From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Oct 7 15:43:44 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id i97JhhV17126; Thu, 7 Oct 2004 15:43:44 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 15:43:44 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200410071943.i97JhhV17126@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 #474 TELECOM Digest Thu, 7 Oct 2004 15:43:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 474 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Net Song-Swappers Face New Anti-Piracy Push (Lisa Minter) Cheney Blunder Lauded Anti-Bush Web Site (Lisa Minter) SBC Ties Broadband Build to FCC Sharing Rules (Lisa Minter) 'TiVo' for Your Radio (Monty Solomon) EFFector 17.36: Don't Let "Intelligence Reforms" Take Away (M Solomon) CDT Says Copyright 'Inducement' Bill Still Overbroad (Monty Solomon) ECH With Informix Database of Avaya Definity (Jens Marder) Where is it Possible to Get List of International Pointocodes (Ariel) Re: Paper Tape; Gates at Harvard (W. Randolph Franklin) Power Device Via UTP? (Crimson_M) Avaya ACS R6.0/Lucent Anymedia/Adtran TA/Caller ID or ICLID (FDL) VOIP Home Connection (Andy G.) Free VOIP Tutorials & Whitepapers (tekjockey) Can Skype Cash In On Free? (Eric Friedebach) SX-2000 External System Speed Dial (Eric Wikman) Nortel Meridian 9516cw (Rob) Re: Cascading Hub (was Re: Voicepulse Disconnects Computers) (Hank Karl) Re: Pennsylvania Railroad's Crew Communication System? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Cell Phone Attracts Lightning? (Thomas A. Horsley) Re: More on "Social Activists" and Public Utilities (Henry) Make Red Light Cameras Ineffective (Rodney Smith) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Lisa Minter Subject: Net Song-Swappers Face New Anti-Piracy Push Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 11:18:47 EDT By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - A new round of lawsuits aimed at prolific Internet song-swappers could be announced as early as Thursday as music officials meet in London to discuss the next step in their global war on Internet piracy. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and British Phonographic Industry scheduled a news conference in the city for Thursday to announce "further measures in the fight against Internet piracy." IFPI and BPI officials declined on Wednesday to say whether that meant new legal action. To date, more than 3,000 people have been sued in the United States, Denmark, Germany, Italy and Canada and there has been speculation that more Internet file-sharers will be sued. Music industry officials in Britain and France, the world's third and fourth largest music markets, have said they will join the legal fight if music fans continue to download free songs from Internet file-sharing networks and share them with others. Music sales have been showing some sign of recovery, but the piracy-battered industry is still keen to use legal threats to limit usage of popular file-sharing networks such as Kazaa and eDonkey to stifle a rampant online trade in free music. BPI officials had said they would not sue in Britain until paid download services such as Apple Computer's iTunes and Napster had established themselves and campaigns to make consumers aware of the law had been run. "Lawsuits would not surprise me at all. The BPI has been saying for a long time they would do this. They just haven't said when. I would suspect the BPI would feel that by now anyone sharing songs online should know better," said Struan Robertson, a Glasgow-based technology lawyer for law firm Masons. *** 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 owner, in this instance Reuters News Service and Yahoo News. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: Cheney Blunder Lauded Anti-Bush Web Site Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 11:35:53 EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney probably did not intend to direct millions of television viewers to a Web site calling for President Bush's defeat but that's what a slip of the domain achieved. Anyone who heeded Cheney's advice and clicked on "factcheck.com" on Wednesday morning was redirected to the site of anti-Bush billionaire investor George Soros that had a banner message saying "Why we must not reelect President Bush." The GeorgeSoros.com site later put up a notice saying that it does not own factcheck.com and was not responsible for directing readers from that site to the Soros message. "We are as surprised as anyone by this turn of events," it said. A lawyer for the factcheck.com site was not available for comment. Defending his record as Halliburton's chief executive, Cheney said in the Tuesday night debate that Democratic vice-presidential challenger John Edwards was trying to use Halliburton as a smokescreen. Any voter who wanted the facts, Cheney said, should check out factcheck.com -- which led to the Soros site. The Web site Cheney had in mind, factcheck.org, was not amused when the vice president proved that he was not master of the factcheckers' domain. Factcheck.org, run by the Annenberg Center of the