From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Nov 25 17:49:33 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id iAPMnXm12809; Thu, 25 Nov 2004 17:49:33 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 17:49:33 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200411252249.iAPMnXm12809@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 #567 TELECOM Digest Thu, 25 Nov 2004 17:46:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 567 Inside This Issue: Happy Thanksgiving to All! Comcast Will Raise Cable Rates in January (Monty Solomon) Iconic Grilled Cheese Feeds Internet Frenzy (Monty Solomon) 'Frontline' Files an Eye-Opening Credit Report (Monty Solomon) FCC Chief Has Had Quite a Year (Monty Solomon) Telecom Bill Will Position Pennsylvania as National Leader (M Solomon) Re: Sears and K-Mart (Steve Sobol) Re: Sears and K-Mart (NoSpamForMe) Re: Anyone Having any Luck With Google Ads? (DevilsPGD) Re: What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits (DevilsPGD) Re: How to Pronounce "Skype" (DevilsPGD) Re: How to Pronounce "Skype" (Noam Avnery) Re: Bofra Exploit Hits The Register ad Serving Supplier (Robert Bonomi) Re: A-la-carte Pricing For Cable and Satellite TV (Neal Mclain) Re: How Do I Learn an Unknown Number? (Bill Burns) Re: How Do I Learn an Unknown Number? (Herb Stein) Re: The Persuaders (Henry) 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: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 00:49:57 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Will Raise Cable Rates in January By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff In what has become as much of a Thanksgiving tradition as stuffed turkey and football, Comcast Corp. moved yesterday to raise New England cable television rates by an average 5.9 percent starting in January. Actual increases vary among towns, however, and in Boston consumers will see the smallest rate increase in 15 years, city officials said. Comcast, which now controls cable systems formerly operated by a half-dozen different operators, is moving toward standardizing rates in the more than 350 New England communities where it provides cable TV. In Massachusetts, the average monthly price for standard cable service will rise to $45.95 from $43.39, excluding whatever franchise fee the local government charges, according to Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer L. Khoury. Digital cable packages will increase by an average of $1, offset by a 45-cent-per-month reduction in the cable set-top box rental fee in about 95 percent of Bay State communities serviced by Comcast. The company has over 1.5 million customers in Massachusetts. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/11/24/comcast_will_raise_cable_rates_in_january/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 00:54:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Iconic Grilled Cheese Feeds Internet Frenzy By Don Aucoin, Globe Staff Diana Duyser will become $28,000 richer today, stand at the center of a media spotlight, and embark on a nationwide tour starring herself -- and all it cost her was a 10-year-old sandwich. Not just any sandwich, of course. In one of the more bizarre sequences of the Internet era -- or any era -- Duyser reaped her windfall by going on eBay to auction off a grilled cheese sandwich on which, she claims, resides the image of none other than the Virgin Mary. In only two weeks, the posting triggered nearly 2 million page views, making it one of most popular listings in eBay's history. Equally remarkable was the viruslike speed with which the online auction site became crowded with scores of products that were half-spoof, half-spinoff: Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese lunchboxes, greeting cards, T-shirts featuring President Bush and posters of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California with the sandwich, refrigerator magnets, paintings, a "Low Carb Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese recipe," even an Internet domain address. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/11/24/iconic_grilled_cheese_feeds_internet_frenzy/ Bidding ends at $28K for cheese sandwich November 23, 2004 HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- A woman who said her 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich bore the image of the Virgin Mary will be getting a lot more bread after the item sold for $28,000 on eBay . GoldenPalace.com, an online casino, confirmed that it placed the winning bid, and company executives said they were willing to spend "as much as it took" to own the 10-year-old half-sandwich with a bite out of it. http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2004/11/23/bidding_ends_at_28k_for_cheese_sandwich/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 01:23:41 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 'Frontline' Files an Eye-Opening Credit Report TELEVISION REVIEW By Joanna Weiss, Globe Staff | November 22, 2004 All you really need to know about the credit card industry can be summed up in the look on Ed Yingling's face as he sits across from reporter Lowell Bergman in this week's " Frontline " episode. Yingling is the top lobbyist for the banking industry and, more specifically, the flak catcher, sent out to answer every query assembled by the research arms of PBS and The New York Times. And when Bergman asks why no major credit card companies will talk to him, Yingling looks knowingly, almost apologetically wry. "They pay us dues," he says, "to handle these kinds of sometimes-difficult assignments." Yes, it's pretty clear that if "Frontline" sets out to examine the $30 billion credit card industry, the banks aren't going to be the good guys. And "Secret History of the Credit Card," the hourlong show that airs tomorrow at 9 p.m. on WGBH-TV (Channel 2), is a damning report about an industry that preys on consumer naivete and, perhaps just as disturbing, the consumers who run willingly into its traps. Just in time for the holiday spending season, "Frontline" does us the service of finally reading the fine print