From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Dec 31 18:45:35 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id iBVNjZQ15432; Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:45:35 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:45:35 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200412312345.iBVNjZQ15432@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 #626 TELECOM Digest Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:45:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 626 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson VoicePulse Named Best of the Year by PC Magazine (Jack Decker) Calif. PUC Files Appeal To FCC's Vonage Decision -- Maybe (Jack Decker) Novel Idea Coming Soon to Cell Phones (Marcus Didius Falco) Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth (Marcus Didius Falco) Wall-Mounted Cordless Phone (ed) VoIP Problem: No Incoming Calls! (Rick Merrill) Vonage Discussion Group Being Started (Vonage) Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers (LB@notmine.com) Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers (Tim@Backhome.org) Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Silly Cell Phone "Ring Amplifier" (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Re: Drill Bit Size (Tony P.) Re: USTA Sends Strange Letter to Wal-Mart (Jeff C) Re: Connect to Skype with Multiple Phones Around the House (jaykchan) Re: Connect to Skype with Multiple Phones Around the House (Brad Houser) Help Hooking up Payphone (Lachlan Mullen) Re: Can Someone PINGING Really Screw Your Network? (John McHarry) That's It, Folks! (TELECOM Digest Editor) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: Jack Decker Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 14:12:45 -0500 Subject: VoicePulse Named Best of the Year by PC Magazine http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/Dec/1104225.htm JAMESBURG, N.J., Dec. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- VoicePulse Inc. announced it has been named Best of the Year by PC Magazine, honoring them as the top residential and small office VoIP provider of 2004. PC Magazine presented the award to VoicePulse after running comprehensive tests on the service and the services of other major VoIP providers in today's market. VoicePulse's ease of installation, sound quality and free features pushed the service provider to the top against competing services including Vonage and AT&T's CallVantage. According to Craig Ellison, PC Magazine's New Product Test Director, "VoicePulse does try to differentiate itself from the other players in the field, specifically with the amount of features offered in its plans." "PC Magazine's review and testing process is the most rigorous I've seen so far," says Ravi Sakaria, President and CEO of VoicePulse, "so we are very pleased to receive this award from them. This was a huge year for the VoIP industry and to be named the best provider is quite an honor. The upcoming year promises to be even more exciting as we continue to enhance our service and offer the best customer experience." VoicePulse also earned the PC World Best Buy award this past May. In September, they were the highest rated VoIP provider in PC Magazine's roundup that compared them to Vonage's DigitalVoice and AT&T's CallVantage. DesignTechnica, a high-tech gadget review site awarded VoicePulse the Editor's Choice award in December. ABOUT PC MAGAZINE PC Magazine (http://www.pcmag.com/), the most important technology publication in the world, delivers authoritative, labs-based comparative reviews of computing and Internet products to more than 6.6 million highly engaged technology buyers. PC Magazine defines technology for e-business and is the only magazine with in-depth reviews and accurate, repeatable testing from PC Magazine Labs placed in the unique context of today's business technology landscape. ABOUT VOICEPULSE VoicePulse is a New Jersey based communications company that uses its VoIP network to deliver advanced features and high-quality phone service to residential and small-business consumers. The company leads the industry in delivering innovative features and excellent customer service. For more information about VoicePulse, please contact: Rima Vaghasiya, 732-339-5100 rima @ voicepulse.com Web site: http://www.voicepulse.com/ 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: Jack Decker Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 12:54:00 -0500 Subject: Calif. PUC Files Appeal To FCC's Vonage Decision -- Maybe http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/dailyarchives.jhtml?articleId=56900043 By Paul Kapustka Setting itself up for a potential regulatory flip-flop, the California Public Utilities Commission has filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit challenging the FCC's recent decision to exempt Voice over IP provider Vonage Holdings from state-by-state regulations -- a petition that the CPUC itself may seek to overturn when new commissioners come on board Jan. 11. The CPUC's petition, filed with the court on Dec. 22, asks that the FCC's Vonage ruling be found "in excess of the Commission's statuatory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations and is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and