From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jan 1 17:06:58 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j01M6wT25549; Sat, 1 Jan 2005 17:06:58 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 17:06:58 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501012206.j01M6wT25549@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 V24 #1 TELECOM Digest Sat, 1 Jan 2005 17:06:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 1 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers (Joseph) Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers (Tony P.) Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers (Alan Burkitt-Gray) Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! (Alan Burkitt-Gray) Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth (HorneTD) Re: Which is the Best Cellphone You Ever Used? (Isaiah Beard) Re: VoicePulse Named Best of the Year by PC Magazine (Clark W. Griswold) Re: Apple iPod Raises Bar For Digital Music Players (borisep90@hotmail) Re: That's All Folks (Anthony Bellanga) Western Electric: What is This Device? (David B. Horvath, CCP) Vonage Outage (lost message report) (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: Joseph Subject: Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 16:47:09 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 06:00:17 -0800, Tim@Backhome.org wrote: > One good piece of advice they do give is that none of the wireless > carriers give a squat about their customers. This just is not true. If I've had problems and I occasionally do I'll get in touch with the corporate office and so far they've been able to fix any problems I've had at a 100% rate. It may take getting someone higher up than the person who answers your customer care concerns at 611 but it can be done. > The fact that service contracts are not pro-rated, at least in the > latter stages, is one good example. And how many contractual obligations do you know of that permit you to reneg on terms that you agreed to? Buy a leather couch from Macy's on terms and then decide 90% of the way through that you don't want to pay any longer and see what their reaction would be! If you don't want to be obligated to contractual terms then don't sign a contract. It's that simple. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:00:39 -0500 In article , falco_marcus_didius@yahoo.co.uk says: > 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. T-Mobile throughout the northeast is rock solid as that's where they put all their towers is along interstates and state highways. It is after all the Omnipoint network. ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Alan Burkitt-Gray Subject: Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 18:21:29 -0000 Organization: Alan Burkitt-Gray Marcus Didius Falco wrote: "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." Works differently here in the UK. Each of the four GSM licensees (O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone) has a national, UK-wide, licence, with obligations to provide coverage to virtually all the population (98% or thereabouts) as a condition of the licence. If you're an Orange UK customer, in the UK your phone just works on the Orange network, and won't roam to any of the other three, except only for emergency calls using the 999 or 112 codes (similar to North America's 911). Outside the UK your phone will roam onto whichever network is strongest when you switch it on at the airport, and normally stay there unless you lose signal and then your phone scans for another. That means operators are very keen to build base stations covering airports, as they can win the business from international tourists and businesspeople: airport operators extract an appropriate amount of revenue, I think. It also means that an Orange UK phone won't necessarily roam to Orange France, though phones sold by Orange, Vodafone etc are usually programmed with a preference list of international operators. Virgin Mobile UK, as in the US, is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO): here it uses T-Mobile infrastructure, so will only use T-Mobile base stations in the UK, but will select whatever's available outside the UK. Virgin in the US uses Sprint, and in Australia it's Optus I think. So in Port Isaac, Orange clearly has a well sited base station; T-Mobile does not. Incidentally, that's not untypical of T-Mobile: we're a BT Mobile customer, also an MVNO using T-Mobile infrastructure, and coverage inside my home is poor. We also have a Virgin Mobile pay-as-you-go phone for the children, but that doesn't help any as it's on the same network. However BT is planning to port its service to Vodafone later this year: I will look forward to that. Alan Burkitt-Gray alan@burkitt-gray.com mobile 079 6202 1330 international +44 79 6202 1330 ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 12:30:44 -0500 Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > The real question is whether there are two plates colliding under the > Atlantic: if there aren't, then major Tsunamis are unlikely. In fact, there are two plates _diverging_ right down the center of the north Atlantic; Iceland, which you mentioned, is the result of the constant flow of lava out of the 'mid-Atlantic rift'. However, since the plates are moving apart, the seismic activity is constant and fairly smooth, so pressure doesn't build up to earthquakes. Geoffrey Welsh [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What what about the 'more traditional and conventional place' for earthquakes in the USA, in California? A seismologist on television last Monday (just after the disturbance in Asia) suggested such a thing was 'much more likely' along the southern California coastline; not that it was predicted or expected, just that there was 'no reason it could not happen', given the way the earth is always rumbling around out there. PAT] ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Alan Burkitt-Gray Subject: Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 18:28:03 -0000 Organization: Alan Burkitt-Gray Marcus Didius Falco wrote: "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." Yes, but it's not just earthquakes you have to worry about. There is a large chunk of land on Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, in mid-Atlantic, which is liable to plunge into the Atlantic if the volcano on the island erupts. "Scientists have estimated that the wave from the collapse of Las Palmas will be over 650 metres high and its 'crest' will stretch from 30 to 40 kilometres from front to rear, or more. The huge wall of water will annihilate every single coastline city on the Eastern Shore of the United States and could cause similar destruction for up to 20 miles or more inland. The Bahamas will be devastated and Florida could be submerged." - from http://www.newsmedianews.com/tsunami.htm Sorry to be gloomy. Alan Burkitt-Gray alan@burkitt-gray.com mobile 079 6202 1330 international +44 79 6202 1330 ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. Subject: Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 17:00:49 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > Although there are known dead spots close to the White House and CIA > headquarters in Langley where wireless signals are blocked for > security reasons Now that's interesting. First time I've seen a public reference to the US Government intentially blocking/jamming a licensed communications service within the US. Would be interesting to see the procedure they used to get that approved, since it directly violates US law. ------------------------------ From: HorneTD Subject: Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 14:30:36 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > 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 The big wigs you refer to include command officers of the emergency services. Whenever an emergency occurs the press types will dial up their office as soon as they can and just keep the line open. This ties up the cell tower capacity available. By using the government access codes the incident command post can preempt one or more of the circuits for use in mitigating the incident. I realize that such a service can be abused but I see it as essential for public officials to be able to get through. On one incident I pulled a genuine carbon arc light bulb out of it's storage place on the mobile CP unit, broadcast the warning for communications disruption, and turned it on. As expected it knocked all the press types off line and enabled us to get the circuits we needed without paying the very stiff fees that the cellular providers levy for using the emergency preemption codes. Tom H ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Which is the Best Cellphone You Ever Used? Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:41:35 -0500 Joseph wrote: > Pull out antenna is more of a requirement with CDMA phones rather than > just "preference." It's not about whether it's a CDMA phone, it's about what frequencies the phone is designed for. If it's a 1900Mhz phone, then a stub antenna actually might be all you need. If it's a dual band, then often times the antenna is designed to favor 800Mhz, and a pull out is more desirable. Steven Fleckenstein wrote: > In article , pfschoeng@yahoo.com > says: > I have an old Qualcom QCP-820 on VZW. It is kind of bulky by todays > standards, doesn;t have any of the frills, but when my wife compares > it to her 4 month old Kyocera or my daughter uses it instead of her > Motorola V60s they can't believe how much better the audio sounds to > them compared to their units. It does the basics well and with a pull > out antenna picks up the signal where others with stubs don't. Actually, with the QCP-820, the difference isn't the antenna, it's the codec being used. The 820 uses a 13kbps QCELP vocoder to encode and decode speech. Current model phones, on the other hand, use an 8kbps EVRC codec. Technical talk aside: the basics are that modern cell phones are designed to squeeze speech into a smaller space, and to make do with less bandwidth. The result is that your voice doesn't sound as great coming out the other end, and likewise the people talking to you don't sound so hot either. Older phones require and make use of of higher bitrates, and the result is a sound that is far better than any modern cell phone can produce. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. Subject: Re: VoicePulse Named Best of the Year by PC Magazine Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 17:04:50 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Jack Decker wrote: > 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." I would certainly agree. Of all the VOIP providers I tried, Voicepulse had the best sound quality and most useful features. Now, if they would just offer local numbers in my area ... ------------------------------ From: borisep90@hotmail.com Subject: Re: Apple's iPod Raises Bar For Digital Music Players Date: 31 Dec 2004 16:45:33 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hey- Check out this great site that is giving away totally FREE iPods! I've joined and I think you should as well. It's a completely legitimate offer, and this company has already given away $4 million in FREE stuff! All you have to do is join, complete an online offer, and refer friends to do the same. That's it! Here is my referral link. To help me get my iPod, click this exact link to join, or copy and paste it into a browser: http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=12703712 Monty Solomon wrote: > Apple's iPod Raises Bar For Digital Music Players > By WALTER S. MOSSBERG > Apple Computer's iPod portable digital music player has become the > gold standard for digital music fans. No other player has been able > to match its combination of elegant design, small size and high > capacity. > But other companies are feverishly working on iPod clones. So, in an > effort to stay ahead, Apple this week released a totally redesigned > version of the iPod, which is even thinner and lighter than the > original version, yet packs in more songs. There are also many other > new features, including a new desktop dock to hold the iPod. > Like the prior models, these new iPods will work on Windows PCs in > addition to Apple's own Macintosh computers. But now, they are > compatible with many more Windows computers than the old iPods. > The new iPods also work closely and well with Apple's new online > music store, the first really good legal music downloading service. > (See my review of the service.) > They play the new music-file format Apple uses at its store, but can > still handle regular MP3 files from any source. > I've been testing the new iPod for several days, using a wide variety > of music from different sources. I find it to be even better designed > and easier to use than the original model. I can still recommend it > highly, as I did the first version. > http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20030501.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 19:17:17 -0700 From: Anthony Bellanga Subject: Re: That's All Folks To try to reduce spam, do NOT display my email address, in either the "from" line nor in the "reply to" line. Pat closed out 2004 with: > 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. Pat, it was not Bugs Bunny who closed out the Looney Tunes series of WB cartoons, but rather Porky Pig, who first pops out of a "toy drum", and stutters while making a slow wave of his hand, and finally saying ... "That's All Folks!". By the way, Mary Tyler Moore once closed out an episode of her 1970s show with this same line! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:23:17 -0500 From: David B. Horvath, CCP Subject: Western Electric: What is This Device? My brother moved into a new house and I was helping him with some wiring and plumbing. Attached to one wall was a Western Electric device that was really weird. It consisted of a square box with an old style house fuse (round, with the box marked 0.3 AMP) that had a regular AC plug on one side and an electric motor on the other. The motor is marked: Made for Western Electric Holtzer - Cabot Division of First Industrial Corporation BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS - U.S.A TYPE RWC SIZE 3712 HP VOLTS 105/125 AMPS .23 CYCLES 60 PHASE 1 RPM 3530 KS 5472O1 L 13 NO. 1673967 The motor drives a box marked: MAGNETIC GENERATOR MADE FOR Western Electric Co. BY HOLTZER-CABOT DIVISION OF FIRST INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION BOSTON * U.S.A. * CHICAGO TYPE- H.F. 1 VOLTS - 13.8-18.6 M.A. 23-31 CYCLES 1000 The output of the generator is connected to a series of resisters and some components on the back that I can't figure out. The wiring all ends up at a connector block of sorts. The backer is plain grey metal marked: SDG J94002A-6 The power plug was not in nor were any other wires connected to the unit. So I have no way of knowing how this unit was used. I did not see any obvious dates. Can anyone help? - David [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think it is a power supply/ringing generator unit. Its purpose is to make the little bulbs flash in one of the older style 6-button, 5-line with hold button phones. When ringing voltage comes on the line, a relay is tripped which sets that box off doing its thing with a reduced voltage, among other things. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 15:55:08 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Vonage Outage Reports Lost item report: This item was sent into the Digest Saturday morning, but it got mangled in processing. The person who wrote said he had recently experienced a Vonage outage, and he wrote about that and some other details he wanted. Perhaps he will write us again and restate his questions/comments. Sorry about the lost message, but that's what happens when you have an imbicile in charge of the editing, using 1980's software with 2005 levels of spam flowing in. The Village Idiot ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #1 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jan 2 00:24:57 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j025Oug28328; Sun, 2 Jan 2005 00:24:57 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2005 00:24:57 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501020524.j025Oug28328@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 V24 #2 TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 Jan 2005 00:24:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 2 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T Recordings: Synthesized or Actual Voice (Rudy Valencia) Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers (John Levine) Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers (David Clayton) Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Provider (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth (Ted Klugman) Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! (Jeffrey Mattox) Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! (Dave VanHorn) Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Apple's iPod Raises Bar For Digital Music Players (Joseph) Re: Which is the Best Cellphone You Ever Used? (Joseph) Re: VoicePulse Named Best of the Year by PC Magazine (Sara Garland) 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: Rudy Valencia Subject: AT&T Recordings: Synthesized or Actual Person? Date: 1 Jan 2005 20:59:34 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I am wanting to know if this AT&T voice is real or synthesized, please listen and respond. http://www.dmine.com/phworld/sounds/modern/att/attflood.ram http://www.dmine.com/phworld/sounds/modern/att/atthur.ram (Both recordings feature the same voice, but two different phrases) Thank you, Rudy Valencia (rudyvalencia@gmail.com) ------------------------------ Date: 1 Jan 2005 22:23:34 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> The fact that service contracts are not pro-rated, at least in the >> latter stages, is one good example. Except that's not true, either. My Cingular contract has a $240 fee prorated over the 24 months of the contract. If I were to cancel six months from the end, I'd owe them $60. ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 13:13:31 +1100 Alan Burkitt-Gray contributed the following: ... > Virgin in the US uses Sprint, and in Australia it's > Optus I think. ... Correct, in Australia Virgin Mobile uses the Optus (now owned by Singtel) infrastructure. Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 21:09:32 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Provider Tony P. wrote about Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers on Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:00:39: > In article , > falco_marcus_didius@yahoo.co.uk says: >> 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. > T-Mobile throughout the northeast is rock solid as that's where they > put all their towers is along interstates and state highways. > It is after all the Omnipoint network. Try I-68 west of Cumberland MD. That's an improvement. It used to die just after Hancock (that's where I-70 turns north to join the Penna turnpike and the continuation to Wheeling WV is called I-68 [ex-US 40]). Also on the route from Washington to the Delaware beaches, though it's OK to Ocean City. Of course, coming down from Canada through the northeast kingdom of Vermont, even though we were on interstates, we got the occasional weak signal but nothing worked. Given the car problems we were having, it's a good thing the Iridium was in the trunk! I've got T-mobile for my wife because I needed an international cell phone (we swap when I have to travel). But I got Verizon with analog for my daughter. The difference is that when my wife goes to rural areas I'm usually with her. No such luck with the daughter. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 21:25:33 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote about Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth on Fri, 31 Dec 2004 17:00:49: > Marcus Didius Falco wrote: >> Although there are known dead spots close to the White House and CIA >> headquarters in Langley where wireless signals are blocked for >> security reasons > Now that's interesting. First time I've seen a public reference to the > US Government intentially blocking/jamming a licensed communications > service within the US. Would be interesting to see the procedure they > used to get that approved, since it directly violates US law. Secret exemption from the rules provided by the FCC? Anyhow, the FCC does not control US government use of the spectrum: that's controlled by the Department of Commerce. ------------------------------ From: Ted Klugman Subject: Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 22:11:31 -0500 Organization: Optimum Online On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 02:41:08 -0500, Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > Take a look down near the bottom on Cingular's giving special access codes > for big-wigs. > 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. Sounds a lot like GETS -- http://gets.ncs.gov/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 19:58:08 -0600 From: Jeffrey Mattox Subject: Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! [Please withhold my email address for spam avoidance.] > Luckily, most of the Atlantic is not seismically active. You don't need an earthquake to wipe out the Eastern US. Here are more details about the coming mega-tsunami that was posted as a followup to the original article. "Likely death toll, if there is no mass evacuation beforehand? A hundred million people, give or take fifty million." The Coming Atlantic Mega-Tsunami Unstoppable Gee-Gees http://tinyurl.com/44e29 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 21:21:14 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! Alan Burkitt-Gray wrote on Sat, 1 Jan 2005 18:28:03: > Marcus Didius Falco wrote: "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." > Yes, but it's not just earthquakes you have to worry about. There is a > large chunk of land on Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, in > mid-Atlantic, which is liable to plunge into the Atlantic if the > volcano on the island erupts. > "Scientists have estimated that the wave from the collapse of Las > Palmas will be over 650 metres high and its 'crest' will stretch from > 30 to 40 kilometres from front to rear, or more. The huge wall of > water will annihilate every single coastline city on the Eastern Shore > of the United States and could cause similar destruction for up to 20 > miles or more inland. The Bahamas will be devastated and Florida could > be submerged." - from http://www.newsmedianews.com/tsunami.htm > Sorry to be gloomy. I'd like to see some careful modelling. Waves break when they hit "shallow" water, shallow being a function of the height of the wave. Thus, the Grand Banks, Georges Bank, and so forth, which are only about 120 feet deep, would likely cause the wave to break for the first time miles offshore. The barrier islands that characterize the east coast (Hatteras, the Delmarva peninsula, etc) would break the wave a second time. Thus, it's quite possible that Cape Cod would be swept but Boston survive. Similarly, Brooklyn and Sandy Hook NJ might be swept, but Manhattan survive. ------------------------------ Reply-To: Dave VanHorn From: Dave VanHorn Subject: Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 23:16:22 -0500 The big island of Hawaii is splitting in two as well. Every year, the rift valley gets wider. The estimates I've seen are that noting but bare rock will be left in the islands when it happens, and similar effects on the Pacific rim. I'm not far from the New Madrid fault either. :) ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 19:57:32 EST Subject: Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! In a message dated Sat, 01 Jan 2005 12:30:44 -0500, Geoffrey Welsh < writes: > In fact, there are two plates _diverging_ right down the center of the > north Atlantic; Iceland, which you mentioned, is the result of the > constant flow of lava out of the 'mid-Atlantic rift'. However, since > the plates are moving apart, the seismic activity is constant and > fairly smooth, so pressure doesn't build up to earthquakes. > Geoffrey Welsh > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What what about the 'more traditional > and conventional place' for earthquakes in the USA, in California? > A seismologist on television last Monday (just after the disturbance > in Asia) suggested such a thing was 'much more likely' along the > southern California coastline; not that it was predicted or expected, > just that there was 'no reason it could not happen', given the way the > earth is always rumbling around out there. PAT] That's why there is a warning system along the Pacific Coast (continguous U.S.A. west coast, west coast of Canada, Alaska and Hawaii). Tsunamis have occured in Hawaii and Alaska. Isn't the San Andreas fault the boundary of two plates slipping past each other from time to time? There is no similar likely source of tsunamis in the Atlantic. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Apple's iPod Raises Bar For Digital Music Players Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 16:05:17 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 31 Dec 2004 16:45:33 -0800, borisep90@hotmail.com wrote: > Hey- > Check out this great site that is giving away totally FREE iPods! Is Pat asleep? Why did this crap get into the digest? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There had been an article by Monty Solomon about Apple iPod and it was intended as a followup to that. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Which is the Best Cellphone You Ever Used? Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 16:18:14 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:41:35 -0500, Isaiah Beard wrote: >> Pull out antenna is more of a requirement with CDMA phones rather than >> just "preference." > It's not about whether it's a CDMA phone, it's about what frequencies > the phone is designed for. > If it's a 1900Mhz phone, then a stub antenna actually might be all you > need. If it's a dual band, then often times the antenna is designed > to favor 800Mhz, and a pull out is more desirable. Well, real world conditions say otherwise. There are no commonly available handsets for either TDMA (IS-136) or GSM that have pull out antennas and they either have stub antennas or internal antennas. TDMA and GSM handsets both use cellular 800 Mhz and PCS 1900 Mhz and they work fine. Similar models from the same manufacturer that are meant for CDMA will have pull out antennas where the GSM and TDMA equivalent handsets do not. The handset manufacturers know what works with their handsets and design antennas accordingly. Believe it or not the reason for the development of internal antennas for mobile phones was not just an aesthetic one. The most common complaint handset manufacturers get is that the antennas break off too easily. A properly designed internal antenna will give equal or better performance to a stub antenna. Internal antennas are hardly ever used for CDMA handsets. Such is not the case with TDMA and GSM. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: VoicePulse Named Best of the Year by PC Magazine From: no_email_address@hotmail.com (Sara Garland) Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 01:30:03 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Jack Decker wrote: > VoicePulse Inc. announced it > has been named Best of the Year by PC Magazine > "PC Magazine's review and testing process is the most rigorous I've > seen so far," says Ravi Sakaria, President and CEO of VoicePulse, Did anyone expect him to say any different? Can't the press releases just be posted to the still-active comp.dcom.voice-over-ip group? ------------------------------ 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. 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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 V24 #2 **************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jan 2 20:33:04 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j031X4F06006; Sun, 2 Jan 2005 20:33:04 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2005 20:33:04 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501030133.j031X4F06006@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 V24 #3 TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 Jan 2005 20:33:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 3 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Provider (John Levine) Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers (Stanley Cline) Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth (Stanley Cline) Re: Apple's iPod Raises Bar For Digital Music Players (Gary Novosielski) Re: AT&T Recordings: Synthesized or Actual Person? (Diamond Dave) Long Distance From Next Door (Fred Atkinson) Re: Western Electric: What is This Device? (John McHarry) Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth (Lisa Hancock) Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! (Herb Stein) Re: VoIP Problem: No Incoming Calls! (Rick Merrill) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 2 Jan 2005 06:29:31 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Provider Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Of course, coming down from Canada through the northeast kingdom of > Vermont, even though we were on interstates, we got the occasional > weak signal but nothing worked. Given the car problems we were > having, it's a good thing the Iridium was in the trunk! It's true, there's no 1900 MHz service at all in northeastern Vermont other than what leaks from Canada, so you're out of luck with GSM. The Wireless Travel Guide doesn't show any GSM north of Wells River. On the other hand, Rural Cellular has 800 MHz TDMA and Verizon has 800 MHz CDMA that work OK, particularly if you stop at the top of a hill. I'm not giving up my Cingular AMPS/TDMA/GSM phone any time soon. ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: Consumer Reports Story on Cell Phone Providers Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 01:44:34 -0500 Organization: Roamer1 Communications Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org On 1 Jan 2005 22:23:34 -0000, John Levine wrote: > Except that's not true, either. My Cingular contract has a $240 fee > prorated over the 24 months of the contract. If I were to cancel > six months from the end, I'd owe them $60. Cingular has the same policy here in Atlanta. AFAIK, Cingular a) is the only carrier of any significance that does this and b) doesn't do it in all markets. Stanley Cline // Telco Boi // sc1 at roamer1 dot org // www.roamer1.org "it seems like all you ever buy is Abercrombie and cell phones" --a friend On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 02:07:37 -0500, Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > 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 It's the total reverse here in Atlanta -- on the main underground part of the MARTA rail system, there is T-Mobile GSM and Cingular AMPS and TDMA (but no GSM -- AIUI, MARTA has a moratorium on installation of wireless gear in the stations, a direct result of Nextel interfering with public safety radio, that has prevented Cingular from upgrading their old sites to GSM), but no CDMA service and (needless to say) no iDEN service. Stanley Cline // Telco Boi // sc1 at roamer1 dot org // www.roamer1.org "it seems like all you ever buy is Abercrombie and cell phones" --a friend ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 01:47:30 -0500 Organization: Roamer1 Communications Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 22:11:31 -0500, Ted Klugman wrote: > Sounds a lot like GETS -- http://gets.ncs.gov/ The Wireless Priority service is run by the same people as GETS ... http://wps.ncs.gov/ Stanley Cline // Telco Boi // sc1 at roamer1 dot org // www.roamer1.org "it seems like all you ever buy is Abercrombie and cell phones" --a friend ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Re: Apple's iPod Raises Bar For Digital Music Players Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 09:27:52 GMT Joseph wrote: > Is Pat asleep? Why did this crap get into the digest? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There had been an article by Monty > Solomon about Apple iPod and it was intended as a followup to > that. PAT] Except it wasn't a follow up, it was spam for one of those ponzi prize scheme web sites, and not the first time, either. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I generally do not have the time nor resources to investigate every web site which is presented here. *If* an article comes in with a 'Re: recent previous subject' title which was presented here within a day or two prior, I generally accept the article for publication. If the same article had shown up without the 'Re: previously published article' it would have been scrutinized more closely as I always do. This is not 1980 or 1985, the volume of mail -- and spam blended with legitimate mail -- is horrendous. So now and then I miss one, sorry. What, Mr. Novosielski, would you have me to do? Read and personally investigate every followup message? After Joseph first wrote with his complaint, I did go back and review the message, I doubt I would run it again, as it was, IMO very marginal at best. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Diamond Dave Subject: Re: AT&T Recordings: Synthesized or Actual Person? Organization: The BBS Corner / Diamond Mine On-Line Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 08:57:08 -0500 On 1 Jan 2005 20:59:34 -0800, Rudy Valencia wrote: > Hi, > I am wanting to know if this AT&T voice is real or synthesized, please > listen and respond. > http://www.dmine.com/phworld/sounds/modern/att/attflood.ram > http://www.dmine.com/phworld/sounds/modern/att/atthur.ram > (Both recordings feature the same voice, but two different phrases) Considering I operate the website where you found these, I feel that I should respond. As far as I know, all AT&T recordings are real people and are not synthesized. In times past, most of these were recorded by the late Jane Barbe or Pat Trumbull (Trumble?), now recently remarried and goes by the name Pat Fleet. However, I don't know the name of the person who made those recordings, nor most of the ones you find on the AT&T network these days. In addition, recordings from the older 4ESS tandems are stored in analog, while I think that the more modern 4ESS tandems have their recordings in digital format. Hope this helps. Dave Perrusel Webmaster - Telephone World http://www.dmine.com/phworld ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Long Distance From Next Door Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2005 11:19:01 -0500 My father lives in Chapin, South Carolina. I recently got his telephone service switched over to Vonage. As Vonage does not have an exchange in Chapin (and since all Chapin exchanges are local to the Columbia, SC area), we got a Columbia, SC number for him to use. Last week, his next door neighbors complained that when they dialed his number they got a recording telling them to dial 'one plus the area code and the number'. I used their telephone to dial his number as seven digits and got the same thing. Vonage's exchange in the Columbia area is 233. The neighbors had a number in the 945 exchange. I called Vonage. Turns out that this 945 number is not a Chapin number but something else entirely. I'm trying to figure out why this retired couple has a number that apparently isn't local to the Columbia calling area. Have been punching around the Internet trying to find out where this number is housed. So far, no luck. Anybody got any ideas on this weird arrangement? My father used to call my Vonage phone from Chapin on his old Bellsouth line. My phone is also on Vonage's 233 exchange. He did not have to dial long distance to do it. Regards, Fred ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Western Electric: What is This Device? Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 17:20:11 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:23:17 -0500, David B. Horvath, CCP wrote: > My brother moved into a new house and I was helping him with some > wiring and plumbing. Attached to one wall was a Western Electric > device that was really weird. It consisted of a square box with an > old style house fuse (round, with the box marked 0.3 AMP) that had a > regular AC plug on one side and an electric motor on the other. > The motor is marked: > Made for Western Electric > Holtzer - Cabot > Division of First Industrial Corporation > BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS - U.S.A > TYPE RWC SIZE 3712 HP > VOLTS 105/125 AMPS .23 > CYCLES 60 PHASE 1 RPM 3530 > KS 5472O1 L 13 NO. 1673967 > The motor drives a box marked: > MAGNETIC > GENERATOR > MADE FOR > Western Electric Co. > BY > HOLTZER-CABOT > DIVISION OF FIRST > INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION > BOSTON * U.S.A. * CHICAGO > TYPE- H.F. 1 > VOLTS - 13.8-18.6 > M.A. 23-31 > CYCLES 1000 > The output of the generator is connected to a series of resisters and some connector block of sorts. > The backer is plain grey metal marked: > SDG > J94002A-6 > The power plug was not in nor were any other wires connected to the > unit. So I have no way of knowing how this unit was used. I did not > see any obvious dates. > Can anyone help? > - David > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think it is a power supply/ringing > generator unit. Its purpose is to make the little bulbs flash in > one of the older style 6-button, 5-line with hold button phones. When > ringing voltage comes on the line, a relay is tripped which sets that > box off doing its thing with a reduced voltage, among other > things. PAT] Sorry to copy the whole article, but most of it is relevant. I don't know what it is, but I doubt it is a ringing generator. Ringy-dingy is nominally 86v 20Hz. Also, 1kHz is a particularly nasty thing to run around a telephone system to power lamps -- it is right in the middle of the audio passband. It has to have been intended to be heard, either by a person or by a receiver somewhere on the line. It might have been an alerting tone for some sort of intercom. I seem to recall some old ones that would beep rather than ring, probably to distinguish it from an incoming phone call. It is pretty low power, less than .5w. Using a motor-generator to supply that would make it pretty old, as would the units of cycles rather than Hz. I would guess it is at least 50 years old, probably older. One would also be led to guess that the house was not always a residence, or not exclusively a residence. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Many of the older 6 button/5 line phones had a small 'buzzer' inside them also and the incoming ringing voltage rang *one* of the phones; the other phones in the group would 'buzz'. Also sometimes one of the line appearances was a dial intercom to call the other phones in the group; the phones, on an intercom call would 'buzz' with a certain cadence rather than 'ring' (with a certain cadence) as they did for outside calls. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth Date: 2 Jan 2005 11:08:10 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > 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. This is the same sort of thing the former Bell System would always do for special events -- install extra cabling, switchgear, etc. I'm kind of curious as to exactly what all the cellphone talkers will be saying. Along the parade route nothing much really happens except at some point the president drives by. Carter and his wife strolled up holding hands, Nixon was pelted by demonstrators at his first inaugration. To me, the most significant inaugural speech was FDR's first time, when he spoke about his intentions to fight the depression as a national emergency same as war. FDR had an excellent radio voice and knew how to use it; this ability was critical to calming the nation's fears of the time. Hoover actually took unprecedented measures to fight the depression, including pumping lots of money into the economy to keep in afloat, but Hoover was a public relations disaster. FDR was a p/r genius. Anyway, FDR's speech is well preserved and available on video tapes and often re-broadcast on TV today. Somehow they managed it to capture it with the crude sound technology of the day. ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 15:06:14 -0500 DISCLAIMER: I am not a geologist (IANAG?!?) Wesrock@aol.com wrote: > Isn't the San Andreas fault the boundary of two plates slipping past > each other from time to time? I believe that this is true, though I am somewhat confused when I recall that the area is called a "subduction zone" (where one plate is being pushed under the other, resulting in mountain ranges -- can you say "the Rockies"? -- and volcanic activity -- can you say "Mount St. Helen's" -- on the plate that slid up). Nonetheless, the San Andreas fault is indeed where two plates slide horizontally against each other, pressure building up until it overcomes the friction and is released in the form of an earthquake. I've seen dramatic photographs of roads broken by movement along that fault: more or less intact on either side but split like a cut ribbon glued together out of alignment. > There is no similar likely source of tsunamis in the Atlantic. As far as my limited knowledge goes, this is also correct, though it may be worth pointing out that there are older, smaller fault lines parallel to the U.S. east coast, primarily under the eastern mountain ranges. Here where I live in southern Ontario, I hear stories on the news from time to time about earthquakes, but only once have I ever known that I was feeling an earthquake under my feet. Geoffrey Welsh ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe! Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2005 14:32:04 -0600 Dave VanHorn wrote in message news:telecom24.2.9@telecom-digest.org: > The big island of Hawaii is splitting in two as well. Every year, the > rift valley gets wider. > The estimates I've seen are that nothing but bare rock will be left in > the islands when it happens, and similar effects on the Pacific rim. Being in St. Louis, I'd welcome any incite in the next big New Madrid "letgo." Herb herb@herbstein.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 18:36:37 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: VoIP Problem: No Incoming Calls! Rick Merrill wrote: > My AttCallvantage VoIP places calls, but calls from outside the ATT > system cannot reach us. .... 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? Yes. [I'm unused to responding to my own posts:-] > The person(s) who try to call you, are they getting an intercept > message saying call cannot be completed, Yes. > or a re-order (fast busy) tone? Or is it ringing 'open', No. > that is the > call 'gets through' to your local phone switch but does not actually > reach your phone, or ? No. The support people have tested this by calling (a) on an outside line (intercept msg) and (b) from inside and I hear the "call waiting" signal and can switch over to that other call! > If the caller is getting intercepted either by > a message or reorder tone and they are outside your LATA THAT is where the problem is. > 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. It WAS working fine for 2 months! > 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. No response to that whatsoever. > 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. No one has gotten through since the 25th -- this is reflected in the call log. Only the trouble shooters "inside" the VoIP network can get through. > 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. Yes. That is what the 'level 3' group now say. > And please explain what you mean by 'cannot get through to me on > VOIP phone'. *At what point* does their call bounce back? PAT] Thanks for listening!-) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are welcome for the listening! The 'level 3 group' seems to be a bit more concerned than most customer service reps. They (or you) may need to trace this a bit further by finding out *how* the calls from your relatives/friends, etc are getting routed from them to you, i.e. which central office do they start out in, which long distance carrier to they default to when calling you, etc. What happens if they use some other carrier other than their normal one? Try ten-ten plus and a few different carriers, etc. Keep us posted on your progress. 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'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. 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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 V24 #3 **************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jan 3 17:00:29 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j03M0TZ13639; Mon, 3 Jan 2005 17:00:29 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 17:00:29 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501032200.j03M0TZ13639@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 V24 #4 TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 Jan 2005 17:00:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 4 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Go Ahead, Just Try to Disappear (Monty Solomon) TiVoToGo Service Enhancement (Monty Solomon) TiVo Unveils Portable Transfer Service (Monty Solomon) Internet Use Said to Cut Into TV Viewing and Socializing (Monty Solomon) Coming in '05: AT&T Mobile (Via Sprint) (Monty Solomon) Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human (Monty Solomon) Gentlemen, Start Your TV Sets (Monty Solomon) Streamlined Cable TV in a Card (Monty Solomon) Re: Long Distance From Next Door (desafinado) Re: Long Distance From Next Door (Stanley Cline) Re: Long Distance From Next Door (Fred Goldstein) Re: Long Distance From Next Door (Linc Madison) Re: Long Distance From Next Door (Carl Navarro) Re: Western Electric: What is This Device? (Scott Dorsey) Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth (Scott Dorsey) Re: Apple's iPod Raises Bar For Digital Music Players (Barry Margolin) Re: AT&T Recordings: Synthesized or Actual Person? (Rudy Valencia) Analysis: Big Changes Lie Ahead for Telecom Sector (Telecom dailyLead) Man Charged in UK Tsunami Death Email Probe (Lisa Minter) Tsunami Treatment by US Consulate of Arriving Passengers (M Mustermann) 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:24:42 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Go Ahead, Just Try to Disappear COLUMN ONE Global positioning technology on mobile phones and other devices can track errant workers, teens or even pets. The price is privacy. By David Colker Times Staff Writer As her daughter enjoyed a weekend road trip, Donna Butler sat back home 120 miles away at her personal computer and watched a blue dot tick slowly across the screen. But not slowly enough. "They were going 85 on the interstate where the speed limit is 70," said Butler, who interrupted 17-year-old Danielle's getaway to let her know, " 'I will personally come up there and drive you home.' " It would have been easy to find her. Whenever Danielle is away from her central Florida home, her mobile phone uses a global positioning system to transmit her precise location, which her mother can track online. Developed originally as a military tool, GPS is used widely by drivers, hikers and boaters to figure out where they are. A new generation of relatively cheap GPS-equipped devices can tell others too -- allowing people for the first time to keep constant tabs on their rebellious teens, wandering spouses or loafing employees. That prospect comforts mothers like Butler, but it concerns some who see ever more powerful and invasive technology eroding a sense of personal privacy. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gps27dec27.story ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:33:52 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVoToGo Service Enhancement TiVo(R) Goes Mobile; Delivers Groundbreaking TiVoToGo(TM) Service Enhancement - Jan 3, 2005 05:00 AM (PR Newswire) TiVoToGo(TM) Service Enhancement Allows Subscribers to Enjoy Their Favorite Shows Anytime, Anywhere ALVISO, Calif., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO) announced today its new TiVoToGo(TM) service enhancement is now available and has begun to roll out the software update to standalone TiVo(R) Series2(TM) boxes. The TiVoToGo service enhancement allows subscribers to transfer programs from their TiVo box to a laptop to enjoy their favorite shows anywhere, anytime. The TiVoToGo service enhancement is available at no extra charge as part of the TiVo service. TiVoToGo adds to a growing list of exclusive features found only on the TiVo service and not available on generic cable or satellite DVR. These include, Online Scheduling, Season Pass(TM) recordings, WishList(TM) searches, and home networked music and photos. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=45953241 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:33:13 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo Unveils Portable Transfer Service By MAY WONG AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- TiVo Inc. pioneered digital video recording as a new way of watching television _ when you want it. Now it could be TV where you want it, too. The long-awaited service feature called TiVoToGo, set to launch Monday, will give users their first taste of TiVo untethered. No longer confined to TiVo digital video recorders in the living room or bedroom, subscribers will be able to transfer their recorded shows to PCs or laptops and take them on the road _ as long as the shows are not specially tagged with copy restrictions. That's also the case for pay-per-view or on-demand movies, and some premium paid programming. Users also will be able to copy shows onto a DVD _ soon after but not immediately at the service launch, company officials said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=45952209 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:43:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Internet Use Said to Cut Into TV Viewing and Socializing By JOHN MARKOFF SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 29 - The average Internet user in the United States spends three hours a day online, with much of that time devoted to work and more than half of it to communications, according to a survey conducted by a group of political scientists. The survey found that use of the Internet has displaced television watching and a range of other activities. Internet users watch television for one hour and 42 minutes a day, compared with the national average of two hours, said Norman H. Nie, director of the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society, a research group that has been exploring the social consequences of the Internet. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/technology/30internet.html?ex=1262408400&en=5c26db6b02b40db5&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:41:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Coming in '05: AT&T Mobile (Via Sprint) By KEN BELSON AT&T is expected to announce as soon as next week details about how it plans to offer mobile phone service using Sprint's cellular network, according to executives close to the companies. Sprint, which said earlier this year that it would work with AT&T to offer cellphone service to AT&T's business customers, is fast solidifying its position as the top reseller of telecommunications services. Because it is not affiliated with the regional Bell companies, it has been able to build a strong business as a wholesaler of network capacity to the Bells' rivals. AT&T plans to start marketing Sprint's cellphone service as its own in the first half of 2005, after it wins back the rights to use the AT&T Wireless brand from Cingular Wireless, which acquired AT&T Wireless in October. Some of the particulars of how it will handle billing and operations for the new mobile service will be spelled out next week, the executives said. AT&T is not expected to announce pricing for its plans yet. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/technology/30phone.html?ex=1262408400&en=18de07b7f5d21239&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:45:44 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human By KATIE HAFNER TRY to reach customer service at Amazon.com to fix a problem with an order and you will encounter one of the most prominent and frustrating aspects of the Internet era: a world devoid of humans. Not only is there no telephone number on Amazon's Web site, but the company makes a point of not including one. Instead, customers are asked to fill out an online form and wait for a response. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/technology/circuits/30serv.html?ex=1262408400&en=b148bc2e844b6599&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:49:51 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Gentlemen, Start Your TV Sets By CHARLES McGRATH AS cable channels continue to proliferate and to generate more and more specialty programming, the television landscape has increasingly come to resemble the family house. There's a vestibule, where if you let them in, unnaturally cheerful people will try to sell you knickknacks and costume jewelry. There's a den, where old movies play day and night, and a rec room where partly clad young people never weary of singing and dancing to hip-hop music. There's a yard, for sports; a kitchen, for cooking demonstrations; a basement, for woodshop projects. And now there's a garage, where tattooed guys in T-shirts come and work on cars and motorcycles. Garage shows are the newest addition to the House of TV, and they are growing in popularity, especially on the Discovery and Learning Channels and on testosterone-juiced Spike TV, which among them devote several hours a week to automotive programming. Most of these shows are set in the spacious and well-lighted workplaces -- so clean they resemble operating rooms -- of high-end car and motorcycle customizers, and they feature a lot of welding, grinding and sheet-metal bending. But except for a couple of highly practical shows like the long-running "Trucks!" (Saturday afternoons on Spike), where you can learn how to install a fuel pump or a brake line, these are not how-to programs in the style of "This Old House" or "The New Yankee Workshop." You won't learn, say, how to fix the defroster on your '98 Taurus wagon. Instead you watch, transfixed, as that old wagon, veteran of the car pool, the grocery run and countless after-school pickups, is morphed into what car people call a "truly sick ride." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/arts/television/31whee.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:53:13 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Streamlined Cable TV in a Card By DAVID POGUE WHAT if I told you about a new product that could improve your TV picture, eliminate one of your remote controls, simplify your home-theater setup and save you money every month? And then what if I told you that your local distributor wished, in its heart of hearts, that nobody even knew about it? The brilliant invention really exists. It's the CableCard, a small metal card (a so-called PC card, actually, like the ones designed for laptops) that slides into a slot on the back of many new high-definition TV sets from nearly every manufacturer. The CableCard's simple mission is to eliminate your cable box. The card stores all the account information that used to be monitored by the box, like descramblers for your movie channels -- a bit of circuitry miniaturization that's about 15 years overdue. Life without a cable box is blissfully simple. The cable-TV cable from the wall plugs directly into the TV. You change channels using the TV's own remote control. (Both the box and its remote go back to the mother ship. Incidentally, getting rid of the box makes an especially big difference when it comes to smaller screens, like kitchen-counter TV's.) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/technology/circuits/30stat.html?ex=1262408400&en=a106f9952bf3cddb&ei=5090 ------------------------------ From: desafinado Subject: Re: Long Distance From Next Door Date: 3 Jan 2005 02:21:38 GMT Organization: sin nombre Fred Atkinson on 1/2/2005 in comp.dcom.telecom wrote: > My father lives in Chapin, South Carolina. I recently got his > telephone service switched over to Vonage. As Vonage does not have an > exchange in Chapin (and since all Chapin exchanges are local to the > Columbia, SC area), we got a Columbia, SC number for him to use. > Last week, his next door neighbors complained that when they dialed > his number they got a recording telling them to dial 'one plus the > area code and the number'. I used their telephone to dial his number > as seven digits and got the same thing. Vonage's exchange in the > Columbia area is 233. The neighbors had a number in the 945 exchange. > I called Vonage. Turns out that this 945 number is not a Chapin > number but something else entirely. I'm trying to figure out why this > retired couple has a number that apparently isn't local to the > Columbia calling area. > Have been punching around the Internet trying to find out where this > number is housed. So far, no luck. > Anybody got any ideas on this weird arrangement? > My father used to call my Vonage phone from Chapin on his old Bellsouth > line. My phone is also on Vonage's 233 exchange. He did not have to dial > long distance to do it. > Regards, > Fred 'Lookup Area Codes in a Radius' http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/PhoneRadius.asp You'll find these assignments within 10 miles of 803-945 Area Code - Prefix City 803-345 CHAPIN 803-407 COLUMBIA 803-732 COLUMBIA 803-749 COLUMBIA 803-781 COLUMBIA 803-932 CHAPIN 803-941 CHAPIN 803-945 CHAPIN 803-948 CHAPIN You can click the npa-nxx column links for additional information about each exchange. Your father's Vonage 233 number is in Richland county while the Chapin 945 exchange is in Lexington county. Apparently calling from 945 to 233 crosses a LATA boundary. ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: Long Distance From Next Door Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 21:24:27 -0500 Organization: Roamer1 Communications Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org On Sun, 2 Jan 2005 11:19:01 -0500, Fred Atkinson wrote: > My father lives in Chapin, South Carolina. I recently got his > telephone service switched over to Vonage. As Vonage does not have an > exchange in Chapin (and since all Chapin exchanges are local to the > Columbia, SC area), we got a Columbia, SC number for him to use. > Last week, his next door neighbors complained that when they dialed > his number they got a recording telling them to dial 'one plus the > area code and the number'. I used their telephone to dial his number > as seven digits and got the same thing. Vonage's exchange in the > Columbia area is 233. The neighbors had a number in the 945 exchange. Not all Chapin numbers are local to Columbia! I checked BellSouth's tariffs and it turns out there is both a Chapin/Little Mountain South rate center and a Chapin/Little Mountain North rate center, and that only the C/LM South rate center is local to Columbia. 803-945, unfortunately, is in the C/LM North rate center and is not local to Columbia; it's local only to the two C/LM rate centers, Newberry, and Prosperity, without an optional calling plan anyway. 803-345 = C/LM South (BellSouth) 803-932 = C/LM South (BellSouth) 803-945 = C/LM North (BellSouth) 803-233 = Columbia (KMC Telecom) Maybe your father's house is right on the border and in C/LM South (did he have a 345 or 932 number?) and the neighbors are in C/LM North, or he had an optional calling plan with BellSouth that the neighbors don't? FWIW, Vonage doesn't have numbers in either C/LM rate center -- but competitor VoicePulse has numbers in both C/LM North and C/LM South. (VP often has numbers in places in the Southeast where no one else does. The underlying CLEC for those numbers is almost certainly ITC DeltaCom; VP is known to provide numbers out of ITCD NPA-NXXs in other areas, including Atlanta and east Tennessee, and ITCD has NPA-NXXs in both C/LM North and C/LM South...) 803-941 = C/LM South (ITCD) 803-948 = C/LM North (ITCD) Stanley Cline // Telco Boi // sc1 at roamer1 dot org // www.roamer1.org "it seems like all you ever buy is Abercrombie and cell phones" --a friend ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 23:26:24 -0500 From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: Long Distance From Next Door On Sun, 2 Jan 2005 11:19:01 -0500, Fred Atkinson wrote, > My father lives in Chapin, South Carolina. I recently got his > telephone service switched over to Vonage. As Vonage does not have an > exchange in Chapin (and since all Chapin exchanges are local to the > Columbia, SC area), we got a Columbia, SC number for him to use. > Last week, his next door neighbors complained that when they dialed > his number they got a recording telling them to dial 'one plus the > area code and the number'. I used their telephone to dial his number > as seven digits and got the same thing. Vonage's exchange in the > Columbia area is 233. The neighbors had a number in the 945 exchange. 803-233 is a Columbia prefix, belonging to KMC Telecom, so they're probably the underlying CLEC selling interconnection to Vonage (unless it's a shared prefix or the number was ported). 803-945, however, is a different story. > I called Vonage. Turns out that this 945 number is not a Chapin > number but something else entirely. I'm trying to figure out why this > retired couple has a number that apparently isn't local to the > Columbia calling area. 945 is a Chapin number, sort of. But here's the catch. You've fallen into the trap of the nasty old rate center system that still plagues local telephony, where lots and lots of little rate centers are created for the express purpose of making more calls into toll routes. There is no "Chapin" rate center. There is a Chapin central office. But there are two rate centers served by that central office. BellSouth's 345, 932 and 941 prefices are in the "Chapin-Little Mountain South" rate center. That is a local call to Columbia. But the 457, 945 and 948 prefices are in the Chapin-Little Mountain North rate center. That's local to Newberry and Prosperity (which are toll routes to CLM-South), but it's a toll call to Columbia. I don't know where the border is between the two rate centers, or if for some odd reason they overlap (i.e., some customers can call Newberry, others Columbia, but nobody gets both). But that's how Chapin's divided. Maybe it's along the county line? There's a county line running between Chapin proper (Lexington County) and Little Mountain (Newberry County), and some of "Chapin", including one Atkinson's address, is in Richland County. What county is your father actually in? Is he near the line? Just how far apart are his neighbors? What was his old BellSouth prefix? > Have been punching around the Internet trying to find out where this > number is housed. So far, no luck. The LERG is not public, but a local calling database at http://members.dandy.net/~czg/search.html is. The prefix code database at NANPA.COM is also freely downloadable. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Long Distance From Next Door Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 22:09:39 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Fred Atkinson wrote: > My father lives in Chapin, South Carolina. I recently got his > telephone service switched over to Vonage. As Vonage does not have > an exchange in Chapin (and since all Chapin exchanges are local to > the Columbia, SC area), we got a Columbia, SC number for him to use. > Last week, his next door neighbors complained that when they dialed > his number they got a recording telling them to dial 'one plus the > area code and the number'. I used their telephone to dial his number > as seven digits and got the same thing. Vonage's exchange in the > Columbia area is 233. The neighbors had a number in the 945 > exchange. > I called Vonage. Turns out that this 945 number is not a Chapin > number but something else entirely. I'm trying to figure out why > this retired couple has a number that apparently isn't local to the > Columbia calling area. If Vonage told you that 803-945 is not a Chapin, SC, exchange, then Vonage lied to you. The 803-945 exchange defaults to BellSouth, and is listed as CHPNLTLMTN (Chapin/Little Mountain, I would assume), the exact same rate center as 803-345 and 803-932 (BellSouth), and 803-457, 803-941, and 803-948 (CLECs). The 803-233 exchange is indeed rated as Columbia. If Columbia and Chapin are supposed to be local calls, then the BellSouth switch CHAPSCCLRS1 needs to be updated to reflect the 803-233 exchange as local. See what happens from the neighbors phone if you try to dial a number in the: 210, 212, 213, 214, 216, 231, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 264, 296, 312, 333, 343, 344, 354, 373, 376, 382, 400, 401, 407, 419, 434, 462, 540, 544, 545, 551, 561, 576, 612, 647, 691, 695, 699, 714, 731, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 741, 742, 743, 748, 749, 750, 754, 755, 758, 763, 765, 771, 772, 776, 777, 779, 781, 782, 783, 786, 787, 788, 790, 791, 794, 796, 798, 799, 806, 822, 865, 896, 898, 926, 929, 931, 933, 935, 936, 939, 955, 975, or 988 prefix (all belonging to BellSouth), or to the 234 or 381 prefixes (others belonging to the same CLEC as 803-233). (Obviously, you don't need to try every single prefix on that list. Any one or two known valid numbers from among those prefixes will suffice.) If your neighbors can call the BellSouth prefixes in Columbia as listed above, and especially if they can call the other two CLEC prefixes, 234 and 381, then they should be able to dial 803-233 as a local 7D call, and the problem is entirely with BellSouth. The neighbors should call the repair service (or better yet, you should call repair service from the neighbors' phone) and report a problem with the translation tables in CHAPSCCLRS1. On the other hand, if the neighbors get the "dial 1+" recording when calling the BellSouth prefixes in Columbia, then obviously they are on a calling plan that doesn't rate Columbia as local. If the neighbors can call BellSouth exchanges in Columbia, but not the Vonage exchanges in Columbia -- or also try CLECs like ITC DeltaCom, Alltel, or AT&T -- then you should file a complaint against BellSouth with whatever South Carolina calls its public utilities commission, because BellSouth has some 'splainin to do. Exciting details of the prefixes in the 803 area code can be found on the NANPA web site: select South Carolina, wait for the NPA menu to slim down, then select 803. (Or select any other state and NPA you want to check on.) Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Long Distance From Next Door Reply-To: cnavarro@wcnet.org Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2005 09:34:34 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com On Sun, 2 Jan 2005 11:19:01 -0500, Fred Atkinson wrote: > My father lives in Chapin, South Carolina. I recently got his > telephone service switched over to Vonage. As Vonage does not have an > exchange in Chapin (and since all Chapin exchanges are local to the > Columbia, SC area), we got a Columbia, SC number for him to use. > Last week, his next door neighbors complained that when they dialed > his number they got a recording telling them to dial 'one plus the > area code and the number'. I used their telephone to dial his number > as seven digits and got the same thing. Vonage's exchange in the > Columbia area is 233. The neighbors had a number in the 945 exchange. > I called Vonage. Turns out that this 945 number is not a Chapin > number but something else entirely. I'm trying to figure out why this > retired couple has a number that apparently isn't local to the > Columbia calling area. How odd. It appears that 345,932, and 945 list as the BellSouth exchanges for Chapin SC. If EAS agreements are in place, I'd be asking the Telco wha'ts up. Carl Navarro > Have been punching around the Internet trying to find out where this > number is housed. So far, no luck. > Anybody got any ideas on this weird arrangement? > My father used to call my Vonage phone from Chapin on his old Bellsouth > line. My phone is also on Vonage's 233 exchange. He did not have to dial > long distance to do it. > Regards, > Fred ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Western Electric: What is This Device? Date: 3 Jan 2005 14:09:36 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) David B. Horvath, CCP wrote: > My brother moved into a new house and I was helping him with some > wiring and plumbing. Attached to one wall was a Western Electric > device that was really weird. It consisted of a square box with an > old style house fuse (round, with the box marked 0.3 AMP) that had a > regular AC plug on one side and an electric motor on the other. This is a motor-generator set that produces a 1 KHz tone. What it was used for, I have no idea. But the other components may be a clue. scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth Date: 3 Jan 2005 14:11:10 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) In article , Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote about > Inauguration Requires Boost In Bandwidth on Fri, 31 Dec 2004 > 17:00:49: >> Marcus Didius Falco wrote: >>> Although there are known dead spots close to the White House and CIA >>> headquarters in Langley where wireless signals are blocked for >>> security reasons >> Now that's interesting. First time I've seen a public reference to the >> US Government intentially blocking/jamming a licensed communications >> service within the US. Would be interesting to see the procedure they >> used to get that approved, since it directly violates US law. > Secret exemption from the rules provided by the FCC? More likely the spooks just talked to the cellphone providers and urged them not to locate towers in the area. It's easy to create dead spots by careful antenna placement. The hard part is _preventing_ dead spots. scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Apple's iPod Raises Bar For Digital Music Players Organization: Symantec Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 22:43:46 -0500 In article , Gary Novosielski wrote: > Joseph wrote: >> Is Pat asleep? Why did this crap get into the digest? >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There had been an article by Monty >> Solomon about Apple iPod and it was intended as a followup to >> that. PAT] > Except it wasn't a follow up, it was spam for one of those ponzi prize > scheme web sites, and not the first time, either. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I generally do not have the time nor > resources to investigate every web site which is presented here. *If* > an article comes in with a 'Re: recent previous subject' title which > was presented here within a day or two prior, I generally accept the > article for publication. If the same article had shown up without the > 'Re: previously published article' it would have been scrutinized > more closely as I always do. This is not 1980 or 1985, the volume of > mail -- and spam blended with legitimate mail -- is horrendous. So > now and then I miss one, sorry. What, Mr. Novosielski, would you have > me to do? Read and personally investigate every followup message? > After Joseph first wrote with his complaint, I did go back and review > the message, I doubt I would run it again, as it was, IMO very > marginal at best. PAT] As the "free iPod" thing is becoming a well-known scam on the net (although not yet at the level of the Nigeria scams), I think he was surprised that you didn't recognize it immediately, with no need to "investigate". Myself, I'm less surprised. I get the impression that you don't participate in many other online forums, and don't read much Usenet (which is where the iPod messages frequently show up). So if it hasn't been discussed in TELECOM, you might not be aware of it. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not participate in many other online forums, and I do not read/write in Usenet (other than now and then checking the status of c.d.t.) I put out between one and three or four issues of this Digest daily, and I work on *my* web pages as needed, which is enough for me to do. As good as spam assassin is at cleaning out my mailbox (it flags 400-500 pieces daily) another hundred or so fall into my regular mail and get weeded out by hand. Lisa Minter 'surfs the net' looking for other items to be used here, (sort of in the style of Monty Solomon) and she looks after the news feed thing I subscribe to (and hope to eventually be able to pay for assuming Google comes through with payment some day. [its still zero/ zero even after the mail arrived today. :( ] I am probably going to wind up giving all this to Lisa eventually, if my brain disease continues to deteriorate as it has been for some time now.) Maybe I will ask her to do more invetigation of messages arring here. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Rudy Valencia Subject: Re: AT&T Recordings: Synthesized or Actual Person? Date: 2 Jan 2005 20:18:56 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Diamond Dave wrote: > On 1 Jan 2005 20:59:34 -0800, Rudy Valencia > wrote: >> Hi, >> I am wanting to know if this AT&T voice is real or synthesized, please >> listen and respond. >> http://www.dmine.com/phworld/sounds/modern/att/attflood.ram >> http://www.dmine.com/phworld/sounds/modern/att/atthur.ram >> (Both recordings feature the same voice, but two different phrases) > Considering I operate the website where you found these, I feel that I > should respond. > As far as I know, all AT&T recordings are real people and are not > synthesized. > In times past, most of these were recorded by the late Jane Barbe or > Pat Trumbull (Trumble?), now recently remarried and goes by the name > Pat Fleet. > However, I don't know the name of the person who made those > recordings, nor most of the ones you find on the AT&T network these > days. > In addition, recordings from the older 4ESS tandems are stored in > analog, while I think that the more modern 4ESS tandems have their > recordings in digital format. > Hope this helps. > Dave Perrusel > Webmaster - Telephone World > http://www.dmine.com/phworld Hi, I did some research (Google: "AT&T recordings"), and it leads me to believe (though I am not sure) that they were recorded by this person (perhaps with a different inflection): http://www.greatvoiceco.com/index.html (Click "Hear Samples" and then "Susan") Other links point to this Telecom Digest thread, and to (former) AT&T Wireless error recordings. -- Rudy Valencia (rudyvalencia@gmail.com) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 12:25:32 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Analysis: Big Changes Lie Ahead for Telecom Sector Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 3, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18473&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Analysis: Big changes lie ahead for telecom sector BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Qwest gears up for residential VoIP launch * Mobile phones aid tsunami relief efforts * Analysis: Broadband penetration to grow in 2005 USTA SPOTLIGHT * Now in the USTA Telecom Bookstore: Newton's Telecom Dictionary, 20th Edition EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * TiVoToGo to launch today; DVR technology sends files to PCs * New IPv6 network to link universities in China REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Ruling a blow to Dutch telco KPN Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18473&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: Man Charged in UK Tsunami Death Email Probe Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 10:29:37 EST LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Monday they had charged a man with sending hoax emails to relatives of people missing since the Asian tsunami, saying their loved ones had been confirmed dead. The hoaxer, claiming to be from the "Foreign Office Bureau" in Thailand, targeted people who had placed appeals for information about relatives and friends on the Web site of TV station Sky News. Police said a 40-year-old man from Lincolnshire in northeastern England was charged with malicious communication and causing a public nuisance. He was due to appear at a London court on Monday. On Sunday, officers seized computer equipment in a joint operation by London's Metropolitan Police and Lincolnshire police. All the messages came from one bogus email address, ukgovfoffice@aol.com . "The British government would not use email to convey news of the death of a loved one," police said. "Anyone receiving such an email should treat it with utmost caution." Sky News said it was "disgusted" at the abuse of the message board on its Web site and had contacted police as soon as it was alerted to the hoaxes. The death toll from the tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off western Indonesia a week ago, stood at almost 130,000 on Monday, including at least 40 Britons. 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, Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Max Mustermann Subject: Tsunami Treatment by US Consulate of Arriving Passengers Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2005 09:46:51 +0100 (originally was Re: Such Carnage is Hard to Believe!) jmeissen@aracnet.com wrote on 29 Dec 2004 21:18:13 GMT: > In article , TELECOM Digest Editor > wrote: > Meanwhile, the United Nations called on Dubya to do more than the > stingy pittance he offered. He said he would 'think about it'. Trouble > is, Dubya has gotten so badly in debt on account of Iraq, he does not > have a lot of money left over for things like alleviating human misery. > http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/28/tsunami.diver/index.html > [American tsunami survivor] Faye Wachs said she was impressed by the > efforts of the Thai government and the International Committee for the > Red Cross, but "she was appalled at the treatment they got" from the > U.S. government, her mother said. > At the airport in Bangkok, other governments had set up booths to > greet nationals who had been affected and to help repatriate them, she > said. > That was not the case with the U.S. government, Wachs told her mother. > It took the couple three hours, she said, to find the officials from > the American consulate, who were in the VIP lounge. > Because they had lost all their possessions, including their documen- > tation, they had to have new passports issued. > But the U.S. officials demanded payment to take the passport pictures, > Helen Wachs said. > John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, how did Dubya know they were not > just a couple of 'terrorists' trying to sneak in and use the tsunami > thing as an excuse? Anyway, Dubya has no spare money (right now, or > probably for a few decades at least) to spend on such foolishness. > Every spare nickle has to go to Navy SEALS and Army guys in their > ongoing humane treatment of Iraqi terrorists -- err, prisoners. His > religious war against Islam has many more years to go. PAT] I came through Thai Domestic Arrivals from the south of Thailand unhurt and unaffected. Lined up there in a very orderly fashion are Red Cross People, Officials of the Thai Police, Embassy Officials withe every known embassy wearing flags on their armbands, with forms free money habdouts acomadition arrangements and tables for free phone calls and free coffee drinks etc. It is very well done. The people are friendly. There must be I estimate at least 100 people working together there and very well. However, I at first saw no US consul officials. Finally at the door, 30 yards away I saw two. They now wear badges just like cops that say US Embassy. These two one a man and a woman were dressed very formerly unlike the rest. they have no forms, they have no free coffee, they have nothing except scowls on their ugly faces. I did not wish to be further victimised by then and I imagine no one else would. I had my passport money and ticket so I just got the hell away from those two. I imagine they were interrupted from their xmas dinner or something by the looks on their faces. Every time anyone walked by looking injured they just looked away. Thats what we are getting for our tax dollars. While these guys live the high life over here. The next day I came there again to pick up a freind who was similiarly unaffected as we had been staying in Phuket town. This time they weren't even there but all the others were. There was a sign if you are a US citizen come to such and such a VIP room where we are, I gather that was some hike away if you could find it, to bad if you have a broken leg I guess. You can be sure we did not go there and our flights are out of here tonight. We called our families to say I was ok and warned them not to even call up about me to save the money. The Thais and other offiicials especially the Swedes were wonderful I have no comment as to where I think the US officials belong but I guess it would be called the monkey house here. The US says they will give some money here I wonder what the conditions are? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think that horrible mess has affected almost everyone. Even people thousands of miles away ... a reader of our mailing list based out of Phuket lost his life in it; two casual aqauintences of mine who had gone over to the Phuket area to a gay resort *probably* lost their lives; they were not good friends of mine, just people I had met a couple times from Chicago. I say 'probably' since they have not been heard from or seen since they left to go there a couple days before Christmas. They would not have been in touch with me anyway, but rather with their own close friends, etc who have not seen or heard from them. Bad news, all the way around. 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'. 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #4 **************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jan 4 00:37:04 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j045b3K16489; Tue, 4 Jan 2005 00:37:04 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 00:37:04 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501040537.j045b3K16489@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 V24 #5 TELECOM Digest Tue, 4 Jan 2005 00:37:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 5 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T and CallVantage Put Me Through Hell (cherold@gmail.com) Re: Long Distance From Next Door (Fred Atkinson) Re: Long Distance From Next Door (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Long Distance From Next Door (Tony P.) Re: Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human (Thomas A. Horsley) Re: Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human (desafinado) Re: Western Electric: What is This Device? (John McHarry) Re: Go Ahead, Just Try to Disappear (Tony P.) 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: cherold@gmail.com Subject: AT&T and CallVantage Put Me Through Hell Date: 3 Jan 2005 13:06:54 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I feel I need to warn people about my experience with AT&T's horrendous customer service and warn them about my friend's horrible experience with the CallVantage service. This is in New York City, I don't know if it works better in other states, since I see some people here seem to not be having problems, but my experience has been abominable and AT&T raises the question, can a major corporation reach a level of incompetence where they can actually drive themselves out of business. Because if it's possible, I think AT&T can do it. It all started around the middle of October. At this time I had been considering going from normal phone service to digital phone service, which is a bit cheaper. I had actually ordered this from Time Warner, who made an appointment to come out and install the proper hardware. But then I got mail from AT&T with an offer for their own, cheaper digital CallVantage service, with free activation and a month of free service, so I decided to cancel with Time Warner and order CallVantage. Ordering the service took quite a while because the offer I had been mailed did not match the offer the operator showed on her computer, which did not have the free month and free activation, so she had to spend some time fixing that. AT&T mailed me a phone adapter with instructions for how to set it up. The instructions told me to check my confirmation email for my login name, but I had never received a confirmation email, so I phoned up and was told the order had been cancelled because there was a port change request against my phone number. This was apparently because AT&T had put in the order before Time Warner had cancelled my order with them. AT&T had first told me to call Verizon, because they said Verizon was the carrier for all of New York City, but this isn't true. Actually, AT&T was my carrier, but they insisted I call Verizon, who predictably said I wasn't in their system (I think the problem is AT&T no longer accepts new customers for normal phone service and doesn't actually know it still is a carrier). AT&T said I would have to reorder the service, so I did. Once again I had to verify I was getting the same offer, and found that now they were charging the activation fee, but when I told them that was wrong they fixed it (or said they did). I was also told I could set up my service right away, since I had the adapter. Five minutes later I realized I still didn't know my login and I called back and she said the confirmation email could take a couple of days (which I was later told by someone else was incorrect). A couple of days later I called back, said I still hadn't received a confirmation email and was told my case would be transferred to a specialist who would get back to me in 48 hours. After 48 hours passed I called again and was told my login name was just my phone number! Apparently it did not occur to any of the other phone support personnel to tell me this. I hooked up the adapter but it didn't work, and I found I couldn't log into the website with my login name. I called tech support. After some investigation they discovered that neither my first nor second order had gone through. They said the best thing to do would be to wait a few weeks until both orders completely cleared out of the system and then try again. As it happens, a friend of mine had also ordered CallVantage, and by this time I had learned through her that it was absolutely horrible. It frequently went out and since it worked through her cable modem she was told every time it stopped working she would have to turn off her modem and computer for 15 minutes then restart. Sound quality was poor and when I would talk to her there would be an echo half the time. She had called tech support, and one person told her it would take a few weeks before the system "settled down," and that after that it would be better. Later a different tech person told her it would settle down in about 72 hours. It never actually settled down. She had a miserable time until she could switch back to a normal phone line. She said the service was clearly still in the beta testing stage and AT&T shouldn't be selling it until it actually worked. (When she got her first bill, they had charged her both the activation fee and the first month, although they had told her they wouldn't, and had actually charged her conventional rates for the first several days she had used the service, during which she had made some lengthy long distance calls, and she had to go through a series of support people to get these charges removed). So at this point I said, never mind, cancel my order, I don't want CallVantage. It was cancelled just at the end of November, and I thought that was the end of it. A couple of days before the end of December my phone went dead. I used my girlfriend's cell phone to call AT&T and they said they had cancelled my service because there was a port change request for my number. I said I had not ordered a change in service and they said I should call Verizon. Once again I told them Verizon wasn't my carrier, AT&T was, once again they insisted, and the operator at Verizon actually laughed when I told her my story and confirmed that I was not in their records. I called AT&T again. They began transferring me from one department to another. The analog phone service people said the problem came from CallVantage, that the order had never been cancelled. CallVantage said no, the order had been cancelled long ago. I was finally transferred to a specialist who would consult with various people in various departments while I stayed on hole. Finally after being on hold for 20 minutes the recording telling me to wait disappeared and after five minutes I gave up. They had asked for the cell phone number so they could call me back if we got disconnected, but they did not call me back, and I had no idea who I had last been talking to or how to contact them. I had also used up an hour of my girlfriend's minutes for nothing. After my girlfriend went back home I had no phone, so I contacted AT&T through a form on their website. (Normally I would have gone to a friend's house and borrowed their phone but I had bronchitis and was not up to facing the winter weather.) After a couple of days AT&T replied to tell me their records showed I was no longer a customer of AT&T (keep in mind I had explained the enter story in my message to them). I sent a reply repeating what had happened. They emailed me back to tell me to phone the repair department, although I had explained I had no way to make phone calls. I explained that to them again. They then told me that they were the CallVantage division (I had just used the contact AT&T form on the website) and couldn't help me. I said, are you telling me there is no way to contact anyone in repair by email and they sent me a url for a different form that contacted regular analog repair service. It had taken them five days to send me to the right people. The repair department of course emailed back to ask me to call them. I emailed and said once again that I had no phone and that since I have no way to fix my own phone, I have explained the problem in detail already and when I'm on the phone with them they just keep me on hold that there was no reason to actually have me on the phone. They then emailed me again to say there was no way they could reinstate my number, it was gone, and gave me a number where I could call to get new AT&T service. Instead I went to Verizon's website and signed up for phone service, which will presumably be turned on in a couple of days. It is my greatest hope in life that I never again have to deal with AT&T. ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Long Distance From Next Door Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 17:20:00 -0500 Thanks for the feedback. I shared the information with the neighbor. The neighbor called and is having their number switched to a 345 number, which will make them a local call to Columbia. The number is supposed to be changed effective tomorrow. My father was previously on the 932 exchange, for those who asked. This update to their service should resolve the issue. I'd have suggested that they switch to Vonage, but they don't have a PC or cablemodem. Regards, Fred Atkinson ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 19:39:41 EST Subject: Re: Long Distance From Next Door In a message dated 3 Jan 2005 02:21:38 GMT, desafinado writes: > Your father's Vonage 233 number is in Richland county while the Chapin > 945 exchange is in Lexington county. Apparently calling from 945 to > 233 crosses a LATA boundary. There are many cases where local calling areas cross LATA boundaries, so this is generally, in itself, irrelevant. One of the noted interstate metropolitan exchanges is Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., which is in two LATAs but one local calling area. Many, many smaller such cases exist. County lines are generally irrelevant, too. Parts of Payne County, Oklahoma, are in three different NPAs. The county seat is Stillwater, area code 405, but there are parts of the county in 580 and 918 (the part in 918 is in a different LATA, but NPAs 580 and 405 area in the same LATA). Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Long Distance From Next Door Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 21:24:43 -0500 In article , lincmad@suespammers.org says: > In article , Fred Atkinson > wrote: >> My father lives in Chapin, South Carolina. I recently got his >> telephone service switched over to Vonage. As Vonage does not have >> an exchange in Chapin (and since all Chapin exchanges are local to >> the Columbia, SC area), we got a Columbia, SC number for him to use. >> Last week, his next door neighbors complained that when they dialed >> his number they got a recording telling them to dial 'one plus the >> area code and the number'. I used their telephone to dial his number >> as seven digits and got the same thing. Vonage's exchange in the >> Columbia area is 233. The neighbors had a number in the 945 >> exchange. >> I called Vonage. Turns out that this 945 number is not a Chapin >> number but something else entirely. I'm trying to figure out why >> this retired couple has a number that apparently isn't local to the >> Columbia calling area. > If Vonage told you that 803-945 is not a Chapin, SC, exchange, then > Vonage lied to you. Vonage hasn't yet heard of the site where you can lookup and NPA/NXX and get it's rate center. For example, when I first signed up for Vonage they gave me a 401-608- nnnn number. Problem is that's in a Newport rate center. So people calling me from next door got charged a toll. Luckily all that was resolved when my 401-621-nnnn number was ported to Vonage. That's a Providence rate center number. But the fact that they didn't issue me a Providence rate center temporary number is interesting even though I'd entered my billing details and they clearly put me in the Providence rate center. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2005 23:03:08 GMT > TRY to reach customer service at Amazon.com to fix a problem with an > order and you will encounter one of the most prominent and frustrating > aspects of the Internet era: a world devoid of humans. Not only is > there no telephone number on Amazon's Web site, but the company makes > a point of not including one. Instead, customers are asked to fill out > an online form and wait for a response. To which I say Thank God! (or at least Jeff Bezos). No hanging on hold forever -- none of my time wasted. I send my email, and forget about it. Later I get a response (and usually a pretty prompt and useful one clearly written by a human who knows whats up) -- I can deal with it when I get around to reading the mail. I'd turn this article on its head -- what I want to complain about is what seems to be the vast majority of companies that have policies of never talking to customers via email. You are forced to call them, wade through voicemail, and sit on hold and speak to "humans" who have no idea what you are talking about. Give me good email customer service any day over stupid human customer service (of course there are the companies which use an email robot responder for customer service -- so far, I've never encountered an email robot that wasn't dumber than even the dumbest human -- it is possible to screw up email customer service too :-). -- >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ From: desafinado Subject: Re: Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human Date: 3 Jan 2005 23:49:45 GMT Organization: sin nombre Monty Solomon on 1/3/2005 in comp.dcom.telecom wrote: > By KATIE HAFNER > TRY to reach customer service at Amazon.com to fix a problem with an > order and you will encounter one of the most prominent and frustrating > aspects of the Internet era: a world devoid of humans. Not only is > there no telephone number on Amazon's Web site, but the company makes > a point of not including one. Instead, customers are asked to fill out > an online form and wait for a response. > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/technology/circuits/30serv.html?ex=1262408400&en=b148bc2e844b6599&ei=5090 This was first reported by PC-World in 2001. Way to go, gray lady. http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,55306,00.asp "So as my first act as I take over this column, let me tell you the toll-free number for calling Amazon.com's customer service -- 800/201-7575 -- because even with a compass and a map, you may not be able to find it on Amazon's site." ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Western Electric: What is This Device? Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 02:27:32 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to John McHarry: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Many of the older 6 button/5 line > phones had a small 'buzzer' inside them also and the incoming ringing > voltage rang *one* of the phones; the other phones in the group > would 'buzz'. Also sometimes one of the line appearances was a dial > intercom to call the other phones in the group; the phones, on an > intercom call would 'buzz' with a certain cadence rather than 'ring' > (with a certain cadence) as they did for outside calls. PAT] That sounds right, although a motor-generator to drive a buzzer sounds pretty Rube Goldberg. A DC buzzer is a pretty simple device. I seem to be replying to my own post. Maybe I should engage a shrink. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Go Ahead, Just Try to Disappear Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 21:28:07 -0500 In article , monty@roscom.com says: > COLUMN ONE > Global positioning technology on mobile phones and other devices can > track errant workers, teens or even pets. The price is privacy. > By David Colker > Times Staff Writer > As her daughter enjoyed a weekend road trip, Donna Butler sat back > home 120 miles away at her personal computer and watched a blue dot > tick slowly across the screen. > But not slowly enough. > "They were going 85 on the interstate where the speed limit is 70," > said Butler, who interrupted 17-year-old Danielle's getaway to let her > know, " 'I will personally come up there and drive you home.' " > It would have been easy to find her. Whenever Danielle is away from > her central Florida home, her mobile phone uses a global positioning > system to transmit her precise location, which her mother can track > online. > Developed originally as a military tool, GPS is used widely by > drivers, hikers and boaters to figure out where they are. A new > generation of relatively cheap GPS-equipped devices can tell others > too -- allowing people for the first time to keep constant tabs on > their rebellious teens, wandering spouses or loafing employees. > That prospect comforts mothers like Butler, but it concerns some who > see ever more powerful and invasive technology eroding a sense of > personal privacy. > http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gps27dec27.story Ah, but most phones have the capability to shut the GPS transmissions off to all but 911 operators. I know that's the situation on my Audiovox phone. ------------------------------ 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 V24 #5 **************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jan 4 20:16:00 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j051G0J23919; Tue, 4 Jan 2005 20:16:00 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 20:16:00 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501050116.j051G0J23919@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 V24 #6 TELECOM Digest Tue, 4 Jan 2005 20:16:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 6 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Kansas City Metro and Local Inter LATA Calling (Anthony Bellanga) Linksys Wireless-G Media Link (Monty Solomon) SBC Plans Set-Top Box For Music, Photos, Downloads (Telecom dailyLead) Re: Long Distance From Next Door (Lisa Hancock) Re: Long Distance From Next Door (Rick Merrill) Re: TiVoToGo Service Enhancement (Tim@Backhome.org) Re: Go Ahead, Just Try to Disappear (Justin Time) Re: Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human (Steve Sobol) Re: The Secret Life of Phone Numbers (John Smith) Re: AT&T and CallVantage Put Me Through Hell (Rick Merrill) Re: Verizon Fios and its Effect on v.90 Modems? (dtowntech) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2005 23:12:24 -0700 From: Anthony Bellanga Subject: Kansas City Metro and Local Inter LATA Calling Reply-To: anthonybellanga@withheld on request Pat, please do not display my email address in my post, neither in the "from" line, nor in the "reply-to" line. I don't need to be spammed from outside anymore so than I presently am. Thanks. In "Re: Long Distance From Next Door", Wes Leatherock wrote: > There are many cases where local calling areas cross LATA boundaries, > so this is generally, in itself, irrelevant. One of the noted > interstate metropolitan exchanges is Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., which is > in two LATAs but one local calling area. While the MO and KS sides of the Kansas City Metro area are obviously in different states, and also in separate NPAs (816 Kansas City MO and 913 Kansas City KS), and there has been mandatory ten-digit local dialing between the two state and NPA sides for several years now, i.e., no "protected" c.o.codes in each NPA for at least the metro area, both the KS (913) and MO (816) sides of the Kansas City Metro area are in the same LATA, #524, an SBC LATA. LATAs can and do cover parts of multiple states. But there are other instances of local calling areas which do cross LATA boundaries, some happen to also be interstate and postdivestiture EAS calling. In all such inter LATA local calling cases that didn't already exist prior to divestiture, in addition to the state or several state regulatory bodies having to approve the new EAS (local) calling, the FCC must also give its nod to such inter LATA local calling, even if it is inter LATA but intra state. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 08:32:28 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Linksys Wireless-G Media Link Linksys, Intel Unveil Standards-Based Product That Distributes Protected Premium Content in the Home The Linksys New Wireless-G Media Link Enables Wireless Streaming Video, Music and Pictures to Play From the PC to the Entertainment Center IRVINE and SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Linksys(R), a division of Cisco Systems, Inc., and Intel Corporation, today announced the Linksys new digital media adapter that will enable broad, mainstream consumer adoption of on-line, on-demand video services. This new product includes support for DTCP-IP (Digital Transmission Content Protection over IP), an industry standard framework for media adapters to move Internet-based premium content from the PC to other devices on a wired or wireless home network. With this standard, the new Linksys Wireless-G Media Link (WMLV54G) will help allow consumers to enjoy premium movie and music services from such companies as Movielink and RealNetworks Inc. on TV and stereos around their home in the future. Home networks now offer consumers much more than just sharing an Internet connection among PCs. The proliferation of digital content and broadband Internet adoption has spurred rapid innovation in consumer electronics devices that will enable the sharing of PC and Internet content on any TV and stereo in the home. The emerging category of digital media adapters is an important element in delivering this capability to mainstream consumers. The Linksys Wireless-G Media Link for video, music and photos is the next product in a line of wireless entertainment devices from Linksys that brings consumers exciting new capabilities such as support for premium online movie and music services, high-definition photos and video, and the most advanced media formats, including MPEG4 and WMV. With the Linksys Wireless-G Media Link, the Digital5 middleware solution, and a high-performance PC based on the Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 processor with Intel Hyper-Threading (HT) technology, consumers will be able to wirelessly send a broad selection of personal and protected premium content stored on the their PCs or pulled from select Internet services to their TVs, stereos, entertainment centers and other PCs throughout the house. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=45981924 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 13:44:16 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: SBC Plans Set-Top Box for Music, Photos, Downloads Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 4, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18500&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * SBC plans set-top box for music, photos, downloads BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Motorola seeks younger demographic with new line of outerwear * Report: Cisco, Nortel won Comcast fiber deal * Intelsat names cell phone exec as CEO * Verizon to carry Court TV USTA SPOTLIGHT * Order IP in Wireless Networks Today! EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Orb Networks links content devices through Web browser * Companies team up to develop "Super 3G" * Vonage to offer Wi-Fi phone REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * China clears Corning of dumping charges Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18500&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Long Distance From Next Door Date: 4 Jan 2005 08:21:09 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Wesrock@aol.com wrote: > There are many cases where local calling areas cross LATA boundaries, > so this is generally, in itself, irrelevant. One of the noted > interstate metropolitan exchanges is Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., which is > in two LATAs but one local calling area. Yes, in many places you're allowed to call to the adjacent exchange across a LATA boundary (regardless of state line or area code boundary). It gets confusing because some LATAs have multiple area codes while some area codes have multiple LATAs. Further adding to the confusion are various local calling plans, some of which provide wider calling areas. Someone mentioned rate centers being created. In one part of Verizon (nee Bell Tel of PA) they've consolidated minor rate centers and reduced message unit charges. Many calls that for many years used up message units are now untimed. Where message units remain (called 'measured service' now, the rate of 7c/unit has been stable for years, and night/weekend discounts introduced. However, there are other boundaries that are strictly toll, such as between New Jersey and NYC or NJ and Phila. Would anyone know past and current charging practices for North American international calls between two adjacent cities (ie US and Canada or US and Mexico)? Did they charge you the full expensive international rate for a 5 mile call or give a break? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 16:52:23 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: Long Distance From Next Door Thanks for the great link. Here is how to "port " a number :-) http://tinyurl.com/4namm ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: TiVoToGo Service Enhancement Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 03:27:35 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications Monty Solomon wrote: > TiVo(R) Goes Mobile; Delivers Groundbreaking TiVoToGo(TM) Service > Enhancement > - Jan 3, 2005 05:00 AM (PR Newswire) > TiVoToGo(TM) Service Enhancement Allows Subscribers to Enjoy Their > Favorite Shows Anytime, Anywhere > ALVISO, Calif., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO) > announced today its new TiVoToGo(TM) service enhancement is now > available and has begun to roll out the software update to standalone > TiVo(R) Series2(TM) boxes. The TiVoToGo service enhancement allows > subscribers to transfer programs from their TiVo box to a laptop to > enjoy their favorite shows anywhere, anytime. The TiVoToGo service > enhancement is available at no extra charge as part of the TiVo > service. TiVoToGo adds to a growing list of exclusive features found > only on the TiVo service and not available on generic cable or > satellite DVR. These include, Online Scheduling, Season Pass(TM) > recordings, WishList(TM) searches, and home networked music and > photos. > - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=45953241 It's a neat concept but typical of today's hype. I have two of the qualified Series Two units already network, thus ready to go. I signed up for the system operating software today and the site advised me to be patient because it would be several weeks. Plus, the third-party software necessary to make it all work is not ready. Since I update programming and system software via the Internet you would think they could make that distinction because I don't tie up phone lines and a software update is transmitted to my machine in minutes instead of a couple of hours. Oh well ... hype is the way of American life. ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: Go Ahead, Just Try to Disappear Date: 4 Jan 2005 06:24:19 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Yea, you know that, I know that and anybody who takes the time to read their manual knows that. But the story wasn't written to inform, it was written to alarm and cause a backlash against "Big Brother" and their invasion of *MY* privacy, which is absolute BS, but that doesn't look so good in print. Rodgers ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 10:20:21 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Thomas A. Horsley wrote: > To which I say Thank God! (or at least Jeff Bezos). No hanging on hold > forever -- none of my time wasted. I send my email, and forget about > it. Later I get a response (and usually a pretty prompt and useful one > clearly written by a human who knows whats up) -- I can deal with it > when I get around to reading the mail. The problem is that a lot of companies suck at reading mail in any reasonable timeframe. I use both phone and email, depending on the company. 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: John Smith Subject: Re: The Secret Life of Phone Numbers Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 20:26:31 GMT Organization: ntl Cablemodem News Service Alan Burkitt-Gray wrote in message news:telecom23.620.3@telecom-digest.org: > I thought Digest fans would be interested in this programme on BBC Radio 4 > tonight (Monday 27) at 20.00 GMT (3pm ET): > It's available when broadcast from the BBC Radio Four website in RealAudio > on http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4.shtml?fm > (you can download a free player if you don't already have it) > The Secret Life of Phone Numbers > Dialing up stories from the history of telephony, Ian Peacock recalls the > days of two-digit phone numbers and purring dial tones, GPO operators and > mechanical exchanges. He discovers that this era was still with us even as > digital technology and mobile phones entered our lives in the 1990s. > Producer Alan Daulby > The BBC has a listen again facility, also in RealAudio, for up to > seven days after original broadcast: > http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml > Alan Burkitt-Gray > alan@burkitt-gray.com > 7 Foxes Dale, London SE3 9BD, UK > tel 020 8463 0365 international +44 20 8463 0365 > mobile 079 6202 1330 international +44 79 6202 1330 Hmmm, can't find this ... Any pointers? Ta ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 15:48:08 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: AT&T and CallVantage Put Me Through Hell Dang! Except for the bronchitis I have nearly the same story but in Massachusetts. AT&T is a bad example of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Part of the problem is that each department uses a different system. Another part of the problem is the "local number service" system where someone other than ATT has your local number that must be ported to another provider. - RM ------------------------------ From: dtowntech Subject: Re: Verizon Fios and its Effect on v.90 Modems? Date: 4 Jan 2005 15:35:29 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com FIos is fiber from the Central office all the way to your door step. It will creat the shortest analog conversion because it will be at your door step. There is no other D/A conversion until you reach the central office of the modem you are connceting to. CharlesWGreenJr@NetScape.Net wrote: > It looks like we'll soon be getting Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises on > our street, so I can give up my Adelphia cable modem. In reading > about other people's experiences, however, a thought has occurred to > me: > It is sometimes necessary for me to dial up via modem when my home > broadband connection doesn't work, or there are VPN issues between my > laptop and the workplace. It's my understanding that when people opt > to have the fiber broadband brought to their house, it *replaces* the > existing copper pairs which are currently serving my analog phone - a > box is mounted outside the house, the fiber goes in, and broadband and > phone connections come out and go into the house. (Somewhere in > there, power and backup battery from the homeowner come into play as > well.) > I understand that v.90 gets its high-speed inbound capability when > there is a pure digital path from the remote / server "modem" end all > the way to a single D/A converter which serves the analog feed to the > house. The shorter and cleaner the analog end, the better the modem > does. And if there's another A/D - D/A stage in between, the v.90 > "magic" is lost. > Does anyone know whether FTTP, at least for Verizon, means that the > phone connection can now be pure digital all the way to my house, or > is some sort of conversion performed on the signal before it gets to > the neighborhood which might wreak havoc with v.90? > Thanks, > Charles Green ------------------------------ 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 V24 #6 From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jan 5 17:20:32 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j05MKWB02714; Wed, 5 Jan 2005 17:20:32 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 17:20:32 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501052220.j05MKWB02714@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 V24 #7 TELECOM Digest Wed, 5 Jan 2005 17:20:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 7 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Vonage Offers Internet Users Wireless Phones (Lisa Minter) Level 3's VoIP Services Offer Critical E-911 Capability (Jack Decker) Online Marketer Agrees to Halt 'Spyware' Ads (Lisa Minter) FTC Settles, For Now, With (Spam King) Wallace (Danny Burstein) Site Wins Right to Dub Famed Stuntman 'Pimp' (Lisa Minter) Another Appeals Court Requires Net Music Suits (Lisa Minter) MediaPortal (Monty Solomon) Sat Radio Recording Moves Ahead (Monty Solomon) Cingular, Lucent Complete First HSDPA Test Atlanta (Telecom dailyLead) REN For Western Electric Products (Lisa Hancock) Telefiesta Article of November 19, 2001 (Olivia Rodriguez) Are Sprint Local Customers Really This Stupid? (Andrew Bell) Yeilding Party Lines (Lisa Hancock) Re: The Secret Life of Phone Numbers (Linc Madison) Re: The Secret Life of Phone Numbers (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Re: Long Distance From Next Door (Tony P.) Re: Go Ahead, Just Try to Disappear (Tony P.) Re: International Long Distance From Next Door (John R. Levine) How Ignorant! Homosexuality, Fornication Caused Asia Tsunami (L Minter) 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: Lisa Minter Subject: Vonage Offers Internet Users Wireless Phones Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 09:51:52 EST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Vonage, the U.S. pioneer of low-cost phone service over Internet broadband connections, on Tuesday said it was working with a phone maker to offer a "Wi-Fi" handset for subscribers to use at home or around town. The Edison, New Jersey-based company said it had partnered with UTStarcom, a diversified maker of telecommunications equipment based in Alameda, California, to introduce a portable Wi-Fi handset in the spring or summer. In a series of announcements timed ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show conference here this week, Vonage unveiled plans for the wireless phone, a separate cordless model, and to make these phones available broadly through retailers. The new Wi-Fi handset, to be known as the F-1000, would be designed to work with Vonage phone service out of the box for U.S. subscribers. The phones would take advantage of local radio airwaves on the most mainstream of Wi-Fi standards -- the so-called "B" standard. The Wi-Fi handset can act as a replacement to traditional fixed-line phones that a subscriber might have around the house. It can also work when it is within range of any nearby Wi-Fi hotspot out of the house, according to UTStarcom. Separately, Vonage said it had agreed to a partnership with phone maker VTech (0303.HK), one of North America's largest suppliers of conventional phones, to create a cordless phone system that runs on Vonage's broadband service. The product is based on Texas Instruments Inc.'s VoIP chipset, and will be available at more than 8,000 U.S. retail locations during the spring/summer of 2005. The phone plugs directly into a customer's broadband Internet connection. 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 Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 14:16:16 -0500 Subject: Level 3's VoIP Services Offer Critical E-911 Capability http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-04-2005/0002767259&EDATE= Level 3's VoIP Services Offer Critical E-911 Capability to 60 Million U.S. Households Company Plans to Extend Coverage Further Throughout 2005 LAS VEGAS, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT) announced today that its operating subsidiary can now provide E-911-enabled Voice-over-IP (VoIP) services to areas encompassing approximately 60 million households nationwide. Level 3 made the announcement on the eve of the Consumer VoIP Summit being held in conjunction with the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Over the course of the past year, Level 3 has been deploying its E-911 VoIP solution in more than 300 markets across the country and plans to expand its E-911 coverage further throughout 2005. The E-911 solution, which is a foundational component of Level 3's broad suite of VoIP services, enables ISPs, cable companies, local phone companies, long-distance providers and others to build E-911 functionality into the VoIP services they offer to enterprises and consumers. "Adoption of VoIP in both business and residential markets is growing at exponential rates," said Sureel Choksi, executive vice president of services for Level 3. "It is increasingly important that VoIP service providers be able to deliver E-911 in order to meet the demands of the market, as well as fulfill important public-safety needs. Level 3 made a significant investment in building its E-911 network platform for VoIP in 2004, and we believe that this capability is a key reason why leading communications companies are choosing Level 3 as their preferred provider of wholesale VoIP services." E-911 (for "Enhanced 911") delivers address-specific information to public safety agencies whenever someone makes a 911 call, enabling first responders to be dispatched to the scene of an emergency even if the caller is unable to speak or if the call is suddenly disconnected. But delivering E-911 presents challenges with VoIP, because determining the location of the caller is difficult in an IP-based network transaction. Today, many VoIP service providers use so-called "10-digit routing" to deliver basic 911 capability to their customers. Although this method is relatively easy and low-cost to implement, it provides emergency responders with only a phone number and not the location of the person requiring assistance. Level 3 has leveraged its existing nationwide network to interconnect with 911 Tandems and establish dedicated connections from its network to PSTN switches that serve Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in over 1,500 rate centers around the country. "In our view, mainstream consumers will not fully embrace Voice over IP as a replacement for the traditional land line unless they are confident that it will deliver the public-safety features they are accustomed to," said Donna Lachance, senior vice president of Consumer Voice Services for Level 3. "We believe the E-911 capability we are embedding into the Level 3 network represents enormous progress in addressing this issue, and that it will serve as a real differentiator for Level 3 in the marketplace. We are committed to maintaining a leadership position in this area, and we look forward to expanding our E-911 footprint even further in the coming quarters." Level 3 has embedded E-911 functionality into its suite of business and residential VoIP offerings. For more information about Level 3's business and consumer voice services, visit booth 71047I inside the Consumer VoIP Techzone at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, or visit http://www.level3.com/3184.html. Level 3 has also developed a position paper on E-911 and Voice over IP, available at http://www.level3.com/userimages/dotcom/pdf/Enhancing_911_White_Paper.pdf. Full press release at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-04-2005/0002767259&EDATE= 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: Lisa Minter Subject: Online Marketer Agrees to Halt 'Spyware' Ads Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 10:17:33 EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Internet marketer has agreed to stop inundating computers with unwanted "spyware" that can disable users' computers while he fights a lawsuit from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Sanford Wallace and his two companies, Seismic Entertainment Productions Inc. and SmartBot.Net Inc., have agreed to stop distributing programs that secretly crawl onto Web surfers' computers, though they will be able to display pop-up ads, according to an agreement filed on Dec. 20. The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire, remains in place until the FTC's charges of deceptive business practices are settled. The FTC sued Wallace in October in a case widely touted as the first federal attempt to crack down on spyware. The FTC said Wallace's software disables computers in an attempt to bully their owners into buying anti-spyware products. Wallace did not have to admit guilt as part of the agreement. An attorney for Wallace was not available for comment and an FTC spokesman declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation. Internet users running Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer Web browser become infected when they visit Web sites that contain certain banner ads, the FTC said. The software then hijacks Web browsers, causes CD-ROM trays to slide open and slows down computers or causes them to cease working altogether, all the while displaying a torrent of pop-up ads urging consumers to buy programs called Spy Wiper or Spy Deleter to clean up the mess. 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 ownerm in this instance Reuters News Service.. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: FTC Settles, For Now, With (Spam King) Wallace Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 20:19:43 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC (nothing yet on the FTC website. If there's nothing significant continuing beyond what the press clip reports, I'm very disappointed) "CONCORD, N.H. Under an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, a man known as the "Spam King" will stop infecting computers with advertising programs until a federal lawsuit against him is resolved. "Stanford Wallace and his companies, SmartBot.net Inc. of Richboro, Pa., and Seismic Entertainment Productions Inc. of Rochester, are required by the agreement to send online ads only to people who visit their Web sites. "The government says Wallace used spyware to infiltrate computers, overwhelming them with ads and other programs. Then, he tried to sell programs he claimed would fix the problems. The government said the remedies do not work. "'The commission does believe this is great relief for consumers until the matter is ultimately resolved in the courts,' said Laura Sullivan, a lawyer for the FTC. 'This provides wonderful protection for consumers in the interim ... rest at (among others): http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/aptech_story.asp?category=1700&slug=FTC%20Spyware _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: Site Wins Right to Dub Famed Stuntman 'Pimp' Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 10:21:01 EST By Adam Tanner SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel cannot sue a Web site that published a photo of him with two women above a caption reading "You're never too old to be a pimp," a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The term "pimp" was probably intended as a compliment, the court said. But Knievel said, "What good is law in the United States of America if five or six goddamn bimbos are going to rule against it?" The Montana native sued after ESPN, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Co., published a photo of the famed stunt driver at the Action Sports and Music Awards in 2001 with his arms around his wife and a second young woman. The photo on the EXPN.com Web site ran alongside that of other people with captions that, in the words of a lower court ruling, "contained loose, figurative, slang language." The motorcycle rider, who gained notoriety jumping over rows of buses, trucks and other barriers in the 1960s and 1970s, sued, alleging the photo brought him and his wife "public disgrace and scandal." After a Montana district court dismissed the case at the request of ESPN, Knievel appealed to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco. "Although the word 'pimp' may be reasonably capable of defamatory meaning when read in isolation, we agree with the district court's assessment that 'the term loses its meaning when considered in the context presented here,"' Judge Wallace Tashima wrote for the three-judge panel. "The term 'pimp' as used on the EXPN.com Web site was not intended as a criminal accusation, nor was it reasonably susceptible to such a literal interpretation. Ironically, it was most likely intended as a compliment." In a dissent that quoted William Shakespeare, Judge Carlos Bea backed Knievel. "Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls," he wrote, quoting Shakespeare's Iago. Then in his own voice, Bea wrote, "In my view, the word 'pimp' is reasonably susceptible to a defamatory meaning." Informed of the decision by a telephone call to his home in Clearwater, Florida, Knievel responded angrily. "They disregarded the goddamn law and they ought to be discharged, they ought to be ashamed of themselves," he told Reuters. "They ruled against the law. What good is law in the United States of America if five or six goddamn bimbos are going to rule against it?" Knievel, 66, added that he would ask his lawyer to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. 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 Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: Another Appeals Court Requires Net Music Suits Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 10:23:56 EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Music-industry investigators must file a lawsuit to uncover the identities of people who may be copying their songs online, a U.S. appeals court said on Tuesday in a decision that echoes earlier rulings on the subject. Internet service providers like Charter Communications Inc. don't have to turn over customers' names whenever they receive a request from the Recording Industry Association of America the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said. Instead, the RIAA must file an anonymous "John Doe" lawsuit to get the names of suspected song-swappers, an extra step that Internet providers say will discourage frivolous requests. The decision will have little effect for the recording industry, which began filing such lawsuits a year ago after an appeals court in Washington reached a similar conclusion. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to examine that ruling in October. Industry officials had hoped that the Eighth Circuit, which covers much of the Midwest, would uphold the tactic and create an inconsistent legal landscape that could force the Supreme Court to take another look. An RIAA spokesman said the decision would not deter the trade group's legal campaign against copyright violators. "We have successfully utilized the John Doe litigation process to sue thousands of illegal file sharers, so our enforcement efforts will not miss a beat," RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy said. RIAA members include privately held Warner Music Group, EMI Group Plc and the music divisions of Sony Corp, Vivendi Universal and Bertelsmann AG. 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 Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 10:32:17 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: MediaPortal MediaPortal combines TV (IPTV or Satellite) with broadband Internet to bring the best of the airwaves and the Internet to your TV set. The integrated Satellite and Digital Television Receiver, High-Definition Digital Video Recorder and Digital Media Server make MediaPortal the most powerful set top box available anywhere. Multi-Room Entertainment Networking and compelling Broadband Media Services provide the easiest way for the entire family to enjoy the digital lifestyle. http://www.2wire.com/?p=11 Product Sheet http://www.2wire.com/pages/pdfs/11.pdf Specs http://www.2wire.com/?p=13 MediaPoint http://www.2wire.com/?p=12 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 10:47:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sat Radio Recording Moves Ahead By John Gartner A handful of new and soon-to-be-released devices enable music listeners to automatically record tracks from satellite radio broadcasts onto hard drives or portable music players such as the iPod. While the recording industry has publicly decried such activities for terrestrial radio, analysts say it has a financial reason for remaining silent about satellite radio recording. Satellite radio broadcasters XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio each deliver more than 100 channels of music, sports and news in high-quality digital audio streams to home, portable and automobile receivers. Last June, the Recording Industry Association of America sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission describing the ability to record songs from digital broadcasts as the "perfect storm" facing the music industry. But within weeks, electronics manufacturer Delphi and Time Trax Technologies released the first products for recording digital tracks from satellite radio, without a note of discord from the RIAA. Time Trax will increase the number of radio-recording devices this month at the Consumer Electronics Show , and CEO Elliot Frutkin expects the recording industry will turn a deaf ear. "I am not immediately concerned about the RIAA challenging Time Trax," said Frutkin. Frutkin said Time Trax will unveil a docking station that enables PC users to schedule the recording of broadcasts and to save tracks, including the artist and title information, directly to Apple Computer's iPod. (A Macintosh version is not currently in development). The company will also unveil two devices for recording from Sirius broadcasts that will parallel products the company delivered for XM listeners late last year, according to Frutkin. To discourage recorded songs from being posted on peer-to-peer networks, the company's TimeTrax software application embeds the serial number of the receiver into the track information, making it easy to trace the source, Frutkin said. "We are not being cowboys telling people to do whatever they want to do" with the tracks they record, Frutkin said. http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,66156,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 13:13:29 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Cingular, Lucent Complete First HSDPA Test in Atlanta Market Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 5, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18532&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Cingular, Lucent complete first HSDPA test in Atlanta market BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Comcast in deal with RealNetworks * Wayport surpasses 6,300 locations * Sony Ericsson to sponsor women's tennis tour * Charter offers Wi-Fi * InPhonic inks two-year deal with AT&T USTA SPOTLIGHT * Fill your most urgent job requirements EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * DVRs, portable entertainment devices take center stage at CES * Sirius, Microsoft to develop video service for autos REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Minnesota to challenge FCC's VoIP ruling * Level 3 plans E-911 expansion Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18532&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: REN For Western Electric Products? Date: 5 Jan 2005 11:34:08 -0800 I understand the "ringer equivalance" value is based on the WE 500 set which is defined as 1. Would anyone know what the REN is for certain other WE products such as: 1) 302/354 sets. (The "art deco" telephone set developed in 1938, was the first to have the ringer within the set.) 2) Older wall mounted "bell boxes" used for 202 and earlier sets. 3) The "Bell Chime", an extension ringer that has several settings on it. Can sould like a regular phone, a doorbell chime, or a very loud bell. 4) A more modern WE extension ringer which is a small gray box, roughly 3x6x2 inches. 