on those long, eye-numbing credit card contracts, and what's inside isn't pleasant: fees that generate increasing amounts of revenue, loan rates that can quickly climb as high as 30 percent and can be changed at any time, even if, for example, you're late paying an unrelated bill. The result is a teetering financial crisis: The average American family carries $7,500 in credit card debt. Secret History of the Credit Card http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/ Watch online http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/view/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 01:25:25 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Chief Has Had Quite a Year LIFE IN THE POP LANE By Rene Graham, Globe Staff It's the season for Time editors to mull possible candidates for its 2004 Person of the Year. According to the magazine's criteria, the final selection will be "the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or worse." To that end, among those being considered are filmmakers Michael Moore and Mel Gibson, as well as White House adviser Karl Rove, who has been largely credited as the mastermind behind President Bush's reelection. Interesting choices all, but here's an even better suggestion -- Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. From driving Howard Stern to announce a 2006 move to satellite radio to making ABC affiliates so skittish about airing a film with graphic violence and profanity that more than a third canceled a Veterans Day airing of "Saving Private Ryan," no individual this year has had a greater effect on our cultural lives -- for good or ill, for better or worse -- than Powell. He was again in the news last week for criticizing ABC's ill-advised opening for "Monday Night Football," featuring a towel-clad Nicollette Sheridan, of "Desperate Housewives," seducing Terrell Owens of the Philadelphia Eagles. The FCC is considering opening an investigation that could result in a fine against ABC. Created in 1934, the FCC, according to its website, is "charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable." Yet as this nation continues its unnerving lurch toward conservative sanctimony, Powell, nominated to the FCC in 1997 by President Clinton and designated chairman by President Bush in 2001, has positioned himself as our country's top cop for good taste and cultural propriety. Subject: Telecom Bill Will Position Pennsylvania as National Leader Telecom Bill Will Position Pennsylvania as National Leader in Advanced Telecommunications, Broadband Deployment - Nov 24, 2004 03:57 PM (PR Newswire) Facts Disprove Coalition's Misleading Claims HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Contrary to misleading claims by competitors, a recent telecommunications bill passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly represents the most aggressive, comprehensive broadband network deployment plan in the United States, providing significant benefits for the state's consumers, as well as its educational and business communities. In a recent news release, the Pennsylvania Carriers' Coalition claimed that telecom competition is threatened here and that Pennsylvania lags behind other states in broadband services. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=45239818 ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Sears and K-Mart Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 20:48:36 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Lisa Hancock wrote: > 1) Security: It is in a blue collar neighborhood that while not the > worst, it is not the best either. The cable company does have a > public office, but it is very tiny and basially only a thick security > window through which to transact business. I think both utilities are > justifiably concerned about a patron being dangerous. > 2) Consistency: I suspect Verizon chose to go to a region-wide policy > of no visitors for operating consistency, important when training and > supporting a large group of employees. > 3) Cost: It may be cheaper to have contracted official payment agents > rather than have company employees do it. Some such agents charge a > fee to the payer. Years ago many people did not have checking > accounts and needed this, today more people have such accounts (though > not all.) 4) Your Verizon used to be Bell Atlantic, my Verizon used to be GTE? Lisa Hancock wrote: > 1) Security: It is in a blue collar neighborhood that while not the > worst, it is not the best either. The cable company does have a > public office, but it is very tiny and basially only a thick security > window through which to transact business. I think both utilities are > justifiably concerned about a patron being dangerous. The Verizon Plus store, incidentally, is located in a middle-class neighborhood, so crime isn't too much of an issue, although it's not too far from a few other neighborhoods where it might be an issue. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/ Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED) Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids. ------------------------------ From: NoSpamForMe Subject: Re: Sears and K-Mart Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 16:57:58 GMT Lisa Hancock wrote in message news:telecom23.566.2@telecom-digest.org: > Verizon (Bell of PA) has a large suburban building just like you > describe. Indeed, it once held a business office. So it's reasonable > to ask why it isn't open to public walk-ins. > I don't know their reasonings, but my guess is as follows: > 1) Security: (...snip...) > 2) Consistency: (...snip...) > 3) Cost: (....snip...) 4) Liability? It's got to be cheaper insurance-wise & risk management-wise to prohibit public access. Makes sense to me, anyhow. ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Anyone Having any Luck With Google Ads? Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 20:18:23 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com In message bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) wrote: > It _is_ possible to get a 'fairly' accurate count of how many times > any ad was actually "seen" by people viewing your page. It *does* > require a fair amount of skill in web-page programming, however. > Starting with reverse- engineering the 'drop-in' code provided by > google. Then you replace their target URL with a reference to a > 'unique' URL on _your_own_ server. _THAT_ page does not 'really' > exist. it just returns a 'redirect' to the _actual_ google ad image. > *BUT*, you get a 'hit' in _your_ logs on that dummy page, every time > the ad is pulled up. You don't need to go to all the hassle of redirecting it, just add a second JS block (above or below) which points to a location on your website. > Note, _even_ this method will somewhat *overstate* the actual counts. > Not just for Google, but for anybody who in the business of 'serving' > ads -- e.g. doubleclick.com *spit* -- the ads tend to live on > _dedicated_ machines in the source domain. An INCREASING number of > people are using 'router' filters that block _any_ access to those > *specific* servers. As a result, when the web-browser tries to > retrieve the ad, the router blocking steps in, and returns either a > 'host not found', or 'page not found' error, and the 'request' _never_ > even gets to the server to be counted. It can be part of the browser (FireFox' Adblocker extension, for instance) too. The cigarette does the smoking, you're just the sucker. ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 20:18:23 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com In message bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) wrote: >> Sure. However, since the customer can request cash back it's another >> way to steal. The cashier fakes problems scanning an item, punches in >> the amount manually as cash, and gives the customer the item. >> The customer isn't over charged, so has no reason to complain. >> The cashier's till is now over -- Now she just needs to grab the cash >> at some point during the transaction. > No, the till is _not_ over. Punching in the amount as 'cash due' > instead of scanning the item, is no different than scanning the item > itself, as far as the cash balance in the till goes. The *only* > difference is in the store 'inventory', where the proper item was > -not- deducted from the count. I wasn't clear enough ... Not "Punches the amount as cash from the customer", I meant "punches in a cash back request for the same amount" In essence a cash back request means the customer is purchasing cash from the till. This gets the cash out of the till (and into the cashier's pocket), plus of course it screws up inventory. Another twist would be to activate a $20 gift card instead of ringing up a purchase of just over $20. This would be more likely to get caught though, since you then have to spend the gift card at some point. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You make it sound as though local > acceptance of local C of C gift certificates is going to be a major, > massive processing operation in a small town like ours. You make it > sound as though joining the local C of C in a small town to show > support of other community merchants and share tips, ideas, etc is > going to cause a major outlay for Walmart. You make it sound as though > any modicum of customer service and goodwill is going to have an > effect on their 'lower prices'. Unfortunately doing anything unique / "local" will probably cost more money in the bureaucracy of accounting for the C of C gift certificates then they could possibly bring in. > Walmart does have its own gift 'certificates' in the form of prepaid > plastic credit cards, branded in their own name, in the 6011 series > of numbers. Those are processed like credit card sales at the cash > register, and must cost them something to process. As a general rule those cards make money due to administration fees that let Walmart keep the leftover money if a card gets lost or destroyed, or otherwise goes unused. Plus, like all gift certificate type programs, it gets the money out of the customer's hand sooner, which means Walmart can invest the money now. The cost to manage the cards shouldn't be substantial. The cigarette does the smoking, you're just the sucker. ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: How to Pronounce "Skype" Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 20:18:23 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com In message dnoam@il.ibm.com (Noam Avnery) wrote: > Is it like "Hype" or like "Sky-pee"? Hype ... The cigarette does the smoking, you're just the sucker. ------------------------------ From: dnoam@il.ibm.com (Noam Avnery) Subject: Re: How to Pronounce "Skype" Date: 25 Nov 2004 00:30:41 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Joseph wrote in message news:: > When in doubt google! > http://www.skype.com/help/faq/ > Rhymes with ripe, hype, type, tripe, swipe, etc. True, true {blush}. Thanks for the reply. Another phrase to go along with RTFM I guess. ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Bofra Exploit Hits The Register ad Serving Supplier From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 13:11:38 +0000 Does anybody else find the following to be inconsistent 'spin' ? In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/23/register_restores_adserver/ > Register restores ad service > By Team Register [[.. munch ..]] > At a rough guess, the number of Reg readers exposed to the Bofra > /IFrame exploit was in the low hundreds. ... > During the period Falk's service was compromised -- between 6.10am and > 12.30pm on Saturday, 11660 unique individuals using Windows and IE6 ============================================== [[.. munch ..]] > readers looked at three pages a pop. So that's around 35,000 pages in > which the rogue ad could have been served. According to Falk, one in > 30 requests for a banner ad were redirects to the site containing the > bofra worm. If this is correct around 1,170 rogue ads were served on ====================== > our site. Is this some kind of metric measurement, where 1,170 is in the "_low_ hundreds" ?? > We apologise again for exposing readers to