University of Pennsylvania, said on its site on Wednesday that Cheney not only got the domain name confused, he had mischaracterized its fact-finding. "Cheney ... wrongly implied that we had rebutted allegations Edwards was making about what Cheney had done as chief executive officer of Halliburton," the site said on Wednesday. "In fact we did post an article pointing out that Cheney hasn't profited personally while in office from Halliburton's Iraq contracts, as falsely implied by a Kerry TV ad. But Edwards was talking about Cheney's responsibility for earlier Halliburton troubles. And in fact, Edwards was mostly right." The White House Web site annotated the debate transcript, parenthetically noting that Cheney meant factcheck.org, not factcheck.com. It linked the transcript to factcheck.org. *** 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 owner, in this instance Reuters News Service and Yahoo News. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: SBC Ties Broadband Build to FCC Sharing Rules Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 11:38:56 EDT By Justin Hyde NEW YORK (Reuters) - SBC Communications Inc. will speed its rollout of a fiber-optic network to consumers if federal regulators don't force the company to share those connections with competitors, its chairman said on Wednesday. SBC, the second-largest U.S. telephone company, has said it plans to spend $4 billion to $6 billion to run fiber-optic lines to neighborhoods and new homes over the next five years, offering video and high-speed data to half of the customers in its 13-state territory. But the company has recently been pressuring the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to clarify that it does not have to let competitors resell much of the upgraded network. SBC Chairman and Chief Executive Ed Whitacre told a Goldman Sachs conference that SBC could easily accelerate the five-year schedule depending on how the FCC rules. "I believe we could beat that by three years or two and a half years, and would with the proper decisions coming out of Washington," Whitacre said. "We've got the shovel in the ground. We just haven't lifted the dirt yet.

"I really need to know about the sharing arrangements on broadband, and what I have to do or don't have to do, and of course I don't want to share it," Whitacre added. FCC Chairman Michael Powell is backing a proposal that would allow SBC and other dominant local carriers to share at most only a small voice line if they run fiber-optic connections within 500 feet to homes. A vote on the proposal will likely occur Oct. 14. Whitacre said SBC's upgrade would allow it to provide customers with a connection speed of 25 megabits per second, enough for four video channels, voice service and fast Internet access. SBC plans a trial of a video service later this year, and eventually aims to sell its own television service rather than resell satellite television service from EchoStar Communications Corp. When asked about potential competition with EchoStar, Whitacre said that EchoStar would provide some of the programming to SBC's own video services, and that as part of their resell agreement SBC had control of the DISH network subscriptions that it sold. "That's our customer we get on DISH," Whitacre said. "It is our plan to migrate that over time to the terrestrial network." *** 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 owner, in this instance Reuters News Service and Yahoo News. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 13:13:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 'TiVo' for Your Radio By WALTER S. MOSSBERG TiVo, the digital recorder for television, has become such a cult item that folks use it as a verb -- "I'll have to TiVo the Red Sox game on Tuesday." Its fans predict it will replace the VCR as a way to do video "time-shifting" -- to record a TV show so you can watch it at a more convenient time. But what about radio? Is there a way to time-shift radio? This week, my assistant Katie Boehret and I reviewed a new device that aims to do just that. It's the radioShark, from Griffin Technology, and it acts as a sort of TiVo for radio. The $70 radioShark, so named because it looks like a shark's fin, attaches to your PC or Mac via the USB port and enables your computer to play live AM or FM radio using radioShark software. Like a TiVo, radioShark allows you to pause, rewind or fast-forward live programming. But the best part is that you can record songs or talk radio from this live feed. You can play your recordings back within the radioShark software, or send those recordings straight to a play list on Apple's iTunes music software. From there, you can even transfer the recordings to an iPod. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20041006.