5) An outdoor ringer. These had two exposed gongs, usually painted gray or black. Used outside or in big rooms like gyms where an extra loud ringer was needed. 6) Trimline and Princess telephone sets, which used a more compact ringer to fit into the small base. Thanks! [public replies, please] ------------------------------ From: Olivia Rodriguez Subject: Telefiesta Article November 19, 2001 Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 13:35:23 -0600 Good Afternoon Mr Townson, I'm writing to you to see where I can locate the above article on Telefiesta, published November 19, 2001. Do you have any additional information on Telefiesta or NORTE. PLease advise. Thank you in advance for your prompt attention. Olivia Rodriguez ------------------------------ From: Andrew Bell Subject: Does Sprint Really Believe Their Customers Are This Stupid? Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 16:43:41 -0500 [PAT - please replace my email address with andrewb314@yahoo.ca] My daughter lives in North Carolina and has Sprint as her local provider. I'm a Bell Canada customer. Whenever we phone her, we get an intercept that claims we are an "unidentified caller", and requires us to speak our name to be put through. The system then rings her, and she accepts the call, etc. We don't block our outbound CID, but I'm guessing this is some kind of privacy screener that kicks in because our CID is not getting passed down to her switch properly. This also happens if I call from work, and CID is not blocked here either. We do receive number only CID from her when she calls us. Anyway, now the good part -- my daughter claims that they didn't want this service, so I pointed out that she was probably paying extra for it, and should call Sprint to have it removed. When called, she was told that there was no way to remove the service, as it was there "to prevent other phone companies from stealing her long distance" (!!!!!) Does anyone here have any insights into the CID issue, or perhaps just want to share in my amazement at the explanation they gave her? Andrew [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Have her call back and tell them she does not care if 'some other phone company steals her long distance', just to remove the privacy screener from her line. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Yielding Party Lines Date: 5 Jan 2005 13:14:46 -0800 Recently there was a discussion of party lines and use thereof. According to the criminal code: > Refusing to yield a party line > A person is guilty of a disorderly persons offense when, being > informed that a party line is needed for an emergency call, he refuses > immediately to relinquish such line. > "Party line" means a subscriber's line telephone circuit, > consisting of two or more main telephone stations connected therewith, > each station with a distinctive ring or telephone number. > "Emergency call" means a telephone call to a police or fire > department or for medical aid or ambulance service, necessitated by a > situation in which human life or property is in jeopardy and prompt > summoning of aid is essential. In other states, the law also states that claiming an emergency when none exists is also an offense. It is my understanding that some POTS users still have party line service these days. It would appear that using computer modems on such lines that would prevent interuption for emergency would be a violation of this law. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is the reason why telco tariffs also state that no 'attachments' (i.e. even telephones other than the ones supplied by telco itself) can be used on party lines. Modems are not permitted under tariff on party lines. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: The Secret Life of Phone Numbers Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 18:06:36 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , John Smith wrote: > Alan Burkitt-Gray wrote in message > news:telecom23.620.3@telecom-digest.org: >> The BBC has a listen again facility, also in RealAudio, for up to >> seven days after original broadcast: >> http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml > Hmmm, can't find this ... Any pointers? The programme in question has rolled off the seven-day queue and is no longer available on the web site. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. Subject: Re: The Secret Life of Phone Numbers Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 19:17:35 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com John Smith wrote: > Hmmm, can't find this ... Any pointers? In an attempt to keep the copyright police happy, the BBC limits replays to 7 days after the original airing of the program. As such, it's no longer available on the BBC web site. My wav file copy is a too large to email (15MB), my upstream channel isn't fast enough to entice me into putting it somewhere for people to download and it captured to a flavor of wav that won't convert to mp3 using Audiograbber, so I can't compress it. :( That said, it's a good program. If you can't find a copy of it somewhere a little closer to home, send me a private email and we'll see if we can work something out. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Long Distance From Next Door Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 21:32:12 -0500 In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > Wesrock@aol.com wrote: >> There are many cases where local calling areas cross LATA boundaries, >> so this is generally, in itself, irrelevant. One of the noted >> interstate metropolitan exchanges is Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., which is >> in two LATAs but one local calling area. > Yes, in many places you're allowed to call to the adjacent exchange > across a LATA boundary (regardless of state line or area code > boundary). It gets confusing because some LATAs have multiple area > codes while some area codes have multiple LATAs. Further adding to > the confusion are various local calling plans, some of which provide > wider calling areas. In many cases the reason for crossing LATA boundaries is because it is cheaper for them to use the switch that happens to site on the other side of the LATA boundary than to build out a new one. For example, any number in Providence, RI (401) can call 508-336 (Seekonk), 508-761 (Attleboro), and a few others that don't come immediately to mind. I know that Woonsocket, RI can call Bellingham, MA toll free as the communities are right next to each other. > Someone mentioned rate centers being created. In one part of Verizon > (nee Bell Tel of PA) they've consolidated minor rate centers and > reduced message unit charges. Many calls that for many years used up > message units are now untimed. I can remember when Coventry, RI was a toll to/from Warwick, RI for many years. Confounded lots of people until it was realized that Coventry was under-trunked. Finally when everything went digital Nynex realized they couldn't keep raking people over the calls with asinine calling areas. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Go Ahead, Just Try to Disappear Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 21:34:44 -0500 In article , a_user2000@yahoo.com says: > Yea, you know that, I know that and anybody who takes the time to read > their manual knows that. But the story wasn't written to inform, it > was written to alarm and cause a backlash against "Big Brother" and > their invasion of *MY* privacy, which is absolute BS, but that doesn't > look so good in print. Sort of how the rights management to be built into new consumer electronics only have to be so good as to defeat the average end user from overcoming them. So in other words those of us who aren't afraid of the guts of electronic gear, have our amateur and general radio licenses and a pretty good knowledge of digital electronics won't have any problem defeating it. I can't wait! ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: International Long Distance From Next Door Date: 4 Jan 2005 22:34:01 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Would anyone know past and current charging practices for North > American international calls between two adjacent cities (ie US and > Canada or US and Mexico)? Did they charge you the full expensive > international rate for a 5 mile call or give a break? It depends (TM). Between the US and Canada, there are a few places with local calling across the border. Lists of them have been posted from time to time, but they all seem to be rather small towns. Niagara Falls NY to Niagara Falls ON is toll, as is Detroit MI to Windsor ON. As far as I can tell, the places that are toll have always been toll and the places that are free have always been free. According to messages in the digest a few years ago, in some cases the phone exchanges were wired across the border with a small US town hung off a larger Canadian switch or vice-versa, but it's all normalized now, meaning that a free local call from Derby Line VT to Rock Island QC most likely goes to a remote in Derby Line, then to the main switch in St Johnsbury, perhaps to the main LATA tandem in Burlington, then to a a tandem someplace like Sherbrooke QC, then to the remote in Rock Island, and to the destination phone which might be six feet from the caller. Fiber bandwidth has gotten so cheap that it's often not worth the hassle of maintaing the shortcut routes that used to be common. For a long time the phones in many border areas of Mexico were part of the US phone system and had US area codes. I gather that in many cases there was free local calling across the border. In the 1980s that was all unwound and now I'm unaware of any local calling across the border. ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2005 18:01:15 GMT Subject: An Ignorant, Hateful View of the News [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This article, from WorldNetDaily.com does not, they say, reflect their opinion at that web site, and it certainly does not reflect the views of Telecom Digest nor Lisa nor myself. But it is gaining some sympathizers, not only among the Muslim community but also among very conservative Christians in the United States. It is really pretty awful that some people have this much ignorance and hatred in their own lives to deal with. PAT] Homosexuality, fornication cause of tsunami? A Muslim Saudi professor says the earthquake and tsunami in south Asia were punishment from Allah for homosexuality and fornication committed by residents and visitors of affected countries at Christmastime. A television interview of Sheik Fawzan Al-Fawzan, a professor at the Al-Imam University, was translated and posted on the Internet by the Middle East Media Research Institute TV Monitor Project. MEMRI TV The interview can be viewed on MEMRI's website. "These great tragedies and collective punishments that are wiping out villages, towns, cities and even entire countries, are Allah's punishments of the people of these countries, even if they are Muslims," stated Al-Fawzan. "Some of our forefathers said that if there is usury and fornication in a certain village, Allah permits its destruction." The professor singled out beach resorts as places of sexual sin. "We know that at these resorts, which unfortunately exist in Islamic and other countries in south Asia, and especially at Christmas, fornication and sexual perversion of all kinds are rampant," he said, "The fact that it happened at this particular time is a sign from Allah. It happened at Christmas, when fornicators and corrupt people from all over the world come to commit fornication and sexual perversion. That's when this tragedy took place, striking them all and destroyed everything It turned the land into wasteland, where only the cries of the ravens are heard I say this is a great sign and punishment on which Muslims should reflect." Al-Fawzan urged Muslims to atone for their sin. "All that's left for us to do is to ask for forgiveness. We must atone for our sins and for the acts of the stupid people among us and improve our condition. We must fight fornication, homosexuality, usury, fight the corruption on the face of the earth, and the disregard of the lives of protected people." ------------------------------ 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #7 **************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jan 6 20:09:28 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0719St12961; Thu, 6 Jan 2005 20:09:28 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 20:09:28 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501070109.j0719St12961@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 V24 #8 TELECOM Digest Thu, 6 Jan 2005 20:09:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 8 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Online Scams Emerge in Tsunami's Wake (Lisa Minter) A&E, National Geographic to Send TV Over Internet (Lisa Minter) Verizon to Launch Video, Music Services - Analysts (Lisa Minter) Telco Outage in India? (Scott Dorsey) Google Telecom-Digest Archive (Neal McLain) WorldCom Directors Settle Lawsuits (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Voice Link via Infrared (baumgrenze) Motorola Introduces SBG940 Cable Modem Gateway (cecilw@pullman.com) For Sale: Efficient Networks 5100 ADSL Modems (kevinw@idpc.com) Cable Finds Its Voice (Eric Friedebach) Re: International Long Distance From Next Door (Linc Madison) Re: International Long Distance From Next Door (Mark Crispin) Re: AVT PhoneXpress Entree Voicemail Info Wanted (Aaron Gutleben) Re: Yielding Party Lines (Tim@Backhome.org) Re: The Secret Life of Phone Numbers (Rick Merrill) Re: REN For Western Electric Products? (Rick Merrill) Re: Vonage Discussion Group Started (Dave Close) Re: An Ignorant, Hateful View of the News (Joseph) Re: An Ignorant, Hateful View of the News (Tim@Backhome.org) Re: An Ignorant, Hateful View of the News (LB@notmine.com) 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: Lisa Minter Subject: Online Scams Emerge in Tsunami's Wake Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 18:44:56 EST By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scam artists are posing as tsunami victims on the Internet in a bid to divert some of the millions of dollars flowing to relief efforts, security experts warned on Wednesday. Crudely written appeals for help have begun to appear in e-mail inboxes, asking for donations through a Web site or an offshore bank account, the analysts said. "It's only a matter of time before ... we have fully fledged Web sites that spoof well-known charities, for example," said Paul Wood, chief information security analyst at MessageLabs, an Internet security company. Aid organizations have collected millions of dollars through the Internet since a tsunami claimed an estimated 150,000 lives from Indonesia to Africa on Dec. 26. Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. alone has collected $14.4 million for the American Red Cross through its Web site. Similar scam attempts surfaced after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking attacks on the United States. "It's a good opportunity for the criminals out for a quick buck, and it's something that people are going to respond to," said Forrester Research analyst Jonathan Penn. The fraudulent appeals are patterned after two existing scams: "phishing" attacks that direct people to legitimate-looking Web sites in order to trick them into giving up their credit card numbers, and 419 scams, messages that promise great riches in exchange for a bank account number. One message provided to Reuters asks for help freeing up a bank account in the Netherlands, a common 419 tactic. Another claims to be from a small village in Indonesia but asks recipients to route donations through a bank account in Malta. "We have been rendered homeless and have lost all we have in life. ... We will be very grateful if you can assist us with any amount of money to enable us to start a new lease of life," the message says. Ken Dunham, malicious code intelligence manager for the Internet security company iDefense, said such scams can be very effective. "It's a get-rich-quick thing, and it makes perfect sense in light of the disaster. Everybody's heard of it, they all know lots of people have died off, maybe whole families have died off, and monies truly are available," Dunham said. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it has received no complaints about tsunami relief scams so far. The agency urged donors to contact legitimate aid organizations and disregard phone and e-mail solicitations. (Additional reporting by Peter Kaplan) 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 Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I guess it was just a matter of time before the s[p/c]ammers started working the Asian Tsunami as best they could. I've already gotten a few of them in email (I guess my email address is like a magnet for that sort of thing) and they are such heart-breaking stories. Too bad many/most of them are so bogus. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: A&E, National Geographic to Send TV Over Internet Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 18:46:32 EST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Four cable television channels, including A&E and National Geographic will use the Internet to broadcast programs in a deal with video-on-demand company Akimbo Systems, Akimbo said on Wednesday. The Biography Channel and the History Channel are also part of the announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show, the largest annual technology trade show in the United States. A major theme at the show this year is the proliferation of lower-priced, larger high-definition television screens, and companies like Akimbo are scrambling to carve out a niche providing content for those big screens. Privately held Akimbo sells a programing service and a television set-top box that uses high-speed Internet connections to gather and store TV shows. It can hold up to 200 hours of video. A&E, Biography Channel and History Channel -- all units of A&E Television Networks, a joint venture of broadcasters ABC and NBC and the Hearst Corp. -- will provide various shows like "American Justice," "Biography," "Growing Up Gotti" and "Dog the Bounty Hunter" to Akimbo. National Geographic will serve up films from programs from its library and films like "Inside the Pentagon" and "21 Days to Baghdad." Akimbo's box retails for $230 and service is $10 a month. Walt Disney Co. owns ABC and General Electric Co. controls NBC. 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 Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: Verizon to Launch Video, Music Services-Analysts Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 18:47:21 EST By Sinead Carew NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless, the second-biggest U.S. mobile telephone provider, is expected on Friday to introduce mobile video and music services and phones capable of high speed Web surfing, analysts say. Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone, said it plans to reveal a new service at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Friday. It did not provide details, but several analysts, including Maribel Lopez of Forrester Research, said it will likely announce services for downloading both video and digital music. "I think video is a logical step," she said. Rival Sprint Corp. already sells a streaming video service that delivers news and entertainment to mobile phones. It has said it eventually plans to provide a service for downloading songs. Operators around the world are developing advanced services such as Web surfing and game downloads to bolster revenue from falling phone call prices. Analysts expect a flurry of music services and video services this year. Verizon Wireless could also launch high-speed mobile phones from companies such as Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Ltd. and UTStarcom Inc. which bought phone supplier Audiovox. Samsung on Tuesday revealed its SCH-a890 phone with video and high-speed capability based on EV-DO technology and said it was designed for the U.S. market. Verizon Wireless currently provides the only U.S. service based on EV-DO, technology that delivers Web surfing to phones at speeds similar to many home computers. It offers the service in 16 U.S. markets and plans to expand to nationwide this year. Samsung did not say who would sell its phone. But Andrew Seybold, president of consultancy Outlook 4Mobility, guessed Verizon would launch a video service using a Samsung phone. Phonescoop.com, a Web site aimed at helping U.S. consumers shopping for mobile handsets, lists EV-DO phones from Audiovox and LG as potential offerings from Verizon Wireless. The Audiovox CDM-8940 phone supports streaming video and has a camera that can also record video, according to the Web site. LG's LG VX-8000 phone has a high resolution color screen. UTStarcom declined to comment and LG was not available. 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 Yahoo News and Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Telco Outage in India? Date: 5 Jan 2005 23:12:18 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) For the last three evenings I have been trying to get through to any one of a number of phone numbers in Mumbai. I've tried Working Assets, AT&T, MCI, and a couple of the sleazebag VOiP long distance outfits. Not only do I get a fast busy with any number I try, but none of them seem to be able to place a person-to-person call either. They sit on the queue for an inbound operator to India and then the call gets dropped. Is there a substantial telco problem in India as the result of the tsunami? Mumbai is pretty far north and I didn't expect much damage there, but I imagine loads are high and there may be undersea cables out. Anyone know what the true situation with circuits to and within India is? --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, tsumani or no tsumani, I have never had very good luck in reaching middle-eastern places on the phone. I used to work at a place several years ago where one of my duties was to try and collect money due the Americans from various middle-eastern debtors. (Typically at least thirty or forty thousand dollar debts which it had to be to make it worth while for the creditor to try and collect.) Dialing direct, the autodialer I used would 'pounce' on the line every ten seconds dialing over and over, while I sat there with my headset doing other work waiting for the call to actually complete without a re-order signal or an intercept. And to first obtain the number was quite a chore from directory enquiry. I had to go through the Pittsburgh IOC (International Operating Center) to get the number, and the operators would always tell me 'the longest we are allowed to work on a call without some sort of positive response is fifteen minutes', but it often times took 15-20 minutes just to get the local number to call in India, from the foreign operator. Pittsburgh would keypulse in the number for DA, it might ring 18-25 times, then that damnable recorded message they use in the middle east would come on, "Tel-eee-com! Your call has been placed in queue for a response from the operator. Please stand by ..." I think the same company which makes/made those machines for use in Latin American countries also made them for the Indians, at least it was always the same very crisp British voice with five or eight seconds of bouncy music in the background. Then it would all repeat itself, over and over and over and over and over. After five or ten minutes, and an infinite number of cycles of this approximatly ten second announcement, then *maybe* tel-eee-com would answer and look up the desired number, or maybe the machine would just cut off and your operator was left hanging to try again if she felt like it. Becuase I had a couple phone lines there, I could put my efforts 'up' on two lines at once and usually get through after some effort. Now that they are dealing with a tusnami, downed cables and people and buildings scattered all over, I can't imagine it has improved any. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2005 20:45:33 -0600 From: Neal McLain Subject: Google Telecom-Digest Archive Has anybody else noticed how thoroughly Google had messed up its archive of past Telecom-Digest postings? Their archive used to reproduce each message in its entirety, in courier text. Now it truncates long messages. Several of the messages I've posted over the years are chopped off mid-word at around 700 words. Furthermore, it now uses arial text, which of course messes up columnar data (not to mention ASCII art). Except that it doesn't always use arial; sometimes, for no apparent reason, it leaves some lines in courier. All this rather upsets me because I link to many of my old messages from my own website. And I didn't keep copies of some of them because I trusted Google to keep them for me. I realize that PAT has a "back issues" archive. But it's difficult to use because each "back issue" includes about 50 issues strung together. And because PAT's archive is organized by issue number, but Google posts don't reference issue number. Maybe Google is telling me I shouldn't be so long-winded. Perhaps so; but in my mind, one of the great values of Telecom-Digest is the fact that long narratives can be posted for posterity (thanks, PAT!). Is there some other site out there that maintains an unadulterated archive? Neal McLain [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, you can look directly on our web site http://telecom-digest.org/back-issues. You'll find the last year or so filed issue by issue; much older stuff is filed in clusters of fifty issues per file. Grep known details with a wild card as the argument in each cluster, then zero in on them from there. For volumes 9-18 there are also 'accelerated indexes' of message subject titles along with the volume number and (cluster of) fifty issues in which to look for your stuff. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 12:41:18 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: January 6, 2005 - WorldCom directors settle lawsuits Telecom dailyLead from USTA http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18563&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * WorldCom directors settle lawsuits BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Alltel in talks to buy Western Wireless * Microsoft announces deals with TiVo, BellSouth * AT&T, TI forge VoIP alliance USTA SPOTLIGHT * Order USTA's Best-Selling VoIP Implementation and Planning Guide Today EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Mobile content is focus of CES * Electronics makers seek to bypass cable set-top boxes REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Intercarrier compensation rules on FCC's agenda for next week Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18563&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: baumgrenze Subject: Voice Link via Infrared Date: 6 Jan 2005 09:58:40 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have a situation where running conventional cable to extend indoor voice telephone service would be 'unsightly.' Is there a commercially available infrared device for indoor, short-range bridging from a voice line connected to the demarc to another line 20 feet away? In principle, it seems as though the IR technology used for TV remotes, etc. should work. Yes, I know, I can accomplish this 'sort-of' using a cordless telephone, but the battery runs down at just the wrong time and the 'connection' is not always clean. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: cecilw@pullman.com Subject: Motorola Introduces SBG940 Cable Modem Gateway Date: 6 Jan 2005 06:12:57 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Is the Motorola SBG940 available anywhere yet? Although I've seen one unit for sale on Ebay, I can't find it for sale at any stores or anyhwere else on the internet. What's up with this product? - Cecil VOIP News wrote: http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detail/0,,4117_3474_23,00.html > Motorola Introduces New Cable Modems Designed for Wireless Home > Networking and Internet Telephony > Motorola extends its market leadership in the broadband-powered > connected home with two new products for customers worldwide. > HORSHAM, Pa., 22 April 2004 Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today unveiled > two powerful new cable modems for the connected home, the Motorola > SBV5120 and the Motorola SBG940. Both products are compliant > with the latest industry standards and extend the feature set of the > company's proven platform for IP services, integrating capabilities > such as voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephony or wireless home networking. > The Motorola SBV5120 'Integrated Solution for Telephony and Data': > The Motorola SBV5120 is the newest member of Motorola's family of > telephony cable modems, providing an integrated solution for voice > telephony services and high-speed Internet access. The product > combines a multimedia telephony adapter with a PacketCableTM-compliant > cable modem which was recently certified for DOCSIS=AE 2.0 and 1.1 > (CW28), and Euro-DOCSIS 2.0. > The Motorola SBV5120 allows consumers to use their existing home > telephone wiring to power two lines of voice service, and supports all > class features including: > Basic call functionality > Three-way calling > Caller ID > Call forwarding > Voicemail messaging > Optional battery back-up > The Motorola SBG940 'Simplifying Wireless Home Networks' home > network. By bringing together two of Motorola's inherent strengths > its worldwide leadership in wireless communications and its > technology expertise in building broadband networks, the Motorola > SBG940 saves consumers from the headache of integrating multiple > devices when building a robust home network. > The SBG940 also offers enhanced features, including: > Integrated 802.11g Wireless Access Point > Integrated DOCSIS 2.0-certified / Euro-DOCSIS 2.0-certified Cable Modem > Recently CableHome 1.0 certified (CW28) > Integrated four port 10/100 Ethernet Switch > Integrated Advanced firewall protection > USB port for a PC connection > Motorola will demonstrate DOCSIS 2.0-certified versions of these > products at the NCTA 2004 trade show (2-5 May, New Orleans, Ernest > N. Morial Convention Center) at the company's booth #3323. In > addition, Motorola's wireless gateway technology is being used at > NCTA to enable wireless Internet access in the shows designated > Wi-Fi area. > The company will also demonstrate Euro-DOCSIS 2.0-certified versions > of these products, the SBV5120E and SBG940E at ANGA Cable > 2004, (11-13 May 2004, Kln, Germany) at Motorola stand B4, Hall > 13.1. ------------------------------ From: kevinw@idpc.com Subject: For Sale: Efficient Networks 5100 ADSL Modems Date: 6 Jan 2005 13:50:54 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Looking for ADSL modems compatible with SBC/Yahoo? $25ea. US + freight. Mint condition. 90 Day Warranty. Contact me today ... these are moving fast. Kevin Wendolowski Information Data Products Corp. 800-362-3770 Ext. 23 kevinw@IDPC.com ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Cable Finds Its Voice Date: 6 Jan 2005 14:37:01 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com David M. Ewalt, 01.06.05, Forbes.com NEW YORK - The most eagerly watched thing in the cable industry these days isn't a fledgling network or a cutting-edge drama -- it's plain old-fashioned conversation. Voice communications currently represent only a tiny part of the massive amounts of data carried over the cable networks. But voice-over-Internet Protocol services are starting to catch on as consumers get used to the idea of making phone calls over the Internet. Cable operators are increasingly eyeing voice as a driver of future growth and planning ways to expand their presence in both IP and wireless voice. "Voice-over-IP is a critical component for us," says Steve Gorman, Cox Communications' (nyse: COX - news - people ) vice president of product marketing and management for high-speed Internet. "We only have a small percentage of customers on it now, but we're increasingly looking at it." Since VoIP services run over the existing cable networks and don't require much extra hardware to deploy, they represent an attractively high-margin business for the cable carriers. http://www.forbes.com/wireless/2005/01/06/cx_de_0106cable.html Eric Friedebach /An Apollo Sandwich from Corky & Lenny's/ ------------------------------ Subject: Re: International Long Distance From Next Door Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2005 17:13:23 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , John R. Levine wrote: >> Would anyone know past and current charging practices for North >> American international calls between two adjacent cities (ie US and >> Canada or US and Mexico)? Did they charge you the full expensive >> international rate for a 5 mile call or give a break? > It depends (TM). > For a long time the phones in many border areas of Mexico were part > of the US phone system and had US area codes. I gather that in many > cases there was free local calling across the border. In the 1980s > that was all unwound and now I'm unaware of any local calling across > the border. I believe that all US/Mexico cross-border local calling arrangements ceased some years ago, but they would be especially complicated now because of the renumbering in Mexico a couple of years ago. Even the smallest villages in Mexico now have 7D local numbers, so even a block of ten prefixes would not even begin to cover it. Twenty or more years ago, calling from El Paso, Texas, to Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, involved dialing a special two-digit prefix plus the five-digit Juarez number, although I'm not sure if the short-cut dialing also made it a local-rate call. There was a proposal floated a couple of years ago by the chambers of commerce and/or city governments in "Los Laredos" (Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas) to establish a local calling zone between them, but it seems to have just been filed away in the FCC's and COFETEL's "maybe someday" department. Probably the easiest way to handle the dialing would be to establish a three-digit prefix for calls from Laredo to Nuevo Laredo -- a pseudo-NPA, probably one of the unassignable N9X codes. Of course, that would require revisiting the arrangement as the NANP runs out of NPAs, but that is now looking to be thirty years or more. Then from Laredo, you would dial ten digits (pseudo-NPA + XXX-XXXX). One of the obstacles is that it would be very difficult to special-case payphones to treat 011-52-867-XXX-XXXX as a local call. However, some carriers still rate calls to Mexico based on rate bands, with a less expensive band for places just over the US border. I would guess, though, that you would pay the same rate for a 5-mile call as for a call from Maine to the same Mexican border town. Some carriers may also have special rates for very short-distance calls into Canada, but the trend has been towards flat-rate per-minute pricing for anywhere in the US to anywhere in Canada. (Of course, some carriers now include Canada in their flat-rate monthly unlimited long-distance plans.) Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: International Long Distance From Next Door Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 10:45:48 +0900 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing Hyder, Alaska still is part of Stewart, British Columbia as far as the telephone network is concerned. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Aaron Gutleben Subject: Re: AVT PhoneXpress Entree Voicemail Info Wanted Date: 5 Jan 2005 14:07:23 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have run into an issue with our PhoneXpress 4.03 system which runs under OS/2. In house we have 7 useable lines. Lines 1-4 are answered by an AutoAttendent Call Processor (000). If a call comes in when lines 1-4 are in use, PhoneXpress tries to access a particular extension (236). It seems that no matter what I do to configure that extension, the AutoAttendent answers with " I'm sorry, extension XXX does not answer!", and then forwards calls back to the first call processor (000). I am trying to get the system to instantly access the first call processor and get rid of the message. I have looked at all of the config screens, but I do not see any mention of ex. 236. I have also tried changing ex. 236 into a call processor that takes the action of Goto call processor 000, but it does not work until after the "Does not answer" message. I only have an admin guide, which of course is no help, but wondered if you have encountered anything similar? Any help or pointer in the right direction would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: Yielding Party Lines Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2005 07:43:06 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is the reason why telco tariffs > also state that no 'attachments' (i.e. even telephones other than the > ones supplied by telco itself) can be used on party lines. Modems are > not permitted under tariff on party lines. PAT] It's my understanding that everywhere in the U.S. single-party lines are now available; that is, where there is tariffed wireline service. But, the politicans let some folks remain on party lines to save a buck. Shame on the regulators for not outlawing party lines in the 21st Century. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2005 14:51:35 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: The Secret Life of Phone Numbers Clark W. Griswold wrote: > John Smith wrote: >> Hmmm, can't find this ... Any pointers? > In an attempt to keep the copyright police happy, the BBC limits > replays to 7 days after the original airing of the program. As such, > it's no longer available on the BBC web site. > My wav file copy is a too large to email (15MB), my upstream channel > isn't fast enough to entice me into putting it somewhere for people to > download and it captured to a flavor of wav that won't convert to mp3 > using Audiograbber, so I can't compress it. :( > That said, it's a good program. If you can't find a copy of it > somewhere a little closer to home, send me a private email and we'll > see if we can work something out. Try the Google archive: http://tinyurl.com/63hf8 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2005 14:52:34 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: REN For Western Electric Products? hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > I understand the "ringer equivalance" value is based on the WE 500 set > which is defined as 1. > Would anyone know what the REN is for certain other WE products such > as: > 1) 302/354 sets. (The "art deco" telephone set developed in 1938, was > the first to have the ringer within the set.) > 2) Older wall mounted "bell boxes" used for 202 and earlier sets. > 3) The "Bell Chime", an extension ringer that has several settings on > it. Can sould like a regular phone, a doorbell chime, or a very loud > bell. > 4) A more modern WE extension ringer which is a small gray box, > roughly 3x6x2 inches. > 5) An outdoor ringer. These had two exposed gongs, usually painted > gray or black. Used outside or in big rooms like gyms where an extra > loud ringer was needed. > 6) Trimline and Princess telephone sets, which used a more compact > ringer to fit into the small base. They are potentially all different as the REN is reported in tenths of a REN. ------------------------------ From: dave@compata.com (Dave Close) Subject: Re: Vonage Discussion Group Started Date: 5 Jan 2005 22:43:48 -0800 Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Vonage writes: > 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. Can you bridge it to Usenet? Some of us prefer to get everything in one place ... Or, if that is automatic, what is the newsgroup name? Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA +1 714 434 7359 dave@compata.com dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu "Political campaigns are the graveyard of real ideas and the birthplace of empty promises." -- Teresa Heinz Kerry ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: An Ignorant, Hateful View of the News Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2005 19:34:26 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 18:01:15 GMT, Lisa Minter wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This article, from WorldNetDaily.com > does not, they say, reflect their opinion at that web site, and > it certainly does not reflect the views of Telecom Digest nor Lisa > nor myself. But it is gaining some sympathizers, not only among the > Muslim community but also among very conservative Christians in > the United States. It is really pretty awful that some people have > this much ignorance and hatred in their own lives to deal with. PAT] > Homosexuality, fornication cause of tsunami? > A Muslim Saudi professor says the earthquake and tsunami in south Asia > were punishment from Allah for homosexuality and fornication committed > by residents and visitors of affected countries at Christmastime. > A television interview of Sheik Fawzan Al-Fawzan, a professor > at the Al-Imam University, was translated and posted on the > Internet by the Middle East Media Research Institute TV Monitor > Project. > MEMRI TV The > interview can be viewed on MEMRI's website. > "These great tragedies and collective punishments that are wiping out > villages, towns, cities and even entire countries, are Allah's > punishments of the people of these countries, even if they are > Muslims," stated Al-Fawzan. "Some of our forefathers said that if > there is usury and fornication in a certain village, Allah permits its > destruction." > The professor singled out beach resorts as places of sexual sin. > "We know that at these resorts, which unfortunately exist in > Islamic and other countries in south Asia, and especially at > Christmas, fornication and sexual perversion of all kinds are > rampant," he said, "The fact that it happened at this particular > time is a sign from Allah. It happened at Christmas, when > fornicators and corrupt people from all over the world come to > commit fornication and sexual perversion. That's when this > tragedy took place, striking them all and destroyed everything > It turned the land into wasteland, where only the cries of the > ravens are heard I say this is a great sign and punishment on > which Muslims should reflect." > Al-Fawzan urged Muslims to atone for their sin. > "All that's left for us to do is to ask for forgiveness. We > must atone for our sins and for the acts of the stupid people > among us and improve our condition. We must fight fornication, > homosexuality, usury, fight the corruption on the face of the > earth, and the disregard of the lives of protected people." Don't forget Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell's blaming various hurricanes on homosexuality as well. The sheik is just as much of a fruitcake as these two losers. ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: An Ignorant, Hateful View of the News Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2005 07:40:34 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications This stuff is why our country is doomed. The Religious Right is every bit as evil as the militant Muslims. And, both groups hate everything that does not fit their Nazi-like view of the world. More importantly, both groups hate each other and each think God is on their side. Mix all that with nuclear weapons and Carl Sagen's prediction about the end of Humanity is probably right on target (no pun intended). Poor Carl didn't live long enough to see the world pretty much (but not completely) get beyond the U.S.-Soviet Cold War threat and, instead, have it "advance" into the camps of religious madmen (Islam and Christian). Of course, Dufus in the White House buys into much of this on a very personal basis. TELECOM Digest Editor noted, in a message from Lisa Minter: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This article, from WorldNetDaily.com > does not, they say, reflect their opinion at that web site, and > it certainly does not reflect the views of Telecom Digest nor Lisa > nor myself. But it is gaining some sympathizers, not only among the > Muslim community but also among very conservative Christians in > the United States. It is really pretty awful that some people have > this much ignorance and hatred in their own lives to deal with. PAT] ------------------------------ From: LB@notmine.com Subject: Re: An Ignorant, Hateful View of the News Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2005 12:03:17 -0500 Organization: Optimum Online TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Lisa Minter: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This article, from WorldNetDaily.com > does not, they say, reflect their opinion at that web site, and > it certainly does not reflect the views of Telecom Digest nor Lisa > nor myself. But it is gaining some sympathizers, not only among the > Muslim community but also among very conservative Christians in > the United States. It is really pretty awful that some people have > this much ignorance and hatred in their own lives to deal with. PAT] If the article is garbage why give it further publicity? LB [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Because even though it *is* garbage, it will get/is getting lots of publicity -- like it or not -- from the radical, very conservative Christians who somehow feel they are so much better and so much different than the very radical, conserva- tive Muslim people. Actually, they are like two sides of the same coin, but Bush refuses to acknowledge that his 'war against terrorism' is actually a religious war against Islam; actually not just Islam, but against anything/anyone with a different outlook than his own. 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'. 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 V24 #8 **************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jan 7 21:42:16 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j082gGj23071; Fri, 7 Jan 2005 21:42:16 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2005 21:42:16 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501080242.j082gGj23071@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 V24 #9 TELECOM Digest Fri, 7 Jan 2005 21:42:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 9 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson An Unfortunate Accident (TELECOM Digest Editor) The Day the Bell System Died (Archives Reprint) Book Review: Photographic History of Ameritech (TELECOM Digest Editor) Gore Tax Increase (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Blame it on Me (Lisa Minter) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2005 18:34:59 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: An Unfortunate Accident ALL my Unix directory got wiped out by accident earlier today. ALL the mail got wiped out as well. If you wrote anything at all Thursday not yet published or at all on Friday please resend it to me. This included many of the most recent messages in the TELECOM_Digest_Online file. Much of the Online file was reconstructed, but some of the numbering of the .html files could not be fixed properly. You can still see these messages in the 'back issues' files however, just not here in the TELECOM_Digest_Online area. Hopefully it will all be reconstructed soon. But for now, please excuse my ongoing clumsiness. I felt absolutely sick when I saw the mess things were in. PAT ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2005 20:03:07 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: From our Archives: Day the Bell System Died About this time every year or so, I like to re-run this parody which was originally submitted to the Digest by Lauren Weinstein more than twenty years ago to us. And it was now some 23 years ago that "Bell System" bit the dust; in its place came the Baby Bell companies we have all grown to love so much. (? !) You should NOT use the addresses shown in this message to respond to Lauren; they are shown here for historical curiosity only. PAT 12-Jul-83 09:14:32-PDT,4930;000000000001 Return-path: <@LBL-CSAM:vortex!lauren@LBL-CSAM> Received: from LBL-CSAM by USC-ECLB; Tue 12 Jul 83 09:12:46-PDT Date: Tuesday, 12-Jul-83 01:18:19-PDT From: Lauren Weinstein Subject: "The Day Bell System Died" Return-Path: Message-Id: <8307121614.AA17341@LBL-CSAM.ARPA> Received: by LBL-CSAM.ARPA (3.327/3.21) id AA17341; 12 Jul 83 09:14:35 PDT (Tue) To: TELECOM@ECLB Greetings. With the massive changes now taking place in the telecommunications industry, we're all being inundated with seemingly endless news items and points of information regarding the various effects now beginning to take place. However, one important element has been missing: a song! Since the great Tom Lehrer has retired from the composing world, I will now attempt to fill this void with my own light-hearted, non-serious look at a possible future of telecommunications. This work is entirely satirical, and none of its lyrics are meant to be interpreted in a non-satirical manner. The song should be sung to the tune of Don Mclean's classic "American Pie". I call my version "The Day Bell System Died"... --Lauren-- ************************************************************************** *==================================* * Notice: This is a satirical work * *==================================* "The Day Bell System Died" Lyrics Copyright (C) 1983 by Lauren Weinstein (To the tune of "American Pie") (With apologies to Don McLean) ARPA: vortex!lauren@LBL-CSAM UUCP: {decvax, ihnp4, harpo, ucbvax!lbl-csam, randvax}!vortex!lauren ************************************************************************** Long, long, time ago, I can still remember, When the local calls were "free". And I knew if I paid my bill, And never wished them any ill, That the phone company would let me be... But Uncle Sam said he knew better, Split 'em up, for all and ever! We'll foster competition: It's good capital-ism! I can't remember if I cried, When my phone bill first tripled in size. But something touched me deep inside, The day... Bell System... died. And we were singing... Bye, bye, Ma Bell, why did you die? We get static from Sprint and echo from MCI, "Our local calls have us in hock!" we all cry. Oh Ma Bell why did you have to die? Ma Bell why did you have to die? Is your office Step by Step, Or have you gotten some Crossbar yet? Everybody used to ask... Oh, is TSPS coming soon? IDDD will be a boon! And, I hope to get a Touch-Tone phone, real soon... The color phones are really neat, And direct dialing can't be beat! My area code is "low": The prestige way to go! Oh, they just raised phone booths to a dime! Well, I suppose it's about time. I remember how the payphones chimed, The day... Bell System... died. And we were singing... Bye, bye, Ma Bell, why did you die? We get static from Sprint and echo from MCI, "Our local calls have us in hock!" we all cry. Oh Ma Bell why did you have to die? Ma Bell why did you have to die? Back then we were all at one rate, Phone installs didn't cause debate, About who'd put which wire where... Installers came right out to you, No "phone stores" with their ballyhoo, And 411 was free, seemed very fair! But FCC wanted it seems, To let others skim long-distance creams, No matter 'bout the locals, They're mostly all just yokels! And so one day it came to pass, That the great Bell System did collapse, In rubble now, we all do mass, The day... Bell System... died. So bye, bye, Ma Bell, why did you die? We get static from Sprint and echo from MCI, "Our local calls have us in hock!" we all cry. Oh Ma Bell why did you have to die? Ma Bell why did you have to die? I drove on out to Murray Hill, To see Bell Labs, some time to kill, But the sign there said the Labs were gone. I went back to my old CO, Where I'd had my phone lines, years ago, But it was empty, dark, and ever so forlorn... No relays pulsed, No data crooned, No MF tones did play their tunes, There wasn't a word spoken, All carrier paths were broken... And so that's how it all occurred, Microwave horns just nests for birds, Everything became so absurd, The day... Bell System... died. So bye, bye, Ma Bell, why did you die? We get static from Sprint and echo from MCI, "Our local calls have us in hock!" we all cry. Oh Ma Bell why did you have to die? Ma Bell why did you have to die? We were singing: Bye, bye, Ma Bell, why did you die? We get static from Sprint and echo from MCI, "Our local calls have us in hock!" we all cry. Oh Ma Bell why did you have to die? *End* [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, readers, why *did* she have to die? It is easy enough to do 'Monday morning quarterbacking' now some 23 years after the fact and examine all the things which went right with divestiture as well as the things which went wrong, but what do YOU think? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2005 19:58:31 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: And, Speaking of the Baby Bells ... ... Even they are to some exent starting to go away; getting cannibalized by each other, etc. My own personal experience for many, many years was with Illinois Bell, which at the time of divestiture got renamed 'Ameritech'. And following its absorption in 1999 by Southwestern Bell, the old headquarters building at 212 West Washington/225 West Randolph Street in Chicago was remodeled and turned into condominium apartments. About 11 months ago, the book written by William Coughlin which was a photographic essay of Ameritech ==> Illinois Bell == Chicago Telephone Company was reviewed here in this Digest by myself. Here is another look at that review, in case you did not ever get around to ordering a copy for your own library. Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 22:57:22 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Book Review: A Photographic History of Ameritech Did you know 'Ameritech' originally stood for '(AM)erican (I)nformation (TECH)nologies, Inc.? You will learn that and a lot more in a recent book "A Photographic History of Ameritech". Subtitled 'Snapshots in Time', this photgraphic essay of the companies which make up the present day north-central region of SBC is a brilliant presentation of how our past evolved into our present. Written and compiled by William D. Caughlin, the manager of Ameritech Corporate Archives, with co-authors Brian F. Coffey and Ilana N. Pergam, this 200-page large size paperback book uses pictures to tell the story of the history of telephone service from its beginning in 1876 through the end of 1999, when Ameritech (or Illinois Bell as most of us knew it) became part of SBC, or what we knew as Southwestern Bell. When Alex Bell invented the telephone in March, 1876, many considered it just a novelty, an electrical toy. Everyone -- at least all readers of this Digest -- are aware of how Western Union essentially thumbed its nose at the invention, a snub that about a century later would put it out of business, along with email showing up a few years later. The Chicago Telephonic Exchange was founded on June 26, 1878 to serve the needs of Chicago businessmen. When the general public also wanted phone service, the Chicago Telephonic Exchange merged with a competitor to form the Chicago Telephone Company, in business from 1881 through 1920 to provide local service around the city. About the same time, (1883-1920) Central Union Telephone Company started offering service in other parts of northern and central Illinois. Actually ahead of Chicago by about 9 months (it started in October, 1877) was the Michigan Telephone and Telegraph Construction Company, which was the nation's first Bell Operating Company. Like Chicago, their first interest was private line service for businesses, but on August 5, 1878 the Detroit Telephonic Exchange opened for business. During 1879, telephone exchanges were established in several towns throughout Michigan, and after two years, in 1881, these various Michigan exchanges were affiliated in the Michigan Bell Telephone Company, and two years following that, in 1883 (through 1904) the Michigan Telephone Company was formed. Then comes January, 1879 and the Columbus, Ohio Telephone Exchange. By the end of 1879, there were cities all over Ohio with phone service. It was about that time, that telephone switchboards were started. In the earliest days telephones were all connected directly to each other: in other words if company A had a phone and company B had a phone and Company C wanted to talk to A and B they had to have two telephones, one each to A and B. Multiply that by the number of companies in Chicago alone and you can see why the skies overhead were black with telephone wires running in all directions. Most companies had a phone to most other companies, so typically there were wires running through the air everywhere. Ditto in Detroit, Cleveland and elsewhere. In March, 1879, Ameritech's first predecessor in Indiana -- the Indiana District Telephone Company began operations in Indianapolis. It eventually became part of the Central Union Telephone Company and had phone exchanges all over the state. Milwaukee's first switchboard opened in 1879, and in July, 1882 (through 1983) the Wisconsin Telephone Company was incorporated to serve that state. These five companies -- Central Union, Chicago Telephone, Cleveland Telephone, Michigan Telephone and Wisconsin Telephone became known as Associated Companies in the Bell System, and that is what this photographic essay is all about: The 1876 through 1999 period as those five companies were born, developed, merged then merged again and (as Ameritech) had still another merger into Southwestern Bell Telephone Company which then changed its name into SBC. The rapid expansion of telephone service in those early years brought with it the need for many skilled employees, especially operators. Although the first operators were young men, it soon became apparent that the subscribers preferred women in this role. Women soon became the switchboard operators, and men handled installation and maintain- ence. But around 1972, the companies began once again employing young men as operators in Directory Assistance and elsewhere. Page 139 in this book shows a young man at work in Directory Assistance in Dayton, Ohio. Caughlin and his associates picked through nearly one hundred thousand pictures in their archives and present several hundred of them in this fascinating book along with some text to place all the pictures in context. The book is broken into several parts, covering these periods of time: 1876-1899 1900-1939 1940-1969 1970-1999 and in addition a section is devoted to Ameritech's lineage. You may wish to order one or more personal copies for your library. The SBC Archives and History Center is pleased to offer the book entitled, Snapshots in Time: A Photographic History of Ameritech. This 192-page soft-cover book chronicles the evolution of telecommunications in the SBC Midwest (former Ameritech) five-state region through select historical images. It offers more than 225 captioned photos of switchboard operators, crews with their vehicles and technicians testing central office equipment. The book begins with an 1876 portrait of Alexander Graham Bell and ends in 1999, on the eve of the SBC/Ameritech merger. The cost for each book is $25.00, plus $4.95 for shipping. To order, fill out the form below. If you have questions, please call Bill Caughlin at (210) 524-6192. Or send him an e-mail at wc2942@sbc.com --------------------------------------------------------------- ORDER FORM FOR Snapshots in Time: A Photographic History of Ameritech NAME __________________________________________________ BUSINESS UNIT ________________________________________ ADDRESS _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ CITY _________________________ STATE _____ ZIP __________ PHONE NUMBER (______)_________________________ I would like to order _______ copy(ies) each at $25.00, plus $4.95 shipping, for a total of _____________. No cash, please. Make your check or money order payable to SBC Services, Inc. and send it to: SBC Archives and History Center 7990 IH-10 West Floor 1 San Antonio, Texas 78230 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This review will go in the Telecom Archives section on history for future reference. You may wish to visit the history section in the archives http://telecom-digest.org and check out several interesting files there about the history of the telephone, etc. I am in the process now of attempting to establish an online museum of telephone history with pictures, etc. I'll need readers help to do it however. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. Subject: Gore Tax Increase Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2005 18:07:28 -0700 According to a insert in this month's Qwest bill, the Federal Universal Service Fee (otherwise known as the Gore Tax, in honor of the inventor of the internet) is going to be raised from 8.9% to 10.7% - an over 20% increase. This for a program that has so much documented waste and abuse that it was suspended for several months. And for a program that if memory serves, was originally supposed to cover just the wiring of schools for internet service, but has since expanded to underwrite monthly operational costs and added all sorts of other eligible agencies. A program that now has so many constituents that (like every other government program) it now appears to be impossible to kill. Sigh. Is it any wonder people are flocking to VOIP and why taxing authorities are looking so hungry? ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: Place the Blame on Me Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2005 19:00:00 CST The 'Unfortunate Accident' Patrick mentione at the start of this issue was all my fault. He said it was his fault, but in fact, I was sitting here when it happened. I pressed the wrong keys, all the mail went bye-bye (but tons of spam as well) and before it could get stopped a lot of his main directory was gone as well. I feel like a damn fool because of it and want to apologize to everyone whose mail got lost today. Please send your mail in again so it can be printed over the weekend. Lisa ------------------------------ 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 mderated 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 ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com 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 V24 #9 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jan 8 20:46:26 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j091kPf02707; Sat, 8 Jan 2005 20:46:26 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 20:46:26 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501090146.j091kPf02707@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 V24 #10 TELECOM Digest Sat, 8 Jan 2005 20:46:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 10 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Verizon Wireless Launches High-Speed Wireless Data Service (M Solomon) New Version of Wi-Fi Expands Both Range, Speed of Networks (M Solomon) Sorting Out the Three-Ring Circus of Ringtones (Monty Solomon) Workaround, was: Google Telecom-Digest Archive (Danny Burstein) Calling Canada is an International Call? (quickcur@yahoo.com) Real Election Reform (D Flint) Re: The Day the Bell System Died (Fred Goldstein) Re: Place the Blame on Me (Tony P.) Re: AT&T and CallVantage Put Me Through Hell (Joe Blow) Re: Gore Tax Increase (HorneTD) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2005 22:14:24 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless Launches High-Speed Wireless Data Service Verizon Wireless Launches High-Speed Wireless Data Service in New England Extends National Roll-Out of BroadbandAccess Network to Boston, Providence, Hartford, New Haven and Several Local Airports WOBURN, Mass., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, operator of the nation's most reliable wireless network, announced today the launch of its BroadbandAccess high-speed wireless data service in New England markets. BroadbandAccess, now available in Boston, Massachusetts, Providence, Rhode Island, Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut, and several local airports, is the fastest wide-area wireless Internet access service available in the nation with typical user download speeds of 300-500 kilobits per second (kbps). - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46076659 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2005 23:06:20 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Version of Wi-Fi Expands Both Range And Speed of Networks New Version of Wi-Fi Expands Both Range And Speed of Networks By WALTER S. MOSSBERG As Wi-Fi has grown more popular, users of the wireless networks have yearned for one improvement above all: better range. Wi-Fi base stations can typically cover all of a small apartment or house. But in many larger homes, there are dead spots. Instead of trying to solve the range issue, the computer and networking industries initially focused on increasing Wi-Fi speed. This year, however, coverage problems will finally be addressed. Several makers of Wi-Fi gear are expected to offer wireless routers -- base-station transmitters -- and matching add-on cards for laptops that sharply increase range and speed simultaneously. These products are based on a new technology called MIMO from Silicon Valley chip maker Airgo Networks. MIMO -- which stands for Multiple Input, Multiple Output -- is likely to be the basis for the next major flavor of Wi-Fi, now under development, which goes by the technical name 802.11n. It's intended to replace the most common flavors used in homes today, which engineers call 802.11b and 802.11g. But MIMO is so good that makers are rushing it into the market even before the new standard is complete. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20050106.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2005 23:03:55 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sorting Out the Three-Ring Circus of Ringtones Sorting Out the Three-Ring Circus of Ringtones By WALTER S. MOSSBERG If your cellphone is still just ringing when someone calls, you're way behind the times. According to the cellphone industry, your phone should be vibrating, flashing a photo of the caller across the phone's screen and above all, playing music -- preferably an actual clip from a song like "Drop It Like It's Hot" by Snoop Dogg. We're talking about sounds that go way beyond the built-in menu of dinky tunes that probably came with your phone. These special effects, called "ringtones," are sold mainly by the carriers and are a large and growing profit center for them. Of course, you might be one of many people who thinks cellphone ringers that play loud songs in public can be rude and annoying. I know I am. But wouldn't it be kind of a gas to have Billy Joel's song, "Pressure" playing whenever your boss calls? If nothing else, you're probably curious about how ringer downloading works so you can know how your kid is spending his, her or your money. So, this week, my assistant Katie Boehret and I took a closer look at ringtones by borrowing phones from three carriers -- Verizon Wireless, Cingular and Sprint -- and downloading various ringtones to see which service offered the most straightforward solution. We also browsed around on a few popular Web sites that sell ringtones for anywhere from about $1.25 to $4. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20050105.html ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Workaround, was: Google Telecom-Digest Archive Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2005 22:00:06 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Neal McLain writes: > Has anybody else noticed how thoroughly Google had messed up its > archive of past Telecom-Digest postings? Their archive used to > reproduce each message in its entirety, in courier text. Now it > truncates long messages. Several of the messages I've posted over the > years are chopped off mid-word at around 700 words. [snip] The general attitude of many, many, people (myself included) is that Google broke something that wasn't broken ... We've all got our fingers crossed that they'll step back. Fortunately, for now at least, you can still get to the older Google search page (for usenet) by going to: http://www.google.co.uk/advanced_group_search _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: quickcur@yahoo.com Subject: Calling Canada is an International Call? Date: 7 Jan 2005 19:54:23 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am in CA. I have ATT One Rate Plan for my residence phone (not cellular phone). I joined this plan because once a ATT representative told me that, if I do not have a long distance plan, ATT (as a default long distance carrier for my local phone carrier) will charge me $3 or so every time I call 800 number. So I joined. The rates for calling everywhere in US is 10C/minute. Last month I called Canada. Now I got the bill and found out that this plan charges Canada call as international call and it is $1.32/minute. Is there anything I can do? Before I join, I asked the representative about Canada. He told me that Canada call is the same as domestic call. But I have no proof for that. And no one want to listen to that. Is there any federal regulation about Canada? Is that totally up to the phone company to define it as international call or domestic call? Thanks, qq ------------------------------ From: D Flint Subject: Real Election Reform Reply-To: david@qssp.com Organization: Americans For Voter Reform Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2005 21:42:37 -0800 What do you think about this and have you seen this popular site before? This was taken from a web site http://www.afvr.org How can we safeguard the integrity of each vote? Today we have technology that protects our financial systems, military weapon systems and national intelligent organizations. These proven systems can be combined in a way to issue serialized equipment to authorize personnel for the dates and hours needed. Each would have their own level of clearance to perform the tasks they are responsible for. Each action would be recorded and verified with a higher levels of network authority and again, only available during the hours and dates needed. Ballots would only be printed after the voter has cast their vote but before they leave the booth. If the voter made a mistake he could put the printed ballot into the booth's scanner for correction. All ballots scanned at the booth would go into a shredder and the voter could then correct his ballot on the screen and reprint his ballots. Once the voter accepts the printed ballot he submits his vote on the screen and takes the two ballots to the depository. So two computer generated, serialized and scanner perfect receipts of the completed ballot are printed.* One for the voter and one for the public record. This would eliminate all the extra ballots that could be used for unauthorized voting as well as any question of voter intent. Each piece of equipment involved in the issuing of the receipt would be linked to the serial# of that ballot and an electronic document would be generated that exactly matched the two printed receipts. So the voter themselves has validate the printed ballots, keeping one for themselves, while the other electronic time-stamped document is deposited into an optical scanner used as a secure depository. This second scanned count which should always match the electronic count. This paper ballot could also be used for recounts if needed. The voter could use the receipt to inquire about their vote in the future. The stuffing of the ballot box or "finding ballots" would be eliminated. With this system, if you find a ballot, you have to find the voter that cast that ballot too. This is not so in any of the current systems in place today nor have we ever heard such a system ever proposed. http://www.afvr.org [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It sounds very reasonable to me. But you need to recall that *accurate and honest* elections are a very political issue in and of themselves. No one really wants an honest and effecient election with results immediatly known afterward. Everyone has their own agenda here: Either they want the Republicans to lose, or the Democrats to lose, or black people or poor people or whoever to not get a chance to vote. Or maybe the polls should open too early or not be open late enough. Maybe military personnell in overseas points should not have their votes arrive on time to be counted. You name the problem; there are always supporters of whatever is done wrong. Computerized voting schemes such as you described would resolve all those problems. They'll always hasten to tell you how computerized, internet voting would 'never work', how 'hackers and other cheats' would steal the election, etc. I cannot imagine how any *computerized system* of voting could have been more corrupt and dishonest than the national election in 2000, for example, in Florida, nor the various elections in Chicago most any time. But you just cannot shake the people off of their notion that computerized, internet voting would not work. The suggestions offered by AFVR are very good ones. Now, good luck in trying to get them implemented, maybe with a couple more tweaks. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2005 22:38:45 -0500 From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: The Day the Bell System Died At 1/7/2005 09:42 PM, Pat wrote, > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, readers, why *did* she have > to die? It is easy enough to do 'Monday morning quarterbacking' > now some 23 years after the fact and examine all the things which > went right with divestiture as well as the things which went wrong, > but what do YOU think? PAT] Divestiture was the high point in telecom history. The old Bell System was too powerful, too resistant to progress. It was good at one thing -- proving Plain Old Telephone Service to residential subscribers at low rates. And it was pretty good at being a steady money-earner, paying a good dividend. But as technology was advancing, as solid-state electronics was shortening product cycles, the Bell System's monopoly ways were impeding progress. By vertically integrating everything including manufacturing, it was an island of a planned, command economy, a miniature Soviet, here in the United States, cleverly masquerading as capitalism. Divestiture was the result o f a case brought against Western Electric in 1949 and revived, years after the 1956 Final Judgment, over three decades later. The original case sought divestiture of Western Electric, which would have opened up telecom-equipment manufacturing; instead, it was settled by closing off Western Electric from participating in competitive markets. The revived case came in an era when the "natural monopoly" in long distance had cracked. The result of divestiture was a flourishing of competition in long distance, as AT&T was no longer able to control the bottlenecks. It led to competition in equipment manufacturing, particularly benefiting Nortel in the CO space, but also creating an opening for SONET (invented by Bellcore right after divestiture) and many competitive transmission vendors, who brought down the cost of distance with rapidly-improving fiber optics. But some of the changes attributed to divestiture were actually coincidental. The FCC's wonderful Computer II decision, which took effect in 1983, forced the LECs to separate competitive from monopoly operations. That is what took PBXs and other terminal gear off of tariff, fully opening up the PBX and telephone set market and, by also strictly separating content from carriage, creating the regulatory framework necessary for the public Internet to develop. The FCC's MTS and WATS decisions ended the old monopolistic separations system and replaced them with a multi-carrier system of access charges. That change ended up being synchronized to divestiture, 1/1/84, but it was an FCC case separate from divestiture. The Internet was opened to the public in the early 1990s. The newly-hatched ISP industry created huge demand for bandwidth, which was unfortunately exaggerated by promoters (pronounced: "Worldcom"), the "analysts" who pimped for them, and the vulture capitalists who hoped to pounce on a quick profit. Divestiture was more important than the Telecom Act of 1996 in fueling the late 1990s telecom boom, which led to the meltdown of 2000-2002. But that doesn't make either the divestiture or the Telecom Act bad. It means that many people who didn't understand how competition worked -- the telecom industry -- and people who didn't understand how monopolies worked -- money people -- had a very bad date. And only now, years later, are they figuring out how to get along on new terms. Shameless plug time: I tell this story in some detail in my new book, The Great Telecom Meltdown, which will be out in a few weeks. It's published by Artech House http://www.artechhouse.com/ . I've been reading Telecom Digest since 1982 and perhaps that helped me write the book. Pat's down for a review copy. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Place the Blame on Me Organization: ATCC Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 11:36:09 -0500 In article , lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com says: > The 'Unfortunate Accident' Patrick mentione at the start of this > issue was all my fault. He said it was his fault, but in fact, I > was sitting here when it happened. I pressed the wrong keys, all > the mail went bye-bye (but tons of spam as well) and before it > could get stopped a lot of his main directory was gone as well. I > feel like a damn fool because of it and want to apologize to > everyone whose mail got lost today. Please send your mail in again > so it can be printed over the weekend. > Lisa Mmmm ... someone didn't turn journaling on and then did an rm -r huh? One of my better screwups on a Linux server was to mv root and everything under it to my home directory. Ooops! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Regards the Unix 'rm' command, I have 'rm' aliased to 'rm -i', but then if there are a dozen files in some obsolete directory I wish to erase in bulk with 'rm -f' I get in trouble. I have been told before it is not a good idea to use an established Unix command as part of an alias to something else. Friday was a nightmare for me, and it wasn't even the 13th of the month. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: AT&T and CallVantage Put Me Through Hell From: Joe Blow Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 22:42:24 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com I agree, anytime you deal with a ported number (LNP) you are increasing your chances of problems occuring. I have CallVantage, and the one problem I had was radio station interference on the line. I could hear a local AM radio station clear as a bell when I was talking on the phone (or rather, when I was silent). I fiddled with my home wiring for days looking for shorts or loose ends. Finally I called AT&T and asked for Inside Wiring to report the problem. They said it was a "known issue" with my equipment (Linksys RT41P2). I asked why it wasn't on their webpage list of known issues. They didn't have a good answer for that. However, they did provide me with a fix, a simple filter (the kind you buy for your other lines when you get DSL) works. The noise is now eliminated and I am happy. Rick Merrill wrote in news:telecom24.6.10@telecom- ...: > AT&T is a bad example of the left hand not knowing what the right hand > is doing. Part of the problem is that each department uses a > different system. Another part of the problem is the "local number > service" system where someone other than ATT has your local number > that must be ported to another provider. - RM ------------------------------ From: HorneTD Subject: Re: Gore Tax Increase Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 23:06:53 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Clark W. Griswold wrote: > According to a insert in this month's Qwest bill, the Federal > Universal Service Fee (otherwise known as the Gore Tax, in honor of > the inventor of the internet) is going to be raised from 8.9% to 10.7% > - an over 20% increase. > This for a program that has so much documented waste and abuse that it > was suspended for several months. And for a program that if memory > serves, was originally supposed to cover just the wiring of schools > for internet service, but has since expanded to underwrite monthly > operational costs and added all sorts of other eligible agencies. A > program that now has so many constituents that (like every other > government program) it now appears to be impossible to kill. > Sigh. Is it any wonder people are flocking to VOIP and why taxing > authorities are looking so hungry? There are four components to the Federal Universal Service Fund. They are: * Low-Income. This program provides telephone service discounts to consumers with qualifying low-incomes. * High-Cost. This program provides financial support to companies that provide telecommunications services in areas of America where the cost of providing service is high. * Schools and Libraries. This program helps to ensure that the nation's classrooms and libraries receive access to the vast array of educational resources that are accessible through the telecommunications network. * Rural Health Care. This program helps to link health care providers located in rural areas to urban medical centers so that patients living in rural America will have access to the same advanced diagnostic and other medical services that are enjoyed in urban communities. Most of the funds income is used to subsidize local phone service in sparsely populated areas where the regulated local phone rate is not high enough to sustain the cost of delivering service. It is a little bit like the postal rates to rural Alaska that are low enough to make it economically feasible for contractors to mail bricks to construction sights. The rates Alaskans pay for parcel post are subsidized by the rates paid by the rest of the nation. -- Tom H ------------------------------ 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 mderated 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 ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 V24 #10 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jan 9 17:28:17 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j09MSHv10468; Sun, 9 Jan 2005 17:28:17 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 17:28:17 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501092228.j09MSHv10468@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 V24 #11 TELECOM Digest Sun, 9 Jan 2005 17:28:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 11 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson NY Post Story About the Telesleaze Canary (Danny Burstein) New York Times OnLine Now on our Website (TELECOM Digest Editor) Police Charge Students With Internet Scam (Monty Solomon) State of the Art: TiVo Adds Portability to the Mix (Monty Solomon) Verizon to Unveil TV Plan (Monty Solomon) Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at Time (Monty Solomon) Re: Gore Tax Increase (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Re: Gore Tax Increase (John McHarry) Re: Gore Tax Increase (Mark Crispin) Re: The Day the Bell System Died (Tony P.) Re: The Day the Bell System Died (Lisa Hancock) Re: Place the Blame on Me (Steve Sobol) Re: Workaround, was: Google Telecom-Digest Archive (Neal McLain) Re: Cable Finds Its Voice (rob51166@yahoo.com) Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? (Joseph) Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? (Linc Madison) Re: Real Election Reform (George Mitchell) Re: Real Election Reform (rob51166@yahoo.com) Re: Real Election Reform (Ben Bass) 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: Danny Burstein Subject: NY Post story About the Telesleaze Canary Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 08:35:05 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC PHONE-SEX PUSHER FLIPS ON MOB A businessman has dropped the dime on a gaggle of Gambino gangsters, agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors who want to nail them for running a phone-sex and Internet porn scam that swindled $730 million. Kenneth Matzdorff in Brooklyn federal court on Friday pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. In the first scheme, customers who called "800" telephone numbers that advertised allegedly free samples of phone sex, horoscopes and dating services were whacked with a $40 fee that would automatically recur each month on their bills ... [ rest at : http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/38144.htm ] _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 22:04:21 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: New York Times OnLine Now on our Website The daily New York Times newspaper is the latest aquisition in our collection of news items in Telecom Digest Extra. Anytime you log in to our web site http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html you will find 75-100 headlines (constantly refreshing) from NY Times. These headlines all link to the full stories as they are appearing at the moment in NY Times. Best of all, no need to log in or provide any personal identification or passwords. Three sections of the paper are presented each day: the front section news, politics, and technology news. Check it out and let me know what you think of it, and help yourself to whatever you wish to print out for your personal files, etc. Other parts of Telecom Digest Extra include the daily news headlines from USA Today, telecom news from the wire services, and news stories from United Press International, plus hourly audio news summaries from Associated Press, BBC World Service, and NASA television. If that is not enough, then read the Christian Science Monitor on line each day or Atlantic Magazine. For this entire potpourri of useful, informative information, you begin at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra , and work your way around the site from there. And I have even more planned in this section for the future. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 22:37:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Police Charge Students With Internet Scam SYDNEY, Australia -- Four Sydney high school students have been charged in connection with a Russian-based Internet scam that stole people's banking passwords and siphoned their cash into accounts in eastern Europe, police said. The four students were promised a cut of the profits for letting their bank accounts be used for laundering money stolen from Internet bankers via a computer virus that dropped a program for secretly recording passwords, police said. They said 13 Australians, including the students, have so far been charged. New South Wales state police on Thursday said the four students, ages 15-17, cannot be named for legal reasons. Authorities say the suspects robbed 61 people of at least $457,000. They say the total could ultimately reach millions, and more arrests are expected. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/01/07/police_charge_students_with_internet_scam/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 22:04:45 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: State of the Art: TiVo Adds Portability to the Mix State of the Art By DAVID POGUE In the high-stress halls of Hollywood, executives are wrestling with three burning questions. First, how can the industry avoid an era of unfettered online video swapping like the one dogging the music industry? Second, as portable video becomes ever more popular, how far can the studios take copy protection without looking like the bad guy? And third, who the heck green-lighted "Catwoman"? Answering any of these questions is, of course, a difficult and delicate job. But as 2005 dawns, you can already find some answers to the first two. For example, you can buy either a PC add-on circuit board or a whole new Media Center PC that can record TV shows and then, for your time-killing pleasure later on, burn them onto a DVD. You could also spend $200 or more for a personal DVD player, although that limits your out-of-home viewing to what's available on DVD. Or you could spend $500 for a hard-drive-based portable video player, as long as you're prepared to enjoy the sweeping majesty of "The Lord of the Rings" on a three-inch screen. But beginning this week, you may have another attractive option that doesn't involve any new hardware. It lets you watch recorded TV or movies on the nice big screen of your laptop. And here's a pleasant surprise: it's free, more or less, to those subscribing to TiVo. The new technology, called TiVoToGo, is neither a product nor a service. It's a software feature that TiVo, in a phased rollout, is beaming into existing TiVo recorders. TiVo intends for TiVoToGo to be one of several perks that give it a new advantage over the less sophisticated recorders offered by cable and satellite companies for lower monthly fees. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/06/technology/circuits/06stat.html?ex=1262667600&en=d41dfe3e5c45e2ba&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 01:44:42 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon to Unveil TV Plan Wireless service likely to be the first of similar offerings By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff | January 8, 2005 Verizon Wireless plans to launch a new television-over-cellphone service next month, the first of a likely wave of similar debuts this year as US carriers look to promote advanced phones and high-capacity wireless networks. Called VCast, the $15-a-month service will offer unlimited access to about 300 daily video clips. Segments, running from two to five minutes, including many specifically produced for the limitations of a two-inch phone screen, will include NBC news clips, music videos from MTV and the Country Music Channel, and mini-episodes of Fox entertainment programs like "24." http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2005/01/08/verizon_to_unveil_tv_plan/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 03:50:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time By LISA W. FODERARO Chaz Albert, a freshman at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., is a passionate "texter," someone who loves to send and receive pithy text messages via cellphone. He does it at home, at school and at work. He often prefers texting over talking on his cellphone. Last month, though, Mr. Albert's habit caught up with him. Only $80 of his $400 cellphone charges were his father's, and most of his own, he said, were for text-messaging. "I was shocked, but I couldn't do anything about it," he said. "I didn't realize that I got charged for reading text messages. My dad was just like: 'Hey, it's your problem. Pay it.' " In the last two years, text messages - which cell carriers generally limit to 160 characters - have become a rage among teenagers, who embrace the technology as yet another way to escape a boring class or stay in touch with friends. But text-messaging, or texting for short, has a downside. It can be expensive. Although phone companies offer relatively inexpensive packages -- like Verizon Wireless's $9.99 for 1,000 messages a month -- industry experts say that carriers sometimes fail to draw customers' attention to the cost-saving deals, and that customers themselves, especially young people, often exceed the number of messages allowed. In those cases, sending a text message usually costs 10 cents; the cost of receiving one ranges from 2 to 10 cents. The sticker shock is reminiscent of the early days of cellphones, when users often were surprised by how much they were charged for going over their allotted minutes or for phoning someone outside their calling areas. Many high school and college students accustomed to sending unlimited instant messages on their computers do not adapt easily to text messaging's pay-per-message format, and end up with unexpectedly high bills when they get involved in keypad conversations that involve hundreds, even thousands, of messages a month. The results are angry confrontations with parents, long-term payment plans and the loss of cellphone privileges. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/technology/09message.html NOTE: Read NY Times on line each day via our website at no charge and no login requirements. 50-75 headlines and stories each day. Go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. Subject: Re: Gore Tax Increase Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 19:44:57 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com HorneTD wrote: Thank you for breaking that down. (Seriously) With a nod towards the law of unintended consequences and the basic truth that subsidies distort the market, let's discuss each in turn. > There are four components to the Federal Universal Service Fund. They are: > * Low-Income. This program provides telephone service > discounts to consumers with qualifying low-incomes. Seems like this should be covered under general assistance. Why should phone subscribers in one area be forced to underwrite the phone service of someone elsewhere? Gas customers in one area do not pay for gas in another area. Same for electricity. > * High-Cost. This program provides financial support to companies > that provide telecommunications services in areas of America where the > cost of providing service is high. The country has changed since the turn of the century. Some costs are higher in the country, many are lower. Those that chose to live in the city find some things priced differently than those in the suburbs. Why should subscribers be subsidizing the large numbers of people chosing to move away from built up areas out into the country? Yes, that would be my dream job also, but you shouldn't be paying for it. Unfortunately, the Senator from Alaska and the one from Hawaii are the ones who want to defend this subsidy. > * Schools and Libraries. This program helps to ensure that the > nation's classrooms and libraries receive access to the vast array of > educational resources that are accessible through the > telecommunications network. Already talked about this one. Probably the biggest boondoggle in the past 3 or 4 decades. Suspect it's worse than the 'big dig' project in Boston. > * Rural Health Care. This program helps to link health care > providers located in rural areas to urban medical centers so that > patients living in rural America will have access to the same advanced > iagnostic and other medical services that are enjoyed in urban > communities. In the grand scheme of things, this is probably penny change and who can argue against better health care? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, for gas and electric service, our utilities here (Atmos Gas, Westar Energy, and Coffeyville Municipal Power) all offer a program to help less fortunate familes pay their utility bills, with a 'checkoff' box on your payment coupon, authorizing either one or five dollars extra to be added to your bill each month, but it is a voluntary thing, and they in turn remit whatever they collect through this voluntary giving program to FAST (Financial Assistance Short Term), which is our local welfare assistance program for Montgomery County, Kansas. Our telco, Prairie Stream Communications is in on it also, I think. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Gore Tax Increase Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2005 05:04:23 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net I don't think it is fair to call the Universal Service Fund the "Gore Tax", partly since its core is a replacement for a hidden subsidy for rural and lifeline service that precedes his even being a gleam in his father's eye. Besides, Al Gore, like Richard Nixon is not really available to kick around any more. Wouldn't it make more sense to rail against the immeasurably larger "Bush Tax", by which I mean the enormous amount of debt and interest liability being sold to foreign interests, in large measure to the Chinese Communists, to finance the budget shortfall. It may not show up on your monthly phone bill, but a large portion of your children's taxes will be rendered to Beijing to be used as they see fit. At least the USF provides a bit of funding to schools and libraries to help them acquire the skills to help them pay the interest on the squander. ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Gore Tax Increase Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 11:55:28 -0800 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Sat, 8 Jan 2005, HorneTD wrote: > There are four components to the Federal Universal Service Fund. They are: > * Low-Income. > * High-Cost. > * Schools and Libraries. > * Rural Health Care. Golly gee. How ever did these people get telephone service before Al Gore came along and gave us the Algore tax (a.k.a. the Federal Universal Service Fund)? If the Algore tax is all so wonderful, why is it that in 1977, I had basic telephone service for under $10, and now I pay at least $25? Quite frankly, given the way that I have seen schools and libraries waste this money, I think that they need it the way a fish needs a bicycle. This goes alone with inane ideas (such as being promulgated in my town) of giving every public high school student a laptop computer. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: See my editor's note elsewhere in this issue. Our local telco (Prairie Stream) does what is required under the law of course, but they also offer a voluntary 'check off' box which allows *voluntary* financial assistance to be added on the phone to pay other bills and such through our community FAST program. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: The Day the Bell System Died Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 11:28:30 -0500 In article , SeeSigForEmail@wn6.wn.net says: > At 1/7/2005 09:42 PM, Pat wrote, >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, readers, why *did* she have >> to die? It is easy enough to do 'Monday morning quarterbacking' >> now some 23 years after the fact and examine all the things which >> went right with divestiture as well as the things which went wrong, >> but what do YOU think? PAT] > Divestiture was the high point in telecom history. The old Bell > System was too powerful, too resistant to progress. It was good at > one thing -- proving Plain Old Telephone Service to residential > subscribers at low rates. And it was pretty good at being a steady > money-earner, paying a good dividend. But as technology was > advancing, as solid-state electronics was shortening product cycles, > the Bell System's monopoly ways were impeding progress. By vertically > integrating everything including manufacturing, it was an island of a > planned, command economy, a miniature Soviet, here in the United > States, cleverly masquerading as capitalism. > Divestiture was the result o f a case brought against Western Electric > in 1949 and revived, years after the 1956 Final Judgment, over three > decades later. The original case sought divestiture of Western > Electric, which would have opened up telecom-equipment manufacturing; > instead, it was settled by closing off Western Electric from > participating in competitive markets. The revived case came in an era > when the "natural monopoly" in long distance had cracked. > The result of divestiture was a flourishing of competition in long > distance, as AT&T was no longer able to control the bottlenecks. It > led to competition in equipment manufacturing, particularly benefiting > Nortel in the CO space, but also creating an opening for SONET > (invented by Bellcore right after divestiture) and many competitive > transmission vendors, who brought down the cost of distance with > rapidly-improving fiber optics. All the theory and initial development for SONET was done by Bell Labs. More importantly the laser was also a Bell Labs project, as well as the transistor, etc. Mother Bell could have become quite the giant if she didn't give up the rights to her own research and production. They also pioneered the things we take for granted like CLID, etc. I recall a Bell sponsored book from 1972 that discussed the new services over a few pages. The title escapes me but they had prototype photos of the CLID gear, the Trimline prototypes, etc. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: The Day the Bell System Died Date: 9 Jan 2005 10:40:55 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Fred Goldstein wrote: > Divestiture was the high point in telecom history. The old Bell > System was too powerful, too resistant to progress. It was good at > one thing -- proving Plain Old Telephone Service to residential > subscribers at low rates. That isn't true. At the time of divesture, the Bell System provided sophisticated high speed communication services to business and was developing improvements and new products. > And it was pretty good at being a steady money-earner, paying a good > dividend. But as technology was advancing, as solid-state > electronics was shortening product cycles, the Bell System's > monopoly ways were impeding progress. No, they were not. The Bell System was introducing new electronic telephone sets and central office equipment quickly in those years, consistent with the pace of electronic offerings elsewhere. > By vertically integrating everything including manufacturing, it was > an island of a planned, command economy, a miniature Soviet, here in > the United States, cleverly masquerading as capitalism. The Bell System did not manufacture everything, it outsourced considerable work. The company was not a total monothith, the different operating companies had different environments to reflect local needs. > ... Divestiture was more important than the Telecom Act of 1996 in > fueling the late 1990s telecom boom, which led to the meltdown of > 2000-2002. The continuing drop in the cost of electronics -- the stuff that made a a 4 Mhz 8 bit PC go down from $2,000 to $500 yet yield tremendous more horsepower -- was responsible for the boom. Telephone service, including long distance and feature services, cost less to provide since the electronics behind it were so cheap. Fiber optic cable is worthless without sophisticated electronics at each end to compress and uncompress all the data being sent over it. Everyone forgets that the old Bell System was lowering its rates yet enhancing service continually since WW II. Several people here seem to think the 1983 Bell System was exactly the same in terms of rates and equipment as 1933 or even 1963 and that's ridiculous. Independent telecom vendors love to paint that picture. It must also be remembered that consumers lost a lot from divesture. Those within the telecom industry don't see it that way since they're the ones who have personally gained, in some cases gained very well. But we private people have paid for that in terms of finger-pointing between vendors, "access charges" for stuff that used to be free, and less human support and service. Big companies didn't get hurt since they simply hired their Bell rep to work for them doing the same job. > But that doesn't make either the divestiture or the Telecom Act bad. > It means that many people who didn't understand how competition > worked -- the telecom industry -- and people who didn't understand > how monopolies worked -- money people -- had a very bad date. And > only now, years later, are they figuring out how to get along on new > terms. From the point of view of the end-consumer, to "understand how competition worked" is utterly irrelevent. They look at it simply from the point of view of what service they received and how much they had to pay for that service. For a great many consumers, service went down and costs went up. (I was very irritated at the great long distance scam of cheap minutes but a with a monthly minimum charge and other restrictions with in reality made the cost the same or even higher than the before.) ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Place the Blame on Me Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 19:07:00 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Tony P. wrote: > Mmmm ... someone didn't turn journaling on and then did an rm -r huh? Tony, that assumes they are using a version of Unix/Linux/*BSD that has a journaling filesystem available, and that the filesystem was actually formatted as a journaling filesystem (like ext3). > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Regards the Unix 'rm' command, I have > 'rm' aliased to 'rm -i', but then if there are a dozen files in some > obsolete directory I wish to erase in bulk with 'rm -f' I get in > trouble. I have been told before it is not a good idea to use an > established Unix command as part of an alias to something else. Friday > was a nightmare for me, and it wasn't even the 13th of the month. PAT] Pat: Seeing as how rm -f is so powerful -- especially the way I use it, rm -rf (recursive/delete subdirectories too, force deletion) -- I try to remember to pause and examine the command line to make sure I'm deleting the right directory(ies). In my case, since I run my own Linux server and babysit a couple others, and am logged in as the 'superuser', I can very easily delete everything on the drive with one command, so I try to be extra careful even when not logged in as superuser. :) Hope this helps. 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. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 22:48:40 -0600 From: Neal McLain Subject: Re: Workaround, was: Google Telecom-Digest Archive I wrote: > Has anybody else noticed how thoroughly Google had messed up > its archive of past Telecom-Digest postings? Their archive > used to reproduce each message in its entirety, in courier > text. Now it truncates long messages. Several of the messages > I've posted over the years are chopped off mid-word at around > 700 words. To which PAT wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, you can look directly on > our web site http://telecom-digest.org/back-issues. You'll find > the last year or so filed issue by issue; much older stuff is > filed in clusters of fifty issues per file. Grep known details > with a wild card as the argument in each cluster, then zero in > on them from there. For volumes 9-18 there are also > 'accelerated indexes' of message subject titles along with the > volume number and (cluster of) fifty issues in which to look > for your stuff. PAT] But I still can't link directly to a specific post, which is what I used to be able to do with Google. BTW, appears to be a dead link. According to your revised website, the "recent single issues" page is at (Volumes 23 [2004] and 24 [2005]), and the back issues pages is at . Danny Burstein wrote: > The general attitude of many, many, people (myself included) is > that Google broke something that wasn't broken ... We've all > got our fingers crossed that they'll step back. > Fortunately, for now at least, you can still get to the older > Google search page (for usenet) by going to: > http://www.google.co.uk/advanced_group_search Hey -- that works! At least most of the time ... although I couldn't find a couple of my old posts, I was able to find all the truncated ones. Thanks for the suggestion! I join you in keeping my fingers crossed. Neal McLain [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder if I should go into the source code (on the web pages) where the Google search boxes are located and direct them to go through that link also? PAT] ------------------------------ From: rob51166@yahoo.com Subject: Re: Cable Finds Its Voice Date: 9 Jan 2005 08:32:05 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com We've had cable telephone companies in the UK for nearly 15 years now. They introduced cable phone services with cable TV and the amount of companies operating were prediminantly regional (i.e. Cable London, Birmingham Cable, Yorkshire Cable etc...) and initially provided a proper and decent alternative to BT, both in prices and in service; but over the years takeovers and bankruptcies have whittled the number down to just 2 -- ntl: and Telewest (known respectively as nt hell and Teleworst!). It's only the larger towns and cities here which have cable TV and phone, as the companies decided that they'd make more profit there than if they ventured into the smaller towns. Price-wise now both companies' prices for rental and call charges are either similar to, identical to or more expensive than BT's. Now that approximately 80% or there abouts of the UK is on broadband, however, a lot more people have access to an alternative, and cheaper telephone service than BT. Over the next few years or so it's predicted that calls made over VoIP will be more popular than calls made via the standard phone companies. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2005 10:47:04 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 7 Jan 2005 19:54:23 -0800, quickcur@yahoo.com wrote: > I am in CA. I have ATT One Rate Plan for my residence phone (not > cellular phone). I joined this plan because once a ATT representative > told me that, if I do not have a long distance plan, ATT (as a default > long distance carrier for my local phone carrier) will charge me $3 or > so every time I call 800 number. You made the same query in another group word for word. The answer is still the same here. If they told you that they'd charge $3 for every time you call a toll free (800/888/877/866) number they out and out lied to you. The only people who pay to call toll-free numbers are those with cell phone service as cell phone subscribers pay for all calls. > So I joined. The rates for calling everywhere in US is 10C/minute. > Last month I called Canada. Now I got the bill and found out that this > plan charges Canada call as international call and it is $1.32/minute. Even not talking about Canada 10 cents/minute is a ripoff right there. If you shop around you can get a per minute rate of less than 5 cents/minute commonly and that even with no monthly fee. You'll also possibly get a rate from several carriers that will charge you only for what you use and many charge in 6 second increments. AT&T, MCI and Sprint PCS only charge to the next full minute. These same companies will likely charge you the same rate as you pay for domestic US calls or perhaps a penny or two more to call Canada. The rate they charge to call western Europe shouldn't be but a few cents higher than to make domestic calls. > Is there anything I can do? Before I join, I asked the representative > about Canada. He told me that Canada call is the same as domestic call. > But I have no proof for that. And no one want to listen to that. Unfortunately unless you have something in writing or you recorded your conversation with the rep you likely don't have any recourse. > Is there any federal regulation about Canada? Is that totally up to > the phone company to define it as international call or domestic call? No, it's totally up to what the company wants to charge. It's likely that they have tariffs filed somewhere and if you wanted to go to the trouble to find out what the tariffs are you could. It's likely though that they may have the tariff filed and you'll see that the tarriff is *quite* high. Unless you got a special plan it's likely that you're paying the "casual" rate to call Canada. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I'm afraid you'll just have to pay the bill this time. For a fairly unbiased comparison of long distance vendors go to http://abtolls.com . ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2005 13:49:52 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , wrote: > I am in CA. I have ATT One Rate Plan for my residence phone (not > cellular phone). I joined this plan because once a ATT representative > told me that, if I do not have a long distance plan, ATT (as a > default long distance carrier for my local phone carrier) will charge > me $3 or so every time I call 800 number. If that's what the rep told you, the rep out-and-out LIED. It is illegal for your carrier to charge you for calling 800 numbers. > So I joined. The rates for calling everywhere in US is 10C/minute. > Last month I called Canada. Now I got the bill and found out that > this plan charges Canada call as international call and it is > $1.32/minute. Canada is a different country, so it is an international call. Dialing 1+ instead of 011+ doesn't necessarily mean your call is domestic. > Is there anything I can do? Before I join, I asked the representative > about Canada. He told me that Canada call is the same as domestic > call. But I have no proof for that. And no one want to listen to > that. It depends on which plan you have. For a monthly fee of $1, you can get calls to Canada for 6 cents/minute -- ironically enough, cheaper than domestic long-distance on AT&T. > Is there any federal regulation about Canada? Is that totally up to > the phone company to define it as international call or domestic > call? There are federal regulations which require the phone company to define Canada as an international call, because it is an international call. The phone company is free to charge pretty nearly whatever they please for the call -- anything from included in a monthly flat fee plan to over a dollar per minute. My suggestion would be to check out this web site: and shop around for a better deal than AT&T is offering you. Even 10 cents/minute for US and Canada is not a very competitive rate. For that matter, the basic "One Rate" plan isn't even AT&T's best offering for domestic long-distance. You can get 9 cents weekdays, 5 cents on weekends, with only a $5 monthly minimum usage. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: George Mitchell Subject: Re: Real Election Reform Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 18:14:16 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com D Flint wrote: > What do you think about this and have you seen this popular site before? > This was taken from a web site http://www.afvr.org > How can we safeguard the integrity of each vote? > Today we have technology that protects our financial systems, military > weapon systems and national intelligent organizations. These proven > systems can be combined in a way to issue serialized equipment to > authorize personnel for the dates and hours needed. Each would have > their own level of clearance to perform the tasks they are responsible > for. Each action would be recorded and verified with a higher levels > of network authority and again, only available during the hours and > dates needed. > Ballots would only be printed after the voter has cast > their vote but before they leave the booth. If the voter made a > mistake he could put the printed ballot into the booth's scanner for > correction. All ballots scanned at the booth would go into a shredder > and the voter could then correct his ballot on the screen and reprint > his ballots. > Once the voter accepts the printed ballot he submits his > vote on the screen and takes the two ballots to the depository. So > two computer generated, serialized and scanner perfect receipts of the > completed ballot are printed.* One for the voter and one for the > public record. This would eliminate all the extra ballots that could > be used for unauthorized voting as well as any question of voter > intent. This kind of transparency is the hallmark of reliable financial systems. Counterintuitively, it is anathema to the secret ballot. Any kind of system which produces a copy of the voter's ballot for the voter to take away from the polling place practiaclly guarantees that someone will offer payment to the voter if only they bring back a receipt which shows a "correct" vote. Full disclosure: I write software for ballot tabulation. But I think I am not alone in believing that this much transparencey is too much. Printing a receipt which stays in the polling place is another matter. -- George Mitchell (obfuscated email address) ------------------------------ From: rob51166@yahoo.com Subject: Re: Real Election Reform Date: 9 Jan 2005 08:08:01 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com We still use the old 'X in a box' method here in the UK on our ballot papers and, depending on which election/referendum we're having (local, national or European) and the amount of candidates taking part, the ballot paper can be up to 18" (that's right, 1' 6") long. We also still use the 'First Past The Post' method instead of Proportional Representation, which I believe you use in the US, and neither is far from perfect in my view. Postal voting was recently tried out in a regional referendum and the fraud and corruption which occurred was incredible. In some instances, mainly in Muslim or Asian/Indian families, the senior member of the family would insist on filling in the papers on behalf of the younger and female members of his family, or telling them that he'd help them in filling the form out -- i.e. where to put the 'X'. I think that sooner or later, a computerised voting system will have to be introduced here in the UK as it'll have to be in the US, but at the moment there appear to be so many creases to iron out to get a decent and fair system, as well as getting all of our political parties to agree to it that it's not going to happen for quite a while. ------------------------------ From: Ben Bass Subject: Re: Real Election Reform Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 11:48:16 -0500 > What do you think about this and have you seen this popular site before? > This was taken from a web site http://www.afvr.org > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It sounds very reasonable to me. The > suggestions offered by AFVR are very good ones. Now, good luck in > trying to get them implemented, maybe with a couple more tweaks. > PAT] Pat, There are appropriate forums for discussing this issue, but I don't count news groups on animation, amateur radio, satellite television, and even telecom, to be among those forums. These guys spammed almost every news group with this. As far as I'm concerned, if they spam, the message goes out with the messenger, no matter how worthy it might be. I don't acknowledge spammers except to report them to their ISP to have their account cancelled. Given your attitude towards spam, I'm surprised you would pay them any attention. Ben [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Let's examine your last paragraph, Ben. In case there is any doubt in anyone's mind, I **hate** spam. So much, in fact, I rarely read Usenet newsgroups nor use the computer for anything other than maintaining this newsgroup and my own web pages. If I were just starting out on the net, in 2004 instead of 1981, chances are I would not even do that much. Therefore, if that AFVR message was 'spammed into several groups' I really would not know. It showed up *here* (c.d.t.) ONE TIME ONLY and the message was of reasonable interest in and of itself. Let's say the poster has a 'clean record' where I am concerned. Even though I pay little attention to Usenet, or the net in general, I *do* know what spam looks like and I get a lot of it. Normally 'Spam Assassin' gets a few hundred for me each day, and somewhere around 85 percent of my regular (non-spam, in theory) mailbox is spam also. Spam is when I: (a) get several identical items in the mail each day, (b) receieve mail purported to have been sent by myself, (c) receive mail with my name in the subject line, (d) get mail from known spammers, or known spam subject lines, and a few other clues which I consider to be my own business. Believe me, Ben, you do not see 99.5 percent of the mail which reaches my box because it is such trash. I have adjusted the point-scoring thing on Spam Assassin as closely as I can without losing *legitimate* mail as well. So you may have well regarded that message as spam, but we are getting some replies to it so not everyone thinks it is spam. In any event, please do not blame any contradictions in my 'attitude about spam'. 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 mderated 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 ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 V24 #11 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jan 11 00:41:23 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0B5fMZ23173; Tue, 11 Jan 2005 00:41:23 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 00:41:23 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501110541.j0B5fMZ23173@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 V24 #12 TELECOM Digest Tue, 11 Jan 2005 00:42:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 12 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Lingo to Charge taxes in February - What's Up With That? (Ted Koppel) Hang up Voice Call BEFORE it is Answered (Wilson) Book Review: "Net Crimes and Misdemeanors", J. A. Hitchcock (Rob Slade) India Telecom News/India Wireless News (info) Alltel buys Western Wireless (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Executone PBX and a Problem (GOClimb) Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? (david_esan@hotmail.com) Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? (Justin Time) Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? (NOTvalid@surplus4actors) Re: Place the Blame on Me (Ankur Shah) Re: Place the Blame on Me (Bill Matern) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time (NOTvalid) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time (Hancock) Re: REN For Western Electric Products? (Robbie McFerren) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 16:14:55 -0500 From: Ted Koppel Subject: Lingo to Charge Taxes in February - What's Up With That? Received from Lingo/Primus' customer service today in email. So much for "no taxes on VOIP". Dear Lingo Customer, As a valued Lingo broadband phone service customer, we strive to provide you with the best service possible at the most affordable costs. Until now, we have been fortunate to take advantage of current federal regulations and a regulatory environment that has allowed us not to charge Federal taxes and other cost recovery fees on your service. However, changes in both areas have caused us to modify our current policy. Effective with your billing cycle in February 2005, your Lingo service will be subject a 3% Federal Telecommunications Excise Tax on your monthly subscription fees and additional usages charges from the previous month. Additionally, your Lingo phone numbers are now subject to a Lingo service regulatory recovery fee of a $1.50 per phone number on your service. This includes your primary voice, secondary voice, and fax numbers. In anticipation that you may have some basic questions regarding these changes, below are some questions and answers for your reference. *What is the Federal Excise Tax?* Lingo is required by Federal law to collect a 3% federal excise tax on the amount which it charges its customers for all communication services. This tax applies to monthly subscription fees as well as to any additional usage charges. *What is the Regulatory Recovery Fee? * The Lingo service regulatory recovery fee is $1.50 per phone number. This fee is charged to our Lingo customers to recover the costs of certain regulatory and compliance requirements imposed, or expected to be imposed, on us by the federal government or various states and localities. These costs can include charges associated with supporting services such as state or local universal service, emergency calling, law enforcement, disability compliance and certain tax requirements. Your Regulatory Recovery Fee reflects a $1.50 charge for each domestic or international phone number, including primary voice, secondary voice, and fax numbers. We thank you for your understanding and your continued use of Lingo service. Regards, Lingo Customer Service Lingo is a registered trademark of Primus Telecommunications, Inc. ------------------------------ From: smokey_the_cat@libero.it (Wilson) Subject: Hang up Voice Call BEFORE it is Answered. Date: 10 Jan 2005 14:04:38 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I'm trying to place a voice call using a GSM mobile phone (Philips Fisio 825). Therefore I'm sending ATDT ; and the call gets initiated as expected. The only problem is that now I would like to to terminate the call after a fixed amount of time has elapsed (say 20 seconds) and I just can't seem to get it right: ATH only work after the callee has answered the call and even closing the serial com port doesn't help (phone keeps on ringing). I know that with data calls I can use ATS7=x to specify the # of seconds after which the call should be terminated if no connection is established, but what about voice calls? Any help would be highly appreciated. Wilson ------------------------------ From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 15:33:56 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Net Crimes and Misdemeanors", J. A. Hitchcock Reply-To: rslade@sprint.ca BKNTCRMD.RVW 20041016 "Net Crimes and Misdemeanors", J. A. Hitchcock, 2002, 0-910965-57-9, U$24.95/C$37.95 %A J. A. Hitchcock %C 143 Old Marlin Pike, Medford, NJ 08055 %D 2002 %G 0-910965-57-9 %I Information Today Inc. %O U$24.95/C$37.95 609-654-6266 custserv@infotoday.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965579/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965579/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965579/robsladesin03-20 %P 359 p. %T "Net Crimes and Misdemeanors" This book is not about net crimes in general, but about cyberstalking and online harassment. Chapter one details Hitchcock's own experience with cyberstalking and harassment, an extremely unpleasant case of deliberate personal attack by fraudsters she had exposed. Three other cases are briefly described in chapter two, along with some basic advice on header analysis. Spam is delineated, and some helpful sites for dealing with it are listed, in chapter three (which also contains the usual, not terribly useful, suggestions for keeping your address off the net). Chapter four lists some urban legends and chain letters, which are hardly criminal material. Chapter five lists various types of online scams, but really only addresses credit card theft. The utility of the advice varies: the book suggests that you only deal with vendors with a professional looking website (hardly a guarantee of virtue), but also gives fairly detailed descriptions of indicators for a secure HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) session. Online auction fraud is covered in chapter six, from the perspective of both buyer and seller. The story of adoption fraud, in chapter seven, is particularly distressing. Chapter eight give some account of identity theft, but the initial "case" is more related to harassment, and the material never really looks at more usual identity theft situations. More cases of cyberstalking are listed in chapter nine, with not as much helpful content. Chapter ten discusses trolls, flames -- and more harassment. Chapter eleven examines chat and harassment. Other means of harassment are discussed in chapter twelve. Child exploitation is reviewed in chapter thirteen. Chapter fourteen looks at various issues in the workplace. Statements from various law enforcement personnel are given in chapter fifteen -- along with an odd mention of the Sam Spade program. Harassment at universities is covered in chapter sixteen. There is a terse mention of the PGP program in seventeen. Chapter eighteen describes viruses and firewalls, but not very well. Tips on investigating harassment are in chapter nineteen. The book does provide some helpful resources on certain topics. It could have provided more, if it didn't keep returning to the same topic over and over again. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2004 BKNTCRMD.RVW 20041016 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of others, but from doing something worthwhile. - Wilfred Grenfell (1865 - 1940) http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 03:35:02 +0000 From: info Reply-To: Subject: India Telecom News/India Wireless News Hi, Greetings. Please have a look at the re-structured India Telecom News (incorporating India Wireless News also). www.indiatelecomnews.com We are also pleased to announce our new special package for ADVERTORIAL (advertisement editorial/ sponsored story) - to commensurate our third year anniversary, we are offering discounted rates to publish advertorial (your story/press release/report) and sponsor the newsletter. Looking forward to your continued co-operation and patronage Regards, Krishna Kumar Editorial Manager info@indiatelecomnews.com * India Telecom News (www.indiatelecomnews.com) -- country's first and only web-based weekly newspaper on telecom. * ITN Newsletter -- India's largest circulated weekly newsletter with highest international reach. (11,200 registered subscribers -- 95% non-technical telecom professionals, executives and entrepreneurs. The readership -- 48% inside India and 52% outside India) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 13:09:31 -0500 (EST) From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Alltel Buys Western Wireless Telecom dailyLead from USTA http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18630&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Alltel buys Western Wireless BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Comcast set to announce major push into VoIP phone service * Verizon Wireless announces 3G service * Tandberg, Broadcom showcase cutting-edge video technology USTA SPOTLIGHT * Telecom Crash Course -- The must-have book for telecom professionals EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Credit card companies warm up to "contactless payment" * The top tech trends of 2005 REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * February trial for WorldCom "holdouts" Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18630&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: GOClimb Subject: Executone PBX and a Problem Date: 10 Jan 2005 08:15:09 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi folks, My company has an Executone PBX that was installed in the early 90s. I'm responsible for maintenance and whatnot. Two questions to the group: 1 - Anyone know who runs these now? As far as I know, Executone doesn't do it anymore. For a while, I thought they'd been bought out by Staples, but I'm not so sure now. 2 - Specific question. Just set up a new extension. It's well within our range of allowed numbers by the phone company. Internally it rings through correctly to the user's phone (and the v-mail works correctly, etc). But when I dial the number through an outside line the call goes directly through to the operator. Anyone have a clue why this might happen? I checked on the VMS/Forwarding screen, and everything there looks hunky-dory. TIA GO ------------------------------ From: david_esan@hotmail.com Subject: Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? Date: 10 Jan 2005 05:57:02 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com quickcur@yahoo.com wrote: > I am in CA. I have ATT One Rate Plan for my residence phone (not > cellular phone). I joined this plan because once a ATT representative > told me that, if I do not have a long distance plan, ATT (as a default > long distance carrier for my local phone carrier) will charge me $3 or > so every time I call 800 number. > So I joined. The rates for calling everywhere in US is 10C/minute. > Last month I called Canada. Now I got the bill and found out that this > plan charges Canada call as international call and it is $1.32/minute. > Is there anything I can do? Before I join, I asked the representative > about Canada. He told me that Canada call is the same as domestic call. > But I have no proof for that. And no one want to listen to that. > Is there any federal regulation about Canada? Is that totally up to > the phone company to define it as international call or domestic call? > Thanks, > qq You got screwed. Your current rate is way too high. You should not make any international calls. If you take a look at http://serviceguide.att.com/ACS/ext/od.cfm?OID=2780&menu=101 you will see that ATT will charge standard (read: really really expensive) rates for calls that are not "state-to-state". That would be Canada, the Caribbean islands you can dial with a 1, or any place that you have to dial 011- to get. Go to the web sites suggested. Change your carrier. Almost anyone is cheaper. Many don't even have a monthly charge. Canada is generally treated differently, but most are fairly inexpensive. After the change (which is really painless) make sure that you have a lock put on your account so that AT&T can't "accidently" change it back. ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? Date: 10 Jan 2005 06:39:28 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com You wrote: > I am in CA. I have ATT One Rate Plan for my residence phone (not > cellular phone). I joined this plan because once a ATT representative > told me that, if I do not have a long distance plan, ATT (as a default > long distance carrier for my local phone carrier) will charge me $3 or > so every time I call 800 number. > So I joined. And now you want us to protect you from yourself? If you can't investigate someone's claim before you act, do you have any business acting on that claim? Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: NOTvalid@surplus4actors.INFO Subject: Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? Date: 10 Jan 2005 10:38:55 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com >> So I joined. The rates for calling everywhere in US is 10C/minute. >> Last month I called Canada. Now I got the bill and found out that >> this plan charges Canada call as international call and it is >> $1.32/minute. I call USA-Canada 1.9CPM! That's using a local access number. Higher if I use an 800 number. Payphone surcharge. Works as prepaid phone card. PIN not needed for calls from home or cell phone. Compare the rates at https://www.onesuite.com/ No monthly fee or minimum. Use promotion code "034720367" for some FREE time. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 14:21:44 -0500 From: Ankur Shah Subject: Re: Place the Blame on Me Steve Sobol wrote: > Tony P. wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Regards the Unix 'rm' command, I have >> 'rm' aliased to 'rm -i', but then if there are a dozen files in some >> obsolete directory I wish to erase in bulk with 'rm -f' I get in >> trouble. I have been told before it is not a good idea to use an >> established Unix command as part of an alias to something else. Friday >> was a nightmare for me, and it wasn't even the 13th of the month. PAT] > Pat: > Seeing as how rm -f is so powerful -- especially the way I use it, rm > -rf (recursive/delete subdirectories too, force deletion) -- I try to > remember to pause and examine the command line to make sure I'm > deleting the right directory(ies). > In my case, since I run my own Linux server and babysit a couple > others, and am logged in as the 'superuser', I can very easily delete > everything on the drive with one command, so I try to be extra careful > even when not logged in as superuser. :) > Hope this helps. [snip] Having gone through a similar, rather gruesome exercise of mistakenly deleting data with no backups back in my early *nix days, I ended up creating a "pseudo-backup" utility of my own. FWIW, here's how it works: $type rm rm is hashed (/export/home/ashah/bin/rm) $cat /export/home/ashah/bin/rm #!/bin/bash ## # A simple shell wrapper for /bin/rm. It moves the data over # to $TRASH_DIR to be recovered later, if need be. # # TODO: create a cronjob that would remove data from # $TRASH_DIR older than a specified number of days. # # $comments > root [at] ankurshah [dot] net ## TRASH_DIR="/data/backup/.$LOGNAME.trash" CP=/bin/cp RM=/bin/rm [ ! -d "$TRASH_DIR" ] && mkdir $TRASH_DIR $CP -r $* $TRASH_DIR >/dev/null 2>&1 $RM -r $* It is not even close to a complete backup solution and by no means should be treated as one. It has come in handy for me at times, YMMV. Regards, -- Ankur ------------------------------ From: Bill Matern Subject: Re: Place the Blame on Me Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 15:04:22 -0500 Organization: MV Communications, Inc. When I still worked at AT&T, one of the guys in my group did a rm -r .* to remove all of the hidden files. Back in those days, '.*' matched '..' (or the parent directory). After a few seconds, he realized what had happen. A new file system was subsequently re-installed :) Lisa Minter wrote in message news:telecom24.9.5@telecom-digest.org: > The 'Unfortunate Accident' Patrick mentione at the start of this > issue was all my fault. He said it was his fault, but in fact, I > was sitting here when it happened. I pressed the wrong keys, all > the mail went bye-bye (but tons of spam as well) and before it > could get stopped a lot of his main directory was gone as well. I > feel like a damn fool because of it and want to apologize to > everyone whose mail got lost today. Please send your mail in again > so it can be printed over the weekend. > Lisa ------------------------------ From: NOTvalid@surplus4actors.INFO Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: 10 Jan 2005 10:50:33 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com To receive text msgs on Virgin Mobile is free To send 10 cents each You can forward filtered Gmail to a Virgin Mobile phone. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: 10 Jan 2005 11:46:44 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com This is nothing new. When cell phones first came out people got hit hard unexpectedly for time charges. Before that, teenagers ran up huge phone bills in places that had timed measured service. Turn on old sitcoms that had teen kids and you'll see the fathers complaining "on the phone again!" College students before the 1970s usually did not have telephones in their rooms, rather, there were house phones and pay phones in the hall that they had to share with everyone living in that hall. Frustration over the lines being tied up while waiting for an important call (or wanting to make same) were a fact of life in domitories. Indeed, even after phones made it into individual dorm rooms, roommates used to quarel over the phone. Given how teenagers love to talk, I'm surprised that more teens didn't try to hook up private phone lines between houses using surplus phones. I guess before divesture it was hard to obtain surplus phones, running wires -- especially beyond the house next door -- was a problem, and only the nerdy kids would know and be interested in setting up such a scheme. I must admit I'd like to set up a magneto (local battery) telephone line between my house and a neighbor's, but that neighbor isn't particularly interested. I also wouldn't mind a private intercom at work, but the work authorities wouldn't approve. The motive to do this is just for the heck of it. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Back in the 1980's, I had a Melco 2x12 PBX in an apartment building where I had control over a bunch of phone pairs. In addition to having extensions around the building in handy places, I also had an extension hooked up half a block away by using some unused (probably long forgotten about) multiples in my phone box and the phone box in the building down the street. Nice arrangement. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Robbie McFerren Subject: Re: REN For Western Electric Products? Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 15:14:49 -0500 If you need to use these products right now, just assume each device has an REN of 1.0. This will allow you use the devices by overestimating the REN. wrote in message news:telecom24.7.10@telecom-digest.org: > I understand the "ringer equivalance" value is based on the WE 500 set > which is defined as 1. > Would anyone know what the REN is for certain other WE products such > as: > 1) 302/354 sets. (The "art deco" telephone set developed in 1938, was > the first to have the ringer within the set.) > 2) Older wall mounted "bell boxes" used for 202 and earlier sets. > 3) The "Bell Chime", an extension ringer that has several settings on > it. Can sould like a regular phone, a doorbell chime, or a very loud > bell. > 4) A more modern WE extension ringer which is a small gray box, > roughly 3x6x2 inches. > 5) An outdoor ringer. These had two exposed gongs, usually painted > gray or black. Used outside or in big rooms like gyms where an extra > loud ringer was needed. > 6) Trimline and Princess telephone sets, which used a more compact > ringer to fit into the small base. > Thanks! > [public replies, please] ------------------------------ 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 mderated 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 ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. 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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 V24 #12 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jan 11 01:33:14 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0B6XDS24145; Tue, 11 Jan 2005 01:33:14 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 01:33:14 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501110633.j0B6XDS24145@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 V24 #13 TELECOM Digest Tue, 11 Jan 2005 01:33:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 13 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New York Times Mulls Charging Web Readers (Lisa Minter) AOL Renames Cable Music Channel, Adds Content (Lisa Minter) Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee (Jack Decker) Advice Needed on Villa Phone System in Bali (Android) Upload Address Book to Cingular Cell Phone (shw104@usa.net) IPTVGLOBAL (Manager) Re: Real Election Reform (Bob Goudreau) Re: Real Election Reform (Chris Farrar) Re: Real Election Reform (Tony P.) Re: Real Election Reform (David Clayton) Re: Gore Tax Increase (John Levine) Re: Place the Blame on Me (Herb Stein) Re: Streamlined Cable TV in a Card (Paul) Re: The Day the Bell System Died (Andrew) Re: The Day the Bell System Died (Justin Time) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time (Tony P.) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 10 Jan 2005 08:16:33 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: New York Times Mulls Charging Web Readers NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times Co. is considering subscription fees to the online version of its flagship newspaper, which now is available for free, but it has no immediate plans to do so, the company said on Friday. One of the paper's biggest rivals, Dow Jones & Co. Inc.'s Wall Street Journal, charges for its online edition. A New York Times spokeswoman said the company is reviewing whether it should make any business changes to the online version but that no shifts were imminent. "We are reviewing the site to see whether or not there would be any areas where we should change the business model," said the spokeswoman, Catherine Mathis, adding: "This is not new. We've been discussing this for some time." According to the upcoming issue of BusinessWeek magazine, whose cover story focuses on The New York Times Co., an internal debate has been raging at the newspaper over whether its online edition, which had about 18.5 million unique monthly visitors as of November, should adopt a subscription fee. N.Y. Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. was quoted in the article as saying: "It gets to the issue of how comfortable are we training a generation of readers to get quality information for free. That is troubling." The online edition of the newspaper is available for free to registered users, although some content, such as archived articles, are available only if readers pay a fee. Paid Web sites can help publishers draw new circulation revenue, but free online editions can be attractive to advertisers because they attract many more readers. Newspaper industry consultant John Morton, who heads Morton Research Inc., said he thinks many newspapers want to wean readers off free online content and transform their Web sites into paid-only publications. Free editions of newspapers on the Web are "quickly falling out of favor," he said. "I think you will see newspapers selling electronic subscriptions or print subscriptions, or a combination of both, which is what the Wall Street Journal does, and has been very successful at." The Journal had about 701,000 paid subscribers for its Web edition as of the third quarter. Online Journal subscribers pay $79 a year, or $39 if they also subscribe to the print version. In a statement, Dow Jones' president of electronic publishing Gordon Crovitz said his company "would be delighted" if the N.Y. Times began charging online subscription fees. "We have never understood why a publisher would charge for its news in one medium, such as print, then give it away for free in another medium, such as online," he said. Mathis said that when the online version of the New York Times was first launched in the mid-1990s, it experimented with charging readers outside the United States a subscription fee. She said that plan was dropped in 1998 in favor of a free site for all registered users. NOTE: NY Times is available each day at no charge to readers here of TELECOM Digest. 75-100 headlines from the front section, politics and technology sections of NYT are constantly refreshed throughout the day and can be viewed at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html and I hope you will enjoy it. 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, Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 10 Jan 2005 08:21:23 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: AOL Renames Cable Music Channel, Adds Content NEW YORK (Reuters) - America Online said on Monday it would rename its fledgling cable music video channel and offer more content in an effort to steer viewers to an AOL Web site. The channel, originally called "My Music Channel," will now be named "AOL Music On Demand." AOL is aiming to promote its AOL Music videos and original programing on the channel carried by Time Warner Cable, hoping to entice viewers to find more material on its free Web site AOLMusic.com. Launched eight months ago with little fanfare, the cable channel lets viewers click their remote controls to order up videos and AOL programing, once available only to paying subscribers to its high-speed Internet service, for free. The cable channel is being used as a marketing tool to persuade non-AOL members to find even more free content on its Web site, bucking a trend in the media industry toward charging for content. New York Times Co. said last Friday it was mulling a plan to charge for its online newspaper edition. AOL, the Dulles, Virginia-based unit of Time Warner Inc. is betting that giving away more free material will help it boost online advertising dollars amid an ongoing subscriber defection. AOL has lost millions of members this year, but Time Warner said it expects the unit to post growth in full-year 2004 profit before items in the low to mid-teens percentage range. "Now we're much more interested in extending the AOL brand into the nonmember audience and building that exposure," an AOL spokeswoman said. AOL Music On Demand is now available in 30 markets, after entering New York and New Jersey this month. 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, Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2005 18:09:32 -0500 Subject: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee According to this thread on BroadbandReports.com , another VoIP company is adding a bogus fee to their price. I personally think such fees amount to false advertising and unfair competition because they allow the company to advertise one price, but actually charge the consumer a higher one. In this case the culprit is Primus, which markets their VoIP service under the "Lingo" brand name. Vonage was the first to do this, and Broadvoice is another one that jumped on this bandwagon. What next, you go to the supermarket for a gallon of milk and at the register they tack on a "milk marketing fee" to the price to cover the "Got Milk?" ads? I say again, this is false advertising and unfair competition, and I truly wish some attorney versed in class action lawsuits would file a suit against all three of these companies and any others that engage in this despicable practice. If they want to charge an extra $1.50 per month, let them add it to their advertised monthly rate so that consumers can make fair comparisons between the carriers, but don't try to hide it from the consumer in this way. What's doubly bad about this is that it's companies doing things like this that are going to add fuel to the fire of those who want regulation of VoIP companies. The states will claim that they need to have authority over VoIP companies to prevent them from charging the consumer any old price they want to, while labeling part of it as a tax or fee. Again, I say they should be able to charge whatever they want to, but only as long as that is the price they advertise. To advertise one price and charge another is simply unethical and if it isn't illegal, it sure ought to be. There is a Lingo user that is mounting a protest against this added fee - the thread on that is here: . I hope it does some good, but somehow I doubt it will. ------------------------------ From: Android Subject: Advice Needed on Villa Phone System in Bali Date: 10 Jan 2005 02:57:57 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi all, I'm in the process of building a villa in Bali and I need some advice about the telephone setup. I'm not a telecoms specialist and don't know much about it, so forgive me if I say, or ask, something stupid. This villa is primarily intended as a business, i.e. people can rent it. It consists of 2 floors (which can be rented separately) and a separate staff house about 80 metres away. Depending on business, I may add 2 more villas in the future. These will be between the 1st villa and the staff house. Apparently, in Bali it's cheap to install multiple lines in one go, but more costly and inconvenient to add extra lines later. I have therefore requested 3 lines straight away. Maybe I should request more? It's not too late yet. If and when I have 3 villas, I imagine it will be worthwhile installing a PABX system -- but I'm not sure I can justify the expense at this stage. So, this is what I'm thinking. Ignoring the staff house for now, I can route 1 line upstairs and 1 downstairs. I can add a switch that lets both floors use the same line (with the other one available for internet access) when the whole villa is occupied by 1 family. When the 2 floors are rented separately, the switch could be thrown so that each floor gets their own line (which they'd use for calls AND internet access, albeit not at the same time). This would prevent both phones ringing when calls come in and guests finding their phone in use when they try to use it. I've spoken to the engineer on this project & he's OK with this idea and ready to implement it. So far, so good (unless you say otherwise ...). Now for the tricky bit. To give more flexibility, I'm thinking of installing (digital) cordless phones. Guests could take them to the kitchen, study, pool area, etc. This also means I don't need so many phone points. Ideally, I'd like to make use of the cordless phone intercom facility (where a handset can call a base unit or another handset) so that, for example, a guest could contact the staff or another family member without moving. I know I could install a separate intercom system, but it just seems neater to keep the hardware to a minimum. But I'm not sure it can be achieved without going down the PABX route. I'm (vaguely) aware that cordless handsets must be set up so that, for example, they don't interfere with a neighbour's set. I'm wondering if there may be a way to exploit this, perhaps by deliberately setting all 3 phones to the same frequency (or whatever) so that intercom calls can be made between them. When new guests arrive, this may need to be changed depending on whether they're renting the whole villa or sharing it. Trouble is, I can see many pitfalls. For instance, if all 3 phones share the same frequency (or ID group number or whatever) won't they interfere with each other during normal calls? Also, when the upstairs and downstairs phones are set differently, they can't both match the staff phone. I guess I could have 2 staff phones, but it seems too complicated. Any ideas? ------------------------------ From: shw104@usa.net Subject: Upload Address Book to Cingular Cell Phone Date: 10 Jan 2005 04:31:56 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Is there a way to upload/download a contact list or address book into a Cingular cell phone? Phone model: Motorola 180. There appears to be a USB type data connection on the phone but there is a lack of information about it on their website. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: dorios2001@yahoo.com (Manager) Subject: News: IPTVGLOBAL Date: 10 Jan 2005 21:13:38 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I heard that Microsoft and Sony are to form a company called IPTVGLOBAL to deliver IPTV services worldwide through direct subscription using ADSL. ------------------------------ Reply-To: BobGoudreau@nc.rr.com From: BobGoudreau Subject: Re: Real Election Reform Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 13:31:30 -0500 [As always, please remove my email address from this message's header and from the issue's ToC Thanks.] rob51166@yahoo=2Ecom wrote: > We also still use the 'First Past The Post' method instead of > Proportional Representation, which I believe you use in the US. Heck, no. I'm not aware of any jurisdiction in the US that uses proportional representation for any office. I suppose there might be some locality somewhere that uses it for a city council or county. commission, but certainly not in any federal or state level elections, I'd wager that most American voters probably don't even know what PR is! (In case any Digest readers aren't familiar with PR, it's a system in which voters select a *party*, not a person, on their ballot for members of a legislative body. Seats are then doled out in proportion to each party's share of the total vote, starting at the top of each one's "party list" of potential legislators.) In fact, almost all federal and state offices are filled using the same so-called "first past the post" system that is used in Britain [BTW, can anyone enlighten me as to why that term is used? It makes it sound like a horse race, in which the first contestant to reach a specified milestone is the winner, but that's not how such elections actually work. A better name would be "winner take all", since the candidate with the most votes wins the election, even if he has a mere plurality instead of a majority.] The only non-obvious exception I can think of in general elections is Louisiana, which has a system similar to that used in French presidential elections. Instead of party-specific primary elections (which all other states use to select each party's candidate for the general election), Louisiana fields an "open primary" in which multiple candidates from all parties may run, and in which the entire electorate may vote. If no candidate garners a majority of the vote, th en a run-off election between the top two finishers determines the winner. And of course, there is also the one big obvious exception: the presidency (and the vice-presidency), which is determined by the Electoral College instead of by direct popular vote. Bob Goudreau Cary, NC ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 10:06:28 -0500 From: Chris Farrar Subject: Real Election Reform rob51166@yahoo.com wrote on Re: Real Election Reform on 9 Jan 2005 08:08:01 -0800 > We still use the old 'X in a box' method here in the UK on our ballot > papers and, depending on which election/referendum we're having > (local, national or European) and the amount of candidates taking > part, the ballot paper can be up to 18" (that's right, 1' 6") long. Depending on where you vote in the US, that paper ballot would then have to be up to 6' (yes, 6 feet) or more long. While the presidential election is the one everyone follows, there is more on the ballot that "Bush/Kerry". You have to pick senators, sheriff, judges, district attorney, dog catcher, and garbage man. Plus any referendums that make it onto the ballot. One radio station revealed that the absentee (mail in) ballot for a suburb of Chicago was 20 (yes twenty!) pages long. Chris ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Real Election Reform Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 22:26:57 -0500 In article , rob51166@yahoo.com says: > We still use the old 'X in a box' method here in the UK on our ballot > papers and, depending on which election/referendum we're having > (local, national or European) and the amount of candidates taking > part, the ballot paper can be up to 18" (that's right, 1' 6") long. We don't use the X method but instead you must complete a line to form and arrow pointing to your choice. The ballot is then scanned, a counter on the front of the machine incremented, the votes recorded on both internal paper tape and electronically. The ballot is then stored in a bin below the scanning head. Probably the most fool proof system I've come across in many years. This year was interesting though. We print ballots with both English and Spanish on them. The problem was that there were an unusual number of referenda on the ballot so the type was squashed down. ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Real Election Reform Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 14:50:44 +1100 rob51166@yahoo.com contributed the following: > I think that sooner or later, a computerised voting system will have > to be introduced here in the UK as it'll have to be in the US, but at > the moment there appear to be so many creases to iron out to get a > decent and fair system, as well as getting all of our political > parties to agree to it that it's not going to happen for quite a > while. In Australia we have COMPULSORY federal and state Proportional voting (for everyone over 18) -- but get this: we still use a PENCIL to record our votes! Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Jan 2005 02:09:55 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Gore Tax Increase Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> There are four components to the Federal Universal Service >> Fund. They are: >> * Low-Income. >> * High-Cost. >> * Schools and Libraries. >> * Rural Health Care. > Golly gee. How ever did these people get telephone service before Al > Gore came along and gave us the Algore tax (a.k.a. the Federal > Universal Service Fund)? USF to support low income and high cost have been around forever. Back in Bell System days it was mostly transfers inside the Bell System where it was largely invisible. The school and library and rural health care parts are new, and I agree that their adminstration leaves something to be desired. > If the Algore tax is all so wonderful, why is it that in 1977, I had > basic telephone service for under $10, and now I pay at least $25? Let's plug those numbers into the Bureau of Labor Statistics' CPI calculator. $10 in 1977 is a little over $31 today. In constant dollars, your monthly service has gone down. And if for some reason you wanted to call me, a call from Seattle to New York in 1977 would have been about 30 cents/min which is about 95 cpm today. But we know that today's toll rates are under 5 cpm. ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Place the Blame on Me Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 20:21:58 -0600 Hi Steve, Steve Sobol wrote in message news:telecom24.11.12@telecom-digest.org: > Tony P. wrote: >> Mmmm ... someone didn't turn journaling on and then did an rm -r huh? > Tony, that assumes they are using a version of Unix/Linux/*BSD that > has a journaling filesystem available, and that the filesystem was > actually formatted as a journaling filesystem (like ext3). >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Regards the Unix 'rm' command, I have >> 'rm' aliased to 'rm -i', but then if there are a dozen files in some >> obsolete directory I wish to erase in bulk with 'rm -f' I get in >> trouble. I have been told before it is not a good idea to use an >> established Unix command as part of an alias to something else. Friday >> was a nightmare for me, and it wasn't even the 13th of the month. PAT] > Pat: > Seeing as how rm -f is so powerful -- especially the way I use it, rm > -rf (recursive/delete subdirectories too, force deletion) -- I try to > remember to pause and examine the command line to make sure I'm > deleting the right directory(ies). > In my case, since I run my own Linux server and babysit a couple > others, and am logged in as the 'superuser', I can very easily delete > everything on the drive with one command, so I try to be extra careful > even when not logged in as superuser. :) > Hope this helps. I've spent the last 20 or so years working with Unix/Linux systems. When I say del DELETE (rm) I mean it. Unrecoverable. We get over it after the first FUBAR ... > 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. Well, I've got 5 grandkids AND I work in retail part time. (When networking jobs are slow) :-) Herb Stein herb@herbstein.com ------------------------------ From: Paul Subject: Re: Streamlined Cable TV in a Card Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 16:41:17 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com > Incidentally, getting rid of the box makes an especially > big difference when it comes to smaller screens, like kitchen-counter > TV's.) Too bad nobody makes a small TV with CableCard support. I've been shopping for a small CableCard capable LCD TV for my kitchen counter and I'm only finding large sets in the $2000+ range right now... -- Paul ------------------------------ From: Andrew Subject: Re: The Day the Bell System Died Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 15:03:35 -0800 Organization: http://newsguy.com Tony P. wrote: > All the theory and initial development for SONET was done by Bell > Labs. More importantly the laser was also a Bell Labs project, as > well as the transistor, etc. Mother Bell could have become quite the > giant if she didn't give up the rights to her own research and > production. > They also pioneered the things we take for granted like CLID, etc. I > recall a Bell sponsored book from 1972 that discussed the new services > over a few pages. The title escapes me but they had prototype photos of > the CLID gear, the Trimline prototypes, etc. And cellular service, of course. One of the favorite books in my library is an old BSP covering AMPS implementation on the 1AESS switch, dated 1983 I believe. andrew@lod.com ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: The Day the Bell System Died Date: 10 Jan 2005 06:49:49 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Fred wrote: Divestiture was the result of a case brought against Western Electric in 1949 and revived, years after the 1956 Final Judgment, over three decades later. The original case sought divestiture of Western Electric, which would have opened up telecom-equipment manufacturing; instead, it was settled by closing off Western Electric from participating in competitive markets. The revived case came in an era when the "natural monopoly" in long distance had cracked. Actually I thought the case against Western Electric's monopoly manufacturing arrangement was cracked with the Carterphone decision. This allowed the manufacture and installation of equipment on the PSTN "as long as the network was protected from harm." (At least that was my understanding of the ramification of the decision.) In all actuality, being forced to install a 'registered protective device' provided more protection for my equipment against the phone company than it protected the phone network. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 22:31:48 -0500 In article , monty@roscom.com says: > By LISA W. FODERARO > Chaz Albert, a freshman at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., is a > passionate "texter," someone who loves to send and receive pithy text > messages via cellphone. He does it at home, at school and at work. He > often prefers texting over talking on his cellphone. > Last month, though, Mr. Albert's habit caught up with him. Only $80 > of his $400 cellphone charges were his father's, and most of his own, > he said, were for text-messaging. Interesting that they actually charge for SMS now. Back about ten years ago when OmniPoint first came on the scene SMS was free. Apparently the bean counters saw a revenue angle and that is why people like Mr. Albert are being held over a barrel. ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #13 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jan 11 18:13:18 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0BNDH902265; Tue, 11 Jan 2005 18:13:18 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 18:13:18 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501112313.j0BNDH902265@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 V24 #14 TELECOM Digest Tue, 11 Jan 2005 18:12:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 14 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Mass. Republicans Launch Pre-Emptive Web Strike (Lisa Minter) Nortel Completes Earnings Restatement (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Comcast Says They Are Going to Offer VoIP. Bloggers Give This (L Minter) Is SBC Making Huge Refunds to Keep Customers From Defecting (J Decker) Comcast Broadens Offerings With Net-Based Phone Service (Jack Decker) Re: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee (Bart Z. Lederman) Re: Lingo to Charge Taxes in February - What's Up With That? (R Merrill) Re: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee (Rick Merrill) New Utility For Midi Ringtone Creation (cellspark) Payphones With Rotary Dials? (Lisa Hancock) Public Wireless Phones on Trains? (Lisa Hancock) Using Cell Phone as Pager (joe) Cheap Long Distance (sidellc@excite.com) Penna Attorney General and Norvergence (Lisa Hancock) Business Monitoring of Phone Calls (Lisa Hancock) Re: REN For Western Electric Products? (Rick Merrill) Re: REN For Western Electric Products? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (DevilsPGD) Re: New York Times Mulls Charging Web Readers (LB@notmine.com) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 11 Jan 2005 09:05:53 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Mass. Republicans Launch Pre-Emptive Web Strike BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts Republicans have launched a pre-emptive strike against Democratic Attorney General Tom Reilly by snapping up online Internet addresses that would have been obvious picks for him if he decides to run for governor in 2006. Reilly has not yet said whether he will challenge Republican Governor Mitt Romney in 2006. But if Reilly does run, it will be hard for him to use the Web sites reillyforgovernor.com, tomreillyforgovernor.com, reillyforgovernor2006.com and reillyforgovernor06.com. That's because the state Republican Party registered those domain names last week, the Boston Herald newspaper reported on Monday. "We intend to have some fun if he indeed is the candidate for governor," Tim O'Brien, executive director of the state party, told Reuters. He added that the party did not break any rules. Reilly advisers said the Republicans' Internet maneuvering appeared premature, given that the Democratic attorney general has not yet announced his candidacy. Susan Crawford, an expert in Internet law at New York's Cardozo Law School, said the Republicans' move seemed to be a new twist on the practice of cybersquatting, although O'Brien said it was "standard procedure for political operatives." A term that originated in the 1990s, when the Internet was catching on, cybersquatting refers to the act of reserving a particular domain name for the purpose of selling it at a higher price. Celebrities and corporations have typically been victims of cybersquatting schemes. Crawford said she could not recall another instance of one political party registering domain names for a potential rival, although she noted that before he ran for president in 2000, then-Gov. George W. Bush of Texas complained of a parody site that used his name. Crawford said Reilly still has several options available should he decide to run for governor. She noted the number of possible domains has expanded in recent years with the advent of new Web suffixes like .info,/**/.biz and .us. Reilly also could dispute the Republicans' move through arbitration, Crawford said. However, the cost of doing so is likely to be far greater than the $6 to $9 fee for registering a new domain name. "He definitely has options, but he may not want to waste his money," she told Reuters. 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 Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: An observation on this matter: At one point, a few years ago, the thing called 'cybersquatting' was supposed to be against the law, at the worst, and against good taste at the least. I can guarentee you, if *I* (or most any of you) chose to take on the name of some company, or politician, etc as a web page, we would get shot down promptly. I thought -- and there I go, trying to think for myself again -- one of the missions of ICANN was to prevent this sort of thing, and to obligate web page owners to play by certain rules, including no cybersquatting. But when hot shot politicians ignore all the rules on the net and do as they please, what hope is there when a nothing, a nobody like myself complains that the penis enlargement company ripped off a name -- in the .org domain yet -- pertaining to internet history. Neither ICANN nor PIR has answered my inquries about http://internet-history.org and retrieving it back to me, the lawful owner. I don't think they are going to give it back, and if I had the money (or lacking same, a pro-bono attorney) to sue the cybersquatter I would. I can tell you that ICANN appears to be just a bad joke on the net perpetrated by Esther Dyson, Vint Cerf and some others who essentially have done nothing to date except go on expensive vacation/conventions and run out of money frequently. They certainly do not prevent cybersquatters. Let's see how they deal with it/if they deal with it, now that some politicians are involved. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 12:38:14 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Nortel Completes Earnings Restatement Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 11, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18655&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Nortel completes earnings restatement BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Analysis: Rocky road lies ahead for Nortel's Owens * Comcast aims for new growth with Internet phone service * VeriSign acquires LightWave * Ciena unveils Ethernet switch * Qwest to raise rates USTA SPOTLIGHT * Telecom Crash Course -- The must-have book for telecom professionals EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Comcast will launch video instant-messaging service in 2005 * Commentary: Short Message Service ads drive U.K. commerce Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18655&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 04:57:10 -0500 Subject: Comcast Says They Are Going to Offer VoIP. Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Three selected blog entries (the first and last are from the same person): http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/index.php?p=175&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdblog 1/10/2005 Comcast VoIP's service is no great bargain -- and I'm talking than just the high price. -Posted by russell.shaw @ 10:34 am (PDT) I've been a Comcast broadband subscriber ever since they bought AT&T Broadband Internet's business. I've even filed this entry over my Comcast high-speed Internet connection, which happens to be working. And I am here to tell you I am quite skeptical about the pricing model, and the reliability justifications. Read my previous post to get the details of these. Let's take a look at the two "reliability" crucibles of Comcast's intent to charge a small fortune ($39.95 for existing broadband customers, $54.95 for a la carte) for VoIP. Full story at: http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/index.php?p=175&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdblog http://www.daffodillane.com/movabletype/archives/2005/01/comcast_to_offe_1.html January 10, 2005 Comcast to Offer Internet-Based Phone Service You can almost hear the dark music of the Empire from Star Wars playing in the background. VOIP (Voice Over IP) is the future, there is no doubt about that. We are moving toward the future of convergence. One wire into your home that provides, Internet Access, Phone Service, and Television. Of course given my choice of ruthless Mega-Corporattions to be successful at this Comcast is the lowest on my list. They have a long standing reputation for being a company that rolls over to lawyers at the drop of a hat and they have a long history of poor customer service made even poorer when they run all the competition out of business. ..... Full story at: http://www.daffodillane.com/movabletype/archives/2005/01/comcast_to_offe_1.html __________ http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/index.php?p=174&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdblog 1/10/2005 The details on Comcast's VoIP play -Posted by russell.shaw @ 10:14 am (PDT) In a move that was widely expected, Comcast Corp. has announced it would market its Digital Voice VoIP service to 15 million homes in 20 of its markets by the end of this year, and expand the service system-wide next year. Comcast had been doing selective testing of DigitalVoice for more than a year. The price will be set at both a la carte and bundled levels, and will include unlimited U.S. calling. For subscribers who receive their broadband Internet service from competitors, such as Verizon or Qwest, Comcast will charge $54.95 a month. Subscribers that already use Comcast for broadband Internet will fork over an extra $39.95 a month. My take on this pricing is that it is a little bit high. Discounting the so-called "free" VoIP services, Comcast must compete against lower prices from its established phone company competitors and discounted, VoIP pure plays. For example, in Comcast's corporate home of Philadelphia, Verizon's Voice Wing charges $34.95 a month, and $24.95 if you get Verizon DSL. Vonage's home user pricing plans are $24.95, but go as low as $14.95 a month for 500 minutes. Full story at: http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/index.php?p=174&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdblog 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: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 04:44:16 -0500 Subject: Is SBC Making Huge Refunds to Keep Customers From Defecting Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com The following appeared in a blog at: http://voip-blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/voip/is-sbc-sprinting-to-or-away-from-voip.html This is quite interesting and if true, I wonder if SBC would be violating any tariffs by making such one-time refunds? Anyway, if what is being said in this blog entry is really true, it sounds to me like the smart thing for any SBC customer that has any significant amount of long distance usage to do would be to call SBC, and say something to the effect that they are going to switch to VoicePulse or Vonage (or some other VoIP company), and maybe ask how many days' notice SBC needs to disconnect a line, and then say they will call back to cancel service after they get the VoIP service set up and running. If SBC is going to make an offer, that ought to trigger it, and based on their response the customer could decide whether they wanted to stay with SBC or seriously investigate a VoIP company. Maybe local service is becoming like long distance, where those who do nothing and continue on as they always have pay the highest rates, while those who call and threaten to leave get price concessions. I'd be interested to know if any other SBC customers have had similar experiences to what is reported here. Rich Tehrani's VoIP blog VoIP Blogger & TMC President & Publisher This VoIP blog covers VoIP news (Voice over IP) and VoIP analysis, call center, CRM, and other technologies. January 10, 2005 Is SBC Sprinting to or Away From VoIP? There comes a time in all of our lives when we have to get from point A to point B and it is pouring rain and you left without an umbrella. Personally my least favorite rain is the small drops coupled with a high-speed wind ... You know, the kind that hurts your face. If you are like me when caught in such situations, you begin to think about the benefits of sprinting to point B, versus casually walking. Then there is that quick walk that you can do that is right about in the middle. Generally, I am a sprinter ... That is until I run out of breath (which seems to come more quickly every year). What if rain drops were like VoIP customers being lost? If you are an ILEC, every defector to Vonage or CallVantage is like a rain drop. Sure, one drop or two is not a big deal but when a whole bunch of these drops (lets say hundreds or thousands or even millions) hit you, you have to decide how to get out of the storm. A company like SBC is getting hit and hit hard and their umbrella (which would be their own VoIP service) is not available at the moment yet they hope to have one soon. SBC's plans are as follows... Get VoIP rolled out ASAP and at the same time, do whatever it takes to stop losing customers. Recently a colleague of mine who has read my columns was going to switch to Vonage or CallVantage and when they called SBC, they were offered a special "all-you-can-eat" long-distance plan for under $30 per month as well as a refund on their bill going back months for a total of hundreds of dollars! He hasn't received the check yet but this is perhaps the biggest threat to VoIP I have heard from the incumbents and it seems to be a sure sign of desperation. It is not beyond these companies who crippled DSL competition in the past to do whatever it takes to kill VoIP but the question is are they too late. The answer is yes as the momentum of VoIP is too strong to be killed by a $29.95 price point. Still it is a significant day when SBC basically says, "We will not lose customers." Lets see how this plays out. It is difficult to understand how cheap the SBC VoIP offering will be when the PSTN cost hovers around $30. So until their VoIP umbrella can be found it seems like a quick pace of walking (or is this a sprint?) is the best solution to get SBC to point B. Posted by rtehrani at January 10, 2005 03:19 PM [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not know about the giant refunds going back over several months, but it sounds like something SBC might try. I do know that SBC has more money than they know what to do with, if the premiums they offer to 'returning customers' is any indication. Over the year and a half since I left them and went to Prairie Stream, they have inudated me with offers and premiums and special pricing if I would go back to them. For example: a year of 'take it all' along with 60 minutes of long distance for $24.95 per month, plus a month of totally free service, and three more months of $10 'discount' on the already low prices. Other offers from SBC have been for a $50 Visa gift certificate, free wireless phones, etc, and once I got an offer for three months *free* DSL and no obligation for contract on any sort of continued service. Rarely a week goes by I do not get some sort of promotional thing from them always with a letter saying how much they want to have me back. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 14:09:27 -0500 Subject: Comcast Broadens Offerings With Net-Based Phone Service http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0501/11/D01-56201.htm Tuesday, January 11, 2005 Cable operator hopes users will pay more for features such as battery backup. By Mary Claire Dale / Associated Press PHILADELPHIA -- Comcast Corp. is joining the crowd of major cable TV and telephone companies venturing into Internet-based phone service, but with a higher price and extra features which the nation's largest cable provider hopes will set its product apart. The company -- which plans to charge $40 per month, or $5 to $20 more than most of Internet phone services -- said Monday it believes customers will pay more for features such as battery backup to keep the phone line running during power outages. "We really do believe that this is the next engine of growth," CEO Brian Roberts told investors. Full story at: http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0501/11/D01-56201.htm ------------------------------ From: lederman@star.enet.dec.DISABLE-JUNK-EMAIL.com (Bart Z. Lederman) Reply-To: lederman@encompasserve.DISABLE-JUNK-EMAIL.org Organization: Personal Opinions Only Subject: Re: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 17:37:10 GMT In article , Jack Decker writes: > What next, you go to the supermarket for a gallon of milk and at the > register they tack on a "milk marketing fee" to the price to cover the > "Got Milk?" ads? Actually, you are doing that already. Go to your favorite search engine and look up "checkoffs" as they apply to U.S. agriculture. Of course, your payment to support the advertising campaign is buried in the cost of the milk, because it's the farmer that has to pay it. But you're paying for advertising many of the products you buy. Beef, pork, and dairy products are probably the biggest offenders, but I'm sure there are others. I don't disagree with your complaint about telecommunications companies tacking on fees to disguise the true cost of their service. We've all seen many of them documented here. But I now have doubts that the government is going to do anything about it. B. Z. Lederman Personal Opinions Only Posting to a News group does NOT give anyone permission to send me advertising by E-mail or put me on a mailing list of any kind. Please remove the "DISABLE-JUNK-EMAIL" if you have a legitimate reason to E-mail a response to this post. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 09:25:49 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: Lingo to Charge Taxes in February - What's Up With That? Ted Koppel wrote: > Received from Lingo/Primus' customer service today in email. So > much for "no taxes on VOIP". ... your Lingo service will be subject > a 3% Federal Telecommunications Excise Tax ... My WAG is that the service INSIDE the IP network (internet) is free and the monthly charge is for interconnecting to the outside telephone network, therefore it gets a federal tax (but NOT a state tax!). - RM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 09:28:56 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee Jack Decker wrote: > According to this thread on BroadbandReports.com > , > another VoIP company is adding a bogus fee to their price. ... No! Scandalous! Outrageous! Such a thing has never been done before ... oh wait, maybe it has. - RM ------------------------------ From: cellspark Subject: New Utility For Midi Ringtone Creation Date: 11 Jan 2005 07:25:25 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com MidiCutter is a new utility for cropping a midi file down to a ringtone. It can also save the shortened midi as a wav, au, aiff or mov file to be used as a sample for commercial sites. It's written in java so is cross-platform. Details and download at: http://www.cellspark.com/MidiCutter.com Regards, Colin Mummery, product author ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Payphones With Rotary Dials? Date: 11 Jan 2005 07:48:49 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com A few years ago, some localities were intentionally installing their public payphones with rotary dials instead of Touch-Tone. This was in the hopes of deterring criminal activity which would utilize the Tone pads to call beepers and the like to summon criminal providers. Did this initiative ever get anywhere? Did it do any good? Many consumers have their own cell phones and don't need a public phone to conduct such transactions. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Many municipalities (notably, Chicago) also got the bright idea of making pay phones 'no coins after dark', meaning pay phones would not accept coins; calls had to be made through the operator (collect) or with a calling card. That went over like a lead balloon, plus of course telco made lots of extra money on calling card/collect call surcharges. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Public Wireless Phones on Trains? Date: 11 Jan 2005 08:07:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com In the early 1990s, public wireless payphones were installed on some commuter and intercity railroad trains as a convenience to passengers. Initially they were pretty popular. In NYC, the Metro North RR put them on as many trains as possible. Amtrak provided them as well. Calls were paid for credit card at about $1/minute. Now with personal cell phones so popular, would anyone know if the public wireless phones remain available on trains? Some history: In the 1920s, major passenger trains had telephones that were connected to a city system by a plug/jack when the train paused in a station, allowing passengers to make city calls. On major trains, staff would receive and send telegrams for passengers. Until the 1950s, telegrams were an important way to transact long distance business due to the high cost of voice telephone and delay in setting up the call. In the late 1940s, some trains got public radio telephones. I've seen such phones on trains in the 1960s, but I don't know how long the older systems remained in service for public use. In 1969, the Metroliner entered service. This had phone service, introducing direct-dial for mobile service. Calls were paid in coin or calling card about $3 for three minutes. (Keep in mind in 1969 Touch Tone and pay phone direct dialing was still new technology.) Land phones could also call the train and passengers paged to take a call. A few years later, the govt pulled the frequencies for other uses, and the original Metroliner cars were replaced by newer cars; the phone booths remained but were not working. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 12:00:44 -0600 Subject: Using Cell Phone as Pager From: joe Organization: TDS.NET Internet Services www.tds.net I'm new to this forum and am fairly ignorant about digital communication, however after trolling the newsgroups, this seemed the most likely place for my post. My wife works at hospitals in two different cities. She carries a hospital-issued pager depending on which hospital and which floor she happens to be working on. She often forgets she's wearing the pager and brings it home. If she's not at the same location the following day, she has to return the pager for the next shift -- obviously a hassle. I was wondering if it would be possible to get her a smartphone that she could use as a pager depending on which location she is at. So instead of carrying the 4-South pager, she could push some key combination on her phone that would receive pages directed to the 4-South pager. If this is possible -- does anyone have any hardware recommendations? Her birthday's comming up, and I've been looking at a Treo 650. BTW, We don't have any control over the hospitals' paging systems, so getting her own page number isn't a viable solution. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: sidellc@excite.com Subject: Cheap Long Distance Date: 11 Jan 2005 10:50:22 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com https://www.tel3advantage.com/signup.aspx?Plan=29&AgentNumber=436514 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Penna Attorney General and Norvergence Date: 11 Jan 2005 12:00:22 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com The Attorney General of Pennsylvania is taking action against Norvergence. See: http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press/cons_advis/NorVergence.cfm ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls Date: 11 Jan 2005 13:06:37 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com The NYT reported that business now routinely monitor and record calls to customer service, even when the caller is on hold. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/11/business/11snoop.html?oref=login&8hpib This is perfectly legal and protected by the "your call may be monitored" notice they say at the beginning. One troubling aspect of the report was that the monitoring is done by 3rd party companies. To me, that opens up the risk for identity-theft since the monitors can hear all very personal information, including stuff said on hold. The report mentioned a monitor citing an employee who gave her phone number to a customer asking for a date. Why was that wrong? Indeed, I as a customer developed several good phone relationships with the company rec and would've pursued one except the rep was based way too far away from me. (Another was very nice but married). Is this monitoring fair to customers and employees? Is it in the public interest? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 09:27:18 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: REN For Western Electric Products? Robbie McFerren wrote: > If you need to use these products right now, just assume each device > has an REN of 1.0. This will allow you use the devices by > overestimating the REN. I will dispute that suggestion because the Princess phones I have seen have a REN of 0.1B; every phone must be labeled, so read the label! ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: REN For Western Electric Products? Date: 11 Jan 2005 06:55:04 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Robbie McFerren wrote: > If you need to use these products right now, just assume each device > has an REN of 1.0. This will allow you use the devices by > overestimating the REN. I am concerned that some of these units may have a REN _greater_ than 1.0, therefore I think I'd be better in _underestimating_ the REN. For example, does an outdoor ringer require external power or is it run off the telephone line? That is probably a current draw. The older sets were not as efficient as later models and may use more power. The 500 set contained numerous circuit improvements over the 302 set. Note that in the old days people didn't have as many extension telephones as they do today. Many homes had just one phone -- the Bell System embarked on a big "get an extension phone" campaign in the 1950s to drum up business. With only one set, REN was not a big issue. Further, everything was Bell installed back then, so an installer would know and take care special needs if necessary. Today we not only have our voice telephone sets all over the house, but also fax, modem, and answering machines too. To be sure, they have low RENs, but they still consume current. Adding a heavy load to the line could impact such devices. ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 00:15:23 -0700 Organization: Octanews In message Tony P. wrote: > Apparently the bean counters saw a revenue angle and that is why > people like Mr. Albert are being held over a barrel. Held over a barrel? How is paying for services you use being "held over a barrel"? ------------------------------ From: LB@notmine.com Subject: Re: New York Times Mulls Charging Web Readers Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 08:40:36 -0500 Organization: Optimum Online Lisa Minter wrote: > NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times Co. is considering > subscription fees to the online version of its flagship newspaper, > which now is available for free, but it has no immediate plans to do > so, the company said on Friday. > One of the paper's biggest rivals, Dow Jones & Co. Inc.'s Wall Street > Journal, charges for its online edition. A New York Times spokeswoman > said the company is reviewing whether it should make any business > changes to the online version but that no shifts were imminent. > "We are reviewing the site to see whether or not there would be any > areas where we should change the business model," said the > spokeswoman, Catherine Mathis, adding: "This is not new. We've been > discussing this for some time." > According to the upcoming issue of BusinessWeek magazine, whose cover > story focuses on The New York Times Co., an internal debate has been > raging at the newspaper over whether its online edition, which had > about 18.5 million unique monthly visitors as of November, should > adopt a subscription fee. > N.Y. Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. was quoted in the article > as saying: "It gets to the issue of how comfortable are we training a > generation of readers to get quality information for free. That is > troubling." > The online edition of the newspaper is available for free to > registered users, although some content, such as archived articles, > are available only if readers pay a fee. > Paid Web sites can help publishers draw new circulation revenue, but > free online editions can be attractive to advertisers because they > attract many more readers. > Newspaper industry consultant John Morton, who heads Morton Research > Inc., said he thinks many newspapers want to wean readers off free > online content and transform their Web sites into paid-only > publications. > Free editions of newspapers on the Web are "quickly falling out of > favor," he said. "I think you will see newspapers selling electronic > subscriptions or print subscriptions, or a combination of both, which > is what the Wall Street Journal does, and has been very successful > at." > The Journal had about 701,000 paid subscribers for its Web > edition as of the third quarter. Online Journal subscribers pay > $79 a year, or $39 if they also subscribe to the print version. > In a statement, Dow Jones' president of electronic publishing Gordon > Crovitz said his company "would be delighted" if the N.Y. Times began > charging online subscription fees. > "We have never understood why a publisher would charge for its news in > one medium, such as print, then give it away for free in another > medium, such as online," he said. > Mathis said that when the online version of the New York Times was > first launched in the mid-1990s, it experimented with charging readers > outside the United States a subscription fee. She said that plan was > dropped in 1998 in favor of a free site for all registered users. > NOTE: NY Times is available each day at no charge to readers here of > TELECOM Digest. 75-100 headlines from the front section, politics and > technology sections of NYT are constantly refreshed throughout the > day and can be viewed at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html > and I hope you will enjoy it. > 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. 18.7 million unique vs 701,000 defines the Times dilemma very nicely. I get Ny Times e-mailed every day. I had WSJ but the price was too much. (BTW they will usually drop from 79 to 59 if pushed a little). If NYTimes charged a LOW amount I would pay. LB ------------------------------ 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 V24 #14 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jan 12 19:59:47 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0D0xkr12982; Wed, 12 Jan 2005 19:59:47 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 19:59:47 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501130059.j0D0xkr12982@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 V24 #15 TELECOM Digest Wed, 12 Jan 2005 20:00:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 15 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FTC Versus Porno Spammers, Kind Of (danny burstein) Digital Video Programmer WANTED (david@maxomo.com) DeltaThree Adds SBC To It's Line Up (Jack Decker) SIP Goals and Milestones For 2005? (halu@enea.se) Your Call (and Rants on Hold) Will Be Monitored (Monty Solomon) Hacker Penetrates T-Mobile Systems (Monty Solomon) Preventing Wireless Spam? (azieger) Book Review: "Web of Deception", Anne P. Mintz (Rob Slade) Motorola's Zafirovski Resigns (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Re: Public Wireless Phones on Trains? (Scott Dorsey) Re: Public Wireless Phones on Trains? (John Levine) Re: Download Site SuprNova Closes Amid Hollywood Crackdown (401kill) Re: Executone PBX and a Problem (T. Sean Weintz) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time (Tony P.) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time (Hancock) Re: Another VOIP Company Adds Bogus Fee (Linc Madison) Re: Another VOIP Company Adds Bogus Fee (Barry Margolin) Re: REN For Western Electric Products (Lisa Hancock) 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: Danny Burstein Subject: FTC Versus Porno Spammers, Kind Of Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 17:16:11 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC It's a start.... "The Federal Trade Commission has charged a network of corporations and individuals with using spam to sell access to online pornography. The FTC alleges that the defendants, acting as a single business enterprise, barraged consumers with e-mails containing sexually-explicit content without the required warning label ... http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2005/01/globalnetsolutions.htm _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: david@maxomo.com Subject: Digital Video Programmer WANTED Date: 11 Jan 2005 14:17:24 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi all: New company led by lead develper on COSA's After Effects is looking for a top notch engineer or developer/programmer with skills in digital video image manipulation, storage, and standards. You must know Quicktime, Real, Windows Media, MPEG2 and MPEG4 as well as Flash and MP3. Position entails knowledge of "grabbing" first few frames from streaming media across the web to enable quasi-thumbnails. Obviously, knowledge of video metadata capture important. Exposure or experience with Real, Windows and QT APIS essential; if you are expert in one or more and can learn the others quickly don't hesitate to apply. You should know digital video, as used in streaming media and broadcast TV in and out and be able to work in an organized, efficient and timely manner. This is a project engagement with the possibility of becoming full-time. You will be challenged by this project and have the opportunity to forge new ground in the digital video industry. Knowledge of grids and distributed computing and/or Search Engines a + but not necessary. Pay is decent; we will work out a fee for the project and if you have additional hours because of added features you will compensated. Email david@maxomo.com or davidL@bway.net for more info. ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 16:02:28 -0500 Subject: DeltaThree Adds SBC To It's Line Up From Andy Abramson's blog: http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/2005/01/deltathree_adds.html DeltaThree Adds SBC To It's Line Up According to a sell side analyst covering DeltaThree it seems in their SEC filings today they have announced a relationship with SBC to do what they are doing for Verizon and more. The relationship spans just about everything but the network, something SBC already has in place. Who said the RBOC's are standing still. This is a huge win for DeltaThree, a likely blow to Level3 and a big threat to the cable MSO's who have had the chance to lead. Reports are that the SBC rollout will be later in the winter months or early spring in select markets before it goes live network wide. With VoIP not knowing any borders, does this mean Phone Wars will be here? Why can't SBC sell in Qwest's territory. This is also likely going to mean a bundle somehow with Yahoo. Yahoo is very close with SBC and Yahoo will be the entertainment partner is my guess. January 11, 2005 in PSTN, VoIP 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: halu@enea.se Subject: SIP Goals and Milestones for 2005? Date: 12 Jan 2005 02:09:15 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Can anyone tell me about the ongoing work in the SIP WG? I looked on their homepage, but the all goals and milestones had expiration date no later than September -04. Which are the issues for 2005? Thanks in advance, /Hans-Erik ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 11:49:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Your Call (and Rants on Hold) Will Be Monitored By KEN BELSON MELVILLE, N.Y. - It is the opening line on so many phone conversations these days: This call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes. The taped message is so common that many callers might assume that no one is ever listening, let alone taking notes. But they would be wrong. Monitoring is intended to track the performance of call center operators, but the professional snoops are inadvertently monitoring callers, too. Most callers do not realize that they may be taped even while they are on hold. It is at these times that monitors hear husbands arguing with their wives, mothers yelling at their children, and dog owners throwing fits at disobedient pets, all when they think no one is listening. Most times, the only way a customer can avoid being recorded is to hang up. "You could have a show on Broadway just playing the calls," said Mike Schrider, president of J.Lodge, a call monitoring service based in Hammonton, N.J. Call monitors eavesdrop on millions of exchanges a year, and listening to the mumblings and rants of people on hold comes with the job. Over all, about 2 percent of the hundreds of millions of calls made to call centers are monitored by a company's own managers or, increasingly, by third-party monitoring companies, which have come on the scene in the last couple of years. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/11/business/11snoop.html?ex=1263099600&en=567d8bda6d8b4605&ei=5090 NOTE: Read NY Times on line each day via our website at no charge and no login requirements. 50-75 headlines and stories each day. Go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 14:04:44 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hacker Penetrates T-Mobile Systems By Kevin Poulsen ,SecurityFocus A sophisticated computer hacker had access to servers at wireless giant T-Mobile for at least a year, which he used to monitor U.S. Secret Service e-mail, obtain customers' passwords and Social Security numbers, and download candid photos taken by Sidekick users, including Hollywood celebrities, SecurityFocus has learned. Twenty-one year-old Nicolas Jacobsen was quietly charged with the intrusions last October, after a Secret Service informant helped investigators link him to sensitive agency documents that were circulating in underground IRC chat rooms. The informant also produced evidence that Jacobsen was behind an offer to provide T-Mobile customers' personal information to identity thieves through an Internet bulletin board, according to court records. Jacobsen could access information on any of the Bellevue, Washington-based company's 16.3 million customers, including many customers' Social Security numbers and dates of birth, according to government filings in the case. He could also obtain voicemail PINs, and the passwords providing customers with Web access to their T-Mobile e-mail accounts. He did not have access to credit card numbers. ... Cavicchia was the agent who last year spearheaded the investigation of Jason Smathers, a former AOL employee accused of stealing 92 million customer e-mail addresses from the company to sell to a spammer. The agent was also an adopter of mobile technology, and he did a lot of work through his T-Mobile Sidekick -- an all-in-one cellphone, camera, digital organizer and e-mail terminal. The Sidekick uses T-Mobile servers for e-mail and file storage, and the stolen documents had all been lifted from Cavicchia's T-Mobile account, according to the affidavit. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/10271 ------------------------------ From: azieger Subject: Preventing Wireless Spam? Date: 12 Jan 2005 11:39:50 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I'm a writer doing some research on wireless spam, specifically a) SMS/MMS spam coming to mobile devices and b) old fashioned UCE routed to mobile devices. I'd be extremely grateful if any of you, particularly outside of the US, were willing to talk about how you're handling this problem in your company (or even how you advise others to do so, if you're not already dealing with the problem). The results will appear in InformIT.com, a site dedicated to IT stuff. InformIT.com is published by Pearson, the company behind Que Books and other large tech and consumer titles. You DO NOT need to have your name or company associated with any info you provide, however, so fear not on that score. This is proving to be a really tough assignment, so you'll really be a lifesaver if you can share any of this info. If you're willing, please write to me at annezieger@yahoo.com. (If phone calls are easier, ping me and I'll send you my number.) Thanks in advance for any help you can offer! -Anne Zieger ------------------------------ From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 08:21:17 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Web of Deception", Anne P. Mintz Reply-To: rslade@sprint.ca BKWBDCPT.RVW 20041017 "Web of Deception", Anne P. Mintz, 2002, 0-910965-60-9, U$24.95/C$37.95 %E Anne P. Mintz %C 143 Old Marlin Pike, Medford, NJ 08055 %D 2002 %G 0-910965-60-9 %I Information Today Inc. %O U$24.95/C$37.95 609-654-6266 custserv@infotoday.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965609/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965609/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965609/robsladesin03-20 %O tl n rl 2 tc 2 ta 2 tv 2 wq 2 %P 275 p. %T "Web of Deception" The introduction states that the book is intended to address information that is intentionally misleading, leaving aside considerations of honest mistakes or people who are seriously misguided. Chapter one lists various spoofs and intentionally misleading sites. Medical misinformation is covered in chapter two, which also contains some advice on checking sites. Business deception, in chapter three, is mostly concerned with stock manipulation through crafted messages, but mentions security leaks as well. Random security and privacy issues make up chapter four. Chapter five looks at charity scams. E-commerce and consumer fraud is the subject of chapter six. A very short discussion of legal advice is in chapter seven. Chapter eight has some of the standard guidelines for evaluating Websites. Searching the Web is addressed in chapter nine, and ten goes on to point out some search engine processes that may affect results. Possible remedies for misinformation are reviewed in chapter eleven. An endnote says that the net can be a confusing place. As with any book of essays, the quality is a mixed affair. There are some useful points in this work, but nothing too surprising. It is difficult to recommend that any audience would benefit, beyond the warnings already available in the general media, from the material in this book. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2004 BKWBDCPT.RVW 20041017 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu The simple fact that nobody understands you is not to be taken as proof that you are an artist http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 13:38:43 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Motorola's Zafirovski Resigns Telecom dailyLead from USTA http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18689&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Motorola's Zafirovski resigns BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Nextel added 2.9 million subscribers in 2004 * Lucent enters WiMAX market with Alvarion deal * Time Warner's CFO touts telephony * MCI chief outlines vision for telecom industry's future USTA SPOTLIGHT * Are Carriers in Your Business Plan? EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Yahoo! chief Semel touts emergence of digital living room * Wi-Fi, 3G hot in '05 REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Ebbers' trial likely to focus on relationship with Scott Sullivan Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18689&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Public Wireless Phones on Trains? Date: 11 Jan 2005 18:59:47 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) wrote: > In the early 1990s, public wireless payphones were installed on some > commuter and intercity railroad trains as a convenience to passengers. > Initially they were pretty popular. In NYC, the Metro North RR put > them on as many trains as possible. Amtrak provided them as well. > Calls were paid for credit card at about $1/minute. > Now with personal cell phones so popular, would anyone know if the > public wireless phones remain available on trains? Don't know about the rest of the country, but Metroliners on the Eastern Corridor all have Railfones. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Date: 12 Jan 2005 03:36:04 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Public Wireless Phones on Trains? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Now with personal cell phones so popular, would anyone know if the > public wireless phones remain available on trains? I haven't seen one in a long time. There were cellular pay phones on Puget Sound ferries a while ago. Does anyone know if they're still there? ------------------------------ From: 401kill@gmail.com Subject: Re: Download Site SuprNova Closes Amid Hollywood Crackdown Date: 12 Jan 2005 12:35:25 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com They made torrentbits close down as well. Bastards. ------------------------------ From: T. Sean Weintz Subject: Re: Executone PBX and a Problem Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 13:00:31 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com GOClimb wrote: > Hi folks, > My company has an Executone PBX that was installed in the early 90s. > I'm responsible for maintenance and whatnot. Two questions to the > group: > 1 - Anyone know who runs these now? As far as I know, Executone > doesn't do it anymore. For a while, I thought they'd been bought out > by Staples, but I'm not so sure now. Inter-tel - http://www.inter-tel.com bought out executone. > 2 - Specific question. Just set up a new extension. It's well within > our range of allowed numbers by the phone company. Internally it rings > through correctly to the user's phone (and the v-mail works correctly, > etc). But when I dial the number through an outside line the call goes > directly through to the operator. Anyone have a clue why this might > happen? I checked on the VMS/Forwarding screen, and everything there > looks hunky-dory. What type of trunks do you have? ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 21:51:50 -0500 In article , devilspgd@crazyhat.net says: > In message Tony P. > wrote: >> Apparently the bean counters saw a revenue angle and that is why >> people like Mr. Albert are being held over a barrel. > Held over a barrel? How is paying for services you use being "held > over a barrel"? When those very same services used to be free once upon a time. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: 12 Jan 2005 07:25:35 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com DevilsPGD wrote: >> Apparently the bean counters saw a revenue angle and that is why >> people like Mr. Albert are being held over a barrel. > Held over a barrel? How is paying for services you use being "held > over a barrel"? Nowadays computers make it easy to have very complicated pricing plans. Such plans are very hard for consumers to figure out, understand, and most importantly, remember to apply as they go day to day. This is done intentionally by business to drive up revenue as customers get confused and go over limits that are not readilly discernable. The customer was misled into thinking he had unlimited usage when in fact he had measured usage. I doubt he had any easy way of checking usage. The fact is that everyday people have lives and don't have the time to memorize all the rules of their credit cards, bank accounts, landline phones, cable TV, and cellphones, etc. What makes it even worse is that these rules constantly change -- even if you can read and understand thoes little bookets, they'll be utterly obsolete in a few months. The business world counts on consumers not being able to keep up. The few customers who gripe will get a refund, but most will flow on inertia and pay over month after month. Since all businesses do it, nothing is gained by switching to another company. As mentioned, powerful computers make it easy for businesses to have an infinite variety of pricing plans and policies, and load the customer down with fine print. (Despite my having a national unlimited calling plan, my phone bill is weighted down every month with 5-point sized disclaimers.)* When my mother was retired, she had the time, patience, and motivation to sit on the phone with customer service reps and get the facts for services she used. She would save money. But being retired she had time to do so. The rest of us have jobs, kids to drive to soccer, houses to maintain, and spouses with in-laws to visit. That doesn't leave much time to fight with the cellphone company or credit card carrier. Indeed, as time went on, my mother got tired of waiting on the phone and dealing with the nonsense and went with inertia, too. *Modern laser printers make it easy to print out all that stuff, and change it frequently as marketing people so direct. In the old days, the mainframe line printers were much less flexible and limited, with message space limited to a single innocuous line: "Long Distance, the next best thing to being there." ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 20:42:36 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Bart Z. Lederman wrote: > In article , Jack Decker writes: >> What next, you go to the supermarket for a gallon of milk and at >> the register they tack on a "milk marketing fee" to the price to >> cover the "Got Milk?" ads? > Actually, you are doing that already. Go to your favorite search > engine and look up "checkoffs" as they apply to U.S. agriculture. > Of course, your payment to support the advertising campaign is buried > in the cost of the milk, because it's the farmer that has to pay it. > But you're paying for advertising many of the products you buy. Beef, > pork, and dairy products are probably the biggest offenders, but I'm > sure there are others. You pay the cost of advertising any product you buy, unless it has no advertising at all. > I don't disagree with your complaint about telecommunications > companies tacking on fees to disguise the true cost of their service. > We've all seen many of them documented here. But I now have doubts > that the government is going to do anything about it. The cost of advertising, marketing, etc., is simply part of the provider's cost of doing business, and *SHOULD* be included in the quoted price. I get quite annoyed when I rent a car, for example. In addition to the taxes and airport concession fees and such, there is an itemized fee, in addition to the quoted rate, for the license plate on the vehicle, as well as something that sounds vaguely like recovering the capital expenditure of the rental company's purchase of the car. Can I get a rental car without the license plate? If not, then it should not be a separate line item. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee Organization: Symantec Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 01:21:08 -0500 In article , lederman@star.enet.dec.DISABLE-JUNK-EMAIL.com (Bart Z. Lederman) wrote: > In article , Jack Decker writes: >> What next, you go to the supermarket for a gallon of milk and at the >> register they tack on a "milk marketing fee" to the price to cover the >> "Got Milk?" ads? > Actually, you are doing that already. Go to your favorite search > engine and look up "checkoffs" as they apply to U.S. agriculture. > Of course, your payment to support the advertising campaign is buried > in the cost of the milk, because it's the farmer that has to pay it. > But you're paying for advertising many of the products you buy. Beef, > pork, and dairy products are probably the biggest offenders, but I'm > sure there are others. This would only be analogous if the price advertised in newspaper ads from the supermarket didn't include the checkoff fees. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: REN For Western Electric Products? Date: 11 Jan 2005 19:53:27 -0800 Rick Merrill wrote: > I will dispute that suggestion because the Princess phones I have > seen have a REN of 0.1B; every phone must be labeled, so read the > label! Only phones sold by the phone company after divesture were labeled. Phones in service in place that were bought by consumers at the time (as a great many were) weren't labeled. Also, I very much doubt the phoneco sold older phones in their stores. As to Princess phones, I'm surprised their REN is only a tenth of a 500 set. Are you referring to Western Electric sets with a bell ringer (not a tone ringer)? I could see it being slightly lower, like 0.8, but 0.1 seems awfully low. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, back in the middle/late 1980's when phone stores were commonplace, they *leased* and sold the older Western Electric sets as well as the newer stuff. 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'. 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 V24 #15 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jan 12 23:00:17 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0D40GR14659; Wed, 12 Jan 2005 23:00:17 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 23:00:17 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501130400.j0D40GR14659@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 V24 #16 TELECOM Digest Wed, 12 Jan 2005 23:00:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 16 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Equipment Review: PBXtra Line Sharing Device (TELECOM Digest Editor) Norvergence: NJ Settles With Some Leasing Companies (Danny Burstein) Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager (Bruce L. Bergman) Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager (Joseph) Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls (Justin Time) Re: Cheap Long Distance (Joseph) Re: Comcast Broadens Offerings With Net-Based Phone Service (R Merrill) Re: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com) Re: Real Election Reform (rob51166@yahoo.com) Re: Advice Needed on Villa Phone System in Bali (Carl Navarro) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 22:07:50 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Equipment Review: PBXtra Line Sharing Device A device worth investigating is the PBXtra, manufactured by TotalCom, which is also known as ACNC, a company in northern Illinois, in one of the western suburbs of Chicago. Although the company says it should not be used as a small home/office style PBX, there is no reason it cannot be, and it works very well for that purpose. It is entirely modular with 8 ports, labled port 0 through port 7. Out of the package, it defaults to 6 'extensions', and 2 outside lines. The extensions call each other by dialing 100 through 105. Dialing Zero, '0' is an alias for port 100, and dialing 9 is an alias for ports 6 and 7, the two outside lines. Dialing 9 toggles back and forth between ports 6 and 7, the two outside lines. You can also reach the two outside lines by dialing 106 or 107 instead of 9 if you prefer. There are several additional things you can put into the PBXtra via programming commands. All programming is done through a phone which is plugged into port 0. For example, you can arrange it so that the outside line plugged into port 7 is reachable by dialing '8'. So you can plug your single (landline) phone into port 6 and your Vonage phone into port 7 as I have done; then dialing '9' gets an outside dial tone on your landline phone, while dialing '8' gets the dial tone from your Vonage line. Incoming calls from Vonage or landline both ring into port 0 where they can be answered by 'the operator' or can be picked up by anyone dialing "*70" when they hear the common audible ringing. (Actually, '*7xxx' answers any ringing phone; I presume *7106 or *7107 would also intercept incoming calls.) One drawback is the PBXtra does *NOT* pass caller ID. You can get caller ID by installing a caller ID box _prior to (but in series with)_ the incoming port 6 or port 7. And PBXtra defaults to DISA (which means it answers upon getting the slightest signal of an inbound call; not enough time for caller ID to get through); but you can dismiss DISA via a programming command, so the phones will ring long enough (2 rings) to insure caller ID gets through. There are lots of things you can program into the PBXtra; conditions to make busy lines (in your system) hunt to other lines; 'camp on' to busy extensions, 'call forward' one extension to ring elsewhere; you can 'call park' (another name for 'hold') incoming calls while you search for information, etc. If the call left 'parked' or on hold is forgotten about, after a programmed period of time, it rings back to the operator. You set all that up by programming it through the zero port telephone. You can add other parties to a conference call. If you have 'custom calling' features on your telco or Vonage line, you can dial *6 to allow the switch hook flash to get past PBXtra and go to telco instead. Oh yes, also an RS-232 output to go to a printer as desired, an audio input for music, etc and a real time clock for wakeup calls at any extension. My personal configuration here is: Dial 100 (or '0') for 'the operator' (an unattended phone I use for the programming stuff mounted on the wall in the closet where the PBXtra is mounted. 101 is the phone in my bedroom. 102 is the phone on Lisa's desk. 103 is the phone on my desk. 104 is a wireless phone/answering machine in my parlor. 105 (or dial '7') is Cingular Wireless cell phone dialtone. 106 (or dial '9') is landline phone dialtone from Prairie Stream. 107 (or dial '8') is my Vonage line dialtone. (You can attach a cell phone to this system if you have a 'Cell Socket' type device. If no Cell Socket device, then ignore this additional 'dial 7' step.) I ran a 10-pair cable from the PBXtra through the wall to outside my house to the phone demarc. One pair to bring the landline into the house and the PBXtra; the other pairs to 'shuttle' the PBXtra back to the demarc for distribution around the house. Its not that I have such a huge volume of phone traffic; actually I have very little, but its great to be able to go to any phone and answer any call (VOIP, landline or cellular). You can get PBXtra from Mike Sandman http://sandman.com and then searching for 'PBXtra' in his catalog. And you will get a large -- about fifty pages -- manual with all the codes you can dial in to program it. About $350.00 plus shipping, but Mike is very honest and very prompt with shipping. Call 630-980-7710 for more details. PAT ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Norvergence: NJ Settles With More Leasing Companies Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 20:25:55 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC TRENTON - Attorney General Peter C. Harvey today announced settlements with two major financing companies - General Electric Capital Corp. ("GE") and CIT Technology Financing Services, Inc. ("CIT") - that will result in the forgiveness of nearly $8 million in payments owed by New Jersey customers under long-term service agreements with NorVergence, Inc., a bankrupt New Jersey telecommunications company. NorVergence, which was based in Newark, is under investigation for allegedly deceiving thousands of customers across the U.S., mostly small businesses, in its leasing of telecommunications equipment and services. NorVergence sold its long-term service agreements to 26 financing companies. Although NorVergence stopped providing services to the customers, the financing companies have continued to bill customers and, in some cases, have initiated legal actions against them. Some customers have monthly payments as high as $5,700. (GE and CIT...) "have agreed to forgive the majority of payments owed by 525 customers, more than one-third of the roughly 1,450 NorVergence customers in New Jersey ..." ( snippety snip. rest of press release gives more of the details, including the sordid NorVergence history ) http://www.state.nj.us/lps/newsreleases05/pr20050112a.html _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Are there *still* some small business people plugging away paying on their Norvegence lease each month? People who have read this Digest for a few months now know starting early in 2004 I began encouraging people to **freeze all accounts payable to Norvergence effective immediatly**, and only release those funds on the advice of their attorney. I guess now most attornies, by and large, would agree with my position. Oddly, I do not get much mail on this topic any longer, only now and then the occassional 'holder in due course' argument, but as sacrosanct as that argument may be, it does not apply in the case of fraud, and I am not at all convinced that the finance companies were not parties to the fraud; either they knew **or should have known** what Norvergence was about. Those companies should have spent some money investigating the leases thoroughly rather than spending the money on bonuses and fancy dinners for the employees who brought in that bogus business to them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bruce L. Bergman Subject: Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 08:32:21 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Pat: Please leave the address munged. Also E-mailed to Joe. On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 12:00:44 -0600, joe wrote: > I'm new to this forum and am fairly ignorant about digital > communication, however after trolling the newsgroups, this seemed the > most likely place for my post. > My wife works at hospitals in two different cities. She carries a > hospital-issued pager depending on which hospital and which floor she > happens to be working on. She often forgets she's wearing the pager > and brings it home. If she's not at the same location the following > day, she has to return the pager for the next shift -- obviously a > hassle. > I was wondering if it would be possible to get her a smartphone that > she could use as a pager depending on which location she is at. So > instead of carrying the 4-South pager, she could push some key > combination on her phone that would receive pages directed to the > 4-South pager. There are WAY too many variables to make a "universal pager" -- you would have to know the radio frequency -- and paging systems use many frequencies spread across all commercial VHF and UHF radio bands -- anywhere between 27 MHz to 900 MHz. You would need to know the digital "cap code" address the pager answers to, and several types of pager data protocols ... Plus there's a huge privacy concern, because any pager that's so easy to set as a duplicate of another could be used (by suspicious husbands or wives etc.) to spy on someone else's pager -- you see every paged number they see, and without a court order. A much better solution would be to use Human Engineering -- make sure she can't walk out the door with the pager in the first place. Find something simple that works to remind her to turn in the pager. Like having her clip her ID Badge or Timeclock Swipe Card to the pager, so she can't clock out without noticing the pager following it out of the pocket. Clip it to her car keys or bus/train monthly pass, that will keep her from getting too far. Or get a big red aircraft "Remove Before Flight" ribbon that clips to the outside purse or backpack handle when the pager gets issued, and doesn't get put away inside the purse until the pager is turned back in. Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700 5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545 Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 08:00:52 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 12:00:44 -0600, joe wrote: > I was wondering if it would be possible to get her a smartphone that > she could use as a pager depending on which location she is at. So > instead of carrying the 4-South pager, she could push some key > combination on her phone that would receive pages directed to the > 4-South pager. I can't speak for all mobile services but I know that with T-Mobile you can press 1 for a callback/page so someone could just put their phone to not ring and just forward immediately to voicemail and have in your outgoing message. This is is Joe. Please press 1 to leave a callback number. I will call you back as soon as possible. On AT&T (at least the TDMA service) you press 5 to leave a page/callback so you'd just go into your preferences and in your outgoing message: This is Joe. Please press 5 to leave a callback number. I will call you back as soon as possible. Keypress may be different for the GSM service. ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls Date: 12 Jan 2005 06:15:24 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Is this monitoring fair to customers and employees? Is it in the public interest? And what does this question have to do with the fact that companies are monitoring their resources to ensure they are receiving the value they pay for? If you call a company, on their telephones, and their lines, what right to privacy do you think is inherrant in that? If it was your personal telephone line and they called you, then you can expect some privacy. If the company is monitoring that outbound call and uses information disclosed on that call without a notice of monitoring, then they are playing with the wiretap laws. But when a notice that the call may be monitored "for quality control or training purposes" is played and you do not object to that fact when connected, then you have waived your right to privacy. Having been the telecom manager for a large organization with several hundred lines running through our PBX I will tell you the traffic on all larger PBXes is monitored. We used call accounting software to track all inbound and outbound calling. Outbound calls were priced and if an employee was running up an inordinate amount of usage and / or charges, it was brought to their direct manager's attention. When you have people that do not normally perform customer facing tasks running up hours of outbound usage, you have to wonder why they are spending so much time on the telephone and not on their assigned tasks. How about the person on the other end of the line? Are they providing their employer with the effort for which they are being compensated? Monitoring of telephone calls on company facilities is not an invasion of your privacy, it is an attempt to stop people from abusing their employer from stealing both time and resources. When you look at it in that light, it paints a completely different picture. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Cheap Long Distance Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 08:02:01 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 11 Jan 2005 10:50:22 -0800, sidellc@excite.com wrote: > https://www.tel3advantage.com/signup.aspx?Plan=29&AgentNumber=436514 Are we now letting contributors advertise to get kickbacks? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 11:33:19 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: Comcast Broadens Offerings With Net-Based Phone Service Jack Decker wrote: > http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0501/11/D01-56201.htm > Tuesday, January 11, 2005 > Cable operator hopes users will pay more for features such as battery > backup. It cost me $37 for a UPS via Ebay and $35 to get it fixed -- a new UPS can cost $120. I like the VoIP CallVantage system with voice email, and speed dial numbers that are available from any phone in the house. Rick Merrill ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee Date: 12 Jan 2005 09:35:16 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Bart Z. Lederman responded in article from Jack Decker by writing: >> What next, you go to the supermarket for a gallon of milk and at the >> register they tack on a "milk marketing fee" to the price to cover the >> "Got Milk?" ads? > Of course, your payment to support the advertising campaign is buried > in the cost of the milk, because it's the farmer that has to pay it. I think the original poster meant that the posted sale price turned out to be less than the price that had to be paid (not including the cost of advertising.) > I don't disagree with your complaint about telecommunications > companies tacking on fees to disguise the true cost of their service. > We've all seen many of them documented here. But I now have doubts > that the government is going to do anything about it. Actually, it's govt regulation that contributes to the problem. The govt demands "full disclosure". No problem! The companies disclose everything. But it's in microfine print written in difficult legalese and poor grammar (long run-on sentences with all sorts of exceptions/exclusions that make it hard to follow). Jack continued: > According to this thread on BroadbandReports.com > , > another VoIP company is adding a bogus fee to their price. I > personally think such fees amount to false advertising and unfair > competition because they allow the company to advertise one price, but > actually charge the consumer a higher one. Actually, I think you'd be hard pressed to find products and services where the advertised price is actually the price paid without extras nowadays. > What's doubly bad about this is that it's companies doing things like > this that are going to add fuel to the fire of those who want > regulation of VoIP companies. Very true and deservedly so. ------------------------------ From: rob51166@yahoo.com Subject: Re: Real Election Reform Date: 12 Jan 2005 13:07:04 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com David Clayton wrote: > rob51166@yahoo.com contributed the following: >> I think that sooner or later, a computerised voting system will have >> to be introduced here in the UK as it'll have to be in the US, but at >> the moment there appear to be so many creases to iron out to get a >> decent and fair system, as well as getting all of our political >> parties to agree to it that it's not going to happen for quite a >> while. > In Australia we have COMPULSORY federal and state Proportional voting > (for everyone over 18) -- but get this: we still use a PENCIL to > record our votes! > Regards, > David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com > Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. > (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) You'll never beat the good old pencil! LOL!!! BTW, voting's also compulsory in Belgium and one or two other states in the EU, but not here in the UK, thankfully. If it were, there's be a jail full to overflowing in every village, town and city! ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Advice Needed on Villa Phone System in Bali Reply-To: cnavarro@wcnet.org Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 03:19:53 GMT On 10 Jan 2005 02:57:57 -0800, Android wrote: > Hi all, > I'm in the process of building a villa in Bali and I need some advice > about the telephone setup. I'm not a telecoms specialist and don't > know much about it, so forgive me if I say, or ask, something stupid. > This villa is primarily intended as a business, i.e. people can rent > it. It consists of 2 floors (which can be rented separately) and a > separate staff house about 80 metres away. Depending on business, I > may add 2 more villas in the future. These will be between the 1st > villa and the staff house. > Apparently, in Bali it's cheap to install multiple lines in one go, > but more costly and inconvenient to add extra lines later. I have > therefore requested 3 lines straight away. Maybe I should request > more? It's not too late yet. > If and when I have 3 villas, I imagine it will be worthwhile > installing a PABX system -- but I'm not sure I can justify the > expense at this stage. > So, this is what I'm thinking. Ignoring the staff house for now, I can > route 1 line upstairs and 1 downstairs. I can add a switch that lets > both floors use the same line (with the other one available for > internet access) when the whole villa is occupied by 1 family. > When the 2 floors are rented separately, the switch could be thrown so > that each floor gets their own line (which they'd use for calls AND > internet access, albeit not at the same time). This would prevent both > phones ringing when calls come in and guests finding their phone in > use when they try to use it. > I've spoken to the engineer on this project and he's OK with this > idea and ready to implement it. So far, so good (unless you say > otherwise ...). Now for the tricky bit. > To give more flexibility, I'm thinking of installing (digital) > cordless phones. Guests could take them to the kitchen, study, pool > area, etc. This also means I don't need so many phone > points. Ideally, I'd like to make use of the cordless phone intercom > facility (where a handset can call a base unit or another handset) so > that, for example, a guest could contact the staff or another family > member without moving. I know I could install a separate intercom > system, but it just seems neater to keep the hardware to a > minimum. But I'm not sure it can be achieved without going down the > PABX route. I'm (vaguely) aware that cordless handsets must be set up > so that, for example, they don't interfere with a neighbour's set. I'm > wondering if there may be a way to exploit this, perhaps by > deliberately setting all 3 phones to the same frequency (or whatever) > so that intercom calls can be made between them. When new guests > arrive, this may need to be changed depending on whether they're > renting the whole villa or sharing it. > Trouble is, I can see many pitfalls. For instance, if all 3 phones > share the same frequency (or ID group number or whatever) won't they > interfere with each other during normal calls? Also, when the upstairs > and downstairs phones are set differently, they can't both match the > staff phone. I guess I could have 2 staff phones, but it seems too > complicated. > Any ideas? And you want to do it this way because???? For the sake of an arguement, get yourself a Panasonic TA-1232. It's a nice entry level switch that starts life as an 8 line by 16 phone box. Cable is cheap, so put as many extensions on the box as you wish. You can even set up single digit (I'd use 2 digits) dialing for restaurant and bar dialing. If you're doing the dial-up internet access instead of broadband, it will even give you reasonable data rates through the switch. This system with phones and minimal installation should be around $2K. Add another $200-800 for a decent call accounting system for billing the calls. Carl Navarro ------------------------------ 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 V24 #16 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jan 13 17:23:54 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0DMNr922927; Thu, 13 Jan 2005 17:23:54 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 17:23:54 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501132223.j0DMNr922927@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 V24 #17 TELECOM Digest Thu, 13 Jan 2005 17:24:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 17 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Media Files that Spread Spyware (Monty Solomon) API For Caller ID on Nokia Phones (rogerd) Cisco to Buy Airespace (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls (Lisa Hancock) Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls (Rick Merrill) Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager (joe) Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager (Isaiah Beard) Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager (Steve Sobol) Re: Executone PBX and a Problem (J.P. Wing) Re: Drivers Try an Anti-Photo Finish (abbygale) Re: Digital Video Programmer WANTED (Rick Merrill) Re: Level 3's VoIP Offers Critical E-911 Capability (ukcats4218016) Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? (Isaiah Beard) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Isaiah Beard) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 02:56:16 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Media Files that Spread Spyware Ben Edelman Users have a lot to worry about when downloading and playing media files. Are the files legal? Can their computers play the required file formats? Now there's yet another problem to add to the list: Will a media file try to install spyware? When Windows Media Player encounters certain special media files, it opens web pages specified by the files' creator. I recently tested one such file, which opens a deceptive popup that attempts to install software on a user's PC. If a user is tricked into pressing Yes once -- in response to the program's false claim that a user "must" accept it -- the program fills the user's computer with unwanted programs. In my testing, some 31 programs, 786 files, and 11,915 registry entries were added in a matter of minutes. http://www.benedelman.org/news/010205-1.html ------------------------------ From: rogerd Subject: API for Caller ID on Nokia Phones Date: 13 Jan 2005 13:39:35 -0800 I'm writing software to send and received some SMS messages, and would be nice if there is an incoming voice call on the phone to programmatically retrieve the caller id and show it in the software. Anyone know the API to retrieve this? (I get the 'RING' data but nothing else.) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 13:15:16 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Cisco to Buy Airespace Telecom dailyLead from USTA http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18718&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Cisco to buy Airespace BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Hacker broke into T-Mobile USA's computer network * Charter CEO touts cable's high-speed advantage * Level 3 announces job cuts * Covad to offer new service * TiVo co-founder to step aside as CEO, will retain chairman title USTA SPOTLIGHT * TELECOM '05 -- Where the Carriers Meet EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * BusinessWeek special report looks at new uses for Wi-Fi * VIDEO: Carly Fiorina previews HP's media hub REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * BPL may interfere with some radio broadcasts, report says Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18718&l=2017006 Legal and Privacy information at http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp SmartBrief, Inc. 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls Date: 13 Jan 2005 06:52:39 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Justin Time wrote: > But when a notice that the call may be monitored "for quality control > or training purposes" is played and you do not object to that fact > when connected, then you have waived your right to privacy. The article pointedly mentioned that monitoring continues even when the caller is put on hold. I would think the caller has a very reasonable expectation of privacy while on hold; and side conversations to others while on hold should not be heard or recorded. > Monitoring of telephone calls on company facilities is not an > invasion of your privacy, it is an attempt to stop people from > abusing their employer from stealing both time and resources. When > you look at it in that light, it paints a completely different > picture. There is nothing wrong with an employer expecting an employee to do his/her job -- up to a point. Should there be cameras and microphones in the restrooms to hunt for disgruntled workers? However, it appears that many employers take this monitoring and turn a phone center into a very regimented assembly line, with every error stroke, every side comment, all counted as demerits against an employee. I DO think that kind of labor environment IS against the public interest -- laws were passed many years ago to prevent that kind of electronic sweatshop. You might want to view the movie "Modern Times" to get another perspective. When I had a problem with some businesses I had to have extensive conversations with a specific service rep. During such business conversations the rep and I occassionally digressed into personal issues. One rep was originally from my hometown and we chatted about that briefly. Another rep was studying at night for her master's degree and we spoke about that to and changes in the business. In both cases such conversations were a welcome diversion from the issues they were trying to solve for me, indeed, it could be said they were taking a brief couple of minutes to soothe a customer's ruffled feathers. That is good business, not employee goofing off. The intensive monitoring controls you describe have been abused in companies that like to practice "1984" management. It has been known for years that such practices do not improve productivity. Companies who try that go out of business or end up the target of nasty lawsuits and adverse publicity. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls Date: 13 Jan 2005 17:24:05 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Justin Time wrote: > But when a notice that the call may be monitored "for quality control > or training purposes" is played and you do not object to that fact > when connected, then you have waived your right to privacy. Isn't that sort of a cop-out? Given that it's the only way to do business with some organizations you're essentially saying that by doing business with them you're waiving your right to privacy. Most people won't make the connection between call monitoring and privacy. I know that I don't. One doesn't necessarily imply the other. I don't mind organizations that I deal with monitoring my calls. But I expect them to apply due diligence and implement procedures that protect my right to privacy. I have no more reason to expect a screener to violate my privacy than an employee who handles my account information. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 12:56:19 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > The NYT reported that business now routinely monitor and record calls > to customer service, even when the caller is on hold. > See: > http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/11/business/11snoop.html?oref=login&8hpib > This is perfectly legal and protected by the "your call may be > monitored" notice they say at the beginning. Legal yes, but Bull: That message is NOT played to people placing outgoing calls. > One troubling aspect of the report was that the monitoring is done by > 3rd party companies. To me, that opens up the risk for identity-theft > since the monitors can hear all very personal information, including > stuff said on hold. Awesome concern - dang that's a good point! > The report mentioned a monitor citing an employee who gave her phone > number to a customer asking for a date. Why was that wrong? Indeed, > I as a customer developed several good phone relationships with the > company rec and would've pursued one except the rep was based way too > far away from me. (Another was very nice but married). > Is this monitoring fair to customers and employees? Is it in the > public interest? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 12:51:03 -0600 Subject: Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager From: joe Organization: TDS.NET Internet Services www.tds.net In article telecom24.16.3@telecom-digest.org, Bruce L. Bergman at blPYTHONbergman@earthlink.invalid wrote on 1/12/05 2:32 AM: > There are WAY too many variables to make a "universal pager" -- you > would have to know the radio frequency -- and paging systems use many > frequencies spread across all commercial VHF and UHF radio bands -- > anywhere between 27 MHz to 900 MHz. You would need to know the > digital "cap code" address the pager answers to, and several types of > pager data protocols ... I suspected as much. I'll suggest the human engineering route. Thanks, Bruce ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 15:47:20 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Joe wrote: > BTW, We don't have any control over the hospitals' paging systems, so > getting her own page number isn't a viable solution. Then neither is using a cell phone to act as a pager. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am curious about something on this. I have been in many hospitals and medical centers where they ask you to turn off your cell phone while there. They say it has to do with radio telemetry equipment on the premises. Yet, the doctors and all the staff members have pagers, and they don't turn those off. You'd think radio signals from either type of device would be a problem. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 21:05:34 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Joseph wrote: > On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 12:00:44 -0600, joe wrote: >> I was wondering if it would be possible to get her a smartphone that >> she could use as a pager depending on which location she is at. So >> instead of carrying the 4-South pager, she could push some key >> combination on her phone that would receive pages directed to the >> 4-South pager. > I can't speak for all mobile services but I know that with T-Mobile > you can press 1 for a callback/page so someone could just put their > phone to not ring and just forward immediately to voicemail and have > in your outgoing message. This is is Joe. Please press 1 to leave a > callback number. I will call you back as soon as possible. I think the numeric feature can be found at all the major carriers at this point. I have it on Sprint, I had it on Verizon and Alltel, AT&T and Cingular have it ... Sprint and AT&T (and I think Cingular) also default to sending the number you sent via Caller ID as the numeric page, if you don't have CID blocked. JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005) ------------------------------ From: J.P. Wing Subject: Re: Executone PBX and a Problem Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 11:17:40 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com I used to maintain an Executone IDS system. http://www.sundance-communications.com/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Executone-Isoetec&number proved to be a very valuable resource. J.P. Wing T. Sean Weintz wrote in message news:telecom24.15.13@telecom-digest.org: > GOClimb wrote: >> Hi folks, >> My company has an Executone PBX that was installed in the early 90s. >> I'm responsible for maintenance and whatnot. Two questions to the >> group: >> 1 - Anyone know who runs these now? As far as I know, Executone >> doesn't do it anymore. For a while, I thought they'd been bought out >> by Staples, but I'm not so sure now. > Inter-tel - http://www.inter-tel.com bought out executone. >> 2 - Specific question. Just set up a new extension. It's well within >> our range of allowed numbers by the phone company. Internally it rings >> through correctly to the user's phone (and the v-mail works correctly, >> etc). But when I dial the number through an outside line the call goes >> directly through to the operator. Anyone have a clue why this might >> happen? I checked on the VMS/Forwarding screen, and everything there >> looks hunky-dory. > What type of trunks do you have? ------------------------------ From: abbygale Subject: Re: Drivers Try an Anti-Photo Finish Date: 13 Jan 2005 08:24:38 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com John R. Covert wrote: > In reply to an article stating "the firms that make and operate > radar camera systems and analyze the photos for municipalities > routinely check negatives where license plates look unreadable" > Linc Madison wrote: >> What UTTER and COMPLETE nonsense! If the positive image is illegible, >> the negative image will be EXACTLY as illegible. > This is only true if you are assuming EXACTLY the same technology for > the negative and positive image. But this is not usually the case. > The shadow definition (the number of different levels of light and > dark or shades of gray) as well as the number of different colors > representable is usually significantly greater on negative film than > on positive print paper. The resolution is usually higher as well. > The printing process which creates the positive image does not retain > all of the information that is in the negative. > So it's not nonsense at all. You might enjoy the movie "Blow Up!" > /john I hate Photo Cop, red light camera, speed camera, photo radar, traffic light camera or whatever they are called ... I just hate them!!! Are you sure this PhotoBlocker spray works? They claim that it was tested by the media on their website www.phantomplate.com On the videos it shows the police saying that it really works by making your license plate invisible to traffic cameras. Can anybody tell me if this is true? www.photoblocker.com Please let me know what you think. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 12:54:04 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: Digital Video Programmer WANTED david@maxomo.com wrote: > Hi all: > New company led by lead develper on COSA's After Effects is looking > for a top notch engineer or developer/programmer with skills in > digital video image manipulation, storage, and standards. You must > know Quicktime, Real, Windows Media, MPEG2 and MPEG4 as well as Flash > and MP3. Position entails knowledge of "grabbing" first few frames > from streaming media across the web to enable quasi-thumbnails. > Obviously, knowledge of video metadata capture important. Exposure or > experience with Real, Windows and QT APIS essential; if you are expert > in one or more and can learn the others quickly don't hesitate to > apply. You should know digital video, as used in streaming media and > broadcast TV in and out and be able to work in an organized, efficient > and timely manner. This is a project engagement with the possibility > of becoming full-time. > You will be challenged by this project and have the opportunity to > forge new ground in the digital video industry. Knowledge of grids > and distributed computing and/or Search Engines a + but not > necessary. Pay is decent; we will work out a fee for the project and > if you have additional hours because of added features you will > compensated. Email david@maxomo.com or davidL@bway.net for more info. Are you gonna tell us WHERE this opportunity is located? ------------------------------ From: ukcats4218016@yahoo.com Subject: Re: Level 3's VoIP Services Offer Critical E-911 Capability Date: 13 Jan 2005 11:04:43 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com How is this any different than the 911 service being offered by most of the other VoIP providers? Is this better ... more evolved? ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Calling Canada is an International Call? Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 15:36:09 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com quickcur@yahoo.com wrote: > So I joined. The rates for calling everywhere in US is 10C/minute. > Last month I called Canada. Now I got the bill and found out that this > plan charges Canada call as international call and it is $1.32/minute. People have already made plenty of comments about the $2 charge for calls to 1-800 numbers bit, so I won't go there. However, if you plan on making calls to Canada more frequently, and you have broadband service already, you might want to consider just ditching the local and LD phone company altogether and going with one of the many VoIP providers. Nearly all of them include unlimited calls to Canada as part of their monthly charge for the service, along with the entire US. The monthly cost can range from $20 to $40 depending on who you go with, usually on par with the cost of local phone service with a decent feature set. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 15:43:59 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Tony P. wrote: > Interesting that they actually charge for SMS now. Back about ten > years ago when OmniPoint first came on the scene SMS was free. They charge for SMS now because now, you can actually SMS with other US carriers, and unfortunately for everyone, that interoperabiltiy doesn't come free. Verisign is the company that handles intercarrier SMS in the United States for most of these cell companies through their Metcalf solution, and they charge a fee per message to the carriers for this favor, the cost of which is then passed on to the end user. For more info: http://tinyurl.com/43c3j E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ 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! 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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 V24 #17 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jan 14 16:30:39 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0ELUdV04281; Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:30:39 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:30:39 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501142130.j0ELUdV04281@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 V24 #18 TELECOM Digest Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:30:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 18 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Texas AG vs. Spammers. (Texas!) (Danny Burstein) Texas-Size Lawsuit For 4th-Largest Spammer (Lisa Minter) Cutting-Edge Telecom to Help Post-Tsunami (Lisa Minter) Teen Web Editor Drives Apple to Court Action (Lisa Minter) Cisco to Buy Airespace (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Sprint, Alltel Pull Back From Wireless 411 Plans (Telecom dailyLead) Palm Treo 650 (hkelley@yahoo.com) Jerry Springer - The Opera (Rob) Media Files that Spread Spyware (Monty Solomon) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time (Rob) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time (Tony P.) Re: Download Site SuprNova Closes Amid Hollywood Crackdown (Tony P.) Re: Drivers Try an Anti-Photo Finish (Scott Dorsey) Re: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee (Bart Z. Lederman) Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls (Justin Time) Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager (Rick Merrill) Re: Executone PBX and a Problem (GOClimb) Re: Level 3's VoIP Services Offer Critical E-911 Capability (R Merrill) 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: Danny Burstein Subject: Texas AG vs. Spammers (Texas!) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 13:05:45 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC "Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today filed the state's first lawsuit against one of the world's largest spam operation in an effort to crack down on the massive flow of illegal e-mail into Texas consumer's in-boxes. "Ryan Samuel Pitylamk, a University of Texas at Austin student, and Mark Stephen Trotter of California, are named in the Attorney General's federal complaint ... http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagNews/release.php?id=752 Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My associate, Lisa, has the full report on this in another messsage in this issue today. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jan 2005 08:44:46 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Texas-Size Lawsuit For 4th-Largest Spammer By Howard Witt, Tribune senior correspondent Seeking to shut down a University of Texas student listed as the fourth-worst e-mail spammer in the world, the Texas attorney general on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the man potentially seeking nearly $500 million in damages. The action, the first effort by the state of Texas targeting a purveyor of unsolicited commercial e-mails, comes as state and federal officials are suddenly stepping up enforcement of a year-old federal anti-spam law. FBI officials say they are conducting criminal investigations of up to 100 of the biggest spammers nationwide and have raided suspected spammers in four states in recent weeks, seizing computers and other materials. The Federal Trade Commission targeted senders of pornographic spam in a lawsuit earlier this month. Thursday's lawsuit against Ryan Pitylak, a 22-year-old University of Texas junior majoring in philosophy, follows a Chicago Tribune investigation of Pitylak published in July that Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott said influenced him to pursue the case. Pitylak is "reaching out harassing hundreds of thousands of people across the United States and across the entire world, issuing a barrage of illegal spam," Abbott said in announcing the lawsuit. "It would be erroneous to characterize this as a struggling college student," he said. "This is someone who has illegally used the system and abused the system to make countless dollars." The Tribune reported last year that Pitylak, whose spam e-mails tout low-interest mortgages, home warranties and insurance plans, owns a $450,000 home in an exclusive Austin neighborhood and several luxury automobiles. Abbott said Pitylak earns up to $28 each time a recipient clicks on one of his e-mails and fills out a form seeking personal information -- a bounty paid by mortgage and insurance brokers for each legitimate lead. Pitylak is listed as the fourth-worst spammer in the world, behind three other Americans, by Spamhaus Project, a London-based international clearinghouse that tracks spammers and works closely with law-enforcement officials around the world. The rankings, which are not scientifically derived, are based on frequency of spam reports and the number of Internet domains used by the spammers, among other factors. Abbott sued Pitylak, his California business partner, Mark Trotter, and three of the corporations under which they do business -- PayPerAction, LeadPlex and Eastmark Technology Ltd. -- alleging that the spam e-mails, sent to untold numbers of recipients from more than 250 front companies, contained misleading and deceptive information in their subject lines. The suit alleges violations of the federal Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing, or CAN-SPAM, Act, as well as the Texas Electronic Mail Solicitation Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Total damages, based on more than 24,000 e-mails collected as evidence and potential penalties of more than $20,000 for each violation, could reach almost $500 million. His lawyer claims the business is legitimate. Pitylak declined to comment on the lawsuit when contacted by the Tribune on Thursday. But his attorney said Pitylak and his partner are legitimate businessmen who have done nothing wrong. Pitylak and Trotter "are Internet marketers and are no different from the bulk mailers" who flood postal mailboxes with unsolicited offers, said the attorney, Lin Hughes, an antitrust expert at McGinnis, Lochridge, Kilgore in Austin. The CAN-SPAM Act, passed by Congress to slow the torrent of unwanted e-mails that by some estimates account for 85 percent of all e-mail traffic, does not ban unsolicited commercial solicitations. Instead, it requires among other provisions that senders of spam provide ways for recipients to remove themselves from mailing lists and bars the senders from using fictitious identities. Violations can result in civil and criminal penalties, and state and federal officials, as well as Internet service providers, are entitled to bring lawsuits for violations of its provisions. Hughes said that all of Pitylak's e-mail activities were carefully constructed to stay in compliance with the law. For example, the CAN-SPAM Act requires that spammers include actual physical business addresses to which complaints can be mailed. Last year, on Jan. 1 -- the day the anti-spam law took effect -- Pitylak signed a lease for an office in north Austin that he does not occupy but uses to receive postal mail, Hughes said. The Tribune investigation last year uncovered other examples, however, that appeared to show Pitylak in violation of the anti-spam law, such as return e-mail addresses that went nowhere and non-functioning links to opt out of mailing lists. Hughes also said Pitylak and Trotter have no liability because they sold their interest in PayPerAction and LeadPlex to Eastmark Technology last March and now are acting merely as consultants to the purchaser, a Hong Kong-based company. 'Pattern of deceit' alleged. But Abbott said Pitylak had set up an elaborate network of front companies and aliases to hide his identity. "We believe these more than 250 assumed names have been set up to help Mr. Pitylak avoid detection and also to mislead consumers about the identity of the company or entity who is issuing these illegal spams," Abbott said. "We contend that these defendants have engaged in a pattern of deceit." Enforcement of the CAN-SPAM Act began slowly, and only a handful of states have made use of its provisions to go after spammers. But the nation's largest Internet service providers, including Microsoft, America Online and EarthLink, have begun making extensive use of the law. Microsoft alone has filed 51 lawsuits against spammers in the last year, seeking damages and injunctions. The Federal Trade Commission, citing the complexity of the cases, so far has filed only six lawsuits against bulk e-mailers under the anti-spam law. In the most recent action, the commission won injunctions on Tuesday to shut down six companies in the U.S., England and Latvia that allegedly were sending unsolicited pornographic e-mails without the required labels warning recipients that the e-mails contained adult content. Criminal investigations: The FBI, meanwhile, is pursuing criminal spam investigations. "Spam is the front end of a lot of things," said Dan Larkin, the unit chief of the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. "It can lead to identity theft or getting spyware downloaded to your computer." Larkin said the FBI was targeting "the top 100 people or organizations of interest" and that he expected a number of criminal cases to be brought in the next six weeks. "These guys are not just nuisances," he said. "They are making a lot of money, they are disrupting e-commerce and they are involved in malicious code that leads to high-impact attacks on the Internet infrastructure. We are going after them." On the Internet you can read the Chicago Tribune's original investigation about Ryan Pitylak at http://chicagotribune.com 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: 14 Jan 2005 09:02:01 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Cutting-Edge Telecom to Help Post-Tsunami By EDWARD HARRIS, Associated Press Writer BLANG BINTANG, Indonesia - Before the killer tsunami leveled his house and swept away his daughter, Umar Bin Adam had never used a computer. Now, squatting in a makeshift refugee camp in a schoolyard on an Indonesian island, he taps a number into a satellite phone, mystified but grateful for the high-tech help in his hunt for his daughter. "For me, it's really a big help. I can communicate with my family," Bin Adam, 38, said after replacing the black handset connected to the nearby dish that beams his words into space. Thousands of foreign aid workers flooding into the Asian zones hit hardest by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami are bringing sophisticated phones, radios and computers — altering the communications landscape in some of the world's poorest, most-remote lands. People in stricken regions say they hope the disaster-response crowd will leave behind the gear when they go — and aid workers say at least the mobile-phone networks they're rebuilding to help foster the aid effort likely will remain. Humanitarian workers point to satellite phones and remote Internet connections as among the latest tools helping them coordinate the world's biggest-ever aid-delivery effort. In northern Sumatra's Aceh Province, closest to the epicenter of the earthquake and hardest hit by the tsunami, the disaster ruined many mobile-phone signal-repeater posts, leaving residents and aid workers alike cursing poor coverage and dropped signals. Many foreign aid workers leapfrog the shaky mobile system via satellites. There are now two networks for handheld satellite phones and laptop-sized systems with more bandwidth can be used to access the Internet. Survivors in this region where 106,000 were killed in the disaster aren't so lucky. In the provincial capital Banda Aceh the tremors and waves smashed countless Internet cafes and many survivors lost their mobile phones in their flight to safety. Terrestrial telephone lines are down in many places. Sweden's Ericsson AB and other major telecommunications companies are helping rebuild the mobile-phone network smashed by the waves in Asia, with Ericsson donating ten radio-base stations for Banda Aceh's network, along with hundreds of mobile phones and staff. U.S.-based Motorola Inc. says it has donated the equivalent of US $3 million in cash and equipment across tsunami-stricken Asia. Dag Nielsen, head of Ericsson's disaster-response team, says Banda Aceh's mobile network will be vastly improved, using technology called GPRS which has greater data-transmission possibilities than the former network. Aid workers will be the first to benefit, but in the long term it will help the Acehnese. Nielsen, who helped set up a network in Afghanistan's war-ruined capital, Kabul, said that unlike earlier humanitarian missions there are no plans to dismantle Banda Aceh's boosted mobile-phone network when the foreigners leave. Across the Indian Ocean, in Sri Lanka, officials maintained links between rebel and government forces, helping prevent fighting from breaking out in the tsunami chaos in the country where nearly 31,000 died. "We kept up the contacts with both the sides using mobile and satellite phones," said Helen Olafsdottir, spokeswoman for the Norwegian-headed Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, which oversees a 2002 cease-fire. A France-based aid group called "Telecoms sans Frontieres" -- or "Telecoms without Borders" -- is helping people like Bin Adam contact loved-ones by setting up satellite phones in refugee camps. While younger, urban Acehnese are accustomed to surfing the Internet and chatting on mobile phones, older refugees are thrilled and bewildered at finding their words sent through space. The European Union-funded program is aimed at helping reconnect shattered communities, while offering a chance for panicked survivors to hash out their emotions. "In this kind of disaster, there's often post-traumatic stress disorder, so it's important to talk, to release your emotions with your support group, which is friends and family," says John Abo, who helps run the telephones set up under a tent in the schoolyard south of Banda Aceh where about 1,000 survivors are sheltering. Ragged children inspect the black, shoebox-sized telephones, which are connected by a line to small dishes set up several yards (meters) away, aimed at the heavens. Bin Adam looks glum as he hangs up after his call, which yielded no news of his daughter Juliana, whom he last saw in their home on the morning of Dec. 26. There's one thing all the fancy technology can't do to help Bin Adam. The rising waters that snatched away his daughter and home also swept away everything inside the house, including the paper on which he had jotted all telephone numbers except the one he had memorized and already dialed. Associated Press writer Dilip Ganguly in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report. NOT: 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, The Associated Press. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jan 2005 09:16:32 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Teen Web Editor Drives Apple to Court Action CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Nicholas M. Ciarelli was not even old enough to shave when he started getting under Apple Computer Inc.'s skin. As a 13-year-old middle-schooler, the New Woodstock, N.Y., native built a Web site in 1998 and began publishing insider news and rumors about Apple, using the alias Nick dePlume.

