From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Sep 8 15:33:08 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id i88JX8m23124; Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:33:08 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:33:08 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200409081933.i88JX8m23124@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 #421 TELECOM Digest Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:32:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 421 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Senators Introduce Bill Implementing 9/11 Commission Report (M Solomon) FCC Second Digital TV Periodic Review (Monty Solomon) Verizon 3 Mbps/768 Kbps DSL Service (Monty Solomon) Leitch Announces High-Definition NEXIO(TM) Server System (Monty Solomon) WiFi Gaining (George Hernando) Re: Digital Music's Next Big Battle (John McHarry) Re: One Alternative, Peaceful Perspective (John McHarry) Re: Congress Hangs Up on VoIP for 2004 (Jack Decker) Re: Considering VoIP For Home? Think Twice About CallVantage (charlie3) Re: My New DVR From Cable One (DevilsPGD) Re: Vonage (Brett Forejt) Re: The Soft Invasion (Dan Lanciani) Re: Play DTMF Tones Over a Modem (Destined) White Paper: XERT Your Data, Refocus Your Efforts (Holmespundit) History of AUTOVON (Jim Haynes) 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, 7 Sep 2004 17:44:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Senators Introduce Bill Implementing 9/11 Commission Report A bipartisan group of Senators introduced a 281-page bill to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Report. The bill creates a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, Privacy and Civil Liberties Officers for key government agencies, and an Inspector General for a newly created National Intelligence Authority. It also implemented an information sharing network to promote sharing of terrorism-related information consistent with guidelines to protect civil liberties. September 07, 2004 9/11 Commission Report Implementation Act of 2004 [PDF], September 07 2004: http://www.cdt.org/security/usapatriot/20040907implement.pdf 9/11 Commission web site [offsite]: http://9-11commission.gov/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 17:56:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Second Digital TV Periodic Review Excerpt from: http://www.fcc.gov/headlines.html 9/7/04 FCC Second Digital TV Periodic Review. News Release (8/4/04): Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-250542A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-250542A1.pdf Order: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-192A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-192A1.pdf Attached Forms: 381 | 382 | 383 | 384 | 385 | 386 http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-192A2.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-192A3.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-192A4.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-192A5.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-192A6.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-192A7.pdf Powell Statement: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-250542A2.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-250542A2.pdf Copps Statement: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-250542A3.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-250542A3.pdf Martin Statement: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-250542A4.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-250542A4.pdf Adelstein Statement: Word | Acrobat http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-250542A5.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-250542A5.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 18:13:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon 3 Mbps/768 Kbps DSL Service New DSL Service With Maximum Connection Speed of 3 Mbps/768 Kbps Now Available in 12 States and the District of Columbia Media contacts: Briana Gowing, 972-718-6202 Catherine Hogan Lewis, 703-974-5547 NEW YORK - Verizon Online continues creating the best value in broadband by introducing a new DSL (digital subscriber line) speed option for consumers and businesses. The new DSL service offers a maximum connection speed of 3 Mbps (megabits per second) downstream and 768 Kbps (kilobits per second) upstream and is available today in 12 New England and mid-Atlantic states and in the District of Columbia. The company plans to offer 3Mbps DSL service later this year in the remaining 11 states where it now offers up to 1.5 Mbps DSL service. http://newscenter.verizon.com/proactive/newsroom/release.vtml?id=86793 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 18:24:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Leitch Announces High-Definition NEXIO(TM) Server System Company pioneers technology that could change the way broadcasters build facilities TORONTO, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Leitch Technology Corporation (TSX:LTV) continues its server technology leadership with the introduction of the NEXIO HD server, which brings to market the first software-based agile codec for high-definition video. Based on a new high-performance, true 64-bit dual processor platform, this new technology allows the integration of baseband high-definition record and playback directly into the NEXIO(TM) server system. The move to software codec technology has been part of Leitch's ongoing server strategy to increase customer value by moving away from dependence on hardware-specific functionality toward more general-purpose, high-performance computing platforms and adding value in software expertise. Leitch began to head in this direction several years ago with its patented RAIDSoft(TM) technology, an entirely software-based RAID controller that allowed for more reliable, scalable video servers at dramatically reduced cost. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200409031337_PRN__TO199 ------------------------------ From: georgehernando@hotmail.com (George Hernando) Subject: WiFi Gaining Date: 8 Sep 2004 12:19:57 -0700 I see in the archives at www.wififyi.com that WiFi seems to be capturing the US by storm -- all of Walla Walla county, the city of Philadelphia ... Sounds like the potential to obsolete a lot of wires. Is the US starting to catch up to totally wired places like South Korea? ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Digital Music's Next Big Battle Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 22:29:47 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Monty Solomon wrote: > The arrival of software that lets you search for and record digital > music off the airwaves could raise legal issues that will make the P2P > skirmishes look quaint by comparison. > By Eric Hellweg > If you follow technology long enough, every once in awhile you'll get > a jolt -- the sudden This Is Big realization -- when you see something > new and grasp its potential to change the way you go about your life. That is somewhat overblown. All that program did was re-digitize and record the analog output of the digital radio with a notation of the sound title it picked up off the feed that normally goes to a display. The only real advances over simply recording off FM or whatever is the automatic partitioning by selection and automatic labeling. This is pretty clearly fair use as it has been known for a long time. I think somebody else had a scheme for picking up and recording the digital output of the receiver, but it is still a rendering of the compressed stream. People will differ on how much the compression scheme degrades the audio, but it isn't full CD quality. For many people, however, it is still good enough. Even if the satellite receiver goes away, you can still record Internet streams off the likes of Shoutcast, and some of them are pretty good band rate, and include what is playing. I haven't seen anything to grab the what's playing and marry it to the copy, but that shouldn't be too hard. You can record the raw stream with off the shelf software that has been around for years. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: One Alternative, Peaceful Perspective Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 23:43:15 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is an interesting debate topic, but it isn't telecom. I regret having posted my second paragraph here, although not its content. I would probably enjoy debating the subject in an appropriate forum. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Then I suggest you go to an 'appropriate forum' to continue the discussion such as my very own discussion group on the forthcoming election: http://kerry-or-bush-2004.us.tt where there are two hot topics waiting for you now (1) the forthcoming election and (2) the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) also a/k/a in street vernacular, 'gay marriage'. Both discussion topics (indeed, any new discussions which spring from those two are totally unmoderated. Just go to http://kerry-or-bush-2004.us.tt and make your thoughts known. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 20:59:17 -0400 From: Jack Decker Subject: Re: Congress Hangs Up on VoIP for 2004 Pat, please conceal my e-mail address as usual. On 7 Sep 2004 07:32:37 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > Jack Decker wrote >> By Roy Mark >> Federal legislation to exempt Internet telephony from state >> regulations and tariffs has all but failed in the 108th Congress, >> ending an ambitious effort to carve out and protect Internet-related >> issues from looming, and highly uncertain, telecom reform. >> The idea was simple enough. Because IP-enabled networks are inherently >> interstate in nature, they should fall solely under the jurisdiction >> of the federal government and its appointed agent, the Federal >> Communications Commission (FCC). > To the subscriber, a telephone is a telephone. It doesn't matter > to the subscriber who is carrying the signal, by what method > the signal is being carried, or who mails out the bill. No > single medium is more or less "inherently interstate in nature". > At the present time telephone service is state regulated. All > parties offering telephone service must meet the same regulatory > obligations as all the other companies, otherwise exempt companies > have a most unfair cost advantage. > You can't have it both ways. There you go again, Lisa. Does your memory only retain information for a month or so, causing you to occasionally pounce upon some random post about VoIP (usually one of mine) and attempt to make the same old tired point that you've failed to make *every* *other* *time* you've posted it? Your whole argument is based on a ridiculous premise, encapsulated by this paragraph: > To the subscriber, a telephone is a telephone. It doesn't matter > to the subscriber who is carrying the signal, by what method > the signal is being carried, or who mails out the bill. No > single medium is more or less "inherently interstate in nature". The problem is that one could make the exact same argument about cell phones, but no one does, because it would be silly. Cell phones are not regulated by the states, they are regulated by the federal government, and possibly for the same reason that VoIP should not be regulated by the