otherwise contrary to law." According to Ellen LeVine, a counsel for the CPUC, interested parties have a 30-day window to present oral arguments to the court before any action is taken. During that time, the CPUC itself may move to strike its own petition -- a seemingly schizophrenic action that actually makes sense given the fact that the CPUC's recently acrimonious commissioner roster is due for imminent overhaul, with two new appointees for 2005. The outgoing commissioners, Democrats Carl Wood and Loretta Lynch, are being replaced by Republican Steve Poizner and Democrat Dian Grueneich, who were recently appointed to the posts by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. While the CPUC's LeVine would not reveal details of the commissioners' vote on the FCC/Vonage petition, sources close to the matter said the commissioners were sharply divided on the issue. The CPUC could, in fact, change its mind entirely on the subject when the new slate of commissioners holds its first formal business meeting on Jan. 13 in San Francisco. Full story at: http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/dailyarchives.jhtml?articleId=56900043 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/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 02:37:53 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Novel Idea Coming Soon to Cell Phones http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/reviews/chi-0412230033dec23,1,7058312.story?coll=3Dchi-technologyreviews-hed http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/reviews/chi-0412230033dec23,1,5130275,print.story?coll=3Dchi-technologyreviews-hed Novel idea coming soon to cell phones Advertisement By Doreen Carvajal New York Times News Service PARIS -- One day before too long, when your mobile telephone sounds, it could be a novel calling to recount how the headstrong heroine dumped the handsome heartbreaker. Or it might be a guidebook surfacing at a critical moment in a crowded bar to provide you with pickup lines in Spanish, French or German. The increasing power of cell phones is fast shaping innovative forms of compact culture: micro-lit, phone soap operas and made-for-mobile dramas that can be absorbed in less time than it takes to flick through a book introduction. Today very few people are using so-called third-generation mobile services, or smart phones, which allow users to browse the Internet and watch videos. But most cell phones sold these days have color screens and the ability to receive picture messages. So media companies are reinventing quaint old formulas with the aim of reaching youthful customers. "Are people going to read `War and Peace' on their telephones?" asked David Harper, whose company, Wireless Ink, in Cold Spring, N.Y., offers Web users cell phone-size literature on such weighty themes as the zombie apocalypse. "The answer is probably no. Right now the content on mobile devices is almost like early television." Photo story One pioneer is Media Republic, an Amsterdam company that is successfully reaching young women with the mobile equivalent of the French "roman photo," a sentimental genre of romantic still photos and text that dates to the postwar period. Dutch users register their mobile phones to follow the adventures of the hormone-driven characters of "Jong Zuid," or "Young South," which is now in production for its fourth season. Customers receive two episodes daily, each with six photographs of well-known Dutch actors and text describing the travails of glamorous young people seeking their fortune in the big city. A weekly subscription costs about $1.50, but most of the revenue comes from an assortment of corporate sponsors who pay for product placements, Web advertising and the exclusive rights to sponsor "Jong Zuid" contests and promotions. Media Republic and a partner are to produce a similar English-language version, which will start appearing in Australia this month. Called "My Way," it is calculated to appeal to young women, as did the Dutch phone soap, which attracted 78,000 subscribers, 68 percent of them women, with an average age of about 18. Media Republic is planning to bring out other versions of the soap opera early next year in Germany and in France, where its partner, NX Publishing, is in the final stages of negotiation with major French television channels, magazines and mobile telephone operators. "Everybody is eventually moving to video on mobile, and this `roman photo' concept is a bridge for those people who are not able to use videos yet because they need a sophisticated telephone," said Jean-Michel Blottiere, NX's chief executive. Almost two-thirds of the 62 million cell phones shipped in Europe in the last quarter were camera phones with color screens, according to Canalys, a number to pick up substantially next quarter. That hasn't stopped a number of companies from trying to exploit the potential market. During the Asian Film Festival this month in Singapore, MediaCorp, a local company, announced it was spending a half-million dollars to produce 45 two-minute episodes of a Chinese-language mobile video drama. The giant British mobile-phone company Vodafone has struck a partnership with 20th Century Fox to create a made-for-cell