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 13:32:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.36: Don't Let "Intelligence Reforms" Take Away EFFector Vol. 17, No. 36 September 30, 2004 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 308th Issue of EFFector: * Action Alert: Don't Let "Intelligence Reforms" Take Away Your Rights! * EFF Wins in Diebold Copyright Abuse Case * Dangerous Ruling Menaces Rights of Free Software Programmers * Court Strikes Down Key USA PATRIOT Provision * E-voting Victory - California Gets a Paper Trail! * Court of Appeals Revives Florida E-voting Lawsuit * Op-ed: The Induce Act - A Tax on Innovators * BayFF Event - "E-voting and the Upcoming Election," Tuesday, October 12 * MiniLinks (13): The Senate's Taste for RIAA Kool-Aid * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/17/36.php ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 13:45:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: CDT Says Copyright "Inducement" Bill Still Overbroad From: info@cdt.org Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 17:35:36 -0400 (EDT) CDT Says Copyright "Inducement" Bill Still Overbroad CDT today urged the Senate Judiciary Committee not to pass S.2560, the "Inducing Infringements of Copyright Act." Though intended to combat widespread copyright infringement on peer-to-peer networks, as drafted the bill would threaten a range valuable consumer technologies. October 06, 2004 CDT letter to Senate Judiciary Committee [PDF], October 06, 2004: http://www.cdt.org/copyright/20041006cdt.pdf ------------------------------ From: Jens Marder Subject: ECH With Informix Database of Avaya Definity ? Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 20:00:31 +0200 Organization: T-Online Hi, can anybody help me to create an external History with data from informix Database of Avaya Definity ? I have try to create an ECH based of call_rec and ag_actv table, but the result can't be able to seen ... Does someone have similar experiences, and can possibly help me? Greetz ------------------------------ From: ariel.burbaickij@gmail.com (Ariel Burbaickij) Subject: Where is it Possible to Get List of International Pointocdes Date: 7 Oct 2004 10:57:19 -0700 Hello dear newsgroup participants, Where and under what conditions is it possible to get the list of mappings of the form: International pointocde (14 bit one) ==> carier to whom the pointcode is assigned? I guess it is something similar to IIRIC /etc/names file in pre-DNS era. With Best Regards, Ariel Burbaickij ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Paper Tape; Gates at Harvard From: W Randolph Franklin Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 19:11:39 GMT According to AES/newspost : > 1) Did the Aiken Computational Laboratory also continue to > exist at that same time, as a building and/or an > organization? (I've seen references to tech reports under > the ACL name dated as late as 1981, and I understand the > building stood until 1998.) > 2) Where was the CRCT program and its DEC machines housed? SFAIK, the ACL was the name of the building. It housed CRCT (CS) HW and people on the basement and ground floor; Applied Math and more CS faculty were on the 2nd floor. However, I was only a lowly grad student, 73-78, and would have been unaware if ACL also was an organizational name at some point. The tech reports I saw were labeled, e.g, TR-12-78 (my thesis). IIRC, the Science Center didn't open until about 75. That's why Harvard students had to use a commercial timeshare company for awhile. The ACL was demolished to make way for the, very nice, new CS building, paid by Gates. The new building displays a copy of a portion of a listing of one of Gates's programs. You mightn't know it from looking at Windows, but he was technically quite good. BTW, I never talked to him. How many grad students talk to undergrads who wander in and out? There may be a lesson here. The HW has certainly improved from the days of 10cps i/o (plus a line printer), core memories with well under 1 MB, disks with 10MB, etc. However, I can't say that the SW is much better today. Harvard researchers had developed an object oriented language, EL/1, which had comparable power to C++ (lacked a few features, but had a few other features). Defining new classes in EL/1, including their interactions with other classes, was just as hard as it is in C++. All this is unrelated to Harvard's rather small main computer center, which tended to rent time on MIT machines. In contrast to many universities, Harvard's computer facilities were quite decentralized, as was Harvard. /W. Randolph Franklin ------------------------------ From: crimson_m@hotmail.com (Crimson_M) Subject: Power Device Via UTP? Date: 7 Oct 2004 08:12:59 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I know very little about the 802.3 standard and transmission lines, in general as I'm a hardware guy. But, I'm curious if you suppose it is possible to power a simple, low power device via 100/10BaseT? Consider a setup such as, Gateway/Router/etc. ========== UTP ========== Device Where the device would contain some simple hardware, just enough to communicate via TCP/IP and perform some other simple functions. I'm just thinking abstractly here and don't have any ideas on specs at all ... What do you think? ------------------------------ From: FDL Subject: Avaya ACS R6.0 / Lucent Anymedia / Adtran TA / Caller ID or ICLID Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 