states: Since the device originating the call is portable, a call between any two given numbers could be intrastate or interstate. In fact, the nature of a call could change during the call (if, for example, you are talking on your cell phone, or on a VoIP phone connected through a wireless ISP, while you are a passenger in a car that crosses a state line) (Note how I state that in such as way as to not get the "don't drive while talking on the phone" crowd up in arms!). I have stated before, and I will state again, that VoIP is in many ways more like cell phone service than traditional wireline telephony. And in particular, with a traditional landline phone, you have a pretty good idea of where the caller is (usually within a few hundred feet, if they are using a cordless phone). If you are using a cell phone, even then it is becoming possible to know roughly where the caller is, at least for 911 purposes. But with VoIP, the caller could be anywhere in the world where there is a broadband connection. A person could have their billing address in one place, their phone number ratecenter in a different area, and when they actually place a call they may well be in neither of those places. That is not at all like traditional phone service. So, since your argument is based upon a faulty logic, your conclusion cannot be justified. Or, to put it another way, you can indeed have it both ways when you're talking about two different things. If landline phones and cell phones can be treated entirely differently by regulators, then here is absolutely no reason why VoIP, which is neither landline nor cell, should not be treated differently from either of those. Now, Lisa, why don't you print this out and post it next to your computer, so the NEXT time you are tempted to follow up one of my posts with what for you seems to pass for logic, you'll know that there's a pretty good chance that I am going to follow up with yet another post that makes your arguments look foolish. Heck, I could write a canned "form" response and probably use it each time you post, with very little modification. We all know by now that you have some axe to grind against VoIP, but for crying out loud, at least please find a new argument! Simply restating an argument that never made sense to begin with does NOT increase its credibility. ------------------------------ From: charlie@cdsdetroit.com (charlie3) Subject: Re: Considering VoIP For Home? Think Twice About AT&T CallVantage Date: 7 Sep 2004 12:23:38 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have things set up so cell phone voice mail never takes messages unless the vonage servers were down and unable to take calls from the phone network. ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: My New DVR From Cable One Reply-To: bond-jamesbond@crazyhat.net Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 01:52:15 GMT In message Barry Margolin wrote: >>> At a typical charge of $0.20 (20 cents) per kw-hr, that's a bit over >>> $4/month in electricity. Add another buck or two if you're using air >>> conditining and have to dump out that heat. Usually worth it, but >>> worth a thought or two. >> OTOH, since the majority of the energy used gets converted into heat, >> it comes straight off your heating bill if you're in an area which >> gets cold. > But during the summer it increases your electric bill for air > conditioning, so over the long run they probably cancel out. I don't use an air conditioner here at all, so it can't possibly cost more money for air conditioning :) >>> (And the "off" switch, if it has one, is only for show). >> Weird. My Bell ExpressVu PVR does shut off the hard drive when not in >> use (Although not immediately, it will update the guide and whatever >> other housekeeping needs to be done first) > ReplayTV used to do this, although there was an undocumented way to > disable it. Starting with the 4000 series, they keep the disk > spinning all the time. The problem was that when you turned the > device on, it took 5-10 seconds for the disk to spin up. Also, it has > to spin up every hour to check the guide to see if something needs to > be recorded; in quiet rooms (like bedrooms), this periodic startup > noise was annoying. Weird. My BEV PVR maintains 48-52 hours of guide in memory so it only needs to spin up once every day or two to keep up to date. There is some time involved to power up, 3-5 seconds, but it's less then my 32" TV, and the picture starts right away, just the PVR and guide features aren't available until the drive is ready. The heat benefits alone are worth having it spin down when not in use though, in my opinion. Never try to extort more than it would cost to have you killed. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: On my unit the off/on switch seems to work (and of course) so does unplugging it from the wall. But if it gets unplugged it winds up taking a long time (maybe thirty minutes) to rebuild the TV Guide listings and the details about the channels. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: RE: Vonage Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 21:01:42 -0500 From: Brett Forejt Do you know if online gaming (Xbox) and VOIP are compatible? Regards, Brett Forejt Texas Instruments Incorporated Member Group 12500 TI Blvd., MS 8729 Technical Staff Dallas, TX 75243 Phone: (214) 480-3898 Office Coordinates: J2-1183 FAX: (214) 480 - 3807 Email: bforejt@ti.