phone video series, based on the television show "24," which will start appearing next month in the first of 13 countries. (It will eventually appear in the United States through Vodafone's partner Verizon Wireless.) A British phone manufacturer, I-Mate, also has produced "Cjaq," a 10-part thriller with video about five young people trapped in a futuristic nightclub to which they were drawn by a hoax text-message invitation. Evolved into film In Japan, major publishers such as Shinchosha and Kadoadwa Shoten have created Web sites to offer telephone reading material. Japan is also home to probably the most successful telephone venture. Earlier this year a mobile novel jumped from phone screens to the silver screen, evolving into a feature film, "Deep Love." In the book industry in the United States, the initial reaction to mobile-lit is: "Are you kidding?" as one veteran put it. Still, some major New York publishing houses are pondering the future. "We are paying attention, but we haven't entered the market yet," said Kate Tentler, vice president and publisher for Simon & Schuster Online. In Europe, even some old-guard publishers have jumped into the mobile format. The Munich-based Langenscheidt Publishing Group is a traditional, family-run company that would seem an unlikely player in this market. It has been publishing dictionaries, travel guides and map books since 1856 and is run by the fourth generation of the Langenscheidt family. This month Langenscheidt started offering a phone-size flirting dictionary that is its way of promoting international understanding. For about $5, the service offers 600 or so phrases in the chosen language, and practical advice including phonetic pronunciations of polite brushoffs. The benefit, said Ina Kaese, who manages Langenscheidt's mobile services, is that if you are a traveler in a foreign city in a busy bar, your telephone can be your instant guide to romance. It is the mobile equivalent of the 17th Century Cyrano de Bergerac, who famously supplied lines to the lovelorn. But certainly not ones such as this: "Will anybody be jealous if I invite you to a cocktail?" Copyright 2004, Chicago Tribune NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . New articles daily. *** 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 Chicago Tribune Company.. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 02:41:08 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth Take a look down near the bottom on Cingular's giving special access codes for big-wigs. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=3Dstory&cid=3D1804&u=3D/washpost/20041229/tc _washpost/a32469_2004dec28&printer=3D1=20 By Yuki Noguchi, Washington Post Staff Writer Preparing wireless networks for an event like next month's presidential inauguration has become as critical as erecting the barricades and ordering the party platters. Several hundred thousand VIPs, protesters, police officers and onlookers are expected to make cellular calls on Jan. 20 from along the parade route, convention halls and hotel lobbies in and around the District. They'll also be sending pictures, messages and e-mail -- all of which create a heavy volume of wireless traffic that eats up network capacity. To make sure everyone gets a share of the wireless signal, cell phone companies -- like seasoned caterers -- must estimate attendance and make sure there's enough to go around. When necessary, they're ordering backup. For Greg Meacham of Nextel Communications Inc., preparations for such events begin at least six months beforehand, when the U.S. Secret Service calls to tell him about a pending "national security special event." Over the past year in various cities, those included the two major national political conventions and the Group of Eight summit in June. "First, we evaluate the area for network coverage" and bolster the network in high-traffic zones, said Meacham, vice president of federal programs and homeland security for the Reston company. For the inaugural events, Nextel will install temporary or permanent equipment to boost coverage in such buildings as the MCI Center, Union Station, the Convention Center and a number of big hotels to make sure that subscribers will be able to complete calls or send their wireless e-mails, he said. In case it needs emergency backup, Nextel also will have three trucks with satellite-based temporary cell towers mounted on them on standby in Dulles, he said. Washington often hosts events that draw big crowds, so companies say they've already built networks to handle spikes in traffic. The Fourth of July typically draws 300,000 people to the National Mall, according to Verizon Wireless's estimates. The dedication of the National World War II Memorial in May drew about 250,000. And then there are protest marches, the cherry blossoms and major traffic accidents, all of which tend to dramatically increase calling. The predictability of such events as the inauguration makes them easier to plan for, said Tim Dykstra, Verizon Wireless's director of system performance for the Washington-Baltimore area. Verizon Wireless keeps usage logs of past events such as former president Ronald Reagan (news - web sites)'s funeral, then it makes adjustments after each big event, so