From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Sep 18 14:44:27 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id i8IIiQi10869; Sat, 18 Sep 2004 14:44:27 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 14:44:27 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200409181844.i8IIiQi10869@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 #433 TELECOM Digest Sat, 18 Sep 2004 14:45:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 433 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Google Ad Sense Installed (TELECOM Digest Editor) Internet Telephones: BCE, Telus Wary of Consumer Shift (Decker -- VOIP) USB to Serial Convertor as COM1 (Leander Vanhulle) Mitel SX-20 and SX-50 - Where to Sell; Where to Get Manual? (Robt Krten) Siemens Gigaset SL1 Colour (meATprivacyDOTnet) Re: International Phone Numbers (Joseph) Re: International Phone Numbers (Owain) Re: Interfacing With Telephone Ring + Tip?? (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Intuit Pits Its Customers Against Its Partners (Thomas A. Horsley) EFFector 17.34: 9/11 Commission Recs Carry Hidden Threat (Monty Solomon) CTA Stops Trains to Conduct Terror Threat Searches (lisa_minter2001) 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: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 14:10:14 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Google Ad Sense Installed On Friday night, working with an experienced and savvy tech friend (actually he did the work, I sat and supervised), we got the long-awaited Google AdSense installed on our web site, http://telecom-digest.org . I have ads on the main entry page, (a single top banner), and ads on the latest-issue page (onr top-banner and three or four ads on the left side of the page.) We were unable to go strictly by the Google formula (they provide a patch of java script to be installed on your page) since the latest-issue.html page is constructed 'on the fly' as each new issue of the Digest is published. And since the code used 'on the fly' for each issue is stored here on massis, but output to telecom-digest.org using 'echo (whatever)' >> latest- issue.html the Google javascript had to be echoed also into the page as it was being constructed. And of course, the old browser truism, "this page looks best when viewed on IE (or Netscape or Mozilla, or Opera, etc)" was appropriate in my case also. Actually, this page looks best when you come here to my house, sit at my terminal and view it. I think we got it more or less adequate for the majority of browsers. You folks who use Proximotron or other advertising-erasers naturally won't get the 'benefit' of our work at all. The real proof of the effectiveness of Google AdSense will be in whether or not it makes money for the Digest, which is to say enough money to make it worthwhile without at the same time (or instead) being an affront to the sensibilities of most readers. I am going to watch the scorecard closely on this. Google provides a counter showing how many impressions or hits are made on a page, how many clicks are made on the advertisments, and a few other details. Your comments are welcome as we go along. The only readers affected are those folks who who read the Digest via the web site. Usenet comp.dcom.telecom is not affected, neither are the people on the mailing list. Usenet and mailing list people are getting what they always did. But since the big thing these days is to commercialize the web I may as well get in on the action also. As of today, I am still uncertain if this will pay off or not. I do think Google is honest about clicks and all that, but how many people will click or be influenced to buy stuff as a result is another matter. Let me have your ideas. Have *you* ever bought anything off the net by clicking on an advertisement? PAT ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 09:22:16 -0400 Subject: Internet telephones: BCE, Telus Wary of Consumer Shift Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=d492a4dd-ffcf-44f5-9f4e-6fc5e0781e73 New tech threat to telcos; Internet telephones: BCE, Telus wary of consumer shift to upstarts' systems Kevin Restivo Financial Post Andy Church is part of a new breed of phone users. The 39-year-old Ottawa resident happily makes calls from his home computer using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, which allows him to route calls through his computer and avoid paying bills to Canada's largest phone companies. "I wasn't getting any value for the $50 a month I was paying Bell [for local phone service]," said Mr. Church, a self-described technology enthusiast who eight months ago swapped his Bell Canada service for Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc.'s TalkBroadband service. Mr. Church, who pays about $60 a month with Primus, said the allure of 10 calling features and unlimited local and long-distance calls made the decision to cut his Bell service an easy choice. He is one of about 15,000 Canadians who have switched to VoIP services, or Internet telephony, according to the Seaboard Group research firm. Upstarts such as Primus sell it for less than the traditional phone lines offered by incumbents Bell Canada or Telus Inc., the two largest telcos in Canada. Internet telephony moves voice calls over networks much like e-mails or Web page data are transmitted over computers. Users need only a computer with Internet access, a microphone or handset and the appropriate software. Internet phone service typically costs $14.95 to $19.95 a month from a range of providers with names such as Vonage Holdings Corp. and Call-Net Enterprises Inc. By comparison, Bell's traditional service costs consumers $40 to $60 a month. The rise of VoIP threatens the stranglehold held by BCE Inc., Bell Canada's parent, on Canada's residential and business phone lines. "They're in trouble and they know it," said Brian Sharwood, an analyst with the Seaboard Group in Toronto. "It's not hyperbole to say Internet telephony is the biggest threat Bell has ever faced." Full story at: http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=d492a4dd-ffcf-44f5-9f4e-6fc5e0781e73 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: LeanderVanhulle@hotmail.com (Leander Vanhulle) Subject: USB to Serial Convertor as COM1 Date: 18 Sep 2004 06:53:48 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have an external serial port connected with usb on my computer. My original port is broken. How do you let it work under DOS as COM1, with Windows its no problem but it doesn't work under DOS. ------------------------------ From: rk@parse.com (Robert Krten) Subject: Mitel SX-20 and SX-50 -- Where to Sell; Where to Get Manual? Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 20:28:01 -0500 Hi folks, I have a Mitel SX-50 for sale that's pretty much loaded, but I have a few questions first. Obviously, I'd like to test it out as much as possible, and to that end I'm looking for an SX-50 manual. The software generic is "MS54-MR1-UR3". Can anyone help? I'd need connector pinouts and programming information. Next up, once I get it running, I'd like to sell it -- is this an appropriate forum in which to do that? Or is eBay going to be a better place to maximize the cash I can get for it? It has the following: 4 x 9104-020-001-SA "ONS Line Card" 1 x 9104-020-001 "ONS Line Card" 1 x 9104-030-110-SA "DID Trunk Card" 2 x 9104-021-001-SA "COV Line Card" 1 x 9104-030-101-SA "LS/GS Trunk Card" 1 x 9104-060-001-NA "SX-50 Console" 1 x 9104-011-105-SA "SX-50 Generic Module" (MS54; rev D) 1 x 9104-010-100 "Main Control Card" It does *not* have the "utility card" -- is that required, or is it optional? I also have a bunch of Mitel SX-20s with CPU II's and generic 503-07 installed; I may be convinced to part with one -- but I need to play with them first. Same question about location for resale (but I have manuals, thanks :-)). Cheers, -RK [If replying via email, you'll need to click on the URL that's emailed to you afterwards to forward the email to me -- spam filters and all that] Robert Krten, PDP minicomputer collector http://www.parse.com/~pdp8/ ------------------------------ From: meATprivacyDOTnet Subject: Siemens Gigaset SL1 Colour Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 11:02:17 +0200 Hi all, It looks like that Siemens is going to discontinue the Gigaset SL1 Colour DECT handset. Do you know if it will be replaced by a new model? What is the current best DECT handset from Siemens? I plan to buy a few handsets to connect to a Gigaset SX353isdn base station. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: International Phone Numbers Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 18:51:08 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 23:08:01 +1000, ed wrote: > Hi, I'm writing a parser for a project and have been looking for a web > page or other source that lists the country codes alongside area code > and the number of digitals in the local number. Could anybody suggest > a web site or an alternative source? http://www.wtng.info/ ------------------------------ From: spuorgelgoog@gowanhill.com (Owain) Subject: Re: International Phone Numbers Date: 18 Sep 2004 04:43:04 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com ed wrote: > Hi, I'm writing a parser for a project and have been looking for > a web page or other source that lists the country codes alongside > area code and the number of digitals in the local number. > Could anybody suggest a web site or an alternative source? You can find some information here: http://kropla.com/dialcode.htm (summary) http://www.wtng.info/index.html (comprehensive) http://www.numberingplans.com/index.php?goto=guide&topic=E123 Owain ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 01:24:30 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Interfacing With Telephone Ring + Tip?? zerang shah wrote: > 1) How can I use the ring + tip to take the phone "off the hook" so > that I can dial? > 2) How can I take my DTMF frequency wire and interface it with the > ring and tip of the telephone wire to dial out? A quick poke at Google brought this site up: http://www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/circuits/teleinterface.html Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Intuit Pits Its Customers Against Its Partners From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 02:54:21 GMT Intuit became only the 2nd entry in my lifetime, it doesn't matter how much (or if) they improve, boycott when they added activation to turbo tax, and it decided on the 2nd day after I installed and activated that it wasn't actually activated after all (of course subsequent attempts to activate it again errored out because it was already activated). Intuit seems to be going down the "new Coke" self destruction path, only without the realization that they screwed up (which Coke finally acknowledged :-). I expect Quicken 2006 to charge you a nickel for each line item you add and stop working if you don't send in payment every month. >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 23:22:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.34: 9/11 Commission Recs Carry Hidden Threat EFFector Vol. 17, No. 34 September 17, 2004 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 306th Issue of EFFector: * 9/11 Commission Recommendations Carry Hidden Threat to Privacy, Freedom * Betamax Under Siege - Again * EFF Supports Yahoo! in French Censorship Case * Publish Globally, Censor Locally? * BayFF Event - Join Us for "E-voting and the Upcoming Election" on Tuesday, October 12 * Only 46 Days Until the Election - Register to Vote Now! * MiniLinks (16): TiVo, ReplayTV Agree to "Limits" on Relationship with Public * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/17/34.php ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 10:55:52 PDT From: Lisa Minter Subject: CTA Stops Trains to Conduct Terror Threat Searches The Associated Press Anti-terrorism patrols have begun security sweeps of Chicago Transit Authority trains to look for suspicious packages and passengers. Chicago Police and CTA security said they wanted to protect the city's elevated train system against terrorism similar to a deadly March train bombing in Spain. Islamic militants with possible links to al-Qaida are blamed for planting 10 backpack bombs on four commuter trains in the attack that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,600. While there have been no threats specifically targeting Chicago or the CTA, officials said Monday they wanted to reassure passengers the city will be proactive to prevent an attack. "It lets riders know we are out there trying to harden the target, so their commute will be safe," said Cmdr. Ed Gross, who heads the Police Department's public transportation division. The sweeps began Aug. 30, officials said. Four eight-member security teams, including K-9 units, target randomly selected stations, stopping every train to search every car. The average search takes three to five minutes. "We use the coordinated effort to reduce delays to a very minimum," Gross said. "And the only time you'll have a long delay is if we find something that doesn't belong there." The sweeps were originally planned to last until the Nov. 5 presidential election, but will likely continue past that date, Gross said. "This will be part of our normal procedure of policing the CTA," Gross said. "Random searches will not stop." Copyright (c) 2004, The Associated Press *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owners, in this instance Associated Press, and Chicago Tribune. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ 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. 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