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 02:38:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Dan Lanciani Subject: Re: The Soft Invasion puma@catbox.com (Gary Breuckman) wrote: > In article , "Dan Lanciani" > wrote: >>> By WALTER S. MOSSBERG >>> WHAT IF A private company could legally break into your house and rig >>> your television so that it would always start up on a special station >>> the company had created that showed deceptive ads every minute, all >>> day? And what if, when you tried to change the station, you could >>> choose only among obscure and dubious channels selected by the invading >>> company? >> Why exactly is it any more legal for companies to install unauthorized >> software on my machine than it is for a virus writer to do so? > Usually, because they ask! Part of the article to which I replied was snipped. It included the characterization of the installation as surreptitious, so I would assume that they don't ask about the particular piece(s) of code in question. > Ever visited a web site, and had a window pop up with something like > "would you like to install our super-duper-find-anything search bar?" Actually, no, but I probably don't visit the right kinds of web sites. In any case, it isn't obvious to me that even answering "yes" to such a question authorizes the installation of any other arbitrary code that the asker desires. > What most of these programs do is monitor what web sites you visit, > and then pop up ads that relate to those sites. So are we assuming that it is legal to install additional functionality as long as it kind-of, sort-of relates to the advertised functionality? > Of course some sites don't ask, or they bundle it with some other item > that you are installing. > What makes it 'more legal' is that YOU went THERE and got it. The same is usually true of a virus: it is bundled with some other item that you downloaded and are installing. A possible distinction is that the virus may not have been put there intentionally by the distributor of the other item. > Also many don't report any data back, they just annoy you locally > with related ads. I'm not clear on how this is a distinguishing characteristic. Either way they are executing software on my machine without my permission. Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Interesting that you mention it. Just a few days ago I 'inherited' some awful piece of trash which caused one of my computers to slow down to a crawl, and caused it to stall to a complete halt every ten or fifteen seconds. I also happened to notice that the same computer had 'inherited' a new search bar thing which would NOT go away with rebooting. I was not even able to get the latest version of Spybot to update itself or search for any bugs. I had to take another machine on the network which was not infected, load the latest Spybot S&D version 1.3 on it, *then* use the network to bring it across to the infected machine. Several hours of work to rid myself of an unwanted search tool bar and an unwanted virus which came with it. Who was it on here who at one point had a .signature file which said "When you are given a file and asked to send it around to all your friends, forget that I am a friend of yours." Very good advice, indeed. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Destined Subject: Re: Play DTMF Tones Over a Modem Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 01:41:14 -0700 Prospecting Sucks wrote: > I use a voiceblast system which allows me to keep up to date with > customers and clients. The problem I have is that I have to call into > a toll-free number and then using my telephone keypad I need to key in > the telephone numbers (with area-code) of the people I want to receive > my voiceblast. After I input each telephone number I have to input the > number "1" to confirm the telephone number. > The problem I have is that I have hundreds of customers and it is very > time consuming to have to key these numbers in each time. > Does anyone know of a program where I can point it to a TEXT file and > have it play the telephone numbers over the modem? Basically just read > the numbers using DTMF tones over the modem line? > Thanks > J.R. > http://www.freebusinesscards.com How about writing a text file with AT modem commands, then load into hyperterminal buffer (Microsoft OS only) and hit return. OR using any type of terminal program (Hyperterminal for Windows works) type ATDT (Phone # here?). Jeremy <> ------------------------------ From: Holmespundit Organization: Holmespun Solutions, LLC Subject: White Paper: XERT Your Data, Refocus Your Efforts Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 11:23:03 -0400 Monty's Groupies ... The paper "XERT Your Data, Refocus Your Efforts" was recently added to the Technical Briefcase section of the Holmespun Solutions web site: http://www.holmespun.biz/briefcase/ The paper describes the advantages of using an XML encoding (called XERT) to manipulate data that is usually only worked with in binary form. The paper is aimed at those who work with protocols defined using ASN.1 and encoded in BER format (e.g. X.509, SNMP, LDAP, TAP3, CDR). The paper uses the GSM/UMTS MAP protocol to form illustrations. The paper also promotes the Berasno Library and Utilities, which are capable of translating BER data to XERT format, and back again, without loss of data or format. ...Holmespundit Holmespun Solutions, LLC http://www.holmespun.biz ------------------------------ Subject: History of AUTOVON Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 16:08:11 GMT (copied from the Yahoo group coldwarcomms) From: "Albert LaFrance" Date: Tue Sep 7, 2004 9:56 pm Subject: AUTOVON history A history of AUTOVON, focusing on the "Circuit Switched Network Design and Analysis Model": http://www.mitretek.org/pubs/telecom/review00/article8.doc jhhaynes at earthlink dot net ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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