it already has enough capacity to handle most events, he said. Cingular Wireless LLC, which recently acquired AT&T Wireless Services Inc., should be in good shape for the inauguration because it now has double its previous network capacity and plenty of room for spillover traffic, said Frank T. Iovino, the company's vice president and general manager for the Washington-Baltimore area. "They've got Washington pretty well covered," Frank Dzubeck, president of Washington-based telecom consultancy Communications Network Architects Inc., said of the cellular phone companies. Although there are known dead spots close to the White House and CIA (news - web sites) headquarters in Langley where wireless signals are blocked for security reasons, he said, most callers even in the busiest areas shouldn't have problems. Dzubeck added that pressure on cellular systems in downtown Washington should be eased because Inauguration Day will be a holiday for federal workers. In case of unexpected problems or emergencies, Cingular said it offers some politicians and emergency workers wireless priority access -- they can dial secret codes that ensure their calls get priority even when a network is jammed. Nextel, which has a big customer base among police and emergency workers, anticipates a quadrupling of traffic from such workers during the inauguration, Meacham said. To support them, Nextel will also keep some workers at the multi-agency police command center to coordinate public safety communications in case of an emergency. Often what happens at the command center is more mundane, he said: Public safety personnel need help figuring out how to use their BlackBerry devices, or they want extra phone batteries. Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report. Copyright 2004 The Washington Post Company. Copyright 2004 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . New articles daily. *** 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 Washington Post Company and Yahoo News. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: ed Subject: Wall-Mounted Cordless Phone Date: 31 Dec 2004 10:36:02 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I'm looking for a cordless phone with a second handset that can be mounted on the wall in the same way many base units do. Any suggestions? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 09:56:16 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: VoIP Problem: No Incoming Calls! My AttCallvantage VoIP places calls, but calls from outside the ATT system cannot reach us. IT HAS BEEN SIX DAYS! We have children and elderly who may need to reach us. Is there no way too get this problem elevated to "fix now!."? Windows xp; Linksys router; Dlink TA; Motorolla modem; Comcast cable. rick merrill at comcast . net [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your first paragraph gives a clue to follow up on: 'Calls from outside the AT&T system cannot reach us.' What does this mean exactly? Have you experienced this at all, that is known calls you make do not get back to you on your VOIP. Is 'outside the AT&T system' referring to other (non-AT&T) voip lines or other landline phones or? The person(s) who try to call you, are they getting an intercept message saying call cannot be completed, or a re-order (fast busy) tone? Or is it ringing 'open', that is the call 'gets through' to your local phone switch but does not actually reach your phone, or ? If the caller is getting intercepted either by a message or reorder tone and they are outside your LATA it may be that AT&T (in the process of opening a new exchange for their VOIP phones) failed to get it correctly listed in the 'tables' that other carriers use indicating your VOIP exchange is a working exchange. I experienced this once. Tried to reach a lady in northern Wisconsin using my land line (defaulted to MCI for long distance). Every attempt, I got an intercept recording 'not in service.' On a hunch, I tried dialing 10288 *first*, forcing the call over AT&T, and then it went through okay. Same central office both times, but MCI did not have it in their routing tables as a valid exchange, thus, refused to pass the call along. I tried explaining it to repair and the business office, but go nowhere. Finally I spoke to a lady who said "I sort of think I know what you are talking about; give me a number to reach you at, I am going to have someone call you back." About 30 minutes later I got a call from a man who identified himself as a 'network technican for AT&T', in of all places, Denver, CO. He said he knew *exactly* what the problem was ... (I said) "yeah but can you get MCI to make the changes required." Oh yeah, he said, they will listen to me, they will do as I say. I will call you back in 30 minutes or so. Sure enough, it got fixed. As he explained it to me, Illinois Bell (local central office) handled 'translations' for AT&T and got it correct. In theory, whenever a new central office opens, word of same is supposed to travel around the network so that other phone companies can 'turn it on' also in their switches. Sometimes one or another of them fail to do so, or do it incorrectly. He told me, "MCI tried to turn it on also, but got a comma or white space or something wrong in