic website in Malaysia and has now been released by > American Journalists colaborating with Aljazeera. The evidence speaks > for itself and can be viewed firsthand here. > http://www.greentea.625.co.kr/NickBerg.zip > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not only can the evidence speak for > itself and can be viewed, as a special gift to new readers at > greentea.625.co.kr we will give you -- whether you ask for it or not -- > a virus and add you to our spam mailing list. PAT] ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Latest Internet Rumor: Nick Berg Alive Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Sun, 01 Aug 2004 16:54:06 GMT jasonhardy@washingtonpost.com posted on that vast internet thingie: > Conspiracy theories of Nick Berg being alive and well in Iraq have > today been proven true. Are you sure? http://www.allahislam.com shows different Steve at SELLCOM (Opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of those who disagree or of the staff management or affiliates of the major networks express or implied.) 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. Uniden 2line 5.8GHz cordless If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: History of TV (was Bare-Bones DNC Coverage) Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 08:36:14 +0100 Thanks for the replies everyone. > There were noncommercial educational stations long before there was a > PBS. I believe PBS emerged in the late 1960s (or possibly early > 1970s), after the major educational stations, such as WNET (NY), WGBH > (Boston), WETA (Washington), etc. had begun exchanging high-quality > program content, and there was interest in Washington to get some of > that programming onto educational stations in cities that didn't > produce programming. As I recall, it started out with some government > funding, but that subsequently dried up. In recent years I've also seen quite a few documentaries which indicate they're a joint production between WGBH Boston and the BBC. Paul. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Aug 2004 13:48:07 GMT From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Subject: Re: POTS' Dirty Little Secret: Big-Time Downtime Organization: Excelsior Computer Services > As you probably know, one of the claims often made by the shills for > the big phone companies is that VoIP is less reliable that POTS > ("Plain Old Telephone Service"). Well, it turns out that's not > necessarily true -- it depends a lot on where you live and which Once again, I feel compelled to comment on "VOIP News," which continues to look like propaganda for VoIP. This time, the "news" story being reporting is merely one person's post in a chat room. I think c.d.t is a wonderful place for dialog, and the VoIP vs. POTS debate is clearly the defining telco debate of our time, but it helps no one to hide opinion behind the title "news." In this case, suppose all of the posters "VOIP News" refers to *never* had any service. Suppose even that there are 75 such people with 100% downtime rates. I don't know how many POTS lines are in use in the U.S., but let's supose that there are only 10 million. Then we'd have a collective downtime from these 75 hypothetical people of 0.00075% (yes, percent, also known as a downtime of 0.0000075). In other words, even 75 reports of intermittent failure in the U.S. doesn't bring the reliability rating below what the OP called "the 5 nines." Seventy-five reports of 100% downtime doesn't even bring the reliability rating below those 5 nines. (And, as it happens, the posts in the chatroom are roughly divided between which is more reliable, POTS or VOIP.) In short, a handful reports in a random forum is statistically irrelevant for downtime rates. This is not news. And VOIP went one step further by taking the story out of context and misinterpreting it for us. To be clear, I have no problem with a poster doing this to advoate VOIP. But hiding behind "news" is disingenuous. Everyone else uses their real name here. Why can't "VOIP news"? -Joel [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, not everyone here uses their real name or real email address. FYI, for those who do not know it, 'VOIP News' is Jack Decker, of Michigan, a long time correspondent here. Occassionally he uses his real name and invariably asks for his email address to be munged which I do. He and I have an agreement where the news items in (his) VoIP-related news group in Yahoo are concerned, and that is that when each item of his newsgroup gets here, I am to automatically delete the entire 'From:' line and replace it with the phrase 'VOIP News' so he does not have to go along message by message repeatedly asking me to delete his email address. So, there is no such entity as 'VOIP News'; it is a figment of my imagination designed to cooperate with Jack Decker as much as I can. But -- Monty Solomon also sends me a lot of news and uses his true name and email. I know Monty gets spammed out of existence sometimes, all of us who use real names do. But Jack tries to avoid it in his case. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Russell Blau Subject: Re: The Convention in 1904, One Hundred Years Ago Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 16:28:43 -0400 Pat - A few weeks ago you printed a vividly detailed description of the communications arrangements at the 1904 Republican Convention, at which Theodore Roosevelt was nominated for his second term. I assume you weren't there, or at least weren't old enough at the time to remember all those details , but you didn't identify the source of your information. Your narrative included the following: > But in 1904, a hundred years ago, things were different when Theodore > Roosevelt was nominated at Chicago Colliseum. On the stage sat the > band, the song leader, the master of ceremonies and of course, Mr. > Roosevelt. > The first row of seats and the > area in front of the stage were reserved for the most important people > there: the stenographers, the telegraph operators and the telephone > operator. The delegates got to sit behind the ladies and gentlemen who > communicated the whole thing to the rest of the world. In those long > ago days before tape recording equipment, etc it was up to > stenographers to copy it all down. *They* of course got priority since > they had to hear it all correctly. > Speeches were made, Roosevelt was nominated, and made his acceptance > speech. Then the master of ceremonies declared that "as we close our > convention, Mr. Zundel will lead us as we rise to sing 'Battle Hymn of > the Republic' then following our dismissal, Mr. Roosevelt will linger > at the steps leading from the stage so that delegates who wish to do > so may personally greet him or ask questions." Mr. Zundel began to > lead the singing and Mr. Roosevelt studied his program through the > owl-shaped style eye glasses he wore. Then something must have crossed > his mind, because he looked over his glasses at the stenographers and > telegraphers who filled the first row of seats, and decided to visit > with them and made his way down the stairs from the stage. > He approached the ladies, sort of courteously acknowleged them and > began greeting them. The stenographers as a group stood to acknowledge > him also and shook hands with him. They represented various newspapers > and magazines, etc which would print his entire acceptance speech in > their next issues, etc. Then his attention went to the nearby > telephone operator with a switchboard and he must have been curious > about how telephones worked or what they did, because the operator > explained that the overflow crowd of people who had not been able to > get in the coleseum to hear him speak were all at the Central Music > Hall downtown where his voice could be heard over loudspeakers "at the > very same time you are speaking here, Mr. Roosevelt, citizens at the > Music Hall, about two miles away are hearing you." Then the telegraph > operators rose to greet him, and he apparently asked them something > about their work and how their devices operated also, which they > demonstrated for him. By this point, the singing of 'Battle Hymn' was > concluding and the master of ceremonies walked over to him and > motioned for him to stand in a certain place where the delegates and > members of the public fortunate enough to get a seat could come by and > speak to him as they filed out. > Mr. Roosevelt must have been suitably impressed by all the 'fancy' > equipment there that history states he was the first president to > install a switchboard in the White House, and he insisted that it be > located right outside his office, where the 'girl' could bring him any > messages received promptly. Earlier telephones in the White > House had been single line magneto crank instruments. All this is quite fascinating, and the description of Roosevelt's speech, his visit to the stenographers and telegraphers, and particularly the opportunity for delegates to walk by and shake the President's hand at the end of the session were all most intriguing. There is just one, slight problem. President Roosevelt did not attend the Republican National Convention in 1904. According to Edmund Morris' biography, _-Theodore Rex_ (Random House 2001), Roosevelt "received the news of his nomination ... just after lunch, as he sat with Edith [his wife] and Alice [his daughter] on the White House portico. ... With kisses on his cheeks, he walked happily to his office and met a congratulatory crowd of newsmen." (p.337.) Sources for this passage are Alice's journal and the New York Times of 24 June 1904. For Roosevelt to have attended the convention in person would have been a terrific breach of protocol. To have made an acceptance speech in person would have been unheard-of. (Both of these traditions were later violated by TR's distant cousin, FDR.) Roosevelt did not formally accept the nomination until 27 July (when he was officially notified by a party delegation), over a month after the convention ended. The first GOP nominee to make an acceptance speech at a convention was Dewey in 1944. An interesting telecom note from that 1904 Republican convention, though -- "Long before proceedings began on Tuesday, word spread that the President would monitor every minute of every session, via a special telephone line running direct from his office to the basement of the Coliseum. Delegates began to get uneasy feelings of remote control." (Morris, p. 332.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No I was not quite that old, thank you! I had previously heard this same conflict (did he or did he not attend 1904 convention), but then a book I read some time ago mainly dealing with the history of the Bull Moose party, (which Teddy Roosevelt defected to when he got angry at the Republicans) said he *did* attend 1904 and speak up. But your Alice Roosevelt diary and the NY Times report from the same year are very powerful sources also. I dunno. Thanks for writing me on it however. 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #359 ******************************