05:13:20 -0500 Anyone have any idea on why Caller ID would Intermittently Show up on Avaya ACS systems. The original configuration of the system was this: Lucent 5ESS Switch GR-303 to Anymedia (Co-Location) 4 Analog Loop (Loop Start) POTS Lines. Terminated at Customer Prem into Avaya ACS R6.0. Calls would Intermittently show caller ID. Caller ID boxes work 100% of the time. If you wait 30 seconds and try it it works everytime. However, if you place the calls one right after another the caller ID only shows about 70% of the time. We have since had the loop changed to a T1 with an Adtran TA system (IAD/Channel Bank) to drop off the Pots because we can manipulate the characteristics of the line(Add Impedance to the line). We have the same issue (But think there may be a problem between Adtran and Avaya ACS Also). We seem to be having multiple issues of caller ID throughout our network, all involving the AnyMedia Remote Terminals and Avaya ACS Systems. I am sure this has something to do with the FSK signal itself, rise or fall of sign wave, time of frequency shift.. something. I am pretty sure the caller ID boxes work as they probably are more tolerant of ranges. Has anyone else ran into these problems? ------------------------------ From: andyg2@verizon.net (Andy G.) Subject: VOIP Home Connection Date: 6 Oct 2004 13:05:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am considering signing up for VOIP service and have been reading websites of the various providers to try to figure out how to wire my whole house. According to Vonage, you can run a wire from the adapter to a phone jack and (as long as the line is disconnected totally from the phone co. and there is no curerent) all jacks would work. I asked Verizon about this, they said that it's not supported. ATT says that they'll send out a wiring tech for a fee to hook up the whole house. What is the science here? I would sign up with Vonage, but they do not have available the area code that I want. Thanks. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There is no science here. Vonage is correct, Verizon is ignorant and AT&T are charlatans. Do the job yourself in a few minutes. As Vonage notes, **keep the existing live telephone wires away from the Vonage (or other) telephone adapter.** After you have made certain there is *no dial tone* from telco (just split the pair(s) at the demarc for example) and also make certain you do not hear the battery or any 'side tone' on the remaining pairs, then attach the output of your telephone adapter to the nearest modular box in your house. You should get dial tone from the telephone adapter box (assuming your internet connection is up and running correctly) at every modular terminal in common, every modular terminal which shares wire pairs with (the former) telephone line. If you have a two line phone (or similar), the wiring gets a wee bit more complex but you can run Vonage through the second pair (typically the black and yellow wires, leaving telco to use the first pair (typically the red and green wires). If you do that, Vonage and telco sharing the same cable run, each on pairs of their own, **be absolutely positive** the unused pair you are taking over for Vonage is totally disconnected at the demarc, the pole, the basement head end, or wherever, since telco has a bad habit of taking over unused pairs for other customers and forgetting to open any multiples along the way. Wouldn't it be a kick in your posterior to find out telco had installed a second line for some neighbor of yours, and had grabbed your supposedly unused pair to do the job? You might want to review the schematics Jack Decker has on line on his VOIP News to make sure you get it right. In any event, don't pay AT&T to do this, and don't listen to Verizon. PAT] ------------------------------ From: terrence.wong@gmail.com (tekjockey) Subject: Free VOIP Tutorials and Whitepapers Date: 6 Oct 2004 22:03:18 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Learn VOIP (H323, MGCP, SIP), LAN (ethernet, fiber, copper), WAN (T1/ T3) , ROUTING (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP)### http://www.compointsolutions.com Great for TECH PROFESSIONALS AND BUSINESS OWNERS WHO NEED TO KNOW MORE. Updated Daily - Tutorials, news, resource links and pdf's on learning voip. Fresh content - updated daily! Vist the links and feed your appetite for knowledge! http://www.compointsolutions.com Stop By, Learn Stuff, Tell a Friend! ... :-) ------------------------------ From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: Can Skype Cash In On Free? Date: 7 Oct 2004 08:58:42 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com David M. Ewalt, 10.06.04, Forbes.com NEW YORK - Skype Technologies made a name for itself providing a free Internet telephone program to users around the world. Now it's time to cash in. The company announced today it's planning to launch a paid service for businesses and expand its premium offerings. "We will be making a special offering towards business users sometime next year in order to better serve their specific needs," says Chief Executive Niklas Zennstrom. Changes to the