their file, so as far as their switch was concerned, that exchange did not exist." When I forced the call (via 10288) Illinois Bell, AT&T and Wisconsin Telephone all got it correct. When I did one plus default through MCI (Illinois Bell to MCI), it bounced. When I *finally* reached the lady I was calling in Wisconsin all she knew was 'many times, my friends in Chicago cannot reach me, but others get through okay' (the ones using Sprint or AT&T). So ask your family/friends/whoever that is 'not on AT&T system' to try calling your VOIP. If *they* (or some of them) get through just fine, try and isolate the number they used and the telco they used. Also, I assume you have used your own landline phone or cell phone to try calling the VOIP and see if you get through to yourself or not. Let us know how your experiments and tests work out. This may not be the fault of CallVantage at all, but rather some telco (even AT&T!) failing to install that phone number/exchange in the 'tables' for others to see. And please explain what you mean by 'cannot get through to me on VOIP phone'. *At what point* does their call bounce back? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Vonage Subject: Vonage Discussion Group Started Date: 30 Dec 2004 21:56:22 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com If you are at all interested, I just started a new Google Group http://groups-beta.google.com/group/Vonage to support my efforts on http://www.vonage-forum.com to provide a means of communications for Vonage VoIP customers. DC ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 02:07:37 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers At 01:22 AM 12/31/04, Joseph responded to Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers: > On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 07:09:56 -0500, LB@notmine.com wrote: >> The new Consumer Reports magazine has a large story on cell phone >> providers and cell phones. You can get better info in this group, but >> the mag has lots of info. Will be very handy for those times when a >> "friend" is looking for info. I think the mag should be on newsstands >> now. > Take what Consumer Reports magazine has to say about cell phones with > a grain of salt. In past "cellular" issues they poo-pooh'd some > carriers basically T-Mobile (then VoiceStream) because they didn't > have fallback to older first generation analog technology. Guess > what?! Lots of phones now being offered by *all* the carriers and > don't have analog. They out and out refused to even look at > VoiceStream/T-Mobile because they are luddites and couldn't see what > was coming down the pike. If you want good recommendations or > information about cellular service look at what they have to say, but > take it with a grain of salt. They do much better testing washing > machines, riding lawn mowers or crash worthiness of automobiles. Depends on what you want to use the phone for and where. Coverage of T-Mobile is still a bit spotty, even on interstates. But digital coverage has improved for all networks. For emergency calls you best carry an inactivated bag phone in the trunk (I still do), which will let you call 911 almost anywhere. There's also the issue of how much roaming the carrier will permit. In England, using Virgin, I had trouble in Port Isaac, but friends using Orange had no trouble at all. In Washington, if you're not on Verizon, when you're in the Metro you're roaming. Sprint is the only other CDMA carrier: everyone else is out of luck (or in luck, depending on your attitude toward not getting calls for a few minutes). Some newspapers will, from time to time, do a feature story about cell phone reception in their city. The Washington Post does it about once a year, testing all the carriers from some busy corners and from some notorious dead zones. This is the most important information. I know people who have poor reception in their own houses. Indeed, until they put in a new tower a while ago, I often missed calls when I was in my second-story suburban office. And my children, with different carriers, had to go outside to make calls. ------------------------------ From: LB@notmine.com Subject: Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 07:34:57 -0500 Organization: Optimum Online Joseph wrote: > On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 07:09:56 -0500, LB@notmine.com wrote: >> The new Consumer Reports magazine has a large story on cell phone >> providers and cell phones. You can get better info in this group, but >> the mag has lots of info. Will be very handy for those times when a >> "friend" is looking for info. I think the mag should be on newsstands >> now. > Take what Consumer Reports magazine has to say about cell phones with > a grain of salt. In past "cellular" issues they poo-pooh'd some > carriers basically T-Mobile (then VoiceStream) because they didn't > have fallback to older first generation analog technology. Guess > what?! Lots of phones now being offered by *all* the carriers and > don't have analog. They out and out refused to even look at > VoiceStream/T-Mobile because they are luddites and couldn't see what > was coming down the pike. If you want good recommendations or > information about cellular service look at what they