this. We also urge readers > using IE on Windows to switch browsers, at least until the iFrame > exploit is patched properly. [[ Microsoft has got to _love_ that kind of publicity. *snicker ]] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 12:34:28 -0700 From: nmclain@annsgarden.com Subject: Re: A-la-carte Pricing For Cable and Satellite TV I wrote: > The FCC has released its report on a-la-carte pricing for cable TV > and satellite TV services (formally called "Report on the Packaging > and Sale of Video Programming Services To the Public"). It's posted > on the FCC website at > http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-254432A1.pdf . Whereupon Tony P. wrote: > Most people don't understand the concept that a la carte > would cost more, not less. > When a cable company offers a channel they pay the > provider a fixed cost for the years contract. Actually, a cable (or satellite) company pays each program provider a "license fee" (aka "affiliate fee" or "wholesale rate") that's calculated on a *per subscriber* basis. It's not a "fixed cost" except in the sense that it's fixed for each retail subscriber for the life of the affiliation contract between the cable/sat company and the program provider. Every month, the cable/sat company reports the number of retail subscribers to each program provider, which then calculates the monthly bill based on that month's subscribership. If the number of subscribers is reduced, the provider's revenue is reduced accordingly. > That cost is then spread among ALL subscribers. But lets > see you took, oh, the Cramp Channel (Aka Lifetime) and > offered it among others a la carte. The subscriber base > would likely be smaller but the provider wouldn't want to > adjust their price because there are real costs behind > producing those programs. The subscriber base would indeed be much smaller, with two results: - The program provider's license-fee revenue would be smaller in direct proportion to the reduction in the subscriber base. - The program provider's advertising revenue would be substantially smaller, although probably not quite in direct proportion because the programmer might be able to raise its ad rates somewhat. To offset these losses, the program provider would have to substantially *increase* its license fee and/or curtail its programming budget. In my previous post on this subject, I estimated that license fees would increase by 400%: http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/archives/reports/alacarte-cable-service Apparently I underestimated the increase. The FCC's report (quoting a study by Booz Allen) states: Affiliate fees. . . To maintain current cash flow in a pure a la carte environment, all of the networks in the study's segments would have to raise their affiliation fees by at least 400% and ranging up to nearly 2500%. -- FCC report, II-C, "Analysis of Booz Allen Hamilton Economic Study," 90-91 (pdf pages 91-92). > Nobody seems to understand this. Least of all Consumers Union. Neal McLain ------------------------------ From: Bill Burns Subject: Re: How Do I Learn an Unknown Number? Date: 25 Nov 2004 04:23:55 GMT Organization: FTL Andrew Bell wrote: > Nathan Strom wrote: >> If there's a dialtone on the line, hook up a phone and try >> calling 1-888-902-9998. It should read back the number of the >> calling phone. > It seems to read back the caller ID info presented, not the ANI. > I tried it from behind a PBX and got my DID number back. Googling on 1-888-902-9998 finds an interesting discussion thread: http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=583069 which includes these useful notes: "Also check out 888-294-9681 - it gives you the voice circuit type and the number... will even do callback at the end of the call to confirm that it is working fine." and "Here is a nation wide ANI # from MCI 1-800-444-4444" Bill Burns, Long Island, NY, USA mailto:billb@ftldesign.com History of Technology Websites: http://ftldesign.com ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: How Do I Learn an Unknown Number? Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 23:33:41 -0600 Tony P. wrote in message news:telecom23.566.7@telecom-digest.org: > In article , > jtaylor@hfx.deletethis.andara.com says: >> Nathan Strom wrote in message >> news:telecom23.563.10@telecom-digest.org: >>> rekingus@yahoo.com (reking) wrote in message >>> news:: >>>> Anyone know how I can retrieve a phone number for a line that I have >>>> recently discovered within our business. >>>> SBC is our carrier but they tell me I would have to have someone come >>>> out and trace the line at a charge. Is there a way of determining the >>>> nimber by using some code entered on the phone. >>> If there's a dialtone on the line, hook up a phone and try calling >>> 1-888-902-9998. It should read back the number of the calling phone. >>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I tried it just now and it worked fine >>> on my Vonage line, and also on my cell phone line. PAT] >> Whoopie! Works from the Great White North also! >> Who runs this? > Interestingly it uses Caller ID data, not the BTN. I tried it using my > Vonage VoIP phone which is currently using virtual number > 401-608-nnnn, but it passes 401-621-nnnn as Caller ID and that's what > the 888 number read back to me. Whwn I call from the number in my sig (Cingular cell), I get 636 536-4107. Maybe the number of my closest tower? Herb Stein herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: henry999@eircom.net (Henry) Subject: Re: The Persuaders Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 07:49:24 +0200 Organization: Elisa Internet customer Lisa Hancock wrote: > ...the motion picture code...required the bad guys always get > what's coming to them. It's funny to watch those old gangster pictures now, especially when after 'The End' what I call the 'FBI message' fills the screen: CRIME DOES NOT PAY How times change, eh? Now we've got Tony Soprano. Cheers, Henry ------------------------------ 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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