software will include the ability to integrate Skype's software into corporate intranets or calling directories, allowing users to click on a co-worker's name and automatically initiate a call, as well as simplified group billing for its existing SkypeOut service. Zennstrom said a price has not yet been set. http://www.forbes.com/2004/10/06/cx_de_1006telecom.html Eric Friedebach /Favorite OnStar commercial: crying woman drops keys in toilet/ ------------------------------ From: eric.wikman@gmail.com (Eric Wikman) Subject: SX-2000 External System Speed Dial Date: 7 Oct 2004 09:14:55 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am trying to setup a system speed dial to point to an external number and am having a problem with it. It works fine if you dial the external number from within the building, but if you call in from outside the office and type the extension in from the automated attendant it puts you on hold for about 3 seconds and then hangs up. If I set the Interflow on an ACD path to the new system speed dial it works fine if you reached the ACD number from within the building, but if you dial into the ACD path from an external source it plays the automated attendant message when the path interflows instead of forwarding the call to the external number. My true goal is the interflow. When the in-house call center is backed up, we want to send the calls to an external call center that is not on a compatible phone system. I have it setup at the moment to interflow to an extension in the building that is set to call forward always to the external number and it works as expected if there is an interflow timeout, but not when there is an interflow because no agents are logged in. I don't really want to waste an extension for this purpose, but if I could get that working when the path is unavailable I would be happy. Does anyone know what I am doing wrong or what else I can try? Eric ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Nortel Meridian 9516cw Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 16:17:02 GMT I was thinking of buying one of these because I need an answering machine that can deal with multiple outgoing messages based on distinctive ring. This phone gives me that plus a LOT more. Then I saw the nortel 9617, this is pretty slick with the USB interface and PC software, but it doesn't appear to do the thing I need most. So I started thinking, these phones are pretty old, is there someone making a phone that will do what I want with the distinctive ring that also has a PC interface with a lot of cool features? I like the 9516 calling you after you get a call to let you know someone left a message, I'm thinking with a PC based phone, you could maybe have an email or SMS sent instead. Any thoughts on products I should look at? Thanks! ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl Subject: Re: Cascading Hubs (was Re: Voicepulse Disconnects Computers) Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2004 14:55:24 -0400 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 01:39:55 GMT, Nick Landsberg wrote: > I have my primary machine plugged into the router and the other > machines plugged into a hub which is plugged into the router. These > onthers don't do much internet duty (a couple of old iMacs and an > ancient Win95 box). I got the hub back about 5-6 years ago to wire up > two of the Mac's and the Win95 box together, and, as I recall, it was > about 40 USD back then. If you are patient, you can shop around on > the internet to see who's having the latest sale and get a really good > price, Pat. Don't forget the local stores. Office Max wants $20 for a five port switch. The shipping charge may be much more expensive than the discount you get on-line. >> Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com >> "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, >> we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin > "It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so > ingenious" - A. Bloch ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Pennsylvania Railroad's Crew Communication System? Date: 6 Oct 2004 13:33:38 -0700 David Clayton wrote: > The train system in my city uses the "trip stop" system, but a few > months ago at the end of a line a driver got out of his cabin (for a > "pit stop") but left both trip stops up and the brakes off. I think there is a misunderstanding. The train motorman has no control over the trip stops, they are a trackside mechanism controlled by the signals. In North America, if the brakes were left off and the train rolled, it would hit a red signal and be "tripped" before hitting another train. But a word about manual overrides: Subway systems typically allow the motorman to override the tripstop so he can proceed through a red signal -- under certain circumstances. The rules are quite strict that when doing so the motorman must be prepared to stop well short of any obstruction, another train, or broken rail -- in essence, to only creep along. In practice this was used to follow closer behind a departing train into a station to save a little time. Unfortunately, motorman error in such cases has resulted in accidents, and some systems have outlawed bypassing the tripstop. It is also a tradeoff between convenience and safety and an ongoing debate. A word about railroad signals: Tripstops are normally only used on subway-elevated rapid transit systems. The mainline railroads used other techniques. It is not desirable to force an emergency stop on a freight train or a high speed passenger train since it can derail and cause other problems, though various forms of machine protection have been installed, especially where passengers are carried. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Cell Phone Attracts Lightning? From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2004 22:40:09 GMT > In NO WAY can a cellphone being used at a gas station cause an > explosion. I bet I could use some metal part on the cellphone to strike a spark to light gas fumes to ignite a fuse to set off dynamite at a gas station :-). Of course, I'd need to have the flint and the dynamite as well as the cell phone ... (The MythBusters TV show did an episode on cell phones and gas stations. Turns out that people getting in and out of the car sliding on the seat often generate a static charge, and that is the primary cause of most gas station fires, but even then there is no explosion, just a fire). >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ From: henry999@eircom.net (Henry) Subject: Re: More on "Social Activists" and Public Utilities Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 07:21:51 +0300 Organization: Elisa Internet customer Lisa Hancock wrote: >> social activists ... are incompetent, have hidden agendas, and do >> more harm than good for the people. You are obviously very firm in your beliefs and I can see that I'm not going to sway you with mere logic. Therefore, I would just like to clarify a couple of points and then I'm going to let this matter go. You say: > henry999@eircom.net (Henry) wrote and > As to your specifics: It was perfectly clear that I was quoting a published source, for which I gave a proper citation. These are not _my_ specifics. > ... In my other > post I described the damage social activists do to transit. They hold > down fares too low and the carrier is unable to provide decent > service. Your couple will wait a long time for an overcrowded > decrepit train as a result. Again, they are not _my_ couple. Anyway, it seems to me that the nature of your wrong-headedness is best exemplified in claims such as this: > It is a fact that one outgrowth of liberalism is big govt. "It is a fact," you say. You are so _sure_ of yourself. Do you consider George W. Bush a liberal? If not, how then do you explain _his_ astronomical expansion of "big govt."? Writing about a year ago, the (conservative) columnist Andrew Sullivan quoted a study by the (conservative) Brookings Institution which noted: "the Bush administration has also ramped up the numbers of people working for the federal government to a 13-year high." http://www.andrewsullivan.com/main_article.php?artnum=20030905 Oh, well -- don't let little things like this get in the way of your certainties, such as 'liberalism = big govt.'. Cheers, Henry ------------------------------ From: rodneysmith Subject: Make Red Light Cameras Ineffective Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 19:16:55 EDT [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I fished this out of my spam bucket yesterday. I am NOT interested in selling this sort of crap but I would be interested in knowing how it is done. I thought anything the human eye could see/discern, a camera lense could do the same thing, and likewise, to deliberatly obliterate a license plate (remove it, cover it up, etc) to keep a *human eye* from being able to see/discern is definitly illegal. So how does this spray, or vapor or whatever it is work? Anyone? PAT] ========================== Have You Been Caught By A New Traffic Camera Yet? Render them completely ineffective with the amazing PHOTO BLOCKER SPRAY! As seen on T*V, reported 100% effective by Fox and CBS news and many other stations. Visit our website for more information and see actual tv news videos and what actual police had to say. Don't let them take your cash in a flash. Make your LICENSE PLATE INVISIBLE. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Somehow I accidentally deleted the part of the message with his URL for inquiries. PAT] Regards, Photo Blocker Customer Service PS: This revolutionary product makes your license plate COMPLETELY INVISIBLE to ALL FORMS of photo enforcement! You will NEVER BE CAUGHT by red light cameras or speed enforcement cameras, or your money back. NBC NEWS: The product works ... state law makes outlawed plate covers, but the statute doesn't address sprays. ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 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 oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. 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. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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 #474 ******************************