have to say, but > take it with a grain of salt. They do much better testing washing > machines, riding lawn mowers or crash worthiness of automobiles. Agreed. The fact that they use "taste experts" for food and do not ask some experts for tech stuff bothers me. But he article is a start, esp for those not into newsgroups LB ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 06:00:17 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications Joseph wrote: > On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 07:09:56 -0500, LB@notmine.com wrote: > Take what Consumer Reports magazine has to say about cell phones with > a grain of salt. In past "cellular" issues they poo-pooh'd some > carriers basically T-Mobile (then VoiceStream) because they didn't > have fallback to older first generation analog technology. Guess > what?! Lots of phones now being offered by *all* the carriers and > don't have analog. They out and out refused to even look at > VoiceStream/T-Mobile because they are luddites and couldn't see what > was coming down the pike. If you want good recommendations or > information about cellular service look at what they have to say, but > take it with a grain of salt. They do much better testing washing > machines, riding lawn mowers or crash worthiness of automobiles. One good piece of advice they do give is that none of the wireless carriers give a squat about their customers. The fact that service contracts are not pro-rated, at least in the latter stages, is one good example. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 01:43:56 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com commented on Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! on Date: 30 Dec 2004 11:53:38 -0800 > TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: >> That disturbance of the earth over around s.e. Asia on Sunday has >> certainly taken its toll. > If such waves hit either the east or west coast of the U.S., how far > inland would the destruction be? One mile? Ten miles? How much > shoreline (ie length) would be affected? > For example, say the wave were to hit Coney Island in Brooklyn NY, > how much of Brooklyn would've been destroyed? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There was an interesting article in > Yahoo News earlier today discussing this very topic. It appears there > is an area fifty or a hundred miles in the Pacific Ocean roughly off > the coast of San Jose/San Francisco which is very earthquake prone > according to siesmologists. I guess it is just a matter of time. You > may have also seen in the news that hungry crockodiles got washed > ashore in the Indonesia area this week, and although the little guys > do not go out of their way to attack/eat humans, they certainly will > do so when they get aggravated/agitated enough to do so. PAT] It's a simple matter of geography -- how flat is the coast. I used to live in Brooklyn, about 3 miles from Jamaica Bay, and about 5 miles from the sea. I was at the 20 foot contour on the map. In Maine the 20 foot contour may well be practically on the beach. Even in Staaten Island (Richmond), New York City there are places where there are high hills right at the beach. At a guess, a 20 foot wave would sweep most coastal cities in the eastern US. Luckily, most of the Atlantic is not seismically active. The Caribbean is active, however, and so is Iceland. The real question is whether there are two plates colliding under the Atlantic: if there aren't, then major Tsunamis are unlikely. The Pacific is subject to Tsunamis. There have been several reminders of the Easter one in 1964 that sent 60 foot waves into Alaska. (Luckily, much of the Alaskan coast is mountainous.) ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. Subject: Re: Silly Cell Phone "Ring Amplifier" Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 08:47:10 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) wrote: > No one had a pointer to any cell phone ring amplifiers when I was > looking for one a while back, so having time to kill over Christmas, I > made my own. Find the tale of the insanity at: > http://home.att.net/~Tom.Horsley/phonetale/phonetail.html Wow. I'm impressed big time. I thought the days of home breadboarding were long gone. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Drill Bit Size Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 11:06:51 -0500 In article , nospam@crashelex.com says: > I wrote: >>> I have a 5/8" spade bit... > Tony P. replied: >> 5/8" seems huge. You can get CAT-5 through a quarter inch hole ... > Mea culpa -- I meant to say 5/16". Kinda makes a difference, doesn't > it? :-) Indeed it does. It never hurts to have a set of bits though from 1" boring bits on down. ------------------------------ From: Jeff C Subject: Re: USTA Sends Strange Letter to Wal-Mart Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 10:27:34 -0800 Organization: Not organized enough to have an organization Reply-To: jeff_c10@hotmail.com On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 09:52:26 -0500, Rick Merrill wrote: > What's this? Is it The latest in Cancelbot technique?? That was a forged post by a USENET vandal known as "hipcrime". Dippy hates USENET, and especially it hates news.admin.net-abuse.email, so it wrote a piece of abuseware known as "newsagent" that allows it to forge supercede posts and force follow-ups to flood NANAE with thousands of "WTF" posts such as yours. What to do about it is simple. First, look at the headers of a few forged posts, and filter on the commonly identifiable elements. Lately dippy's been abusing news servers in American Universities. If you subscribe to a service such as Supernews, the filtering is already done for you. Second, if you feel you MUST reply to a dippyspew post, look very carefully at where the post will be sent before you send it. This will ensure that you don't accidentally pollute another group thus doing dippy's vandalism for it. Third, now that you're immune to this id10t, join in the defense by posting a message similar to this one whenever you see a dippyspew in your newsgroup. The more people who know about dippy, the less damage it can do. ------------------------------ From: jaykchan@hotmail.com Subject: Re: Connect to Skype with Multiple Phones Around the House? Date: 31 Dec 2004 10:47:08 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com The tech support from the company who is selling the USB VoIP base unit suggested me to use a cordless phone that has multiple remote units; then I can put the remote cordless phone units in the living room and in the bedroom. I guess I just need to figure out which multiple-units cordless phone is good, and I will be all set. Jay Chan ------------------------------ From: Brad Houser Subject: Re: Connect to Skype with Multiple Phones Around the House? Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 13:01:48 -0800 Organization: Intel Reply-To: Brad Houser wrote in message news:telecom23.624.10@telecom-digest.org: > I intend to get a VoIP USB base unit from pcphoneline to > control Skype in the PC using USB; it has a phone jack that I can plug > my cordless phone into it. (snippage) > Can I connect multiple phone line to the VoIP USB base unit mentioned > above? You can connect one phone _line_ with multiple phones sharing the line. When you have two or more phones in one house, all using the same line, they are essentially connected in parallel. The only issue is how many ringers can you ring at once, as they all use some of the limited ring current capacity. Most new phones use very little current, so this should not be an issue. Old phones with mechanical bells would stop ringing if you tried to put more than 5 on one telco line. > Then I can run cables to various locations in my house. Running > cable is no big deal because I have already run cat-6 cables around the > house for networking. I can easliy change the cat-6 jack with a > phone-jack. What I am wondering is whether there will be any conflict > in the base unit if I plug a lot of phone lines into it. How to connect > many phone lines into it anyway? I mean ... physically? Think of the phone line as a pair of wires, say green and red. The green/red wire pair will connect from one jack to the next, to the next, etc in a line or you can tie them all together in one place, called a home run. Just remember to wire green to green and red to red. Usually green and red connect to the two center pins (3 and 2 respectively) in an RJ-11 jack. Brad Houser ------------------------------ From: Lachlan Mullen (Email deleted per author request 2013-05-29 (ewh)> Subject: Help Hooking up Pay Phone Date: 31 Dec 2004 14:24:50 -0800 Have any of you guys ever had your pay phone ask for an "identification number"? The company that made my phone is Rand of Phoenix, who is now out of business. I would love to get the phone working, but can't seem to find the identification number which is needed to get a dial tone when the phone is first set up. Very strange. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Can Someone PINGing Really Screw Your Network Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 22:25:45 GMT On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 00:31:31 -0500, Gene S. Berkowitz wrote: > In article , > BertieBigBollox@gmail.com says: >> Read somewhere that if someone continually pings your network, the >> server will eventually fall over.appening? > Ping can be set to send up to 65,500 bytes per packet. Usually the > "ping of death" is sent from many sources at once. Eventually the > server spends so much time replying to the pings, it can't get any > real work done. Or, the pipe is flooded. Somebody did that a few years ago to one of the free firewall gurus. He had to get his ISP to block it upstream. ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: That's It, Folks! Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:30:00 EST Borowing a line from the old Looney Tunes cartoons of Warner Brothers, and sounding like a stuttering rabbit, who pops his head out of the curtain at the end of the show, I bring to an end the messages in Volume 23, for year 2004 of this Digest. We will open tomorrow or Sunday with Volume 24, and an all new round of messages and chances for you to kick old Patrick around as needed. PAT ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. 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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 #626 ******************************