Three years later, ThinkSecret.com was first to report that the company would debut a G4 version of the PowerBook laptop series. The product launched soon thereafter, along with ThinkSecret's reputation among Apple's legendarily zealous fans, generating millions of page views per month. But after a series of letters warning the Web site to stop publishing proprietary information, Apple decided enough was enough. When Ciarelli scored yet another scoop in late December, by predicting the arrival of a new software package and a sub-$500 computer rolled out at this week's MacWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, the computer maker filed a lawsuit accusing him of illegally misappropriating trade secrets. Ciarelli, now a 19-year-old Harvard University freshman, is part of a legion of Internet news gatherers whose influence is expanding as concern grows in some quarters about their accountability and journalistic standards. With the easy anonymity offered by online posting of tips and digital photographs, Web sites run by product buffs have caused headaches, and generated valuable buzz, for companies in many industries -- including automobile and cell phone manufacturers -- by leaking product information.

Ciarelli said he originally chose a pseudonym because he doubted many people would take a teenager seriously. He was publicly unmasked as ThinkSecret's editor in chief by the Harvard Crimson newspaper, which reported on the lawsuit this week. "I talk to sources, follow up on leads and get details confirmed," said Ciarelli, a somewhat atypical technology savant who knows little about computer programming. "I believe that like other reporters I am protected by the First Amendment." Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., sees things differently: "Defendants' knowing misappropriation and disclosure of Apple's trade secrets constitutes a violation of California law and has caused irreparable harm to Apple," states its legal complaint, which was filed in California's Santa Clara County Superior Court. A spokesman for the company, whose fortunes have been boosted this year by sales of its iPod digital music player, declined to comment on the case beyond a written statement. "Apple's DNA is innovation, and the protection of our trade secrets is crucial to our success," the company said in the statement. Close followers of the company said Apple is unique among computer makers for the slew of fan Web sites that track its every move and compete for scoops. Though opinions of their quality varied -- some reports are wildly off-base -- many industry insiders monitor the sites regularly. In part, that's because Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has a reputation for secrecy. The company's complaint against ThinkSecret.com is part of a larger legal assault on breaches of confidentiality. It's doubtful Apple knew it was targeting a teenager. The complaint names only dePlume and states that his "true name and identity" cannot be confirmed, though in earlier correspondence it referred to Ciarelli as the site's editor in chief. The suit alleges that ThinkSecret.com induced tipsters to break non-disclosure agreements. "This case raises legal issues and marketing issues for these companies because the providers of this information are their fans, people they don't want to antagonize, even though they may not want these things published right away," said Andrew Beckerman-Rodau, who runs the intellectual property program at Boston's Suffolk University Law School. But while lawsuits against online publications are rare, he said, the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, versions of which have been adopted by about 45 states, including California, prevents third parties from exposing information knowingly obtained from sources bound by confidentiality agreements. "Just because you don't have a relationship with the company doesn't necessarily immunize you, if you publish what you reasonably should have known was a trade secret," Beckerman-Rodau said. "The First Amendment has been asserted more and more against intellectual property rights, but it's not faring well. Most courts haven't accepted it." Ciarelli said he became an Apple enthusiast when his parents, a school administrator and a music teacher, brought home a Macintosh Classic more than a decade ago. He owns a PowerMac G5 desktop computer and a PowerMac G4 laptop. "Sites like mine are good for Apple because they generate interest in its products," he said in an interview on the Harvard campus. "At this point, I really don't think I am doing anything wrong." He said that he has yet to retain a lawyer, and that he has 30 days to respond to Apple's complaint, which calls for damages and the forfeiture of "gains, profits, and advantages" and asks for a jury trial. The company he established when the site was launched, the dePlume Organization LLC, is registered in New York. It lacks the money to defend a case against a major corporation, he said. So far, the front page story in the Crimson has earned him little fame. "It's reading week," he said, referring to the study period before final exams. "People are too busy sleeping and studying for exams." The response has been more forthcoming on dozens of Apple and technology-related Internet sites, where discussion of the case has raged for days. "I fear this is just an attempt by a big business to spread fear and intimidate Web sites," said a correspondent on O'Grady's PowerPage. ThinkSecret.com, which is a takeoff on Apple's former marketing slogan "Think Different," has a stripped-down, mostly text-based design; it features a number of advertisements placed by technology companies. The ads "pay for the Web hosting and have helped with a little of my tuition," Ciarelli said. A visitor who clicks on a box labeled "Got Dirt?" is taken to an e-mail form, below a note that reads in part, "Think Secret appreciates your news tips and insider information." There is also a phone number listed for tips. Tim Bajarin, president of the Silicon Valley high-tech research and consulting firm Creative Strategies, said the real target of the suit is whoever has been breaking non-disclosure agreements by leaking information. "Apple is after the source," Bajarin said. On that subject, Ciarelli is circumspect, though he denies speculation that a friend or family member works for Apple. "I employ the same legal techniques as other journalists," he said. 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. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 13:15:16 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Cisco to Buy Airespace Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 13, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18718&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Cisco to buy Airespace BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Hacker broke into T-Mobile USA's computer network * Charter CEO touts cable's high-speed advantage * Level 3 announces job cuts * Covad to offer new service * TiVo co-founder to step aside as CEO, will retain chairman title USTA SPOTLIGHT * TELECOM '05 -- Where the Carriers Meet EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * BusinessWeek special report looks at new uses for Wi-Fi * VIDEO: Carly Fiorina previews HP's media hub REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * BPL may interfere with some radio broadcasts, report says Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18718&l=2017006 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 13:33:13 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Sprint, Alltel Pull Back From Wireless 411 Plans Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 14, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18734&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Sprint, Alltel pull back from wireless 411 plans BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Analysts project stronger Q4 numbers for Nokia * Tsunami relief efforts bring telecom technologies to South Asia * EchoStar workers stage protest over Comcast rate increase * Some frustrated computer users log off the Internet USTA SPOTLIGHT * SUPERCOMM: TIA's and USTA's Premiere Event EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Wireless networking comes to sunglasses VOIP DOWNLOAD * New Weekly Section REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * New York, Ohio challenge FCC's VoIP ruling EDITOR'S NOTE * The dailyLead will not be published Monday Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18734&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: hkelley@yahoo.com Subject: Palm Treo 650 Date: 13 Jan 2005 18:06:02 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am baffled about the Palm Treo 650. Is this strictly a Sprint phone or can it be purchased without a service plan so I can take it back to Europe and use it with my service there? If it will function other than as a Sprint PCS phone, where is my best buy for a non-service connected purchase? ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Jerry Springer - The Opera Date: 13 Jan 2005 14:56:24 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com If it hasn't been shown on Broadway yet, then I doubt that it ever will, going by the amount of controversy and criticism it's had over here. If it's not THE most controversial production ever to be shown in the West End and on the BBC then it's most certainly in the top 3. Over 47 000 people phoned the BBC to complain and there were protests outside Broadcasting House in London as well as outside the theatre itself. One of the BBC's top executives even had to move out of his house into a safe house because he was being threatened. Jerry Springer shows are contentious, anyway, but the West End production, which was broadcast on the BBC last Saturday night, went way beyond all that.As is usual on the TV show itself, just about every other word is a swear word, and 'Jerry', played by David Soul of Starsky and Hutch fame was shown interviewing God, Jesus and Mary. The show actually features somewhere in the region of 8 000 obscenities and swear words. BTW, just noticed that it's likely to be coming over the pond in October. You have been warned! ;-) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4165009.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4159217.stm [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They have Jerry Springer on television here each day; I think it is on the Fox station out of Tulsa (on our cable), at 1 PM each afternoon. It is, frankly, the most outrageous show I have ever seen, with the 'guests' punching each other around and cursing each other. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 02:56:16 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Media Files that Spread Spyware Ben Edelman Users have a lot to worry about when downloading and playing media files. Are the files legal? Can their computers play the required file formats? Now there's yet another problem to add to the list: Will a media file try to install spyware? When Windows Media Player encounters certain special media files, it opens web pages specified by the files' creator. I recently tested one such file, which opens a deceptive popup that attempts to install software on a user's PC. If a user is tricked into pressing Yes once -- in response to the program's false claim that a user "must" accept it -- the program fills the user's computer with unwanted programs. In my testing, some 31 programs, 786 files, and 11,915 registry entries were added in a matter of minutes. ... http://www.benedelman.org/news/010205-1.html ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: 13 Jan 2005 14:30:19 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I'm still amazed that, in the US, the person being called on a mobile phone has to pay for the call if someone calls or texts them. I'm on Virgin Mobile here in the UK and, thankfully, we only pay for outgoing calls and texts, as is the case on all of our other mobile phone networks, such as 3, Vodafone, Orange etc ... If someone were to call a mobile phone from a landline in the US, I presume that they also pay for the call, right? So, is the cost of the call split between the caller and the the person being called? TIA! Rob ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Organization: ATCC Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 17:38:11 -0500 In article , sacredpoet@sacredpoet.com says: > Tony P. wrote: >> Interesting that they actually charge for SMS now. Back about ten >> years ago when OmniPoint first came on the scene SMS was free. > They charge for SMS now because now, you can actually SMS with other > US carriers, and unfortunately for everyone, that interoperabiltiy > doesn't come free. Verisign is the company that handles intercarrier > SMS in the United States for most of these cell companies through > their Metcalf solution, and they charge a fee per message to the > carriers for this favor, the cost of which is then passed on to the > end user. > For more info: > http://tinyurl.com/43c3j > E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. > Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. I should have known Verisign had a part in it. I cannot stomach the practices employed by Verisign. It was entirely possible to enable SMS between carriers without having to have a third party involved. But they insinuated themselves into the equation and now we all pay. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Download Site SuprNova Closes Amid Hollywood Crackdown Organization: ATCC Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 17:49:11 -0500 In article , 401kill@gmail.com says: > They made torrentbits close down as well. Bastards. For every tracker they shut down another 5 pop up. It is a losing battle for the MPAA and they know it. But they don't realize that they are doing more damage to their reputation than they think. ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Drivers Try an Anti-Photo Finish Date: 13 Jan 2005 20:34:45 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) abbygale wrote: > Are you sure this PhotoBlocker spray works? They claim that it was > tested by the media on their website www.phantomplate.com On the > videos it shows the police saying that it really works by making your license plate invisible to traffic cameras. Can anybody tell me if > this is true? What I think is that it's a bad idea to purchase any product that is advertised by spam e-mail. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: lederman@star.enet.dec.DISABLE-JUNK-EMAIL.com (Bart Z. Lederman) Reply-To: lederman@encompasserve.DISABLE-JUNK-EMAIL.org Organization: Personal Opinions Only Subject: Re: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Fee Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:56:42 GMT I don't disagree with the comments that have been made, but I should have included an additional explanation about checkoffs, rather than depending on people finding out what it means. Farmers and producers of certain agricultural products are REQUIRED by the government to contribute to a checkoff fund, which produces advertising campaigns, over which the contributor generally has no control. Any farmer that wants out of the program because they don't think they benefit, or because they disagree with the messages from the campaign, have to fight a long up-hill battle with the government, and risk serious retaliation. A lot of people question whether it's really necessary to advertise milk, for example. Would the country stop drinking milk if there were fewer advertisements for it? Is it really necessary to have a general "Got Milk" campaign, when the individual dairies have their own campaigns? This is much closer to some of the many added fees that are being tacked onto telecommunications services, such as the 911 fee, the internet access fee (which also seems to be largely a government boondoggle), the FCC Line Access fee, and all of the others. The difference is that at least they have to tell you, at one time or another, about all of the telecommunications fees. You're paying a lot of other government fees and taxes that you probably don't know about. I do agree that the advertised price should be the 'final' price, though. B. Z. Lederman Personal Opinions Only Posting to a News group does NOT give anyone permission to send me advertising by E-mail or put me on a mailing list of any kind. Please remove the "DISABLE-JUNK-EMAIL" if you have a legitimate reason to E-mail a response to this post. ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls Date: 14 Jan 2005 06:35:49 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > But when a notice that the call may be monitored "for quality control > or training purposes" is played and you do not object to that fact > when connected, then you have waived your right to privacy. Isn't that sort of a cop-out? Given that it's the only way to do business with some organizations you're essentially saying that by doing business with them you're waiving your right to privacy. If you voice the objection to the monitoring of the call and any information that may be obtained from an automated recording is used, then you have a case for illegal wiretap. Granted, the customer rep you are talking to may not be able to turn off the recorder or other device, but you have put the people with the device on record. Perhaps the legal issue that should be decided is, if I complain, what assurances do I have that the recording or monitoring has been stopped? And to the observation from someone else regarding "the message isn't played on outgoing calls" is truly specious. As part of my employee orientation is a notice that the use of company facilities for personal reasons may be grounds for disciplinary action. The point that responder failed to note is who owns the facilities that are being used? If I use the companies computers to run a side business during company hours, should my behaviour be excused becasue a notice wasn't played or flashed on the screen every time I logged on? How about when I go in and am told the company provides me with a telephone for business purposes? If I use the telephone to check on Uncle Mort and Aunt Minnie living in a nursing home 1,500 miles away and talk to them for a couple of hours a week "because they are lonely" am I using the companies resources for what they were intended? Granted, these examples are extreme, but then I have seen people attempt to use them to justify their improper use of time and resources. Most of us would balk at walking out the door with cash from the company, or even computers, printers, and other devices because we would recognize that the act is called stealing. But how many of us balk at using company equipment to "do a little shopping", "check up on my friends" or a myriad of other things that "don't amount to much?" Funny thing about monitoring, when it became common knowledge around the company that a certain person had been terminated for their abuse of the company's telephone system -- calling their significant other overseas and spending a couple of hours on the phone -- the outbound long distance bill was reduced dramatically for about 6 months. And the dismissal came after two warnings, one from their direct manager, the other from Human Resources for repeated offenses. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Back in about 1976, I had a part time job looking after an old cord-board type PBX at a hotel in Chicago. I found out that one of the telephone operators was spending a huge amount of time on personal long distance calls which were not getting recorded or accounted for (financially). So I had telco install a service monitoring device (a tap) on the switchboard. Not on the various extensions or the trunk lines; I had it placed only on the operator's 'common talking path'; that is, the circuit which came open whenever the operator toggled a key to respond to a caller. I was able to sit in an office and listen to a loudspeaker (actually a speaker phone thing) whenever ***and only when*** she flipped a key to answer an incoming call or a resident asking for a call, etc. When she did not have a key open (as should have been the case anytime she, herself was not eavesdropping or making a personal call from the switchboard) then I could hear nothing. Shirley -- the operator -- was *so indignant* about that tap on the line, she told *everyone* that 'their phone calls through the switch- board were being monitored', which was totally false. (Bell did require that a notice they provided be posted in a conspicuous place on the switchboard itself.) I tried to explain to Shirley that the only thing which could be monitored was *her conversations when made at the switchboard*, and the way to avoid that was by making her personal calls (to wherever, even when on duty) from another telephone in the system. Of course, Shirley was trying to stir up discontent by the tenants; eventually the management dismissed her. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 10:58:33 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager Isaiah Beard wrote: > Joe wrote: >> BTW, We don't have any control over the hospitals' paging systems, so >> getting her own page number isn't a viable solution. > Then neither is using a cell phone to act as a pager. > E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. > Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am curious about something on this. I > have been in many hospitals and medical centers where they ask you to > turn off your cell phone while there. They say it has to do with radio > telemetry equipment on the premises. Yet, the doctors and all the > staff members have pagers, and they don't turn those off. You'd think > radio signals from either type of device would be a problem. PAT] Ahem, pagers are receive only; cell phones Always Transmit, even if you are not placing a call. The energy dissipated is always strongest near a transmitter. There is very little energy radiated near a receiver. ------------------------------ From: GOClimb Subject: Re: Executone PBX and a Problem Date: 14 Jan 2005 09:35:59 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Thanks for the info, folks. Turned out to be a DID screen (Direct Inward Dial) that I had not noticed before. In other words, needed to edit the map between external number and internal extension. Cheers, GO ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 13:40:34 -0500 From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: Level 3's VoIP Services Offer Critical E-911 Capability ukcats4218016@yahoo.com wrote: > How is this any different than the 911 service being offered by most > of the other VoIP providers? Is this better ... more evolved? It (1) tracks "where you are" while other services depend on your programming their system with the data. (2) it sends the info in an E911 compatible format so your local system computer can crunch it and tell where you are. (3) it automatically finds where to send the info! Other systems you must speak to an intermediary who has to figure out how to telephone to your city EMS, etc. ------------------------------ 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #18 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jan 15 00:22:41 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0F5Me308262; Sat, 15 Jan 2005 00:22:41 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 00:22:41 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501150522.j0F5Me308262@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 V24 #19 TELECOM Digest Sat, 15 Jan 2005 00:22:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 19 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #464, January 14, 2005 (Angus TeleManagement) Gov't Mandated Advertising, was: VoIP Company Adds Bogus (D Burstein) SecurityFocus HOME News: Hacker Penetrates T-Mobile Systems (M Falco) Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Marcus Didius Falco) Verizon Wireless Completes $330 Million Enhancement (Monty Solomon) Federal Court Rules Command Audio Patents Enforceable (Monty Solomon) Beware Stereo Exchange-Chicago-David Nash-Ripoff Artist! (Fatboy Jr.) Cellular Phone Charges (Anthony Bellanga) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Dave Garland) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Mark Crispin) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Steve Sobol) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (John Levine) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Chris Kantarjiev) Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager (Johnnie Leung) Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager (cfarrar@spamcop.net) Re: Palm Treo 650 (John Levine) Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com) Re: Level 3's VoIP Services Offer Critical E-911 Capability (Tony P.) Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera (Rob) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:32:26 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #464, January 14, 2005 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 464: January 14, 2004 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/en/ ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/ ** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca ** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/ ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** UTC CANADA: www.canada.utc.org/ ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Nortel Report Slashes 2003 Profits ** Shaw About to Launch Phone Service in Edmonton ** Wireless Auction: Week One ** CRTC Okays Telus IP Centrex ** Rates Up for Bell Centrex Data ** New Name for Centrex User Group ** Aliant Supports Wireless Research ** Another VoIP Provider Debuts ** Telebec-Bell Fibre Swap Rejected ** Bell Raises Wireless Feature Rates ** Cisco Buys Wi-Fi Provider ** Microcell Acquisition Boosts Rogers Cell Numbers ** Independent Telecom Experts Promise Results ============================================================ NORTEL REPORT SLASHES 2003 PROFITS: On January 10, Nortel Networks finally filed revised financial figures for 2003. The new reports cut the company's 2003 profit by 41%, from US$732 million to $434 million. Nortel says that it will file quarterly reports for 2004 later this month. ** Twelve senior executives have voluntarily agreed to repay $8.6 million in bonuses they received in 2003, and Nortel is seeking the repayment of bonuses from 10 executives who were fired for cause in 2004. ** Five current Board members, including former BCE CEO Lynton Wilson, will not stand for reelection at the next general meeting. ** Susan Shepard, former head of the New York State Ethics Commission, has been named Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer. ** Nortel has launched a new auditing investigation of the 1998-2000 period, during which it says US$3.38 billion in revenues were improperly recorded. SHAW ABOUT TO LAUNCH PHONE SERVICE IN EDMONTON: Speaking to Shaw Communication's annual meeting this week, CEO Jim Shaw said the company will begin offering IP-based local phone service "within weeks." ** Shaw's net income for the quarter ended November 30 was $18.8 million, down from $20 million a year ago. It added nearly 48,000 Internet customers in the quarter, for a total of 1.07 million. Shaw Internet penetration rate is the highest in North America, with 50% of basic cable subscribers now online. WIRELESS AUCTION, WEEK ONE: At the end of the first week of Industry Canada's auction of "leftover" 2300/3500 MHz spectrum licences, high bids totaled just under $27 million--already more than double the total amount paid in the original auction last February. (see Telecom Update #420) ** Highest bidders at week's end are Bell Canada ($10.4M), Distributel ($7.8M), Rogers Wireless ($3.0M), 4253311 Canada Inc. ($2.9M), and Telus Mobility ($1.7M). ** The auction pace will speed up in the second week, with six bidding rounds scheduled per day. http://agora.ic.gc.ca/AuctionGCLF/reportsMainMenu.cfm CRTC OKAYS TELUS IP CENTREX: CRTC Telecom Order 2004-445 gives interim approval to the introduction of Telus's IP-Evolution, an alternative to traditional Centrex, effective February 3. (See Telecom Update #447) The telco has been directed to file a copy of its IP-Evolution customer contract. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2004/o2004-445.htm RATES UP FOR BELL CENTREX DATA: CRTC Telecom Order 2005-24 gives interim approval to Bell's proposal make various changes its Centrex Data and Centrex Microlink Access contracts, and to increase rates by between 2.6% and 30.2% (Centrex Data) and between 4.7% and 15.2% (Centrex Microlink). The changes are effective January 17. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2005/o2005-24.htm NEW NAME FOR CENTREX USER GROUP: The National Centrex Users Group has changed its name to the International Telecommunication Professionals Exchange (ITPX), and extended its focus to include non-Centrex telecom services. This year's ITPX conference and trade show takes place March 20-23, 2005 in Las Vegas. See www.centrexncug.org for details. ALIANT SUPPORTS WIRELESS RESEARCH: Aliant says it will invest $500,000 over the next four years to support research into next generation wireless solutions at the University of New Brunswick. ANOTHER VoIP PROVIDER DEBUTS: Orion Voice Inc. this week launched IP-based telephone service in the Toronto area, and said it would soon expand to other Canadian and U.S. cities. The company's residential service plans cost from $19.99 to $39.95 a month; business service is $59.95 or $69.95. At present, the company offers numbers only in area code 416. TELEBEC-BELL FIBRE SWAP REJECTED: Last June, Telebec asked the CRTC to retroactively approve a 1999 fibre swapping agreement between it and Bell Canada. CRTC Telecom Order 2005-21 denies the application, saying the two telcos must charge each other tariffed rates, just as they would for other fibre customers. ** Telebec must file an inter-exchange dark fibre tariff within 30 days. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2005/o2005-21.htm BELL RAISES WIRELESS FEATURE RATES: On February 1, Bell Mobility will raise the monthly price of its Message Centre service by $2 and of Call Display and Message Centre Express by $1. Bell says this matches other carriers' rates. CISCO BUYS WI-FI PROVIDER: Cisco Systems has agreed to buy San Jose-based Airespace, which makes Wi-Fi access points, controllers and software, for about US$450 million. MICROCELL ACQUISITION BOOSTS ROGERS CELL NUMBERS: Rogers Communications says its wireless company had 5.5 million customers at year-end 2004, up from 3.8 million a year earlier. Three quarters of the gain--1.3 million subscribers--resulted from the takeover of Microcell in November. ** Rogers Internet subscribers increased in number from 777,800 to 936,600. INDEPENDENT TELECOM EXPERTS PROMISE RESULTS: Angus Dortmans Associates consults to Canadian organizations that use telecommunications and call centres as essential business tools. Our focus is on practical issues and measurable results, delivered on-time and on-budget. Contact Henry Dortmans, 905-686-5050 x300 or dortmans@angustel.ca. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2005 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Gov't Mandated Advertising, was: Another VoIP Company Adds Bogus Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 21:53:15 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In lederman@star.enet.dec.DISABLE-JUNK-EMAIL.com (Bart Z. Lederman) writes: > Farmers and producers of certain agricultural products are REQUIRED by > the government to contribute to a checkoff fund, which produces > advertising campaigns, over which the contributor generally has no > control. Any farmer that wants out of the program because they don't > think they benefit, or because they disagree with the messages from > the campaign, have to fight a long up-hill battle with the government, > and risk serious retaliation. While that used to be the case (and no doubt the people who collect/pocket that money do their best to unpublicize the news ...) there have been a slew of recent court decisions that ruled mandatory checkoffs of this sort are unconstitutional. (Still waiting for a definitive and final ruling from the Supreme Court). The following url leads to a good writeup. The group is clearly biased, but the facts are true ... http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16501 (plenty of other info available by doing the usual Googlin') _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 17:50:53 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: SecurityFocus HOME News: Hacker Penetrates T-Mobile Systems http://www.securityfocus.com/news/10271 By Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus Jan 11 2005 7:43PM A sophisticated computer hacker had access to servers at wireless giant T-Mobile for at least a year, which he used to monitor U.S. Secret Service e-mail, obtain customers' passwords and Social Security numbers, and download candid photos taken by Sidekick users, including Hollywood celebrities, SecurityFocus has learned. Twenty-one year-old Nicolas Jacobsen was quietly charged with the intrusions last October, after a Secret Service informant helped investigators link him to sensitive agency documents that were circulating in underground IRC chat rooms. The informant also produced evidence that Jacobsen was behind an offer to provide T-Mobile customers' personal information to identity thieves through an Internet bulletin board, according to court records. Jacobsen could access information on any of the Bellevue, Washington-based company's 16.3 million customers, including many customers' Social Security numbers and dates of birth, according to government filings in the case. He could also obtain voicemail PINs, and the passwords providing customers with Web access to their T-Mobile e-mail accounts. He did not have access to credit card numbers. The case arose as part of the Secret Service's "Operation Firewall" crackdown on Internet fraud rings last October, in which 19 men were indicted for trafficking in stolen identity information and documents, and stolen credit and debit card numbers. But Jacobsen was not charged with the others. Instead he faces two felony counts of computer intrusion and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer in a separate, unheralded federal case in Los Angeles, currently set for a February 14th status conference. On July 28th the informant gave his handlers proof that their own sensitive documents were circulating in the underground marketplace they'd been striving to destroy. The government is handling the case well away from the spotlight. The U.S. Secret Service, which played the dual role of investigator and victim in the drama, said Tuesday it couldn't comment on Jacobsen because the agency doesn't discuss ongoing cases -- a claim that's perhaps undermined by the 19 other Operation Firewall defendants discussed in a Secret Service press release last fall. Jacobsen's prosecutor, assistant U.S. attorney WesleyHsu, also declined to comment. "I can't talk about it," Hsu said simply. Jacobsen's lawyer didn't return a phone call. T-Mobile, which apparently knew of the intrusions by July of last year, has not issued any public warning. Under California's anti-identity theft law "SB1386," the company is obliged to notify any California customers of a security breach in which their personally identifiable information is "reasonably believed to have been" compromised. That notification must be made in "the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay," but may be postponed if a law enforcement agency determines that the disclosure would compromise an investigation. Company spokesman Peter Dobrow said Tuesday that nobody at T-Mobile was available to comment on the matter. Cat and Mouse Game According to court records the massive T-Mobile breach first came to the government's attention in March 2004, when a hacker using the online moniker "Ethics" posted a provocative offer on muzzfuzz.com, one of the crime-facilitating online marketplaces being monitored by the Secret Service as part of Operation Firewall. "[A]m offering reverse lookup of information for a t-mobile cell phone, by phone number at the very least, you get name, ssn, and DOB at the upper end of the information returned, you get web username/password, voicemail password, secret question/answer, sim#, IMEA#, and more," Ethics wrote. The Secret Service contacted T-Mobile, according to an affidavit filed by cyber crime agent Matthew Ferrante, and by late July the company had confirmed that the offer was genuine: a hacker had indeed breached their customer database. At the same time, agents received disturbing news from a prized snitch embedded in the identity theft and credit card fraud underground. Unnamed in court documents, the informant was an administrator and moderator on the Shadowcrew site who'd been secretly cooperating with the government since August 2003 in exchange for leniency. By all accounts he was a key government asset in Operation Firewall. On July 28th the informant gave his handlers proof that their own sensitive documents were circulating in the underground marketplace they'd been striving to destroy. He'd obtained a log of an IRC chat session in which a hacker named "Myth" copy-and-pasted excerpts of an internal Secret Service memorandum report, and a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty from the Russian Federation. Both documents are described in the Secret Service affidavit as "highly sensitive information pertaining to ongoing USSS criminal cases." At the agency's urging, the informant made contact with Myth, and learned that the documents represented just a few droplets in a full-blown Secret Service data spill. The hacker knew about Secret Service subpoenas relating to government computer crime investigations, and even knew the agency was monitoring his own ICQ chat account. Myth refused to identify the source of his informational largesse, but agreed to arrange an introduction. The next day Myth, the snitch, and a third person using the nickname "Anonyman" met on an IRC channel. Over the following days, the snitch gained the hacker's trust, and the hacker confirmed that he and Ethics were one and the same. Ethics began sharing Secret Service documents and e-mails with the informant, who passed them back to the agency. Honeypot Proxy By August 5th the agents already had a good idea what was going on, when Ethics made a fateful mistake. The hacker asked the Secret Service informant for a proxy server -- a host that would pass through Web connections, making them harder to trace. The informant was happy to oblige. The proxy he provided, of course, was a Secret Service machine specially configured for monitoring, and agents watched as the hacker surfed to "My T-Mobile," and entered a username and password belonging to Peter Cavicchia, a Secret Service cyber crime agent in New York. Cavicchia was the agent who last year spearheaded the investigation of Jason Smathers, a former AOL employee accused of stealing 92 million customer e-mail addresses from the company to sell to a spammer. The agent was also an adopter of mobile technology, and he did a lot of work through his T-Mobile Sidekick -- an all-in-one cellphone, camera, digital organizer and e-mail terminal. The Sidekick uses T-Mobile servers for e-mail and file storage, and the stolen documents had all been lifted from Cavicchia's T-Mobile account, according to the affidavit. (Cavicchia didn't respond to an e-mail query from SecurityFocus Tuesday.) By that time the Secret Service already had a line on Ethic's true identity. Agents had the hacker's ICQ number, which he'd used to chat with the informant. A Web search on the number turned up a 2001 resume for the then-teenaged Jacobsen, who'd been looking for a job in computer security. The e-mail address was listed as ethics@netzero.net. The trick with the proxy honeypot provided more proof of the hacker's identity: the server's logs showed that Ethics had connected from an IP address belonging to the Residence Inn Hotel in Buffalo, New York. When the Secret Service checked the Shadowcrew logs through a backdoor set up fo their use -- presumably by the informant -- they found that Ethics had logged in from the same address. A phone call to the hotel confirmed that Nicolas Jacobsen was a guest. Snapshots Compromised Eight days later, on October 27th, law enforcement agencies dropped the hammer on Operation Firewall, and descended on fraud and computer crime suspects across eight states and six foreign countries, arresting 28 of them. Jacobsen, then living in an apartment in Santa Ana in Southern California, was taken into custody by the Secret Service. He was later released on bail with computer use restrictions. Jacobsen lost his job at Pfastship Logistics, an Irvine, California company where he worked as a network administrator, and he now lives in Oregon. The hacker's access to the T-Mobile gave him more than just Secret Service documents. A friend of Jacobsen's says that prior to his arrest, Jacobsen provided him with digital photos that he claimed celebrities had snapped with their cell phone cameras. "He basically just said there was flaw in the way the cell phone servers were set up," says William Genovese, a 27-year-old hacker facing unrelated charges for allegedly selling a copy of Microsoft's leaked source code for $20.00. Genovese provided SecurityFocus with an address on his website featuring what appears to be grainy candid shots of Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Nicole Richie, and Paris Hilton. The swiped images are not mentioned in court records, but a source close to the defense confirmed Genovese's account, and says Jacobsen amused himself and others by obtaining the passwords of Sidekick-toting celebrities from the hacked database, then entering their T-Mobile accounts and downloading photos they'd taken with the wireless communicator's built-in camera. The same source also offers an explanation for the secrecy surrounding the case: the Secret Service, the source says, has offered to put the hacker to work, pleading him out to a single felony, then enlisting him to catch other computer criminals in the same manner in which he himself was caught. The source says that Jacobsen, facing the prospect of prison time, is favorably considering the offer. Discussion <> NEWS Netizens eye Web-enabled surveillance cams Jan 07, 2005 Sims 2 hacks spread like viruses Jan 06, 2005 Groups fight Internet wiretap push Dec 22, 2004 Report: DHS cyber security lagging Dec 16, 2004 <> FROM THE WIRES US slaps on the wardriver-busting paint Jan 13, 2005 US jails Brit credit card fraud mastermind for 14 years Jan 12, 2005 Microsoft releases two critical security fixes for Windows Jan 11, 2005 MS virus clean-up tool sparks controversy Jan 11, 2005 <> Privacy Statement Copyright 1999-2005 SecurityFocus ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 17:56:23 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=3D/news/2005/01/12/nmob12.xml Diagram showing microwave penetration into a child's brain at various ages due to differences in skull thickness is at : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/graphics/2005/01/12/nmob12.gif http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/graphics/2005/01/12/nmob12big.gif Friday 14 January 2005 Don't allow under-9s to use a mobile By Nic Fleming, Health Correspondent (Filed: 12/01/2005) Children under the age of nine should not use mobile phones because of potential health risks, the Government's leading adviser on radiation said yesterday. Sir William Stewart, the chairman of the Health Protection Agency and the National Radiological Protection Board, said that scientists were still unable to say whether mobiles were safe and advised parents to take precautionary measures. Children are advised only to use a mobile phone for essential calls. He said that if children aged nine to 14 must own mobiles they should make only short, essential calls, use text messaging as far as possible and should have low-emission models. "When it comes to suggesting that mobile phones should be available to three- to eight-year-olds, I can't believe for a moment that can be justified," Sir William said. "It seems to me ludicrous. "If you have a nine- to 14-year-old and you feel they can benefit in terms of security, then that is a personal judgment parents have to make. He called for a review of the planning process for mobile transmission masts and said that recent research made him more concerned about possible health hazards than he was five years ago. Sir William, who has advised his grandsons, aged six and eight, not to own mobiles, said: "My advice is that they should not have them because children's skulls are not fully thickened, their nervous systems are not fully developed and the radiation penetrates further into their brains. "They are also going to use mobile phones for a longer period of their lives and it takes a long time for effects to come through. We are recommending a precautionary approach. There is still no hard evidence tha the health of the public has been adversely affected by the use of mobile phone technology. "However, we cannot put our hands on our hearts and say that mobile phones are safe." There are about 52 million mobile users in Britain. The proportion of seven- and eight-year-olds with mobiles has jumped from nine per cent in 2001 to 14 per cent, a study by Mintel showed last year. Among nine- and 10-year-olds, a third owned handsets, up from 16 per cent. For children aged 11 to 12 and 13 to 14, the proportions with mobiles were 73 and 87 per cent respectively. Sir William's independent expert group on mobile phones reported in May 2000 that there were no adverse health effects for the general public but said that children should not use mobiles except for essential calls. The report called for information leaflets on mobile phones and health to be delivered to every household and that emission levels, known as SAR values (specific absorption rate) should be displayed on packaging, as a menu option in the screens, on the phone itself and on a national website. Reiterating his demand for more public information, Sir William said: "The man in the street must be able to get information on radiation levels readily and easily. "Take the information on the [industry] websites. It has been said that to find out SAR values you need to be a computer operator to get to it, a physicist to understand it and to have a PhD to analysis it effectively." Asked whether he was more or less concerned about the possible risks of health dangers linked to mobiles than five years ago, Sir William replied: "I am more concerned." Anders Ahlbom, professor of epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, published a study in October suggesting that those who had used mobile phones for 10 years were almost twice as likely to develop an acoustic neuroma, a tumour on a nerve connecting the ear to the brain, compared with shorter-term users. Other studies have concluded that there are no risks from mobile technology. The Government and industry are jointly funding a series of studies as part of the $4 million Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research programme. The radiation protection board's report called for an independent review of planning procedures for mobile phone masts. Sir William said: "Some local authorities have little expertise and consultation with communities is variable." He also recommended the monitoring of exposure from the newer third generation or 3G transmitters and those for the police's new terrestrial trunked radio (Tetra) system. Om Gandhi, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Utah University, has published research suggesting that children's brains absorb 50 per cent more radiation from handsets than adults. He said the absorption rate for an adult was 2.93 W/kg, 3.21 for a 10-year-old and 4.49 for a five-year-old. Mike Dolan, of the Mobile Operators' Association, said: "The key point of the radiation protection board advice is that there is no hard evidence linking the use of mobile telephony with adverse health effects." The Department of Health said: "Our advice is that all children under the age of 16 should use a precautionary approach." <> 10 January 2005: Fresh warning over children and mobiles 7 September 2004: Health chief criticises mobile phone risks Leader: A professional fusspot Health Protection Agency National Radiological Protection Board Mintel Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 18:07:16 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless Completes $330 Million Enhancement Verizon Wireless Completes $330 Million Enhancement to New England Network in 2004 - Jan 13, 2005 01:01 PM (PR Newswire) Major Investments, Upgrades To Continue In 2005 WOBURN, Mass., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, operator of the nation's most reliable network, has completed a $330 million investment for 2004 to further enhance the company's network in New England. The multi- million dollar annual investment included updating cell sites and other technology to improve call quality, increase coverage areas, and allow a variety of advanced services such as wireless broadband computing, text and video messaging and other applications. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46192265 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 18:10:35 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Federal Court Rules Command Audio Patents Enforceable Federal Court Rules Command Audio Patents Enforceable; Sony Assertions of Inequitable Conduct Rejected in Digital Video Recorder Infringement Suit - Jan 13, 2005 10:01 AM (BusinessWire) SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 2005--Command Audio Corporation, a leader in the development and delivery of broadcast on-demand media, announced today that, after conducting a trial, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has ruled against Sony Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:SNE), rejecting Sony's contentions that Command Audio purposely misled the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the early 1990s while seeking its foundation on-demand media patent (U.S. Patent No. 5,406,626). Consequently, Command Audio's lawsuit against Sony for infringing two related Command Audio patents will continue to move forward. In June 2004 the Court ruled summarily that Sony had been infringing at least one of those patents, U.S. Patent No. 6,330,334 (the "'334 patent"). Sony's products held proven to infringe include digital video recorders (DVRs, also known as Personal Video Recorders, or PVRs) made under license from TiVo, Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO) and Sony's VAIO(TM) personal computers with DVR functionality provided by Sony's GigaPocket(TM) software. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46188298 ------------------------------ From: Fatboy Jr. Subject: Beware Stereo Exchange-Chicago-David Nash-Ripoff Artist ! Date: 14 Jan 2005 16:29:53 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com ATTENTION ALL STEREO FANS- THE FOLLOWING SHOP IS ACCEPTING STEREO EQUIPMENT FOR REPAIR AND KEEPING IT ! STEREO EXCHANGE- OWNED AND OPERATED BY DAVID NASH located in Lincoln Square 4743 North Western Avenue Chicago IL. 60625 773/784-0004 THIS IS HIS WEBSITE- BEWARE- DO NOT SEND THIS LOWLIFE SCUMBAG ANYTHING TO REPAIR- YOU WILL NOT SEE IT AGAIN ! http://www.turntablerepair.com/ THIS GUY ACCEPTS YOUR STEREO FOR REPAIR VIA UPS OR USPS, WHEN HE GETS IT HE REPAIRS IT, THEN HE JUST NEVER SENDS IT BACK, AND KEEPS THE UNIT ! HE HAS LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF STEREOS STACKED TO THE CEILING AND MY GUESS IS, HE HAS THIS THEFT SCHEME DOWN TO A SCIENCE. HE HAS STOLEN MY VINTAGE TAPE DECK AND HAS IT NOW FOR 4 MONTHS, REFUSES TO ANSWER PHONE CALLS OR EMAILS - I HAVE HAD SOMEONE STOP BY HIS SHOP AND OFFER TO PAY THE BILL ON IT - HE REFUSES TO RELEASE THE DECK ! BEWARE-BEWARE-BEWARE- MAJOR RIPOFF SCAM ARTIST ! [TELECOM Digest Editors's Note: This is a rather serious charge and I hope David Nash will respond if he wishes to do so. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:20:06 -0700 From: Anthony Bellanga Subject: Cellular Phone Charges PAT, to reduce $pam, please remove all references to my email address. In "Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time", Telecom Digest V.24 #18, Rob wrote: > I'm still amazed that, in the US, the person being called on a > mobile phone has to pay for the call if someone calls or texts > them. I'm on Virgin Mobile here in the UK and, thankfully, we > only pay for outgoing calls and texts, as is the case on all of > our other mobile phone networks, such as 3, Vodafone, Orange etc. > If someone were to call a mobile phone from a landline in the US, > I presume that they also pay for the call, right? So, is the cost > of the call split between the caller and the the person being > called? No, and I suppose others will post the following as well. Here in the US and Canada, for the most part, calls TO a wireless phone are charged no more than what they normally would be charged for a call to a landline. Cellular phone numbers are assigned out of the same numbering space as landline phone numbers (i.e., area codes and exchange codes), although the "exchange" codes do have a default embedded association with a wireless company, but now one can port their phone number back and forth between wireless and landline, and between service providers, throughout most of the US. Presently, Canada only has number portability between landline service providers. If I am calling a cellular phone which is "based" on a number associated with my own local area, the call could be "free" if I have unlimited monthly flat rate local service, or the local payphone charge if I'm calling from a payphone, or a measured rate charge if I have that type of local service. And this is regardless of where the called cellular phone happens to be travelling or roamed to. If I am calling a cellular phone which is based on a long distance number, I will pay whatever long distance class of service rate for the type of long distance call I am placing, i.e., direct dial, or calling card, or long distance coin if paying with coins from a payphone, etc. And again, it doesn't matter where the cellular phone happens to be, even if an "out of town" cellular number has "roamed" to my own town. Of course, long distance plans these days are negligeable if you know how to shop around. Likewise, these days cellular plans for outbound calls as well as incoming airtime, and roaming charges, can be rather reasonably priced, depending on how you "shop around". There have been a few FCC inquiries for "Caller Pays" charges to be an option in the US, to call a wireless phone, but with the numbering plan for wireless as it exists in the US and Canada, especially now that number portability exists even between landline and wireless (at least in the US), I doubt it will ever be adopted. I understand that many countries outside of the US and Canada, with their rigid cellular numbering plans and caller-pays to call cellular phones from both landline and other cellulars, have rather expensive caller-pays charges. And in recent years, even US and Canada customers calling to mobile numbers in other countries outside of the US and Canada are having to make up those EXPENSIVE charges to call those mobile phones (especially in Europe), charges which can be double, triple or even four times or more, as much as their international discount plan rates to call landlines in those countries. But since I usually can see what the cellular numbering ranges are in such caller-pays countries, I will NEVER dial anyone's cellular number in those countries. I'll call their landline number and leave a message instead. ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:49:23 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when Rob wrote: > I'm still amazed that, in the US, the person being called on a mobile > phone has to pay for the call if someone calls or texts them. The mobile phone companies wanted it this way, for they feared that if calls to mobiles were "toll calls" (calls that incurred special charges) it would hinder acceptance. For the same reason, they resisted having special area codes devoted to mobile phones, as I believe is the case in the UK. In the US, *most* landlines do not charge by the call (or duration) so long as the called number is within the same geographic area. Such calls are unlimited and included in the base monthly charge. Not all mobile companies charge for receiving text. Mine doesn't (it does charge US$0.10 for sending text). > If someone were to call a mobile phone from a landline in the US, I > presume that they also pay for the call, right? If the mobile's number falls within the same toll area (regardless of where the mobile actually is, physically), the landline pays nothing. ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 14:13:13 -0800 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Thu, 13 Jan 2005, Rob wrote: > I'm still amazed that, in the US, the person being called on a mobile > phone has to pay for the call if someone calls or texts them. Some US carriers offer free incoming SMS and/or free first-minute for incoming calls. Most mobile phone users buy call bundles which include some number of minutes that are included in the monthly charges. Note that in the US, it is impossible to know if a number is a mobile phone or a landline; they are in the same number space. It was once possible, if you knew which exchanges were assigned to mobile phone companies, but with number portability that is history. > If someone were to call a mobile phone from a landline in the US, I > presume that they also pay for the call, right? So, is the cost of > the call split between the caller and the the person being called? No, and no. A call to a mobile phone from a landline is charged the same as a landline call. Meaning, among other things, that if the mobile phone number is in the landline's local calling area, the call is free to the landline user; otherwise, it is charged as any long-distance call. Because of free local calls and call bundles, most US users don't think in terms of how much a call to/from a local mobile phone will cost. It's all part of the basic monthly charge and thus appears to be free. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 14:29:01 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Rob wrote: > I'm still amazed that, in the US, the person being called on a mobile > phone has to pay for the call if someone calls or texts them. That's the way it's always been. AirTouch, since bought by Vodafone and folded into the Verizon Wireless joint venture, used to offer Calling Party Pays, but I don't think many people used it. I like being able to have my customers call me without worrying about paying a premium to call my cell phone. Airtime is cheap here -- I pay $50 per month for 700 anytime minutes, have free unlimited Sprint PCS to PCS calling and free nights and weekends, and on the plan I'm on, overages cost as little as five cents per minute. So I personally don't need CPP. JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005) ------------------------------ Date: 15 Jan 2005 01:10:24 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > It was entirely possible to enable SMS between carriers without > having to have a third party involved. But they insinuated themselves > into the equation and now we all pay. I am no fan of Verisign, but number portability makes it harder to tell what carrier has what number and different carriers use different internal message formats. If you look at Verisign's web page, they did a good job of building a system that lets the carriers connect, deliver off-network messages, and the system does everything else. Fortunately, unlike a lot of Verisign's other lines of business, this one isn't a natural monopoly, so I expect that if the prices stay high, someone else will build a competing less expensive system. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 13:49:12 PST From: Chris Kantarjiev Subject: Re: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time > It was entirely possible to enable SMS between carriers without having > to have a third party involved. But they insinuated themselves into > the equation and now we all pay. Well, no. I don't want to defend Verisign, but ... I was there at the beginning of US inter-carrier SMS, as a solution provider (not too successful, for various reasons). The carriers were *not* able to manage this on their own, because they barely understood SMS (among other reasons). The connections were managed on a per-carrier-pair basis for quite a while. Many of the connections were done with SMTP or SMPP over IP, outside the SS7 network. One company ended up winning most of these contracts and they were ultimately bought by Verisign (which is becoming the Cisco of telecom technology -- they recently bought the remains of the Unimobile SMS messaging network, too). The fact that they charge the carrier has little to do with the recipient being charged. The *sender* is already being charged. The recipient gets charged, too -- even if the message doesn't transit a carrier boundary. This is double-dipping, pure and simple. US carriers really don't understand SMS or why it's interesting. The pricing structures don't provide any benefit for using SMS -- buckets of minutes for a flat fee mean that voice calls are "free" but SMS messages aren't, even though SMS messages provide more interesting usability options. What I'd really like to see is a carrier plan where an SMS message costs me a voice minute from my bucket of minutes. I *never* use all my voice minutes, but I send a lot of SMS messages (my AT&T plan doesn't yet charge me for those I receive). SMS messages cost the carrier less bandwidth -- but they don't seem to care to pass this savings on to their customers. Best, chris ------------------------------ From: Johnnie Leung Subject: Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager Date: 14 Jan 2005 15:26:09 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Rick Merrill wrote: > Ahem, pagers are receive only; cell phones Always Transmit Ahem. I don't know about the pagers nowadays, but the one that I last used (7+ years ago, from SkyTel) was two-way. The network knew that you were out of range, and if a transmitted page was received. Mobile phones definitely do not 'Always Transmit', or else there wouldn't be different battery standby versus talk times. JL ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 19:07:14 -0500 From: cfarrar@spamcop.net Subject: Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager Rick Merrill wrote: > Ahem, pagers are receive only; cell phones Always Transmit, even if you > are not placing a call. The energy dissipated is always strongest near > a transmitter. There is very little energy radiated near a receiver. Ahem, pagers generate an intermediate frequency. For that instance so do Radar Detectors. VG2 Detector Detectors can receive/detect the it. The pager isn't a passive receiver, and while it doesn't transmit the cell phone's "Hello, I'm over here" signal, it does emit something measurable. Chris ------------------------------ Date: 15 Jan 2005 01:25:33 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Palm Treo 650 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I am baffled about the Palm Treo 650. Is this strictly a Sprint phone > or can it be purchased without a service plan so I can take it back to > Europe and use it with my service there? According to the Palm One web site at http://www.palmone.com/us/products/smartphones/treo650/details.epl it comes in two models, CDMA and GSM/GPRS. Sprint is a CDMA carrier, so that's the model they'd sell you. European carriers don't do CDMA, so a Sprint phone wouldn't work outside North America. It says there's also a quad-band GSM model which should work on GSM carriers in the North America (Cingular, T-Mobile, Fido, Rogers) and Europe (all of them.) To get all the whizzo features, the carrier has to support them. It looks to me like you need MMS to mail pictures around and EDGE or GPRS for email and web browsing. The 600 is available in Europe, but the 650 isn't yet. Maybe you should wait. Regards, John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Taughannock Networks, Trumansburg NY http://www.taugh.com ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Business Monitoring of Phone Calls Date: 14 Jan 2005 13:41:22 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Justin Time wrote: > And to the observation from someone else regarding "the message isn't > played on outgoing calls" is truly specious. As part of my employee > orientation is a notice that the use of company facilities for > personal reasons may be grounds for disciplinary action. The point > that responder failed to note is who owns the facilities that are > being used? If I use the companies computers to run a side business > during company hours, should my behaviour be excused becasue a notice > wasn't played or flashed on the screen every time I logged on? First, do customers know they're being monitored when a rep has to call them back? Second, while your argument about employer owned facilities is correct in terms of the letter of the law, in today's world it leaves something to be desired. Years ago company's provided plenty of pay phones, in a private booth, for employees to use; usually several on every floor. Employees who had to check on Aunt Ethel could run out to the pay phone, make the call in privacy, and return to work. But the workplace has changed and the above is no longer possible. First, phonebooths are gone, and many payphones are gone, too. It is one thing to run to the hall, another to run to the street. Telecom geeks have to remember that not everyone out there has a cellphone to use nor wants to have one; so please don't respond and say "oh, well why aren't you using a cell phone?". Secondly, many of today's workstations track employee usage to the second. In the old days, if an employee ran to the hall to use the phone, the boss would either not even notice, or not care because it was only a couple of minutes. Today the monitoring computer (or doorbadge unlocks or CCTV) catches anything and everything. It is easier for the employee to use their desk phone. Another factor is the dramatic increase in payphone charges vs. desk phone charges. In the old days, more people worked locally and a call to Aunt Ethel was a local call. Even if "long distance", it was usually just a few more nickels, maybe a quarter. Today they kill you on such calls from pay phones; in contrast, your employer is paying 2c a minute on such calls. This dramatic rate differential will give an employee pause on deciding to use a payphone or work phone. Lastly, getting a call listing is not the same as monitoring the conversation. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Level 3's VoIP Services Offer Critical E-911 Capability Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 17:27:33 -0500 In article , RM@THROW.net says: > ukcats4218016@yahoo.com wrote: >> How is this any different than the 911 service being offered by most >> of the other VoIP providers? Is this better ... more evolved? > It (1) tracks "where you are" while other services depend on your > programming their system with the data. > (2) it sends the info in an E911 compatible format so your local > system computer can crunch it and tell where you are. > (3) it automatically finds where to send the info! Other systems you > must speak to an intermediary who has to figure out how to telephone > to your city EMS, etc. Rhode Island has the ability to have the location data come up on the screen from Vonage customers. We're the only state so far. Our E-911 folks are on top of things it appears. But Vonage has you fill out your location data. System works fine for me. Tony ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera Date: 14 Jan 2005 13:33:38 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They have Jerry Springer on television > here each day; I think it is on the Fox station out of Tulsa (on our > cable), at 1 PM each afternoon. It is, frankly, the most outrageous > show I have ever seen, with the 'guests' punching each other around > and cursing each other. PAT] I know, we get it over here on several satellite TV channels, as well. You just can't beat a good, quality TV show -- and Springer is simply anything but one of those! If his show doesn't give American TV a bad name then nothing does. BTW, and please forgive me for asking this, but is it me or are most of his 'guests' Southerners or Mid-Westerners? Oh, I'm also ashamed to say that Springer's British by birth. Rob ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #19 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jan 15 14:29:12 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0FJTBp14503; Sat, 15 Jan 2005 14:29:12 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 14:29:12 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501151929.j0FJTBp14503@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 V24 #20 TELECOM Digest Sat, 15 Jan 2005 14:28:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 20 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson A Marriage of Convenience - DirecTV Interactive Services (Monty Solomon) Cable Giants Buy Software Assets to Boost Interactive TV (Monty Solomon) SBC Readies Net Phone Service (Jack Decker) Moved, But Want to Keep Phone Number (odahs@galaway.com) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (John Levine) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (DevilsPGD) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Rob) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Tony P.) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Michael Sullivan) Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager (Fred Atkinson) Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager (Isaiah Beard) Re: Palm Treo 650 (Isaiah Beard) Re: Download Site SuprNova Closes Amid Hollywood Crackdown (Wm Warren) Re: Verizon Wireless Completes $330 Million Enhancement (Tony P.) Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera (David Quinton) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 00:25:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Marriage of Convenience - DirecTV Interactive Services CONSUMER BEAT DirecTV hopes that combining two American loves -- television and football -- will lead to the blossoming of interactive services By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff | January 9, 2005 Americans love their TVs, but do they really want to interact with them? DirecTV is betting that football fans do. The satellite broadcaster is gearing up to launch a premium-priced interactive TV package with its Sunday Ticket subscription service next season that will allow fans to check scores, statistics, and fantasy team developments right on screen with their remote rather than logging on to NFL.com. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/01/09/a_marriage_of_convenience/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 00:25:34 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cable Giants Buy Software Assets to Boost Interactive TV Offerings By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff | January 11, 2005 Two of the nation's cable giants yesterday paid $82 million for software technology that should boost their interactive TV offerings, allowing customers to theoretically use their remotes to check sports scores, vote on a town meeting initiative, or analyze their stock portfolios. Double C Technologies, a joint venture of Comcast Corp. and Cox Communications, agreed to purchase the North American assets of Liberate Technologies, a San Mateo, Calif.-based developer of software that makes interactive TV applications possible. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/01/11/cable_giants_buy_software_assets_to_boost_interactive_tv_offerings/ ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 03:24:58 -0500 Subject: SBC Readies Net Phone Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://news.com.com/SBC+readies+Net+phone+service/2100-7352-5533625.html By Ben Charny Staff Writer, CNET News.com SBC inched closer this week to launching an Internet phone service for homes by signing a two-year deal with New York-based deltathree to provide much of the service's nuts and bolts. Under the terms of the agreement, deltathree will provide SBC with virtually all the crucial elements for offering and managing a residential Internet phone service, from billing to application development. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "This wraps it up for the vendor work," SBC spokeswoman Sue McCain said. She added that SBC expects to have the service ready for public consumption as early as February. The SBC Internet phone service, now being tested in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and San Antonio, is likely to resemble VoiceWing, an Internet phone service Verizon Communications began selling in July. Full story at: http://news.com.com/SBC+readies+Net+phone+service/2100-7352-5533625.html 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: odahs@galaway.com Subject: Moved But Want to Keep Phone Number Date: 15 Jan 2005 06:58:28 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I've recently moved from Oregon to California. So far I have been using my Oregon cellular phone in Califonria without incident. When my contract expires though, I plan to switch carriers. From what I've read about cellular phone number portability, it appears that a cell phone dealer in California will not let me keep the same telephone number if it's not local. Has anyone experienced otherwise? Can I: 1) Go back to Oregon, find some dealer and sign up and keep the same number by using a friend's address? 2) Better yet, go to a dealer in California, and ask to sign up but keep my Oregon number by providing an Oregon address? ------------------------------ Date: 15 Jan 2005 05:44:08 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > US carriers really don't understand SMS or why it's interesting. Agreed, although their efforts to integrate it with online instant messaging are interesting. > What I'd really like to see is a carrier plan where an SMS message >costs me a voice minute from my bucket of minutes. My carrier Cingular sells me SMS buckets, too. It's $3 for 100 messages, 10 cents for overage, or $8 for 750 messages, 3 cents for overage. Even paying for incoming messages, I find that 100 is plenty. I guess I don't have as many friends as the kid with the $80 SMS bill. Regards, John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 330 5711 johnl@iecc.com, Mayor, http://johnlevine.com, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 23:24:03 -0700 Organization: Octanews In message Rob wrote: > I'm still amazed that, in the US, the person being called on a mobile > phone has to pay for the call if someone calls or texts them. I'm on > Virgin Mobile here in the UK and, thankfully, we only pay for outgoing > calls and texts, as is the case on all of our other mobile phone > networks, such as 3, Vodafone, Orange etc ... > If someone were to call a mobile phone from a landline in the US, I > presume that they also pay for the call, right? So, is the cost of > the call split between the caller and the the person being called? When you dial out from a cell phone you're either making a local call or a long distance call, and are billed appropriately. It doesn't matter whether the destination is a residential phone line, cell phone, business phone, IDSN, or anything else. When you make a call you don't have to guess as to what sort of phone service the destination is using today (and it may not be the same tomorrow, users are no longer required to reprint stationary and notify all their contacts and whatever other hassles are involved with changing phone numbers whenever they change phone carriers) There are a few exceptions to this, where a carrier will offer free or discounted on-network calls, but these plans don't seem to be priced competitively around here. ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: 15 Jan 2005 03:09:42 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Dave Garland wrote: > It was a dark and stormy night when Rob wrote: > I'm still amazed that, in the US, the person being called on a mobile > phone has to pay for the call if someone calls or texts them. > The mobile phone companies wanted it this way, for they feared that if > calls to mobiles were "toll calls" (calls that incurred special > charges) it would hinder acceptance. For the same reason, they > resisted having special area codes devoted to mobile phones, as I > believe is the case in the UK. Yes, our geographical area codes all begin with 01 or 02, whereas mobile prefixes and prefixes for personal numbers begin with 07. Fortunately, the phone package that I'm on means that I don't pay for *ANY* calls to landlines in the UK, both locally and nationally, but I do have to pay for calls to mobiles, at a rate of anything up to 19p or 2/minute, and to 'special rate' numbers -- i.e. those having prefixes beginning with 084 and 087. Usually, however, numbers which begin with the 084 and 087 prefixes also have geographic numbers beginning with 01 or 02, so wherever possible I try to dial those so I won't get charged for the call. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The same situation works here in the USA with many '900 numbers'. For example, 900-410-TIME, the talking clock from the Naval Observatory can be reached on 202-653-1920, and you don't have to pay the fee for using the 900 version of the number. Although, the fifty cents charged is not that bad, but many of the 900 numbers used for sex talk get quite expensive. Back in the early 1980's, before cell phones, I found there were a couple of phone sex operators running their services in the Opera Building on Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago, and their 900 numbers translated into the 312-372 (FRAnklin) exchange. Naturally, whenever I saw or read messages from guys who wanted a 'good time' I always referred them to those 312-372 numbers. My philosophy is why should guys have to pay for that stuff. Now days however, what 900 numbers are still in service all seem to be routed over T-1 circuits and never even touch the local telco. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Organization: ATCC Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 10:14:02 -0500 In article , dave.garland@wizinfo.com says: > It was a dark and stormy night when Rob wrote: >> I'm still amazed that, in the US, the person being called on a mobile >> phone has to pay for the call if someone calls or texts them. > The mobile phone companies wanted it this way, for they feared that if > calls to mobiles were "toll calls" (calls that incurred special > charges) it would hinder acceptance. For the same reason, they > resisted having special area codes devoted to mobile phones, as I > believe is the case in the UK. > In the US, *most* landlines do not charge by the call (or duration) so > long as the called number is within the same geographic area. Such > calls are unlimited and included in the base monthly charge. > Not all mobile companies charge for receiving text. Mine doesn't (it > does charge US$0.10 for sending text). Here is an interesting question. We use Verizon's web based text messaging system to blast a message to people when they need to call someone in a hurry, or get in touch with someone at the office. The thing is -- we use a PHP application that powers a phone message web site. Who gets charged? I don't recall seeing a .10 charge for the text messages to my office provided cell phone. ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 17:22:38 GMT In article , rob51166@yahoo.com says: > I'm still amazed that, in the US, the person being called on a mobile > phone has to pay for the call if someone calls or texts them. I'm on > Virgin Mobile here in the UK and, thankfully, we only pay for outgoing > calls and texts, as is the case on all of our other mobile phone > networks, such as 3, Vodafone, Orange etc ... > If someone were to call a mobile phone from a landline in the US, I > presume that they also pay for the call, right? So, is the cost of > the call split between the caller and the the person being called? > TIA! Rob, in the US it costs the same to call from landline to mobile as it does to call from landline to landline. In many parts of the country, local calls are flat-rate (i.e., no per-call or per-minute charge). The mobile user pays for airtime on incoming calls as well as outgoing, but most users pay a per-month usage charge that includes a "bucket" of daytime minutes and a larger bucket of night/weekend minutes. For example, one might pay $30 for 400 daytime minutes and 2000 night/weekend minutes. If you pick the right size bucket plan, you don't ever pay per minute for airtime. Most carriers do not charge anything extra for making calls throughout a fairly large local calling area, and there are plans that do not charge extra for domestic long-distance calls. For text messaging, my carrier (Verizon Wireless) charges 2 cents per message received and 10 cents per message sent. They also offer "buckets" of texts for a flat rate. I think it costs USD 4 or so for several hundred texts. Anyone who runs up a bill for hundreds of dollars for texting in a given month has a serious problem. At the standard rate, it would cost $60 for 1000 messages (500 sent, 500 received). That same number of messages could be covered by a bucket plan for ten dollars or so. To spend a hundred dollars a month on texting, one would have to send or receive about fifty texts a day. Maybe the kid in the story was using text (SMS) for IM. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Replace "example.invalid" with ".com". ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager Reply-To: fatkinson@mishmash.com Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 10:51:01 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net I was at SkyTel in their Technical Operations department when they deployed Two-Way paging. It used a variation of the FLEX paging protocol that was called ReFLEX. ReFLEX was FLEX with characters added to it that allowed for two way communications. Those pagers had separate transmit and receive frequencies. I had one of the first prototypes (before it was even made available to the public) and it was very bulky. But I suspect they've gone a long way since then and are probably more compact. They did come out with pagers that only handshaked on the two-way system. They sent an acknowledgement when the page was received. And if they couldn't locate the pager (if it was outside of coverage area or turned off), the system would hold the page until it could get an acknowledgement from the pager. The sender could get an acknowledgement as to whether or not the page had been received in either of the above cases. But, I left SkyTel before that really got off the ground. Regards, Fred ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Using Cell Phone as Pager Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 13:27:12 -0500 TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Isaiah Beard: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am curious about something on this. I > have been in many hospitals and medical centers where they ask you to > turn off your cell phone while there. They say it has to do with radio > telemetry equipment on the premises. Yet, the doctors and all the > staff members have pagers, and they don't turn those off. You'd think > radio signals from either type of device would be a problem. PAT] Well, most of the pagers you see doctors using are of the one-way variety; they receive only and do not transmit. The the proximity of a transmitter, theoretically, is what causes problems. That said, I HAVE seen fr myself that some cell phones do put out enough spurious RF to cause interference, though I've never seen it be immediately harmful (then again, I've never experimented with taht stuff in a hospital). Nextel handhelds are the worst for this; GSM phones significantly less so, and CDMA often barely registers if at all. Johnnie Leung wrote: > Rick Merrill wrote: >> Ahem, pagers are receive only; cell phones Always Transmit > Ahem. > I don't know about the pagers nowadays, but the one that I last used > (7+ years ago, from SkyTel) was two-way. The network knew that you > were out of range, and if a transmitted page was received. Ahem. (Since we all seem to be having throat problems ...) While the 2-way Blackberry and Motorola ReFlex networks are a new development, the old POCSAG and FLEX one-way networks are still alive and well, and you'll find that the wide majority of doctors are using those units. Additionally, ReFlex and Blackberry units tend to send out packetized data as quick bursts; a cell phone during a voice call will send out either steady, continuous RF in the case of Analog and CDMA (which in practice isn't always so bad, but can be a nuisance), or a long series of rapid, high-speed on-off packetized bursts in the case of TDMA (which is very, very bad to equipment that is susceptible to interference). So the fool of a doctor who gets a two-way pager is still at risk of causing problems with the equipment, but not nearly as much as if s/he were using a cell phone. cfarrar@spamcop.net wrote: > Rick Merrill wrote: >> Ahem, pagers are receive only; cell phones Always Transmit, even if you >> are not placing a call. The energy dissipated is always strongest near >> a transmitter. There is very little energy radiated near a receiver. > Ahem, pagers generate an intermediate frequency. *cough* (what is it with everyone's throat these days?) Pagers can generate an intermediate frequency, but the strength of the signal is still nowhere near the deliberate RF that is sent out by a transmitter. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Palm Treo 650 Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 13:40:52 -0500 hkelley@yahoo.com wrote: > I am baffled about the Palm Treo 650. Is this strictly a Sprint phone > or can it be purchased without a service plan so I can take it back to > Europe and use it with my service there? The version that is out today is Sprint-only. It will onyl work on Sprint or other CDMA networks. Theorectically the phone can be hacked to remove the subsidy lock and you can take it anywhere you can use a CDMA phone, but I'm guessing your service is GSM. There ARE plans to release a GSM version of the Treo 650, through Cingular. The rumor is this will happen sometime late this month or early next. However, it loosk like it WILL be Cingular-branded, and thus it might also be subsidy locked. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 09:58:18 -0500 From: William Warren Subject: Re: Download Site SuprNova Closes Amid Hollywood Crackdown 401kill@gmail.com wrote: > They made torrentbits close down as well. Bastards. I don't think the RIAA a/o MPAA care about Internet downloads per se as much as you might think. I think they _really_ care about spreading FUD in the minds of parents and educators so as to keep the piracy at a marginal level. William ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Verizon Wireless Completes $330 Million Enhancement Organization: ATCC Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 10:19:09 -0500 In article , monty@roscom.com says: > Verizon Wireless Completes $330 Million Enhancement to New > England Network in 2004 > - Jan 13, 2005 01:01 PM (PR Newswire) > Major Investments, Upgrades To Continue In 2005 > WOBURN, Mass., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, operator of > the nation's most reliable network, has completed a $330 million > investment for 2004 to further enhance the company's network in New > England. The multi- million dollar annual investment included > updating cell sites and other technology to improve call quality, > increase coverage areas, and allow a variety of advanced services such > as wireless broadband computing, text and video messaging and other > applications. > - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46192265 Sure -- but there is one problem that nobody seems to want to bring up. My boss is thrilled that he's getting 384Kbps on his Treo 650 but there is one vexing problem that both he and I run into with our Verizon phones. Several times per week you'll punch in a number, press send and watch the display on your phone do its little dance but never be connected. Press end, dial again and press send and the same song and dance. They are over-subscribed in the metro areas of New England. ------------------------------ From: David Quinton Subject: Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 07:58:56 +0000 On 13 Jan 2005 14:56:24 -0800, Rob wrote: > Over 47 000 people phoned the BBC to complain and there were protests > outside Broadcasting House in London as well as outside the theatre > itself. One of the BBC's top executives even had to move out of his > house into a safe house because he was being threatened. Not really 47K individuals, the whole thing was very organized by Christian organizations. One of which claimed that the show contained a total of 8000 obscenties. They obtained this number by multiplying the number of words by the number of people in the Chorus! January Sales 2005 - Offers & Coupons - Locate your Mobile phone: ------------------------------ 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #20 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jan 16 19:52:47 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0H0qkL26638; Sun, 16 Jan 2005 19:52:47 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 19:52:47 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501170052.j0H0qkL26638@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 V24 #21 TELECOM Digest Sun, 16 Jan 2005 19:53:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 21 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Prepaid 800 Service (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) 900 Service and AT&T (Anthony Bellanga) New Additions to TD Extra Pages (TELECOM Digest Editor) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (John Levine) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Fred Goldstein) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Paul Coxwell) Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera (John Hines) Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera (Rob) Re: SBC Readies Net Phone Service (Steve Sobol) Re: Moved But Want to Keep Phone Number (Tim@Backhome.org) Re: Beware Stereo Exchange-Chicago-David Nash-Ripoff Artist (Berkowitz) Re: Beware Stereo Exchange-Chicago-David Nash-Ripoff Artist (B Margolin) 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: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. Subject: Prepaid 800 Service Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 09:03:45 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com I glanced at the prepaid long distance cards in Walmart the other day and noticed something I hadn't seen before: AT&T cards providing prepaid 800 service. It was a bit pricey -- 100 minutes for $10. And there were lots of surcharges -- 5 minutes if the call originated from a payphone, others if you wanted sequential ringing to multiple numbers. Still, I wonder what kind of market there is for that card. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As far as being 'a bit pricey' is concerned, Walmart is like that, all the while telling you their prices are so good. As to the market for a prepaid 800 number card, I would suppose the market would be spammers and other hucksters who wanted a transparent 'presence' at a payphone somewhere or anywhere else they wanted convenience for the persons calling them without leaving a big ugly audit trail behind themselves. If I understand those prepaid 800 number cards, once turned on they give you access to a voicemail system where your friends and 'customers' can leave messages for you, or you can direct them to reroute your 800 number to a pay phone somewhere or a throw away cell phone, etc. And if I am not mistaken, you do not get a 'real' (as in your own, personal) 800 number, but rather a shared number where the caller has to also enter an 'extension' number or PIN in order to reach you. A real bogus system, IMO. I mean, consider the pricing, an hour, 40 minutes for ten dollars. You won't get a 'real' 800 number for that money with 100 minutes tossed in. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 17:03:12 -0700 From: Anthony Bellanga Subject: 900 Service and AT&T PAT, to reduce $pam, please REMOVE all references to my email address. In "Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time", Pat added the following note: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The same situation works here in the > USA with many '900 numbers'. For example, 900-410-TIME, the talking > clock from the Naval Observatory can be reached on 202-653-1920, and > you don't have to pay the fee for using the 900 version of the number. > Although, the fifty cents charged is not that bad, but many of the 900 > numbers used for sex talk get quite expensive. The 900-410 code was one of the AT&T 900 codes dating back to about 1980 when AT&T changed 900 from being a "choke" mass calling special area code, to the "Dial-It" that ultimately evolved by the mid-80s into "pay-per-call" and was also becoming carrier competitive. When AT&T's "Dial-It" took effect circa 1980, the charge for 900-410 was 50-c the first minute and 35-c each additional minute. Most other (AT&T) 900 office codes were only 50-c a call but those were usually for brief "voting" purposes only, not something you'd stay connected to for an indefinite extended period of time. By the mid-1980s, AT&T began raising the rates on their 900 codes, where each 900 office code (sometimes broken further to the thousand block) had unique and varied rates. And in the later 1980s, other competitive carriers began to be involved with 900, with their own 900 office codes and expensive rates. AT&T has totally discontinued their Dial-It 900, sometime around 1982 or 1983. ALL of AT&T's 900 office codes have since been returned to Neustar NANPA. The one used by the "Time" (and sevearl other customers) 900-410, was one returned to Neustar-NANPA. And they have NOT reassigned the 900-410 code. Thus, 900-410-TIME or for that matter ANY 900-410-XXXX number that did exist is no longer around. You can see a list of current 900 office code assignments at the following page from Neustar-NANPA's website: http://www.nanpa.com/nas/public/form900MasterReport.do?method=display900MasterReport There are still assignments of 900 office codes, but none to AT&T anymore. Note that there is NO portability between carriers for 900 numbers. A company with a 900 number that wants to change carriers must get a completely new number based on the 900 office code of the new carrier. Also, the calling party has no choice of carrier for calling 900 numbers. You can NOT dial a (so-called) "ten-ten" code (i.e., 101XXXX+) before the 1-900 number. The 900 office code as dialed determines the carrier to handle the 900 call. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 18:30:45 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: New Additions to TD Extra pages If you go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra you will find various additions there in recent days. For one, there now is a technology news section; a dozen or so links (updating, refreshing all the time) in the page '/technology.html' and there is also another publication in that area called World Press ('/worldpress.html') which updates daily. USA Today headlines (a dozen or so) are there with links and NY Times is there (nytimes.html) with around a hundred stories each day. For audio background, you can listen to BBC World Service or Associated Press hourly news summary. You may simply want to set your default starting page to http://telecom-digest/td-extra. Nothing I do on line here requires any login or registration or passwords, but I do take donations via PayPal and ask you politely to click through to the advertisers shown. If you get deep linked in the NY Times you will need to register for some of those stories, but not the stories I put on line. The same thing is true for the LGBT news area: three sections therein, with bunches of news stories daily for people who want LGBT reports. By the time I am finished with TD-Extra I intend to have it looking just like Yahoo News or Microsoft News; I have a lot of work yet to go on it. But regards BBC World Service, if you like listening to that in the background at work or wherever, then login to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/bbc.html and reduce the page to nothing so you can listen to it all day as desired. PAT ------------------------------ Date: 15 Jan 2005 21:50:35 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Yes, our geographical area codes all begin with 01 or 02, whereas > mobile prefixes and prefixes for personal numbers begin with 07. We had another whole issue about numbering. Phone numbers in North America are in a fixed format which can't be changed without upgrading every phone switch on the continent. The format is NXX-NXX-XXXX where the first three digits are known as an area code and designate a part of the country. Area codes can be as large as an entire state, for less populated states, or as small as part of downtown Los Angeles. If calls to cell phones were going to cost extra, they'd have to be placed in separate area codes to make the billing work, and we didn't have enough unused area codes to overlay the entire country in any reasonable way. So we didn't. In the long run, the US scheme has the major advantage of removing artificial distinctions between kinds of service, so we have direct competition between fixed and mobile that's unlikely to happen in Europe so long as it costs five times as much to call a local mobile as a local landline. > Fortunately, the phone package that I'm on means that I don't pay > for *ANY* calls to landlines in the UK, both locally and nationally, > but I do have to pay for calls to mobiles, at a rate of anything up > to 19p or 2/minute, My phone package lets me call any phone in the US, fixed or mobile, for free up to the number of minutes per month in my package, which is more than I ever use. Regards, John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Taughannock Networks, Trumansburg NY http://www.taugh.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 18:56:17 -0500 From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time Some European correspondents continue to express surprise at the American system of cell phone owner-pays, vs. the European caller-pays system. This has already been hashed out pretty well, but there are a few interesting wrinkles that people don't always think about, in the area of wholesale intercarrier compensation. When someone calls a European mobile phone (say, one of those British 7+ numbers, and remember we don't dial the "0" from overseas), they are at least supposed to be aware that it's a premium-rate call. The calling carrier is charged a terminating fee by the mobile phone company. It's my understanding that in the U.K. that's a negotiated rate, but it's a fine example of the "terminating monopoly". That is, on any phone call, no matter how many carriers you can choose from in order to place the call, there is only one carrier who can terminate the call! So Vodafone can say "take it or leave it" to anyone else wanting to call a Vodafone subscriber. As a result, the mobile carriers tend to get around 20 cents US (hard to get too precise nowadays, due to the Incredible Shrinking Dollar -- by now it may be over a quarter) per minute. Their own subscribers, on the other hand, pay less than that to make a call. It turns into a sort of "gouge the other guy" situation. Any monopoly has the potential for abuse, including terminating monopolies in an otherwise-competitive marketplace. Ofcom's predecessors were, I think, way off the ball when they allowed the UK carriers to have unregulated terminating rates. Such "deregulation" is a farce, just an excuse to gouge consumers, who of course ultimately pay. There is no need to regulate retail rates or other intercarrier rates when there's real competition, but the terminating monopoly cries out for regulation. In the United States, mobile carriers are treated *somewhat* like other local carriers, with their own subscribers paying for the convenience of mobility. Dialing a mobile number has *retail* payments at the same rate as wireline calls. Note however that CMRS retail rates are unregulated, and CMRS carriers are not subject to state local-carrier regulation. (The FCC has jurisdiction.) There is a key difference in intercarrier rates, though. Under the current byzantine system of intercarrier compensation, a local exchange carrier is usually entitled to "switched access" payments when it originates or terminates a call outside of the retail local calling area. (There are contractual exceptions, but they're becoming less common.) Within the local calling area, "reciprocal compensation" is paid instead; that's a lower rate, and the originating leg is sent-paid (vs. collect for switched access). With a mobile carrier, however, the retail local calling area isn't what matters. Instead, it's Rand McNally's Commercial Atlas. A call to or from a mobile within the Rand McNally Major Trading Area (MTA) is treated as local *at wholesale*, otherwise it's switched access. (Aside: The FCC originally adopted the MTA without Rand McNally's permission, and the latter objected to its intellectual property being abused. I presume they reached some settlement. MTA was first used by the FCC for the 1994 PCS auctions.) Normally, calls are billed based on the originating and terminating NPA-NXX, which indicates the billing rate center. But a mobile phone can be anywhere. So local carriers and mobile carriers don't bill on a per-call basis; instead, there's an occasional study that determines what fraction of calls to that mobile carrier are outside of the MTA. That creates a blended rate for calls in each direction. The access and reciprocal rates are subject to regulatory scrutiny, though the actual formulas are a bit baroque. The whole intercarrier system (of which mobile is one of the less-controversial portions) is likely to be reformed this year, though -- the FCC's rumored to be re-opening the issue by or at its February 10 meeting. Note that today the intercarrier rate for terminating a given call can differ based on whether it's local, interstate toll/access, intrastate toll/access, ISP-bound, mobile-originated, or IP-originated with the gateway at the caller's site. (If it's IP-originated with the gateway at the carrier's site, then it's treated differently, like a non-IP call. Obvious and logical, right?) Fred Goldstein k1io fgoldstein "at" ionary.com ionary Consulting http://www.ionary.com/ ------------------------------ From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 23:05:09 -0000 Rob wrote in message news:telecom24.18.10@telecom-digest.org: > I'm still amazed that, in the US, the person being called on a mobile > phone has to pay for the call if someone calls or texts them. I'm on > Virgin Mobile here in the UK and, thankfully, we only pay for outgoing > calls and texts, as is the case on all of our other mobile phone > networks, such as 3, Vodafone, Orange etc ... A while ago I read some comments from ex-pat Brits in the U.S. who were complaining bitterly about being charged for incoming cellphone calls, and saying that America should change to the "proper" charging method. Well, I seem to have the minority view here that America already does this the correct way. In my opinion, it is Europe which has the charging back-to-front. If you want to be able to have somebody reach you on your cellphone while walking around in the street, why should you not pay for that convenience? Or to put it another way, why should you expect somebody else to pay extra for your benefit? And pay extra they do: On most regular BT plans the cost for calling a cellphone is *much* greater than for a regular long-distance call. I'm sure that everybody in the U.K. will know of people who when given an 07xx niumber will retort with something like "I'm not paying to call that! Give me a real number!" Paul Coxwell Norfolk, England. ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 13:37:49 -0600 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org David Quinton wrote: > On 13 Jan 2005 14:56:24 -0800, Rob wrote: >> Over 47 000 people phoned the BBC to complain and there were protests >> outside Broadcasting House in London as well as outside the theatre >> itself. One of the BBC's top executives even had to move out of his >> house into a safe house because he was being threatened. > Not really 47K individuals, the whole thing was very organized by > Christian organizations. Supposedly so was the complaints about the infamous breast baring at the last Superbowl. Some organization put it on their web site, with a click to complain campaign. Less than a dozen complaints from viewers that actually saw it, and wrote in, were received. The power of the net at work, and the lack of investigation by news outlets into the story before they report the sensational headlines. ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera Date: 16 Jan 2005 04:54:39 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > Not really 47K individuals, the whole thing was very organized by > Christian organizations. > One of which claimed that the show contained a total of 8000 > obscenties. They obtained this number by multiplying the number of > words by the number of people in the Chorus! > January Sales 2005 - Offers & Coupons - > Locate your Mobile phone: I knew about the Christian organizations etc ..., but I wasn't aware of how they calculated the number of obscenities in the performance. I apologise if I made any misleading comments. All the same, if British Christian groups reacted like that, I dread to think how American religious groups will react, especially those from the Biblebelt region. BTW, I wonder how Dr Laura will react, as well?! Hmmm... Rob ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: SBC Readies Net Phone Service Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 21:48:19 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Jack Decker wrote: > SBC inched closer this week to launching an Internet phone service for > homes by signing a two-year deal with New York-based deltathree to > provide much of the service's nuts and bolts. The question is how quickly they'll be able to screw people out of their money, considering that this is not a regulated service and people will therefore have less recourse when SBC fails to properly provide the service (for example, when they break something). "Oh. We never promised you'd be able to MAKE calls with this service!";) JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005) ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: Moved But Want to Keep Phone Number Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 06:54:04 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications Switch carriers in Oregon with an Oregon dealer. It is *local* number portability. odahs@galaway.com wrote: > I've recently moved from Oregon to California. So far I have been > using my Oregon cellular phone in Califonria without incident. When > my contract expires though, I plan to switch carriers. From what I've > read about cellular phone number portability, it appears that a cell > phone dealer in California will not let me keep the same telephone > number if it's not local. Has anyone experienced otherwise? > Can I: > 1) Go back to Oregon, find some dealer and sign up and keep the same > number by using a friend's address? > 2) Better yet, go to a dealer in California, and ask to sign up but > keep my Oregon number by providing an Oregon address? ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Beware Stereo Exchange-Chicago-David Nash-Ripoff Artist ! Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 18:38:14 -0500 In article , coltblackpowder@hotmail.com says... > ATTENTION ALL STEREO FANS- THE FOLLOWING SHOP IS ACCEPTING STEREO > EQUIPMENT FOR REPAIR AND KEEPING IT ! > STEREO EXCHANGE- OWNED AND OPERATED BY DAVID NASH > located in Lincoln Square > 4743 North Western Avenue > Chicago IL. 60625 > 773/784-0004 > THIS IS HIS WEBSITE- BEWARE- DO NOT SEND THIS LOWLIFE SCUMBAG ANYTHING > TO REPAIR- YOU WILL NOT SEE IT AGAIN ! > http://www.turntablerepair.com/ > THIS GUY ACCEPTS YOUR STEREO FOR REPAIR VIA UPS OR USPS, WHEN HE GETS > IT HE REPAIRS IT, THEN HE JUST NEVER SENDS IT BACK, AND KEEPS THE UNIT > ! HE HAS LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF STEREOS STACKED TO THE CEILING AND MY > GUESS IS, HE HAS THIS THEFT SCHEME DOWN TO A SCIENCE. > HE HAS STOLEN MY VINTAGE TAPE DECK AND HAS IT NOW FOR 4 MONTHS, > REFUSES TO ANSWER PHONE CALLS OR EMAILS - I HAVE HAD SOMEONE STOP BY > HIS SHOP AND OFFER TO PAY THE BILL ON IT - HE REFUSES TO RELEASE THE > DECK ! BEWARE-BEWARE-BEWARE- MAJOR RIPOFF SCAM ARTIST ! > [TELECOM Digest Editors's Note: This is a rather serious charge and > I hope David Nash will respond if he wishes to do so. PAT] Better Business Bureau Report: http://www.chicago.bbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=14005773 "Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to failure to respond to two or more complaints. The Bureau has sent two requests for basic information to this company, but, as of today, has received no reply." --Gene ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Bozos One and All! was Re: Beware Stereo Exchange-David Nash-Ripoff Organization: Symantec Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 01:17:23 -0500 TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to article , from Fatboy Jr. : > [TELECOM Digest Editors's Note: This is a rather serious charge and > I hope David Nash will respond if he wishes to do so. PAT] This guy has been spamming all the newsgroups with this. Shouldn't moderated groups be safe from this kind of thing? But I guess since PAT is oblivious to Usenet, he wouldn't know this. But surely the fact that it was posted in ALL CAPS should trigger a bozo alert? Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You answered your own question regards Usenet newsgroups, for which I thank you. And Barry, not everyone on the net is as smart and sophisticated as yourself, but that, of neccessity does not qualify the person as a 'bozo'. If the person had used a proper and appropriate mixture of upper and lower case letters, would you then have given any more attention to his message? Or, to put it another way, since he used all upper case letters, are you now going to ignore him totally and ship off your computers and other electronics in need of repair to David Nash? Oh, and by the way, Barry, this weekend alone I got a couple hundred messages in upper case letters, but they all were to remind me that my mortgage had been approved at excellent rates or that Viagra and Ciallis (?) were available to me over the net at great rates and no adverse results to my health. I still invite David Nash of Chicago to respond it he wishes to do so (which I doubt). But, speaking of Bozo Clowns (yes, I altered Barry's subject line a little) while this issue of the Digest was being edited, guess what I received in incoming mail; I knew you would want to see it; since Mrs. Lewis used a semi-approprite case mixture (although she is obviously not an English major, I wonder if this lady would be regarded as (1) a charlatan, (2) a spammer, (3) an honest business person from the much maligned country of Nigeria (so maligned in fact that even telco won't accept "collect" calls to/from USA/Nigeria), or (4) just a general garden variety Bozo? From prvs=jameslewisstore_inc/0800c619e6@manchester.com Sun Jan 16 19:04:28 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: from xuxa.iecc.com (xuxa.iecc.com [208.31.42.42]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix) with SMTP id E4CEB14FE9 for ; Sun, 16 Jan 2005 19:04:27 -0500 (EST) Received: (qmail 17071 invoked by uid 166); 17 Jan 2005 00:04:27 -0000 Delivered-To: virtual-telecom-editor@telecom-digest.org Received: (qmail 17069 invoked from network); 17 Jan 2005 00:04:27 -0000 Received: from mancunian.manchester.com (HELO mail.manchester.com) (213.205.137.26) by mail2.iecc.com with SMTP; 17 Jan 2005 00:04:27 -0000 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mail.manchester.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id E8EC993A9B; Sun, 16 Jan 2005 23:44:21 +0000 (GMT) Received: from mail.manchester.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mail.manchester.com (Postfix) with SMTP id CFF6E93A89; Sun, 16 Jan 2005 23:44:21 +0000 (GMT) Received: from 213.185.113.52 (proxying for 192.168.7.2) (SquirrelMail authenticated user jameslewisstore_inc.manchester.com) by mail.manchester.com with HTTP; Sun, 16 Jan 2005 23:44:21 -0000 (GMT) Message-ID: <40049.213.185.113.52.1105919061.squirrel@mail.manchester.com> Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 23:44:21 -0000 (GMT) Subject: Mail Order Purchasing From: jameslewisstore_inc@manchester.com To: dB_Sound@msn.com User-Agent: SquirrelMail/1.4.2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Priority: 3 Importance: Normal X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new at manchester.com X-DCC-IECC-Metrics: xuxa.iecc.com 1107; bulk Body=many Fuz1=many Fuz2=many X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.63 (2004-01-11) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Status: No, hits=-3.9 required=2.0 tests=BAYES_00,NO_REAL_NAME, PRIORITY_NO_NAME autolearn=no version=2.63 X-Spam-Level: Status: RO Dear Sales, Greating to you and also complitment of the season"s. This is Mrs James Lewis in Nigeria from James Lewis inc, i will like to inform you that i will like to place some urgently order from youcompany and i will like my company to have a strong relationship of business withyour company ,so i will like to konw if you do ship internationally to nigeria andalso you accepted my credit card for payment method ,so pls kindly get back to mewith your website address so that i will able to forward you the items i need from you . Looking forward to read from you . Thanks Best Regard God Blessed you James Lewis ----------------------------------------- Get your own manchester.com email http://mail.manchester.com/ http://www.manchester.com/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: BUT AT LEAST IT WAS NOT ALL IN UPPER CASE LETTERS, WHICH IS QUITE OFFENSIVE TO SOME FOLKS ON THE NET. 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'. 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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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #21 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jan 17 14:57:49 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0HJvnq05767; Mon, 17 Jan 2005 14:57:49 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 14:57:49 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501171957.j0HJvnq05767@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 V24 #22 TELECOM Digest Mon, 17 Jan 2005 14:58:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 22 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson U.S. Marks Martin Luther King Day (Lisa Minter) Computer Worm Exploits Tsunami to Spread Virus (Lisa Minter) Content and Control (Monty Solomon) Recordings Made Way Too Hard ToGo (Monty Solomon) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Mark Crispin) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Isaiah Beard) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Tony P.) Re: Moved But Want to Keep Phone Number (odahs@galaway.com) Re: Drivers Try an Anti-Photo Finish (DG) Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera (David Quinton) Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera (Tony P.) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 17 Jan 2005 09:50:01 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: U.S. Marks Martin Luther King Day ATLANTA - If he were alive now, Martin Luther King would be reacting to the sobering news emanating from overseas with a message of peace and compassion, his son said Monday. A commemorative service marked the King holiday at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King was preacher from 1960 until his assassination in 1968 at age 39. Thousands of people were expected to take part in an afternoon rally and march through downtown Atlanta. Martin Luther King III asked the congregation to remember his father's legacy of peace as America wages war in Iraq and to remember his message of compassion in light of the tsunami disaster. "Let us respond to this challenge by reaching out to help our sisters and brothers who are suffering because of the tsunami," he said. At a King day breakfast on Boston, Sen. John Kerry made some of his strongest comments since Election Day about problems with voting in some states. While reiterating that he did not contest the presidential election, Kerry said: "I nevertheless make it clear that thousands of people were suppressed in the effort to vote. Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways. In Democratic districts, it took people four, five, 11 hours to vote, while Republicans (went) through in 10 minutes; same voting machines, same process, our America." "Martin Luther King reminded us that yes, we have to accept finite disappointment, and I know how to do that," Kerry said to chuckles from listeners. "But he said we must ... never give up on infinite hope." In Atlanta, Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss told the crowd at Ebenezer Baptist that the country is better off because of King's work. "The dream of Dr. King will not be fulfilled until everyone who is uneducated is educated, everyone who is homeless has a roof over their head, and all who hunger become fed," Chambliss said. Rep. John Lewis, a Democrat, said King would have opposed the war in Iraq. "I believe he would be saying today, 'End the war, end the war in Iraq," Lewis said. "Bring our young men and our young women home.'" King, born in Atlanta Jan. 15, 1929, would have turned 76 on Saturday. In Washington, President Bush planned to attend an event honoring King at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a visionary American and a dedicated leader who believed deeply in liberty and dignity for every person," Bush said in a holiday proclamation. "His faith and courage continue to inspire America and the world." Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. 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, Associated Press Syndicate. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I had the distinct honor of meeting Dr. King and having an intimate dinner (eight of us in total present) with him and his wife in 1965. Martin L. King and his wife Coretta Scott King were in Chicago that winter weekend in January, 1965 for various reasons, one of which was to speak at the Chicago Sunday Evening Club at Orchestra Hall. My roomate, Roy Anderson was the organist for Sunday Evening Club, and he told me King would be there that night, so I decided to go along. As always, Dr. King spoke very eloquently and forcefully. It was the custom there that after the weekly meetings, one or more of the Trustees of the Club would take the speaker (of that week) out for dinner, as often as not at a place called Miller's Pub, on Adams Street just around the corner from Orchestra Hall. Mr. Hanson, president of Sunday Evening Club invited my roomate Roy to join them and Roy in turn invited me to go along. So, MLK, and his wife; Mr. Hanson and his wife; another of the trustees and his wife; Roy and I all went to Miller's Pub for drinks and dinner that evening. Even in those long ago times, I was quite accustomed to writing my Editor's Notes, often times full of piss and vinigar to make my points. But on this night, I thought it was more prudent to just sit and listen as Dr. King spoke again to those of us at the dinner table, in a conversation that went on for about three hours and far too many vodka gimlets for me at least. Finally, as it neared midnight, Dr. King announced he and his wife had to get back to the hotel where they were staying, and this late evening dinner party broke up. Mr. Hanson and the others all left to get their cars to drive home (he lived in Hinsdale as I recall); Roy and I went out on Adams Street to fetch a cab for Dr. and Mrs. King; the cab took them to their hotel (close by, the Conrad Hilton), then Roy and I retained the cab and went on to our apartment in Hyde Park. At this time, the Chicago Police Department had its infamous 'Red Squad' spy unit going full time, causing much hatred and discontent for everyone. Even though King knew they could have just walked the three blocks or so to the Hilton hotel, they did not want to get stopped or hassled by police downtown, so we got a cab instead. The same Chicago Police were causing some very sophisticated problems for any group which deigned to have speakers or 'politicians' or community leaders of whom they (police) or Mayor Daley disapproved. About a month later, I happened to be downtown one day and ran into a fellow I knew, Francis Gregory who was the office manager and administrator for the Sunday Evening Club. I asked him quite innocently if 'Doctor King will be back again next year to speak.' Fran said to me, "the Trustees did not invite him to return, they said he was 'too controversial', even though he has been here three or four times in as many years." That's all he would say. Illinois Bell Telephone Company had always paid Dr. King's honorarium when he came to Chicago to speak, and rumor was that IBT in a very hush-hush way also was told to quit their largesse to him, that Mayor Daley did not care for it. Then about three years later, King was gunned down and silenced permanently at the motel in Memphis, causing Chicago and many other cities to go up in flames in riots that lasted several days. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 17 Jan 2005 09:57:35 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Computer Worm Exploits Tsunami to Spread Virus FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) - A mass e-mail posing as a plea for aid to help the victims of last month's Asian tsunami disaster is actually a vehicle for spreading a computer virus, Web security firm Sophos said Monday. The worm appears with the subject line: "Tsunami donation! Please help!" and invites recipients to open an attachment called "tsunami.exe" -- which, if opened, will forward the virus to other Internet users. It could also initiate a denial-of-service attack against a German hacking Web Site, Sophos said, in which the site's server would be bombarded with messages, putting it out of action. "Duping innocent users into believing that they may be helping the tsunami disaster aid efforts shows hackers stooping to a new low," Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley said in a statement. Sophos added that it had so far only received a small number of reports of the worm, which it said was not the first to try to take advantage of the Indian Ocean catastrophe in order to spread. Another worm earlier this month propagated the message that the tsunami was God's revenge on "people who did bad on earth." And there have been a number of mass emails sent out in an attempt to steal money, many of them versions of the so-called Nigerian Letter scam, to which readers are invited to reply with their details, apparently in order to help transfer large sums of money and receive a cut themselves. One appears to be from a wealthy Thai merchant suffering from a fatal disease who has lost his family in the tsunami disaster and needs someone to collect millions of U.S. dollars from a European security firm to distribute it to charities. "I need a God-fearing and trustworthy person that will be able to travel to Europe, to collect this deposit from the security company," the mail reads. Sophos recommends recipients delete the mails and do not open the attachments. 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, Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This one could be retitled "What Else is Old News?" I mean, using the Internet to take advantage of some other person's misery and steal money? Gosh, what will folks think of next. Presidents Clinton and Bush were on television together a few days ago to make a joint appeal for tsunami relief funds. In the one minute or so they both appeared together in the public service announcement on TV Land they both stressed, 'we are doing this together as private citizens, not as your current or former president to ask you to **send what you can only to reputable, well-established relief organizations.' TV Land has been playing that PSA several times per day in the past week. That tsunami is going to be bad news for a long time to come; now today at 162,000 deaths and they are still counting, collecting bodies and disposing of them. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 01:47:37 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Content and Control Assessing the Impact of Policy Choices on Potential Online Business Models in the Music and Film Industries Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School The online environment and new digital technologies threaten the viability of the music and film industries' traditional business models. The industries have responded by seeking government intervention, among other means, to protect their traditional models as well as by developing new models specifically adapted to the online market. Industry activity and public debate have focused on three key policy areas related to copyright holders' control of content: technical interference with and potential liability of P2P services; copyright infringers' civil and criminal liability; and legal reinforcement of digital rights management technologies (DRM). This paper seeks to support policymakers' decision making by delineating the potential consequences of policy actions in these areas. To do so, it assesses how such action would impact relevant social values and four business models representative of current and emerging attempts to generate viable revenues from digital media. The authors caution that government intervention is currently premature because it is unlikely to strike an appropriate balance between achieving industry goals while supporting other social values, such as consumer rights, the diversity of available content, and technological innovation. http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/media/content_and_control ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 00:54:59 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Recordings Made Way Too Hard ToGo By Rob Pegoraro Sunday, January 16, 2005; Page F06 The little secret of digital video recorders is that while they allow you to amass a large collection of movies and TV shows quickly, you still have to find time to watch the material you recorded so effortlessly. For all their merits, these things can't add an extra two hours to each day to help you catch up on this backlog of video. Meanwhile, millions of Americans spend hours a day bored out of their skulls in commercial airplanes, watching recycled TV content and stale movies and thumbing through in-flight magazines between naps. TiVo's new TiVoToGo feature attempts to solve both problems at once. This free software upgrade for TiVo users allows them to transfer recordings to Windows computers over a home network, stuffing hard drives with all those shows they might never find time to watch otherwise. That's a laudable goal. But TiVoToGo quickly runs aground because its developers made one small and one huge mistake. First, their failure to build in a fast, convenient way for TiVo boxes to connect directly to PCs forces a slow, sometimes glitchy transfer of movies over a home network. Second, their attempts to placate movie studios by imposing strict copy controls make this system complicated to set up and irritating to use. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11103-2005Jan14.html ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 17:32:15 -0800 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Sun, 16 Jan 2005, Paul Coxwell wrote: > I'm sure that everybody in the U.K. will know of people who when given > an 07xx niumber will retort with something like "I'm not paying to > call that! Give me a real number!" That happens in North America too. I was getting something repaired at a shop in Anchorage, AK, and I was going to give them my mobile phone number. They knew I was from out of state, and said that they weren't going to call long-distance to an out-of-state mobile phone. I told them that no, this phone was a Glennallen, AK number. They said that they weren't going to call long-distance to Glennallen either! For the benefit of people outside of North America, the idea of "local calls" being free is deeply ingrained here, to the point that in much of North America the "1" prefix (equivalent of "0" prefix in most other countries) does not mean "other area" but instead "toll call". Thus, a call within the same area code requires a 1 then area code if it will be a toll call, and a call to another area code does not require a 1 (thus the area code can't be used as an exchange. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 01:06:20 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Rob wrote: > Fortunately, the phone package that I'm on means that I don't pay for > *ANY* calls to landlines in the UK, both locally and nationally, but I > do have to pay for calls to mobiles Generally things work the opposite way in the US: for the most part, mobile to mobile calls (as long as the mobnile sare on the same carrier) are free and unlimited depending on the calling you are on. Calls to or from a landline landline are charged against the minute "bucket" of the plan you've subscribed unless the call is made during a night or weekend. Those in Europe don't understand this concept very well, but that's mainly due to the differences in culture developed by our differing economies. In the US, people are accustomed to (and find it easier to) expect a predictable monthly charge that they pay up front and are thusly guaranteed that as long as they stay within the parameters of their calling plan, will not be charged anything else. This is an extension of the unlimited-local-calling concept in the US: users of landline phones can call anyone they choose in a local calling area for as long as they wish, without incurring any metered usage rates. Recently, this unlimited concept has extended to include any call within the US, on certain phone rate plans. So naturally, they expect similar pricing structures with mobile phones. My mobile plan, for instance, costs $35 a month and I am alloted 300 minutes (the "bucket") for making or receiving calls during peak hours (during business days). During evenings or weekends, I can talk to whomever I like, anywhere in the US, for as long as I choose, and the calls do not count against that bucket of minutes. Calls to other mobiles on the Sprint network also do not count against the bucket. Considering I can rack up "off peak" and "mobile only" calls that exceed 1,000 minutes every month, this plan is highly reasonable and far less expensive than any pay-as-you-go plan, as is common in the E.U. Of course, most US plans penalize you severely if you do happen to exceed your alotted minute "bucket." Though they are also working to make this easier for people (for example, I have an arragement with Sprint where if I happen to make more than 300 minutes worth of calls to landline phones during the daytime, exceeding the "bucket," my carrier will automatically "bump" my plan to the next highest bucket, 400 minutes, for an additional $5, and then revert me to the lower 300-minute "bucket" when the new billing cycle takes effect). The calling-party-pays metered usage concept was tried in the US a few years back, but it was never successful. People were just as happy to NOT call a cellular phone that would charge them a premium to connect to. As a result, the mobile carriers that tried it never generated any revenue, and went out of business or switched to subscriber-paid "bucket" plans in short order. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:34:37 -0500 In article , paulcoxwell@tiscali.co.uk says: > Rob wrote in message > news:telecom24.18.10@telecom-digest.org: >> I'm still amazed that, in the US, the person being called on a mobile >> phone has to pay for the call if someone calls or texts them. I'm on >> Virgin Mobile here in the UK and, thankfully, we only pay for outgoing >> calls and texts, as is the case on all of our other mobile phone >> networks, such as 3, Vodafone, Orange etc ... > A while ago I read some comments from ex-pat Brits in the U.S. who > were complaining bitterly about being charged for incoming cellphone > calls, and saying that America should change to the "proper" charging > method. > Well, I seem to have the minority view here that America already does > this the correct way. In my opinion, it is Europe which has the > charging back-to-front. If you want to be able to have somebody reach > you on your cellphone while walking around in the street, why should > you not pay for that convenience? Or to put it another way, why > should you expect somebody else to pay extra for your benefit? The issue is that for wire line service the U.S. has always been caller pays except for WATS 800 services in which the called party pays. That a cell user pays for incoming calls is ridiculous and flies in the face of nearly a century of telecom practice in the United States. > And pay extra they do: On most regular BT plans the cost for calling a > cellphone is *much* greater than for a regular long-distance call. > I'm sure that everybody in the U.K. will know of people who when given > an 07xx niumber will retort with something like "I'm not paying to > call that! Give me a real number!" In the case of the U.S. the cellular carriers went to the FCC and congress and cried that caller pays on cellular would kill the service. The cellular LOBBYI$T$ can be very effective. Are British politician as big a whore as U.S. politicians? ------------------------------ From: odahs@galaway.com Subject: Re: Moved But Want to Keep Phone Number Date: 17 Jan 2005 00:16:27 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > Switch carriers in Oregon with an Oregon dealer. It is *local* number > portability. That was my Plan B. I was hoping to spare myself the time and expense of a trip if I could avoid it. Has anyone found a way around this? Can I call up some dealers in Oregon, and switch carriers over the phone, but have them send me a new phone and/or SIM card to a California address? Would they go for this? ------------------------------ From: DG Subject: Re: Drivers Try an Anti-Photo Finish Date: 17 Jan 2005 08:19:24 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I want to get info on the PhotoBlocker Spray too. ------------------------------ From: David Quinton Subject: Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 07:50:35 +0000 On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 13:37:49 -0600, John Hines wrote: > Supposedly so was the complaints about the infamous breast baring at > the last Superbowl. Some organization put it on their web site, with a > click to complain campaign. Less than a dozen complaints from viewers > that actually saw it, and wrote in, were received. > The power of the net at work, and the lack of investigation by news > outlets into the story before they report the sensational headlines. I love the jargon used at the time: "Wardrobe malfunction"! On 16 Jan 2005 04:54:39 -0800, Rob wrote: > I knew about the Christian organizations etc ..., but I wasn't aware > of how they calculated the number of obscenities in the performance. > I apologise if I made any misleading comments. There's a nice, humourous comment on it from one of our more left-wing newspapers' most entertaining TV critics here: January Sales 2005 - Offers & Coupons - Locate your Mobile phone: ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:28:53 -0500 In article , rob51166@yahoo.com says: >> Not really 47K individuals, the whole thing was very organized by >> Christian organizations. >> One of which claimed that the show contained a total of 8000 >> obscenties. They obtained this number by multiplying the number of >> words by the number of people in the Chorus! >> January Sales 2005 - Offers & Coupons - >> >> Locate your Mobile phone: > I knew about the Christian organizations etc ..., but I wasn't aware > of how they calculated the number of obscenities in the performance. > I apologise if I made any misleading comments. Ever see those little clicker-counters? Push the button and it increments the count by one. Even a moron could sit there and count the various expletives. Funny that I call them expletives yet others call them obscenities. I don't find the words to be all that obscene. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It seems funny to me how words/phrases can change in their meanings over the years. For example, consider the word, 'mother'. Years ago, 'mother' referred to a very nice older person, typically with high morals. a gentle person who cared for her children, etc. Now, if I were to use the phrase '... your mother ...' or ' ... ask your mother ... ' as often as not an obscene expession comes to mind. Think of all the little kids who go around saying 'your mama! (etc)' 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'. 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! 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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 V24 #22 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jan 18 18:21:15 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0INLFJ18372; Tue, 18 Jan 2005 18:21:15 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 18:21:15 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501182321.j0INLFJ18372@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 V24 #23 TELECOM Digest Tue, 18 Jan 2005 18:20:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 23 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T Really Care (Charles) VOIP Review in PC Magazine (Mister E) Re: Moved But Want to Keep Phone Number (Tim@Backhome.org) Major US ISP Refusing European E-Mail Attempts (Danny Burstein) More on Verizon Blocks European Email by Default (Marcus Didius Falco) SMS Security Over Various Networks? (Ben Smyth) Re: Caller Pays, was Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt (John Levine) Verizon FTTP in Mass (Monty Solomon) Comcast Enhances Broadband Service With New Speeds; More Apps (Solomon) DISH On Demand - DISH Player-DVR 625 (Monty Solomon) Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam (Monty Solomon) DISH Thin-Panel LCD High-Definition TVs (Monty Solomon) DISH Player-DVR 942 HDTV DVR (Monty Solomon) TiVo to Launch Integrated Video Recorder (Monty Solomon) E-Prescriptions (Monty Solomon) Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera (Rob) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (jmeissen@aracnet) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Isaiah Beard) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime at a Time (Koos vanden Hout) 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: cobuild_collins@yahoo.com (Charles) Subject: Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T really care Date: 17 Jan 2005 15:02:44 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi there, Well I've been using Vonage's services for over one year, as time goes the service was each time worst. I had a problem with my ATA, and I asked for help to them for over one month, and believe it or not, they will never reply to your mails, if you call them, they will never answer, and the customer support service (live-online-chat) is even worst they can only say: Please call 1800-Vonag...... or do you want to give us more Money??? Why don't you Sign Up. And never help you. If you are thinking about signing up with Vonage, I suggest you to think twice, because you will only receive news from them when you change your credit card number or so. But they will never help you and they will keep changing and charging money. You might be lucky if your ATA works for over 8 months, then you will have to buy a new one ($80.00 more - $40.00 disconnection fee and a new $40.00 activation fee). ??????? By the way again, if they answer you some day ... I expected more of Vonage, my first impression is that it was a big company, but the whole company seems to be managed by two or three people. ------------------------------ From: Mister E Subject: VOIP Review in PC Magazine Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 23:44:13 GMT Organization: Road Runner - NYC PC Magazine has just completed a technical analysis of the various VOIP providers: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1746584,00.asp They gave ATT CallVantage top honors. gb ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: Moved But Want to Keep Phone Number Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 16:54:09 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications odahs@galaway.com wrote: >> Switch carriers in Oregon with an Oregon dealer. It is *local* number >> portability. > That was my Plan B. I was hoping to spare myself the time and expense > of a trip if I could avoid it. Has anyone found a way around this? > Can I call up some dealers in Oregon, and switch carriers over the > phone, but have them send me a new phone and/or SIM card to a > California address? Would they go for this? If the carrier follows the rules, your billing address has to be within the market area eligible for the LPN transfer. The dealer really has little to do with it. ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Major US ISP Refusing European E-Mail Attempts Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 19:31:42 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC "US ISP Verizon is persisting with a controversial policy of blocking email sent from Europe. Since 22 December, mail servers at verizon.net have been configured not to accept connections from Europe by default." rest at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/14/verizon_email_block/ Note: I don't know anything more than what's reported in the story. I can say, though, that countrywide IP blocks (as imprecise as they tend to be) are a periodic short sighted solution. With the disclosure that I work at a NY based ISP that has such customers, many non US firms, in order to get around these walls, establish accounts and send their e-mail through a US service provider. That helps the larger or technically astute companies, but does little for Jill and Heidi routine users. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 20:13:32 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: More on Verizon Blocks European Email by Default * From Dave Farber's list ------ Forwarded Message From: "Jonathan S. Shapiro" <> Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 15:52:37 -0500 To: Subject: Re: [IP] Verizon blocks European email by default. [For IP] Dave: The last time I checked, all of the companies providing internet access (including Verizon) had terms in their contracts that guaranteed the users "unlimited access to the internet" or words to that effect. Spam blocking -- including blocking of port 25 -- violates such contracts. I have no objection to SPAM blocking offered to users as a service. Perhaps it should be offered as a no-charge service. Involuntary disruption of traffic is quite another matter. Also, I would be curious if someone more knowledgeable than I might comment on whether this wouldn't breach Verizon's ability to appeal to common carrier defenses against liability? If it does, then Verizon *may* have just became liable for carrying, say, Kazaa traffic ... Jonathan Shapiro On Mon, 2005-01-17 at 15:29 -0500, David Farber wrote: > From: "Trei, Peter" > Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 15:10:39 -0500 > To: > Subject: Verizon blocks European email by default. > For IP, if you wish. > Verizon has taken to blocking all email from Europe, in an > attempt to reduce spam. > Quote from Verizon to Wired: "If it's really important > you might want to make a phone call." > Peter Trei ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------ From: bensmyth Subject: SMS Security?? Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 10:05:48 -0000 Organization: SoCS Hi, When I send an SMS is it sent securely?? How can I be assured of this?? (What protocols, cryptography is used?) Would the answer be the same if $1,000 were at stake? How about $10,000? $100,000?? I've just discovered an old posting (Google Groups) of yours, see below. Sorry to bring up such an old post!! But, did you ever discover a solution/publish anything on the topic?? I'm currently looking to conduct my own research into the area, hence looking around what is already in existence. Regards, Ben Smyth University of Birmingham, England > From: Chris Kantarjiev > Subject: SMS security over various networks? > Date: 18 Dec 2000 13:59:15 -0500 > Lines: 16 > Message-ID: <200012181852.eBIIqpu03735@bosphorus.dimebank.com> > X-submission-address: editor@telecom-digest.org > I'm trying to put together a white paper on the relative merits of > text messaging security via SMS over the various cell networks: CDMA, > GSM, AT&T's TDMA. > I've found a number of links about voice security, but they're mostly > fluff, and they never really mention whether the same > algorithms/techniques apply to SMS when sent over the network. > Can anyone give me some pointers? Even for-pay reports would be welcome > at this point. > Thanks, > chris ------------------------------ Date: 18 Jan 2005 06:18:05 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Caller pays, was Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > That a cell user pays for incoming calls is ridiculous and flies in > the face of nearly a century of telecom practice in the United > States. Well, yeah, but that a cell user can talk on a handheld phone while driving down the highway flies in the face of a century of Telecom practice, too. Think of your cell phone as a FX line to your pocket. R's, John ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 12:33:24 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon FTTP in Mass Verizon's New High-Fiber 'Diet' for 19 Eastern Massachusetts Communities: Blazing-Fast Data, Crystal Clear Voice and Video Capability Verizon Building Its Industry-Leading Fiber-to-the-Premises Network; Company's Transformational Technology to Benefit Residential and Business Customers, Boost Economic Development BOSTON, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon is bringing to 19 communities in Middlesex and Essex Counties one of the most significant advancements in telecommunications technology in the past 100 years. The company today announced it is building a fiber-optic network that will deliver faster data speeds, crystal clear voice -- and also has the capability to offer a full suite of video services -- to residence and business customers in Andover, Bedford, Belmont, Boxford, Burlington, Holliston, Hopkinton, Lexington, Lincoln, Lynnfield, North Reading, Natick, Newton, Reading, Sherborn, Topsfield, West Newbury, Winchester and Woburn. Verizon's all-fiber system is capable of carrying a competitive choice to the existing cable television providers. The company will seek a franchise agreement from the local authority before offering a cable-TV-type service in a selected community. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46264795 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 12:41:15 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Enhances Broadband Service with New Speeds and More Apps Comcast Kicks Off the New Year With Formal Announcement of New Speeds -- And Unveils Plans for New Online Services for All High-Speed Internet Customers PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast, the nation's number one broadband provider, is upgrading its two residential speed tiers, as it prepares to introduce a full suite of innovative online services and products throughout 2005. The speed enhancements include increases in both upstream and downstream speeds to enable faster uploads and downloads of large files (photos, videos, music), more online and multiplayer gaming, easier home networking, and new innovative online services. These speed increases will be offered to customers at no additional charge. Comcast's current 3Mbps downstream / 256kbps upstream tier will be upgraded to 4Mbps / 384kbps, and its 4Mbps downstream / 384kbps upstream tier will jump to a faster 6Mbps / 768kbps. The speed increases will be automatic, which means customers are not required to download any special files or upgrade their connections. The speed upgrades will be executed on a market-by-market basis, and are targeted to be complete by the end of Q1 2005. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46254662 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:34:40 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DISH On Demand - DISH Player-DVR 625 ISH Network Introduces Video On Demand At Consumer Electronics Show; New DISH Player-DVR 625 Makes Hit Movies Available to Satellite TV Customers LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2005--EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) and its DISH Network(TM) satellite TV service announced today that for the first time it will offer a Video On Demand (VOD) service called DISH On Demand. DISH Network will roll out the VOD service by March to new customers with DISH Network's new digital video recorder (DVR), the DISH Player-DVR 625. DISH Network will demonstrate DISH On Demand at the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Jan. 6-9. http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=dish&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=660074 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:34:51 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam By Evan Schuman January 5, 2005 In a scheme that leveraged a little technology but relied on inattentive cashiers, Tennessee authorities have arrested two couples on charges that they used bogus bar codes to steal at least $1.5 million from hundreds of stores -- some belonging to Wal-Mart -- in 19 states. The group is slated to appear in court Wednesday. Although the accused are said to have spent a lot of time and effort organizing colleagues in various parts of the country, the technology portion of their scheme was quite simple. They are accused of visiting a retailer and purchasing a low-priced item. The group would then scan the bar codes and simply print out duplicate bar codes, said Thomas Dean, the assistant Sumner County (Tennessee) district attorney who is assigned to the case. The accused -- Michael Poore, 29, and Julie Marie Simmons, 35, also known as Julie Poore; and Dewey Howerton, 39, and Laura Howerton, 39 -- would then go back to the store, tape the duplicate bar code on a higher-priced item and purchase the more expensive item at the lower scanned price, Dean said in an eWEEK.com interview. One of the accused, according to the police complaint, would then remove the bogus tag and try to return the item to the store for the full purchase price. Instead of cash, the defendants would often ask for gift cards, Dean said. "Wal-Mart will more quickly put it on a gift card than hand you cash," he said. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1748274,00.asp ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:34:26 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DISH Thin-Panel LCD High-Definition TVs DISH Network Unveils Low-Cost, Thin-Panel LCD High-Definition TVs; Complete HDTV System Offers 30-inch LCD TV, HD Satellite Receiver, Delivery and Installation for Less than $1,600 LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2005--EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) announced today at the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that the company's DISH Network(TM) satellite TV service is introducing two high-definition, liquid-crystal display (LCD), thin-panel TVs at unmatched prices. When subscribing to DISH Network's Digital Home Advantage lease program, customers will have the option to purchase state-of-the-art, 30-inch or 40-inch LCD TVs for an MSRP of $1,599 and $3,999 respectively. The Digital Home Advantage lease program offers a DISH 811 high-definition satellite TV receiver and dish antenna, free delivery and free standard professional installation. DISH Network LCD TVs include the following: stylishly and functionally thin profiles (30-inch LCD monitor is 3.3 inches deep); the ability to double as a computer monitor; flexibility of wall mounting or shelf standing; one of the fastest refresh rates, optimizing clarity for the casual viewer and home theater buff alike; and detachable speakers for placement flexibility. http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=dish&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=660076 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:34:11 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DISH Player-DVR 942 HDTV DVR DISH Network Introduces Pay-TV Industry First with Multi-Room Satellite TV Receiver That Records in High-Definition LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2005--EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) and its DISH Network(TM) satellite TV service announced today the release of its newest high-definition (HD) satellite TV receiver, the DISH Player-DVR 942. No other pay-TV company offers the innovative combination of HD and digital video recording (DVR) features with multi-room capability like the DISH Player-DVR 942. Continuing as a leader in HD and DVR initiatives, DISH Network's DISH Player-DVR 942 is the first-of-its-kind dual tuner, HD DVR with the ability to view independent programs -- one in high definition and one in standard definition programming on two televisions at once. It features a massive 250 GB hard drive with a recording capacity of up to 25 hours of high-definition and up to 180 hours of standard-definition content. http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=dish&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=660078 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:35:20 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo to Launch Integrated Video Recorder TiVo to Launch Integrated Video Recorder - Jan 7, 2005 10:45 AM (AP Online) By MATTHEW FORDAHL AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- TiVo Inc. wants to declutter living rooms and simplify changing channels with its television recorders as it announced plans Thursday to launch models that integrate the converter boxes required by many cable TV companies. Currently, most TiVo customers with digital cable must connect their digital video recorders to a separate box using either a low-speed data port or a device that shoots infrared signals to the converter, mimicking a remote control. But not all cable boxes have the data port and so-called infrared blasters aren't always reliable. That means a show might not record properly because the TV failed to switch to the correct channel. By incorporating an emerging technology called CableCard, the new TiVo recorders would essentially have built-in converter boxes after a cable company-provided card is slipped into a slot. Like a standalone cable box, it would convert the scrambled TV signal. Alviso-based TiVo said it expects to release CableCard models as a premium product in early 2006. The devices also will allow TiVo customers to access high-definition, premium cable and other channels from multiple sources. Prices were not disclosed. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46069972 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:38:05 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: E-Prescriptions Take one, and stop scribbling on pads of paper Doctors are finally adopting e-prescriptions By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff | January 10, 2005 After a shaky start, Massachusetts doctors are beginning to embrace a new way of getting medications to their patients: e-prescribing. Hospitals and doctors have been turning slowly to technology such as electronic medical records to make healthcare safer and more convenient for patients. And e-prescribing, which allows doctors to send prescriptions electronically over a wireless network to the pharmacy rather than write them on paper, is attracting interest as a less expensive first step. Two companies that sell the technology are making inroads, despite initial technological glitches and resistance from physicians. Zix Corp., based in Dallas, has signed contracts with 2,200 doctors, including 650 at Lahey Clinic in Burlington and 700 at Caritas Christi Health Care, to use the company's e-prescribing system, executives said. So far, 473 physicians are active users, writing more than 25,000 electronic prescriptions weekly. Another company, DrFirst Inc., of Maryland, has sold its system to about 750 Massachusetts physicians. "This is saving me tons of time," said Dr. Abigail Zavod, a Lahey physician who practices in Lexington. Zavod writes most of her prescriptions on a Hewlett-Packard iPAQ, a hand-held computer similar to a BlackBerry. Two of the state's major insurers, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Tufts Health Plan, have agreed to transfer their members' medication histories to the Zix database. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/01/10/take_one_and_stop_scribbling_on_pads_of_paper/ ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Re: Jerry Springer - The Opera Date: 17 Jan 2005 12:57:53 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com David Quinton wrote: > On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 13:37:49 -0600, John Hines > wrote: >> Supposedly so was the complaints about the infamous breast baring at >> the last Superbowl. Some organization put it on their web site, with a >> click to complain campaign. Less than a dozen complaints from viewers >> that actually saw it, and wrote in, were received. >> The power of the net at work, and the lack of investigation by news >> outlets into the story before they report the sensational headlines. > I love the jargon used at the time: "Wardrobe malfunction"! > On 16 Jan 2005 04:54:39 -0800, Rob wrote: >> I knew about the Christian organizations etc ..., but I wasn't aware >> of how they calculated the number of obscenities in the performance. >> I apologise if I made any misleading comments. > There's a nice, humourous comment on it from one of our more left-wing > newspapers' most entertaining TV critics here: > http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/columnists/story/0,,1390622,00.html Not being a Guardian reader I didn't know about that article. A very good, and entertaining review. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: 17 Jan 2005 22:19:30 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Tony P. wrote: > The issue is that for wire line service the U.S. has always been > caller pays except for WATS 800 services in which the called party > pays. Not entirely true. The caller pays for his basic service, and calls to numbers within his calling area are free (except for those poor souls who had metered service). The only time the caller paid for actually placing a call would be for toll calls. That's the way it's always been in the nearly half-century that I've been using the phone. The idea of having to pay extra to call the person across the street because their phone is a cell phone instead of a land line is ridiculous. > That a cell user pays for incoming calls is ridiculous and flies in > the face of nearly a century of telecom practice in the United States. I always saw that as the cost of using the infrastructure. As capacity increases and build-up costs are amortized that's becoming less of an issue. Only heavy users ever actually pay additional costs for airtime anymore. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 17:47:41 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Tony P. wrote: > In the case of the U.S. the cellular carriers went to the FCC and > congress and cried that caller pays on cellular would kill the > service. If any such lobbying actually did occur, then those lobbyists were right. Calling Party Pays actually was tried in the US a few years back, and it was a huge flop. The US public is just used to not paying for local calls (just as cell users are no longer accustomed to paying for LD charges anymore). So when CPP was test-marketed for pagers and cell phones, no one called these numbers, and I even remember hearing of businesses programming their PBXes to deny outgoing calls to exchanges that were known to have CPP numbers. CPP was never outlawed, so I doubt such lobbying actually took place. But the concept was tried and it died a fitting, fast death. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ From: Koos van den Hout Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: 18 Jan 2005 16:32:06 GMT Organization: http://idefix.net/~koos/ I am from the Netherlands, our tarrifs apply to what I write. Paul Coxwell wrote: > And pay extra they do: On most regular BT plans the cost for calling a > cellphone is *much* greater than for a regular long-distance call. Calling a gsm from a landline can be more expensive than an international call within Europe. But ... > I'm sure that everybody in the U.K. will know of people who when given > an 07xx niumber will retort with something like "I'm not paying to > call that! Give me a real number!" It is totally accepted to give a mobile number. I had to fill in a number of forms recently with my 'home / evening' and 'work / daytime' number. I never give my real at-work number, I give the mobile number. Nobody ever complains about it. Koos van den Hout, PGP keyid RSA/1024 0xCA845CB5 via keyservers koos@kzdoos.xs4all.nl or DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263 -?) Fax +31-30-2817051 Camp Wireless, wireless Internet access /\\ http://idefix.net/~koos/ at campsites http://www.camp-wireless.org/ _\_V ------------------------------ 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 V24 #23 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jan 18 19:30:25 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0J0UPG19067; Tue, 18 Jan 2005 19:30:25 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 19:30:25 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501190030.j0J0UPG19067@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 V24 #24 TELECOM Digest Tue, 18 Jan 2005 19:30:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 24 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Pomp and Improper Circumstance (Lisa Minter) Google Adds Features to Picasa Photo Service (Lisa Minter) Yahoo Inks DSL Deal With Verizon (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Ottawa Builds Big Networks (Jack Decker) BroadVoice Launches Affordable Toll Free Service (Jack Decker) Hutch Gprs on TREO (romancingwithlife@fastmail.fm) Caller ID Maximum Length? (CustmClr) Re: Beware Stereo Exchange-Chicago-David Nash-Ripoff (trippingtoo8track) Re: Moved But Want to Keep Phone Number (Justin Time) Re: More on Verizon Blocks European Email by Default (jmeissen@arcnet) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 18 Jan 2005 07:27:48 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Pomp and Improper Circumstance by Robert Scheer, the Associated Press On Thursday, an estimated $40 million worth of inaugural pomp and circumstance will only temporarily triumph over an incalculable record of deceit and error. Of course, some might say it's tacky to rain on the President's parade, but two crucial news stories compel it. First came the report, confirmed by the White House, that the fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq had officially but secretly ended shortly before Christmas without, of course, any sign of the much discussed weapons that were such a critical justification for the war in the first place. This was followed by the astounding claim by the President that his narrow election victory in November absolved him of accountability for both the false rationales and outright lies used to justify the invasion, and the disastrous occupation that followed. "Well, we had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 elections," Bush told the Washington Post in an interview published Friday. "And the American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me." Actually, the election provided no such moment of accountability because both major-party candidates had supported the war. John Kerry had voted to authorize the use of force against Iraq -- and then inexplicably said on the campaign trail that he would have voted the same way even after learning that Congress and the American public had been deceived -- lied to -- on the war's justification. The Democratic Party nominee even endorsed larger troop commitments to occupy a country where every Western soldier on the ground fuels nationalist and religious rage. And although it is true that Bush secured a (very slim) majority of the popular vote, it is a portent of how history will judge him that the days ahead of his inauguration have been soured by a string of critical statements about his Iraq policy from some of the biggest Iraq hands in the Republican ranks. Brent Scowcroft, the retired lieutenant general who was national security advisor to the President's father during the first Iraq war, warned ominously that the upcoming Iraqi national elections "won't be a promising transformation, and it has great potential for deepening the conflict. We may be seeing incipient civil war at this time." Even the Bush family's consigliore is concerned enough to speak out publicly. James A. Baker III, the former secretary of State who has been working at Bush's behest to win international debt relief for conquered Iraq, is talking publicly about the need for a phased withdrawal: "Any appearance of a permanent occupation will both undermine domestic support here in the United States and play directly into the hands of those in the Middle East who -- however wrongly -- suspect us of imperial design." Undaunted by such pragmatism, President "Mission Accomplished" Bush twice demurred in his interview with the Post from Colin Powell's prediction that US troops would begin leaving Iraq in the next year. Despite what Bush may think, elections grant leaders temporary power, but it is history that determines the rightness and wrongness of their actions. As Abraham Lincoln noted, you can even fool all of the people some of the time. That is why the nation's founders designed the Constitution to check the unbridled rule of the majority lest, driven by the passions of the moment, it embrace devastating error or even tyranny. Consider that even without the debacle of Watergate, the reputation of the man who soundly defeated war hero and antiwar candidate George McGovern was ultimately doomed by his immoral and irrational decision to carpet-bomb most of Southeast Asia for years in a vain attempt to secure victory against a seemingly outmatched Third World country. As we honor Medal of Freedom winner Martin Luther King Jr., a prophet of peace, it is depressing to consider that our President has just bestowed that same medal -- the highest civilian honor in the land -- on ex-CIA Director George Tenet and ex-Iraqi administrator L. Paul Bremer III. After all, it was Tenet who kept Congress in the dark about the agency's considerable intelligence that contradicted the White House lies about Iraq's alleged nuclear weapons program and ties to Al Qaeda. And it was the bumbling Bremer who assured us throughout his stay in Iraq that everything over there was just going swimmingly -- instead of admitting that it was actually going to hell in a handbasket. No matter his electoral victory, Bush will never be absolved of sending young people to kill and be killed in a war without moral justification. One does not have to be a Catholic to agree with the pope that the invasion of Iraq fails to meet the Christian standard of a "just war", or anything close to being a 'Christian' as the President claims he is. 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, the Associated Press Syndicate. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 18 Jan 2005 08:07:42 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Google Adds Features to Picasa Photo Service SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc. said late on Monday it has added a variety of new features to its Picasa digital photo service, including the ability to e-mail pictures via its Gmail service. Google bought Picasa last summer to improve photo-publishing on Blogger, its Web log service. The latest Picasa update, which is free, also features faster photo posting to Blogger. Picasa's rivals range from Yahoo Inc. to Microsoft Corp., to online photo service Shutterfly and software maker Adobe Systems Inc. With the explosion in popularity of digital photography technology providers are scrambling to create a foothold in the growing market for managing, editing, printing and sharing photos. InfoTrends/CAP Ventures has put 2004 worldwide sales of digital cameras at $24 billion. Among Picasa's new editing features is a "fill light" tool that brightens dark, backlit photos. With the launch of the updated version of Picasa, users will also be able to export photos to printing services such as Shutterfly, Kodak's OFoto, Snapfish and Walmart.com, said Picasa General Manager Lars Perkins. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:41:41 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Yahoo! Inks DSL Deal With Verizon Telecom dailyLead from USTA http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18780&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Yahoo! inks DSL deal with Verizon BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Private equity firms close to $750 million buyout of NTelos * Charter Communications chief resigns * Comcast to boost broadband speeds * Liberty Media buys remaining shares in UnitedGlobalCom * AT&T's tactics in Iraq raise concerns * Is Google eyeing a telecom play? * Cablevision board to battle over Voom's fate USTA SPOTLIGHT * Radio Frequency Identification -- Get Your Copy Today! EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * New EU members see torrid broadband growth REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Phone companies want to replace 1996 Telecommunications Act * Ebbers trial set to begin Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18780&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:59:16 -0500 Subject: Ottawa Builds Big Networks A rather interesting article on Grand Haven's wi-fi network: http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/3460341 By Gerry Blackwell One of the most exciting ideas in Wi-Fi is the notion of blanket wireless coverage for entire cities. Everywhere you go in the burg you can get a connection for Internet access or voice over IP (VoIP). Businesses and home owners can subscribe to a fixed service, and also get mobile access when they're out and about. Visitors and others can subscribe to a hotspot-like service. It's wireless utopia. Numerous projects are underway around the world that promise to ultimately provide city-wide coverage, but Ottawa Wireless, a start-up in out-of-the-way Grand Haven, Michigan, claims to have the only actual city-wide Wi-Fi system in operation: Grand Haven, population 12,000. The city, which spreads out over about 6.2 square miles, is no booming metropolis, but the company had to start somewhere. Now it's moving up the food chain. Its next deployment, recently announced, will be in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, a city of about 63,000 and 72 square miles. Another unannounced New Mexico city is in the pipeline; It has a population of 75,000. "And we're deep in a conversation with a city of over 300,000," says Ottawa Wireless CEO and co-founder Tyler van Houwelingen. "It becomes a different challenge when you get into that kind of urban environment, though. There's a lot more interference. So much of the engineering goes into avoiding interference, even in cities where we are now." Ottawa Wireless, named after the county in Michigan where Grand Haven is located (no relation to the Canadian capital), has an interesting history. The expat founders started in Spain two years ago with a company called Azulstar, developing technology strategies, server software and antenna systems to provide mobile broadband services, including VoIP. [Jack Decker Comment: I have to pick one small nit here: If I'm not mistaken, both Ottawa County and Ottawa, Ontario were named after the Ottawa Indians that inhabited this part of North America.] Full story at: http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/3460341 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: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 14:24:53 -0500 Subject: BroadVoice Launches Affordable Toll Free Service; BroadVoice *Sigh* more press release hype. I mean, it's an interesting announcement, but it could have been summed up in one paragraph, without all the hype. I particularly enjoy the way they proclaim themselves as "the industry leader in feature-rich, low-cost Internet telephone services for home and small business users." Says who? I'll bet several other VoIP companies would be more than willing to dispute that claim! http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050118005949&newsLang=en January 18, 2005 01:24 PM US Eastern Timezone BroadVoice Launches Affordable Toll Free Service; BroadVoice; Customers Can Add Toll Free Number for Only $ 1.95 per Month LOWELL, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2005--BroadVoice, the industry leader in feature-rich, low-cost Internet telephone services for home and small business users, today announced the immediate availability of its new Toll Free Alternate Numbers for its residential and small business customers. This unique premium feature allows BroadVoice subscribers to add a toll free number to their account for only $ 1.95 per month. Each Toll Free Alternate Number includes 60 minutes of free inbound calling with each additional minute billing at $ 0.02 thereafter. The announcement comes on the heels of a distribution agreement announced last week between BroadVoice and catalog retailer Hello Direct. BroadVoice service allows customers to make and receive telephone calls over their existing high speed ("broadband") Internet connections, and provides them with 24 free calling features, including voicemail, caller ID, and call waiting. Toll free service is just one of the many BroadVoice features that can be activated by existing subscribers in their "BroadVoice Account Portal." Subscribers simply select an 8xx number from an extensive list of available numbers and the service is instantly provisioned. BroadVoice president David Epstein said, "No other VoIP or traditional telephone company offers such a great deal on Toll Free service. We are proud to offer this kind of value to our loyal subscribers and will keep on working to earn their business." BroadVoice offers service plans starting at $9.95 for unlimited in state calling. The $19.95 Unlimited World plan offers free calls to the United States and 20 other countries, including most of Western Europe and China. For $24.95 the Unlimited World Plus plan provides free calls to 35 countries, including Brazil, Japan and Israel. A small business BroadVoice plan costs $29.95 per month. About BroadVoice The BroadVoice service lets consumers and small businesses use a high-speed DSL or cable modem connection to make and receive phone calls anywhere in the world. Customers benefit from unlimited domestic and international calling and a suite of 24 basic and advanced features for one low monthly fixed price. BroadVoice currently offers service in over 1,500 rate centers in 36 US states. Founded in December 2003, BroadVoice is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Convergent Networks, Inc. and is based in Lowell, MA. Additional information can be found at www.broadvoice.com. Contacts BroadVoice, Inc. Angela Epstein, 978-418-7380 aepstein@broadvoice.com or J.E. Hochman & Associates for BroadVoice Jonathan Hochman, 860-233-4219 jehochman@jehochman.com ------------------------------ From: romancingwithlife@fastmail.fm Subject: Hutch Gprs on TREO Date: 18 Jan 2005 03:15:20 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am just not able to get the web surfing started on my Handspring Treo 180. I had Motorola c350e earlier and it worked fine on it. then I asked them to discontinue my gprs facility as I was not too much happy with the small browser window in Motorola. Now I have got this Treo and I tried all the settings but it does not work. After I put my sim on my old Motorola c350e I get data server error. IS HUTCH GPRS NOT WORKING or my settings are all wrong ???? I get the gprs connected icon on my devices but just can't start surfing. Please help, Regards, Ashish ------------------------------ From: custmclr@aol.com (CustmClr) Date: 18 Jan 2005 22:39:27 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: Caller ID Maximum Length? What is the maximum number of Caller-ID characters/digits that SBC (in Southern California) can transmit for Residential and Business phone lines? Is it 15 ? I don't like the abbreviation they have used for my business name in the Caller ID name display, and I'd like to know if there are any options. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: trippingtoo8track@yahoo.com Subject: Re: Beware Stereo Exchange-Chicago-David Nash-Ripoff Artist ! Date: 18 Jan 2005 04:37:00 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Yes, I also filed a formal complaint with the BBB. I also filed a formal complaint with the Illinois Attorney General, Fraud Division of the US Postal Service (the item was insured and tracked by USPS), FBI, Interstate Commerce Commission, and Chicago Consumer Protection Agency. So the complaint has been simultaneously filed with (6) federal and state regulatory and law agencies. I also notified the Chicago Police Dept., and if need be will notify the Illinois State Police. The shop owner has relented as of last night and said the deck will be shipped today - he has been paid $145 via paypal yesterday, and I have the email receipt. So we'll see what happens next. ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: Moved But Want to Keep Phone Number Date: 18 Jan 2005 10:28:05 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com As you now live in California, go to the carrier that has your current contract and get a second NAM for California and make this the primary billing address. That way you can keep the Oregon number for your friends there, but still have a local California number for the people near you. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You understand of course that on any multiple-NAM phone, only *one* NAM is alive at any given time. If you are in 'California NAM mode' for example, then Oregon callers ring through to voice mail, and vice-versa. As far as the carrier (for the alternate NAM) is concerned, the phone is turned off and not in service. You won't get a 'call waiting tone' for example, or any way to answer an incoming call (from the alternative NAM) without powering down the phone, pressing keys to invoke the other NAM and then powering back up. A better solution, IMO, (since you wish to keep your Oregon number) would be to have the California telco assign you a call forwarding number set up to ring permanently to the Oregon number (which will in turn ring your cell phone). PAT] ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: More on Verizon Blocks European Email by Default Date: 18 Jan 2005 23:43:25 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > * From Dave Farber's list > ------ Forwarded Message > From: "Jonathan S. Shapiro" <> > Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 15:52:37 -0500 > To: > Subject: Re: [IP] Verizon blocks European email by default. > [For IP] > Dave: > The last time I checked, all of the companies providing internet > access (including Verizon) had terms in their contracts that > guaranteed the users "unlimited access to the internet" or words to > that effect. Spam blocking -- including blocking of port 25 -- > violates such contracts. This has nothing to do with Verizon's user's ability to access the Internet. This has to do with outside parties' ability to send email to Verizon's users. Maybe this is a good thing. If service providers in Europe find that they can't communicate with the rest of the world maybe there will be some incentive to stop spammers. I've heard that studies show a majority of spam comes from the US, but most of what I see comes from Italy, France, Korea, Taiwan, etc. My mail server blocks entire countries, especially Russia. But then, I know that there is no legitimate email from those places for my domain. ------------------------------ 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 V24 #24 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jan 19 16:16:06 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0JLG5228220; Wed, 19 Jan 2005 16:16:06 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 16:16:06 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501192116.j0JLG5228220@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 V24 #25 TELECOM Digest Wed, 19 Jan 2005 16:16:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 25 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FBI Retires Controversial E-Mail Surveillance Tool (Lisa Minter) Google Hits High on Trends in Web Advertising (Lisa Minter) Adsense and Click Fraud (TELECOM Digest Editor) Motorola Announces Record Fourth-Quarter Sales; Earnings (Monty Solomon) 800 Number or 10-10 (Matt) Report Predicts Growth For Global Cell Phone Market (Telecom dailyLead) Cheaper Long Distance Carriers ... What About the Fees?? (JaxDawg) Re: Bozos One and All! was Re: Beware Stereo Exchange-David Nash (stex) Re: Beware Stereo Exchange-Chicago-David Nash-Ripoff Artist (Fatboy Jr.) Re: Radar Detectors (abbygale) Re: Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T Really Care (Matt) Re: Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T Really ccre (John Levine) Re: SMS Security? (Isaiah Beard) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 19 Jan 2005 07:56:33 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: FBI Retires Controversial E-Mail Surveillance Tool WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI has all but retired its controversial e-mail wiretap system formerly known as Carnivore, turning instead to commercially available software, according to two recently released reports to Congress. The monitoring system developed to intercept the e-mail and other online activities of suspected criminals was not used in fiscal years 2003 and 2002, according to the reports obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center under the Freedom of Information Act. According to the reports, the FBI used commercially available software to conduct court-ordered Internet surveillance in criminal investigations 13 times during that time period. An FBI spokesman was not immediately available for comment. The FBI is required by federal law to provide detailed reports on how it uses Carnivore, the monitoring system now known as DCS 1000. FBI agents, after receiving a court warrant, install the system on the suspect's Internet service provider and filter out his e-mail messages, Web browsing activities and other online communications. It has come under fire from civil-liberties groups who say it is too invasive and ripe for abuse. U.S. law enforcers have argued they need Carnivore to keep up with criminals who use online communications to plan and carry out terrorism, spying, fraud, child pornography and other crimes. 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, Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 19 Jan 2005 07:59:43 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Google Hits High on Trends in Web Advertising SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shares of Web search leader Google Inc. rose 2.5 percent to a record high on Tuesday as strong trends in online advertising also lifted its closest competitor, Yahoo Inc. Online advertising, which includes Web search and branded advertising, is broadly expected to have been strong over the fourth-quarter. Deutsche Bank Securities in a recent report also said that robust online advertising spending trends are likely to continue into the first quarter. Shares of Google, which gets virtually all of its revenue from Web search advertising, rose as high as $205.02 on Nasdaq, before paring gains to close up $3.93 at $203.90. Shares of Yahoo, Google's closest competitor in the Web search arena, rose 48 cents to $37.18 ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings report due after the market close. American Technology Research analyst Mark Mahaney said he sees upside in Yahoo's revenue results, driven by broad strength in both search and branded advertising, as well as from fees-based businesses. With regard to Google, Mahaney said Wall Street's consensus fourth-quarter estimates for 15 percent quarter-on-quarter revenue growth on Google Web sites is too conservative and that sequential revenue growth is more likely to be 20 percent. Google is scheduled to report its results on Feb. 1. Google, which went public in August with an offering of 19.6 million shares, has seen its share price rise steadily even as the number of shares eligible for public trade has increased by close to 90 million. Another 176.9 million shares will become eligible for public trade next month, as the last lockups on Google shares expire. Also on Tuesday, shares of iVillage Inc., an Internet media company for women, were up nearly 5 percent to $6.71. 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 ownerm in this instance Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 03:54:55 -0600 From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Adsense and click fraud A reader shared an interesting observation with me, to wit: Pat: Internet scammers steal money with 'click fraud.' Advertisers once bid pennies to place their links prominently alongside searches for words like "refinance." With traffic to the search sites skyrocketing, last week's bid for that word was $12 a click. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6830802/site/newsweek/ Better than poker. Faithful reader [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Dear Faithful reader, you and I have chatted a few times about my feelings in general about advertising on the net and about Google specifically. I am *not* enamoured with the concept of advertising on the net in general. Much of it is very crude, in bad taste, and detracts from the value of the web **as I used to know it.** (key, operative phrase 'used to know it'). Neither have I very much enjoyed asking (really begging) for pennies from the readers here. It would appear that advertising (ala Google-style) is the best way to do my publishing. Call it, I guess, the lesser of two evils, given my disposition to do my own thing and speak my own mind on many social issues, and its not like I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth or I have a department head/supervisor (university, other place of employment) willing to look the other way while much of my work day is spent on this Digest, as I could say of certain other Usenet moderators, etc. My ultimate source of largesse comes from the fine folks at Social Security Disability, what there is of it, but at least *they* don't expect anything of me (such as work) except to accept their monthly dole as they hand it out. Google Adsense supplants that quite nicely, better (but not much) than the old 'public radio' model (pitch your pennies at me when you wish) I was using. Google says they have problems with click fraud; well, we all have problems in life. I just wish they were a little more responsive to the web publishers who agree to hand out their ads, and that they were a little more prompt in making small payments; for persons like myself who deal almost exclusively with plastic and computers from home; very little *actual cash*. I also wish they had alternate pay methods such as PayPal or direct deposit to bank accounts like Social Security does. I guess I will stick with Google Adsense for now. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 23:35:50 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola Announces Record Fourth-Quarter Sales and Earnings Motorola Announces Record Fourth-Quarter Sales and Earnings from Continuing Operations - Jan 18, 2005 04:05 PM (PR Newswire) - Sales of $8.84 Billion, a 27 Percent Increase from Year-Ago Quarter - Fourth-Quarter Earnings from Continuing Operations of $.28 Per Share - 31.8 Million Handsets Shipped During the Quarter' Estimated Gain of 3 Points of Global Market Share SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) today reported record sales, on a continuing operations basis, of $8.84 billion in the fourth quarter of 2004, an increase of $1.9 billion or 27 percent from the fourth quarter of 2003, and reported earnings from continuing operations of $.28 per share versus $.18 per share in the year ago quarter. For the full year 2004 on a continuing operations basis, the company reported sales of $31.3 billion, an increase of $8.2 billion, or 35 percent, from the prior year, and reported earnings of $.91 per share versus $.39 per share in 2003. During the year the company strengthened its balance sheet, reduced its total debt(1) by $2.7 billion and ended the year with a record net cash(1) position of $5.4 billion. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46275282 ------------------------------ From: Matt Subject: 800 Number or 10-10 Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 11:40:11 -0500 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Hi, Does anyone know of any reputable company or way that I can get a cheap 800 number (like below 2cents/minute). Also ... how does one go about getting a 10-10 number like 10-10-987 for offering long distance services? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 12:36:52 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Report Predicts Growth For Global Cell Phone Market http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18810&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Report predicts growth for global cell phone market BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Ciena sues Nortel for patent infringement * Cablevision to sell off Voom unit after board vote * Judge: Scott Sullivan's personal life fair game in Ebbers trial * Motorola, Lucent, Sony Ericsson post earnings USTA SPOTLIGHT * Ethernet-Based Metro Area Networks Now Available in the Bookstore EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Orthogon takes wraps of high-capacity wireless bridge * Verizon to sell high-tech phone from Westell REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Philadelphia set to launch citywide Wi-Fi in summer of 2006 * U.S. nets file-sharing convictions * Cablers' filing with highest court seeks protection for cable-modem services Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18810&l=2017006 Legal and Privacy information at http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp SmartBrief, Inc. 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 ------------------------------ From: JaxDawg Subject: Cheaper Long Distance Carriers ... What About The Fees?? Date: 18 Jan 2005 17:55:54 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I'm paying waaaay too much for long distance (AT&T), and am looking into using one of the cheaper cariers (ECG probably) - that has "No billing fees". Does that mean that I won't be charged all the connectivity fees, regulatory assessment fees, etc that I see from AT&T?? or does it just mean there is no monthly charge, and I'll still see all the fees? I'm confused. Can anyone help? Thanks! ------------------------------ From: stex@sprynet.com Subject: Re: Bozos One and All! was Re: Beware Stereo Exchange-Ripoff Date: 18 Jan 2005 18:04:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com David Nash responds to Barry Margolin and TELECOM Editor: > TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to article > , from Fatboy Jr. > : >> [TELECOM Digest Editors's Note: This is a rather serious charge and >> I hope David Nash will respond if he wishes to do so. PAT] > This guy has been spamming all the newsgroups with this. Shouldn't > moderated groups be safe from this kind of thing? > But I guess since PAT is oblivious to Usenet, he wouldn't know this. > But surely the fact that it was posted in ALL CAPS should trigger a bozo > alert? Hello ... Thanks for the e-mails ... The famous tape deck is shipping this week ... Thanks for the payment and the business ... Apologies to Mr. Nudo ... and bozo no ... pissed yes ... missunderstandings abound ... and if it was stolen ... why pay for it ?? He paid for it; it is shipping this week... David [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you very much for your answer. I am sure Mr. Nudo will be pleased to get his equipment back. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Fatboy Jr. Subject: Re: Beware Stereo Exchange-Chicago-David Nash-Ripoff Artist ! Date: 19 Jan 2005 06:33:59 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com UPDATE- Mr. Nash has submitted a verbal bill, he has been paid via paypal, and he is promising to ship the deck today 1-19-05, the audio equipment and music world watches and waits to see, if the repaired deck will indeed ship today via UPS and arrrive at the owner's home. Stay tuned as Mr. Nash has stepped up to the plate, and has promised to defend his honor and get this unit back to the rightful owner ! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I appreciate the follow up on this and hope it works out satisfactorily for you. I am glad TELECOM Digest was able to intervene for you, being the bunch of bozos we are, one and all of us here. If he does not get it back to you in a day or three, please continue your prodding. PAT] ------------------------------ From: abbygale Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Date: 19 Jan 2005 07:14:40 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com If you research the issue, you'll find that locales fond of the 'red-light cameras' have nearly all decreased the "yellow" times to make the systems more *profitable*. It's about revenue, not safety and it's just another tax. ------------------------------ From: Matt Subject: Re: Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T really care Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 11:39:23 -0500 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com I'm not sure what your problem is. I've always been impressed by Vonage's tech support and customer service; they have always fixed my problem, and even sent me a new ATA when there was a "woosh" issue with mine. If your ATA dies within a year it should be covered; should be covered beyond that also since it is VONAGE's ATA and not yours. Did you purchase it? Didn't think so. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If any new users of VOIP want to check out Vonage, I still give out e-coupons good for a month of free Vonage service. You click on the link in the e-coupon I send you and use it (the link) to set up your account; get the ATA box; the number assig- ment and set up your account. Whatever type of service you select, you pay for a month then get the *second month* free with my e-coupon. Just send me email and ask: ptownson@telecom-digest.org . PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 19 Jan 2005 01:27:29 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T really care Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I had a problem with my ATA, and I asked for help to them for over one > month, and believe it or not, they will never reply to your mails, if > you call them, they will never answer, I regret to report that my experience is the same. I have been having call quality problems, which I think are due to congestion at the gateway between Vonage's network provider and mine. I sent multiple e-mails, and never got anything other than a form response. I tried to call, but once I got to the place in the voicemail tree where I'd talk to a person, I have always gotten a busy signal. So now we'll find out whether it's possible to port a Vonage/Paetec number to Lingo. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of The Internet for Dummies Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "I dropped the toothpaste", said Tom, crestfallenly. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: SMS Security?? Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 14:41:42 -0500 bensmyth wrote: > Hi, > When I send an SMS is it sent securely?? That depends on a lot of things, primarily what signalling format the carrier is using and whether that carrier has chosen to implement encryption protocols for SMS traffic. Even then, you can't be assured that the carrier at the receiving end has the same level of security. So, the short safe answer is that you should never assume that text messages are being sent securely, even if you are a subcriber of a service that claims to be doing so. No one can guarantee end-to-end security. > How can I be assured of this?? (What protocols, cryptography is used?) Again, protocols vary even as an individual message travels to its destination. You should never be assured that any secure method is being used to transmit SMS messages. > Would the answer be the same if $1,000 were at stake? How about $10,000? > $100,000?? Why would it be any different based on monetary value? The phone or network is not sensitive of SMS messages that may have a greater monetary value than any other. To the network and the terminals at either end, it's just data. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ 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 V24 #25 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jan 20 02:18:14 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0K7IDA03295; Thu, 20 Jan 2005 02:18:14 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 02:18:14 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501200718.j0K7IDA03295@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 V24 #26 TELECOM Digest Thu, 20 Jan 2005 02:16:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 26 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson VoIP Comes to the Upper Peninsula (and Expands in the Lower) (J Decker) VoicePulse Expands Coverage in Michigan (Press Release) (Jack Decker) Re: Radar Detectors (Steve Sobol) Re: Radar Detectors (HorneTD) Re: Radar Detectors (John McHarry) Re: SMS Security?? (David Clayton) Re: FBI Retires Controversial E-Mail Surveillance Tool (Barry Margolin) Re: Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T Really Care (Tony P.) Re: Caller pays, was Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt (Tony P.) Re: Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam (Tony P.) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Linc Madison) Re: Cheaper Long Distance Carriers; What About The Fees?? (John Levine) Re: 800 Number or 10-10 (John R. Levine) 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: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 18:49:08 -0500 Subject: VoIP Comes to the Upper Peninsula (and Expands in the Lower)! When it rains it pours, although since this is Michigan, it would probably be more appropriate to say that when it snows, it really snows (I can personally attest to this, we really got hit with the snow overnight!). I say this because today, VoIP service came to the Upper Peninsula, and it is being offered by not one, but two of the VoIP companies that offer the best value for consumers! Strange how things work, it appears that both companies got a supply of numbers from Telesthetic and loaded them into their switches today (John Lodden must be smiling!). In addition, one of those companies vastly expanded the number of ratecenters in which it offers service. First, here are the Upper Peninsula ratecenters in which numbers will be available: Bergland, Chatham, Curtis, Engadine, Escanaba, Houghton, Iron Mountain, Iron River, Ironwood, Keweenaw, Mackinac Island, Marquette, Menominee, Michigamme, Newberry, Powers, Republic, Rock, Sault Ste. Marie, St. Ignace, Stephenson, Trout Lake, and Watersmeet. And the two companies? BroadVoice and VoicePulse. I'm not sure who was actually first but it appears that both started offering their U.P. service sometime this afternoon. In addition, BroadVoice increased the number of ratecenters it serves in the Lower Peninsula, the net effect of which is that VoicePulse and BroadVoice both have an almost identical list of ratecenters served. From what I have read on BroadbandReports.com, both of these companies would be a good choice for VoIP service. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. If you frequently make calls to Canada or any of the countries in Europe that are included in the BroadVoice plan, you may want to go with them. On the other hand, VoicePulse has a set of features that no one else even comes close to, particularly with regard to call filters and managing incoming calls. There are other differences, and I'm not going to try and give an exhaustive list tonight. Besides, it probably wouldn't be fair for me to make a comparison because I've had the opportunity to actually use the service of one of these companies, but not the other. I am going to try to not play favorites in this message; if the posts I have read on BroadbandReports.com are any indication, these are both good companies. Neither is perfect, but NO VoIP company is perfect. I will point out that if you are comparing by price, remember that BroadVoice currently adds a "Regulatory Recovery Fee" of $1.50 per phone number, whereas VoicePulse does not. Remember, you can get a fairly accurate idea of which VoIP companies offer VoIP service in any Michigan ratecenter by going to the page at http://michigantelephone.mi.org/local/reverse.html and looking up your ratecenter, then look in the "VoIP" column to see who offers service. You may also want to look at adjacent ratecenters - depending on who calls you the most (and what ratecenters they can call as a local call), sometimes it's more advantageous to have a number in an adjacent or nearby ratecenter, rather than the one in which you actually reside. 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: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 20:07:17 -0500 Subject: VoicePulse Expands Coverage in Michigan (Press Release) Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/?d=71163 Source: VoicePulse Inc VoicePulse Expands Coverage in Michigan Company Becomes First to Offer VoIP Service to Entire State of Michigan JAMESBURG, N.J., Jan. 19, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- VoicePulse Inc. today announced the availability of its top-rated broadband phone service to the entire state of Michigan. The service has been available in lower Michigan since early 2004, but this expansion increases availability to the entire state, including the Upper Peninsula area. Historically, demand for VoicePulse service in Michigan has been very high -- among the top five states along with New York and California. "Besides offering service to the major cities, we feel it is just as important to be able to reach the surrounding, less populated areas," says Ravi Sakaria, VoicePulse's President & CEO. "The added value and reduced costs offered by VoIP should be available to everybody." VoicePulse allows consumers to use their existing cable or DSL Internet connection for phone service. The service includes traditional features such as Caller ID, Call Waiting, Call Forward and Voicemail as well as a host of advanced features such as Distinctive Ring, Call Filters, Telemarketer Block and Anonymous Call Block. Consumers need only a high-speed Internet connection and an ordinary touch-tone telephone to use the service. VoicePulse uses Voice-over-IP technology to deliver broadband phone service. VoicePulse's services include: -- Unlimited local, regional and U.S. long distance calling for $24.99 per month -- Unlimited local, regional and 200 U.S. long distance minutes for $14.99 per month -- Advanced features including Voicemail, Telemarketer Blocking, Do Not Disturb, Anonymous Call Rejection and Distinctive Ring -- Voicemail with optional e-mail delivery of messages as sound attachments -- Choose your own area code -- Low international calling rates -- http://www.voicepulse.com/ 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 visit www.voicepulse.com. VoicePulse is a trademark of VoicePulse Inc. For more information about VoicePulse, please contact: CONTACT: VoicePulse Inc. Rima Vaghasiya (732) 339-5100 rima@voicepulse.com Full story at: http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/?d=71163 ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 13:23:35 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com abbygale wrote: > If you research the issue, you'll find that locales fond of the > 'red-light cameras' have nearly all decreased the "yellow" times to > make the systems more *profitable*. It's about revenue, not safety and > it's just another tax. I've about had it with those stupid intersections around here. Most have reasonable timing, but some don't. This is the big, empty Mojave Desert, and we do have SURFACE streets with speed limits of 60 and even 65 mph here (granted, the 65 mph highway is US 395 coming out of this area into the middle of nowhere, but it's still a 65 mph, *two-lane* highway). There are certain intersections where, if I see the light turn yellow, I only have a few seconds to slam on my brakes. Disgusting. JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005) ------------------------------ From: HorneTD Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 22:02:48 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net abbygale wrote: > If you research the issue, you'll find that locales fond of the > 'red-light cameras' have nearly all decreased the "yellow" times to > make the systems more *profitable*. It's about revenue, not safety and > it's just another tax. Do you have any evidence to back up that paranoid rant? Tom H ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 04:09:00 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 07:14:40 -0800, abbygale wrote: > If you research the issue, you'll find that locales fond of the > 'red-light cameras' have nearly all decreased the "yellow" times to > make the systems more *profitable*. It's about revenue, not safety and > it's just another tax. I haven't read the book for a while, but IIRC, a yellow light means stop if you prudently can. If you aren't speeding and are depending on its being extended, you are just apologizing your own veniality. ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: SMS Security?? Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 08:28:33 +1100 On Wed, 2005-01-19 at 14:41 -0500, Isaiah Beard wrote: > bensmyth wrote: >> Hi, >> When I send an SMS is it sent securely?? > That depends on a lot of things, primarily what signalling format the > carrier is using and whether that carrier has chosen to implement > encryption protocols for SMS traffic. Even then, you can't be assured > that the carrier at the receiving end has the same level of security. > So, the short safe answer is that you should never assume that text > messages are being sent securely, even if you are a subcriber of a > service that claims to be doing so. No one can guarantee end-to-end > security. >> How can I be assured of this?? (What protocols, cryptography is used?) > Again, protocols vary even as an individual message travels to its > destination. You should never be assured that any secure method is > being used to transmit SMS messages. In Australia, there is no guarantee whatsoever that SMS will actually be delivered -- it seems it is all done on a "best effort" basis. There have been cases in the past where carriers have had problems with excessive SMS traffic and have (apparently) just dropped messages, or have deleted messages awaiting delivery for more than a few days. I'd be more concerned about the SMS actually getting through reliably than any transport security issues, if the message is *that* important ... Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: FBI Retires Controversial E-Mail Surveillance Tool Organization: Symantec Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 20:17:20 -0500 In article , Lisa Minter wrote: > According to the reports, the FBI used commercially available software > to conduct court-ordered Internet surveillance in criminal > investigations 13 times during that time period. So they haven't actually stopped performing the surveillance, they've just switched from a custom system to COTS software. Does this make a difference to civil libertarians? Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T really care Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 21:41:36 -0500 In article , cobuild_collins@yahoo.com says: > Hi there, > Well I've been using Vonage's services for over one year, as time goes > the service was each time worst. > I had a problem with my ATA, and I asked for help to them for over one > month, and believe it or not, they will never reply to your mails, if > you call them, they will never answer, and the customer support > service (live-online-chat) is even worst they can only say: Please > call 1800-Vonag...... or do you want to give us more Money??? Why > don't you Sign Up. And never help you. > If you are thinking about signing up with Vonage, I suggest you to > think twice, because you will only receive news from them when you > change your credit card number or so. But they will never help you and > they will keep changing and charging money. You might be lucky if your > ATA works for over 8 months, then you will have to buy a new one > ($80.00 more - $40.00 disconnection fee and a new $40.00 activation > fee). ??????? By the way again, if they answer you some day ... > I expected more of Vonage, my first impression is that it was a big > company, but the whole company seems to be managed by two or three > people. So far I've had good experience and that's going on 3 months with the service. An issue with ring voltage was resolved to my satisfaction. I did note that email doesn't get answered but if you have patience you can call and eventually get answers. Average wait is 30 minutes. The quality of the line is very good and the price is right. You get what you pay for. If you want instant service and all the features go ahead and pay your ILEC or a CLEC. But if you want good sound and so-so service stick with Vonage. I've got a fairly high tolerance for lack of service when the price is right so I'll stay with Vonage. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Caller pays, was Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 21:45:27 -0500 In article , johnl@iecc.com says... >> That a cell user pays for incoming calls is ridiculous and flies in >> the face of nearly a century of telecom practice in the United >> States. > Well, yeah, but that a cell user can talk on a handheld phone while > driving down the highway flies in the face of a century of Telecom > practice, too. > Think of your cell phone as a FX line to your pocket. Even that is about to be relegated to history. With the penetration of 802.11 gear and carriers like Vonage saying "Here, get this device and your Vonage phone acts like a cell phone where there's 802.11a/b/g." As far as FX -- is it even necessary any longer? ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 21:47:50 -0500 In article , monty@roscom.com says: > By Evan Schuman January 5, 2005 > In a scheme that leveraged a little technology but relied on > inattentive cashiers, Tennessee authorities have arrested two couples > on charges that they used bogus bar codes to steal at least $1.5 > million from hundreds of stores -- some belonging to Wal-Mart -- in 19 > states. The group is slated to appear in court Wednesday. > Although the accused are said to have spent a lot of time and effort > organizing colleagues in various parts of the country, the technology > portion of their scheme was quite simple. They are accused of visiting > a retailer and purchasing a low-priced item. The group would then scan > the bar codes and simply print out duplicate bar codes, said Thomas > Dean, the assistant Sumner County (Tennessee) district attorney who is > assigned to the case. > The accused -- Michael Poore, 29, and Julie Marie Simmons, 35, also > known as Julie Poore; and Dewey Howerton, 39, and Laura Howerton, 39 > -- would then go back to the store, tape the duplicate bar code on a > higher-priced item and purchase the more expensive item at the lower > scanned price, Dean said in an eWEEK.com interview. > One of the accused, according to the police complaint, would then > remove the bogus tag and try to return the item to the store for the > full purchase price. Instead of cash, the defendants would often ask > for gift cards, Dean said. "Wal-Mart will more quickly put it on a > gift card than hand you cash," he said. > http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1748274,00.asp It isn't just Wal-Mart that got hit by this. Merchants have been seeing this for at least a decade, or ever since inkjet printers could print reliable UPC-A or UPC-E bar codes. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And I am told that very good color copiers can trick change-making machines into accepting bogus money and giving out real change. I don't know how true it is; someone who works at our local post office said they found some 'funny money' in the machine which dispenses postage stamps and returns change for up to a few dollars. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 19:18:54 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Marcus Didius Falco wrote: [quoting an article from telegraph.co.uk] > Children under the age of nine should not use mobile phones because > of potential health risks, the Government's leading adviser on > radiation said yesterday. > Sir William said: "My advice is that [young children] should not have > [mobile phones] because children's skulls are not fully thickened, > their nervous systems are not fully developed and the radiation > penetrates further into their brains. ... There is still no hard > evidence tha the health of the public has been adversely affected by > the use of mobile phone technology. However, we cannot put our hands > on our hearts and say that mobile phones are safe." About the only sensible thing he said is "there is still no hard evidence that the health of the public has been adversely affected by the use of mobile phone technology." The risk of adverse effects from using a cellphone seems to be substantially below the risk of winning the lottery. Not quite actually zero, but pretty damned low. However, if you're still concerned about the effect of all that radiation from your cellphone frying your brain, there's an incredibly simple solution: BUY A HANDS-FREE KIT. Yup, the simple act of moving the antenna away from your skull causes the radiation level in your brain to drop by ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. Besides that, you have the added benefit of appearing to be a paranoid schizophrenic if people see you walking down the street, apparently talking to your invisible friends. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Jan 2005 04:30:23 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Cheaper Long Distance Carriers ... What About The Fees?? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Does that mean that I won't be charged all the connectivity fees, > regulatory assessment fees, etc that I see from AT&T?? or does it just > mean there is no monthly charge, and I'll still see all the fees? I use ECG and I'm reasonably happy with them. They pass through all the taxes, itemized in detail, but other than a 49 cent/mo charge for each 800 number, they charge no fees of their own beyond the per minute charge for each call you make. Regards, John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of The Internet for Dummies, Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly. ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: 800 Number or 10-10 Date: 19 Jan 2005 23:49:49 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Does anyone know of any reputable company or way that I can get a cheap > 800 number (like below 2cents/minute). Sure. Call up any long distance company, promise them 20,000 minutes of traffic a month, and tell them to terminate it on your T1. Oh, you mean like for 20 minutes a month? Forget it. 800 rates are the same as dial-1 rates, bottoming out around 3 cents. > Also ... how does one go about getting a 10-10 number like 10-10-987 > for offering long distance services? NANPA assigns them, but first you have to set up a long distance carrier. Regards, John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of The Internet for Dummies, Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly. ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #26 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jan 20 19:06:19 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0L06Jx11756; Thu, 20 Jan 2005 19:06:19 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 19:06:19 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501210006.j0L06Jx11756@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 V24 #27 TELECOM Digest Thu, 20 Jan 2005 19:05:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 27 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Do Any VOIP Carriers Encrypt Now? (Lee) Questions About VOIP/Cellular Phone Spam (Patrick Townson) Wireless Internet Moves Into Spotlight (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Re: Radar Detectors (R. T. Wurth) Re: Radar Detectors (Tony P.) Re: Radar Detectors (abbygale) Re: 800 Number or 10-10 (Matt) Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time (UK) Re: Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam (J Kelly) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Fred Atkinson) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Mark Crispin) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Mark Roberts) Re: Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T Really Care (DevilsPGD) 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: Lee Subject: Do Any VOIP Carriers Encrypt Now? Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 21:47:25 GMT There was a lot of posts about VOIP encryption about two years ago. Then Voicepulse had a 3/2004 news release about introducing encryption by year end, but its website is silent on the issue. Has any of them implemented encryption? How about ATT? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 17:00:00 EST From: Patrick Townson Subject: A Question About VOIP Spam I do not know if this makes and sense or not, but perhaps someone can respond. Since VOIP connections go through the internet to a 'mailbox' sort of like email, what would happen if a spammer sent several thousand pieces of spam to the servers at Vonage for example? Not the voicemail boxes (although that should be possible also) but I mean, to the 'channels' conversations are handled on. Wouldn't all those subscribers get bothered by the spam? Reason I ask is, I loaned my old prepaid AT&T cell phone to Lisa's husband, (normally I just leave it turned off when not in use which is most of the time), and as soon as he turned it on, it immediatly buzzed to indicate text messages and voice mail were waiting. The five or six text messages were all spam, and the voicemail messages were the same thing. Now on my own personal cell phone, every day lately I have been getting 'test messages' which are nonsensical things; just subject lines saying 'test' from silly numbers which do not exist. I haven't yet gotten any of this on my Vonage VOIP phone, but that is possible also, I would think. Can't any device which works through the internet get spammed? PAT ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 13:02:34 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Wireless Internet Moves Into Spotlight Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 20, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18846&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Wireless Internet moves into spotlight BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * MCI acquires NetSec * NTelos confirms Quadrangle, Citigroup joint bid * Analysis: Qwest seeks to trim debt, may consider sale * BellSouth to improve Georgia town's infrastructure * AT&T reports higher net income, lower revenues USTA SPOTLIGHT * Free USTA Webinar: "Innovate or Die, Winning the Services War" -- Thursday, Jan. 27, 1 p.m. EDT EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * RCN pushes cable-modem speed to 10 mbps * Internet2 breaks speed record REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * WorldCom settlement reflects new era in corporate accountability Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18846&l=2017006 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Radar Detectors From: R. T. Wurth Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 10:57:12 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet Steve Sobol wrote in news:telecom24.26.3@telecom-digest.org: > abbygale wrote: >> If you research the issue, you'll find that locales fond of the >> 'red-light cameras' have nearly all decreased the "yellow" times to >> make the systems more *profitable*. It's about revenue, not safety >> and it's just another tax. > I've about had it with those stupid intersections around here. Most > have reasonable timing, but some don't. This is the big, empty Mojave > Desert, and we do have SURFACE streets with speed limits of 60 and > even 65 mph here (granted, the 65 mph highway is US 395 coming out of > this area into the middle of nowhere, but it's still a 65 mph, > *two-lane* highway). There are certain intersections where, if I see > the light turn yellow, I only have a few seconds to slam on my > brakes. Disgusting. > JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET > (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: > 0xE3AE35ED (This is a bit far afield for Telecom Digest, but here goes anyway.) There are national standards incorporated in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). I don't know about California, but here in New Jersey, it is legally hard for a government to erect and enforce a traffic control device that doesn't conform, although there is a procedure for legalizing exceptions. If you read up, you may discover standards for yellow light intervals as a function of speed limit and other conditions. Then you would need to see if CA has adopted the manual, added state-wide amendments and/or allowed local exceptions. -- Rich Wurth / rwurth@att.net / Rumson, NJ 07760 USA ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Organization: ATCC Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 17:06:22 -0500 In article , hornetd@mindspring.com says: > abbygale wrote: >> If you research the issue, you'll find that locales fond of the >> 'red-light cameras' have nearly all decreased the "yellow" times to >> make the systems more *profitable*. It's about revenue, not safety and >> it's just another tax. > Do you have any evidence to back up that paranoid rant? Just do a google search. Several communities were hit with lawsuits when they started playing with yellow light time. Turns out many of them were in violation of rules for yellow time that had already been set by the states, etc. ------------------------------ From: abbygale Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Date: 20 Jan 2005 07:50:28 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Tim@Backhome.org wrote: > Bitu wrote: >> I have tested the spray myself. I triggered one of these nasty cameras >> intentionally one early morning when there was nobody around. I saw the >> flash go off but I have yet to receive any tickets. It is a nice >> feeling to know that I am not driving naked. These cameras are not for >> safety they are all about revenue. I have donated enough money to the >> local police department. They are not going to get me again for driving >> 5 miles over the speed limit. > The automatic devices for slight speed violations are revenue devices > for the most part. But, the devices that catch red light runners > serve a genuine safety purposes. In Southern California there just > aren't enough traffic cops. And, side collisions at intersections > because one car ran the red light is about the leading cause of > traffic deaths in the region these days. If you research the issue, you'll find that locales fond of the 'red-light cameras' have nearly all decreased the "yellow" times to make the systems more *profitable*. It's about revenue, not safety and it's just another tax. ------------------------------ From: Matt Subject: Re: 800 Number or 10-10 Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 11:11:55 -0500 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com No I'm talking for about for around 30,000 - 40,000 minutes a month; our current phone company is charging us around 4.5-5cents a minute. John R. Levine wrote: >> Does anyone know of any reputable company or way that I can get a cheap >> 800 number (like below 2cents/minute). > Sure. Call up any long distance company, promise them 20,000 minutes > of traffic a month, and tell them to terminate it on your T1. > Oh, you mean like for 20 minutes a month? Forget it. 800 rates are > the same as dial-1 rates, bottoming out around 3 cents. >> Also ... how does one go about getting a 10-10 number like 10-10-987 >> for offering long distance services? > NANPA assigns them, but first you have to set up a long distance > carrier. > Regards, > John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of The Internet for Dummies > Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor > "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly. ------------------------------ From: Alan Burkitt-Gray Subject: Re: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 16:23:51 -0000 Koos van den Hout wrote: > It is totally accepted to give a mobile number. I had to fill in a > number of forms recently with my 'home / evening' and 'work / daytime' > number. I never give my real at-work number, I give the mobile > number. Nobody ever complains about it. Precisely. Across most of the world mobile numbers are the standard way of talking to people. My personal mobile number is the one my friends and family use to contact me. It's the number I give to people. Even my 77-year-old mother is more likely to use my mobile number than my home number. And I will normally contact a friend or a colleague -- out of work hours -- on their mobile number before trying their home number. I want to talk to that individual, not the whole household. And why should I have to think where someone might be before phoning them? It's an interesting difference in attitude. It's quite common for someone to make a call from their mobile from home when by walking a few feet they could make the same call for far less money. But to do that they have to scroll through the mobile's address book to pick out the number and then key it into the home phone. If you end up with voicemail, your mobile number is the one you want the other person to have, not your home number, so they can get back to you. It's just a lot more convenient and more personal to use the mobile. And the cost is really not that significant an issue. Alan B-G Alan Burkitt-Gray, Editor, Global Telecoms Business email aburkitt@euromoneyplc.com Global Telecoms Business Top 5 Daily: email me to get on the distribution list for this free newsletter. ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 16:39:26 -0600 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 21:47:50 -0500, Tony P. wrote: > In article , monty@roscom.com > says: >> By Evan Schuman January 5, 2005 >> In a scheme that leveraged a little technology but relied on >> inattentive cashiers, Tennessee authorities have arrested two couples >> on charges that they used bogus bar codes to steal at least $1.5 >> million from hundreds of stores -- some belonging to Wal-Mart -- in 19 >> states. The group is slated to appear in court Wednesday. >> Although the accused are said to have spent a lot of time and effort >> organizing colleagues in various parts of the country, the technology >> portion of their scheme was quite simple. They are accused of visiting >> a retailer and purchasing a low-priced item. The group would then scan >> the bar codes and simply print out duplicate bar codes, said Thomas >> Dean, the assistant Sumner County (Tennessee) district attorney who is >> assigned to the case. >> The accused -- Michael Poore, 29, and Julie Marie Simmons, 35, also >> known as Julie Poore; and Dewey Howerton, 39, and Laura Howerton, 39 >> -- would then go back to the store, tape the duplicate bar code on a >> higher-priced item and purchase the more expensive item at the lower >> scanned price, Dean said in an eWEEK.com interview. >> One of the accused, according to the police complaint, would then >> remove the bogus tag and try to return the item to the store for the >> full purchase price. Instead of cash, the defendants would often ask >> for gift cards, Dean said. "Wal-Mart will more quickly put it on a >> gift card than hand you cash," he said. >> http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1748274,00.asp > It isn't just Wal-Mart that got hit by this. Merchants have been > seeing this for at least a decade, or ever since inkjet printers could > print reliable UPC-A or UPC-E bar codes. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And I am told that very good color > copiers can trick change-making machines into accepting bogus money > and giving out real change. I don't know how true it is; someone who > works at our local post office said they found some 'funny money' in > the machine which dispenses postage stamps and returns change for up > to a few dollars. PAT] I doubt that most change machines can be fooled. I worked with a few more than 10 years ago, and even those old things couldn't be easily fooled. Not only did they use optical sensors but also magnetic. Apparently real money has some sort of magnetic thread in it. The boss of the place knew every trick in the book to defraud the place of money, so if he could have copied money and fed it into the machine, he would have, just to rip the place off. ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Reply-To: fatkinson@mishmash.com Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 12:42:34 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Linc, For many years, the tobacco industry insisted that there was no problem with cigarettes. How long after there was statistical proof that cigarettes *were* a very serious health hazard before they finally admitted it? It was quite a while. And they are still selling those things left and right. No provider of a product/service is going to be eager to admit that there is a problem with the product/service. It can be devastating to their profit margin. Now, I agree with you that the jury is still out as to just how much of a problem these things are. And I agree with your suggestion that a hands-free kit is most probably a good measure to take until we have more data on the subject. It will be at least a few more years before there will be enough data to draw any significant solutions. I don't want to be a statistic, myself. So, when I am required to carry a cellular telephone, I will get a headset for use with it even if the cost of the headset is out of my own pocket. And I will hold the unit away from my body when I use it. It may turn out to be overkill but I will wait until the statistical evidence to make that judgement. And that may not be for a long time. How long did it take to determine that cigarettes were such a problem? Regards, Fred ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 10:08:43 -0800 Organization: University of Washington On Wed, 19 Jan 2005, Linc Madison wrote: > The risk of adverse effects from using a cellphone seems to be > substantially below the risk of winning the lottery. Not quite > actually zero, but pretty damned low. More to the point, the notion that radiation from a normally- functioning and normally-operated cellphone could cause harm to its user flies in the face of physics. I'd say "common sense" too, except that the general public is often ignorant of the necessary science. The wavelengths are too long (the signals are simply too fat) to cause the sort of damage envisioned by the technophobes. Conceivably, cellphone radiation could warm up the brain, but only a misiscule fraction of the warming that would occur by being outside on a nice day -- or wearing a hat. Unfortunately, that term "radiation" is widely misunderstood, almost as much as "theory", leading people to people think about Doc Bruce Banner turning into the Incredible Hulk. Light bulbs, home heat, stereos, TVs, etc. all spew out radiation -- that is their purpose! The greatest danger caused by use of cellphones is the lack of attention to the world around the user. It could be someone driving while yammering on the phone, or having a loud call on public transportation to the annoyance of others. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: markrobt@myrealbox.com (Mark Roberts) Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 20:42:18 -0000 Organization: 1.94 meters Linc Madison had written: > Yup, the simple act of moving the antenna away from your skull causes > the radiation level in your brain to drop by ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. > Besides that, you have the added benefit of appearing to be a paranoid > schizophrenic if people see you walking down the street, apparently > talking to your invisible friends. In downtown San Francisco, either might be the case. I've been startled more than a few times there by people who are talking to themselves -- and not always are they wired up to a cell phone. Mark Roberts | "Never do math on television." Oakland, Cal.| -- KTVU meteorologist Bill Martin, January 3, 2005 NO HTML MAIL | ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T really care Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 01:18:27 -0700 Organization: Octanews In message Matt wrote: > I'm not sure what your problem is. I've always been impressed by > Vonage's tech support and customer service; they have always fixed my > problem, and even sent me a new ATA when there was a "woosh" issue > with mine. When was the last time you contacted Vonage? -- I was VERY impressed until recently. Specifically, when DST ended and one of my adapters failed to update the clock. It took several weeks of waiting after opening a ticket by email, dozens of phone calls (although I never actually got through to anyone) I eventually called sales, asked for a manager (denied), asked the sales rep to have their manager pass the ticket number through to technical support. About a week later somebody at Vonage left voicemail that the problem should be resolved (and after rebooting the ATA, it was resolved.) > If your ATA dies within a year it should be covered; should be covered > beyond that also since it is VONAGE's ATA and not yours. Did you > purchase it? Didn't think so. The current warranty is 30 days -- Going from memory, you do buy the ATA, but Vonage charges a deactivation charge which is refundable if you return the ATA. ------------------------------ 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! 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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 V24 #27 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jan 21 15:20:38 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0LKKca21327; Fri, 21 Jan 2005 15:20:38 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 15:20:38 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501212020.j0LKKca21327@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 V24 #28 TELECOM Digest Fri, 21 Jan 2005 15:20:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 28 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Internet 'Phishing' Scams Getting More Devious (Lisa Minter) Online Banking Security: Who's Minding the Vault? (Lisa Minter) Professor's Saturn Experiment Forgotten (Lisa Minter) Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (Monty Solomon) EchoStar To Purchase Satellite from Cablevision (Monty Solomon) Sony Video Chief Admits Strategic Mistakes (Monty Solomon) AT&T Announces Fourth-Quarter Results (Monty Solomon) AT&T (Vtech) Cordless Telephone Battery Charging Question (Ken) Michael Powell to Resign Today (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Statement From Verizon Online About Spam Filtering (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Moved But Want to Keep Phone Number (odahs@galaway.com) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Steve Sobol) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Justin Time) Re: Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam (T. Sean Weintz) Re: Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam (Lisa Hancock) Re: 800 Number or 10-10 (John R. Levine) Re: 800 Number or 10-10 (Isaiah Beard) Re: SMS Security?? (bensmyth) Re: Radar Detectors (Isaiah Beard) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 21 Jan 2005 07:53:15 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Internet 'Phishing' Scams Getting More Devious Scam artists posed as banks and other legitimate businesses in thousands of phishing attacks last year, sending out millions of "spam" e-mails with subject lines like "account update needed" that pointed to fraudulent Web sites. These attacks now increasingly use worms and spyware to divert consumers to fraudulent sites without their knowledge, experts say. "If you think of phishers initially as petty thieves, now they're more like an organized crime unit," said Paris Trudeau, senior product manager for Internet-security firm SurfControl. Phishing attacks have reached 57 million U.S. adults and compromised at least 122 well-known brands so far, according to several estimates. At the end of 2004 nearly half of these attacks contained some sort of spyware or other malicious code, Trudeau said. One attack, first documented last month by the Danish security firm Secunia, misdirects Web surfers by modifying a little-known directory in Microsoft Windows machines called a host file. When an Internet user types a Web address into a browser, he is directed instead to a fraudulent site. This technique has shown up in attacks spoofing several South American banks, said Scott Chasin, chief technical officer of the security firm MX Logic. The convergence of all of these threats means "we can expect to see some large attacks in the near term," he said. Another more ambitious attack targets the domain-name servers that serve as virtual telephone books, matching domain names with numerical addresses given to each computer on the Internet. IDENTITY THIEVES If one of those computers is compromised, Internet users who type in "www.bankofamerica.com" could be directed to a look-alike site run by identity thieves. Domain-name servers are tougher to crack, as they are typically run by businesses rather than home users, but hackers can find a way in by posing as a company's tech-support department and asking new employees for their passwords, Trudeau said. Domain-name hijacking is suspected in incidents involving Google.com, Amazon.com, eBay Germany and HSBC Bank of Brazil, Chasin said. Even straightforward phishing attacks are getting more sophisticated. Spelling errors and mangled Web addresses made early scams easy to spot, but scam artists now commonly include legitimate-looking links within their Web addresses, said Kate Trower, associate product manager of protection software for EarthLink Inc. Consumers who click on links like www.citibank.com in these messages are directed to a fraudulent Web address buried in the message's technical code, she said. MasterCard International has caught at least 10 phishing scams involving www.mastercard.com over the past two months, said Sergio Pinon, senior vice president of security and risk services. Consumers can protect themselves with software that screens out viruses, spyware and spam. But online businesses will have to take steps as well, perhaps by issuing customers a physical token containing a changing password, Chasin said. Internet engineers should also figure out a way to authenticate Web addresses, much as they are currently figuring out how to make sure e-mail addresses are legitimate, he said. 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 Yahoo News. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 21 Jan 2005 08:05:53 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Online Banking Security: Who's Minding the Vault? As Americans improve their computer skills and grow more comfortable with banking over the Internet, the hackers, phishers and other fraudsters are honing their nefarious skills as well. The Federal Trade Commission received 301,835 fraud complaints and 214,905 identity theft complaints in 2003. Bank fraud accounted for 17 percent -- more than 36,000 -- of the identity theft complaints. That represents just the victims who actually filed a complaint with the agency. The FTC estimates there were 10 million identity theft victims that year. The hacker component: In a 2003 survey of financial institutions around the world, 39 percent of respondents said their computer systems had been "compromised" in some way the previous year. The financial services industry has always been a target. "People go where the money is," says Ted DeZabala of New York's Deloitte & Touche, the company that conducted the survey. "What they want to get at is the mother lode, the internal system, so they can get many customers simultaneously. If someone gets into a major institution's system, he's looking for information about a lot of customers. People should be concerned that there is a risk. The network age is upon us -- information is king and people will go after that." The human dimension: Other areas of concern are the third parties with whom banks do business. Those companies have your personal information -- how secure are their computers? What about the people who work for the banks and affiliated companies? "Third parties and employee access are a major challenge," DeZabala says. "Any uncontrolled access point to a bank is vulnerable. The (banks) themselves need to put certain levels of control in place and they need to enforce their policies on third parties. There is a lot of effort being put toward shoring up those controls." "When an employee is terminated, they have to be eliminated from the system and passwords have to be updated." Concerns about online safety are a key reason why many consumers still shy away from online banking, according to Larry Freed, CEO at ForeSee Results in Ann Arbor, Mich. "For the most part, it's fear of the unknown. When my dad got an ATM card, he threw it out. He didn't think it seemed secure. Why do so many people just take money out of ATMs and don't make deposits? It's because they don't know where their money goes when they slide it into that black hole. The banks need to educate people on the security risk." Phishing for information: It would be hard to fault consumers who are hesitant about banking or making other financial transactions online. Hardly a week goes by without a news report on a computer virus, worm or phishing attack that makes the Internet seem like a risky place to move your money. Phishing is when account holders receive an e-mail that purports to come from the customer's bank, brokerage firm, credit card company, etc. Customers are told to click on a link within the e-mail and update their personal information. Often, the phisher is looking for the Social Security number or the credit card number with expiration date and PIN. Unsuspecting consumers click on the link and are taken to a Web site that often looks legitimate. They enter their personal information and soon find their identity has been used fraudulently, their bank account emptied or big bills have been racked up on their credit card. Dan Maier of the Anti-Phishing Working Group, an association open to financial institutions, online retailers, law enforcement agencies and computer experts, says phishers are far more successful than spammers. "We've heard of response rates ranging up to 5 percent of bank customers responding to the e-mails. One bank said $4 million had been drained from accounts over a period of a couple of days. Early on, amateurs, hackers and spammers were among those who had gone to the dark side. More and more the attacks are professional and widespread. Once an attack is launched, the bank has to shut down the source -- the Web site -- as soon as possible. Then it has to notify their customers." "Banks are getting better at the shut-down part, but there are challenges," says Maier. "Sometimes the site is hosted overseas by Web-hosting sites that specialize in anonymous hosting and protect against law enforcement shutdowns. So they may be actively hindering shutdowns." Frank Trotter, CEO at EverBank, an online bank that opened in January 2000, says security against phishing and other online attacks has been a major issue since day one. Modern bank robbery: From a thief's standpoint, phishing is pretty effective. Bank robbery has been a tradition since banks were first formed. "This is bank robbery or attempted bank robbery. We've sent all customers multiple e-mails warning them against phishing and notifying them how we see it occurring in the market. We treat the online environment as though it's our primary branch. We spend a tremendous amount of time on security and educating current and prospective customers." "Phishing is something consumers can protect themselves against. Your financial institution won't ask you to click on a link in an e-mail and list personal information. If you have any questions about an e-mail, notify the bank and ask for an e-mail with a certificate." "If a customer thinks their account has been violated, they can send us an e-mail and get a response that's authenticated," says Ilieva Ageenko, director of emerging enterprise applications at Wachovia. "Secured e-mail is a key to defeating fraud." Worst enemy: But when it comes to online banking security, the biggest threat to consumers may be the person in the mirror. Many of us aren't the best at guarding our passwords and PINs. We write passwords on a piece of paper and then stuff it in our wallet or leave it in a desk drawer. We log onto our bank account at work or at a public access computer and then walk away. We make an ATM withdrawal and toss the receipt. Fortunately, most banks now save us from ourselves by printing only a partial account number on the receipt. "Consumers are a funny group," notes DeZabala. "They want perfect security but they don't want it to be intrusive. 'I don't want to go through a lot of things to get in, but don't let anyone else get in and don't make me carry a card and don't make me change my password too frequently because I can't remember it.'" Many banks and brokerages have extensive information on their Web sites to educate consumers about e-mail and other online fraud. You'll find tips on how to recognize potential fraud, how to report it, and what to do if your account has been compromised. The FTC also has steps to take if you think your identity has been stolen. 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, the American Banking Association. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 21 Jan 2005 08:13:39 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Professor's Saturn Experiment Forgotten SPOKANE, Wash. - David Atkinson spent 18 years designing an experiment for the unmanned space mission to Saturn. Now some pieces of it are lost in space. Someone forgot to turn on the instrument Atkinson needed to measure the winds on Saturn's largest moon. "The story is actually fairly gruesome," the University of Idaho scientist said in an e-mail from Germany, the headquarters of the European Space Agency. "It was human error; the command to turn the instrument on was forgotten." The mission to study Saturn and its moons was launched in 1997 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., a joint effort by NASA the European agency and the Italian space agency. Last Friday, Huygens, the European space probe sent to the surface of Saturn's moon Titan, transmitted the first detailed pictures of the frozen surface. Atkinson and his team were at European space headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, waiting for their wind measurements to arrive. The probe was to transmit data on two channels, A and B, Atkinson said. His Doppler wind experiment was to use Channel A, a very stable frequency. But the order to activate the receiver, or oscillator, for Channel A was never sent, so the entire mission operated through Channel B, which is less stable, Atkinson said. "I (and the rest of my team) waited and waited and waited," he wrote, as the probe descended. "We watched the probe enter and start transmitting data, but our instrument never turned on." Officials for the European Space Agency said last week they would investigate to learn what happened. They were not available for comment on Thursday, nor did NASA officials immediately respond to telephone messages. Atkinson wrote in his e-mail that fellow scientists rushed to comfort him and his team. Most of his team has returned home, but Atkinson has remained in Germany because he still has a task to perform; reconstructing the entry and descent trajectory of the probe. There is hope that some of his data survived. "We do have Channel B data and although driven by a very poor and unstable oscillator, we may be able to get a little bit of data," he wrote. Also, he said some of the Channel A signal reached Earth and was picked up by radio telescopes. "We now have some of this data and lots of work to do to try to catch up," he wrote. Even so, he said the overall space mission was a huge success, and the Europeans in particular were thrilled with the success of their Huygens probe. "In total, the core of our team has invested something like 80 man years on this experiment, 18 of which are mine," Atkinson wrote. "I think right now the key lesson is this, if you're looking for a job with instant and guaranteed success, this isn't it." 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 Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 22:22:40 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective By MATTHEW FORDAHL AP Technology Writer Microsoft Corp. created the world's most popular operating system _ one that's also heartily embraced by hackers and virus writers. And it begat the world's top Web browser, which makes it all too easy to mistakenly download and install spyware, adware and other garbage. You'd think the world's largest software company, which presumably knows its own Windows and Internet Explorer code, would have long ago come up with something to repair PCs possessed by malicious programs. Think again. Though Microsoft regularly releases bug fixes, security patches and even the occasional virus-removal tool, it has only recently made programs available to help people wrangle back control of their computers after they've clicked the wrong pop-up ad, opened a rogue attachment or installed adware-packed freebies. The company now has two free programs to help rid PCs of unwanted pests. Though Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool and Microsoft AntiSpyware show some promise, they aren't close to being magic bullets. I tested the programs on a Windows XP computer I borrowed from my wife's cousin. The 3-year-old PC, a Gateway running Windows XP Home Edition, was basically unusable. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46341836 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 22:26:19 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EchoStar To Purchase Satellite from Cablevision ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2005--EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) announced today that it has agreed to purchase certain satellite assets from Rainbow DBS Co., a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC), for $200 million. Specifically, EchoStar has agreed to purchase Rainbow 1, a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) located at 61.5 degrees West Longitude, together with the rights to 11 DBS frequencies at that location. The satellite includes 13 frequencies, up to 12 of which can be operated in "spot beam" mode. The EchoStar III satellite also located at 61.5 degrees West Longitude broadcasts DISH Network TV programming to hundreds of thousands of consumers today using DBS spectrum controlled by EchoStar at that location. EchoStar is assessing how the Rainbow satellite's flexibility can best be utilized to enhance DISH Network's existing service. Also, as part of the transaction with Cablevision, EchoStar will acquire ground facilities and related assets in Black Hawk, S.D. The transaction is subject to review by the Federal Communications Commission and other regulatory agencies. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46341494 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 22:32:16 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sony Video Chief Admits Strategic Mistakes By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) -- Sony missed out on potential sales from MP3 players and other gadgets because it was overly proprietary about music and entertainment content, the head of Sony Corp.'s video-game unit acknowledged Thursday. Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., said he and other Sony employees have been frustrated for years with management's reluctance to introduce products like Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod, mainly because the Tokyo company had music and movie units that were worried about content rights. Now, Sony's divisions are finally beginning to work together and share a common agenda, Kutaragi said at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46340016 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 22:37:28 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Announces Fourth-Quarter Results * Fourth-quarter earnings per diluted share of $0.78 * Revenue for the fourth quarter of $7.3 billion * Fourth-quarter operating income of $1.2 billion BEDMINSTER, N.J., Jan. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T (NYSE:T) today reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2004 results. The company reported net income of $625 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.78, for the fourth quarter of 2004. The company's current quarter net income included an after-tax depreciation benefit from its third-quarter 2004 asset impairment charges of $337 million, or $0.42 per diluted share. The company's current-quarter net income compares to net income of $340 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.43, in the fourth quarter of 2003. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46317502 ------------------------------ From: Ken Subject: AT&T (Vtech) Cordless Telephone Battery Charging Question Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 09:35:45 -0500 I just purchased an AT&T 5840 5.8ghz cordless telephone. After 18 hours, the charging light is still lit on the base unit and the battery charge indicator on the handset is still cycling. I called AT&T and the rep said this was normal. I asked; "If I left the handset in the cradle for a week without use, would it still show that it was charging?" He said it would. I have never had a device that operated this way. Can anyone verify that this is normal for AT&T (or vtech) products? Thanks. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have a Uniden cordless phone like that. When it sits in the charger, the light is always on, and it would appear it is always charging, even if it is charged. The instruction booklet said upon first using the phone to 'allow 18-24 hours for the first charge'; not that the light would go out when the charge was completed. When the phone's LED displays a message saying 'battery low' I just stick it back in the charger and leave it for a few (six or eight) hours until I need to use the phone again. If you take the phone out of the charger, it will probably work just fine. From time to time, as you think of it, sit it back in the charger for a couple hours, no particular schedule. I tend to leave mine in the charger for several hours, then set the phone itself on the table next to my rocking chair in the parlor a a couple days or until I get that LED 'low battery' message. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 13:30:09 -0500 (EST) From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: January 21, 2005 - Michael Powell to resign today Telecom dailyLead from USTA http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18860&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Michael Powell to resign today BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * China Netcom takes stake in PCCW * Report: Europe's cable operators to lose ground in broadband race * Cablevision sells Voom to EchoStar for $200 million * Verizon to offer FTTP network in two more states * Satellite TV rejects Microsoft tech format for HDTV * Qualcomm, Alltel report earnings USTA SPOTLIGHT * USTA Brings Together the Industry in 2005 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Report: More U.S. households use Wi-Fi than Ethernet VOIP DOWNLOAD * Report: Enterprise VoIP shipments top 50% mark in Q3 * BridgePort sets up mobile VoIP alliance * Commentary: VoIP's security holes may hinder deployment Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18860&l=2017006 Legal and Privacy information at http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp SmartBrief, Inc. 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 00:18:33 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Statement From Verizon Online Regarding Spam Filtering ------ Forwarded Message From: Alice Kehoe Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:52:31 -0500 Subject: Statement From Verizon Online Regarding Spam Filtering Ah yes, a carefully formulated and rational plan of action ... right up there with, "if I shut my eyes, Mama can't see me taking these chocolates." Statement From Verizon Online Regarding Spam Filtering Spam is out of control. Leading providers of spam protection tools, such as MX Logic Inc. and MessageLabs, report that some 80 to 90 percent of all e-mail today is spam. This is a major problem for Internet users in multiple ways. Spam clogs our mailboxes daily to the point where it threatens viability of e-mail as a communications tool. It also routinely carries viruses, identity-theft scams, spyware, and other serious security threats. As an ISP, Verizon Online is working hard to address these serious security threats on the Internet by closely monitoring our network for incoming and outgoing spam and by working cooperatively with others across the ISP industry on anti-spam initiatives. These round-the-clock efforts include blocking spam and propagation of viruses from sources we identify using methods that are consistent with industry practices. This is a long-standing policy at Verizon Online. When we identify sources of spam or viruses, we block them as narrowly as we can and, where possible, we work directly with whoever manages that source to notify them of the issue. We then continuously monitor the source and will lift the block as soon as we are satisfied the threat has been resolved. In many cases, this is resolved within two days; however, we will not remove a block as long as a serious threat remains. The entire ISP industry is working to combat spam and other online security threats. Verizon Online is a member of various coalitions, including the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group, which comprises both large and small ISPs covering more than 100 million online subscribers. We have aggressively pursued spammers through legal action and taken a leading role in drafting legislation at the state and national levels. We also are working with domestic and international law-enforcement agencies to combat spam and other threats. In short, Verizon is committed to protecting its customers and its network from the serious security matters that threaten our use of the Internet everyday. Any spam-blocking method will, inevitably, result in the blocking or delay of otherwise legitimate e-mail. This is yet another reason why spammers are harmful to the Internet community. If a Verizon Online customer believes he is not receiving legitimate e-mail, he should call our technical support desk for assistance and we will work to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. Our Verizon Online Web site also features an Internet security page with practical tips and tools that can help customers protect themselves from Internet threats. It can be found at http://broadbandbeat.verizon.net/safety_security. We believe that fighting spam is the right thing to do for the safety and security of our more than 4 million broadband and dial-up customers. Some of the loudest complaints you will see or hear about spam blocking come from the spammers themselves, who lose significant income when their efforts to flood the Internet with unsolicited e-mail are foiled. Our customers expect and demand that we provide them with as safe, secure, and effective an Internet experience as possible, and we are firm in our commitment to do that. ------ End of Forwarded Message Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ------------------------------ From: odahs@galaway.com Subject: Re: Moved But Want to Keep Phone Number Date: 20 Jan 2005 17:08:44 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Suppose I already have a phone and SIM card. Can I call up the carrier to transfer my telephone number by providing an Oregon address? Would that work? ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:43:41 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Fred Atkinson wrote: > For many years, the tobacco industry insisted that there was no > problem with cigarettes. How long after there was statistical proof > that cigarettes *were* a very serious health hazard before they > finally admitted it? It was quite a while. And they are still > selling those things left and right. I've used cell phones continuously since 1993. I don't have any tumors. JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005) ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: 21 Jan 2005 06:21:29 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Fred scribbled: > Now, I agree with you that the jury is still out as to just how much > of a problem these things are. And I agree with your suggestion that a > hands-free kit is most probably a good measure to take until we have > more data on the subject. It will be at least a few more years before > there will be enough data to draw any significant solutions. I don't > want to be a statistic, myself. > So, when I am required to carry a cellular telephone, I will get a > headset for use with it even if the cost of the headset is out of my > own pocket. And I will hold the unit away from my body when I use it. Fred, Can you tell me which causes more harm to the brain: RF signals generated by a cellular telephone held next to your ear or the electromagnetic radiation from the earphone you just stuck in your ear canal? Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: T. Sean Weintz Subject: Re: Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 09:35:55 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And I am told that very good color > copiers can trick change-making machines into accepting bogus money > and giving out real change. I don't know how true it is; someone who > works at our local post office said they found some 'funny money' in > the machine which dispenses postage stamps and returns change for up > to a few dollars. PAT] It's not really good color copiers (from what I heard) but rather good high resolution laser printers with magnetic toner - the kind used for printing checks. I think most bill readers rely on the magnetic ink on the front side of the bill to read the bill. From what I hear, you only need to print the black part of the front of the bill. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam Date: 21 Jan 2005 10:12:21 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote: > In a scheme that leveraged a little technology but relied on > inattentive cashiers, Tennessee authorities have arrested two couples > on charges that they used bogus bar codes to steal at least $1.5 > million from hundreds of stores -- some belonging to Wal-Mart -- in 19 > states. The group is slated to appear in court Wednesday. This sort of thing is nothing new. Years ago, people would take two garmets, one cheap, one expensive, then switch the price tags on them. That led to tamper proof price tags, including price stickers that shred when peeled off. Counterfeiting external bar codes tags with a cheap item doesn't seem very hard. It's a little harder when the code is directly printed on the item, but most clothes aren't like that. Indeed, a lot of stores put their own bar code over the pre-printed code (the big bookstores do that). Perhaps they'll have to come up with a barcode label that can be sewn unobtrusively into a garmet by the manufacturer; the label would have to be small and soft, and the barcode tiny. That might make reading difficult. Adding to the risk is today's big discount stores, which use centralized checkouts like a supermarket. Traditional dept stores had registers and clerks in each department who would more familiar with individual goods and their prices; and would be suspicious if a nice coat had a price of a washcloth. Today's clerks, under computerized productivity pressure, scan items by as fast as possible and let the computer do the thinking. The flip side of this is that consumers can be hurt by bad bar codes, too. I just bought some old tapes on closeout sale at a video store, and the clerk failed to charge me the posted sale price and had to call the mgr when I mentioned it. (At least he knew not to charge me the brand new retail price which is what his computer told him to charge me). [P.S. If you like videos, your local video store is probably selling off its old tapes now that everything is DVD. You might find some good deals. I got three movies for $10.] ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: 800 Number or 10-10 Date: 21 Jan 2005 00:03:37 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > No I'm talking for about for around 30,000 - 40,000 minutes a month; > our current phone company is charging us around 4.5-5cents a minute. How is it delivered? If it's over POTS lines, that explains it, since they'd be paying termination charges to your telco. At that level, you should have a T1 or PRI or two, and you can probably get your IXC to pay for it. That's certainly enough traffic that any IXC should be interested. I'd call around for some quotes. R's, John ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: 800 Number or 10-10 Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 10:43:50 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Matt wrote: > No I'm talking for about for around 30,000 - 40,000 minutes a month; > our current phone company is charging us around 4.5-5cents a minute. I don't think many places are going to give you 2 cents/minute or below, and if one does, they must be a terribly cut rate, fly-by-night operation. Even VoIP companies are charging in the 3.9 cent range. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ From: bensmyth Subject: Re: SMS Security?? Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 09:47:20 -0000 Organization: SoCS Reply-To: bensmyth >> Again, protocols vary even as an individual message travels to its >> destination. You should never be assured that any secure method is >> being used to transmit SMS messages. > In Australia, there is no guarantee whatsoever that SMS will actually be > delivered -- it seems it is all done on a "best effort" basis. > There have been cases in the past where carriers have had problems > with excessive SMS traffic and have (apparently) just dropped > messages, or have deleted messages awaiting delivery for more than a > few days. Sounds like a routing issue. If congesting is occuring on the network then routers may drop packets ... I'm not sure how resend works over the phone network. I thought the GSM protocol guaranteed delivery -- although I may be wrong! > I'd be more concerned about the SMS actually getting through reliably > than any transport security issues, if the message is *that* > important ... That's true, although it depends on the contents of the message. The contents may not be valuable. Disclosure of a message could result in media coverage -- which obviously generates damage to a companies reputation. Ben ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 10:56:54 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com HorneTD wrote: > abbygale wrote: >> If you research the issue, you'll find that locales fond of the >> 'red-light cameras' have nearly all decreased the "yellow" times to >> make the systems more *profitable*. It's about revenue, not safety and >> it's just another tax. > Do you have any evidence to back up that paranoid rant? As a matter of fact: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/078ftoqz.asp E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #28 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jan 21 19:08:40 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0M08eg23194; Fri, 21 Jan 2005 19:08:40 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 19:08:40 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501220008.j0M08eg23194@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 V24 #29 TELECOM Digest Fri, 21 Jan 2005 19:07:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 29 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #465, January 21, 2005 (Angus TeleManagement) Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 (Solario) Photo Radar Red Light Traffic Cameras (keepitreal) Re: Radar Detectors (Lisa Hancock) Re: Online Banking Security: Who's Minding the Vault? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Fred Atkinson) Re: Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam (Clarence Dold) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 16:32:30 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #465, January 21, 2005 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 465: January 21, 2005 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/en/ ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/ ** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca ** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/ ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** UTC CANADA: www.canada.utc.org/ ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Wireless Auction Nears End ** Telus Offers Push-to-Talk Cellphones ** AT&T Revenue in Free Fall ** Ottawa Intervenes in RIM Patent Fight ** Ottawa Funds VoIP Net in North Ontario ** Broadband Comes to Fort Frances Area ** Cogeco Aims to Launch VoIP by July ** Telehop Offers 4-Cent Dialaround LD ** Bell Deal Costs Nexxlink a Contract ** Transport Agencies Want 5-1-1 as Weather Info Code ** Venoa and Bell in Dispute Over In-Building Wire ** Shaw, Vancouver Battle Over Access Fees ** Bell Withdraws 39 Nexxia Contracts ** Globalstar Intros Asset Tracking Service ** Contest to Judge Wireless Innovation ** Utility Telcos Set Conference in February ** Deconverging ============================================================ WIRELESS AUCTION NEARS END: Industry Canada's auction of 2300/3500 MHz spectrum is into its final stage and seems likely to end next week. After two weeks, high bids total $55 Million -- about five times the total amount bid in last February's auction of licences in these bands. ** Highest bidders at week's end are Bell Canada ($34.4M), Telus Mobility ($7.9M), 4253311 Canada Inc ($6.9M), and Rogers Wireless ($4.6M). ** Only eight licences out of 848 remain without bids, so almost all of Canada will soon have five broadband wireless licensees. http://agora.ic.gc.ca/AuctionGCLF/reportsMainMenu.cfm TELUS OFFERS PUSH-TO-TALK CELLPHONES: Telus Mobility has introduced Instant Talk, a Push-To-Talk service that operates on the company's 1X PCS network, using new PTT-capably phones from Kyocera and Motorola. Customers with monthly rate plans over $40 can add unlimited PTT for $10/month; others will pay $20. ** Telus Mobility says its existing PTT service, Mike, will expand coverage to Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Peru later this quarter. AT&T REVENUE IN FREE FALL: AT&T Corp, once the world's largest corporation, reports that its total revenue declined 11.6% to US$30.5 billion in 2004 and will probably drop another 15%-18% this year. In the consumer sector, where AT&T has stopped most marketing, sales fell 16%; business sales declined 7.4%. OTTAWA INTERVENES IN RIM PATENT FIGHT: The federal government has asked a U.S. appeals court to reconsider its patent- dispute ruling against Research In Motion, claiming this decision will inappropriately affect services provided by servers located in Canada. (See Telecom Update #462) OTTAWA FUNDS VoIP NET IN NORTH ONTARIO: K-Net, the Band- operated ISP that serves many Nishnawbe-Aski First Nations communities in Northwestern Ontario, has received an Industry Canada grant to establish an IP telephone network linking Band offices, schools, police stations, and other facilities in five communities. The grant is part of $2.3 million in new federal spending on telecom projects planned by Keewaytinook Okimakanak Tribal Council. ** A C-Band earth station in Sioux Lookout will provide telehealth, distance education, and video conferencing services to remote communities in Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, as part of the newly-formed Northern Indigenous Community Satellite Network. www.knet.ca/ BROADBAND COMES TO FORT FRANCES AREA: Bell Canada, Pwi-di- goo-zing Ne-yaa-zhing Advisory Services, and Industry Canada this week announced the Fort Frances Area First Nations Broadband Project, which extend ADSL-based high-speed Internet access to ten First Nations communities in northwestern Ontario. www.fortfrancesbroadband.ca/ COGECO AIMS TO LAUNCH VoIP BY JULY: CEO Louis Audet said January 17 that Cogeco Cable expects to launch IP-based telephone service within six months. ** The cableco's September-November revenue of $136 million was 4.8% higher than during the same months of 2003. Net income was $3.8 million. The number of Internet subscribers rose 6.9% to 261,825. TELEHOP OFFERS 4-CENT DIALAROUND LD: Toronto-based Telehop Communications now offers dialaround ("10-10-100") long distance calls to Canadian locations for 4 cents/minute with no minimum charge per call. International pricing starts at 5 cents for calls to China. BELL DEAL COSTS NEXXLINK A CONTRACT: Videotron is terminating the $3.6 million/year telephone assistance and Internet support contract it awarded to Nexxlink, because Bell Canada has launched a takeover bid for the Montreal IT company. (See Telecom Update #461) TRANSPORT AGENCIES WANT 5-1-1 AS WEATHER INFO CODE: The Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada, a body including Environment Canada, Transport Canada, and others, wants the CRTC to designate the code 5-1-1 for non-commercial access to time-sensitive weather and traveler information. The application is supported by deputy ministers responsible for transportation and highway safety in all provinces and the Yukon territory. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8698/8698_05.htm#200500240 VENOA AND BELL IN DISPUTE OVER IN-BUILDING WIRE: DSL service provider Venoa Communications wants to use the in-building portion of unbundled loops in apartment buildings served by Bell Canada. Bell says Venoa can only connect to a loop at the Central Office, or to non-active pairs of Bell's in- building wire, and that Venoa may need a broadcast licence to transmit video signals. Venoa has asked the CRTC to intervene. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/v31_200500381.htm SHAW, VANCOUVER BATTLE OVER ACCESS FEES: Shaw Cablesystems has asked the CRTC to grant it access to municipal properties and highways in Vancouver, on terms consistent with Decision 2001-23 (the "Ledcor decision"). The city is suing both Shaw and Rogers for fees it claims are owed under a now-expired 1973 agreement. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2004/8690/s9_200414722.htm BELL WITHDRAWS 39 NEXXIA CONTRACTS: In December 2002, the CRTC ordered Bell Canada to file tariffs for over 100 Customer Specific Arrangements originally signed by Bell Nexxia (see Telecom Update #362). The telco has now received CRTC approval to withdraw 39 of the proposed CSAs; Bell says these relate to agreements that have expired or been restructured. GLOBALSTAR INTROS ASSET TRACKING SERVICE: Satellite phone carrier Globalstar has introduced a service for tracking assets in areas not covered by cellular. Quick Locate, starting at $39.95/month, covers the majority of the U.S., Canada, Europe, Western Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and the North Atlantic. CONTEST TO JUDGE WIRELESS INNOVATION: A contest sponsored by the Wireless Innovation Network of B.C. is looking for wireless success stories and promising new applications. Deadline for entries is February 1; full details can be found at www.winbc.org/contest. UTILITY TELCOS SET CONFERENCE IN FEBRUARY: The 2005 UTC Canadian Utility Telecom Conference will be held at the Hotel Omni Mont-Royal in Montreal, February 28-March 2. The conference and exposition will focus on industry issues such as Broadband over Power Line, wireless options, and security standards. See www.utccanadaconference.org/ for details. DECONVERGING: A once-hyped meaning of the multi-purpose word "convergence" was the supposed merging of print, broadcast, and Internet journalism. In 2001, BCE hired David Akin to report on business and technology for CTV and the Globe and Mail and their websites. The "convergence reporter" has now been named Parliamentary Reporter for CTV, and will no longer write for the Globe and Mail. No replacement has been named. ** Despite our severe doubts about "convergence," we have admired and appreciated Akin's reports on our industry, and we wish him well in his new position. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the Web Friday afternoon each week at www.angustel.ca. 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2005 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: Solario Subject: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 Date: 21 Jan 2005 14:44:15 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Overnight I received several calls from (200) 222 0000. The caller left no message. Is this a real telephone number? If not what is it? Thanks. S. ------------------------------ From: keepitreal Subject: Photo Radar Red Light Traffic Cameras Date: 21 Jan 2005 11:53:14 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Are you saying that the replacement of the police officers by the photo radar cameras is up for safety reason or is it because the government is too negligent about this issue? If you deem that red light cameras only catch people who drive negligently, then you're really too naive to be unsupervised. There's literally hundreds of articles floating around out there about jiggery with yellow light timing in DC alone, and yet it still happens on a widespread basis. I think it's perfectly resonable and actually a very good idea to want to photo-proof one's license plate, the trick is doing it in a way that isn't obvious to a real live cop. http://www.phantomplate.com/photoblocker.html ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Date: 21 Jan 2005 13:03:04 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com abbygale wrote: > If you research the issue, you'll find that locales fond of the > 'red-light cameras' have nearly all decreased the "yellow" times to > make the systems more *profitable*. It's about revenue, not safety and > it's just another tax. You don't need red light cameras to create a short-yellow situation. Actually, you need nothing at all when it gets down to it if the municipality is that bent on illegal revenue. Anyway, one major city is intalling these cameras at some bad intersections and I be assured from both personal experience and national writeups that they are needed. The motorists like to run the lights. The intersections are rated among the top ten worst _nationally_. The TV sitcom "Quints" had a piece using red-light cameras. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Online Banking Security: Who's Minding the Vault? Date: 21 Jan 2005 13:16:33 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lisa Minter wrote: > As Americans improve their computer skills and grow more comfortable > with banking over the Internet, the hackers, phishers and other > fraudsters are honing their nefarious skills as well. They must not forget traditional auditing either. One bank was hit with a big losses from its ATM machines the old fashioned way: the machine's attendants simply took leftover money from the trays because the bank didn't bother to count it and compare the counts to the machine's meters. That is very basic accounting/auditing. A former employee of a small town bank told me his bank would balance its book each night to the penny. That meant all transactions had to be reconciled and explained. A lot of work, but standard procedure. When their bank was acquired by a big bank, their reconcillation requirements dropped radically. That opens a window to fraud. Another issue is employee morale, especially involving identity theft. While bank employees were not the greatest paid, they usually were treated reasonably well and professionally by their employer and it was pretty rare for an employee to steal. But now many employees work in boiler room customer service units where they are basically in an electronic sweatshop. The computer monitors every keystroke, every phone call, as well as hidden cameras and audio recording. There is pressure to complete many transactions and sell premium bank services. Under such conditions, employees feel less connection to their employer (because there is LESS connection). Instead of greeting customers face-to-face in a pleasant branch office, they're in some windowless basement. (Recall the big room in the film "The Apartment"). As such, there is less moral restraint on stealing identity information from unsuspecting customers. Indeed, if the information is used three months after it is stolen, it would be very hard to trace it back to the thief. That's one of the challenges of identify theft -- by the time the victim discovers it, a great deal of damage has already been done and it's too late. Today's highly complex banking services (they call them "products") with multi-page statements are hard for ordinary mortals to decipher and it's easier for inappropriate transactions to get buried in them. It's getting worse as electronic deductions replace checks and the transaction description is a long string of numbers. Identify Theft is a fast growing crime and the govt is moving too slowly to catch up. Of course culprits must get long prison sentences, but that is not enough of a deterrent. Investigative agencies must go after even petty thefts which they don't bother with now. It may be necesssary to put restrictions on high quality color copiers and duplication with computer scanners and printed. Color copies of driver's licenses go a big way for theft. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: 21 Jan 2005 22:49:09 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Steve Sobol wrote: > I've used cell phones continuously since 1993. I don't have any tumors. Congratulations. And my neighbor smoked cigarettes since he was very young, and just recently died of unrelated causes at 96 years of age. One isolated case doesn't prove a point. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Reply-To: fatkinson@mishmash.com Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 22:55:54 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net > I've used cell phones continuously since 1993. I don't have any tumors. How long was it before a number of smokers developed lung cancer? It was quite a few years. Some did develop it after a long time. Some developed it in a short time. Some did not develop it at all. But many died of it. (A poster discussed radiators): Not likely very much compared to a radiator that is deliberately designed for the purpose of radiating. Of course, I could be wrong. Fred ------------------------------ From: dold@XReXXWal-M.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Wal-Mart Stung in $1.5 Million Bar-Code Scam Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 20:32:07 +0000 (UTC) Organization: a2i network hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > Years ago, people would take two garmets, one cheap, one expensive, > then switch the price tags on them. That led to tamper proof price > tags, including price stickers that shred when peeled off. The same scam was run against Home Depot a while ago. Prices were being changed on lamps and ceiling fans, where the difference between cheap and expensive is not immediately obvious. They were buying them in one store, and returning them at full price in another store. > Perhaps they'll have to come up with a barcode label that can be sewn > unobtrusively into a garmet by the manufacturer; the label would have Or RFID. Embedded, probably beyond the risk of simple tampering. Maybe Wal-Mart has more experience with this than they are letting on. Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #29 From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jan 22 16:23:20 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0MLNJR03835; Sat, 22 Jan 2005 16:23:20 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 16:23:20 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501222123.j0MLNJR03835@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 V24 #30 TELECOM Digest Sat, 22 Jan 2005 16:23:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 30 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson California to Install Wi-Fi Access in State Parks (Lisa Minter) Apple Seeks Bigger Bite of PC Market with Mac Mini (Lisa Minter) iPod Shuffle = New Radio? (Monty Solomon) AT&T Looks Beyond 'Number, Please' (Monty Solomon) Powell to Step Down at F.C.C. After Pushing Deregulation (Monty Solomon) FCC Powell and Commissioner Statements (Monty Solomon) MF Tones -- What, if Anything, Are They Still Used For? (silvas_clinch) Wireless Versus Cordless for Voip (Creek) Vonage Question (kungfuadam@hotmail.com) Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 (Gary Novosielski) Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 (Tony P.) Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 (John Levine) Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 (Linc Madison) Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 (helosix) Re: 800 Number or 10-10 (Al Gillis) Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (Thomas A. Horsley) Re: Radar Detectors (Tony P.) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Linc Madison) Re: A Question About VOIP Spam (helosix) Re: Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T Really Care (Tim@Backhome.org) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 22 Jan 2005 08:04:44 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: California to Install Wi-Fi Access in State Parks SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Californians, known for their love for the great outdoors and for high technology, will soon be able to enjoy both at the same time as state parks get Wi-Fi Internet access. California State Parks officials said on Friday that SBC Communications Inc. would install Wi-Fi links in 85 state parks over the next six months. Increasing numbers of laptop computers and handheld devices can connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi signals. The expansion into the state's vast park system marks the latest spread of Wi-Fi service into open spaces, which already includes the San Francisco Giants' baseball stadium and downtown San Jose, at the heart of Silicon Valley. San Elijo State Beach near San Diego is the first state park to receive Wi-Fi access, which could, for example, enable surfers to send up-to-date pictures and information about the waves. Internet access will work in only a small fraction of the overall park terrain, mostly around visitor centers and camping areas, said California State Parks spokesman Roy Stearns. Hiking trails would not be covered, he said. Laptop computer users need a Wi-Fi card to get access to high-speed Internet access and, if they are not SBC customers, they will have to pay $7.95 a day for the service. SBC will share some of that revenue with the state of California, an SBC spokesman said. 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 Reuters News. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 22 Jan 2005 08:08:53 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Apple Seeks Bigger Bite of PC Market with Mac Mini SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Might the Mac mini mean a bigger bite of the personal computer market for Apple Computer Inc. That's the hope of Apple whose approximately 100 retail stores are opening an hour early on Saturday as the highly touted and low-priced Mac mini computer and iPod Shuffle portable music player go on sale. Analysts are betting Apple's mini might just tempt users of rival Microsoft Corp.'s Windows to switch operating systems and go with the Mac and its Mac OS X operating system. That transition hasn't happened yet despite Apple's "Switch" advertising campaign and in spite of the success of the iPod portable digital music players. More than 10 million have been sold since their introduction more than three years ago. Apple's portion of the worldwide PC market was 2 percent in the fourth quarter, according to preliminary figures from market research firm IDC. "I believe the Mac mini is actually going to have more of an impact on Apple's market share position than their digital music efforts have so far," said IDC analyst Roger Kay. Echoing the sentiment, Needham & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf wrote to clients: "The iPod's only failure so far has been its inability to stimulate meaningful purchases of Macintoshes." With the Mac mini, that could change, and Wolf now estimates that 11 percent of those who have iPods and PCs that use the Windows operating system may shell out the $499 for a Mac mini now that they're available. Before the mini, Wolf had predicted 4 percent could switch. Apple is opening its stores at 9 a.m. local time on Saturday. Store personnel contacted by Reuters in California, Colorado, Florida and New Jersey said they had been receiving a slew of calls about the mini and the Shuffle. The Shuffle is Apple's smaller, cheaper version of its market-leading iPod and holds either 120 or 240 songs, costing $99 and $149, respectively. "Some of this is true demand, but I think some of it's orchestrated, too, by Apple," said Stephen Baker, an analyst at NPD Group. Apple has long been criticized for pricing itself out of the mainstream with its sleek products, but, now, Apple is changing course. The Mac mini opens up lower price points for people who would like to try the Mac platform, and that's long been one of my chief complaints about Apple -- the high price," IDC's Kay said. Steve Jobs, co-founder and chief executive of Cupertino, California- based Apple, said last week, "People who are thinking of switching will have no excuse." Jobs introduced the mini, which comes without a display, keyboard or mouse, at the company's annual trade show on Jan. 11. Starting at $499, the mini, which is 6.5 inches square and 2 inches tall, is Apple's cheapest computer ever. Some analysts have said that Apple's blow-out fourth-quarter results offered clear proof of the "halo effect" of iPod sales boosting Mac sales. Kay said he was not so sure.

Apple's fourth-quarter share of the worldwide and U.S. PC markets rose by a mere 0.1 percentage point each, to 2.0 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively. "That's not a whole lot of share gain, but will the Mac mini help them gain some more?" Kay asked. "I would certainly think so." 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, Reuters News. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 12:50:41 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? Barry L. Ritholtz I've been thinking about the iPod Shuffle since its introduction this week. The early critique of the newest Pod is its lack of a readout or screen -- even a small one -- to see what song is playing or up next. The more I think about it, however, the more I think this (valid) criticism is misguided. It misses the point entirely. The Shuffle isn't supposed to be replacing a full featured MP3 player. Rather, it is a substitute for a similar experience of getting music you know and like -- on the radio. Only you cannot do that anymore. McMusic dominates the airwaves, preprogrammed from some fluorescent lit, over airconditioned, windowless, soulless dreary office complex somewhere in the bowels of Texas. You can thank the 1996 telecommunication act for radio's massive consolidation -- and really bad music on the radio. The iPod Shuffle is yet more evidence of Radio's ongoing decline. Recall we first discussed this last July in Radio's Wounded Business Model. Barrons picked up the meme weeks later, running a very similar criticism. Where does that leave the fans of music, people who used to be radio listeners? The iPod Shuffle. Its the new radio. http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/01/ipod_shuffle_ne.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 11:19:19 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Looks Beyond 'Number, Please' January 22, 2005 For a century, AT&T was known as America's premier phone company. If Hossein Eslambolchi has his way, that label will go the way of the dodo bird. As chief technology and chief information officer, Mr. Eslambolchi is the technological strategist behind AT&T's ambitious turnaround plan to become a data transmission company selling an array of software products like network security systems - with phone calls being just one of many digital services. Indeed, for the first time, voice calls generated less than half of the revenue in AT&T's corporate business group in 2004. A few years ago, this approach was heresy at AT&T, where connecting calls was the cornerstone of the former monopoly's business. But with falling prices, growing competition and cheap new Internet phone services from start-up companies, AT&T's future depends more than ever on vigorous cost-cutting and focusing on its worldwide data network. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/22/business/22phone.html?ex=1264050000&en=ffa4e698859bf788&ei=5090 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For constantly refreshing, current 24/7 New York Times headlines and the full stories behind them, please check http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html and consider making it your 'home' or starting page. No registration, no login or other requirements; no privacy invading cookies; just click and read. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 11:25:47 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Powell to Step Down at F.C.C. After Pushing for Deregulation By STEPHEN LABATON WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 - Michael K. Powell, who has overseen the Federal Communications Commission during a time of helter-skelter convergence among telephone, television and high-speed Internet services, announced Friday that he would be stepping down from the agency in two months. Mr. Powell sought to roll back regulation of each of those industries. But on his watch the F.C.C. also enforced stringent decency standards, imposing hefty fines on television and radio broadcasters. Administration officials and industry executives said that two leading contenders had emerged to succeed Mr. Powell as chairman. One is Kevin J. Martin, a Republican commissioner and former White House official who several times foiled Mr. Powell's attempts to deregulate broadcasters and telephone companies. The other is Becky A. Klein, a senior policy adviser to George W. Bush when he was governor of Texas and a former chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. She lost a Congressional bid two months ago. Her campaign received a large amount of financial support from executives at telecommunications companies who expected she would be a top contender for the F.C.C. job. Both Mr. Martin and Ms. Klein have close ties to Mr. Bush and they have track records that are less ideological than Mr. Powell's. Both have taken steps as regulators that at times have angered the large Bell companies and at other times pleased them. Working in Mr. Martin's favor is the fact that he is a sitting commissioner and, as such, could fill the position quickly because he would not need Senate confirmation. Some broadcasters are concerned, however, that Mr. Martin could be even more aggressive than Mr. Powell in enforcing the indecency rules. The officials and executives said that other candidates being considered to succeed Mr. Powell include Michael D. Gallagher, the top Commerce Department official on telecommunications issues; Pat Wood III, another former Texas regulator who is head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and Janice Obuchowski, a consultant who worked in the Commerce Department during the administration of the first President Bush. The White House is also expected to soon have a second Republican vacancy on the five-member commission. Kathleen Q. Abernathy, an ally of Mr. Powell, has recently told administration officials that she intends to step down. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/22/politics/22powell.html?ex=1264050000&en=f2529a2af09c398b&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 13:15:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Powell and Commissioner Statements Statement of FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell On Leaving the Commission. Commissioner Abernathy Responds to Chairman Powell's Announcement Regarding His Planned Departure From the FCC. Statement by FCC Commissioner Michael Copps On Chairman Michael Powell's Departure Announcement. Commissioner Martin Responds to Chairman Powell's Announcement Regarding His Planned Departure From the FCC. Statement by Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein on Departure Announcement of Chairman Michael K. Powell ------------------------------ From: silvas_clinch@yahoo.com Subject: MF tones -- What, if Anything, Are They Still Used For? Date: 22 Jan 2005 01:38:57 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi everyone. I'm kind of curious about the MF tones I learned of recently, the ones that were used by the toll network of the 60's, 70's, and 80's to control how calls were routed. While I understand they are no longer used for call routing, are these tones still used today for other things, and if so, what? (I'm referring specifically to either the R1 or R2 tone plans, or something close to them.) ------------------------------ From: crownken@walla.com (Creek) Subject: Wireless versus Cordless for VOIP Date: 22 Jan 2005 07:09:46 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, Does anyone has experience over what is the best way to chat over VOIP? I use Skype mainly and had orginally wanted to get a wireless headset from Plantronics. But recently found that I could use a Skype USB adapter such as the rapidBox from rapidVoIP.com and convert my cordless phone into a USB phone. I wonder what are the pros and cons especially when come to sound quality. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: kungfuadam@hotmail.com Subject: Vonage Question Date: 21 Jan 2005 16:25:27 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am evaluating Vonage's VOIP service. I would like to know if you can plug a phone line from their adapter to an existing telco jack and be able to use phones on other jacks in the house. I saw a post on this issue dated 2002, but I am not sure if is addressing the same thing. Thank you. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, you can, **but be absolutely certain before you start this project you have any/all incoming lines from telco totally disconnected at the demarc.** Any stray telco voltage/dialtone finding its way in to the Vonage wires will sure as the world blow up your Vonage ATA box. I have done this -- I have Vonage and my telco line both running all over my house, through a PBXtra -- but it helps if you know all your internal phone wiring very well before you start. Split the telco connection at the demarc, then plug in the Vonage box, take an instrument around to your various phone jacks and see if it works, which it should. My electronic PBX (brand name is PBXtra) is located in my computer area, where my (single) telco line also comes in. I mounted the PBXtra in that area also, then I ran a 12-pair cable between the demarc outside and that PBXtra in my computer area. I used one pair to bring the telco line in, and a half dozen or so of the other pairs to shuttle the same PBXtra back out to the demarc, where I hooked in all the various pairs to the 'extension phones' on the telco line, but to the PBXtra rather than the telco line. I put the telco line on the 'dial 9' position on the PBXtra, and the Vonage line on the 'dial 8' position on PBXtra. Dial tone from the PBXtra allows any of the extensions to dial each other, or dial '8' (plus further dialing to use Vonage), or dial '9' (plus further dialing to use the telco line). If you, or any other readers, want to try Vonage in your own application, I will give you a coupon good for a month of free service. You have to use the link in the e-coupon to obtain the adapter box, and set up the service and use a credit card to pay for the box and a month of service. Then, whatever kind of service plan you selected, my e-coupon kicks in and gives you the *second month* of service for free. To get your e-coupon, email me at ptownson@massis.csail.mit.edu . Oh, and if you want to get a PBXtra (officially it is a 'line sharing device, **NOT** a home-style PBX, but its the same difference) you can get one from Mike Sandman ( mike@sandman.com or http://sandman.com ) on phone 630-980-7710. They cost about four hundred dollars. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 01:10:59 GMT Solario wrote: > Overnight I received several calls from (200) 222 0000. The caller > left no message. Is this a real telephone number? No. > If not what is it? Umm, a fake number? ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 20:15:26 -0500 In article , solario@seqdatsys.com says: > Overnight I received several calls from (200) 222 0000. The caller > left no message. Is this a real telephone number? If not what is it? There was a discussion on the TCI SingingWires group about using 200-222 for Asterisk setups and a private collectors network. I wonder if someone forgot to re-configure their Asterisk box or didn't know how to set up the routing so it wouldn't pass that CLID. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Jan 2005 02:28:54 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Overnight I received several calls from (200) 222 0000. The caller > left no message. Is this a real telephone number? No. > If not what is it? It's a fake telephone number. (Well, you asked.) R's, John PS: The security for CLID data is very sloppy, and there are all sorts of ways for callers to provide their own CLID that's different from the actual calling number. Sometimes it's benign as when a company provides their own 800 number, sometimes it's not. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 21:27:13 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Solario wrote: > Overnight I received several calls from (200) 222 0000. The caller > left no message. Is this a real telephone number? If not what is it? Not a real number. Most likely, some telemarketer (or someone else using a PBX) programmed the switchboard to give out that meaningless number instead of valid Caller ID data. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: helosix Subject: Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 Date: 21 Jan 2005 23:18:57 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Did you call them back? ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: 800 Number or 10-10 Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 16:38:08 -0800 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com What is it about Toll-Free that makes it less susceptible to greater discounts than outbound long distance? For example, I'm paying under 1.9 cents per minute for outbound domestic LD calls but my toll-free is at about 4 cents (with both call types riding the same PRIs to the same supplier) Isaiah Beard wrote in message news:telecom24.28.17@telecom-digest.org: > Matt wrote: >> No I'm talking for about for around 30,000 - 40,000 minutes a month; >> our current phone company is charging us around 4.5-5cents a minute. > I don't think many places are going to give you 2 cents/minute or > below, and if one does, they must be a terribly cut rate, fly-by-night > operation. Even VoIP companies are charging in the 3.9 cent range. > E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. > Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the main reason for the difference in cost is the billing process. The call cannot be billed in the normal way to the calling phone, but has to be billed in reverse back to the recieving party. That 'special billing' or 'special handling' allegedly costs more money than 'regular' billing. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 00:38:20 GMT > I tested the programs on a Windows XP computer I borrowed from my > wife's cousin. The 3-year-old PC, a Gateway running Windows XP Home > Edition, was basically unusable. I wonder how he tested it? I accepted the windows update download of it, but none of the instructions mention the name of the program, and it doesn't show up in any menus that I've found, so somewhere on my computer there is a program installed by update that might be useful if I knew where it was and how to run it :-). I followed the update link to the knowledge base description, and the entire KB article simply refers to it as "this program" -- no mention of the actual name. I love Microsoft -- they are such a source of un-intentional humor :-). -- >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 20:12:51 -0500 In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > abbygale wrote: >> If you research the issue, you'll find that locales fond of the >> 'red-light cameras' have nearly all decreased the "yellow" times to >> make the systems more *profitable*. It's about revenue, not safety and >> it's just another tax. > You don't need red light cameras to create a short-yellow situation. > Actually, you need nothing at all when it gets down to it if the > municipality is that bent on illegal revenue. > Anyway, one major city is intalling these cameras at some bad > intersections and I be assured from both personal experience and > national writeups that they are needed. The motorists like to run the > lights. The intersections are rated among the top ten worst > _nationally_. The TV sitcom "Quints" had a piece using red-light > cameras. They tested red light cameras in Providence and found that while the pickings were easy, the uproar over them just wasn't worth it. People still blow through red lights like nobodies business in this city. I see instances of it nearly every day. Instead the city plans to roll out something like 2,000 new parking meters. The stated reason is to free up parking so people don't hog spots but the reality is that it represents something like $5 million in revenue for the city, not to mention the tickets for overtime at those meters. It's all about money, nothing more. If they were really concerned with safety they'd come up with a little device that cuts the car motors and slams on the brakes if someone looks like they're going to blow through an intersection at a red light. I actually favor a more draconian solution -- an 18" thick steel wall that quickly shoots up out of the ground to stop traffic. If you're going too fast you'll just splat against it. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 21:25:48 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , wrote: > In article , Steve Sobol > wrote: >> I've used cell phones continuously since 1993. I don't have any >> tumors. > Congratulations. > And my neighbor smoked cigarettes since he was very young, and just > recently died of unrelated causes at 96 years of age. > One isolated case doesn't prove a point. Agreed. However, the simple scientific truth is that the forms of radiation that cause cancer are pretty well known. The radiation from a cellphone, even at a thousand times its power level, couldn't cause a single mutation of a human cell. We also have ample data regarding the specific wavelengths that cellphones use, since they're very close to the wavelengths used by microwave ovens. Cellphone wavelengths CANNOT cause cancer. It is categorically IMPOSSIBLE. And don't go bringing high-voltage electrical wires into the discussion, either, because the power of a cellphone is somewhere in the same league with a pocket flashlight. The long and the short of it is that if every single person on earth owned a cellphone and used it for 16 hours a day for 50 years, it's over 99% that not a single one of us would develop radiation-related cancer from the cellphones. We know that cigarettes cause cancer (and heart disease and a host of other dreadful ailments), because there are thousands and thousands of cases every year. In many countries, use of cellphones now outstrips smoking, both in terms of proportion of the population and in terms of the number of minutes per day engaged in the activity. So my comment before about using a hands-free kit was not meant in any way to validate the fears of cellphone usage, but merely to point out that *IF* you still harbor an *IRRATIONAL* fear of cellphones, there is a very simple way to reduce the risk from one in a trillion to maybe one in a quintillion. USING A CELLPHONE: incredibly minuscule, vanishingly small risk of dangerous radiation. You're more likely to be EATEN by space aliens. USING A CELLPHONE WITH A HANDS-FREE KIT: all that risk, divided by a factor of a million or more. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have never been eaten by space aliens but I have come close to being eaten alive by all the taxes they charge on my beloved cigarettes. This coming September, I'll have been a tobacco user for fifty years -- a half century. I've gone from 24 cents per package (25 cents per package in a machine; the machines could not accept pennies; but they dispensed a penny as change wrapped up in the cellophane wrapper on the cigarette package, along with a book of matches) up to $3.00 per package (Kansas is *much* cheaper than many places [four or five dollars per package in Chicago]) and I have thought about quitting the filthy habit but gotten no where at doing so. When I started smoking, in 1954-55, I did so because it showed I was glamorous and sophisticated. PAT] ------------------------------ From: helosix Subject: Re: A Question About VOIP Spam Date: 21 Jan 2005 23:50:00 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com As long as they have your number, they can send what ever they like to. Let's just hope they don't start listing mobile numbers. A VoIP call is just like your traditional phone line, in that anyone can call you as long as they have your number, IP or PSTN, it's just the delivery method. Both required a call set-up process to establish and maintain a connection. Text messages and SMS are more like trying to print when you are out of paper. If the data can not reach it's desination it is place in a sort of que, once you add paper (turn the phone on) it completes the request. Marc [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, that's true, but I certainly hope I never get to the point of as much VOIP/cell phone/text message spam as I get on a typical day in email. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: Vonage Customer Cares DOESN'T Really Care Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 02:22:44 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications Tony P. wrote: > In article , > cobuild_collins@yahoo.com says: >> Hi there, >> Well I've been using Vonage's services for over one year, as time goes >> the service was each time worst. >> I had a problem with my ATA, and I asked for help to them for over one >> month, and believe it or not, they will never reply to your mails, if >> you call them, they will never answer, and the customer support >> service (live-online-chat) is even worst they can only say: Please >> call 1800-Vonag...... or do you want to give us more Money??? Why >> don't you Sign Up. And never help you. >> If you are thinking about signing up with Vonage, I suggest you to >> think twice, because you will only receive news from them when you >> change your credit card number or so. But they will never help you and >> they will keep changing and charging money. You might be lucky if your >> ATA works for over 8 months, then you will have to buy a new one >> ($80.00 more - $40.00 disconnection fee and a new $40.00 activation >> fee). ??????? By the way again, if they answer you some day ... >> I expected more of Vonage, my first impression is that it was a big >> company, but the whole company seems to be managed by two or three >> people. > So far I've had good experience and that's going on 3 months with the > service. An issue with ring voltage was resolved to my satisfaction. > I did note that email doesn't get answered but if you have patience > you can call and eventually get answers. Average wait is 30 minutes. > The quality of the line is very good and the price is right. > You get what you pay for. If you want instant service and all the > features go ahead and pay your ILEC or a CLEC. But if you want good > sound and so-so service stick with Vonage. I've got a fairly high > tolerance for lack of service when the price is right so I'll stay > with Vonage. This must vary with the broadband ISP. I have had Vonage for two years on cable broadband, and it has only continued to improve during that time. Any outages I have had had been because my hardware got out of sync. (That has become less frequent over time). ------------------------------ 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 V24 #30 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jan 24 00:42:45 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0O5giQ18334; Mon, 24 Jan 2005 00:42:45 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 00:42:45 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501240542.j0O5giQ18334@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 V24 #31 TELECOM Digest Mon, 24 Jan 2005 00:43:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 31 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Security Concerns Prompt Internet Explorer Defections (Lisa Minter) Music Industry Boss Defends File-Sharing Lawsuits (Lisa Minter) WGBH Delays Show Featuring Lesbians (Monty Solomon) AT&T 1782 Answering Machine? (bernieS) Norvergence W-2 (ao) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Fred Atkinson) Re: MF tones -- What, if Anything, Are They Used For? (William Warren) Re: Radar Detectors (John McHarry) Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (Barry Margolin) Re: AT&T Looks Beyond 'Number, Please' (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com) Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? (LB@notmine.com) Re: New Treo 650 Is Better Than Ever; Rivals Offer Alternative (paz5559) Did it Snow Over the Weekend? (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 23 Jan 2005 20:39:32 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Security Concerns Prompt Internet Explorer Defections SEATTLE (Reuters) - Worried about catching viruses, spyware, or other malicious software while surfing the Web? If you're among the nine in 10 people using Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer, you may be a candidate to join the increasing number of users turning to alternative Web browsers that experts say are less prone to security flaws and offer newer features. Firefox, a free Web browser developed by a far-flung group of software programers, has been chipping away at Internet Explorer's dominant position since its debut last year. Although Firefox offers some features not found in Microsoft's dominant Internet browser, such as the ability to display several Web pages within a single window, many users say that they are switching because of Internet's Explorer's security holes and malicious software targeting such software flaws. "The big thing for me was spyware," said Adam Philipp, a Seattle attorney who switched to Firefox in order to avoid the infiltration of programs that generate unwanted pop-up ads and secretly record a computer users' activities. "I was looking for an alternative," said Philipp, "When I found Firefox, it was faster, more functional and more secure." The increase in the number Firefox users came despite Microsoft's three year-long effort to boost the security and reliability of its products under an initiative called "Trustworthy Computing." To be sure, Microsoft has started to deliver automated software updates for Internet Explorer as well as for the Windows XP operating system. Last year, the Redmond, Washington company deployed a major interim update to Windows XP that included security enhancements for Internet Explorer, including a pop-up ad blocker. But critics say such moves by Microsoft were too little, too late, which have led to the rapid rise in the popularity of Firefox and other Web browsers. According to Web statistics tracking firm WebSideStory Inc., Internet Explorer held a 90.3 percent share of U.S. browser usage at the middle of January, compared with a 95.5 percent share in mid-2004. Nearly 5 percent of Web surfers now use Firefox. In addition to having fewer security risks, proponents of Firefox say that its other innovations are attracting users with features such as the ability to open multiple Web pages within a single window on the desktop and rich variety of plug-ins to enhance the browser's functionality. BROWSER WARS AGAIN? But don't expect a repeat of the frenzied browser wars of the late 1990s. Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, an independent research company, said that Firefox's growth will probably be limited because big companies will stick to Internet Explorer. "Corporations like to standardize," Rosoff said, "It's extra work to roll out an extra browser." For technophiles looking for alternatives, there are also other browsers available. Norway's Opera Software (OPERA.OL) makes a competing browser and there are also browsers based on Internet Explorer, such as Maxthon. Apple Computer Inc. has its own browser, called Safari, for its Macintosh. Microsoft has said it will focus on enhancing Internet Explorer's security features and on a major upgrade for the next release of Windows, code-named Longhorn, due out in 2006. Competition between Microsoft and Firefox isn't anything new, when you consider that the rivalry actually goes back a few years. Firefox is based on the Mozilla browser, which itself is based on much of the underlying software code from Netscape, the Web browser that was instrumental in the Internet's growth in the 1990s. Instead of a company, however, a network of programers called the Mozilla Foundation jointly develops the Firefox browser, in order to create an alternative to the dominant browser platform. Netscape was overtaken by Microsoft's Internet Explorer in the late 1990s, sparking the Justice Department's landmark antitrust case against Microsoft. Critics of Internet Explorer argue that Microsoft essentially stopped making innovations to the browser after it gained its overwhelming market share. Meanwhile, Mozilla's backers have gone on the offensive and took out a full page advertisement in the New York Times a couple months ago promoting the upstart browser. And its also appears to be benefiting thanks to another popular marketing channel -- word of mouth. "Any time I hear somebody complaining about their Web experience (on Internet Explorer), it will almost certainly trigger an invitation from me to try out Firefox," said Philipp. Doing so doesn't cost anything. Firefox can be downloaded free from http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/. 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, Yahoo News.. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 23 Jan 2005 20:40:03 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Music Industry Boss Defends File-Sharing Lawsuits By Adam Pasick CANNES, France (Reuters) - The global music industry is fighting a determined war on piracy, suing thousands of persistent violators from teachers to managing directors, its trade association said on Saturday. "None of this makes us feel wonderful," John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said. "For years, we sat back whilst our music was wantonly stolen," he added. "We tried to educate people to raise awareness and then, only as a last resort, did we commence proceedings and even then only against the worst offenders." He said 7,000 people were sued in 2004 for sharing music illegally online, including one case of a 12-year-old girl. "Anyone who claims you're going to win the war on piracy is very foolish person. But if you don't fight the war, it gets worse," he told the music industry annual conference, Midem, in the French Mediterranean coast city of Cannes. "There will be more (lawsuits) in 2005. We look forward to the day when they won't be necessary." The music industry blames illicit online file-trading for a dramatic fall-off in sales over the last several years. Kennedy estimated that 2004 global music sales were roughly flat, with a small drop in physical sales balanced out by a surge in digital sales. Analysts say the industry's carrot-and-stick approach of legal online music stores like iTunes and Napster along with lawsuits against file-traders has largely checked the growth of peer-to-peer networks like Kazaa that illicitly offer music for free. The number of songs sold online grew ten-fold in 2004 as more than 230 online music stores were created. The digital music market was worth about $330 million last year, or about 1 percent of all music sales, a figure that will double in 2005 according to research firm Jupiter. 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, Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 00:43:31 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: WGBH Delays Show Featuring Lesbians By Suzanne C. Ryan, Globe Staff | January 22, 2005 WGBH-TV (Channel 2) has pushed back airing an episode of its new 'Arthur' spinoff "Postcards From Buster" because the episode features a lesbian couple and their three children. The episode was originally scheduled to air Feb. 2 but is now slated for March 23. WGBH, which produces the children's show, said it wants to give other PBS member stations around the country a chance to review the contents. Those stations can then decide whether to air it. WGBH's decision comes the same week as complaints by some Christian conservative groups that a video about diversity due to be sent to 61,000 US schools in March promotes the acceptance of homosexuality. The video features Barney and a host of cartoon characters including SpongeBob SquarePants. The episode of "Postcards From Buster" is not about homosexuality, said Jeanne Hopkins, a spokeswoman for WGBH. Still the station acknowledged that it had heard 'concerns' from other stations recently. Hopkins declined to identify the stations because conversations about programming go on constantly, she said. WGBH said it plans to send the episode to member stations next week. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/01/22/wgbh_delays_show_featuring_lesbians/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 22:36:07 EST From: bernieS Subject: AT&T 1782 Answering Machine? I have a particular need for a discontinued AT&T model 1782 Answering machine, and have spent considerable time searching for one online. Can anyone on the list help me locate one, new or used? Thanks much. bernies@2600.com ------------------------------ From: ao Subject: Norvergence W-2 Date: 22 Jan 2005 15:32:58 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com What do we do if we haven't received our W-2's from Norvergence? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The Bankruptcy Trustee *may* send them out soon; they have until January 31 to get them out in most cases. The Bankruptcy Trustee possibly did not get any of that paperwork from the company in its final days. My advisor on IRS matters (the local office of H&R Block) said the 'usual procedure' in such cases is to fill out your return *based on your tax records* and include a notorized statement (for example, notorized by the notary public on duty at your own H&R Block office) stating the facts as you know them, that the company filed bankruptcy and failed to supply the forms. If as a result, you believe that you may still owe taxes, enclose a check in the usual way. I am not an attorney; I am not your attorney nor your tax advisor; this statement is based on what H&R Block suggested to me. If you have an attorney or tax advisor, you may wish to consult that person as well. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Reply-To: fatkinson@mishmash.com Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 21:49:51 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Nor was mine. I didn't imply any conclusion. But, who's to say what is impossible in this case? I'm simply saying that based upon what I have read, I believe there is some sort of a problem here. As I stated, the jury is still out on just how big of a problem this is. It may only affect three out of three hundred billion or the number may be greater, much greater, or or it *may* be excessive. We simply don't have enough data to draw any conclusions about that. You talk about those thousands of deaths. How many deaths do we have in the United States each year? What reliable research has been done to determine whether or not radiation from cell phones are the cause of any percentage of them? Even so, there's not nearly enough data (and there won't be for years to come) to draw any solid conclusions in either direction. When I hear a cell phone salesperson say there's no danger, he has no real basis for saying that. I usually tell them so. They immediately try to discredit me if I say it in front of other potential customers. What else would a salesman do? Would someone selling candy tell you that it rots your teeth out? Or would they let someone else influence their customers in that direction? Not at all. The cigarette companies are classic examples of that principle. So when you hear telecommunications people saying there's nothing wrong, you know that opinion is tainted whether it is true or not. I think I've heard others here use the term 'it's all about money'. What if a salesman told them that cell phones rot your teeth out (like the candy salesman wouldn't do about their product)? Even if it were true, the salesman wouldn't admit it. Nor would anyone else whose cash flow would be adversely affected by it. Those who are making money only tell you what they want you to believe. It might be true and it might not. I'd never believe a salesman because a good salesman's opinion *is* tainted. His employer wouldn't consider him to be a good salesman, otherwise. He's like the defense lawyer, they try to convince you of what is best for them. The only argument I'm making here is that we just don't know and it will be a long time before we know for sure. And I'm not going to put any stock in what those who may be protecting their bread and butter say. I want to hear from a more neutral source based upon statistical data and other solid types of evidence. I guess I'm the eternal skeptic here. Regards, Fred ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 18:00:21 -0500 From: William Warren Subject: Re: MF tones -- What, if Anything, Are They Still Used For? silvas_clinch@yahoo.com wrote: > Hi everyone. > I'm kind of curious about the MF tones I learned of recently, the ones > that were used by the toll network of the 60's, 70's, and 80's to > control how calls were routed. > While I understand they are no longer used for call routing, are these > tones still used today for other things, and if so, what? (I'm > referring specifically to either the R1 or R2 tone plans, or something > close to them.) MF is still used for some E911 trunks, for interconnect with ILEC's that request it, and for some PBX DID lines. I don't know about "R1" or "R2". HTH. William ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 00:58:16 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 20:12:51 -0500, Tony P. wrote: > In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com > says: > If they were really concerned with > safety they'd come up with a little device that cuts the car motors > and slams on the brakes if someone looks like they're going to blow > through an intersection at a red light. I actually favor a more > draconian solution -- an 18" thick steel wall that quickly shoots up > out of the ground to stop traffic. If you're going too fast you'll > just splat against it. Automated deployment of tire slashers, similar to those at car rental lots, might do the trick. The relays controlling the system would be judge, jury, and hangman in one spectacular rip. Mind you, the authority setting this up my bear some responsibility for the resultant carnage when out of control rippees spun into other traffic at high speed. ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective Organization: Symantec Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 22:01:19 -0500 In article , tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) wrote: >> I tested the programs on a Windows XP computer I borrowed from my >> wife's cousin. The 3-year-old PC, a Gateway running Windows XP Home >> Edition, was basically unusable. > I wonder how he tested it? I accepted the windows update download of > it, but none of the instructions mention the name of the program, and > it doesn't show up in any menus that I've found, so somewhere on my > computer there is a program installed by update that might be useful > if I knew where it was and how to run it :-). I was similarly confused. What I believe is going on is that it doesn't actually install a program. Windows Update downloads it into a temporary area and runs it itself, then deletes it. They're going to make it show up in WU every month, so each time it shows up you'll automatically run the latest version of it. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: AT&T Looks Beyond 'Number, Please' Date: 22 Jan 2005 21:22:54 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > As chief technology and chief information officer, Mr. Eslambolchi is > the technological strategist behind AT&T's ambitious turnaround plan > to become a data transmission company selling an array of software > products like network security systems - with phone calls being just > one of many digital services. > A few years ago, this approach was heresy at AT&T, where connecting > calls was the cornerstone of the former monopoly's business. I don't know where that reporter was, but this story is 20 years out of date. AT&T agreed to divesture to be allowed to focus on other activities, and got itself involved in a number of ventures. Whether these ventures were good or bad is not the point, the point is that AT&T stopped being the old "Ma Bell" 20 years ago, and the groundwork for that transition was laid long before that. The same is true at IBM, which is a far different company than it was 20 years ago. It was a headline that IBM sold its PC business, but this transition began some years ago. Hardware is just a part of IBM now when it once was its mainstay. ------------------------------ From: LB@notmine.com Subject: Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 09:02:19 -0500 Organization: Optimum Online Monty Solomon wrote: > Barry L. Ritholtz > I've been thinking about the iPod Shuffle since its introduction this > week. The early critique of the newest Pod is its lack of a readout or > screen -- even a small one -- to see what song is playing or up next. > The more I think about it, however, the more I think this (valid) > criticism is misguided. It misses the point entirely. The Shuffle > isn't supposed to be replacing a full featured MP3 player. Rather, it > is a substitute for a similar experience of getting music you know and > like -- on the radio. > Only you cannot do that anymore. McMusic dominates the airwaves, > preprogrammed from some fluorescent lit, over airconditioned, > windowless, soulless dreary office complex somewhere in the bowels of > Texas. > You can thank the 1996 telecommunication act for radio's massive > consolidation -- and really bad music on the radio. > The iPod Shuffle is yet more evidence of Radio's ongoing decline. > Recall we first discussed this last July in Radio's Wounded Business > Model. Barrons picked up the meme weeks later, running a very similar > criticism. > Where does that leave the fans of music, people who used to be > radio listeners? > The iPod Shuffle. Its the new radio. > http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/01/ipod_shuffle_ne.html Is there a way to have the shuttle play through car radio speakers? LB ------------------------------ From: paz5559 Subject: Re: New Treo 650 Is Better Than Ever, But Rivals Offer Alternatives Date: 23 Jan 2005 11:05:27 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Looks an aweful lot like a MLM scheme to my untrained eye. ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 12:25:00 EST I guess it must have ... at least over much of the northeast areas of the USA. The Sunday edition of Independence Reporter had a couple of major stories about New York, Boston and Chicago, and points in between which were thoroughly buried in snow. We have yet to get even a single inch of snow here this winter, but it has been cold and we have had rain a few times. Did the snow slow down your spam any? 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'. 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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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #31 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jan 24 15:33:32 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0OKXVh26566; Mon, 24 Jan 2005 15:33:32 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 15:33:32 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501242033.j0OKXVh26566@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 V24 #32 TELECOM Digest Mon, 24 Jan 2005 15:31:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 32 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Is This a Norwegian or Australian Number? Please Identify (tom) New Administrative Structure for Large Internet (Internet Society) Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon (Carl Moore) TI Supplies Samples of New Chip (Telecom DailyLead from USTA) Powell to Leave FCC in March (Jack Decker) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Linc Madison) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Robert Bonomi) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Mark Crispin) Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (Justin Time) Re: Radar Detectors (Isaiah Beard) Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? (Linc Madison) Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? (GlowingBlueMist) Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? (Brian Inglis) Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? (Joseph) Re: 800 Number or 10-10 (Matt) Re: Phone Number? (200) 222-0000 (T. Sean Wentz) Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? (Rob) Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? (david_esan@hotmail.com) Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? (Tony P.) Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? (LB@notmine.com) Last Laugh! Verizon Phone Directory Problems (Alan Burkitt-Gray) 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: tom Subject: Is This a Norwegian or Australian Number? Please Identify Date: 24 Jan 2005 08:06:08 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Someone keeps calling me from this number: 6-189-734-2316 Is this a Norwegian or Australian number? Thanks, Tom ------------------------------ From: Internet Society Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 11:51:13 +0100 Subject: New Administrative Structure for World's Leading Internet New Administrative Structure for World's Leading Internet Standards Group Reston, VA - 24th January 2005 - The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is well advanced in the process of making a significant change to the administrative structure that supports the world's leading Internet standards development group. The creation of an IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA) is an important move designed to help the IETF maintain and expand the unique open processes that have enabled the development of Internet standards since 1986. The new structure will allow the IETF to take full responsibility for managing the resources required to accomplish its work - giving the IETF a solid foundation on which future operations will be based. This is the first time that all the IETF's administrative and support functions will be managed directly by the IETF as one fully integrated entity. Until now, administration of the IETF has been carried out exclusively by helper organisations and volunteers. The new IASA will be formally structured as an activity within the Internet Society (ISOC) -- the organizational home of the IETF -- and an IASA Administrative Director (IAD) will be appointed to provide central management of IETF administration. The decision to move forward with the new structure was taken after extensive consultations with the Internet community. A number of key prerequisites for efficient administrative operations were identified, including the need for the IETF to have budgetary autonomy. The IETF is currently supported by funding from multiple sources, including meeting fees, donations from interested corporate and non-corporate entities, and donations in kind of equipment or manpower. The IASA will allow the IETF to be able to consider all sources of income, and all expenses involved in running the IETF, as pieces of one budget. The IASA will also be responsible for defining clear contractual relationships with other organisations that will continue to provide basic services, including meeting organisation, secretarial services, IT services, etc. The new structure also gives the IETF flexibility in how it chooses to fund and develop any additional services that may be required. The IETF is a large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. It is open to any interested individual. The Internet Society (ISOC) is a non-governmental international organisation for global cooperation and coordination for the Internet and its internetworking technologies and applications. Members comprise commercial companies, governmental agencies, foundations, and individuals. ISOC has 82 Chapters in over 60 countries around the world. The job posting for the newly-created position of IETF Administrative Director is available here: http://www.isoc.org/isoc/general/career/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS: Internet Society: www.isoc.org Peter Godwin Communications Manager E-mail: godwin@isoc.org Internet Society 4, rue des Falaises 1205 Geneva Switzerland ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 11:52:30 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon I have just seen a news blurb about the Telephone Pioneer Museum in Eugene, Oregon. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Carl, would it be possible to give any more details on this, so that our California/Oregon area readers might be able to plan a visit? At least a street address, phone number, etc? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 13:38:16 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: TI Supplies Samples of New Chip Telecom dailyLead from USTA http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18911&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * TI supplies samples of new chip BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Small companies look for place in VoIP market * Copper Mountain announces job cuts * France Telecom acquires rest of Equant * Cablevision's family feud could lead to sale of company * Cingular reports loss, adds nearly 2M subscribers * PWC report looks at competition in communications sector USTA SPOTLIGHT * Free USTA Webinar: "Innovate or Die: Winning the Services War" -- Thursday, Jan. 27, 1:00 p.m. EDT EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * California state parks to go wireless REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * DirecTV accounting raises questions at the SEC * Next FCC chairman to face a number of difficult issues Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18911&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 13:46:28 -0500 Subject: Powell To Leave FCC In March http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=57703257 Powell To Leave FCC In March His successor is expected to continue the FCC's current direction of less telecom regulation instead of more, especially in regards to new technologies like Voice over IP. By Paul Kapustka Advanced IP Pipeline With surprising timing for a somewhat expected move, Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell on Friday announced his decision to step down from his post "some time in March." Powell's official resignation statement, which was posted after the news first appeared in an editorial in Friday's Wall Street Journal, opens the debate as to who will succeed him as chairman. Initial front-runners for the job include current commissioner Kevin Martin and Michael Gallagher, deputy director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and an assistant secretary for the Department of Commerce. While the succession process may take even longer than Powell's proposed March timeframe (due to potential logjams in pending Congressional approvals for new cabinet members and judges), whoever takes over will likely continue the FCC's current direction of less telecom regulation instead of more, especially in regards to new technologies like Voice over IP. Full story at: http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=57703257 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/ ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 22:04:54 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Fred Atkinson wrote: > Nor was mine. I didn't imply any conclusion. But, who's to say what > is impossible in this case? I'm simply saying that based upon what I > have read, I believe there is some sort of a problem here. As I > stated, the jury is still out on just how big of a problem this is. NO, IT ISN'T. The jury is absolutely back in, and it is NOT a problem. > What reliable research has been done to determine whether or not > radiation from cell phones are the cause of any percentage of them? > Even so, there's not nearly enough data (and there won't be for years > to come) to draw any solid conclusions in either direction. Wrong. It is CATEGORICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for radiation from a cellphone to cause cellular mutation. The radio waves are simply too "fat" to ever, in a billion years, cause one single cellular mutation. The wavelength used by cellphones is on the order of 6 to 15 INCHES (roughly 15 to 40 centimeters). That covers the range from 1900 to 800 MHz. You'd need to be well up into the Terahertz to get a short enough wavelength to cause cellular mutation. > When I hear a cell phone salesperson say there's no danger, he has no > real basis for saying that. No, in fact there is a substantial basis for saying that, because there is no danger. Cellphones CANNOT cause cancer. > So when you hear telecommunications people saying there's nothing > wrong, you know that opinion is tainted whether it is true or not. That's only true if the person speaking has a financial interest. I don't happen to have any financial interest in cellphones. I own one, but I don't even own stock in any companies that make or sell cellphones, much less work for one. The only effect that microwaves (the wavelength used by cellphones) have on living tissue is to heat it. Your microwave oven probably puts out about 600 watts. Your cellphone probably puts out maybe a couple of watts at maximum power, and probably less than one watt in normal use. True, you're not sticking your skull into the microwave while it's operating, but still, it's a bit out of perspective to be so worried about the radiation from cellphones. More to the point, you will feel warmth from the microwaves if they are heating the tissue inside your skull. I am also always amazed by people who are concerned about cellphones but don't bat an eye about using a cordless phone at home. The radiation from a cellphone CANNOT cause cancer. It's not extremely unlikely, it is literally impossible. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 09:45:32 -0000 Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting In article , Fred Atkinson wrote: [[.. snip a whole bunch of unsupported FUD-mongering ..]] > The only argument I'm making here is that we just don't know and it > will be a long time before we know for sure. And I'm not going to put > any stock in what those who may be protecting their bread and butter > say. I want to hear from a more neutral source based upon statistical > data and other solid types of evidence. > I guess I'm the eternal skeptic here. I hate to spoil a good argument with facts, but ... Fact: There has been _considerable_ independent academic research done on the effects of electromagnetic radiation in cell-phone frequencies on human tissue. Some of it *decades* before cell-phones came into existence. A fair bit funded by _insurance_companies_ -- to establish _if_ they should charge higher premiums for persons in certain vocations. (They didn't. They aren't. Think maybe they know something?) Fact: There has not been a _single_ *confirmed* case of a tumor, let alone a death, where cell-phone use was the causative factor. There _have_ been several (possibly as many as four) _alleged_ instances that various 'offended'/'injured' people have taken to court. Every one of those cases was dismissed when plaintiff could not produce a single piece of "hard evidence" to support a claim of an actual problem/risk. Fact: "Best available", accepted, evidence puts the danger threshold at a level that is orders of magnitude greater than what is _allowed_ to be emitted by a cell-phone. There is, admittedly, a substantial degree of uncertainty as to _exactly_ where the 'danger level', for long-term exposure is -- which is why the 'danger threshold' established by the *medical*community* -- _not_ any telecom folks -- was specified at a point that was far lower (several orders of magnitude, literally), than extrapolation from the research data justified. On a mathematical, statistical, basis -- and postulating that the original research (which included multiple projects, all in general, albeit not 'exact', agreement) was valid -- the statistical probability that the 'actual' danger point is _below_ the declared one is about 1 in 10**8. With maximum "allowed" emissions set several orders of magnitude lower, the chances of the 'actual' danger point being below the 'allowed' level are virtually nill. Fact: The level of 'allowable' emission from a cell-phone is a full order of magnitude higher than the _maximum_ output of current-generation cell phones, which is 4-5 times higher than the 'typical' output of a modern cell-phone. Fact: Nobody can say that there _is_ a quantifiable danger associated with the emission-levels of cell phones. The strongest statement from _any_ reputable researcher is that there "may" be a risk -- that we "don't know enough" to say precisely where the danger level is. *NOT*ONE* of those who claim the risk is there is willing to quantify what they believe that risk to be -- how much use over what period of time, to have, say a 1:1,000,000 chance of developing a cell-phone induced tumor. Or, alternatively, what kind of an increase in the numbers of what types of brain tumors would occur, from what usage levels. With the present numbers of cell-phone users _world-wide_, such a 'hypothesis' would be fairly easy to put to rigorous "test". With the first-generation cell-phones generating TEN TIMES or more the emissions of current phones, and with the 'risk' increasing _faster_ than the emission levels, and those 1st generation phones being expensive enough that only those who (a) needed them, and (b) needed to use them a _lot_, could really justify the costs, there is "good" long-term historical data available for analysis. Unfortunately for the scare-mongers, the upsurge in brain tumors, and related deaths, that should have accompanied such use simply *isn't* there. All the more 'unfortunate', considering that one year of use of one of those high-power cell phones gave an exposure equivalent to somewhere around 15 years of use of a 'modern' one. ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 08:42:26 -0800 Organization: University of Washington On Sat, 22 Jan 2005, Fred Atkinson wrote: > I'm simply saying that based upon what I > have read, I believe there is some sort of a problem here. As I > stated, the jury is still out on just how big of a problem this is. > I guess I'm the eternal skeptic here. These two statements are fundamentally in conflict with each other. First, you admit to a belief in an unproven assertation; one that many knowledgable people say is nonsense. Then you claim to be a skeptic. It is not skepticism to adhere to a belief just because it has not yet been proven completely false under all possible conditions. There is strong evidence that cell phone radiation is harmless in all normal use. The amount of heat generated is neglegible compared to normal environmental issues and the wavelengths are too long to damage DNA (which is the mechanism by which radiation would cause cancer). In the face of that evidence, there are only anecdotes to support the belief that cell phone radiation is harmful. These anecdotes often dismiss, disregard, or even denounce scientific study of the issue; and often go into conspiracy theories. Your comparison with tobacco is ludicrous. The harmful effects of smoking have been known for hundreds of years. The claim that "the tobacco companies told us that smoking was healthy" is a cop-out by aging smokers who hope to extract some money rather than blame themselves. If you wish to be a skeptic, you will dismiss anecdotes and irrelevant comparisons, and go with facts. The facts are that there is no evidence at all of any harm caused by cell phone radiation. What harm is caused by cell phones is from other causes: possible carpal tunnel though ergonomically poor design, accidents caused by inattentiveness, and overwhelming the social harm caused by inconsisiderate use. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just go back for a minute Mark, to your discussion of aging tobacco users. I am about as aged as they come with about a half-century of tobacco use behind me. Yet for the past thirty years give or take a few years, I have seen that warning lable on the packs and cartons, but have not heeded it. (Yes, I smoked for about fifteen or twenty years *before* the government required that notice on every pack; I recall when there were simply more logos and drawings on the package before the government took over that valuable 'real estate' with their required notices, etc). Yet it would not occur to me today to blame my cigarette smoking on ignorance, inability to break away, or any of the countless excuses people give when they file those suits. I've had many opportunities to quit, and have chosen not to do so. Also, there have been countless class-action suits (various governments against tobacco companies) to force the tobacco companies to pay for expenses 'they caused', ie. smoker deaths, etc. Big Tobacco *was* paying these costs, and still are in a few cases, but when it was revealed that the governments were *not* dedicating that money to treatment/education programs (just tossing it all in the general pot and chronically running out of money before they got around to smoker's treatments, etc), the tobacco companies wised up and said 'no more settlement payments from us until/unless you begin using the settlement money as you agreed with the court you would use it.' I mean, do you remember when the government used to say 'state lottery is a good thing; the money will build new schools, better roads, etc? Ditto with the settlement money from tobacco companies; its just a way for the government to chisel even more money out of people; not being used to 'find a cure' or 'treat sick people' at all. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective Date: 24 Jan 2005 06:44:42 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Has anyone really paid attention to the wording of the update notices lately on the Windows Update site? I went there last night from my home computer and looked to download the latest security updates. I ended up not downloading any of them as I couldn't tell what they were for. When the site just tells you that you need to download this security fix to keep your computer running properly and then doesn't even tell you what program or programs the fix is for, well, it's absolutely stupid. Oh, the site refers you to a KBxxxxxx but doesn't tell you what a KB is. Is it any wonder the vast majority of home computer users don't update their software? With such helpful messages from Microsoft everyone should rush right out and download the latest fix described in a knowledge base article stored on another website. And this from some slow dial-up connection. Rodgers Platt [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Under the *assumption* that Microsoft probably knows best from a technical standpoint, I download every one of the patches as soon as one of my computers tells me I should do so. I do not think I have ever missed downloading a single patch, even some that later had to be repaired by other patches. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 11:21:53 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Tony P. wrote: > It's all about money, nothing more. If they were really concerned with > safety they'd come up with a little device that cuts the car motors > and slams on the brakes if someone looks like they're going to blow > through an intersection at a red light. Actually, that would probably be MORE of a safety issue. Depending on how a device is triggered, a false alarm could guarantee lots of rear-end collisions. Or worse, such a measure could exacerbate gridlock in crowded metro areas. While drivers aren't supposed to "block the box" of an intersection in bumper to bumper traffic, quite a few still do it anyway, and cutting their engine when the light turns red only means they won't be able to move out of the way like you'd prefer they would. > I actually favor a more draconian solution -- an 18" thick steel > wall that quickly shoots up out of the ground to stop traffic. If > you're going too fast you'll just splat against it. Sadism isn't safety. :) -- E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 22:11:49 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , wrote: >> The iPod Shuffle. Its the new radio. >> http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/01/ipod_shuffle_ne.html > Is there a way to have the shuttle play through car radio speakers? Sure. You can buy a gizmo that plugs into the cigarette lighter for power and then into the headphone jack of nearly anything that uses headphones, playing it by a very low power FM signal into the car radio. Alternately, you can get gizmos that plug into the headphone jack and play the sound through a cartridge that inserts into the car's cassette player. Since there are gizmos like that specifically for the existing iPods, it's not a bad bet that someone will come out with one specially designed to match the style of the iPod Shuffle. (Yes, I really like the word "gizmo." ;^P ) Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: GlowingBlueMist Subject: Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 03:14:02 -0600 Organization: Octanews If the unit has an earphone jack you can plug in any of those mini-radio transmitters used on Ipod's, CD, or Tape players. <> > Is there a way to have the shuttle play through car radio speakers? > LB ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 10:58:18 +0000 (GMT) From: Brian Inglis Subject: Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? Reply-To: Brian.Inglis@SystematicSW.ab.ca Organization: Systematic Software On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 09:02:19 -0500 in comp.dcom.telecom, LB@notmine.com wrote: > Monty Solomon wrote: >> Barry L. Ritholtz >> I've been thinking about the iPod Shuffle since its introduction this >> week. The early critique of the newest Pod is its lack of a readout or >> screen -- even a small one -- to see what song is playing or up next. >> The more I think about it, however, the more I think this (valid) >> criticism is misguided. It misses the point entirely. The Shuffle >> isn't supposed to be replacing a full featured MP3 player. Rather, it >> is a substitute for a similar experience of getting music you know and >> like -- on the radio. >> Only you cannot do that anymore. McMusic dominates the airwaves, >> preprogrammed from some fluorescent lit, over airconditioned, >> windowless, soulless dreary office complex somewhere in the bowels of >> Texas. >> You can thank the 1996 telecommunication act for radio's massive >> consolidation -- and really bad music on the radio. >> The iPod Shuffle is yet more evidence of Radio's ongoing decline. >> Recall we first discussed this last July in Radio's Wounded Business >> Model. Barrons picked up the meme weeks later, running a very similar >> criticism. >> Where does that leave the fans of music, people who used to be >> radio listeners? >> The iPod Shuffle. Its the new radio. >> http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/01/ipod_shuffle_ne.html > Is there a way to have the shuttle play through car radio speakers? Most iPods (including the Shuffle) have nice little short range FM transmitters available that plug in and transmit on any clear channel you can select on your radio. The issue is probably whether your *car* radio allows you to tune it to a clear channel, or just skips to the next channel with a signal, unless the transmitter was equipped with a similar feature applied in reverse. Thanks. Take care, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada Brian.Inglis@CSi.com (Brian[dot]Inglis{at}SystematicSW[dot]ab[dot]ca) fake address use address above to reply [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But even if your car radio did not have manual tuning to allow you to park it on a blank spot on the dial, as soon as you turned on the I-Pod device and started 'broadcasting' wouldn't the auto-tuning radio manage to find that signal in a few seconds? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 10:08:43 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 09:02:19 -0500, LB@notmine.com wrote: > Monty Solomon wrote: >> Barry L. Ritholtz >> I've been thinking about the iPod Shuffle since its introduction this >> week. The early critique of the newest Pod is its lack of a readout or >> screen -- even a small one -- to see what song is playing or up next. >> The more I think about it, however, the more I think this (valid) >> criticism is misguided. It misses the point entirely. The Shuffle >> isn't supposed to be replacing a full featured MP3 player. Rather, it >> is a substitute for a similar experience of getting music you know and >> like -- on the radio. >> Only you cannot do that anymore. McMusic dominates the airwaves, >> preprogrammed from some fluorescent lit, over airconditioned, >> windowless, soulless dreary office complex somewhere in the bowels of >> Texas. >> You can thank the 1996 telecommunication act for radio's massive >> consolidation -- and really bad music on the radio. >> The iPod Shuffle is yet more evidence of Radio's ongoing decline. >> Recall we first discussed this last July in Radio's Wounded Business >> Model. Barrons picked up the meme weeks later, running a very similar >> criticism. >> Where does that leave the fans of music, people who used to be >> radio listeners? >> The iPod Shuffle. Its the new radio. >> http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/01/ipod_shuffle_ne.html > Is there a way to have the shuttle play through car radio speakers? Use one of those "broadcaster" type things that are also used to play CD/MP3 players through your car radio. I believe it gives you several places in the FM spectrum that you can tune it to the transmitter. ------------------------------ From: Matt Subject: Re: 800 Number or 10-10 Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 09:37:16 -0500 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Exactly the question I ask. And my 800 provider at the moment is the phone company ... of course their long distance is around 4 cents a minute too! But yeah, we're looking at going with Level3 for VoIP termination of 800 and long distance. Level3 is giving us a rate of between 1/2 a cent -- 2 cents a minute, depending on where we call to/from. ------------------------------ From: T. Sean Weintz Subject: Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 13:29:25 -0500 Solario wrote: > Overnight I received several calls from (200) 222 0000. The caller > left no message. Is this a real telephone number? If not what is it? > Thanks. > S. No. It's not real. It's a telemarketing call center that prgrammed that number into their PBX as the outgoing caller ID. The PBX send that to the phone company over their PRI line, and the phone company sends that along to your caller ID box. ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? Date: 24 Jan 2005 10:21:59 -0800 No doubt it'll be heading our way across the pond. The eastern part of England and Scotland has already had up to 5cm/2" of snow, so we're bound to get it from either the west or the east. ------------------------------ From: david_esan@hotmail.com Subject: Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? Date: 24 Jan 2005 07:45:49 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com 16.5 inches at the Rochester, New York airport. More is some places less at others in the area. Add in 20 mph winds and temperatures around 5, it was a wonderful winter weekend. Of course, in true upstate tradition no driver slowed down, some people ran to the grocery store for milk, eggs and bread (as if the storm would strand us for 2 weeks), and the news ran the story as if it was the Storm of the Century. Also in true upstate tradition the roads were cleared in less than 24 hours and life continues as normal. I'm sure that other parts of the Northeast got it worse. But let met tell you about the Blizzard of '66, or the non-storm of '77 ... ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 11:14:31 -0500 In article , ptownson@telecom- digest.org says ... > I guess it must have ... at least over much of the northeast areas of > the USA. The Sunday edition of Independence Reporter had a couple of > major stories about New York, Boston and Chicago, and points in between > which were thoroughly buried in snow. We have yet to get even a > single inch of snow here this winter, but it has been cold and we have > had rain a few times. Did the snow slow down your spam any? Not in the least, unless you consider that the cable went out for four hours. I also know for a fact that lots of circuit switched phones went out too. It's hard to tell just how much snow we've gotten in Providence because of the damned drifting. For example, when the cable went so went net service and phone service. Go to use the cell and the battery is dead and the charger is, you guessed it, at the office. The nearest pay phone is < 70' from the house but it was buried under an 8 foot snow drift. Next nearest wouldn't take coins, next one down was frozen solid. Walking back I noticed three Cox trucks humming down the road. When I walked in the door the cable was on again - they must have lost a head end or at least power to it. To add to the misery the water pipes in the building froze this week. Now we're down to 1/2 or so of the water pressure, for roughly three days had no water at all. My landlord doesn't understand that when temperatures are single digit you CANNOT shut the heat off in the store below. Her best bet at this point is to rip it all out and put PEX in. At least that can handle the freeze/thaw better than rigid copper. Of course I don't think she realizes just how much it's going to cost in the long run. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: City of Independence uses some sort of 'plastic pipe' between the meter (typically in a hole in the ground in the parkway area by the street in front of your house) and where city connects to your water line under your house, and it is buried a few feet underground all that time, only emerging from the ground more or less where it enters your house. Of course I am in an older part of town (southeast side) where the houses and the water pipes were constructed/buried about the same time, a century ago. I do not know how it is done in newer parts of town. The guy who reads our meters gave me a special tool to keep in my backyard shed. It is commonly known as a 'street key', a long pole with 'fingers' on one end of it which reaches down into the ground while you stand above it and turn a handle to shut the water off in case of an emergency. And the lady in the water office told me the best thing to do whenever the temperture gets into the single digits (quite rare, only once or twice in most winter seasons) is to let the water drip all night long, a very slow stream, in the kitchen and the bathroom. I asked her why should *I* have to pay for water I was not using; her response was to go to her computer and change me from full rate (for the water portion of the monthly city maintainence tax bill to the senior citizen/hard- ship rate) which reduced (the water portion) of the bill about five dollars per month. That did not change the sewer portion of the bill nor the garbage/trash pickup portion. (Twice per week garbage pick up and street cleaning; or as the lady explained it to me, that cost covers all the garbage that falls on the street when they miss the back of the truck while dumping your cans. No extra charge for that.) PAT] ------------------------------ From: LB@notmine.com Subject: Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 07:17:49 -0500 Organization: Optimum Online TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > I guess it must have ... at least over much of the northeast areas of > the USA. The Sunday edition of Independence Reporter had a couple of > major stories about New York, Boston and Chicago, and points in between > which were thoroughly buried in snow. We have yet to get even a > single inch of snow here this winter, but it has been cold and we have > had rain a few times. Did the snow slow down your spam any? > PAT THBTTTTTTT And where is "here" LB [TELECOM Digest Editors's Note: I'll have to pass on your use of 'THBTTTTTT' as I have never seen that before. And "here" is "where I am at", Independence, Kansas, a nice little very laid back, very libertarian community of about eight thousand people in southeast Kansas. Temperature twice this winter has dropped overnight to the single digits (mid-teens is more usual here at night) and in the 20-30 degree range when it gets *cold* during the day, right now in mid-afternoon temperature is fifty degrees. Less than a half-inch of snow so far this winter, but lots of rain this winter; so much rain over a couple days that when the temperature fell that night it turned into ice on Highways 75 and 160. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Last Laugh! Verizon's Directory Publishing Troubles From: Alan Burkitt-Gray <35939.97517873@ems.euromoneyplc.com> Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 13:09:41 GMT It is wrong to think that in this internet age paper phone books are useful for little else than ad-hoc stands for coffee cups. Down in rural Kentucky, residents and business people are upset that Verizon has left out 10,000 customers from its latest edition and as a result the phone company is having to reprint the whole thing. One small town was almost completely left out of the White Pages and one in three entries in the Yellow Pages were given with the wrong town name, And across the line in Virginia, the State Corporation Commission is investigating significant ongoing incidences of errors and omissions in the White Pages of Verizon telephone directories in four districts this year. Two years ago it forgot to give any non-emergency numbers for one town's police and fire services. Global Telecoms Business Top 5 Daily is published by Global Telecoms Business http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com ------------------------------ 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 V24 #32 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jan 24 21:48:33 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0P2mXo29804; Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:48:33 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:48:33 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501250248.j0P2mXo29804@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 V24 #33 TELECOM Digest Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:47:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 33 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson NewSci: Net Noise Threat to Emergency Radio (Marcus Didius Falco) Vonage at Bestbuy? (timeOday) Cordless Phone Question (teamcary) Re: Is This a Norwegian or Australian Number? Please Identify (Clayton) Re: Is This a Norwegian or Australian Number? Please Identify (D Smith) Re: Is This a Norwegian or Australian Number? Please Identify (J Levine) Re: Is This a Norwegian or Australian Number? Please Identify (Madison) Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (Rich Greenberg) Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (Dave Garland) Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (Gary Novosielski) Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 (Solario) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Fred Atkinson) Re: Radar Detectors (Tony P.) Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon (Fred Atkinson) Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon (Tad) Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? (Tony P.) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:48:15 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: NewSci: Net Noise Threat to Emergency Radio ------ Forwarded Message From: Paul Saffo <> Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 06:20:04 -0800 To: Dave Farber <> Subject: NewSci: Net Noise Threat to Emergency Radio Internet noise threatens emergency radio New Scientist Print Edition Barry Fox http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18524827.000 AFTER the tsunami hit Sri Lanka on 26 December, Victor Goonetilleke, head of the island's amateur radio society, delivered a short-wave radio set and two 12-volt car batteries to the prime minister's emergency headquarters in Colombo. At the same time, three of his friends drove through the devastation to Hambantota, on the hard-hit south-east coast, where they set up another battery-powered short-wave radio. For two days, while the military struggled to restore electricity supplies and phone lines, the prime minister was able to use the short-wave link to talk to staff on the ground. Short-wave signals from Sri Lanka, the Andaman Islands and mainland India also helped to spread news of the disaster around the world. The same happened after the 9/11 attacks and last year's hurricanes in the Caribbean. When phones and mains electricity are down, making the internet unusable, short-wave radio enthusiasts are able to maintain emergency communications. But not, perhaps, for much longer. Plans to deliver broadband internet signals to homes and businesses down mains electricity cables, rather than telephone lines, could cause interference that will drown out the faint signals from distant short-wave transmitters. Power companies in the US and Europe are pressing ahead with the technology, with the aim of setting up in competition to existing phone-based services. The downside is that the packets of internet data pulsing down unshielded mains cables makes the cables behave like aerials that send short-wave interference beaming out over a wide area. Unless interference of this kind is tightly controlled, it could spell the end for emergency short-wave communications. "A few extra decibels of interference from future networks and I would not have been able to hear the news from amateurs in Sri Lanka, India and the Andaman Islands," says Hilary Claytonsmith of the International Amateur Radio Union's UK branch. The threat began when the US government gave the go-ahead to broadband over power line (BPL) technology in October. And the European Commission (EC) is close to approving its own version, called power-line communications (PLC). The names are different but the technology is the same: broadband data is sent into people's homes as a high-frequency signal piggybacked on the 50 or 60-hertz mains supply. Because the mains is a noisy environment with ever-changing patterns of interference from sockets, switches, control circuits and electric motors in appliances, the power-line data must be spread over many high-frequency carrier signals if it is to be delivered at the 5 to 10 megabits per second that these services are aiming for. The carrier frequencies used range up to 30 megahertz - which by unhappy coincidence is the radio band that travels best around the world. It is used for amateur radio, short-wave broadcasting (such as the BBC World Service and Deutsche Welle) and includes several dedicated emergency frequencies (see Graph). Because these frequencies bounce off the ionosphere, they carry long distances, which makes them ideal for long-range intercontinental broadcasting. When the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave the go-ahead to BPL, it ruled that at frequencies up to 80 megahertz service providers must use filters on their household equipment. These could be set by a service engineer to chop out any internet transmission frequencies shown to be causing interference to any short-wave radio receivers nearby. The EC and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC) are trying to set similar filtering rules. But radio amateurs fear that the rules will allow the filtering to be lifted if it is having a serious effect on internet access speeds. The EC says it wants firm rules that balance "technical, social and economic" factors against the "importance" of services which suffer interference. But who's to decide what is more important, and on what grounds, the radio amateurs ask. Michael Copps, the one FCC commissioner who opposed BPL, believes the organisation has made a rod for its own back. It is going to have to "work hard to monitor, investigate and take quick action" over any power-line internet interference to radio amateurs and others, he says. Some technical fixes may be in the works though (see "Aiming high"). The BBC, for instance, is developing a PLC modem that makes use of the fact that the short-wave frequencies for broadcast radio change throughout the day, as ionospheric conditions dictate. The BBC modem detects which frequency bands are in use at any one time -- and filters them out. Such technology is not part of any PLC or BPL system currently in trials, however. sidebar: Aiming high Corridor Systems of Santa Rosa, California, thinks it has hit on a way to set up an interference-free power-line internet service. It plans to use overhead power lines to carry data at frequencies between 800 megahertz and 10 gigahertz, way above the amateur radio and conventional power-line communications band and, which it will send in an outer power conductor. Thanks to the "surface wave" effect, in which signals launched straight down a cable tend to stay inside the cable, near the surface, Corridor's system will not generate radio waves that might interfere with mobile phones at these frequencies. For the final link into subscribers' homes they will use very low-power radio transmitters, like those used for Wi-Fi hotspots, which will be fixed to the nearest power cable. ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 17:48:25 -0700 From: timeOday Subject: Vonage at Bestbuy? I'm interested in trying out Vonage (or maybe some other VOIP service). I stopped by Best Buy to pick up a second phone so I could leave my land line connected to my old phone, while I hook up the new phone to Vonage to see if it's any good. I've also heard Vonage kits are available at BestBuy. This would avoid the $10 shipping fee, and avoid the wait. Plus I heard the kits were offered with a rebate on the hardware and the first month free. That would be great. But the sales clerk I asked at Best Buy had never heard of Vonage, or voice over IP for that matter. And I didn't notice Vonage in the Phone section. I searched bestbuy.com and found no mention of them selling the service. I searched vonage.com and found a lot of irrelevant hits. But the Vonage.com website says their service IS offered in my city. So what's the deal? Does Vonage through Best Buy still have the hardware rebate offer? I may have to resort to calling Best Buy on the phone, which is normally frustrating and a huge waste of time. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Another approach is to ask me for a Vonage e-coupon. I send you this in email, then you use the link shown there to set the entire thing up over the computer. By clicking on the link in the email coupon, it walks you though the ordering and set up procedure, assigns your Vonage number *AND* arranges to get the Vonage TA box sent out to you. They give those rather high priority, so you should recieve the TA in three or four days by Fed Express or UPS. You use your credit card to pay for the TA box and the first month of service then my coupon kicks in and whatever kind of service plan you choose (and pay for) you get the *second month* for free. I have been a Vonage customer now for almost two years; I think from start to finish in the ordering/installing process took me a week in total, from getting the e-coupon, clicking on the link, getting the service set up and starting to use it. If you want an e-coupon, rather than dealing with the stores (and often-times know-nothing clerks, etc) write to me: ptownson@massis.csail.mit.edu and request it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: teamcary Subject: Cordless Phone Question Date: 24 Jan 2005 16:53:15 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello all, I have an ATT 1480 2.4 GHz phone with a cordless handset. I'd like to add a second handset for another room. Can I simply purchase any 2.4 GHz handset from any vendor, or does it have to be the same model/specs as my current one? Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Is This a Norwegian or Australian Number? Please Identify Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 07:44:48 +1100 On Mon, 2005-01-24 at 08:06 -0800, tom wrote: > Someone keeps calling me from this number: 6-189-734-2316 > Is this a Norwegian or Australian number? Australian - (61) - it seems to be a number from Perth: http://members.iinet.net.au/~rokhor/canoe/colmarrel.html Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: Darryl Smith Subject: Re: Is This a Norwegian or Australian Number? Please Identify Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 08:18:05 +1100 tom wrote, askking Is This a Norwegian or Australian Number? Please Identify on 24 Jan 2005 08:06:08 -0800: > Someone keeps calling me from this number: 6-189-734-2316 > Is this a Norwegian or Australian number? Doing a search on Google finds that this is the valid number for The Collie Valley Marathon Committee ... In Western Australia Darryl ------------------------------ Date: 24 Jan 2005 22:43:17 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Is This a Norwegian or Australian Number? Please Identify Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Someone keeps calling me from this number: 6-189-734-2316 > Is this a Norwegian or Australian number? If you group the number as +61 8 9734-2316 and Google those last eight digits, you quickly find that it's the phone number of a guy in Western Australia named Marty Wallace: http://www.geo.net.au/~mart/personal/Martys%20address.htm ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Is This a Norwegian or Australian Number? Please Identify Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 15:08:54 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , tom wrote: > Someone keeps calling me from this number: 6-189-734-2316 > Is this a Norwegian or Australian number? Difficult to say for certain, but the digit count is correct for Australia, specifically probably somewhere in or near Bunbury, Western Australia. The correct parsing of the number, if it is Australian, would be +61 8 9734-2316, or (08) 9734-2316 in domestic format. Before 1997, this number might've been +61 97 342316, or (097) 342316 in domestic format. In brief, +61 2 covers New South Wales (Sydney) and A.C.T. (Canberra); +61 3 covers Victoria (Melbourne) and Tasmania; +61 7 covers Queensland (Brisbane); and +61 8 covers W.A., S.A., and N.T. There are a few minor exceptions where the area code boundary doesn't exactly match the state boundary, such as a portion of far western N.S.W. that is in +61 8 instead of +61 2. For Norway, though, the digit count doesn't fit. A Norwegian number should be of the form +47 XXXX XXXX. There might be a few non-standard numbers shorter than that, but there shouldn't be anything longer. Is there a particular reason you think it might be Norwegian? Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective Date: 24 Jan 2005 21:19:03 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Justin Time wrote: > Has anyone really paid attention to the wording of the update notices > lately on the Windows Update site? > I went there last night from my home computer and looked to download > the latest security updates. I ended up not downloading any of them > as I couldn't tell what they were for. When the site just tells you > that you need to download this security fix to keep your computer > running properly and then doesn't even tell you what program or > programs the fix is for, well, it's absolutely stupid. Oh, the site > refers you to a KBxxxxxx but doesn't tell you what a KB is. Microsoft segregates the updates into Critical and Non-Critical. The security updates are considered Critical. If you're knowledgeable enough to understand which critical updates to NOT apply, then you should also know that "KB" stands for "Knowledge Base", and KBxxxxxx refers to a specific Knowledge Base article which describes the problem, the fix, installation and removal instructions, caveats, etc. The update description usually includes a link to the specific article. If you aren't aware of that, a quick Google search for the string will show you. If you haven't figured out how to use Google then you certainly shouldn't be trying to second-guess Microsoft. Maintaining a properly updated Microsoft system is not just a problem for you, it's a problem for all of us. 90% of spam today is relayed through compromised Windows computers, many of which got that way because they aren't being patched when appropriate. Stop complaining, already, and apply the damn updates. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective Date: 24 Jan 2005 16:56:57 -0500 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Justin Time wrote: > programs the fix is for, well, it's absolutely stupid. Oh, the site > refers you to a KBxxxxxx but doesn't tell you what a KB is. Thats a reference to a Knowledge Base article, which will have more details than you wanted to know. Just go to the M$ site and enter the xxxxxx in the search window and GO. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Under the *assumption* that Microsoft > probably knows best from a technical standpoint, I download every one > of the patches as soon as one of my computers tells me I should do > so. I do not think I have ever missed downloading a single patch, even > some that later had to be repaired by other patches. PAT] I pretty much do the same. The key word in Pat's remarks is "probably". Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 17:01:41 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when Justin Time wrote: > Oh, the site refers you to a KBxxxxxx but doesn't tell you what a KB > is. They indeed don't get very descriptive, but if they did it would probably just intimidate and/or go over the head of the average user. KB in that context stands for "Knowledge Base" and if you search on the MS site for KBxxxxxx you'll probably find a page that gives the supporting tech info, describes the problem the patch is intended to fix, etc. (I can't believe I just made a post defending Microsoft.) ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 01:10:49 GMT Justin Time wrote: > Oh, the site > refers you to a KBxxxxxx but doesn't tell you what a KB is. KB is Microsoft's Knowledge Base. The KB article number will point you to a full discussion of all the things you said you wanted to know about the patches. So if you really care, you can certainly find out. ------------------------------ From: Solario Subject: Re: Phone Number? (200) 222 0000 Date: 24 Jan 2005 15:12:11 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com helosix wrote: > Did you call them back? Tried. 1 200 is invalid. ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 15:56:16 -0500 >> Nor was mine. I didn't imply any conclusion. But, who's to say what >> is impossible in this case? I'm simply saying that based upon what I >> have read, I believe there is some sort of a problem here. As I >> stated, the jury is still out on just how big of a problem this is. > NO, IT ISN'T. The jury is absolutely back in, and it is NOT a problem. The jury won't be back in for years to come. >> What reliable research has been done to determine whether or not >> radiation from cell phones are the cause of any percentage of them? >> Even so, there's not nearly enough data (and there won't be for years >> to come) to draw any solid conclusions in either direction. > Wrong. It is CATEGORICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for radiation from a cellphone > to cause cellular mutation. The radio waves are simply too "fat" to > ever, in a billion years, cause one single cellular mutation. The > wavelength used by cellphones is on the order of 6 to 15 INCHES > (roughly 15 to 40 centimeters). That covers the range from 1900 to 800 > MHz. You'd need to be well up into the Terahertz to get a short enough > wavelength to cause cellular mutation. Impossible? They said it was impossible for man to fly, didn't they? And for how many thousands of years? >> When I hear a cell phone salesperson say there's no danger, he has no >> real basis for saying that. > No, in fact there is a substantial basis for saying that, because there > is no danger. Cellphones CANNOT cause cancer. I can't say you're wrong but I can't say you're right, either. >> So when you hear telecommunications people saying there's nothing >> wrong, you know that opinion is tainted whether it is true or not. > That's only true if the person speaking has a financial interest. I > don't happen to have any financial interest in cellphones. I own one, > but I don't even own stock in any companies that make or sell > cellphones, much less work for one. And one person's opinion makes it so? > The only effect that microwaves (the wavelength used by cellphones) > have on living tissue is to heat it. Your microwave oven probably puts > out about 600 watts. Your cellphone probably puts out maybe a couple > of watts at maximum power, and probably less than one watt in normal > use. True, you're not sticking your skull into the microwave while > it's operating, but still, it's a bit out of perspective to be so > worried about the radiation from cellphones. More to the point, you > will feel warmth from the microwaves if they are heating the tissue > inside your skull. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe five to ten years from now we'll have enough statistical data to see for sure, if an independent party takes the time and goes to the expense of collecting the data. > I am also always amazed by people who are concerned about cellphones > but don't bat an eye about using a cordless phone at home. Maybe. > The radiation from a cellphone CANNOT cause cancer. It's not extremely > unlikely, it is literally impossible. Let's discuss this again in five to ten years. If the statistical data bears out, I'll concede that you were right. By the way, Linc. I don't mean this to be anything personal here. I just take a more skeptical view. Regards, Fred ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 17:01:06 -0500 In article , sacredpoet@sacredpoet.com says... > Tony P. wrote: >> It's all about money, nothing more. If they were really concerned with >> safety they'd come up with a little device that cuts the car motors >> and slams on the brakes if someone looks like they're going to blow >> through an intersection at a red light. > Actually, that would probably be MORE of a safety issue. Depending on > how a device is triggered, a false alarm could guarantee lots of > rear-end collisions. > Or worse, such a measure could exacerbate gridlock in crowded metro > areas. While drivers aren't supposed to "block the box" of an > intersection in bumper to bumper traffic, quite a few still do it > anyway, and cutting their engine when the light turns red only means > they won't be able to move out of the way like you'd prefer they would. >> I actually favor a more draconian solution -- an 18" thick steel >> wall that quickly shoots up out of the ground to stop traffic. If >> you're going too fast you'll just splat against it. > Sadism isn't safety. :) No but it is one hell of an educator. How many people do you think would blow through a yellow light after someone squashed themselves against one of those babies? I'm sorry but I walk through this city many times a day. If one more idiot ignores a cross walk or blows a red light I might just start carrying caltrops with me and toss them in the road. ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 15:46:17 -0500 > any address or phone number? Or a URL? Fred ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 17:28:26 PST Subject: Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon From: Tad Pat, please withhold my email address from publication. I found this story using Google News. Sounds interesting, but only open one day a week. I'll have to check it out sometime. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/01/02/ol.phonemuseum.0102.html Tad > Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 11:52:30 EST > From: Carl Moore > Subject: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon > I have just seen a news blurb about the Telephone Pioneer Museum > in Eugene, Oregon. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Carl, would it be possible to give any > more details on this, so that our California/Oregon area readers might > be able to plan a visit? At least a street address, phone number, > etc? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 16:53:09 -0500 In article , david_esan@hotmail.com says: > 16.5 inches at the Rochester, New York airport. More is some places > less at others in the area. Add in 20 mph winds and temperatures > around 5, it was a wonderful winter weekend. Of course, in true > upstate tradition no driver slowed down, some people ran to the > grocery store for milk, eggs and bread (as if the storm would strand > us for 2 weeks), and the news ran the story as if it was the Storm of > the Century. Also in true upstate tradition the roads were cleared in > less than 24 hours and life continues as normal. > I'm sure that other parts of the Northeast got it worse. But let met > tell you about the Blizzard of '66, or the non-storm of '77 ... Ha! Let me tell you that we got 2 feet of the crap in Providence. It was the second worst storm in recorded history behind the Blizzard of '78. The only differences this time were: 1) The storm started on a Saturday afternoon. Less traffic on the roads generally speaking. 2) Better forecasting. They pretty much got the snowfall totals right on this one. 3) Better preparedness by state and local officials. For once, they finally got their act together, even shutting down most of the state today to make sure everything is cleared out. In article , kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net says: > In article , ptownson@telecom- > digest.org says: >> I guess it must have ... at least over much of the northeast areas of >> the USA. The Sunday edition of Independence Reporter had a couple of >> major stories about New York, Boston and Chicago, and points in between >> which were thoroughly buried in snow. We have yet to get even a >> single inch of snow here this winter, but it has been cold and we have >> had rain a few times. Did the snow slow down your spam any? > Not in the least, unless you consider that the cable went out for four > hours. I also know for a fact that lots of circuit switched phones > went out too. > It's hard to tell just how much snow we've gotten in Providence because > of the damned drifting. > For example, when the cable went so went net service and phone service. > Go to use the cell and the battery is dead and the charger is, you > guessed it, at the office. > The nearest pay phone is < 70' from the house but it was buried under > an 8 foot snow drift. Next nearest wouldn't take coins, next one down > was frozen solid. Walking back I noticed three Cox trucks humming down > the road. When I walked in the door the cable was on again - they must > have lost a head end or at least power to it. > To add to the misery the water pipes in the building froze this week. > Now we're down to 1/2 or so of the water pressure, for roughly three > days had no water at all. My landlord doesn't understand that when > temperatures are single digit you CANNOT shut the heat off in the > store below. > Her best bet at this point is to rip it all out and put PEX in. At > least that can handle the freeze/thaw better than rigid copper. Of > course I don't think she realizes just how much it's going to cost in > the long run. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: City of Independence uses some sort of > 'plastic pipe' between the meter (typically in a hole in the ground > in the parkway area by the street in front of your house) and where > city connects to your water line under your house, and it is buried > a few feet underground all that time, only emerging from the ground > more or less where it enters your house. Of course I am in an older > part of town (southeast side) where the houses and the water pipes > were constructed/buried about the same time, a century ago. I do not > know how it is done in newer parts of town. The guy who reads our > meters gave me a special tool to keep in my backyard shed. It is > commonly known as a 'street key', a long pole with 'fingers' on one > end of it which reaches down into the ground while you stand above it > and turn a handle to shut the water off in case of an emergency. And > the lady in the water office told me the best thing to do whenever the > temperture gets into the single digits (quite rare, only once or twice > in most winter seasons) is to let the water drip all night long, a > very slow stream, in the kitchen and the bathroom. I asked her why > should *I* have to pay for water I was not using; her response was to > go to her computer and change me from full rate (for the water portion > of the monthly city maintainence tax bill to the senior citizen/hard- > ship rate) which reduced (the water portion) of the bill about five > dollars per month. That did not change the sewer portion of the bill > nor the garbage/trash pickup portion. (Twice per week garbage pick up > and street cleaning; or as the lady explained it to me, that cost > covers all the garbage that falls on the street when they miss the > back of the truck while dumping your cans. No extra charge for that.) > PAT] I've since found out that the heating system for the store is broken. Were I in the same situation I would have gone to Home Depot and bought a kerosene or propane fired heater with the electric blowers on them along with a nice timer or some type of temp control unit. That way you can keep the temp above freezing and no more frozen pipes. Sure, it may cost $500 or so for the heater and controller, and maybe $200 a month for fuel. So lets say you have to run it for 3 months - $1,100 is cheaper than the $5,000 you have to pay to get the plumbing all fixed. People don't understand opportunity cost, etc. For example, there is an empty storefront (One of 7 on the street btw.) and an empty apartment. She wants too much money but they've been empty for at least four months and show no indication of being occupied anytime soon. So instead of lowering the prices she'll continue to collect $0 in rental from those two units. Sometimes people make no sense at all. ------------------------------ 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #33 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jan 25 15:27:07 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0PKR7V08956; Tue, 25 Jan 2005 15:27:07 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 15:27:07 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501252027.j0PKR7V08956@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 V24 #34 TELECOM Digest Tue, 25 Jan 2005 15:26:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 34 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Google Hires Top Firefox Web Browser Programmer (Lisa Minter) Google Steps Into TV Search, Joining Rivals (Lisa Minter) Google to Branch Into Television (Monty Solomon) Mac Media Center Project - Turning Mac Mini into a Media (Monty Solomon) Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines (Monty Solomon) A Virus Writer Tests the Limits in Cellphones (Monty Solomon) Hackers Eavesdrop on Phone Networks to Steal Data (Monty Solomon) Friendster, Love and Money (Monty Solomon) Survey Finds Telecom Executives Optimistic For 2005 (Telecom dailyLead) Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (Barry Margolin) Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (Justin Time) Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? (Tim@Backhome.org) Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? (Michael D. Sullivan) Phone Directory Telephone Lookup (dbhack) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (John Levine) Re: NewSci: Net Noise Threat to Emergency Radio (Justin Time) Book Review: Professional's Guide to Data Com in a TCP/IP World (Slade) Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon (Carl Moore) Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon (Gene S. Berkowitz) Re: Last Laugh! Verizon's Directory Publishing Troubles (news01) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 25 Jan 2005 07:44:17 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Google Hires Top Firefox Web Browser Programmer LONDON (Reuters) - Web search company Google has hired the lead engineer of the Firefox Web browser, fueling speculation that Google will create its own version of Firefox to take on Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer. Ben Goodger said in a note on his Web site -- http:/weblogs.mozillazine.org/ben/ -- that he would continue to work on Firefox, a free browser that has gained a popular following due to additional features and fewer attacks from malicious hackers than Internet Explorer. Internet cognoscenti have speculated about a Google browser since the company registered the Gbrowser.com domain and hired several Internet Explorer engineers last year. A Google spokeswoman in London declined to say whether the company had a browser in the works. "We can't share any information about what we're working on, but many of our products aim to transform the browsing experience," she said. Goodger's title at Google will be software engineer, she said, and half of his time will be donated to the non-profit Mozilla foundation, which owns Firefox. The Firefox browser has been downloaded more than 20 million times and currently has a market share of at least 5 percent, according to industry estimates -- a figure that is likely to increase if leveraged with the Google brand name. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt has said that the company is not building a browser, but that may leave room for Google to take the fully-built Firefox browser and add its own features. Google has expanded well beyond its core Internet search engine, especially since its initial public offering last August. It now offers email (Gmail), a blogging service (Blogger), a price comparison site (Froogle) and a news site (Google News), and on Tuesday it announced a test service to search TV programs. 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, Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 25 Jan 2005 07:50:02 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Google Steps Into TV Search, Joining Rivals SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc. late on Monday launched a test service to search video from ABC and others -- throwing its hat into a market already being staked out by major rivals. At the same time, Google search competitor Yahoo Inc. said it had beefed up content on its own video search service. Google began indexing video for its Google Video service in December. The new service helps users find what they're looking for by searching the closed captioning text that runs with the video. Unlike other services that find and play video clips, Google's initial version shows selected text, up to five still video images and a variety of viewing information. "Now users can search the content of thousands of TV programs, find the shows that have the information they're looking for, and learn when they can watch them," Google co-founder Larry Page said in a statement. The announcement from the Web search leader came amid broad speculation that Google had been building a repository of searchable video content much in the way it is archiving books housed in major libraries. "This is a first step" for Google, said Jupiter analyst Gary Stein, who added that the Mountain View, California-based company is looking to start relationships with content owners. Yahoo started its search service in December, the same month privately held Blinkx unveiled its beta of Blinkx TV. Yahoo is led by former Hollywood studio chief Terry Semel, who has emphasized building relationships with content providers, and has inked deals with "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett Productions and animated shorts producer JibJab Media. Its service also searches content on Yahoo's own movie, music and news sites. Yahoo late on Monday said it is putting a link to its test video search service on its heavily trafficked home page. It also added closed caption content from TVEyes, which will give users access to such news providers as Bloomberg, the BBC and British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY.L), or BSkyB. Elsewhere AOL's Singingfish service has for several years provided video and audio search. Autonomy Inc.'s Virage offers video search for a fee. Software giant Microsoft Corp., which is making a major investment in Web search, licenses technology from Singingfish to power the audio and video searches on WindowsMedia.com. Search companies have been seeking to forge relationships with Hollywood as high-speed connections deliver ever better video and audio content to consumers via the Internet. Such alliances are necessary since ownership issues loom large with music and video. While video search appears to be a more difficult task, analysts said it is something Web search companies will deliver as people consume more entertainment on the Web. "It's just a matter of time until all this stuff does converge. When it does, all of the major search companies are going to be ready with something," said Chris Sherman, an associate editor at SearchEngineWatch. 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 Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 00:19:36 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Google to Branch Into Television By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Business Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc. is using its popular Internet search technology to find information and images broadcast on television, continuing a recent effort to extend its reach beyond the Web. The Mountain View-based company planned to introduce the new video search service Tuesday in an index that will be operated separately from the market-leading search engine offered on its home page. The feature pinpoints content previously aired on a variety of television networks by scanning through the closed caption text that many programmers offer. Google's index, which began storing information last month, includes programming from ABC, PBS, Fox News and C-SPAN. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46404215 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Also see Lisa Minter's full report on Google/Television elsewhere in this issue today. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 00:54:56 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Mac Media Center Project - Turning Mac Mini into a Media This projects plans to develop a free Media Center application for the Apple Macintosh, bringing togther the power and intuitiveness of the Macs' built in applications under a simple interface, for use as part of a Home Theatre system. We also have information on 5.1 audio, remote control and video output solutions for the Mac. The Project aim is to turn the Mac mini into a Mac Media Center. http://mrzippy.org.uk/macmediacenter/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 02:26:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines By SEWELL CHAN A fire that began with a homeless person trying to keep warm by igniting wood and refuse in a shopping cart has crippled two of the city's subway lines, which might not be restored to normal capacity for three to five years, officials said today. The Sunday afternoon blaze in Lower Manhattan was described as the worst damage to subway infrastructure since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It gutted a locked room that is no larger than a kitchen but contains some 600 relays, switches and circuits that transmit vital information about train locations. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/24/nyregion/24cnd-subw.html?ex=1264309200&en=c7f461da45001c59&ei=5090 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This could be retitled 'Our Crumbling Infrastructure', and it is an excellent example of how things which were built in our nation's past no longer can be maintained without a lot of expense (which we do not have) and hassle. If you wish to read the entire New York Times report (on line here at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html or the above link supplied by Monty) you'll see that the transit people in New York have decided to abandon the 'C' line entirely as a result of the fire, and 'stretch out and smooth over' service on a couple of other lines to make up for this latest disaster. They are saying the required parts to rebuild what was lost in the fire are only produced at two companies, both in other countries, and it will take months just to get the parts. Of course, they could not have asked for better weather to make people walk several more blocks or miles to get a train, which will be more crowded than ever before, and less frequent than in the past. Very, very sad. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 02:24:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Virus Writer Tests the Limits in Cellphones By TOM ZELLER Jr. Marcos Velasco, a 32-year-old Brazilian software developer, enjoys movies with special effects, maintains a vast collection of antique computers in his home and is the proud father of two young children and one mobile phone virus, which he named after himself: Velasco. Computer security experts around the world have given his virus and its variants more toxic-sounding names like "Lasco.A," "Symbos_Vlasco.A" or simply "the Lasco virus." They are also calling it stupid. "We think he's dangerous," said Mikko Hypponen, the director of antivirus research for a Finnish company, F-Secure, "because he publicly posts working mobile malware that any clown anywhere can easily download and use." Mr. Velasco's creation is essentially a piece of computer code that takes advantage of the short-range radio frequency technology called Bluetooth, which is installed on many common handheld devices, especially cellphones. If a person carrying an infected phone passes someone carrying a Bluetooth phone on the street, Mr. Velasco's worm can jump the gap, infecting the second phone. He does not spread the virus -- technically a worm, according to some computer security experts, that has the ability to reproduce itself and does not need a host program -- but he is evidently happy to share his work. "This worm for cellular phones is the first one with available source code in the world," his Web site declares. Whether anyone beyond antivirus researchers has downloaded Mr. Velasco's program is an unanswered question, and industry experts are careful to say that the age of the cellphone virus is not yet upon us. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/24/technology/24virus.html?ex=1264222800&en=479d30b063676d42&ei=5090 NOTE: For NYTimes headlines and their stories, 24/7, on a constantly refreshing basis, see http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 02:32:23 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hackers Eavesdrop on Phone Networks to Steal Data By Gina Keating Reuters Sunday, January 23, 2005; 12:03 PM LOS ANGELES -- Computer hackers have taken to stealing data the easy way -- by eavesdropping on phone and e-mail conversations to find the keys to seemingly impregnable networks, security experts say. The danger of attacks with insider information was illustrated earlier this month with the arrest of a California man accused of breaking into mobile phone network T-Mobile USA Inc.'s database and reading e-mails and files of the U.S. Secret Service, and by the exploits of a hacker who breached a hospital's database and changed mammogram results. The nature of threats to network security has changed as sophisticated hackers learned to tap into sensitive information flowing through telecommunications' servers, especially those that provide wireless and Internet access. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30366-2005Jan23 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 02:45:38 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Friendster, Love and Money January 24, 2005 By GARY RIVLIN SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 23 - Fifteen months ago, Friendster enjoyed the kind of enviable status that Silicon Valley start-ups dream of: A-list investors and millions of users flocking to its Web site to browse profiles posted by friends and friends' friends, in search of dates or playmates. So great was the buzz surrounding the company in the second half of 2003 that Friendster, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., helped define a hot new facet of the Internet dubbed "social networking." People are again buzzing about Friendster. But that is because the company, which endured three chief executives during 2004, has seen a spate of senior executives depart in recent weeks. Just as troubling, a younger, flashier rival called MySpace has eclipsed Friendster, at least in the United States, among those in the most highly coveted 18 to 29 demographic. And Friendster loyalists have groused that the company has done almost nothing to enliven its site. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/24/technology/24network.html?ex=1264222800&en=c1a0727bb84f7be4&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 13:16:58 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Survey Finds Telecom Executives Optimistic About 2005 Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 25, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18942&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Survey finds telecom executives optimistic about 2005 BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Nortel expands presence in Asia with LG deal * Verizon considers New Jersey campus * Napster mulls movie downloads * Ford goes wireless * BellSouth, Tellabs report earnings USTA SPOTLIGHT * Carrier Grade Voice Over IP -- Now at www.telecom-bookstore.com EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Twentieth TV produces "mobisodes" for Verizon Wireless REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Arguments in Ebbers trial could start today * Two "Alabama Spammers" settle with EarthLink Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18942&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective Organization: Symantec Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 22:26:49 -0500 In article , Gary Novosielski wrote: > Justin Time wrote: >> Oh, the site refers you to a KBxxxxxx but doesn't tell you what a >> KB is. > KB is Microsoft's Knowledge Base. The KB article number will point > you to a full discussion of all the things you said you wanted to know > about the patches. So if you really care, you can certainly find out. You don't even need to know what a KB is. In the WU screen, it's a clickable link, so all you have to do is click on it to get to the documentation. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective Date: 25 Jan 2005 05:52:41 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Well Dave, you appear to have caught the thrust of my post about Microsoft referring you to a KBxxxxx and then not defining that KB stands for Knowledge Base and the information that can be found in the Knowledge Base. My complaint is that with a slow dial-up modem, why should I have to spend time, and it can be significant, having to search two or three different places for what should be obvious information. If Microsoft just plainly stated the purpose of the patch was to "address security problems in XXX" or something similar in the patch description on the Windows Update site (just as they used to do a couple of years ago), then the problem would be solved. If I, or someone else wanted to find out more about the patch, then I could go to the backup documentation in the Knowledge Base. But, with the descriptions they are using, how would the average person know a patch addressed functions they were using. As to the thought that "every patch they put out must be good" I say this: If you don't use some functions why do you need to patch programs that are never accessed? The most common dial-up speed I can get at my home because of all the different SLICs and converters between me and the CO about 48,000 cable feet away is 24K. If I want to spend over 4 hours downloading a patch, then I would like to know up front what it is supposed to fix. (And cable broadband at $50.00+ per month isn't worth it!) Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 07:43:57 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Another approach is to ask me for a > Vonage e-coupon. I send you this in email, then you use the link shown > there to set the entire thing up over the computer. By clicking on > the link in the email coupon, it walks you though the ordering and set > up procedure, assigns your Vonage number *AND* arranges to get the > Vonage TA box sent out to you. They give those rather high priority, > so you should recieve the TA in three or four days by Fed Express or > UPS. You use your credit card to pay for the TA box and the first > month of service then my coupon kicks in and whatever kind of service > plan you choose (and pay for) you get the *second month* for free. I > have been a Vonage customer now for almost two years; I think from > start to finish in the ordering/installing process took me a week in > total, from getting the e-coupon, clicking on the link, getting the > service set up and starting to use it. If you want an e-coupon, rather > than dealing with the stores (and often-times know-nothing clerks, > etc) write to me: ptownson@massis.csail.mit.edu and request it. PAT] The point, though, what's up with the Best Buy tie in? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Best Buy does have a relationship with Vonage, but both Vonage and Best Buy have idiots working for them who don't always understand the importance of good customer and public relations. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 06:14:24 GMT In article , timeOday- UNSPAM@theknack.net says: > I'm interested in trying out Vonage (or maybe some other VOIP service). > I stopped by Best Buy to pick up a second phone so I could leave my > land line connected to my old phone, while I hook up the new phone to > Vonage to see if it's any good. > I've also heard Vonage kits are available at BestBuy. This would > avoid the $10 shipping fee, and avoid the wait. Plus I heard the kits > were offered with a rebate on the hardware and the first month free. > That would be great. > But the sales clerk I asked at Best Buy had never heard of Vonage, or > voice over IP for that matter. And I didn't notice Vonage in the > Phone section. > I searched bestbuy.com and found no mention of them selling the > service. I searched vonage.com and found a lot of irrelevant hits. > But the Vonage.com website says their service IS offered in my city. > So what's the deal? Does Vonage through Best Buy still have the > hardware rebate offer? > I may have to resort to calling Best Buy on the phone, which is normally > frustrating and a huge waste of time. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Another approach is to ask me for a > Vonage e-coupon. I send you this in email, then you use the link shown > there to set the entire thing up over the computer. By clicking on > the link in the email coupon, it walks you though the ordering and set > up procedure, assigns your Vonage number *AND* arranges to get the > Vonage TA box sent out to you. They give those rather high priority, > so you should recieve the TA in three or four days by Fed Express or > UPS. You use your credit card to pay for the TA box and the first > month of service then my coupon kicks in and whatever kind of service > plan you choose (and pay for) you get the *second month* for free. I > have been a Vonage customer now for almost two years; I think from > start to finish in the ordering/installing process took me a week in > total, from getting the e-coupon, clicking on the link, getting the > service set up and starting to use it. If you want an e-coupon, rather > than dealing with the stores (and often-times know-nothing clerks, > etc) write to me: ptownson@massis.csail.mit.edu and request it. PAT] Go to the computer networking section of Best Buy, where they sell routers and wireless cards, and you will find it. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Replace "example.invalid" with ".com". [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But counselor, TimeODay did ask a *clerk in the store* about it, and he did check the *web site of Best Buy*; the clerk got ignorant with him; the web site was obscure about it at best; now he should make another trip back to the store and hope to God to find someone who will point him in the right direction and have idea of what the product is about and what it does? ... with the 'magic' of email, had I sent him an e-coupon and had he redeemed it, Vonage would already be processing his order. Assuming he first made his ill-fated trip to Best Buy a few days ago, chances are likely by now with an e-coupon redemption he would be setting up his TA and making a test call on it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dbbarua@gmail.com (dbhack) Subject: Phone Directory Telephone Lookup Date: 25 Jan 2005 07:12:31 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I live in Pune, India and am curious about my number which start's with 2589**** how do I break up the number? ------------------------------ Date: 25 Jan 2005 04:40:15 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> MHz. You'd need to be well up into the Terahertz to get a short enough >> wavelength to cause cellular mutation. > Impossible? They said it was impossible for man to fly, didn't they? > And for how many thousands of years? As the saying goes, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at Edison, and they laughed at Bozo the Clown. People who knew nothing about mathematics and physics dismissed the possibility of powered flight, but people with some knowledge of both have been thinking about it in concrete terms since Leonardo. By the late 1800s, the physics of aeronautics was well understood, and the engineering was simple enough that the Wrights, who had a decent but not exceptional education, were able to solve the problems of designing an engine with an adequate power to weight ratio and wings and stabilizers that could to control a plane. Similarly, here in the 21st century, we know a lot about the physics of radio. People have been working and living around high powered radio transmitters for a century. (Marconi's 1905 transmitter used between 100KW and 300KW.) Some kinds of radio waves are indeed dangerous -- high power microwaves can heat the body causing symptoms from cataracts to flesh burns. The physical effects agree with the theory that says what frequencies make the water in our bodies resonate and heat up. But if radio waves were carcinogenic, a century of radio workers would be dead from cancer by now, but they're not. Theory, and our observations, also tell us that effect varies with power, and the emitted power from a hand-held phone isn't 100KW, isn't 100W, isn't even one watt. It tops out at 3/4 W and is usually less than that. That's not enough power to heat anything. There's lots of things in this world that really are dangerous, but this isn't one of them. You do a disservice to yourself and to everyone else to waste time worrying about utterly implausible radio risks. You want something to worry about, help us get fat-soluble pesticides out of the food supply. There's plenty of reason to think they really are dangerous at low concentrations. R's, John ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: NewSci: Net Noise Threat to Emergency Radio Date: 25 Jan 2005 05:58:21 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com To quote the article: > Corridor Systems of Santa Rosa, California, thinks it has hit on a way > to set up an interference-free power-line internet service. It plans > to use overhead power lines to carry data at frequencies between 800 > megahertz and 10 gigahertz, way above the amateur radio and > conventional power-line communications band and, which it will send in > an outer power conductor. Isn't 800 MHz the preferred frequency band for both the bulk of cellular telephones and public safety radio? And if you travel outside of North America, isn't 900 MHz the preferred band for cellular traffic? When you start getting into the Giggle Hertz ranges, aren't you playing with things such as 802.11, 802.15, PCS and a whole bunch of other mature services? Just some thoughts. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 22:51:08 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Professional's Guide to Data Comm in a TCP/IP World" Reply-To: rslade@sprint.ca BKPGDCTW.RVW 20041210 "A Professional's Guide to Data Communication in a TCP/IP World", E. Bryan Carne, 2004, 1-58053-909-2 %A E. Bryan Carne %C 685 Canton St., Norwood, MA 02062 %D 2004 %G 1-58053-909-2 %I Artech House/Horizon %O U$85.32/C$119.50 800-225-9977 artech@artech-house.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580539092/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580539092/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580539092/robsladesin03-20 %O tl i rl 1 tc 3 ta 2 tv 0 wq 1 %P 253 p. %T "A Professional's Guide to Data Communication in a TCP/IP World" The preface states that this book is intended to present a picture of the TCP/IP stack, and a guide to the protocols of the suite. The typical reader would be familiar with telecommunications terms and concepts, although not with TCP/IP itself. Instead, what we seem to have is a grab bag of random communications protocols and information, with occasional mentions of, but hardly a concentration on, TCP/IP. Chapter one provides a quick trip through the major protocols and structures for the Internet. Basic data communications, the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model, and TCP/IP stack based thereon, are reviewed in chapter two. Ethernet, token ring, and FDDI (Fibre Distributed Data Interface) protocols for local area networks (LANs) are discussed in chapter three. Chapter four lists various WAN (Wide Area Network) protocols, mostly older ones, and irrelevant to TCP/IP. Chapter five covers interconnection protocols. The protection of networks, in chapter six, provides some very odd misinformation, such as describing firewalls (of every type) as proxies, defining tunnels as requiring encryption, and using "firewall" as a term to describe multifunction firewall appliances. Transmission media and factors are examined in chapter seven. Chapter eight, entitled "Convergence of Voice and Data," talks about using phone circuits for "last mile" data connection to the home or small office, and voice over IP. The book is very difficult to describe. The lack of structure in the material is neither helpful to the novice nor quick to reference for the professional. The topics are disjointed, and seemingly collected at random. It is hard to say for whom the work would or might be useful. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2004 BKPGDCTW.RVW 20041210 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu Some say life is the thing, but I prefer reading. - Ruth Rendell http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 11:40:02 -0500 From: Carl Moore (Civ,ARL/SLAD) This is the web reference I had seen, from WPVI in Philadelphia, for the telephone museum in Eugene, Oregon; still okay at this writing. http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/01242005_bb_phonemuseum.html (it said copyright by Associated Press) Telephone Museum EUGENE, OR-January 24, 2005 - The Telephone Pioneer Museum has got the number of phone lovers. The quirky museum in Eugene, Oregon, has phones galore on display. Pink Princess phones, old fashioned desk phones, even a 1980s cell phone about the weight of a brick. The museum is maintained by retired telephone company workers. Fred Wiechmann says kids who tour the museum want to know where the redial button is on the old phones. He says he holds up his index tells them, "There's your redial, right there." ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 00:00:25 -0500 In article , cmoore@ARL.ARMY.MIL says: > I have just seen a news blurb about the Telephone Pioneer Museum > in Eugene, Oregon. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Carl, would it be possible to give any > more details on this, so that our California/Oregon area readers might > be able to plan a visit? At least a street address, phone number, > etc? PAT] TELEPHONE PIONEER MUSEUM What: Eugene's very own telephone museum has existed near the southeast corner of East 10th Avenue and Oak Street since 1983 in a small room on the first floor of what is now the Qwest building, built in 1928. Where: 112 E. 10th Ave. Hours: Open Thursdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment. Call (541) 688-3211 or 485-4100 for tours. Cost: Free. --Gene ------------------------------ From: news01@jmatt.net Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Verizon's Directory Publishing Troubles Date: 25 Jan 2005 07:52:01 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Alan Burkitt-Gray wrote: > It is wrong to think that in this internet age paper phone books ar > useful for little else than ad-hoc stands for coffee cups. I don't know how useful they are, but apparently they're still a good source of advertising revenue, or at least the publishers think so. Down here in slightly-less-rural Kentucky, the number of people receive is ridiculous. I work in Lexington, which is currently served by Alltel, who recently bought out Verizon's business in this area. Area residents receive directories from Bell South, Verizon, and AllTel. I live in a nearby area served by BellSouth. At home, I receive 2 diferent directories from Bell South, one from Verizon, and a couple from independent directory publishers. This of course leaves Yellow Pages advertisers in a quandary. Which directory should they advertise in? The "official" one put out by the telco that serves the area? The one that calls itself "The REAL Yellow Pages?" Some of the above? All of the above? None of the above? If they're only going to advertise in one, they have to guess which one most people are likely to keep. In the past, when "the phone company" screwed up the directory, sometimes they printed and distributed an addendum. which was a pain. Sometimes they just shrugged and did nothing until the next year. People just had to deal with it. Now, if one publisher screws up, people are likely to throw away that directory, since they have others to choose from. That obviously doesn't make the advertisers happy. I think now Verizon feels more pressure to kill more trees and completely reprint their directories when they screw up bigtime, to try to appease the advertisers. ------------------------------ 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 V24 #34 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jan 26 01:37:51 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0Q6boL13435; Wed, 26 Jan 2005 01:37:51 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 01:37:51 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501260637.j0Q6boL13435@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 V24 #35 TELECOM Digest Wed, 26 Jan 2005 01:36:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 35 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (kansaskon) Where's the Money - Internet Interconnection/Finance Settlements (Colin) Lexmark Accused of Installing Spyware (jasonbwork@hotmail.com) Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines (Lisa Hancock) Re: Norvergence W-2 (Lisa Hancock) Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (C.W.) Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: NewSci: Net Noise Threat to Emergency Radio (Tony P.) Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? (Tony P.) Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon (Scott Dorsey) Re: Traffic Tickets (Danny) Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? (Brian Inglis) Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Linc Madison) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Fred Atkinson) Re: Security Concerns Prompt Internet Explorer Defections (SELLCOM Tech) Re: Cordless Phone Question (SELLCOM Tech Support) 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: kansaskon Subject: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: 25 Jan 2005 17:29:40 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com America has the worst mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the world. For example nowhere in the world do you pay or are deducted minutes for recieving calls its just unheard of. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:36:58 +1100 From: Colin Subject: Where's the Money? - Internet Interconnection/Financial Settlements You may be inteested in the January 2005 article by Geoff Huston in his monthly ISP column on potaroo.net Colin Sutton It is often the case that it takes a significant amount of effort to produce seemingly simple outcomes. While we now take the net for granted and see nothing terribly spectacular behind the click of a mouse to bring up a web page, the mechanics behind this action are no less extraordinary than they ever were, no matter how much we now see this as the Internet simply doing what it was designed to do. While the technical engineering aspects of the Internet are impressive, the business side of the network is no less impressive. In this article we will look at the manner in which Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from the perspective of their financial dealings, and take a look at some of the business pressures that are defining the structure of today's Internet industry. ... continued on http://potaroo.net/ispcol/2005-01-isp.htm ------------------------------ From: jasonbwork@hotmail.com Subject: Lexmark Accused of Installing Spyware Date: 25 Jan 2005 12:34:41 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Also, check out the Spyware FAQ and removal guide at http://www.spywarenation.com/ they detail all of the regular companies (like Lexmark) who include spyware and spyware-like software. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines Date: 25 Jan 2005 12:46:45 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Monty Solomon: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This could be retitled 'Our Crumbling > Infrastructure', and it is an excellent example of how things which > were built in our nation's past no longer can be maintained without a > lot of expense (which we do not have) and hassle. I don't agree with the above summary. I would call it "stupid homeless public policy". The subway system of any city is no place for homeless people to be in. Many people have been killed due to exposure to the elements, hit by train, contact with high power supplies, or other accidents. Many fires have been set, causing tremendous property damage and inconvenience and health risk to thousands of working people. The problem is that social activists (or "zealots" or "troublemakers" have filed and won lawsuits that (1) allow mentally challenged people to live and die on the streets instead of being protected in an institution and (2) force transportation carriers to allow such people to remain in the infrastructure. In recent years, rules have been tightened, which has improved things. But as shown here (and in other cities), it remains a problem. There was one lawsuit filed by the "advocates" where they sought to close a state facility. The families of the residents did not agree; they recognized the care requirements were tough and there was no other alternative (in contrast to the claims of the "advocates"). The lifespan of someone living on the streets is only a few years. I'm not sure the family members are terribly hurt by this, but there's nothing the family can do, thanks to the "advocates". Today we have a number of mental institutions standing abandoned. They should be rehabilitated and reopened, and those who are ill placed there for their own protection as well as the protection of society. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have to agree in large part with Lisa on this. While it is true -- I agree to a large extent with the 'advocates' on this -- that mental institutions have been used in the past as places of punishment, even here in the USA, for people who are a bit 'different', nothing more or less, still, there *are* people who are better off in such places. In 1851, when much of the northwest side of the City of Chicago was rural farmland, one farmer, Mr. Harold Dunning, granted 500 acres of his land to Cook County to build an asylum, to care for and protect persons who were, in the parlance of the day, 'crazy' or 'insane' people. Mr. Dunning's wife was 'that way'; he loved her and wanted to protect her from the world. Thus, the 'Dunning Insane Asylum' came into being. Located on the northwest corner of Irving Park Road and Oak Park Avenue, the place mushroomed into a complex of over a hundred buildings by about 1890. Sometime around 1900, society began to feel that 'insane asylum' was a generally deregatory phrase, and the complex had a name change to Chicago State Hospital, a name it held until about 1975. Throughout the USA, most of the 'insane asylums' had their names changed to 'state hospitals' about the same 1900-1910 time frame. Most of them were as overcrowded as jails and prisons are today. The 'advocates' that Lisa decries, were hard at work for the first half of the 20th century clearing out those places of people who *really* did not belong there. One memorable case at Chicago State was an 85 year old lady who had been institutionalized at Chicago State for *over sixty years* since she could not speak English and no one on the staff knew what kind of language she was speaking. Her 'crime' was that as a young lady in her 20's she had been at a tavern, had too much to drink, and got rowdy when she was ejected from the bar. Speaking a strange language, police assumed she was 'hallucinating' and 'speaking in tongues'. Off to the asylum she was taken. Finally, 60 years later, a high school student doing volunteer work at Chicago State (I guess you would call him a teenage 'advocate') stopped what he as doing and _listened to her_ and understood her language. (He and his parents had come from that country.) A couple days later she was dismissed, after several staff members **who had not even been born** when Chicago Police had brought her to the asylum for 'hallucinating and speaking in tongues' got out the very old dusty records from Dunning Asylum and read them completely. She was one of the lucky ones; less fortunate inmates from a time when little was known or understood about mental illness stayed there for years and years, and when they died there, they were buried in the pauper cemetery on the grounds of Chicago State/Dunning Asylum. Lisa, the 'advocates' were not all bad people with agendas contrary to the best interests of society. Most of them meant well. Until 1961, when Illinois became the first state in the USA to completely decodify consensual sexual activity between adults (and even for a few years after that, until the court forced police to stop the practice), persons who were percieved to be or in fact were homosexual in Chicago were taken off to the asylum, and kept there until such time as they were found to be 'permanently and fully recovered' from their 'illness', i.e. homosexuality. Things were just a lot different in those days. Granted, the 'advocates' overreacted a lot, and granted there have been many very good advances in our understanding and treatment of mental illness than in the past. But the 'advocates' did not intend that people who were 'that way' should choose many times to be homeless or refuse to take their medications. That was just an unfortunate side effect. Yeah I know, the 'advocates' should have probably tried harder. Today, the remains of the Chicago State Hospital consist of *one* building, at 4200 North Oak Park Avenue; the Dunning Mental Health Center, which is a locked ward for people who really, seriously need protection, and/or to have society protected from them; people who, even the 'advocates' agree *must* live in isolated, secure homes. Cook County sold off the 500 acres on the other side of Oak Park Avenue to developers who built a shopping center, Dunning Mall. In the process of developing Dunning Mall a few years ago, work had to be suspended for about a month when workmen digging for a parking lot uncovered several dozen unmarked graves. After checking their records, Cook County found that 130 years ago, it had been a pauper cemetery as part of the Dunning Insane Asylum. The entire area was dug up, all the bodies buried there were re-interred somewhere else and the developers were permitted to get on with their work building the new shopping mall. Lisa, I agree with you that the 'advocates' were/are sometimes fuzzy-minded liberals who are not very realistic. But it is not fair to blame *them* because some people prefer to be homeless or refuse to take medication prescribed for them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Norvergence W-2 Date: 25 Jan 2005 12:52:16 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com ao wrote: > What do we do if we haven't received our W-2's from Norvergence? Further, it is critical that you save your paycheck stubs showing your deductions (all workers should do this, not just those of a troubled company). You may need such stubs to document that federal, state, and social security taxes were withheld from your pay. You need to hold these for a long time because down the road Social Security may not have your earnings record and that would reduce your benefits. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa, are you one of those people still laboring under the delusion that Social Security is still going to be around and financially healthy when these younger guys start retiring in 2050 and 2060? Bush, in a rare moment of honesty, has already started breaking the news to us: Make your own plans for the future. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 15:15:57 -0600 From: C.W. Reply-To: temp18@thewolfden.org Subject: Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective > *From*: / Justin Time > *Subject*: / Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective/ > *Date*: / 25 Jan 2005 05:52:41 -0800/* > Well Dave, you appear to have caught the thrust of my post about > Microsoft referring you to a KBxxxxx and then not defining that KB > stands for Knowledge Base and the information that can be found in the > Knowledge Base. And why do you need to know this? You just implied you don't want the details. To you, it doesn't matter is they say "see KB12345" or "click here for details" -- ignore it. But for me, I may recognize the KB number and am glad they put it there; so ignore it. I'm ignoring the fact that you could type the KB phrase in any search box of any Microsoft web page of any Microsoft website (or even just click on it as someone pointed out), as well as any search engine and probably hundreds of other sites, and get the exact information.... > My complaint is that with a slow dial-up modem, why should I have to > spend time, and it can be significant, having to search two or three > different places for what should be obvious information. If Microsoft > just plainly stated the purpose of the patch was to "address security > problems in XXX" or something similar in the patch description on the > Windows Update site (just as they used to do a couple of years ago), > then the problem would be solved. If I, or someone else wanted to find > out more about the patch, then I could go to the backup documentation > in the Knowledge Base. But, with the descriptions they are using, how > would the average person know a patch addressed functions they were using. So, what you really want is a very short, but very precise decription of the exact problem? Ha! And when 90% of them say "fixes IE" you'll whine that it's not enough unformation [sic] from them. Given what you've written, are you even familiar enough with your computer to determine which Windows sub-functions you're using and which you're not? If the KB info is too detailed for you, you need to apply all the patches, because the KB info spells out exactly what is affected. > As to the thought that "every patch they put out must be good" I say > this: If you don't use some functions why do you need to patch > programs that are never accessed? The most common dial-up speed I can > get at my home because of all the different SLICs and converters > between me and the CO about 48,000 cable feet away is 24K. If I want > to spend over 4 hours downloading a patch, then I would like to know > up front what it is supposed to fix. (And cable broadband at $50.00+ > per month isn't worth it! And now you complain that slow speed is your biggest problem, but faster speeds are not worth it. Admit it; either you just like to complain, or you want it to just magically say "Justin, this (does|does not) affect you." ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective Date: 25 Jan 2005 23:17:26 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Justin Time wrote: > ... But, with the descriptions they > are using, how would the average person know a patch addressed > functions they were using. The average person shouldn't worry about it, and shouldn't try to second-guess Microsoft. > As to the thought that "every patch they put out must be good" I say > this: If you don't use some functions why do you need to patch > programs that are never accessed? The most common dial-up speed I can > get at my home because of all the different SLICs and converters > between me and the CO about 48,000 cable feet away is 24K. If I want > to spend over 4 hours downloading a patch, then I would like to know > up front what it is supposed to fix. 95% of the critical patches (or more) address vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and related packages, and common services that run in the background. About the only way you wouldn't be exposing those vulnerabilities is if you didn't use email or a web browser. Even if you use Mozilla, Firefox or some other browser, pieces of IE are woven into other applications. If you're exposing a Windows system directly to the 'Net via a dialup connection then you'd damn well better be applying every critical update as soon as it comes out. That should not be an option. If you think your phone connection is too slow, get someone with a cable modem to download them and burn them to CD for you. In fact, that would probably be preferable because the time it would take you to download them would make you an easy target. I really have no patience for someone who thinks they're smart enough to not patch a Windows system because they think they don't need it. I'll be happy to forward you the logs from my mail server and you can see how many sending addresses resolve to names like "ppp-xxx" or "pool.nnn" or "xxx.adsl.xxx", etc. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: NewSci: Net Noise Threat to Emergency Radio Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 19:14:30 -0500 In article , a_user2000@yahoo.com says: > To quote the article: >> Corridor Systems of Santa Rosa, California, thinks it has hit on a way >> to set up an interference-free power-line internet service. It plans >> to use overhead power lines to carry data at frequencies between 800 >> megahertz and 10 gigahertz, way above the amateur radio and >> conventional power-line communications band and, which it will send in >> an outer power conductor. > Isn't 800 MHz the preferred frequency band for both the bulk of > cellular telephones and public safety radio? And if you travel > outside of North America, isn't 900 MHz the preferred band for > cellular traffic? When you start getting into the Giggle Hertz > ranges, aren't you playing with things such as 802.11, 802.15, PCS and > a whole bunch of other mature services? > Just some thoughts. Some public service exists in the band encompassing 800MHz to 900MHz. 900MHz up is for consumer electronics though when you get near 1.2GHz you have amateur traffic in there. 802.11 works on 2.4GHz which is the same band that your microwave oven and many cordless phones exist in. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 19:17:01 -0500 In article , Tim@Backhome.org says: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Another approach is to ask me for a >> Vonage e-coupon. I send you this in email, then you use the link shown >> there to set the entire thing up over the computer. By clicking on >> the link in the email coupon, it walks you though the ordering and set >> up procedure, assigns your Vonage number *AND* arranges to get the >> Vonage TA box sent out to you. They give those rather high priority, >> so you should recieve the TA in three or four days by Fed Express or >> UPS. You use your credit card to pay for the TA box and the first >> month of service then my coupon kicks in and whatever kind of service >> plan you choose (and pay for) you get the *second month* for free. I >> have been a Vonage customer now for almost two years; I think from >> start to finish in the ordering/installing process took me a week in >> total, from getting the e-coupon, clicking on the link, getting the >> service set up and starting to use it. If you want an e-coupon, rather >> than dealing with the stores (and often-times know-nothing clerks, >> etc) write to me: ptownson@massis.csail.mit.edu and request it. PAT] > The point, though, what's up with the Best Buy tie in? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Best Buy does have a relationship with > Vonage, but both Vonage and Best Buy have idiots working for them who > don't always understand the importance of good customer and public > relations. PAT] Well, maybe the bean counters are idiots but the tech folks I've talked to at Vonage knew their stuff. The problem is there are too few of them. Vonage has had what I consider to be explosive growth. Whether they resolve this or not could determine whether they continue to exist as an entity. But for $24.99 a month I don't expect service to be two rings and I get a live person. I also consider the fact that it takes > 1/2 hour to talk to a human being excessive. But I can't complain all that much when I'm getting a raft of services for $24.99 a month. ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon Date: 25 Jan 2005 15:34:09 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) In article , Gene S. Berkowitz wrote: > In article , cmoore@ARL.ARMY.MIL > says: >> I have just seen a news blurb about the Telephone Pioneer Museum >> in Eugene, Oregon. >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Carl, would it be possible to give any >> more details on this, so that our California/Oregon area readers might >> be able to plan a visit? At least a street address, phone number, >> etc? PAT] > TELEPHONE PIONEER MUSEUM > What: Eugene's very own telephone museum has existed near the southeast > corner of East 10th Avenue and Oak Street since 1983 in a small room on > the first floor of what is now the Qwest building, built in 1928. > Where: 112 E. 10th Ave. > Hours: Open Thursdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment. > Call (541) 688-3211 or 485-4100 for tours. > Cost: Free. I just want to say that this museum is absolutely wonderful. Some of the smaller items aren't really very well displayed, but there is just no other place in the world that you can go and see a functioning panel or crossbar switch and have someone explain to you how it works. Everyone reading this should make a trip out to Oregon if they haven't done so already. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Danny Subject: Re: Traffic Tickets Date: 25 Jan 2005 14:03:21 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Sure that's true, but what about the accidental charges. Example, you toss in your coins to the tollbooth, and drive off, and it doesn't count the coins right so it snaps a shot of your car. Or let's say you slid because of snow and passed the line on a yellow light and it will flash you. Now you have to fight that you paid, and or slid and the hassle is a pain. http://phantomplate.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 22:07:05 +0000 (GMT) From: Brian Inglis Subject: Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? Reply-To: Brian.Inglis@SystematicSW.ab.ca Organization: Systematic Software On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 22:11:49 -0800 in comp.dcom.telecom, Linc Madison wrote: In article , wrote: >>> The iPod Shuffle. Its the new radio. >>> http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/01/ipod_shuffle_ne.html >> Is there a way to have the shuttle play through car radio speakers? > Sure. You can buy a gizmo that plugs into the cigarette lighter for > power and then into the headphone jack of nearly anything that uses > headphones, playing it by a very low power FM signal into the car > radio. Alternately, you can get gizmos that plug into the headphone > jack and play the sound through a cartridge that inserts into the > car's cassette player. > Since there are gizmos like that specifically for the existing iPods, > it's not a bad bet that someone will come out with one specially > designed to match the style of the iPod Shuffle. Belkin already has a Shuffle FM transmitter advertised on Apple's Shuffle accessories page. > (Yes, I really like the word "gizmo." ;^P ) Thanks. Take care, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada Brian.Inglis@CSi.com (Brian[dot]Inglis{at}SystematicSW[dot]ab[dot]ca) fake address use address above to reply ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Don't Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 14:21:44 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Fred Atkinson wrote: >>> Nor was mine. I didn't imply any conclusion. But, who's to say >>> what is impossible in this case? Hard scientific data. A foot-long wavelength simply doesn't even interact with a sub-millimeter piece of DNA. >>> I'm simply saying that based upon what I have read, I believe >>> there is some sort of a problem here. As I stated, the jury is >>> still out on just how big of a problem this is. There are plenty of non-scientists who believe that it could possibly somehow be a problem. There are also plenty of people who believe that astrology is a real science. >> NO, IT ISN'T. The jury is absolutely back in, and it is NOT a >> problem. > The jury won't be back in for years to come. One man's opinion. Specifically, one man's INCORRECT opinion ;^P >> Wrong. It is CATEGORICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for radiation from a >> cellphone to cause cellular mutation. The radio waves are simply >> too "fat" to ever, in a billion years, cause one single cellular >> mutation. The wavelength used by cellphones is on the order of 6 to >> 15 INCHES (roughly 15 to 40 centimeters). That covers the range >> from 1900 to 800 MHz. You'd need to be well up into the Terahertz >> to get a short enough wavelength to cause cellular mutation. > Impossible? They said it was impossible for man to fly, didn't they? > And for how many thousands of years? Fundamental difference: there is solid physics that says man can fly (after solving a few engineering challenges); there is also solid physics and biochemistry that says that a wavelength on the order of ONE FOOT cannot possibly affect DNA. You may as well worry about neutrinos causing cancer -- they pass through the entire earth as though it wasn't there. But you're being continually bombarded with neutrinos from the entire galaxy, even when you're not using your cellphone! >> No, in fact there is a substantial basis for saying that, because >> there is no danger. Cellphones CANNOT cause cancer. > I can't say you're wrong but I can't say you're right, either. But you refuse to examine the scientific data that *IS* available. >> That's only true if the person speaking has a financial interest. I >> don't happen to have any financial interest in cellphones. I own >> one, but I don't even own stock in any companies that make or sell >> cellphones, much less work for one. > And one person's opinion makes it so? That's hitting below the belt. You said that you don't trust anyone in telecom to tell you honestly if cellphones really do pose a risk. I pointed out that I have no ulterior motives here. I've explained the very real science behind my statements, but all you can say is "wait and see." > Maybe, maybe not. Maybe five to ten years from now we'll have enough > statistical data to see for sure, if an independent party takes the > time and goes to the expense of collecting the data. So the DECADES AND DECADES of data we already have means nothing, but the next 5 to 10 years will provide the answer? It takes more than 5 to 10 years for any but the most aggressive carcinogens to cause a noticeable number of cases. Maybe we should wait another 100 to 200 years to get REALLY solid data. >> The radiation from a cellphone CANNOT cause cancer. It's not >> extremely unlikely, it is literally impossible. > Let's discuss this again in five to ten years. If the statistical > data bears out, I'll concede that you were right. Why wait? The statistical data ALREADY bears me out. > By the way, Linc. I don't mean this to be anything personal here. I > just take a more skeptical view. As has already been pointed out, there is a difference between skepticism and stubborn dismissal of real science. I don't mean anything personal by saying this, but you're burying your head in the sand and refusing to look at the ample data that already is available, refusing to even consider that some of it might be reasonably unbiased, and refusing to even address the basic scientific issues. Explain to me how a 6- to 15-inch wavelength (at a fraction of one watt, to boot) could possibly cause cancer. Then I'll accept your skepticism. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 12:44:11 -0800 (PST) From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Reply-To: fatkinson@mishmash.com > You want something to worry about, help us get fat-soluble pesticides > out of the food supply. There's plenty of reason to think they really > are dangerous at low concentrations. John, Let's clear something up here. I'm not the one that is worrying about it. You are. I simply say that I will make my conclusions based upon statistical evidence when enough statistical evidence is available. You are the one that is burning so much energy simply because one person doesn't take the same approach as you. Perhaps you'd be the one to better direct your energy into getting 'fat-soluble pesticides out of the food supply'. I suspect it would do your blood pressure a world of good at this point. Enough said. I consider this subject closed. Seriously though, John. Have a good week. I have no ill will towards you. Please don't read that into this. Fred ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Security Concerns Prompt Internet Explorer Defections Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 22:54:27 GMT Lisa Minter posted on that vast internet thingie: > Nearly 5 percent of Web surfers now use Firefox. > In addition to having fewer security risks, proponents of Firefox say > that its other innovations are attracting users with features such as > the ability to open multiple Web pages within a single window on the > desktop and rich variety of plug-ins to enhance the browser's > functionality. It's too bad that their "Favorites" manager doesn't work properly. Other than that it is pretty slick. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Panasonic AT&T, 5.8Ghz 2line; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Firewood splitters www.splitlogs.com If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Cordless Phone Question Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 22:56:02 GMT teamcary posted on that vast internet thingie: > I have an ATT 1480 2.4 GHz phone with a cordless handset. I'd like to > add a second handset for another room. Can I simply purchase any 2.4 > GHz handset from any vendor, or does it have to be the same > model/specs as my current one? It has to be the one exactly made for your phone. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Panasonic AT&T, 5.8Ghz 2line; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Firewood splitters www.splitlogs.com If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #35 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jan 26 15:30:59 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0QKUw521067; Wed, 26 Jan 2005 15:30:59 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 15:30:59 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501262030.j0QKUw521067@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 V24 #36 TELECOM Digest Wed, 26 Jan 2005 15:30:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 36 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson DIC Kid's Network Animation Channel for Cell Phones (Monty Solomon) Linksys WRT54GP2 VOIP and Telnet Issues (woofytexan) EarthLink, SK Telecom in Joint Mobile Phone Venture (Telecom dailyLead) Cingular Goes Live With MobiTV (Monty Solomon) Book Review: "Degunking Your Email, Spam, and Viruses" (Rob Slade) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Mark Crispin) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Elmo P. Shagnasty) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Diamond Dave) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Steve Sobol) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Paul Coxwell) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Joseph) Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? (Tim@Backhome.org) Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? (timeOday) Re: Traffic Tickets (Joseph) Re: Traffic Tickets (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Traffic Tickets (Steve Sobol) Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? (LB@notmine.com) Re: MF Tones - What, if Anything Are They Still Used For? (Tim@Backhome) Re: BroadVoice Launches Affordable Toll Free Service (Scott Langley) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 23:14:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DIC Kid's Network Animation Channel for Cell Phones DIC Entertainment and SmartVideo Create the World's First Animation Channel for Cell Phones; DIC Kid's Network - Jan 25, 2005 06:00 AM (BusinessWire) LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 25, 2005-- Library Of Over 3,200 Half-Hours Available Around The Clock, Around The World DIC Entertainment announced today that it has signed an agreement with SmartVideo Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:SMVD.OB) to create "DIC Kid's Network," the world's first animation channel for cell phones. DIC has amassed one of the world's largest independent libraries of animated programming, consisting of over 3,200 half-hours and more than 100 different programs -- including such potent franchises as Inspector Gadget, Madeline and Strawberry Shortcake -- that approximately 25 million children watch each week in the U.S. alone. DIC is now making its library available for viewing globally on cell phones and wireless devices for the first time, using SmartVideo's proprietary technology that recreates the true television experience, even over low bandwidth connections. This first of its kind collaboration is a unique way of delivering entertainment to tens of millions of children and family's all over the world. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46405866 ------------------------------ From: woofytexan Subject: Linksys WRT54GP2 VOIP and Telnet issues. Date: 26 Jan 2005 09:46:22 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Since we have recently installed a Linksys WRT54GP2 (Vonage), our telnet sessions into client sites have been timing out after as little of 10 minutes of inactivity when we use the VOIP line. Is there any way to change the amount of timeout minutes with this unit? There are often times when we need to stay connected through Telnet to update process which require research on other systems that may take 45 mintues to 1 hour as well as phone calls (VOIP) for fact verification. We have set the QoS for Telnet under Applications and Gaming to High to see if it would have any effect, but we did not see any difference. Just thought I would check and see if anyone has found this issue and a resolution. It is a repeatable process. We are on Firmware 1.25.00. Thanks, Donald ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:01:10 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: EarthLink, SK Telecom in Joint Mobile Phone Venture Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 26, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18974&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * EarthLink, SK Telecom in joint mobile phone venture BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Ebbers trial begins * Adelphia continues to lose subscribers * Cable modem revenue, subscribers grow in 2004 * SBC reports earnings USTA SPOTLIGHT * Last Chance: Free Webinar: "Innovate or Die: Winning the Wireless Services Battles" EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Tech companies come together in name of health REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Mayor of California city seeks public-private Wi-Fi plan * NCTA names new chief Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18974&l=2017006 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 23:08:20 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Goes Live With MobiTV Live Television Programming Now Available On Cell Phones of Cingular Wireless Subscribers BERKELEY, Calif. and ATLANTA, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- MobiTV, the world's first television network for mobile phones, said today it has launched its live television service on Cingular Wireless, the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. Cingular is offering MobiTV on exclusive handsets such as the breakthrough RAZR to the affordable Motorola V180. For MobiTV, this launch marks a significant milestone as the company moves into its second year of operations distributing its service on two of the nation's largest carriers. Within the past 60 days, the company has effectively doubled its potential market in the U.S. through an October launch on AT&T Wireless' mMode service, prior to AT&T's acquisition by Cingular, and today's launch on Cingular's MEdia Net service. The newest television distribution medium since Satellite TV, MobiTV will be available to Cingular Wireless subscribers using the Nokia 6620, Motorola V3 (RAZR), Motorola V220, Motorola V180, and soon on the Motorola V400 and V600 handsets. With MobiTV, Cingular subscribers can watch live news, sports and entertainment programming on 22 channels, including MSNBC, CNBC, ABC News Now, NBC Mobile, FOX Sports, Discovery, TLC, C-SPAN, and other music, sports, fashion, and comedy channels. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46419052 ------------------------------ From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 08:31:32 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Degunking Your Email, Spam, and Viruses" Reply-To: rslade@sprint.ca BKDYESAV.RVW 20041205 "Degunking Your Email, Spam, and Viruses", Jeff Duntemann, 2004, 1-932111-93-X, U$24.99/C$37.99 %A Jeff Duntemann feedback@paraglyphpress.com %C Suite 115 4015 North 78th Street, Scottsdale AZ 85251 %D 2004 %G 1-932111-93-X %I Paraglyph Press %O U$24.99/C$37.99 602-749-8787 ssayre@paraglyphpress.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/193211193X/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/193211193X/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/193211193X/robsladesin03-20 %O tl i rl 3 tc 3 ta 4 tv 4 wq 3 %P 334 p. %T "Degunking Your Email, Spam, and Viruses" Lots of books have "quick tips" at the front these days. Usually these are nothing more than promotional fluff, designed to convince you that the author Knows Important Stuff. However, when I perused the suggestions for what to do about email and viruses if you had limited amounts of time, I was quite impressed that Duntemann had, in fact, carefully selected those tasks that would give the most protective value for the temporal coin. I could cavil at a few, but generally this list is very well chosen for those readers who do need to get started right away. Chapter one is an introduction, defining the various problems, and outlining the "12-step" program that structures most of the rest of the book. Although chapter two is supposed to be about creating an email strategy it doesn't go quite that far. But Duntemann does provide guidance on the type of email user you are, and notes the importance (which varies) of having alternative email addresses. Various email clients, and important features, are reviewed in chapter three. The advice is good (although I don't know why he is dissing Pegasus :-) Chapter four outlines good email habits, and effective practices for using and managing email. The advice on maintaining contact and synchronization on the road, given in chapter five, is helpful to travelers although I am not sure that it a) applies to everyone, and b) is a "gunky" problem. Chapter six provides valuable advice for managing stored or saved messages. Chapter seven describes the situation with regard to spam, and suggests the standard actions to avoid it. The concepts and tools for spam filtering are outlined in chapter eight. Chapter nine walks the reader through the installation and "training" of POPfile, while ten lists arguments against non-Bayesian spam prevention filters and systems. Chapter eleven is a good introduction to the broad categories of malware. The choice and evaluation of antiviral programs, given in chapter twelve, is quite decent, although the space and precedence given to the "three sisters" seems to be excessive: companies like Sophos, F-Prot, and Avast turn out technically superior products and are hardly "obscure." Spyware and adware, as well as suggestions to limit them and products to deal with them, are covered in chapter thirteen. Chapter fourteen has good advice about dealing with worms (although I'm surprised that Duntemann did not mention turning off DCOM, which would probably have saved his friend some grief). Chain letters and scams are discussed in chapter fifteen. (I was teaching in Nigeria when I read this book, so I found the coverage of the 419 scam ironic. Nigeria isn't in chaos: it just seems that way.) Chapter sixteen finishes off with advice on what to do if you *have* been hit with something nasty. The book has a lot of very practical and useful information. It is written at a level that any intermediate user, and many intelligent novices can use directly without further experimentation. (A few items could use more detail: how do you turn an .iso file into a bootable CD?) I would recommend this as an excellent reference to have to hand for pretty much any computer user. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2004 BKDYESAV.RVW 20041205 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu Unix IS user-friendly. It's just picky about who its friends are. http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 00:18:35 -0800 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Tue, 25 Jan 2005, kansaskon wrote: > America has the worst mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the > world. For example nowhere in the world do you pay or are deducted > minutes for recieving calls its just unheard of. Europe and Asia have the worst mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the world. For example, you have to pay an exhorbitant amount of money to call a mobile phone, even when it is in the local area and should be a free call. What's more, if you call a family member on a mobile phone from your mobile phone, you end up paying this exhorbitant rate twice. Speaking of which, even a local wireline call in Europe and Asia costs money. In America, almost everybody has a monthly plan with more bundled minutes than they ever need, so effectively nobody even thinks about the cost of incoming or outgoing calls. And local wireline calls are free. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Elmo P. Shagnasty Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 05:24:33 -0500 In article , kansaskon wrote: > America has the worst mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the > world. For example nowhere in the world do you pay or are deducted > minutes for recieving calls its just unheard of. That's right. In the rest of the world, the guy who calls, pays. Let's see. In the UK, you can't just go buy a TV, bring it home, and turn it on. You must OWN A LICENSE, paid for to the crown, to receive television entertainment. That's so ridiculous, it's amazing. What are those people thinking. And yet they put up with it. Unheard of elsewhere. ------------------------------ From: Diamond Dave Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Organization: The BBS Corner / Diamond Mine On-Line Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 05:38:24 -0500 On 25 Jan 2005 17:29:40 -0800, kansaskon wrote: > America has the worst mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the > world. For example nowhere in the world do you pay or are deducted > minutes for recieving calls its just unheard of. Well, its the rest of the world that got it wrong, not the US. Why, as a landline phone owner, should I have to pay the premium to call a cell phone? All the costs of owning and operating the cell phone should be borne on the cell phone OWNER! Why? Because they chose to own a cell phone and not a landline. You have to realize that in MOST parts of the US (outside of some major cities like New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh & Philadelphia) that we've enjoyed UNLIMITED local calling within a geographic distance (usually around 10 to 16 miles on average). If we call a cell phone who's number is assigned in the same local calling region as our own, why should we have to pay the premium just because its a cell phone?? Even if the cell phone number is a toll call, all the landline caller pays is regular toll charges to that number, not extra charges - the way it SHOULD be! When most of the rest of the world implemented their wireless phone systems, they followed the same pattern for what they had used for their landlines -- pay per minute -- but this time at a premium price. There is no such thing as unlimited local calling in most countries, something that the *MOST* of the US and even Canada has taken for granted. So people in Europe, for example, are already used to paying through the nose to make a call, local or toll. So an extra charge won't hurt them since they're used to it. So welcome to America with cell call billing the way it SHOULD be, not the way that Europe and most of the world got it messed up! PS: There is ONE company that I know of that has unlimited inbound cell calls -- Nextel. Better hurry - they're being bought out by Sprint, which has the inbound billing borne by the cell customer! Dave ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 22:35:55 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com kansaskon wrote: > America has the worst mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the > world. For example nowhere in the world do you pay or are deducted > minutes for recieving calls its just unheard of. Calling Party Pays (where the caller, not the call recipient, pays for a call to a cell phone) was tried in the US, and failed miserably. It's not the way most people want to handle cell phone billing. AirTouch used to have CPP. A friend of mine had it on his phone line. JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005) ------------------------------ From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:29:38 -0000 kansaskon wrote in message news:telecom24.36.1@telecom-digest.org: > America has the worst mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the > world. For example nowhere in the world do you pay or are deducted > minutes for recieving calls its just unheard of. > No, but elsewhere in the world the person calling a cellphone ends up paying a lot more. Here in the U.K., for example, somebody on BT's basic "Option 1" package pays a daytime rate of 5.6 cents per minute for a long-distance call to a regular landline anywhere within the country. A daytime call to a cellphone runs from 23 to 45 cents/min depending upon the network. Evening and weekend landline calls are capped at just 10.3 cents for a call lasting up to an hour. The cellphone rates are 12 to 32 cents/min evening, 6.8 to 14.5 cents/min weekends. All converted to U.S. currency at current rate of 1.00 GBP = $1.88. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 09:00:40 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 25 Jan 2005 17:29:40 -0800, kansaskon wrote: > America has the worst mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the > world. For example nowhere in the world do you pay or are deducted > minutes for recieving calls its just unheard of. People are always whining that "they don't do it the way we do it at home" so it must be wrong. Those Europeans and Asians who complain about the system in North America that the mobile customer pays for the call also don't seem to understand that their "free" call that they receive is not free at all and in fact is being paid by the person who is calling them and at rates that are often up to ten times the rate of a local call ... even more than to make an international call! If you don't like the way our system works then just don't use it! North America and Europe are different. You can whine about it all you like but the fact is that we are in most likelihood never going to have caller pays in North America. It was tried a few years ago and it was a resounding flop. Europeans never mention that a lot of our calling plans give free calling on nights and weekends either. ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 05:18:24 GMT > Go to the computer networking section of Best Buy, where they sell > routers and wireless cards, and you will find it. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But counselor, TimeODay did ask a *clerk > in the store* about it, and he did check the *web site of Best Buy*; > the clerk got ignorant with him; the web site was obscure about it at > best; now he should make another trip back to the store and hope to > God to find someone who will point him in the right direction and have > idea of what the product is about and what it does? ... with the > 'magic' of email, had I sent him an e-coupon and had he redeemed it, > Vonage would already be processing his order. Assuming he first made > his ill-fated trip to Best Buy a few days ago, chances are likely by > now with an e-coupon redemption he would be setting up his TA and > making a test call on it. PAT] The point I was trying to make is that BB is marketing VoIP in its computer networking department but *not* in its phone department. Apparently the phone salesdroids haven't even been told about it; no signs or anything. The same is true on Best Buy's website. Go to Telephones > Local and Long-Distance, and you get BB's reseller partner; there's no mention of VoIP. If you go to Computers > Networking, there is finally a tab to click for "Internet Phone Devices"-- which offers five VoIP hardware bundles, one from AT&T and four from Linksys (1 802.11G wireless router for AT&T, 1 802.11G wireless router for Vonage, 1 Phone Adapter for Vonage, and 1 VoIP Broadband Router for Vonage). I cannot imagine why no connection is made between these items and BB's phone service page. What idiots! I have no idea whether BB's prices for these combos are any good. In all likelihood, one will do better by taking advantage of Pat's e- coupon. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Replace "example.invalid" with ".com". ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 06:06:52 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Best Buy does have a relationship with > Vonage, but both Vonage and Best Buy have idiots working for them who > don't always understand the importance of good customer and public > relations. PAT] In this case, the idiot-finger-of-blame should point squarely at Best Buy. They mostly hire kids who couldn't pass the job interview at Burger King. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 08:06:36 -0700 From: timeOday Subject: Re: Vonage at Bestbuy? Michael D. Sullivan wrote: > In article , timeOday- > UNSPAM@theknack.net says: >>I 'm interested in trying out Vonage (or maybe some other VOIP service). >> I stopped by Best Buy to pick up a second phone so I could leave my >> land line connected to my old phone, while I hook up the new phone to >> Vonage to see if it's any good. >> I've also heard Vonage kits are available at BestBuy. This would >> avoid the $10 shipping fee, and avoid the wait. Plus I heard the kits >> were offered with a rebate on the hardware and the first month free. >> That would be great. >> But the sales clerk I asked at Best Buy had never heard of Vonage, or >> voice over IP for that matter. And I didn't notice Vonage in the >> Phone section. >> I searched bestbuy.com and found no mention of them selling the >> service. I searched vonage.com and found a lot of irrelevant hits. >> But the Vonage.com website says their service IS offered in my city. >> So what's the deal? Does Vonage through Best Buy still have the >> hardware rebate offer? >> I may have to resort to calling Best Buy on the phone, which is normally >> frustrating and a huge waste of time. >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Another approach is to ask me for a >> Vonage e-coupon. I send you this in email, then you use the link shown >> there to set the entire thing up over the computer. By clicking on >> the link in the email coupon, it walks you though the ordering and set >> up procedure, assigns your Vonage number *AND* arranges to get the >> Vonage TA box sent out to you. They give those rather high priority, >> so you should recieve the TA in three or four days by Fed Express or >> UPS. You use your credit card to pay for the TA box and the first >> month of service then my coupon kicks in and whatever kind of service >> plan you choose (and pay for) you get the *second month* for free. I >> have been a Vonage customer now for almost two years; I think from >> start to finish in the ordering/installing process took me a week in >> total, from getting the e-coupon, clicking on the link, getting the >> service set up and starting to use it. If you want an e-coupon, rather >> than dealing with the stores (and often-times know-nothing clerks, >> etc) write to me: ptownson@massis.csail.mit.edu and request it. PAT] > Go to the computer networking section of Best Buy, where they sell > routers and wireless cards, and you will find it. > Michael D. Sullivan > Bethesda, MD, USA > Replace "example.invalid" with ".com". > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But counselor, TimeODay did ask a *clerk > in the store* about it, and he did check the *web site of Best Buy*; > the clerk got ignorant with him; the web site was obscure about it at > best; now he should make another trip back to the store and hope to > God to find someone who will point him in the right direction and have > idea of what the product is about and what it does? ... with the > 'magic' of email, had I sent him an e-coupon and had he redeemed it, > Vonage would already be processing his order. Assuming he first made > his ill-fated trip to Best Buy a few days ago, chances are likely by > now with an e-coupon redemption he would be setting up his TA and > making a test call on it. PAT] Thanks to both of you for the good info. Do you know if there's currently any way to get a rebate on the hardware purchase price? In months past I heard about people getting a rebate on the cost of the VOIP box upon activation. Thanks. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In the past (maybe still?), Vonage did include a rebate coupon in the package of hardware you purchased from the Best Buy stores. But they did *not* give a month of free service. In the referral program, I do not give a rebate, but *do* give a month of service. You can consider that to be the same as a rebate on the hardware, or an extension on the guarentee allowed for return/don't pay for service plan. It sort of amounts to the same thing. If you had the mail in coupon from your purchase at Best Buy, you fill it in, Vonage sends back the refund in a month or so. If you use the referral plan (with e-coupon) the 'rebate' gets automatically credited as a month of service for the second month. What sometimes happens is that people buy from the store, *and* ask me for an e-coupon (and the second month of service) ... it won't work unless you actually wanted *two* phone adapters, *two* phone numbers and *two* obligations for a service plan. Basically, I am a seller also, but your box (bought through me) is validated and verified and drop-shipped by Vonage. So do it one way (through Best Buy) or the other (through myself or other referrers) but not both, hoping to get yet another free month. Vonage invariably honors the Best Buy sale/rebate/user contract and tosses mine out. Personally, I hope you go with my e-coupons instead of the store purchase, but that's your choice. For an e-coupon email me: ptownson@telecom-digest.org PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Traffic Tickets Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 08:54:15 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 25 Jan 2005 14:03:21 -0800, Danny wrote: > Or let's say you slid because of snow and passed the line on a > yellow light and it will flash you. Now you have to fight that you > paid, and or slid and the hassle is a pain. Know the law. If you slid and passed the line it means you were going *too fast for conditions.* That's always been the way it is. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Traffic Tickets Date: 26 Jan 2005 17:20:44 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Danny wrote: > Sure that's true, but what about the accidental charges. Example, you > toss in your coins to the tollbooth, and drive off, and it doesn't > count the coins right so it snaps a shot of your car. If you leave before you verify payment that's your problem. > Or let's say you slid because of snow and passed the line on a > yellow light and it will flash you. Now you have to fight that you > paid, and or slid and the hassle is a pain. > http://phantomplate.com/ Gee. If you slid because of the snow and rear-ended someone then you'd have to spend time dealing with that. What a pain. I believe in traffic terms that's called "driving too fast for conditions." John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Traffic Tickets Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 22:37:23 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Danny wrote: > Sure that's true, but what about the accidental charges. Example, you > toss in your coins to the tollbooth, and drive off, and it doesn't > count the coins right so it snaps a shot of your car. Or let's say > you slid because of snow and passed the line on a yellow light and it > will flash you. Now you have to fight that you paid, and or slid and > the hassle is a pain. http://phantomplate.com/ Products that claim to block your license plate from being viewed are generally scams. JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005) ------------------------------ From: LB@notmine.com Subject: Re: iPod Shuffle = New Radio ? Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 06:13:04 -0500 Organization: Optimum Online Brian Inglis wrote: > On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 22:11:49 -0800 in comp.dcom.telecom, Linc Madison > wrote: > In article , wrote: >>>> The iPod Shuffle. Its the new radio. >>>> http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/01/ipod_shuffle_ne.html >>> Is there a way to have the shuttle play through car radio speakers? >> Sure. You can buy a gizmo that plugs into the cigarette lighter for >> power and then into the headphone jack of nearly anything that uses >> headphones, playing it by a very low power FM signal into the car >> radio. Alternately, you can get gizmos that plug into the headphone >> jack and play the sound through a cartridge that inserts into the >> car's cassette player. >> Since there are gizmos like that specifically for the existing iPods, >> it's not a bad bet that someone will come out with one specially >> designed to match the style of the iPod Shuffle. > Belkin already has a Shuffle FM transmitter advertised on Apple's > Shuffle accessories page. >> (Yes, I really like the word "gizmo." ;^P ) > Thanks. Take care, > Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada > Brian.Inglis@CSi.com (Brian[dot]Inglis{at}SystematicSW[dot]ab[dot]ca) > fake address use address above to reply That's what I was looking for. Thank You. LB ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: MF tones -- What, if Anything, Are They Still Used For? Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 06:02:23 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications silvas_clinch@yahoo.com wrote: > Hi everyone. > I'm kind of curious about the MF tones I learned of recently, the ones > that were used by the toll network of the 60's, 70's, and 80's to > control how calls were routed. They were also used for local trunk signalling between nearby central offices even when toll wasn't involved. They were called "MF trunks" as opposed to the older dial-pulse trunks. There might be some still used that way in some rural areas somewhere. But, that is just speculation on my part. ------------------------------ From: Scott Langley Subject: Re: BroadVoice Launches Affordable Toll Free Service; BroadVoice Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 04:12:39 -0700 Organization: Newshosting.com That price of 0.02 cents / minutes sounds very good to me. If other VoIP companies can match or better that price, I think that would be worth a press release, too! Scott Langley wrote in message news:telecom24.24.5@telecom-digest.org: > *Sigh* more press release hype. I mean, it's an interesting > announcement, but it could have been summed up in one paragraph, > without all the hype. I particularly enjoy the way they proclaim > themselves as "the industry leader in feature-rich, low-cost Internet > telephone services for home and small business users." Says who? > I'll bet several other VoIP companies would be more than willing to > dispute that claim! http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050118005949&newsLang=en > January 18, 2005 01:24 PM US Eastern Timezone > BroadVoice Launches Affordable Toll Free Service; BroadVoice; Customers > Can Add Toll Free Number for Only $ 1.95 per Month > LOWELL, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2005--BroadVoice, the > industry leader in feature-rich, low-cost Internet telephone services > for home and small business users, today announced the immediate > availability of its new Toll Free Alternate Numbers for its > residential and small business customers. This unique premium feature > allows BroadVoice subscribers to add a toll free number to their > account for only $ 1.95 per month. Each Toll Free Alternate Number > includes 60 minutes of free inbound calling with each additional > minute billing at $ 0.02 thereafter. The announcement comes on the > heels of a distribution agreement announced last week between > BroadVoice and catalog retailer Hello Direct. BroadVoice service > allows customers to make and receive telephone calls over their > existing high speed ("broadband") Internet connections, and provides > them with 24 free calling features, including voicemail, caller ID, > and call waiting. > Toll free service is just one of the many BroadVoice features that can > be activated by existing subscribers in their "BroadVoice Account > Portal." Subscribers simply select an 8xx number from an extensive > list of available numbers and the service is instantly provisioned. > BroadVoice president David Epstein said, "No other VoIP or traditional > telephone company offers such a great deal on Toll Free service. We > are proud to offer this kind of value to our loyal subscribers and > will keep on working to earn their business." > BroadVoice offers service plans starting at $9.95 for unlimited in > state calling. The $19.95 Unlimited World plan offers free calls to > the United States and 20 other countries, including most of Western > Europe and China. For $24.95 the Unlimited World Plus plan provides > free calls to 35 countries, including Brazil, Japan and Israel. A > small business BroadVoice plan costs $29.95 per month. > About BroadVoice > The BroadVoice service lets consumers and small businesses use a > high-speed DSL or cable modem connection to make and receive phone > calls anywhere in the world. Customers benefit from unlimited domestic > and international calling and a suite of 24 basic and advanced > features for one low monthly fixed price. BroadVoice currently offers > service in over 1,500 rate centers in 36 US states. Founded in > December 2003, BroadVoice is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Convergent > Networks, Inc. and is based in Lowell, MA. Additional information can > be found at www.broadvoice.com. > Contacts > BroadVoice, Inc. > Angela Epstein, 978-418-7380 > aepstein@broadvoice.com > or > J.E. Hochman & Associates for BroadVoice > Jonathan Hochman, 860-233-4219 > jehochman@jehochman.com ------------------------------ 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. 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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 V24 #36 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jan 26 18:13:54 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0QNDsx22885; Wed, 26 Jan 2005 18:13:54 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 18:13:54 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501262313.j0QNDsx22885@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 V24 #37 TELECOM Digest Wed, 26 Jan 2005 18:12:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 37 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming (Jack Decker) VoicePulse Service Now Selling on Amazon.com - Top-Rated (Jack Decker) BroadVoice Offers Local Numbers In The United Kingdom (Jack Decker) Post-Powell Depression (Jack Decker) Where Did All the Money Go? (Alan Burkitt-Gray) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (John Levine) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Paul Coxwell) Re: 800 or 10-10 (Wolfgang Rupprecht) Re: MF Tones - What Are They Used For? (Paul Coxwell) Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon (John Levine) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Dave Garland) Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines (Carl Navarro) Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines (Joe Morris) Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines (Lisa Hancock) Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines (John Hines) Re: Norvergence W-2 (Lisa Hanock) 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. 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: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:08:45 -0500 Subject: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming A comment on this story follows the excerpt ... http://news.com.com/Net+telephone+fees+have+users+fuming/2100-7352_3-5550345.html Net telephone fees have users fuming Published: January 26, 2005, 10:06 AM PST By Ben Charny Staff Writer, CNET News.com John Rolff's latest broadband phone bill contained three words he vowed never to see again: "regulatory recovery fee." The same charge was the reason he dumped his old phone provider, SBC Communications, in favor of Primus Telecommunications' Lingo, which lets his broadband line double as his phone line. From all appearances, Lingo hadn't been "adding these little nickel and dime charges," he said. But now, the 38-year-old software engineer -- along with 755,000 others -- is learning that this had never really been the case. Lingo, Vonage, Time Warner Cable and every[*] other commercial provider of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services have been collecting government fees for years. It's only in recent months that most have been coming clean on their statements -- to fend off critics, as the spotlight on Net phone services grows. Some, notably state governments, have called for broadband telephone services to pay the same regulatory fees that the traditional local phone providers -- known as the "Baby Bells" -- do. The Federal Communications Commission has so far kept regulators' hands off VoIP. Hoping to counter calls for direct taxation and regulation, many of the Net phone operators now identify a "regulatory recovery fee" line item of 50 cents to $3 as part of their regular monthly service charges. They say they're highlighting the portion of local phone fees the Bells have always charged them for completing calls on local lines. "A lot of people were raising this concern that we weren't funding telephone projects like the Bells were," said Jeffrey Citron, CEO of VoIP provider Vonage Holdings. "That's a red herring -- I say 'malarkey' to it. We already fund part of it, and we wanted to show our customers and everybody else." Net phone companies insist that the fees are legitimate, merely offsetting the costs of taxes and regulatory fees passed on to them by the local phone companies for completing Net calls, they say. Nevertheless, some critics say the label is at best misleading -- and at worst a misrepresentation with potential for abuse. The line item attempt to soothe angry state regulators seems instead to have riled VoIP customers, many of whom admire the outsider stance of broadband phone services as well as the cheaper rates. Rolff said he no longer views his operator as a lovable underdog with a hot technology trying to topple the Bell Goliaths. Full story at: http://news.com.com/Net+telephone+fees+have+users+fuming/2100-7352_3-5550345.html [*Jack Decker COMMENT: Can you spot the false statement in this story? It is, "every other commercial provider of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services have been collecting government fees for years." First of all, many of the providers of VoIP service haven't been in business for "years", second, even today there are providers (such as VoicePulse) that do not collect a regulatory recovery fee. I have been opposed to the addition of these fees from the outset because they are almost never mentioned adjacent to the advertised price, thus making it difficult for customers who want to compare monthly rates, and putting those who don't resort to such trickery at a disadvantage (by making their competitors' prices look lower than they really are). All the customer cares about is the bottom line, and that's the price he wants to see when making price comparisons.] 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: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:52:55 -0500 Subject: BroadVoice Offers Local Numbers In The United Kingdom http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb201602.htm BroadVoice Offers Local Numbers In The United Kingdom UK Alternate Numbers Available in 107 cities and towns for only $ 1.95 per month Lowell, MA (PRWEB) January 26, 2005 -- BroadVoice, a leading provider of Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone service to home and small business users, today announced that it has launched local number service in 107 cities and towns across the UK, including major population centers in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. BroadVoice customers can now add a UK Alternate Number to their accounts for only $1.95 per month. This new feature allows UK callers to make a local telephone call and connect with the associated BroadVoice subscriber. "We are pleased to welcome customers in the United Kingdom or anywhere else where a UK number would be useful. No matter where you are in the world, if you have friends, colleagues or relatives in the UK, you can get a local UK Alternate Number on your BroadVoice account so they can stay in touch," said BroadVoice president David Epstein. "This has major implications for individuals and small businesses that want to cross international boundaries." BroadVoice already has already shipped its start-up kits to customers in 65 countries. BroadVoice enables its customers to make and receive phone calls over their existing high speed Internet connections, and provides 24 free calling features, including voicemail, caller ID and call waiting. Customers can order a BroadVoice Broadband Phone Adapter to use with their standard touch tone telephone, they may bring their own phone adapter, or they may purchase a VoIP-ready telephone set, system or headset. BroadVoice offers service plans starting at $9.95 for Unlimited In-State calling. The $19.95 Unlimited World plan offers free calls to 21 countries, including the United States, most of Western Europe and China. For $24.95 the Unlimited World Plus plan provides free calls to 35 countries, including Brazil, Japan and Israel. The BroadVoice Business plan is available for $29.95 per month. About BroadVoice The BroadVoice service lets consumers and small businesses use a high-speed DSL or cable modem connection to make and receive phone calls anywhere in the world. Customers benefit from unlimited domestic and international calling and a suite of 24 basic and advanced features for one low monthly fixed price. BroadVoice currently offers service in over 1,600 rate centers in 36 US states as well as 114 UK cities. Founded in December 2003, BroadVoice is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Convergent Networks, Inc. and is based in Lowell, MA. Additional information can be found at http://www.broadvoice.com. ### Contacts Angela Epstein BroadVoice, Inc. 978-418-7380 e-mail protected from spam bots Jonathan Hochman for BroadVoice J.E. Hochman & Associates 860-233-4219 e-mail protected from spam bots Full story at: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb201602.htm ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:19:22 -0500 Subject: Post-Powell Depression http://www.forbes.com/business/2005/01/21/cx_da_0121powell.html Telecom Post-Powell Depression David M. Ewalt, 01.21.05, 2:00 PM ET NEW YORK - Pop stars with malfunctioning wardrobes and Howard Stern are probably already rejoicing at today's news that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell will step down in March. But among investors and vendors of emerging technologies such as IP telephony, expect a very different reaction--and concern about the future. "This is going to leave a huge hole," says Burton Group analyst David Passmore. "I think he's done a lot to move the country forwards to new technologies and how they change the game." While his most public battles have been over issues of decency and censorship, Powell has also become a strong advocate for emerging technologies, particularly internet telephony, or voice-over-Internet Protocol. During the last year, Powell helped push through a number of landmark FCC rulings that defined VoIP as a new kind of information service, protecting it from the taxes and regulations applied to traditional phone services. "The chairman has done the voice over IP industry wonders," says Jeff Pulver, chief executive of Free World Dialup, a VoIP service provider which in February was the subject of one of Powell's salutary FCC rulings. "He certainly set the tone, the pace and the direction for how to address IP communications." Full story at: http://www.forbes.com/business/2005/01/21/cx_da_0121powell.html ------------------------------ Subject: Where Did All the Money Go? From: Alan Burkitt-Gray <36045.98005456@ems.euromoneyplc.com> Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 12:43:27 GMT Meanwhile where have the industry's revenues gone? A revealing email from the FCC yesterday, with a link to a 306-page PDF document carrying the US regulator's international traffic data. It's only up to the end of 2003, mind you, but nevertheless the information is shocking AT&T was carrying 7 billion minutes of international traffic in 1993 at $1 a minute. A decade later it was carrying almost twice as much for two thirds the revenue -- an average $0.31 a minute. And AT&T's revenue per minute are way higher than its rivals': Sprint billed $0.30 a minute for international traffic in 2003, MCI billed $0.13, and all other carriers an average of $0.10 a minute. Add it all up, and international traffic into and out of the US has quadrupled in 10 years but revenue per minute has fallen to a fifth of what it was, and overall billed revenues has gone from $11 billion to $8 billion. And that, we hardly need to point out, was during a decade when the industry was spending more on international network connections that at any time in history. If that doesn't frighten you, what will? ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jan 2005 20:19:36 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > America has the worst mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the > world. For example nowhere in the world do you pay or are deducted > minutes for recieving calls its just unheard of. America has the best mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the world, except maybe for Canada. For example, for $30/mo I get a package that includes more calls than I ever make, both incoming and outgoing, and I can call anywhere in the country at no charge. Even better, when people call me, they don't get ripped off for 25 or 30 cents a minute like I do when I call people's mobile phones in Europe. If I want to switch between mobile and landline service, I can take my number with me so my friends don't even have to know what kind of phone I have. Yours in trollfulness, John ------------------------------ From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 22:39:14 -0000 > Let's see. In the UK, you can't just go buy a TV, bring it home, and > turn it on. You must OWN A LICENSE, paid for to the crown, to receive > television entertainment. That's so ridiculous, it's amazing. What > are those people thinking. > And yet they put up with it. Yep, and that license fee (aka television tax) currently runs about $200 per year. But it gets worse. If you go into one of the big stores and buy a TV (or VCR, satellite receiver etc.) they are actually obliged by law to pass your name and address on to the TV Licensing Office,. And if there's no license registered there, you'll be subjected to the usual barrage of intimidating letters (unless you had the sense to pay cash and give a false address, of course). Here's the official TV Licensing website: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/ There is some opposition here however: http://www.tvlicensing.biz/ Paul Coxwell Norfolk, England. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: 800 Number or 10-10 From: wolfgang+gnus20050126T124725@dailyplanet.dontspam.wsrcc.com Organization: W S Rupprecht Computer Consulting, Fremont CA Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 21:00:29 GMT Isaiah Beard writes: > I don't think many places are going to give you 2 cents/minute or > below, and if one does, they must be a terribly cut rate, fly-by-night > operation. Even VoIP companies are charging in the 3.9 cent range. While I suspect these companies are a bit on the fly-by-night side, I'm certainly seeing a few VOIP players offering 2 cents and under. www.voipjet.com 1.3 cents/minute www.gafachi.com 2 cents/minute. www.nufone.net 2 cents/minute I just wish I could find folks in the SF Bay Area offering rates like these. Sending packets on a 100ms round trip to the east coast just to call my neighbors seems a bit wasteful. Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/ Hate software patents? Sign here: http://thankpoland.info/ ------------------------------ From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: MF Tones -- What, if Anything, Are They Still Used For? Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 22:28:56 -0000 silvas_clinch@yahoo.com wrote: > Hi everyone. > I'm kind of curious about the MF tones I learned of recently, the ones > that were used by the toll network of the 60's, 70's, and 80's to > control how calls were routed. Have a look at the Phone trips website: www.wideweb.com/phonetrips There are many, many recordings from the 1970s there in which you can hear MF signaling in action. - Paul ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jan 2005 15:56:11 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > but there is just no other place in the world that you can go and > see a functioning panel or crossbar switch and have someone explain > to you how it works. There's a working SxS at the Science Museum in London for people on the other side of the pond. Their telephone history exhibits are quite good, too. ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 00:46:18 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when John Levine wrote: > That's not enough power to heat anything. With all due respect, heating may not be the mechanism. EM waves can affect things in other ways. Want an example? Hold a fluorescent tube up next to a transmitter antenna, or near a high-tension line, it lights up. (Hold up an incandescent bulb, which is optimized to produce light from heat, and nothing happens.) I once made small neon tubes without electrodes, and lit them by putting them in a microwave oven, the lighting mechanism was by direct excitation of the gas (neon lamps don't use heat to make light). The tubes were stone cold when removed from the oven. Some studies have indicated that things like the shape of the waveform make a difference. Some studies that have nothing to do with safety show effects on nerves and enzymes that are unlikely to be thermal in nature. Do a PubMed search on "electromagnetic radiation", you'll get over 8000 hits. Look at all of them that relate to interactions between EMR and biologic systems, not just those related to cell phone safety. There doesn't seem to be any dispute that EMR can have biologic effects that are not caused by heating. None of which is to say that cell phones are dangerous. I have no idea. But it seems foolhardy to flatly say they can have no effect whatsoever. ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines Reply-To: cnavarro@wcnet.org Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 10:36:12 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com On 25 Jan 2005 12:46:45 -0800, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Monty Solomon: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This could be retitled 'Our Crumbling >> Infrastructure', and it is an excellent example of how things which >> were built in our nation's past no longer can be maintained without a >> lot of expense (which we do not have) and hassle. > I don't agree with the above summary. > I would call it "stupid homeless public policy". > The subway system of any city is no place for homeless people to be > in. Many people have been killed due to exposure to the elements, hit > by train, contact with high power supplies, or other accidents. And maybe some of those aren't "accidents" Wow, where to begin. In the "old days" you could be committed to the insane asylum for any number of reasons, mostly heresay. For example, my grandfather committed my grandmother to an asylum so he could get a divorce and remarry. No, grandma was not insane and I never saw my grandfather after the age of 5. One of or genealogist family members said this was common practice in those days. We're back to socialized health and welfare care. Some people don't take meds because they can't afford them. Some people know how to work the system and get a free ride. Act insane. Threaten to kill yourself and you'll get a free ride to some half-way house with gratis medical care and shelter. Just don't forget your character :-) I'm not advocating tossing these people out on the street, but there ought to be a way to get them to a work farm/rest home If you live to be 90, you have a whole lot better chance of having a major medical problem than at 60. Yet old hotels and buildings sit empty in cities around the country. Carl Navarro [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A lot of 'old hotels' in the Chicago area are rented out wholesale to the Welfare/Social Service agencies for the purpose of housing lots of otherwise homeless and mentally ill persons. And of course the largest such institution for housing/ caring for mentally ill people is Cook County Jail. Average daily population at CCJ is nine to ten thousand inmates. I suggest that quite a few/most inmates are mentally ill to some extent or another. Another good source of housing for mentally ill people are the countless 'nursing homes' around Chicago, many of which are themselves sort of ripoff places. In fact, when the Asylums closed down, the jail got a lot of the business, and the 'nursing homes' got more of it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joe Morris Subject: Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:50:59 UTC Organization: The MITRE Organization Monty Solomon writes: > A fire that began with a homeless person trying to keep warm by > igniting wood and refuse in a shopping cart has crippled two of the > city's subway lines, which might not be restored to normal capacity > for three to five years, officials said today. News articles this morning (Wednesday, 26 January) report that "highly embarrassed" city officials have now changed the expected length of the outage from years to months for both the A and C lines. The article in the _Washingon Post_ observes "Although agency spokesmen had reiterated the five-year repair timeline only hours earlier, they blamed the comfusion on everyone else -- from the press to politicians." The same article reported that the time-to-repair will be controlled by the availiabilty of replacement parts for the control system; reportedly they are not stocked by the subway authority. Washington's subway system lost a similar control room on the Red Line last year to flooding, but was back in full service within a week or so because they did stock the components that were lost. Joe Morris ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines Date: 26 Jan 2005 11:45:45 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com We're moving pretty far afield from communication, but I tie it in at the very end. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have to agree in large part with Lisa > on this. While it is true -- I agree to a large extent with the > 'advocates' on this -- that mental institutions have been used in the > past as places of punishment, even here in the USA, for people who are > a bit 'different', nothing more or less, still, there *are* people who > are better off in such places. Yes, in years past such institutions were pretty horrid places. The point is that _external_ advocates (not family members or state officials) decided on their own that the places be closed rather than rehabilitated and operated better. Further, they made it much harder to commit people to such facilities. My feeling is the cure was worse than the disease. > an 85 year old lady who had been institutionalized at Chicago State > for *over sixty years* since she could not speak English and no one on > the staff knew what kind of language she was speaking. The exact same thing supposedly happened in Philadelphia. > Lisa, the 'advocates' were not all bad people with agendas contrary to > the best interests of society. Most of them meant well. ... > ... But the 'advocates' did not intend that people who > were 'that way' should choose many times to be homeless or refuse to > take their medications. That was just an unfortunate side effect. Yeah > I know, the 'advocates' should have probably tried harder. I don't question the motives of the advocates, but I do question their chosen goal (institutional shutdown) and their tactics (through litigation rather than legislation). Some of those involved in my area were activist lawyers (a polite way of saying grown-up hippies looking for a new cause). As mentioned, they filed a lawsuit in court to close an institution -- but families of the residents objected to the lawsuit. To me, that is quite arrogant to override the wishes of the families! As to the street homeless being an "unfortunate side effect", I strongly object. Had the advocates concentrated on improving conditions rather than a shutdown, things would be better. They literally cheered the shutdowns, then walked away to fight other causes, leaving the actual patients literally left out in the cold. Further, there have been a number of cases where families have pleaded with judges to confine their children because they had been violent and dangerous; the judges refused, and said children went out on murdering sprees. I certainly don't want healthy people confined against their will, but people who have serious mental illness and a propensity toward random violence need to be confined. Again, they "threw out the baby with the bathwater" rather than fixing the problem and putting in appropriate safeguards. People argue the homeless shelter system is bad because it is "dangerous" -- that's all the more reason those people need to be confined -- they are dangerous. As to the homeless, frankly, I think most people who choose to live on the street eating gargage and exposed to the elements have a serious mental problem; I don't call this a "lifestyle choice". Further, if such a lifestyle will result in a short life I believe that constitutes a danger the person needs to be protected from. Certainly the person's family should be involved and have input into the decision. > ... Lisa, I agree with you that the 'advocates' were/are sometimes > fuzzy-minded liberals who are not very realistic. But it is not fair > to blame *them* because some people prefer to be homeless or refuse > to take medication prescribed for them. PAT] The situation of discovered graves is very common on public lands. But I do blame the advocates for the problem. Suppose one of their parents came down with Alzheimers and began wandering the cold winter streets aimlessly in light pajamas. (If unprotected, a great many Alz patients will do just that.) I'm sure they'd confine their parents, involutarily if necessary, to a safe place where they couldn't wander. I'm also sure they'd be quite upset if some stranger told them they were violating their parents right and had to leave their parents make their own choices. (An Alz patient can sound quite rational even when speaking of events 50+ years ago. Many people attempt to leave their nursing home "I have to get home to make dinner for my mother" when their mother died 50 years prior.) Further, I believe that advocates had a hidden motive to "beat the system". They automatically assume the "system" is bad and must be destroyed; this dates from their hippie days. I've talked to many of those advocates and inevitably they bring up how the "'govt' lied to us in Vietnam and they're lying to us now". Sorry, but Vietnam is not the same govt nor policy as today's mental health and it's stupid to mix the two; but they do. The advocates use litigation to achieve their ends. I think they're failing to communicate to the public. If they could communicate their case effectively, they wouldn't need the courts. Further, I think the public catches on to their Vietnam subconscious; the advocates need to communicate to themselves their feelings and realize the rest of the world has moved on. Otherwise they can find people who still believe there are Communists under every bed. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa has so much to say, I do not know where to begin responding. But yes, Lisa, the government is still the government; still as oppressive as ever. We don't call it Vietnam any longer. Now we call it 'Patriot Act', 'Iraq' and 'terrorism'. And let's face it, litigation is the **only** way things happen. The Pork Barrel Congress only responds to the ones with money; not the regular people There is no real difference between Democrats and Republicans; when a *real difference* comes along it gets shot down through a myriad of rules and regulations. The myth of mental illness still a good tool used by the public servants as they wish. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 22:17:39 -0600 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They are saying the required parts to rebuild what was lost in the fire are only produced at two companies, both in other countries, and it will take months just to get the parts. PAT] When did NY and PA succeed? From the NYT today: "The two companies - Alstom Signaling Inc., based in Rochester, and Union Switch and Signal, based in Pittsburgh - have been manufacturing the electromechanical switches, known as vital relays, for at least as long as New York City has had a subway." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/nyregion/26companies.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, my competitor the NYT *yesterday* said it was going to take *years* to straighten out the mess and the companies were both from other countries. NYT changed thier mind on both these matters today, and blamed it all on the politicians at the Transit Authority who had been 'confused'. You can read the latest 'news that fits' from NYT daily, 24/7 here in the TELECOM Digest http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html The page and headlines refresh constantly; each time you check it out you get whatever is fresh from NYT at that moment. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Norvergence W-2 Date: 26 Jan 2005 11:59:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa, are you one of those people still > laboring under the delusion that Social Security is still going to be > around and financially healthy when these younger guys start retiring > in 2050 and 2060? Bush, in a rare moment of honesty, has already > started breaking the news to us: Make your own plans for the future. > PAT] Several comments: 1) Social security was never meant to be a total pension, but rather a supplement so a senior at least had something coming in. In most cases, it wouldn't be enough for anyone to live on. I'm nervous for the baby boomers who will retire with little savings or pensions and debt. One still has to pay rent, eat, get around, pay for health care, have some entertainment. 2) The NYT Magazine just had a major article discussing the SS issue. They felt things are much healthier than suggested. At present, the fund takes in more from taxes than it pays out, and they suggest that will continue for some time. Once that ends, the surplus Trust Fund can last for a very long time (remember, taxes are still coming in). The article isn't hot reading, but I recommend it. They do agree some tightening is in order, such as raising the tax threshhold (so more taxes come in) or raising the retirement age (which in effect lowers benefits). I am not thrilled about Bush's plan to allow stock market investments as a alternative. What really concerns about about the future is the continuing skyrocketing cost of healthcare. Seniors need lots of expensive care -- where will that money come from, especially as people live longer? What about the rest of us? ------------------------------ 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 V24 #37 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jan 27 21:35:24 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0S2ZOS05795; Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:35:24 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:35:24 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501280235.j0S2ZOS05795@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 V24 #38 TELECOM Digest Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:33:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 38 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson An Attribution Error (Lisa Minter) AOL Dropping Usenet Access (Danny Burstein) Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming (Jack Decker) Disruptive Telecom Technology (Siddhartha Jain) Considering Vonage - Phone and Network Questions (rlstjohn) Firms Formulate Guidelines for Employee Cellphone Use (Monty Solomon) How-To: Turn Your Mac Mini Into a Media Center (Monty Solomon) SBC Reportedly in Talks to Acquire AT&T (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Cox CATV Outage (was Did it Snow Over the Weekend?) (Neal McLain) Japanese Calling Home From UK - Questions (tokyoeditor) Magazine Editor Seeking an Interview (Angie Marek) 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: Lisa Minter Subject: An Attribution Error Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 23:47:38 -0000 A note I received in email today from a Digest reader who also edits a publication of interest in telecom needs to be mentioned: I used a paragraph from a recent Global Telecoms Business Top 5 Daily newsletter, which I will quote here: > Subject: Where Did All the Money Go? > From: Alan Burkitt-Gray <36045.98005456@ems.euromoneyplc.com> > Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 12:43:27 GMT > Meanwhile where have the industry's revenues gone? > A revealing email from the FCC yesterday, with a link to a 306-page > PDF document carrying the US regulator's international traffic > data. It's only up to the end of 2003, mind you, but nevertheless > the information is shocking AT&T was carrying 7 billion minutes of > international traffic in 1993 at $1 a minute. A decade later it was > carrying almost twice as much for two thirds the revenue -- an average > $0.31 a minute. And AT&T's revenue per minute are way higher than its > rivals': Sprint billed $0.30 a minute for international traffic in > 2003, MCI billed $0.13, and all other carriers an average of $0.10 > a minute. Add it all up, and international traffic into and out of > the US has quadrupled in 10 years but revenue per minute has fallen > to a fifth of what it was, and overall billed revenues has gone from > $11 billion to $8 billion. And that, we hardly need to point > out, was during a decade when the industry was spending more on > international network connections that at any time in history. If > that doesn't frighten you, what will? I used Alan Burkitt-Gray's name on the article (he has written here to the Digest in the past) but without any sort of attribution, as though it was a personal comment from him submitted to Telecom Digest. I should note that Allan B-G edits Global Telecoms Business magazine and the article was actually written for his top 5 Daily Digest members but -- as he clearly states in the intro to each issue we should have run the entire issue of the magazine and included the attribution along with a notice that anyone who wants it directly should email aburkitt@euromoneyplc.com for their own personal copy and with the full copyright notice. Here is the full email address to use: http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com email aburkitt@euromoneyplc.com; tel +44 20 7779 8518 or +1 212 224 3880; fax +44 20 7779 8248. Please send all press releases to gtb@euromoneyplc.com only. Global Telecoms Business Top 5 Daily: email Alan B-G to get on the distribution list for this free newsletter. For subscription details please contact Murray McArthur on mmcarthur@euromoneyplc.com; tel +44 20 7779 8710; fax +44 20 7779 8344 Nestor House, Playhouse Yard, London EC4V 5EX, UK ----- My apologies, Alan. Lisa Minter ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: AOL Dropping Usenet Access Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 17:59:23 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC AOL has apparently decided to stop supporting usenet for its customers. Typical story at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/25/aol_cutsoff_newsgroups/ (disclosure: I work at an ISP that considers usenet a fundamental internet service) ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Isn't this just someone bitching because they didn't remember to include > taxes? That's just the problem, these aren't taxes -- at least not any that these companies are required to add to their bills. Every company has to pay taxes, and many pay additional fees (such as tariffs on imports, license fees, permit fees, etc.) but they cannot just tack some arbitrary amount onto their advertised price to cover such things. And it is an arbitrary amount - no one knows how they actually come up with the monthly charge, nor for that matter, what they are actually spending it on. "Regulatory recovery fee" really tells you very little; there are lots of things that could be associated with government regulation in some form or another. What boggles my mind is that companies in the telecommunications industry seem to get away with something that would not be allowed almost any other industry, and that is quoting one price to a customer, then actually charging a higher one. And again, I emphasize that these fees are not taxes that the government requires these companies to collect from end users. They are just an arbitrary fee that these companies decide to add on, so they can keep their advertised price artificially low in relation to their competitors. But this makes it very difficult for potential customers to fairly compare the actual monthly rate they will pay from any provider under consideration. 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: Siddhartha Jain Subject: Disruptive Telecom Technology Date: 27 Jan 2005 02:59:46 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com P2P proved to be a disruptive technology for the music industry. VoIP proved to be a disruptive technology for long distance telephony. However, the end user still is dependant on a wires/wireless service provider for connectivity to voice or data networks that run P2P or VoIP. That means abuse at the hands of indifferent telcos/ISPs and careless customer service departments. So is there a disruptive technology in the works that hands the network to the people? - Siddhartha ------------------------------ From: rlstjohn Subject: Considering Vonage - Phone and Network Questions Date: 27 Jan 2005 06:13:46 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com All: I am considering changing over to Vonage for my phone service. I will not be able to completely dump my current phone company though, since I rely on a landline for both Tivo and my home alarm system. Part of my current phone configuration consists of something like the Vtech system which has one main base station and other handsets which do not require a telephone plug in. If I were to switch to Vonage would I simply be able to plug the main base station into the Vonage phone adapter or network connection and still be able to use the upstairs phone (second handset)? I would be very ineterested to hear how others have their phone and networks configured if using Vonage. It appears that most of these Vonage adapter (made by Linksys etc) have two ports so I guess multiple adapters would be required to support a large number of phones in one house. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you, Robert [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: On my Vonage application, I have it wired through a PBX so I can use it anywhere in my house. I dial '9' to get an outside regular telco line, and I dial '8' to get Vonage dialtone. Regards the two ports on the back of the Vonage TA, one of them is typically used for a fax line. You have to request that Vonage tech support turn it on; it will not work otherwise. Vonage works the same as a 'regular' phone line in the sense that any peripherals you have on your phone line *should* work okay on your Vonage, more or less in the same way with the same reliablity. But, take care to keep your landline phone wires separate. Disconnect your landline phone before you plug in the Vonage, and *never* allow the wire pairs from one to cross connect with the other. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Monty Solomon Subject: Firms Formulate Guidelines For Employee Cellphone Use Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 09:30:22 -0500 By Joyce Pellino Crane, Globe Staff, 1/23/05 Somewhere near Winslow, Maine, is a scenic view of China Lake where Monsanto Co. salesman Robert Pierpont regularly makes client calls from his cellphone -- one of many locations at which he pauses along his route. "I know all the scenic, beautiful views," he said. He should. While Pierpont traverses 3,500 miles a month across New England and eastern New York selling animal health products to dairy farmers and veterinarians, Monsanto says he cannot conduct business on his cellphone unless his car is stopped. St. Louis-based Monsanto is one of a small but growing number of companies publishing guidelines for cellphone use inside the office and the car, as some high-profile liability cases catch the eye of corporate America. "It's a hot liability topic," said Kathryn Lusby-Treber, executive director of the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety in Vienna, Va. "If [companies] don't have a policy in place, they should. The company is certainly at risk. If they have an employee who's driving for business and they're in a crash, the employer can be held responsible for the crash." An April 2004 survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, in Alexandria, Va., showed that of 379 responding companies, 40 percent already had a cellphone policy in place and another 12 percent expected to develop a written policy within six months. But even more companies may be reconsidering their positions after reading about a lawsuit against an employer involving an employee's cellphone call inside an automobile. In October, the San Francisco law firm Cooley Godward settled a $30 million lawsuit in the death of 15- year-old Naeun Yoon, who was struck and killed in 2000 on a busy highway outside Fairfax, Va., by one of its employees -- a lawyer accused of making a business call on her cellphone while driving. After serving a year in jail and surrendering her law license, Jane Wagner was ordered to pay $2 million in damages to Yoon's family by a circuit court jury in Loudoun County, Va. While the firm's insurance company paid $92,500, according to its attorney, John McGavin of Fairfax, the firm was not held liable. http://bostonworks.boston.com/globe/articles/012305_cell.html ------------------------------ From: Monty Solomon Subject: HOW-TO: Turn Your Mac Mini Into a Media Center Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:30:55 -0500 Posted Jan 25, 2005, 1:24 PM ET by Barb Dybwad Yep, everyone's talking about using the Mac mini as a home media center, and there's a reason why: its diminutive form factor makes it a good candidate to fit unobtrusively into an existing audio/video or home theater setup. It looks more like a consumer electronics device than a computer, so it won't look out of place in your living room. We think of it as the central brain of our system; the glue that holds all the devices together. It can serve the role of scheduler, controller, audio/video recorder, audio/video playback, audio/video download, and it even makes a decent audio/video production unit, as well. You might not win the next Sundance with your iMovie, but you sure can impress everyone at the next family reunion. So for this week's How-To we'll cover the various aspects you'll need to think about when planning your Mac mini media center system, plus show you how to control your Mac mini headlessly from any computer in your house -- there's no need to BYODKM; just BYOB, pop in a DVD and enjoy your HDTV, OK? http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000057028826/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:12:06 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: SBC Reportedly in Talks to Acquire AT&T Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 27, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=19005&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * SBC reportedly in talks to acquire AT&T BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Nortel hires CFO * Verizon Wireless picks Microsoft * Vonage enters U.K. market * Verizon, Nokia report earnings USTA SPOTLIGHT * Order Telecommunications Billing Systems Today! EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Home networking too complicated for widespread use * New IPTV hardware provides alternative to rewiring * Motive offers broadband-management tools REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * FCC opens spectrum auction * Summit focuses on New Mexico's telecom needs Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=19005&l=2017006 Legal and Privacy information at http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp SmartBrief, Inc. 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 21:30:33 -0600 From: Neal McLain Subject: Cox CATV Outage (was Did it Snow Over the Weekend?) Tony P. [TD V24 #32] wrote: > It's hard to tell just how much snow we've gotten in Providence > because of the damned drifting. ... Walking back I noticed three > Cox trucks humming down the road. When I walked in the door the > cable was on again - they must have lost a head end or at least > power to it. I doubt that it was the headend. If they'd lost the headend, the entire system would be down, and the techs wouldn't be humming down the road; they'd be back at the headend desperately trying to fix things. The most likely cause for a cold-weather outage is what cable guys affectionately call a "suckout" -- a situation where a CATV distribution cable is literally pulled out of a tap or an amplifier. CATV distribution cable is mostly aluminum (copper-clad aluminum center conductor; solid aluminum sheath; plastic dielectric, typically foamed polyethylene). The Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion for aluminum is about 12.7E-6 foot/foot/degree F. [1] CATV distribution cable is mechanically supported by steel "strand," typically 1/4- or 3/8-inch stranded steel cable. The strand is placed under tension (typically a few hundred pounds) to prevent sag. The Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion for high-strength steel is about 6.7E-6 foot/foot/degree F. [1,2] In other words, when the temperature falls, aluminum shrinks about twice as much as steel. Now let's consider what happens when a cable company installs a 1000-foot run of strand-supported CATV cable on a nice warm summer day, and then measures it on a cold winter night a few months later: AMBIENT ALUMINUM STEEL AIR CATV CABLE STRAND SITUATION TEMP (FEET) (FEET) Summer day 80F 1000.0 1000.0 Winter night 0F 999.0 999.5 When the temperature drops to zero, the CATV cable is about 6" shorter than the strand. Result: something breaks. Usually, the CATV cable is pulled out of some component: suckout. In order to prevent suckouts, every CATV cable has a "loop" at almost every pole. Theoretically, the loop is supposed to provide enough slack to absorb the thermal shrinkage. It usually works, although suckouts sometimes occur anyway if there's ice buildup on the cable and/or wind whipping it from side to side. Of course, there's another reason for suckouts: errant vehicles colliding with utility poles. This could occur in any weather, but for obvious reasons it happens more frequently in snowy weather. [1] Comparisons of Materials: Coefficient of Thermal Expansion. "Materials Selector", Reinhold Publishing Co., Penton/IPC. http://bobmay.astronomy.net/misc/tempcoef.htm [2] An illustration of strand-supported CATV cable is at http://www.annsgarden.com/poles/poles.htm#strand Neal McLain ------------------------------ From: tokyoeditor@gmail.com Subject: Japanese Calling Home From UK - Questions Date: 27 Jan 2005 17:50:47 -0800 I genuinely want to find the best information for one of my wife's cousins who is planning a homestay in the UK for about 6 months. I will try and explain as clearly as possible in the hope that it will help you answer. While I am aware that obtaining a mobile phone is relatively hassle-free for someone such as my Japanese cousin, spending 6 months in the UK to study English and on a homestay, the problem is this: * The cousin is 18 years old, with a relatively low level of English. The parents want her to have a mobile phone during the stay in the UK to remain easily contactable. * However, taking a Japanese-contracted phone to the UK, even assuming it can operate there, would be prohibitively expensive due to paying for roaming (as far as I know). Due to the extra expense involved, this is not the preferred option, unless there is an economical way of using a Japan-purchased phone in the UK. * The answer would be to take out a new contract on a phone when in the UK. However, she would not be comfortable with a phone featuring ENGLISH instructions and display. The preferred option is as follows: * A phone which can be arranged after arrival in the UK and which includes a Japanese language function. * A plan/tariff whereby the user (cousin) does not have to pay for incoming calls made from Japan by family etc. Or where these are as cheap as possible. * The main purpose of the phone would be as a means of contact for her family in Japan, since she does not know many people in the UK. I am hoping to get an answer, in the shape of detailed advice and recommendations for suitable models if possible, and I would really appreciate anyone's help. Please post here or email me on tokyoeditor@gmail.com ------------------------------ From: acmarek@gmail.com Subject: Magazine Writer Looking For an Interview Date: 27 Jan 2005 16:59:39 -0800 Becky (and others), I am a reporter with US News and World Report, currently working on a story on Voice Over IP. It's a pretty basic piece, explaining how the technology works, why some people are switching over to it, and what we can expect to see from the technology in the future. I'm looking to interview a family like Becky's (or Becky, even) that made the switch to VoIP for a landline. Also of interest to me is people that use a technology like Skype, say, to communicate for free with farflung friends or family (like kids studying abroad). If anyone has any suggestions or can help me get in touch with such a person, please write me an e-mail at: amarek@usnews.com. Also, Becky, I would love to interview you. Thanks so much, Angie C. Marek [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not personally know how to locate Becky, maybe Jack Decker can check his mailing list. But others who have experience with Skype or other VOIP technology may wish to get in touch with Ms. Marek. 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'. 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 V24 #38 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jan 27 23:20:46 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0S4KjV07317; Thu, 27 Jan 2005 23:20:46 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 23:20:46 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501280420.j0S4KjV07317@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 V24 #39 TELECOM Digest Thu, 27 Jan 2005 23:18:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 39 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson EPIC 2004 Privacy Year in Review (Monty Solomon) EPIC Alert 12.01 (Monty Solomon) EPIC Alert 12.02 (Monty Solomon) Policy Post 11.01: Federal ID Proposals for US Citizens (Monty Solomon) Policy Post 11.02: CDT, Tech Groups Urge High Court to Protect (Solomon) EFFector 18.2: Can the FBI Monitor Your Web Browsing Without (M Solomon) Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines (Carl Navarro) Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines (Joe Morris) Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines (Lisa Hancock) Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines (Thor Lancelot Simon) Re: Norvergence W-2 (Lisa Hancock) Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon (John Levine) Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon (Gene S. Berkowitz) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Tony P.) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Scott Dorsey) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Rob) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Isaiah Beard) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (cjmebox-telecomdigest) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:45:52 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC 2004 Privacy Year in Review ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Year in Review January 12, 2005 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_yir2004.html ====================================================================== 2 0 0 4 P R I V A C Y Y E A R I N R E V I E W ====================================================================== Privacy debates continued in the United States in 2004 as proposals for passenger profiling and new identity cards provoked public protest and legislation. Google announced a new email service that offered lots of free storage while also peeking at the users' private messages. ID theft continued to be a national problem. And some states, most notably California, adopted new laws to safeguard personal privacy. Here are the Top Ten Privacy Stories of 2004 from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC): http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_yir2004.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:47:00 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 12.01 ====================================================================== E P I C A l e r t ====================================================================== Volume 12.01 January 13, 2005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.01.html ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] EPIC Testifies on RFID Uses for Health Care; Proposes Framework [2] Landmark Privacy Bill Takes Effect in California [3] Coalition Opposes Loophole to Do-Not-Call Registry [4] EPIC Obtains FBI Reports to Congress on Carnivore [5] Police Ask for DNA From Cape Cod Town's Male Residents [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Bookstore: No Place to Hide [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.01.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:48:04 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 12.02 ====================================================================== E P I C A l e r t ====================================================================== Volume 12.02 January 27, 2005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.02.html ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] EPIC Hosts Annual Privacy Coalition Summit [2] EPIC FOIA Suit Reveals FBI Kept Millions of Passenger Records [3] Inauguration Day Puts DC Under Unprecedented Surveillance [4] Acxiom Lobbied for Broad Exemptions to Privacy Law After 9/11 [5] EPIC Urges Privacy Protections for Federal Employee ID Card [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Bookstore: Prying Eyes [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.02.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:50:28 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Policy Post 11.01: Federal ID Proposals for US Citizens CDT POLICY POST Volume 11, Number 1, January 18, 2005 A Briefing On Public Policy Issues Affecting Civil Liberties Online from The Center For Democracy and Technology (1) Federal ID Proposals for US Citizens and Others Grow in Number and Scope (2) Federal Government Employee ID Project Raises Policy Concerns (3) Ridge Calls for Fingerprints in US Passports (4) New Driver's License Legislation Expected http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_11.01.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:52:05 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Policy Post 11.02: CDT, Tech Groups Urge High Court to Protect CDT POLICY POST Volume 11, Number 2, January 26, 2005 A Briefing On Public Policy Issues Affecting Civil Liberties Online from The Center For Democracy and Technology (1) CDT, Tech Groups Urge High Court to Protect Internet Innovation (2) Background: Grokster Case Addresses Key Copyright Rulings (3) Breathing Room Needed for New Technology, While Inquiry Continues (4) California Bill Indicates Continued Fight on Tech Liability http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_11.02.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:29:18 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 18.2: Can the FBI Monitor Your Web Browsing EFFector Vol. 18, No. 2 January 14, 2005 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 318th Issue of EFFector: * Can the FBI Monitor Your Web Browsing Without a Warrant? * Apple Can't Strongarm Bloggers * Will Blizzard Destroy the Future of Video Games? * Texas Election System Examiners' Meetings Shrouded in Secrecy * Sham Recount Process on Diebold E-voting Machines * It's Not Too Late to Nominate a Pioneer for EFF's 2005 Pioneer Awards! * MiniLinks (15): Wish They All Could Be California Laws * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/18/02.php ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines Reply-To: cnavarro@wcnet.org Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 10:36:12 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com On 25 Jan 2005 12:46:45 -0800, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Monty Solomon: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This could be retitled 'Our Crumbling >> Infrastructure', and it is an excellent example of how things which >> were built in our nation's past no longer can be maintained without a >> lot of expense (which we do not have) and hassle. > I don't agree with the above summary. > I would call it "stupid homeless public policy". > The subway system of any city is no place for homeless people to be > in. Many people have been killed due to exposure to the elements, hit > by train, contact with high power supplies, or other accidents. And maybe some of those aren't "accidents" Wow, where to begin. In the "old days" you could be committed to the insane asylum for any number of reasons, mostly heresay. For example, my grandfather committed my grandmother to an asylum so he could get a divorce and remarry. No, grandma was not insane and I never saw my grandfather after the age of 5. One of or genealogist family members said this was common practice in those days. We're back to socialized health and welfare care. Some people don't take meds because they can't afford them. Some people know how to work the system and get a free ride. Act insane. Threaten to kill yourself and you'll get a free ride to some half-way house with gratis medical care and shelter. Just don't forget your character :-) I'm not advocating tossing these people out on the street, but there ought to be a way to get them to a work farm/rest home If you live to be 90, you have a whole lot better chance of having a major medical problem than at 60. Yet old hotels and buildings sit empty in cities around the country. Carl Navarro ------------------------------ From: Joe Morris Subject: Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:50:59 UTC Organization: The MITRE Organization Monty Solomon writes: > A fire that began with a homeless person trying to keep warm by > igniting wood and refuse in a shopping cart has crippled two of the > city's subway lines, which might not be restored to normal capacity > for three to five years, officials said today. News articles this morning (Wednesday, 26 January) report that "highly embarrassed" city officials have now changed the expected length of the outage from years to months for both the A and C lines. The article in the _Washingon Post_ observes "Although agency spokesmen had reiterated the five-year repair timeline only hours earlier, they blamed the comfusion on everyone else -- from the press to politicians." The same article reported that the time-to-repair will be controlled by the availiabilty of replacement parts for the control system; reportedly they are not stocked by the subway authority. Washington's subway system lost a similar control room on the Red Line last year to flooding, but was back in full service within a week or so because they did stock the components that were lost. Joe Morris ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines Date: 26 Jan 2005 11:45:45 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com We're moving pretty far afield from communication, but I tie it in at the very end. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have to agree in large part with Lisa > on this. While it is true -- I agree to a large extent with the > 'advocates' on this -- that mental institutions have been used in the > past as places of punishment, even here in the USA, for people who are > a bit 'different', nothing more or less, still, there *are* people who > are better off in such places. Yes, in years past such institutions were pretty horrid places. The point is that _external_ advocates (not family members or state officials) decided on their own that the places be closed rather than rehabilitated and operated better. Further, they made it much harder to commit people to such facilities. My feeling is the cure was worse than the disease. > an 85 year old lady who had been institutionalized at Chicago State > for *over sixty years* since she could not speak English and no one on > the staff knew what kind of language she was speaking. The exact same thing supposedly happened in Philadelphia. > Lisa, the 'advocates' were not all bad people with agendas contrary to > the best interests of society. Most of them meant well. ... > ... But the 'advocates' did not intend that people who > were 'that way' should choose many times to be homeless or refuse to > take their medications. That was just an unfortunate side effect. Yeah > I know, the 'advocates' should have probably tried harder. I don't question the motives of the advocates, but I do question their chosen goal (institutional shutdown) and their tactics (through litigation rather than legislation). Some of those involved in my area were activist lawyers (a polite way of saying grown-up hippies looking for a new cause). As mentioned, they filed a lawsuit in court to close an institution -- but families of the residents objected to the lawsuit. To me, that is quite arrogant to override the wishes of the families! As to the street homeless being an "unfortunate side effect", I strongly object. Had the advocates concentrated on improving conditions rather than a shutdown, things would be better. They literally cheered the shutdowns, then walked away to fight other causes, leaving the actual patients literally left out in the cold. Further, there have been a number of cases where families have pleaded with judges to confine their children because they had been violent and dangerous; the judges refused, and said children went out on murdering sprees. I certainly don't want healthy people confined against their will, but people who have serious mental illness and a propensity toward random violence need to be confined. Again, they "threw out the baby with the bathwater" rather than fixing the problem and putting in appropriate safeguards. People argue the homeless shelter system is bad because it is "dangerous" -- that's all the more reason those people need to be confined -- they are dangerous. As to the homeless, frankly, I think most people who choose to live on the street eating gargage and exposed to the elements have a serious mental problem; I don't call this a "lifestyle choice". Further, if such a lifestyle will result in a short life I believe that constitutes a danger the person needs to be protected from. Certainly the person's family should be involved and have input into the decision. > ... Lisa, I agree with you that the 'advocates' were/are sometimes > fuzzy-minded liberals who are not very realistic. But it is not fair > to blame *them* because some people prefer to be homeless or refuse > to take medication prescribed for them. PAT] The situation of discovered graves is very common on public lands. But I do blame the advocates for the problem. Suppose one of their parents came down with Alzheimers and began wandering the cold winter streets aimlessly in light pajamas. (If unprotected, a great many Alz patients will do just that.) I'm sure they'd confine their parents, involutarily if necessary, to a safe place where they couldn't wander. I'm also sure they'd be quite upset if some stranger told them they were violating their parents right and had to leave their parents make their own choices. (An Alz patient can sound quite rational even when speaking of events 50+ years ago. Many people attempt to leave their nursing home "I have to get home to make dinner for my mother" when their mother died 50 years prior.) Further, I believe that advocates had a hidden motive to "beat the system". They automatically assume the "system" is bad and must be destroyed; this dates from their hippie days. I've talked to many of those advocates and inevitably they bring up how the "'govt' lied to us in Vietnam and they're lying to us now". Sorry, but Vietnam is not the same govt nor policy as today's mental health and it's stupid to mix the two; but they do. The advocates use litigation to achieve their ends. I think they're failing to communicate to the public. If they could communicate their case effectively, they wouldn't need the courts. Further, I think the public catches on to their Vietnam subconscious; the advocates need to communicate to themselves their feelings and realize the rest of the world has moved on. Otherwise they can find people who still believe there are Communists under every bed. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa has so much to say, I do not know > where to begin responding. But yes, Lisa, the government is still the > government; still as oppressive as ever. We don't call it Vietnam any > longer. Now we call it 'Patriot Act', 'Iraq' and 'terrorism'. And > let's face it, litigation is the **only** way things happen. The Pork > Barrel Congress only responds to the ones with money; not the regular > people There is no real difference between Democrats and Republicans; > when a *real difference* comes along it gets shot down through a > myriad of rules and regulations. The myth of mental illness still a > good tool used by the public servants as they wish. PAT] I must disagree. I'll try to keep this short. Our representative form of govt is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing in that we truly have democracy where the will of the people is carried out. Yes it is not evenly done and there are many lurches along the way, but over all we have a great record. Govt is not some solid monolith we can't penetrate. Anyone can get involved if they're willing to work at it. Even I was asked to serve on my local town council (to fill a vacancy). I have been active in my community, winning some battles and losing others. Those I lost were because the opposition either worked harder than I did or had more people in agreement with them. The curse is that legislative bodies, be a tiny town council or the U.S. Senate are composed of people with many different points of view. Passing legislation involves lots and lots of compromise and this takes much time and effort. Simple example: Say you and I were in Congress. You are a strong supporter of VOIP, I am not. Right there is a conflict, and each of us must work to convince our colleagues to vote our individual view. VOIP is just one of many telecom issues, which is one of just many national issues. Litigation is by no means the only way to make something happen; people have achieved many things simply by pounding the pavement. I dislike litigation since it bypasses the normal checks and balances and research of the legislature. I've seen a lot of judges edicts make things worse rather better. As to current issues, the fact remains that many people, both in and out of govt, strongly support how things are being handled today. (Yes many people are critical, too.) One side does not have a monopoly on the facts or being the "correct" side. There's been an outpouring of devotion with the passing of Johnny Carson. But I've also read some nasty things written by major newspaper columnists over the year -- very critical of him as a person and his show -- and directly opposite the nice things being said now. So, who is right -- the critics or the supporters? The point is in our system there are always multiple points of view. ------------------------------ From: tls@panix.com (Thor Lancelot Simon) Subject: Re: Fire Cripples 2 Subway Lines Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 02:40:35 UTC Organization: Public Access Networks Corp. Reply-To: tls@rek.tjls.com In article , Joe Morris wrote: > News articles this morning (Wednesday, 26 January) report that "highly > embarrassed" city officials have now changed the expected length of > the outage from years to months for both the A and C lines. The They aren't "city officials". They're officials of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which is primarily beholden to the state governor. It's just not right to blame this one on the city; Governor Pataki is doing his level best to dump all his other self-induced political troubles on the (surprisingly capable, non-political, and competent, for once!) city administration already. Thor Lancelot Simon tls@rek.tjls.com "The inconsistency is startling, though admittedly, if consistency is to be abandoned or transcended, there is no problem." - Noam Chomsky ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Norvergence W-2 Date: 26 Jan 2005 11:59:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa, are you one of those people still > laboring under the delusion that Social Security is still going to be > around and financially healthy when these younger guys start retiring > in 2050 and 2060? Bush, in a rare moment of honesty, has already > started breaking the news to us: Make your own plans for the future. > PAT] Several comments: 1) Social security was never meant to be a total pension, but rather a supplement so a senior at least had something coming in. In most cases, it wouldn't be enough for anyone to live on. I'm nervous for the baby boomers who will retire with little savings or pensions and debt. One still has to pay rent, eat, get around, pay for health care, have some entertainment. 2) The NYT Magazine just had a major article discussing the SS issue. They felt things are much healthier than suggested. At present, the fund takes in more from taxes than it pays out, and they suggest that will continue for some time. Once that ends, the surplus Trust Fund can last for a very long time (remember, taxes are still coming in). The article isn't hot reading, but I recommend it. They do agree some tightening is in order, such as raising the tax threshhold (so more taxes come in) or raising the retirement age (which in effect lowers benefits). I am not thrilled about Bush's plan to allow stock market investments as a alternative. What really concerns about about the future is the continuing skyrocketing cost of healthcare. Seniors need lots of expensive care -- where will that money come from, esp as people live longer? What about the rest of us? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would agree with you on your first point. Social Security is very skimpy, and I am sure is not enough for most recipients to live on. My case is sort of 'special' in one way. I am technically on SSD or 'disability'. Social Security's doctor put me down as 'permanently disabled' due to the brain aneurysm. To Social Security's way of thinking, 'permanently disabled' means seven years from onset of the disability which in my case is 2006 (less seven years since November, 1999). But SS has a 'special rule' which says if the recipient is older than (or becomes older than) 63 years of age at some time during their disability, SS gives that person a 'paper retirement' to what they would otherwise be entitled to if they had retired at full retirement age. In other words, I do not get a full pension at ordinary retirement age. If I were younger, it would be necessary for the SS doctor to come examine me again during the 7th year, and certify me again or deny me. Because of my age, SS simply presumes "if I could have, I would have worked until age 67 and taken full pension." I'll not have to see the doctor on this again, SS will simply 'on paper' change my status from 'disabled' to 'retired'. They may have already done it, although technically I will not be 65 for another 2 years. I am getting paid by SS now at the rate I would have been paid at full retirement. Believe me, Lisa, it is very pitiful for sure. I could *never* afford to live in a large city, even if I wanted to. Rent in Chicago or New York (anywhere decent, that is) would use up my entire check! As a 'retiree' on a _very_ fixed income, the only place I can afford to live in (a decent place) is a house that **someone else** struggled and paid for, in my case, my father and mother. My father passed more than a decade ago; my mother lives in the old people's home here in Independence, and I took over her old house and am paying off the couple years left on the mortgage. But a crummy, tiny, roach-ridden hole in a large city would cost more than this entire house costs me! My Social Security payment each month is _larger_ than my mother's; she is getting by on what was allowed her being married to my father and drawing on his retirement pay. My brother Dan and his wife and Mike Sandman have all suggested I should go back to Chicago to live; no way! Aside from other consid- erations, I would really live hand to mouth if I moved there. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jan 2005 15:56:11 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > but there is just no other place in the world that you can go and > see a functioning panel or crossbar switch and have someone explain > to you how it works. There's a working SxS at the Science Museum in London for people on the other side of the pond. Their telephone history exhibits are quite good, too. ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Telephone Museum in Eugene, Oregon Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 23:50:15 -0500 In article , kludge@panix.com says: > In article , Gene S. Berkowitz > wrote: >> In article , cmoore@ARL.ARMY.MIL >> says: >>> I have just seen a news blurb about the Telephone Pioneer Museum >>> in Eugene, Oregon. >>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Carl, would it be possible to give any >>> more details on this, so that our California/Oregon area readers might >>> be able to plan a visit? At least a street address, phone number, >>> etc? PAT] >> TELEPHONE PIONEER MUSEUM >> What: Eugene's very own telephone museum has existed near the southeast >> corner of East 10th Avenue and Oak Street since 1983 in a small room on >> the first floor of what is now the Qwest building, built in 1928. >> Where: 112 E. 10th Ave. >> Hours: Open Thursdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment. >> Call (541) 688-3211 or 485-4100 for tours. >> Cost: Free. > I just want to say that this museum is absolutely wonderful. Some of > the smaller items aren't really very well displayed, but there is just > no other place in the world that you can go and see a functioning > panel or crossbar switch and have someone explain to you how it works. > Everyone reading this should make a trip out to Oregon if they haven't > done so already. Actually, that's no longer true; the New England Museum of Telephony in Ellsworth, Maine, has a substantial working collection: From the Bell Companies, the museum has acquired the following: a complete #3 Crossbar system from Bradford, Maine; 30 frames of #5 Crossbar from Belfast, Maine; and a Step-by-Step system from Clinton, Maine. Parts of a Panel System from Brooklyn, New York were acquired in 1997. In addition, various manual and automatic switchboards of an antique and historic nature, PBX equipment, and enormous amounts of spare parts, tools and ephemera are finding their way into permanent displays. They also have an operational microwave link (used for a mainland-island connection) --Gene > --scott ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 19:44:18 -0500 In article , paulcoxwell@tiscali.co.uk says: >> Let's see. In the UK, you can't just go buy a TV, bring it home, and >> turn it on. You must OWN A LICENSE, paid for to the crown, to receive >> television entertainment. That's so ridiculous, it's amazing. What >> are those people thinking. >> And yet they put up with it. > Yep, and that license fee (aka television tax) currently runs about > $200 per year. > But it gets worse. If you go into one of the big stores and buy a TV > (or VCR, satellite receiver etc.) they are actually obliged by law to > pass your name and address on to the TV Licensing Office,. And if > there's no license registered there, you'll be subjected to the usual > barrage of intimidating letters (unless you had the sense to pay cash > and give a false address, of course). > Here's the official TV Licensing website: > http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/ > There is some opposition here however: > http://www.tvlicensing.biz/ > Paul Coxwell > Norfolk, England. Meanwhile we in the U.S. get barraged with advertisements even when we're paying upward of $600 a year for cable. So who's getting ripped off? ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: 26 Jan 2005 19:59:14 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) John Levine wrote: >> America has the worst mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the >> world. For example nowhere in the world do you pay or are deducted >> minutes for recieving calls its just unheard of. > America has the best mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the > world, except maybe for Canada. Both of these statements are true. And what is most amazing is that mobile providers are not allowed to eliminate any calling plans as long as they have at least one customer still on them. As a result, a lot of mobile providers have huge numbers of different plans active, some with only a handful of customers, and the vast majority of which are not taking new customers on. The sheer range of different rates being billed by any one provider is amazing, and it has resulted in the most Rube Goldberian billing systems imaginable. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: 27 Jan 2005 08:38:57 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Paul Coxwell wrote: >> Let's see. In the UK, you can't just go buy a TV, bring it home, and >> turn it on. You must OWN A LICENSE, paid for to the crown, to receive >> television entertainment. That's so ridiculous, it's amazing. What >> are those people thinking. >> And yet they put up with it. > Yep, and that license fee (aka television tax) currently runs about > $200 per year. > But it gets worse. If you go into one of the big stores and buy a TV > (or VCR, satellite receiver etc.) they are actually obliged by law to > pass your name and address on to the TV Licensing Office,. And if > there's no license registered there, you'll be subjected to the usual > barrage of intimidating letters (unless you had the sense to pay cash > and give a false address, of course). > Here's the official TV Licensing website: > http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/ > There is some opposition here however: > http://www.tvlicensing.biz/ > Paul Coxwell > Norfolk, England. What isn't mentioned there, is what happens if you have a TV but no licence. You're issued with a warning and told to get a licence or risk being taken to court. Fines of up to GBP1 000/USD1 800 are handed out or, in the cases of persistent offenders, a custodial sentence is imposed. Rob South Wales, UK ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 15:16:54 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Paul Coxwell wrote: > But it gets worse. If you go into one of the big stores and buy a TV > (or VCR, satellite receiver etc.) they are actually obliged by law to > pass your name and address on to the TV Licensing Office,. And if > there's no license registered there, you'll be subjected to the usual > barrage of intimidating letters (unless you had the sense to pay cash > and give a false address, of course). Though apaprently, even that won't protect you. According the TV licencing website in the UK (http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/detectionandpenalties.jsp): "We have a fleet of detector vans, plus, our enforcement officers have access to hand-held detection devices capable of detecting a magnetic field when a TV is switched on. In fact, we catch an average of over 1,000 people watching TV without a licence every day." I do NOT want to watch TV in UK. :P E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:53:45 PST From: Reply-To: cjmebox-telecomdigest@yahoo.com Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans > America has the best mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the > world, except maybe for Canada. > For example, for $30/mo I get a package that includes more calls than > I ever make, both incoming and outgoing, and I can call anywhere in > the country at no charge. It's obviously not at no charge, You've already prepaid the minutes. The reality is that most Europeans have a much cheaper service. The monthly fee can be as low as $2 for low volume use and $4 for higher volume use. Per minute charges can be around the $0.06-0.08 mark (in todays unfavorable exchange rates). By comparison according to JD Power & Associates, cellphone calls have fallen to 11 cents a minute, from 56 cents in 1996 (I got this at http://blogs.zdnet.com/ITFacts/index.php?p=99). That's probably because so many minutes you haven't used are prepaid. You never get that back. Rollover packages appearing now, will remedy this problem. So simply comparing how many minutes you get with how much that would cost a European is misleading. But as you see the cost is falling and I'm sure we'll soon match them. Where US has an advantage is in the roaming and long distance charges. As long as you stay on your network (increasingly possible now with better network deployments), you pay nothing with most plans and long distance is included, not to mention unlimited mobile to mobile calls. I have a hunch (although I can't prove it) that this ends up as a much better deal for businesspeople and other high volume users and frequent travelers compared to their EU peers who pay through the nose. For the average person though (low use, low mobility outside home area), it's more expensive here than in Europe. I also think that the knowledge that you are depleting somebody's minutes when you call them (a bit like a collect call would charge the called party), makes people hesitant to call someone on their cell, unless they have to (assuming they know it's their cell number they have). I think this is (a smal) part of the explanation why cell phone use was slower to take off here than in Europe. Conversely, the billing structure for local calls many mention made internet use take off faster here (until the Europeans figured that one out and offered cheaper calling rates when dialing up). Finally either billing system is certainly a legitimate option which came out of the particular regulatory (and to a lesser extent technical) realities of each market. But I must say, I would rather pay for what I use as opposed to pre-paying for what I might use. As for having the caller charged extra for calling a cell phone, I see nothing weird about that. They are accessing a valuable service, i.e. the ability to call someone as opposed to something (in reality when you call a fixed line, you are only calling a physical location, not the person who may or may not be there). I, the subscriber of cell phone service, will pay for the priviledge of mobility via my monthly fee. So in this way both caller and called pay for use and service, each their own part (they are both using it are they not?). Regards, Dean ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V24 #39 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jan 28 00:50:43 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0S5oh308489; Fri, 28 Jan 2005 00:50:43 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 00:50:43 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501280550.j0S5oh308489@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 V24 #40 TELECOM Digest Fri, 28 Jan 2005 00:50:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 40 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Cox CATV Outage (was Did it Snow Over the Weekend?) (Tony P.) Re: Japanese Calling Home From UK - Questions (Mark Crispin) Re: Japanese Calling Home From UK - Questions (John Levine) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates, and Plans (John Levine) Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming (Wolfgang Rupprecht) Re: AOL Dropping Usenet Access (David Clayton) Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? (Brad Houser) Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming (Tony P.) Re: BroadVoice Offers Local Numbers In The United Kingdom (Rob) Re: Radar Detectors (Erica) Re: MF Tones - What Are They Still Used For? (Bob Colby) Re: MF Tones - What Are They Still Used For? (Gary Novosielski) Re: MF Tones - What Are They Still Used For? (Kenneth P. Stox) Last Laugh! Patrick Townsend, Restaurant Food Critic (P. Townson) 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: Tony P. Subject: Re: Cox CATV Outage (was Did it Snow Over the Weekend?) Organization: ATCC Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:48:30 -0500 In article , nmclain@annsgarden.com says: > Tony P. [TD V24 #32] wrote: >> It's hard to tell just how much snow we've gotten in Providence >> because of the damned drifting. ... Walking back I noticed three >> Cox trucks humming down the road. When I walked in the door the >> cable was on again - they must have lost a head end or at least >> power to it. > I doubt that it was the headend. If they'd lost the headend, the > entire system would be down, and the techs wouldn't be humming down > the road; they'd be back at the headend desperately trying to fix > things. > The most likely cause for a cold-weather outage is what cable guys > affectionately call a "suckout" -- a situation where a CATV > distribution cable is literally pulled out of a tap or an amplifier. > CATV distribution cable is mostly aluminum (copper-clad aluminum > center conductor; solid aluminum sheath; plastic dielectric, typically > foamed polyethylene). The Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion for > aluminum is about 12.7E-6 foot/foot/degree F. [1] > CATV distribution cable is mechanically supported by steel "strand," > typically 1/4- or 3/8-inch stranded steel cable. The strand is placed > under tension (typically a few hundred pounds) to prevent sag. The > Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion for high-strength steel is > about 6.7E-6 foot/foot/degree F. [1,2] > In other words, when the temperature falls, aluminum shrinks about > twice as much as steel. > Now let's consider what happens when a cable company installs a > 1000-foot run of strand-supported CATV cable on a nice warm summer > day, and then measures it on a cold winter night a few months later: > AMBIENT ALUMINUM STEEL > AIR CATV CABLE STRAND > SITUATION TEMP (FEET) (FEET) > > Summer day 80F 1000.0 1000.0 > Winter night 0F 999.0 999.5 > When the temperature drops to zero, the CATV cable is about 6" shorter > than the strand. Result: something breaks. Usually, the CATV cable > is pulled out of some component: suckout. > In order to prevent suckouts, every CATV cable has a "loop" at almost > every pole. Theoretically, the loop is supposed to provide enough > slack to absorb the thermal shrinkage. It usually works, although > suckouts sometimes occur anyway if there's ice buildup on the cable > and/or wind whipping it from side to side. > Of course, there's another reason for suckouts: errant vehicles > colliding with utility poles. This could occur in any weather, but > for obvious reasons it happens more frequently in snowy weather. > [1] Comparisons of Materials: Coefficient of Thermal > Expansion. "Materials Selector", Reinhold Publishing Co., Penton/IPC. > http://bobmay.astronomy.net/misc/tempcoef.htm > [2] An illustration of strand-supported CATV cable is at > http://www.annsgarden.com/poles/poles.htm#strand > Neal McLain Well -- whatever suffered the suckout blacked out the entire city of Providence. ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Japanese Calling Home From UK - Questions Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:11:08 -0800 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing The phone systems used in Japan is PHS or W-CDMA. Phones for these systems will not work outside of Japan. Global phones which have GSM capability, such as NTT DoCoMo FOMA phones, or VGS phones from Vodafone KK Japan phones, will work overseas. GSM roaming is expensive with a Japanese USIM card. Expect to pay something like 150 yen/minute to use it in the UK. Unless there is some reason why she wants to have a Japan phone number (country code 81) in the UK, she would be better off with a UK phone. Pre-pay phones are inexpensive (e.g. 40 pounds for a basic Vodafone UK phone). The problem is if she insists upon using a phone with Japanese instructions and display. Such phones are easy enough to get in Japan (e.g. FOMA or VGS), but generally they are SIM-locked and will not accept a foreign SIM card. For example, I have a Vodafone KK Japan V801SH which is bilingual Japanese/English, but it will not accept a Vodafone UK SIM card (I tried). I've heard that a number of hackers have tried (and failed) to crack the SIM lock; also that Vodafone will not unlock it. > * A phone which can be arranged after arrival in the UK and which > includes a Japanese language function. I doubt that such a thing exists in the UK. > * A plan/tariff whereby the user (cousin) does not have to pay for > incoming calls made from Japan by family etc. Or where these are as > cheap as possible. That would require a domestic UK service. A Japanese roamer in the UK pays for both incoming and outgoing calls. > * The main purpose of the phone would be as a means of contact > for her family in Japan, since she does not know many people in the UK. Once again, I recommend a basic pre-pay Vodafone UK phone. Yes, it will have English menus and instructions, but being a basic phone it won't have very many functions or complex features to learn. Assuming that she knows how to use a mobile phone in Japan, it won't be particularly difficult for her to figure out a UK mobile phone even if it's in English. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jan 2005 04:35:20 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Japanese Calling Home From UK - Questions Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA Mobile phones in the UK are all GSM 900/1800. Japanese phones will not work there. Prepaid service is widely available in the UK. You can either buy a phone and a UK SIM together or you can get any unlocked used GSM 900/1800 phone on ebay and just buy a UK SIM for it. All European mobile service is caller-pays, so once her family knows her number, they can call her and although it'll be sort of expensive for them, it won't cost her anything. If she wants to call them, I'd suggest she call, then they can call her back since international rates on prepaids are pretty high, like 40p per minute. If you want to get the phone and phone number ahead of time, Google for "uk prepaid GSM" and it's easy to find companies that will sell you a phone and SIM for about $200. > * A phone which can be arranged after arrival in the UK and which > includes a Japanese language function. I looked around, and I don't think they exist. On the other hand, using a basic mobile phone isn't hard. There's a button you push to turn it on or off, a numeric keypad to enter the number, a usually green button to make calls, and another usually red button to hang up. Modern phones have about a thousand other features, none of which you need to understand to make phone calls. I'd suggest something old and simple like a Motorola Timeport. If she can't figure that out, her first attmpt to use a public washroom will probably be fatal so it'll be moot anyway. Regards, John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of The Internet for Dummies, Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jan 2005 04:45:26 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA In article you write: >> America has the best mobile telephone calling rates and plans in the >> world, except maybe for Canada. >> For example, for $30/mo I get a package that includes more calls than >> I ever make, both incoming and outgoing, and I can call anywhere in >> the country at no charge. > It's obviously not at no charge, You've already prepaid the minutes. Well, sure. It's no incremental charge. > The reality is that most Europeans have a much cheaper service. The > monthly fee can be as low as $2 for low volume use and $4 for higher > volume use. Per minute charges can be around the $0.06-0.08 mark (in > todays unfavorable exchange rates). Except for the poor schnooks who try to call you who get ripped off for more like 25 to 30 cpm. And as you note, I can call a lot farther with my bundled minutes than you can for 8 cents. Really low volume users can get prepaid phones here just like they can in Europe. > I also think that the knowledge that you are depleting somebody's > minutes when you call them (a bit like a collect call would charge the > called party), makes people hesitant to call someone on their cell, Ah, but increasingly the caller doesn't know whether he's calling a mobile, since people can and do port numbers back and forth and forward calls from one to the other. For example, if you call my business VoIP line, the call rings simultaneously on my mobile and if I'm away from the office, I get it that way. I don't care if people call my cell, I have enough bundled minutes that their calls don't cost me anything. > Finally either billing system is certainly a legitimate option which > came out of the particular regulatory (and to a lesser extent > technical) realities of each market. Actually, here it was as least as much technical as regulatory. We have fixed length numbers and we didn't have enough unused area codes to overlay separate mobile codes on the whole country. > But I must say, I would rather pay for what I use as opposed to > pre-paying for what I might use. History suggests that you are in the minority; people consistently prefer simple predictable prices to unpredictable ones, even if the unpredictable ones are on average lower. See the papers that Andy Odlyzko has done on communication pricing. R's, John ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming From: Wolfgang S. Rupprecht Organization: W S Rupprecht Computer Consulting, Fremont CA Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 05:10:42 GMT Jack Decker What boggles my mind is that companies in the telecommunications > industry seem to get away with something that would not be allowed > almost any other industry, and that is quoting one price to a > customer, then actually charging a higher one. And again, I emphasize > that these fees are not taxes that the government requires these > companies to collect from end users. They are just an arbitrary fee > that these companies decide to add on, so they can keep their > advertised price artificially low in relation to their > competitors. But this makes it very difficult for potential customers > to fairly compare the actual monthly rate they will pay from any > provider under consideration. I never did understand how that didn't violate fraud laws either. After all, they are quoting one price and charging another. How would that be substantively different from a user of theirs paying a check for the full amount minus their own Federal, State, Social Security taxes on the tendered monies? Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/ Hate software patents? Sign here: http://thankpoland.info/ ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: AOL Dropping Usenet Access Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 14:11:09 +1100 On Thu, 2005-01-27 at 17:59 -0500, Danny Burstein wrote: > AOL has apparently decided to stop supporting usenet for its customers. > Typical story at: > http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/25/aol_cutsoff_newsgroups/ > (disclosure: I work at an ISP that considers usenet a fundamental > internet service) Quite a few smaller ISP's in Australia now don't offer Usenet, but I have found that using one of the personal "free" Usenet services more than adequate replacements (I use Individual.net in Germany). Even my previous experience with a "major" ISP's Usenet service (groups not updating, server downtime etc. etc.) seemed to indicate that this is becoming a low priority these days in their business models. At least the alternative services take Usenet seriously, and that's better than an ISP who no longer cares. Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: Brad Houser Subject: Re: Did it Snow Over the Weekend? Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 15:16:32 -0800 Organization: Intel Reply-To: "Brad Houser" > [TELECOM Digest Editors's Note: I'll have to pass on your use of > 'THBTTTTTT' as I have never seen that before. Why that is one of the famous lines of Bill The Cat: "Ack!" "Thbbbt!" [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you for that explanation. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 19:10:31 -0500 In article , jack- yahoogroups@withheld says: > A comment on this story follows the excerpt ... > http://news.com.com/Net+telephone+fees+have+users+fuming/2100-7352_3-5550345.html > Net telephone fees have users fuming > Published: January 26, 2005, 10:06 AM PST > By Ben Charny > Staff Writer, CNET News.com > John Rolff's latest broadband phone bill contained three words he > vowed never to see again: "regulatory recovery fee." > The same charge was the reason he dumped his old phone provider, SBC > Communications, in favor of Primus Telecommunications' Lingo, which > lets his broadband line double as his phone line. From all > appearances, Lingo hadn't been "adding these little nickel and dime > charges," he said. > But now, the 38-year-old software engineer -- along with 755,000 > others -- is learning that this had never really been the case. Lingo, > Vonage, Time Warner Cable and every[*] other commercial provider of > voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services have been collecting > government fees for years. It's only in recent months that most have > been coming clean on their statements -- to fend off critics, as the > spotlight on Net phone services grows. > Some, notably state governments, have called for broadband telephone > services to pay the same regulatory fees that the traditional local > phone providers -- known as the "Baby Bells" -- do. The Federal > Communications Commission has so far kept regulators' hands off VoIP. > Hoping to counter calls for direct taxation and regulation, many of > the Net phone operators now identify a "regulatory recovery fee" line > item of 50 cents to $3 as part of their regular monthly service > charges. They say they're highlighting the portion of local phone fees > the Bells have always charged them for completing calls on local > lines. > "A lot of people were raising this concern that we weren't funding > telephone projects like the Bells were," said Jeffrey Citron, CEO of > VoIP provider Vonage Holdings. "That's a red herring -- I say 'malarkey' > to it. We already fund part of it, and we wanted to show our customers > and everybody else." > Net phone companies insist that the fees are legitimate, merely > offsetting the costs of taxes and regulatory fees passed on to them by > the local phone companies for completing Net calls, they say. > Nevertheless, some critics say the label is at best misleading -- > and at worst a misrepresentation with potential for abuse. > The line item attempt to soothe angry state regulators seems instead > to have riled VoIP customers, many of whom admire the outsider stance > of broadband phone services as well as the cheaper rates. Rolff said > he no longer views his operator as a lovable underdog with a hot > technology trying to topple the Bell Goliaths. > Full story at: > http://news.com.com/Net+telephone+fees+have+users+fuming/2100-7352_3-5550345.html > [*Jack Decker COMMENT: Can you spot the false statement in this story? > It is, "every other commercial provider of voice over Internet > Protocol (VoIP) services have been collecting government fees for > years." First of all, many of the providers of VoIP service haven't > been in business for "years", second, even today there are providers > (such as VoicePulse) that do not collect a regulatory recovery fee. I > have been opposed to the addition of these fees from the outset > because they are almost never mentioned adjacent to the advertised > price, thus making it difficult for customers who want to compare > monthly rates, and putting those who don't resort to such trickery at > a disadvantage (by making their competitors' prices look lower than > they really are). All the customer cares about is the bottom line, > and that's the price he wants to see when making price comparisons.] > 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/ You know, if this baloney keeps up I'll just get the new USB FXS adapter for Skype and tell all the phone companies to pound sand. There are numerous IP to PSTN gateways for Skype too. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have an interesting gimmick here I got from Mike Sandman. It is called an 'FX-200 VOIP Port Converter'. Its purpose is to allow the use of your VOIP line from anywhere. It gets its power from your VOIP phone adapter. You plug your VOIP line into one side of it, and your landline telephone into the other side of it. Then, like a 'WATS Extender' or 'Call Extender' you can be at someone else's house, make a *local call* to your home and dial out on your VOIP line. It can be password protected of course, to prevent its getting hacked or abused. Example: you dial into your local POTS number, it rings once or twice (you program how long it should ring before getting answered) then there is a 'click' and you hear dialtone from your VOIP line. Dial to wherever. You can program in a passcode if desired also. You can also program how long the line should be held open. The major drawback is the audio level is not as good as you would get otherwise. No reason you have to have a VOIP line as the output; any phone line will work; it is just a 'call extender' device, but theoretically at least, supposedly programmed with the required algorythms best suited for VOIP connections. You can also use it in reverse if desired; that is use a VOIP line to some foreign country like China for example) then a local POTS call from wherever the computer is locaed in China. Ask Mike Sandman ( mike@sandman.com ) for more details on these devices if you want one. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Re: BroadVoice Offers Local Numbers In The United Kingdom Date: 27 Jan 2005 08:44:20 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Jack Decker wrote: > http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb201602.htm > BroadVoice Offers Local Numbers In The United Kingdom > UK Alternate Numbers Available in 107 cities and towns for only $ 1.95 > per month > Lowell, MA (PRWEB) January 26, 2005 -- BroadVoice, a leading provider > of Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone service to home and small business > users, today announced that it has launched local number service in > 107 cities and towns across the UK, including major population centers > in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. BroadVoice customers can now > add a UK Alternate Number to their accounts for only $1.95 per > month. This new feature allows UK callers to make a local telephone > call and connect with the associated BroadVoice subscriber. > "We are pleased to welcome customers in the United Kingdom or anywhere > else where a UK number would be useful. No matter where you are in the > world, if you have friends, colleagues or relatives in the UK, you dcan > get a local UK Alternate Number on your BroadVoice account so they can > stay in touch," said BroadVoice president David Epstein. "This has > major implications for individuals and small businesses that want to > cross international boundaries." BroadVoice already has already > shipped its start-up kits to customers in 65 countries. > BroadVoice enables its customers to make and receive phone calls over > their existing high speed Internet connections, and provides 24 free > calling features, including voicemail, caller ID and call > waiting. Customers can order a BroadVoice Broadband Phone Adapter to > use with their standard touch tone telephone, they may bring their own > phone adapter, or they may purchase a VoIP-ready telephone set, system > or headset. > BroadVoice offers service plans starting at $9.95 for Unlimited > In-State calling. The $19.95 Unlimited World plan offers free calls to > 21 countries, including the United States, most of Western Europe and > China. For $24.95 the Unlimited World Plus plan provides free calls to > 35 countries, including Brazil, Japan and Israel. The BroadVoice > Business plan is available for $29.95 per month. > About BroadVoice > The BroadVoice service lets consumers and small businesses use a > high-speed DSL or cable modem connection to make and receive phone > calls anywhere in the world. Customers benefit from unlimited domestic > and international calling and a suite of 24 basic and advanced > features for one low monthly fixed price. BroadVoice currently offers > service in over 1,600 rate centers in 36 US states as well as 114 UK > cities. Founded in December 2003, BroadVoice is a wholly-owned > subsidiary of Convergent Networks, Inc. and is based in Lowell, > MA. Additional information can be found at http://www.broadvoice.com. > ### > Contacts > Angela Epstein > BroadVoice, Inc. > 978-418-7380 > e-mail protected from spam bots > Jonathan Hochman for BroadVoice > J.E. Hochman & Associates > 860-233-4219 > e-mail protected from spam bots > Full story at: > http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb201602.htm Sipgate (www.sipgate.co.uk) offers local telephone numbers on virtually all of the 600+ 01 and 02 area codes in the UK at no extra charge to the account. Rob ------------------------------ From: Erica Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Date: 27 Jan 2005 09:25:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Sure that's true, but what about the fortuitous charges. Example, let's say you slid because of snow and passed the line on a yellow light and it will flash your car. Or you toss in your coins to the tollbooth, and drive off, and it doesn't count the coins right so it snaps a shot of your car. Now you have to fight that you paid, and or slid and the hassle is a pain. http://phantomplate.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 18:35:40 -0600 From: Bob Colby X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 24, Issue 30, Message 7 of 20 > Hi everyone. > I'm kind of curious about the MF tones I learned of recently, the ones > that were used by the toll network of the 60's, 70's, and 80's to > control how calls were routed. > While I understand they are no longer used for call routing, are these > tones still used today for other things, and if so, what? (I'm > referring specifically to either the R1 or R2 tone plans, or something > close to them.) ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Re: MF Tones -- What, if Anything, Are They Still Used For? Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 01:08:10 GMT Paul Coxwell wrote: > There are many, many recordings from the 1970s there in which you can hear > MF signaling in action. And is is just me, or is it SO much more pleasant to the ear than DTMF is? ------------------------------ From: Kenneth P. Stox Organization: Ministry of Silly Walks Subject: Re: MF tones -- What, if Anything, Are They Still Used For? Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 01:43:06 GMT silvas_clinch@yahoo.com wrote: > Hi everyone. > I'm kind of curious about the MF tones I learned of recently, the ones > that were used by the toll network of the 60's, 70's, and 80's to > control how calls were routed. > While I understand they are no longer used for call routing, are these > tones still used today for other things, and if so, what? (I'm > referring specifically to either the R1 or R2 tone plans, or something > close to them.) Modified R2 MF signaling was still in extensive use in Asia as of 1990. I suspect there is still a good bit of it in use in some countries. Sorry I can't comment on the period since then, but in 1990, I regained my senses and ran as far away from international inband signalling as I could. ;-> ------------------------------ From: Patrick Townson Subject: Last Laugh! Patrick Townsend, Food/Restaurant Critic Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST One of my favorite actor/comedians was John Ritter, who passed away about a year ago at a relatively young age. My favorite role of Mr. Ritter was in his role as 'Jack Tripper' in the 1980's comedy called "Three's Company". Poor Jack was always getting into odd situations and mixups, both with his two female roomates and with his landlord and others. TV-Land replays "Three's Company" a couple times each night and it is always fun to watch. I had forgotten about this incident, but in the late 1970's I once went to a dinner at a relatively fancy place in Chicago called 'Top of the Rock', a Stouffer's restaurant on the top floor of the Prudential Building in downtown Chicago with three friends, one of whom was a television sit-com director from California. I must have said something funny at the dinner or drinks before dinner, because this fellow thought it was quite funny and said "I am going to include that joke in a show I am working on." I thought no more about it at that time, but a couple years later (when "Three's Company" was first coming out) he did just what he said and wrote up an episode where a 'noted food critic for the newspapers, etc' by the name of Patrick Townsend had an encounter with Jack Tripper. There was the usual misunderstanding (the trademark of Three's Company) where Jack was fearful that Mr. Townsend was going to write a very bad review of Tripper's new restaurant, 'Jacks Botique'. Jack and his two female roomates had to break into and burglarize Mr. Townsend's office to retrieve a letter of complaint that had accidentally gotten mailed to the food critic. I always did like that man, and am sorry he passed away a year or so ago. I was reminded of it when TV-Land decided to re-run that episode Thursday night. 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'. 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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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #40 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jan 28 15:16:30 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0SKGUO15884; Fri, 28 Jan 2005 15:16:30 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 15:16:30 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501282016.j0SKGUO15884@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 V24 #41 TELECOM Digest Fri, 28 Jan 2005 15:15:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 41 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New Jersey Arrests 39 for Internet Child Porn (Lisa Minter) Jeers, Cheers Greet Google's Video Search (Lisa Minter) World Wide Web Inventor Voted 2004 Greatest Briton (Lisa Minter) Book Review: "Open Source Security Tools", Tony Howlett (Rob Slade) Level3 VOIP Product Implodes (lookemintheye) Potential Legal Actions to NorVergence's Salzano Brothers (D. Rodriguez) Looking For Hands Free Telephone System For Entire House (kkancler) SBC, AT&T Press on With Merger Talks (Telcom Dailylead from USTA) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Mark Atwood) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (UK) Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming (DevilsPGD) Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming (Jake) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Linc Madison) Re: Radar Detectors (DevilsPGD) Re: Advice Needed on Villa Phone System in Bali (Android) Re: AOL Dropping Usenet Access (Fred Atkinson) Re: Vonage Experience (mike.sciarrino@gmail.com) Re: What is an AT&T RTSLS? (Ted Klugman) Re: Last Laugh! Patrick Townsend, Food/Restaurant Critic (Lisa Hancock) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 28 Jan 2005 07:25:34 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: New Jersey Arrests 39 for Internet Child Porn NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thirty-nine people have been arrested in New Jersey charged with possession of video clips obtained over the Internet of the molestation and rape of a five-year-old girl in the state of Georgia, state police said on Thursday. The arrests, made from Jan. 17 to Jan. 27, were made using new technology to detect child pornography on the Internet and then use an innovative file-sifting software to trace those images to the personal computers they were stored on. "We will prosecute anyone who knowingly downloads from the Internet and circulates images of children who are being sexually exploited," Attorney General Peter Harvey said in a statement. "Through technology and training we are constantly enhancing our ability to do just that." Those arrested range in age from 14 to 61 and include a high-school hockey coach, a lawyer and a pediatric neurosurgeon. James Bidwell, the man in the act of molesting and raping the five-year-old girl, was convicted in 2002 for sending videotapes of his crimes via the Internet to Canada and England and is now serving a 45-year prison term. 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, Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jan 2005 07:29:23 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Jeers, Cheers Greet Google's Video Search by Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service After months of rumors and speculation, Google finally made its entry into video search this week. Its offering has received mixed reviews, an atypical reaction, considering that the company's new services are normally greeted with enthusiasm. Consensus among industry observers is that Google's offering is quite limited in scope and functionality, compared with similar competing free consumer services from players such as Yahoo, America Online, and Blinkx. However, pundits also point out that the Google offering is, within its narrow scope, useful and that the company is likely to improve and expand it quickly. "This is interesting but not earth-shattering compared to what else is already out there," says Gary Price, news editor of SearchEngineWatch.com and editor of ResourceShelf.com. "However, it's important to say that Google works fast and that what's available on Monday could be different by Tuesday." Limited Functionality? Google's video search for now doesn't actually deliver video content, and it's limited to some television shows. Google delivers transcript excerpts from the TV shows it tracks, along with still photos from the video broadcasts, as well other complementary information about the programs. Google obtains the transcripts from the broadcasts' close-captioning tracks. "We are working with content owners to improve this service by providing additional enhancements such as playback," says Larry Page, Google's co-founder and president of products, in the press release announcing the service. AOL's Singingfish multimedia search engine has been indexing video and audio content from the Web at large for several years, and it serves up video and audio clips. Late last year, Yahoo came out with its search service, which is still in test mode and which also offers actual video clips found on the Web. Meanwhile, Blinkx last year rolled out its Blinkx TV service, which indexes content from a number of television and radio stations and makes clips available for playback as well. There are other companies that, for a fee, will offer even more robust and timely TV content search services. These include Critical Mention and ShadowTV. Price was surprised Google didn't deliver a video search service along the lines of what smaller competitor Blinkx is offering. "Google is known for throwing things out there [in test mode], but usually when they do, it's something no one else is doing or it's something that takes to another level" a service others are already offering, Price says. "In my opinion, this does neither." Gathering Steam Allen Weiner, a Gartner analyst, also isn't too impressed with the service, but says Google's video search debut is a clear sign that this emerging and important area of Internet search is gathering steam. "The Google service is somewhat of a placeholder because I can't believe this will be the method and technology they will use down the road to do this. It's just not powerful enough," Weiner says. "But Google's entry is the big sign that video is coming to the Web, and that it's no longer off in the distance. It's this year. More than anything else, this announcement is interesting because it shows where the market is headed." Meanwhile, Joe Wilcox, a Jupiter Research analyst, says the Google service as it is today could be very useful for researchers by letting them track down what has been said about specific topics in different TV programs. Moreover, while Google will probably serve up video clips eventually, the transcript data it provides today could be ideal for searches conducted from mobile devices, Wilcox says. Plus, it shouldn't be surprising to see Google enter into video search via text search, Wilcox says. "Google's mainstay, what it does very well, is text search. It makes a lot of sense to me that Google would leverage its core strength in text search to go into this new area, before moving into providing video clips," Wilcox says. Mixed Reactions Users have been leaving an assortment of cheers and jeers for the Google video search in the Google Labs Video discussion forum. "A great idea, and a great way to catch things that you missed. Good work," reads a recent entry. At the other end of the spectrum, a user complains about not having access to video clips: "Why launch it though if it doesn't do what it's supposed to do? Like saying I have this great Web site, go look, and then you have a blank page." Increasingly, consumers are becoming more and more comfortable and familiar with video on the Web, and a logical consequence is that they start using search engines to actively seek video content, says Su Li Walker, a Yankee Group analyst. "It's a natural step for consumer search," she says. In 26 percent of U.S. households with Internet access, the PC was used to watch videos either on the Web or offline from a DVD, a Yankee Group survey conducted in last year's third quarter found, Walker says. That is up from 18 percent in 2003. A separate Yankee Group study from last year's second quarter found that in 12.1 percent of U.S. households with Internet access, video was viewed online and that in 6.40 percent of households video was downloaded to a PC, Walker says. 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, IDG News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jan 2005 07:34:15 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: World Wide Web Inventor Voted 2004 Greatest Briton LONDON (Reuters) - Tim Berners-Lee, the man who invented and then gave away the World Wide Web, was picked on Thursday as epitomizing the Greatest of Britishness -- a quality finance minister Gordon Brown said was unique. His selfless act added to modesty and ingenuity were deemed by a panel of judges to make Berners-Lee the Greatest Briton of 2004 in the first of what organizers said they hoped would become an annual event. Brown, who opened the glittering award ceremony, said Britons were a wonderful people and invoked the bulldog spirit of World War II leader Winston Churchill that he said was as valid now as in 1940. "The true greatness of Britons ... lies in the extraordinary qualities of our people," he told guests at a gala dinner, citing fairness, civic duty, openness, wisdom and integrity. "These are qualities that are more important now than they have been for many decades," he added. Berners-Lee, who was not present at the awards ceremony, sent a video message of thanks. Noted historian and panel member David Starkey said Berners-Lee's double acts of ingenuity and charity made him an automatic choice. "He chose not to commercially exploit his invention. He gave it away almost willfully. If he had fully exploited it, he would make Bill Gates look like a pauper today," he told Reuters. Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1990 while at the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva to let his fellow scientists work together even when in other parts of the world. But instead of patenting his invention he chose to put it onto the Internet the following year, opening access to all -- and the rest is history. He was knighted last year for an invention that has been likened in importance to the wheel. "We all felt that with Tim Berners-Lee you were in the presence of someone of truly historic standing," Starkey said. "There is something uniquely British in what he did. "A Briton is an archetypal figure that no other nation could possibly produce," he added. Mad dogs and Englishmen may be renowned for going out in the midday sun, but eccentricity is not the sole criteria that separates a Briton from the rest of the world. "No single attribute makes a Great Briton," said mountaineer and balloonist David Hempleman-Adams, also a panel member. "It is a combination of diffidence, determination, a sharp sense of humor and adaptability." The judges whittled down the initial field of 500 people nominated by the general public to a shortlist of 21. From these, they chose a winner in each category, with each one getting 3,000 pounds in prize money. Berners-Lee won the science category and went on to become by a clear majority the overall winner, taking home an extra 25,000 pounds. 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 Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 08:18:36 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Open Source Security Tools", Tony Howlett Reply-To: rslade@sprint.ca BKOPSOST.RVW 20041203 "Open Source Security Tools", Tony Howlett, 2005, 0-321-19443-8, U$49.99/C$71.99 %A Tony Howlett tony@howlett.org %C One Lake St., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 %D 2005 %G 0-321-19443-8 %I Prentice Hall %O U$49.99/C$71.99 +1-201-236-7139 fax: +1-201-236-7131 %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321194438/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321194438/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321194438/robsladesin03-20 %O tl a rl 2 tc 3 ta 3 tv 2 wq 2 %P 578 p. + CD-ROM %T "Open Source Security Tools" The tools listed in this book are for network security, almost without exception. The preface states that the book is intended primarily for systems administrators, although security professionals may find useful information as well. Howlett makes an effort to include items that have Windows versions, although only about a third do. He has also included tutorial materials on detailed aspects of the TCP/IP protocols that have a bearing on the operation of security software. Chapter one outlines the open source concept, starting with a fairly idealized scenario, but continuing with some history, advantages (and disadvantages), and a brief look at two of the major open source licences. The nominal topic of chapter two is operating systems, and so it is rather odd that most of the tools described are network utilities. However, the descriptions are better than are given in most reviews of software tools, and the details are clear for all who may read them. While chapter three does provide a quick overview of TCP/IP and filtering, it does not cover the full range of firewall types. The programs listed are comprehensively described in terms of installation and administration commands. Port scanning is covered in chapter four, and, again, while the programs are explained well, other details, such as the services that would need to be turned off to reduce the danger of open ports, are not. Much the same can be said about the discussion of vulnerability scanners, in chapter five. Chapter six looks at the most widely used network sniffers. The concepts behind, and examples of, both network- and host-based intrusion detection systems are given in chapter seven. Logging and audit data can accumulate quickly and overwhelm the administrator, so chapter eight reviews some common tools to present, analyse, and manage the information. Chapter nine lists a variety of encryption tools. Wireless tools, primarily for finding networks, are given in chapter ten. Forensic tools are examined in chapter eleven, but there may not be a sufficient distinction made between the network and data recovery tools. Chapter twelve finishes off with some more general discussion about open source software, and where to find it. There are some helpful appendices: well-known TCP/IP port numbers, and a large list of plug-ins for Nessus. The tutorial material could have had more depth and care, but there is no denying the value of the compilation (particularly with all the software included on the CD). copyright Robert M. Slade, 2004 BKOPSOST.RVW 20041203 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu If you have responsibility for security, but have no authority to set rules or punish violators, your own role in the organization is to take the blame when something big goes wrong. - Spaf's First Principle of Security Administration Practical UNIX and Internet Security, Garfinkel & Spafford http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ From: lookemintheye Subject: Level3 VOIP Product Implodes Date: 27 Jan 2005 22:30:40 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com It seems that Level 3 is pulling out of the small and medium business hosted VOIP market. Some customers may be in pain soon and some Level 3 resellers are product less. The product was called (3)Tone. Other companies in this space include Pingtone, CallTower, GoBeam and more daily MCI and Level 3 seem to have dropped out. The systems based on Cisco hardware and software seem to be the most reliable. lookemintheye 1/27/05 ------------------------------ From: 3 - The Dale Earnhardt Story Subject: Potential Legal Actions to NorVergence's Salzano Brothers Date: 27 Jan 2005 23:16:18 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Per an article on All American Patriots (link below), notices regarding potential legal actions have been sent by the Attorney General of New York to Thomas Salzano and Peter Salzano as officers of NorVergence. Are there any other state and/or federal agencies that will follow suit? Anyone with information please post ... and ... may justice prevail. http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/m-news+article+storyid-5245.html ------------------------------ From: kkancler@etownsend.com Subject: Looking For Hands Free Telephone System For Entire House Date: 28 Jan 2005 01:34:30 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Does anyone have any ideas? Have you seen such a thing? Know of any vendors? For my house, I would like a hands free phone system so that I may walk from room to room while still being able to talk via a speakerphone type device. Kind Regards, Kris@*onlyhcm.com To reply directly, please take out the * from the addy [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Have you considered a cordless phone with a headset (and caller ID and built in tapeless answering machine in the base unit)? Uniden has one; they were selling them through Costco stores for around fifty dollars. You wear the headset, and clip the phone on your belt. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 14:11:20 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: SBC, AT&T Press Ahead With Merger Talks Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 28, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=19021&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * SBC, AT&T press ahead with merger talks BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Analysis: Changes in technology drive mergers in telecom sector * Mobile phone shipments smash records * Juniper, Cisco products vulnerable to DoS attacks, US-CERT says * DirecTV reports a narrower loss, record subscriber increase USTA SPOTLIGHT * SUPERCOMM: TIA's and USTA's Premiere Event EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Yahoo! makes a local call * CableLabs rolls out new VOD specs VOIP DOWNLOAD * Vonage co-founder launches new Internet phone technology * Report: VoIP to drive wireless broadband growth * Quebecor debuts VoIP service * Conservative Nissan makes move to VoIP Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=19021&l=2017006 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Who was it (here, I think in TD?) right after the divestiture said that 'in twenty years they will all buy each other out and be back together again as one system ...' ------------------------------ Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans From: Mark Atwood Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 05:41:42 GMT Tony P. writes: > Meanwhile we in the U.S. get barraged with advertisements even when > we're paying upward of $600 a year for cable. Get TiVo. Mark Atwood | When you do things right, people won't be sure mark@atwood.name | you've done anything at all. http://mark.atwood.name/ http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus ------------------------------ From: Alan Burkitt-Gray Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 10:37:09 -0000 Someone a few days ago wrote: "Let's see. In the UK, you can't just go buy a TV, bring it home, and turn it on. You must OWN A LICENSE, paid for to the crown, to receive television entertainment. That's so ridiculous, it's amazing. What are those people thinking. And yet they put up with it." Yes, we do. It's called democracy. We'd rather pay $200 a year and get two analogue terrestrial channels and five analogue radio channels, plus lots of local services, plus an increasing number of digital terrestrial/satellite/cable TV and radio channels from the publicly owned (not state owned) BBC than have advertisements on those channels. Time and again opinion polls say the population supports it; no serious political campaign has ever won popular support for suggesting that the licence fee be withdrawn and the BBC be forced to take advertisements. Audience figures show that for its $200 per household a year (not $200 per TV set) it is delivering a service that people watch and listen to. Just as people also watch and listen to dozens of advertising-funded TV and radio stations. And except during the 1939-45 war the BBC has always been free of state control and politically neutral, giving equal coverage to opposition politicians and to whichever politicians happened to be in government. No doubt in time support for the licence fee will wane, and the BBC might eventually move to a subscription basis of funding. But at the moment, and for the past 80 years, the democratic will of the British people has been that the BBC be funded by a licence fee. That's democracy for you. You got a problem with that? Alan Burkitt-Gray Alan Burkitt-Gray, Editor, Global Telecoms Business http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/ http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com Click on Forward features link for editorial calendar until mid-2005 email aburkitt@euromoneyplc.com; tel +44 20 7779 8518 or +1 212 224 3880; fax +44 20 7779 8248. Please send all press releases to gtb@euromoneyplc.com only Global Telecoms Business Top 5 Daily: email me to get on the distribution list for this free newsletter. For subscription details please contact Murray McArthur on mmcarthur@euromoneyplc.com ; tel +44 20 7779 8710; fax +44 20 7779 8344 Nestor House, Playhouse Yard, London EC4V 5EX, UK [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: BBC is a quality radio service and you can enjoy BBC World Service with hourly headline news and many other features at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/bbc.html while you are reading our own 'News Feed Sweep' feature. Or, if you prefer a more 'Americanized' version of the news, you can read 'News Feed Sweep' with Associated Press Audio at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html PAT] ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 00:29:07 -0700 Organization: Octanews In message Wolfgang S. Rupprecht wrote: >> What boggles my mind is that companies in the telecommunications >> industry seem to get away with something that would not be allowed >> almost any other industry, and that is quoting one price to a >> customer, then actually charging a higher one. And again, I emphasize >> that these fees are not taxes that the government requires these >> companies to collect from end users. They are just an arbitrary fee >> that these companies decide to add on, so they can keep their >> advertised price artificially low in relation to their >> competitors. But this makes it very difficult for potential customers >> to fairly compare the actual monthly rate they will pay from any >> provider under consideration. > I never did understand how that didn't violate fraud laws either. > After all, they are quoting one price and charging another. How would > that be substantively different from a user of theirs paying a check > for the full amount minus their own Federal, State, Social Security > taxes on the tendered monies? It's all documented in the terms of service. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And naturally, everyone always reads those several pages of fine print and understands them all. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming From: Jake Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 17:21:15 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com Jack Decker At 04:45 PM 1/26/2005 -0500, Scott V wrote: >> Isn't this just someone bitching because they didn't remember to >> include taxes? > That's just the problem, these aren't taxes -- at least not any that > these companies are required to add to their bills. Every company has > What boggles my mind is that companies in the telecommunications > industry seem to get away with something that would not be allowed > almost any other industry, and that is quoting one price to a Have you had your car fixed or re-tired lately? I got hit with a 8% "environmental and shop cost" recovery fee the last time I had some work done at national tire chain store. This was added after the fact. Not really made clear during the quote phase. They said I should have asked. I felt so violated, I almost made them take the tires off, and re- misalign the car. I called around, and all similar businesses in my area are doing the same thing. This whole "fee thing" seems to be pervading our society. I do not know if some of you remember how gasoline was priced is some places: I was in Indiana one time when the price was xx.9 cents per gallon. This seemed cheap (about 10 cents below home prices), then I found out why. They did not add the state gas tax nor the state sales tax. It took congress to pass a law that the posted price is the FINAL out of pocket price. I do not mind having the total final complete cost broken down for me in plain English, BEFORE purchase. What I hate is one advertized price, then pages of fine print describing various "cost recoveries" which should be part of doing business. The price charged IS the cost recovery and profit. Looks like we need a new law. Where is the FTC? Where is the FCC? Jake ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 23:27:10 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Dave Garland wrote: > It was a dark and stormy night when John Levine wrote: >> That's not enough power to heat anything. > With all due respect, heating may not be the mechanism. With all due respect, what other mechanism do you think could cause cellphones to harm human tissue? > EM waves can affect things in other ways. Want an example? Hold a > fluorescent tube up next to a transmitter antenna, or near a > high-tension line, it lights up. (Hold up an incandescent bulb, > which is optimized to produce light from heat, and nothing happens.) > I once made small neon tubes without electrodes, and lit them by > putting them in a microwave oven, the lighting mechanism was by > direct excitation of the gas (neon lamps don't use heat to make > light). The tubes were stone cold when removed from the oven. None of which has ANY bearing on human tissue. Give me an example that has some resemblance to cellphone wavelengths and power levels acting on human tissue, and I'll take your reservations seriously. Until then, you're only crying wolf. > Some studies have indicated that things like the shape of the > waveform make a difference. Some studies that have nothing to do > with safety show effects on nerves and enzymes that are unlikely to > be thermal in nature. Do a PubMed search on "electromagnetic > radiation", you'll get over 8000 hits. Look at all of them that > relate to interactions between EMR and biologic systems, not just > those related to cell phone safety. There doesn't seem to be any > dispute that EMR can have biologic effects that are not caused by > heating. There also doesn't seem to be any dispute that a fraction of a watt isn't nearly enough power to cause any problems of that sort. > None of which is to say that cell phones are dangerous. I have no > idea. But it seems foolhardy to flatly say they can have no effect > whatsoever. No, it seems foolhardy to flatly say that we don't know, when in fact we *DO* know quite a lot. We can say with very high confidence that cellphones do not cause any harm to human tissue. (As to the difference between "very high confidence" and "absolute certainty," in scientific terms we can only say with "very high confidence" that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow.) It is the people who insist that cellphones somehow "might" be dangerous who are refusing to look at the topic objectively. There is ZERO evidence that cellphones *are* dangerous. There is considerable evidence that they are *not* dangerous. Do the math. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I don't think you can absolutely say radio frequency radiation is totally without harm to people. Consider for example the very cruel thing that some people (mostly children) do of putting small animals in microwave ovens and then turning on the unit. And why is it that microwave ovens have very well-shielded doors on them and the oven will not work if the door is open. I understand that radiation at microwave levels is different than radiation from a cell phone, but is there no comparison at all? PAT] ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Radar Detectors Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 00:29:01 -0700 Organization: Octanews In message Erica wrote: > Sure that's true, but what about the fortuitous charges. Example, > let's say you slid because of snow and passed the line on a yellow > light and it will flash your car. Or you toss in your coins to the > tollbooth, and drive off, and it doesn't count the coins right so it > snaps a shot of your car. Now you have to fight that you paid, and or > slid and the hassle is a pain. You didn't quote, so I can only guess exactly what you're complaining about, but with regards to sliding into an intersection, you should be ticketed if you enter an intersection on a red whether it's because you slid, or your brakes are bad, or you just plain didn't stop. ------------------------------ From: Android Subject: Re: Advice Needed on Villa Phone System in Bali Date: 28 Jan 2005 02:28:01 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com At this stage, I can't justify the expense of a PABX or hybrid phone system. It's too much for my simple set up. Maybe I'll install one in the future, but not right now. So, if I want to allow intercom calls, I can see 3 possible options: 1. Separate intercom system. 2. Cordless phones with inter-handset paging facility. 3. 2-line corded phones with conference call facility. Option 1 is very cheap (around $37), simple and reliable but I don't like it because it's less convenient for guests to have to use a separate system and it seems less elegant somehow. If possible I'd like to avoid this option. I know for sure that option 2 is possible because I used to have that setup in my house in London. I had 2 DECT phones and could make intercom calls between handsets. I can't remember for sure, but I think I could add 4 or more handsets to this group. Trouble is, I need this to work over 80 metres and through walls. I tried one cordless phone recently and it started to break up after 50 metres without any intervening walls. Maybe there's a way to use a cable to cut down this distance, but I don't know how. Or maybe there's a much better phone out there that can easily handle such distances. Advice please! To me, option 3 is the most attractive, but has a few drawbacks. First of all, I'm not altogether convinced it's possible. More advice please! If it is possible, I'm concerned I'm gonna be stuck with ugly office-type handsets. Is there an elegant 2-line handset out there that's suitable for a villa? I went to a phone shop recently (in Thailand) and they showed me a (very ugly) phone that can apparently do this. It accepts 2 lines. I can allegedly set up line 1 for external calls and line 2 for internal but, as I say, I'm not convinced. Without a central hub, how am I supposed to wire more than 2 such phones together? I'd be grateful for any advice. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, the cost on small single or two (trunk) line PBXs is not all that expensive these days; so many companies large and small are are going with multi-line phone systems and centrex. You can get very small PBXs (6 lines and 2 trucks) for three or four hundred dollars, with a raft of features on them. A unit like that (2x6) combined with a few cordess phones would get you all the features you say you looking for, including intercom between stations at your place. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: AOL Dropping Usenet Access Reply-To: fatkinson@mishmash.com Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 14:04:04 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Some years back, I was using an ISP up in Maryland. They were pretty reliable, but not a good communicator with their customers. I decided to take out a second associate's degree in night school and went to school nights and weekends for about a year. With classes and studying, I didn't get on Usenet very much. When I finished the program, I pulled up usenet again. I couldn't get Free Agent to work. After I gave up, I emailed them and asked if there was anything wrong with the usenet server. The answer was that they had ripped it out altogether (without notifying any of their customers). I was more annoyed that they hadn't notified me than that they had ripped it out. I found a service called Newsguy (http://www.newsguy.com). He provided usenet service for those whose ISP doesn't provide it. His rates were pretty good back then, but I'm not sure what he is charging now. I found his service to be pretty good. Have a good one. Fred ------------------------------ From: mike.sciarrino@gmail.com Subject: Re: Vonage Experience Date: 28 Jan 2005 08:14:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com The phone service itself is working great the customer service is horrible. ------------------------------ From: Ted Klugman Subject: Re: What is an AT&T RTSLS? Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 13:09:33 -0500 Organization: Optimum Online On 5 Dec 2004 10:49:41 -0800, fosterdave@hotmail.com (DevEhf) wrote: > I've seen the acronym RTSLS after the names of AT&T execs. What does > this designation mean? > Thanks, > Dave Ok, so I'm following up on an old post. Nobody answered it, though, so I figure this is still appropriate. RTSLS stands for ... drumroll ... Retail Sales. According to my AT&T rep, who has an RTSLS after her name. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Patrick Townsend, Food/Restaurant Critic Date: 28 Jan 2005 07:24:41 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Patrick Townson wrote: > One of my favorite actor/comedians was John Ritter, who passed away > about a year ago at a relatively young age. My favorite role of > Mr. Ritter was in his role as 'Jack Tripper' in the 1980's comedy > called "Three's Company". Don't forget his last role on "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter", in which he played an overprotective father of two teenage girls (based on a cute book.) The show continues, and did an wonderful job dealing with his death. It stopped production for a while, then resumed with some mostly serious episodes of the family mourning him, then the family gradually moved on to live their lives. The show is now on 8pm ET on ABC and it's fun to watch. > Stouffer's restaurant ... What happened to Stouffer's restaurants? They had a few in Philadelphia. In Ohio, they had some country clubs/hotels. Today, there is a nice line of frozen dinners under their label. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not know what happened to Stouffer's. They were big in the hospitality business for a while, and were based out of the Cleveland, Ohio area and had two very delightful (although sinfully expensive, but nice) restaurants in Chicago. They also issued their own credit cards for many years; sign for your dinner and drinks, pay the bill a month later, or use their credit cards at their country clubs/hotels. In Chicago, in addition to 'Top of the Rock' at the Prudential Building (at one point the tallest building in Chicago) two blocks west (also on Randolph Street at Wabash Avenue) they also had a place, simply called 'Stouffers' back in the 1960's and early 1970's. I stopped at the Randolph/Wabash place to eat dinner at least once per week in those days, and was always served by a British lady named 'Cecilia' who was a waitress there. 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'. 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! 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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 V24 #41 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jan 28 20:34:05 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0T1Y4c18717; Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:34:05 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:34:05 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501290134.j0T1Y4c18717@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 V24 #42 TELECOM Digest Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:33:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 42 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #466, January 28, 2005 (Angus TeleManagement) International Conference on Systems Engineering'05-August 16-18 (ICSEng) Vonage Call Forwarding (Julia Sonny) NorVergence: More NYS Lease Settlements (danny burstein) PRI Splitting? (Terry Dalton) British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates) (Paul Coxwell) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Linc Madison) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Rich Greenberg) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (AES) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (David Clayton) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (John Levine) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Tony P.) Re: Japanese Calling Home From UK - Questions (Rob) Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming (Tony P.) Re: Last Laugh! Patrick Townsend, Food/Restaurant Critic (Steve Sobol) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 15:40:57 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #466, January 28, 2005 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 466: January 28, 2005 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/en/ ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/ ** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca ** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/ ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** UTC CANADA: www.canada.utc.org/ ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Rogers Ends Unlimited Calling on CityFido ** Videotron Launches Local Phone Service ** Wireless Auction Ends ** MTS Study--No Need for Policy Review ** Bell Wins Bid for Nexxlink ** Allstream Intros Small Business Suite ** Aliant to Launch IP Television ** Comment Sought on Montreal-Area 10-Digit Dialing ** SBC Seeks AT&T Merger, Again ** Bell, Onestop Plan Subway Net ** Currie Returns to Nortel ** MTS-Allstream and Vancouver in Access Dispute ** CDNA Decision Expected Soon ** Yet Another VoIP Service ** Celestica Reducing Staff by 5,500 ** SR Telecom Lays Off One-Third of Staff ** Sierra Wireless Predicts Sales Decline ============================================================ ROGERS ENDS UNLIMITED CALLING ON CITYFIDO: On March 1, Rogers will stop providing unlimited local calls to new CityFido customers, instead offering 750 local minutes a month for $45, or 1,500 for $65. The size of the "local" coverage areas in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal will be reduced, and calls outside of that area will be 50 cents/minute. ** Current CityFido customers will be grandfathered on existing monthly packages and City zones for one year or until the end of their service agreement for as long as they renew it. VIDEOTRON LAUNCHES LOCAL PHONE SERVICE: Videotron has begun offering local telephone service to customers on Montreal's South Shore, and says it will extend the service across Quebec this year. Pricing ranges from $15.95/month for the phone component of a bundle also including Internet and cable TV, to $21.95/month for telephone only. ** All plans include unlimited calling to other Videotron telephone customers. Unlimited calling within Quebec is available for $4.95/month in a bundle, or $9.95/month for telephone-only customers. ** The service uses hybrid technology, combining IP-based access with Videotron's existing circuit-based telephone network. WIRELESS AUCTION ENDS: The auction of 2300/3500 MHz spectrum ended on Thursday January 27, with 12 final bidders and total bids of $56.6 million. ** The four largest bidders--accounting for over 98% of the total amount bid--were Bell Canada ($34.5 million for 55 licences), Telus ($8.8 million for 130 licences), 4253311 Canada Inc ($7.6 million for 25 licences) and Rogers Wireless ($4.7 million for 40 licences). ** Distributel, which was an aggressive bidder early in the auction, ended with only one licence for $1,500. ** Other bidders obtaining one or more licences were Amtelecom, Lyon Wireless, Mipps, Reseau TW, Sogetel, Tele Amos, and YourLink. http://agora.ic.gc.ca/AuctionGCLF_BTS/mainmenu.cfm MTS STUDY -- NO NEED FOR POLICY REVIEW: A new report prepared for MTS Allstream by Lemay-Yates Associates says that Canada has a sound telecom policy framework in place and is well ahead of Europe and the U.S. in that respect. It concludes that the telecom policy review proposed by Bell Canada is unnecessary. BELL WINS BID FOR NEXXLINK: Bell Canada says that 86.3% of outstanding common shares of Nexxlink Technologies Inc. were tendered in response to its takeover offer, so it will proceed with the acquisition, making Nexxlink a wholly owned subsidiary. ** Bell has replaced Nexxlink's directors with its own nominees. Karen Sheriff, Bell's President of Small and Medium Business, is now Chair of Nexxlink's Board. ALLSTREAM INTROS SMALL BUSINESS SUITE: Allstream has introduced a "suite of integrated services for small and mid-sized businesses," including local, LD, and toll-free phone service, high-speed Internet access, and hosted Microsoft Exchange and Sharepoint, with discounts for customers who take multiple services. ALIANT TO LAUNCH IP TELEVISION: Aliant plans to launch Internet-based TV service in Halifax in the second quarter, and will spend $40 million over the next three years to develop the service. A trial using a 10 Mbps Internet link began in Halifax this month. ** Aliant's 2004 profit of $137 million was 30% less than the previous year. Revenue fell 1.2% to $2.03 billion. The strike at Aliant last year cost $68 million in increased costs and lost revenue, and $67 million was spent on staff reductions. COMMENT SOUGHT ON MONTREAL-AREA 10-DIGIT DIALING: In Telecom Public Notice 2005-1, the CRTC seeks input on a proposal to introduce mandatory 10-digit local dialing in area code 450 in October 2006, coincident with a similar change in adjacent area code 514. Submissions are due by February 17. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2005/pt2005-1.htm SBC SEEKS AT&T MERGER, AGAIN: Published reports say that SBC Communications, the second-largest regional telco in the U.S., is once again in talks to buy AT&T. SBC tried to buy AT&T in 1997 but talks failed; this time, the price should be much lower, since the once-dominant carrier's revenues have plunged dramatically. (See Telecom Update #465) BELL, ONESTOP PLAN SUBWAY NET: Bell Mobility and Onestop are deploying a broadband network in Toronto's subway system to provide news, weather, and other information over large LCD screens in subway stations, and a wireless net to deliver similar content to screens in subway cars. CURRIE RETURNS TO NORTEL: Peter Currie will rejoin Nortel Networks February 14 as Chief Financial Officer, replacing William Kerr. Currie was Nortel's CFO from 1994 to 1997, and then Royal Bank CFO until last September. ** Controller MaryAnne Pahapill has left Nortel to join TD Bank. MTS-ALLSTREAM AND VANCOUVER IN ACCESS DISPUTE: MTS Allstream has asked the CRTC for permission to construct transmission lines in Vancouver, on terms consistent with the Ledcor Decision. The carrier says "the City is obstinately refusing to enter into any fixed term or city-wide agreement." www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8690/m59_200500844.htm ** Vancouver has replied to Shaw Cablesystem's application for resolution in a similar dispute (see Telecom Update #465). The City disputes the CRTC's jurisdiction. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2004/8690/s9_200414722.htm CDNA DECISION EXPECTED SOON: Telecom Update expects the CRTC's final decision in the Competitor Digital Network Access proceeding to be released in early February. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2002/8638/c12-61.htm YET ANOTHER VoIP SERVICE: Vancouver-based Nicer Canada Corporation has introduced an IP telephone service that offers virtual telephone numbers from Vancouver or Taiwan. Pricing ranges from $16.99 (unlimited local calling) to $29.99 (adds 500 minutes of calling to 16 countries). CELESTICA REDUCING STAFF BY 5,500: Celestica plans to reduce its global workforce by 10%-15%, laying off 5,500 employees over the next 15 months. Revenue in 2004 was $8.8 billion, 31% higher than the previous year; the net loss was $854 million. SR TELECOM LAYS OFF ONE-THIRD OF STAFF: As a result in a drop of orders for its wireless equipment, Montreal-based SR Telecom has laid off 127 of its 383 employees. The company says the reduction is temporary. SIERRA WIRELESS PREDICTS SALES DECLINE: Sierra Wireless expects first quarter sales to fall to $18 million, a third their previous level. Sierra has lost its PalmOne contact, which made up 30% of its sales. Net income in 2004 was $25 million on sales of $211 million. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web late Friday afternoon each week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2005 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: Utthaman Subject: Int. Conf. on Systems Engineering'05 - August 16-18, 2005 - ICSEng Date: 28 Jan 2005 12:57:11 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com EIGHTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEMS ENGINEERING (ICSEng05) LAS VEGAS, USA, AUGUST 16-18, 2005 (http://www.icseng.info) This series of International Conferences is jointly organized on a rotational basis among three institutions, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA, Technical University of Wroclaw, Poland, and Coventry University, UK. In August 2005, the 18th International Conference will be held in Las Vegas, NV, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. The Proceedings of the conference will be published by IEEE CS. ICSEng05 is organized jointly with the International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Multimedia Applications (ICCIMA'05: www.iccima.org) and the registered participants of ICSEng05 will be able to attend ICCIMA05. Scope of Conference: The Conference will cover the general area of Systems Engineering, with particular emphasis being placed on applications. It is expected to include sessions on the following themes: Avionics Computer Algorithms, Databases, Parallel and Distributed Systems, Networks Digital systems, architecture Control Theory, System Identification and Adaptive Control, Nonlinear Controls Data Fusion Engineered Systems for Nuclear Waste Management Environmental Systems and Energy Systems Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence Finance Engineering Geographic Information Systems Global Position Systems Information Theory and Communication Systems Neural Network and Applications Requirements Processes Risk Management Robotics and Industrial Automation Systems Engineering Metrics Systems Engineering Paradigms, Standards and Challenges System Architecture Standards and Testing Signal Processing Systems Engineering Education Transportation Systems Submissions: We invite you to submit a one page abstract for the purpose of reviewing by March 10, 2005. Accepted authors will be invited to submit a full paper (6 pages maximum limit) for presentation. All abstracts are to be submitted in PDF, postscript or MS word version electronically. For more information on submissions refer to: http://www.ee.unlv.edu/~selvaraj/icse05/submission/. Please follow the ICSEng'05 guidelines for more information on submission. Submission implies the willingness of at least one of the authors to register and present the paper. All abstracts will be peer reviewed by two independent referees of the International Program Committee of ICSEng'05. Special Session proposals are solicited from those who are interested in organizing a session dealing with a specific area of the conference. Special Session organizers will be members of the Program Committee and will be responsible for advertising, collecting and reviewing technical papers. Due date for submission of Special Session proposals: February 15, 2005. Special Poster Session: ICSEng'05 will include a special poster session devoted to recent work and work-in-progress. Abstracts are solicited for this session (2 page limit) in camera ready form, and may be submitted up to 30 days before the conference date. They will not be refereed and will not be included in the proceedings, but will be distributed to attendees upon arrival. Students are especially encouraged to submit abstracts for this session. Important Dates: Abstracts due: March 10, 2005 Proposals for special sessions due: February 15, 2005 Steering Committee Prof. W. R. Wells (Chair), UNLV, USA Prof. H. Selvaraj, UNLV, USA Prof. Z. Bubnicki, Technical Uni. of Wroclaw, Poland Prof. A. Grzech, Technical Uni. of Wroclaw, Poland Prof. D. J. G. James, Coventry University, UK Prof. K. J Burnham, Coventry University, UK General Chair: Prof. H. Selvaraj, UNLV, USA Program Committee Prof. A. K. Datta, UNLV, USA Prof. A. V. Balakrishnan, UCLA, USA Prof. W. N. Burkov, Russian Acad. of Sciences, Russia Dr. H. S. Cho, Korean AIST, Korea Prof. T. F. Gonzalez, Uni. of California, Santa Barbara, USA Prof. G. Guardabassi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy Prof. A. Gunasekaran, Uni. Of Massachusetts, USA Prof. H. Migliore, PSU, USA Prof. L. Hsu, Uni. Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Prof. L. Jozwiak, Eindhoven Uni. of Tech, Holland Prof. T. Luba, Warsaw Uni. of Technology, Poland Prof. V. Muthukumar, UNLV, USA Prof. S. Nambisan, UNLV, USA Dr. M. Rawski, Warsaw Uni. of Tech., Poland Prof. H. Selvaraj, UNLV, USA Prof. S. Singh, UNLV, USA Prof. H. Sorenson, UC San Diego, USA Dr. S. Stubberud, The Boeing Company, USA Prof. M. Sugisaka, Oita University, Japan Prof. M. Thoma, Universitat Hanover, Germany Prof. R. Vallee, LUniversite Paris-Nord, France Dr. L. Wang, Harbin U. of Tech., China Prof. W. R. Wells, UNLV, USA Organizing Committee Chair: Prof. V. Muthukumar, UNLV, USA Contact: Conference Secretary, ICSE-2005 Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4005 Phone: (702) 895 4184 FAX: (702) 895 1115 email: secretary@icseng.info URL: http://www.icseng.info/ ------------------------------ From: Julia Sonny Subject: Vonage Call Forwarding Date: 28 Jan 2005 15:38:30 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello Everyone, I have a Vonage RT31P2 Broadband VoIP Router and subscribe to the unlimited Vonage service which allows unlimited long distance in North America. I have an Office in Montreal with 10 Analog POT lines in a hunt group. I want get a New York number (which is available thru Vonage) and forward the Vonage NY Virtual number to the 1st line of my Analog POTS hunt group. My question is: If I get 10 calls back to back a few seconds away from each other, will *ALL* those calls be forwarded to all numbers of my 10 line POTS huntgroup, or am I capped at 1 or 2 sockets maximum until those sockets are cleared up so that further calls may be forwarded? My reason for this is so I don't have to purchase 10 Vonage Lines, Just have 1 of them forwarded to my 10 line huntgroup. Please tell me if this is possible. Thanks, Julia Sonny ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: NorVergence: More NYS Lease Settlements Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 18:44:37 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC "Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced settlements with three additional financial institutions in connection with a widespread telecommunications fraud involving NorVergence, Inc., a bankrupt New Jersey-based telephone equipment and service company. "Under the terms of these newly announced agreements, the financing companies will forgive approximately $186,000 in payments due from New York customers who had signed long-term contracts with NorVergence ... "Currently, 14 other financial institutions are facing impending legal action by the Attorney General in connection with the fraudulent NorVergence telecommunications agreements ... "Notices regarding potential legal actions were also sent by the Attorney General to Thomas Salzano and Peter Salzano as officers of NorVergence, which was declared bankrupt in July 2004 ... [ snippety snip, rest of press release gives the names and details of the not too bad leaseholders and the evil ones ] http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2005/jan/jan27a_05.html _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So it would seem that still more of the fraudulent leases Norvergence handed out have been forgiven, and those banks/leasing companies who are going to try brazenly to stick it out to the end, under some bogus 'holder in due course' theory, collecting money they are not entitled to are going to wind geting sued. Business people who took my advice a year ago on this scam, and put a freeze on *all accounts payable* regards Norvergence are coming out ahead in this, several months worth of payments ahead of those who meekly sent in a check to every bill collector who called them. Remember, an agressive debtor is the best debtor. Is anyone still paying a bank somewhere on a Norvergence deal? Probably so, since we know not all business people read TELECOM Digest each day. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: PRI Splitting? From: Terry Dalton Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:43:42 GMT We have a PRI that we want to service 2 separate phone systems. I'm trying to find a device under $1000 to take a PRI and split channels it into two separate physical PRI links and plug it into two separate phone systems (no the phone systems can't do this). The framing needs to be NI2 or 5ESS. I know that you can't split it in the sense that you can create 2 D channels but all I want to do is be able to use a few channels of the PRI on one of the systems and the rest on the other. Is this possible and if so does anyone know of a device that will do it? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, TD ------------------------------ From: Paul Coxwell Subject: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:53:17 -0000 > What isn't mentioned there, is what happens if you have a TV but no > licence. You're issued with a warning and told to get a licence or > risk being taken to court. Fines of up to GBP1 000/USD1 800 are handed > out or, in the cases of persistent offenders, a custodial sentence is > imposed. To be precise, you do _NOT_ need a license to own a TV set. British law requires a license to receive broadcasts which are originated or controlled from within the United Kingdom. That means it is perfectly legal to own as many TV sets as you wish without a license. It is perfectly legal to use them on a closed-circuit hookup to watch tapes, DVDs, etc. without a license. It is even legal to receive foreign broadcasts without a license. The crime is in watching a UK broadcast without a license. > "We have a fleet of detector vans, plus, our enforcement officers have > access to hand-held detection devices capable of detecting a magnetic > field when a TV is switched on. In fact, we catch an average of over > 1,000 people watching TV without a licence every day." Detector vans are a reality, but these days the TV Licensing Dept. seems to rely more upon their database and sending intimidating letters to every address with no license. A large majority of prosecutions result from somebody getting a visit from one of the TV license inspectors and -- on figuring that they've been caught -- admitting the "offense." It's not at all unknown for inspectors to use underhand tactics, such as informing people that they have the legal right to enter a house to check for the presence of a TV. They have no such right, and can enter only if they obtain a search warrant first. You're under no obligation to talk to them at all, nor to respond to the letters which say "If you do not use a TV please tell us so that we may update our records" (And there's no point in doing that anyway, as all you'll get back is a letter saying that they don't believe you and might send somebody around to check anyway.) > Yes, we do. It's called democracy. We'd rather pay $200 a year and get > two analogue terrestrial channels and five analogue radio channels, > plus lots of local services, plus an increasing number of digital > terrestrial/satellite/cable TV and radio channels from the publicly > owned (not state owned) BBC than have advertisements on those > channels. Sorry, but it's far from everybody who feels that way. There are people who have no interest in the programming that the BBC turns out these days, yet even if they only watch commercial stations on a satellite or cable subscription the law still requires this "contribution" to the BBC. If there was EVER a valid defense of the TV license, it certainly no longer applies as we've had commercial TV here since 1955. > Meanwhile we in the U.S. get barraged with advertisements even when > we're paying upward of $600 a year for cable. > So who's getting ripped off? Those with cable and/or satellite subscriptions here also get barraged with commercials. But the law mandates that they buy a TV license _as well as_ pay that subscription. And by the way, even though the BBC might let you watch a whole movie without a commercial break, they use the between-program slots to plug their own products at every opportunity these days. By the way, don't forget that we used to have a RADIO-receiving license as well. That was abolished in 1971. Paul Coxwell Norfolk, England. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Tell me this, Paul. In the UK does it *really matter or not* if someone insists on a search warrant? Here in the USA it is mostly just a formality, to buy yourself a few minutes of time, angering police more than ever. Police here do NOT like it when you make them work, and as the lady who manages the Independence Jail once said to me, "they (meaning police) have unlimited resources and won't quit once they discover an asshole; they'll just dig in deeper and hang on forever." I know it works that way in Chicago; if you dared to say 'show me a warrant' they would wink at you, and camp right there on your doorstep. They'd get on the radio to the office and ask the supervisor to 'go upstairs and see Judge so-and-so, get a warrant for (your name), send it via fax to the 'paper car' and have him drive over here with it to (your address). Judges are very reluctant to not give police whatever they want, and sure as the world, five to fifteen minutes later, the 'paper car' would show up with the search warrant. Then, instead of asking nicely if they could come in like they had done, the police who had been waiting all this time on your doorstep just kick the door down and come on in, smashing and grabbing anything even closely resembling a computer or parts for it, etc. No more Mister Nice Guy at that point. That's why I say search warrants -- even most of the USA constitution are just a formality here in the USA to humor the citizens who think it matters. Is UK actually different in those respects? With Tony Blair, the Bush lapdog if I ever saw one, I would not think so. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 12:29:40 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , PAT wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I don't think you can absolutely > say radio frequency radiation is totally without harm to people. > Consider for example the very cruel thing that some people (mostly > children) do of putting small animals in microwave ovens and then > turning on the unit. And why is it that microwave ovens have very > well-shielded doors on them and the oven will not work if the door is > open. I understand that radiation at microwave levels is different > than radiation from a cell phone, but is there no comparison at all? > PAT] The microwave oven uses very similar radio frequencies to a cellphone. However, the way that a microwave oven causes damage to animal flesh is by heating it via excitation of the water molecules in it. The power output of a cellphone is three orders of magnitude below a typical microwave oven, in addition to which the microwave emitters are designed to concentrate their power rather than radiating it uniformly. A cellphone emits far too little power to cause any damage by heating, and no other mechanism has been posited for it to harm people. The bottom line: the science is in, and there is abundant reason to believe that cellphones do not directly cause harm of any kind. If you rear-end a cement truck on the freeway because you were yakking on your cell, that's not the phone's fault. Anything else is just crying wolf. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:15:59 +0000 (UTC) Organization: Organized? Me? In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in reponse to Linc Madison : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I don't think you can absolutely > say radio frequency radiation is totally without harm to > people. Consider for example the very cruel thing that some people > (mostly children) do of putting small animals in microwave ovens and > then turning on the unit. And why is it that microwave ovens have very > well-shielded doors on them and the oven will not work if the door is > open. I understand that radiation at microwave levels is different > than radiation from a cell phone, but is there no comparison at all? Apples vs oranges here Pat. Several hundred watts of RF in a resonant cavity will produce considerable heating in anything that has a significant percentage of water in it. A fraction of a watt in free (more or less) space will not heat anything enough to measure the temprature difference. Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: AES Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 15:15:32 -0800 Organization: Stanford University In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Linc Madison : > And why is it that microwave ovens have very well-shielded doors on > them and the oven will not work if the door is open. Primarily because the much higher power levels of microwave radiation (hundreds of watts up to kilowatts) associated with microwave ovens can, in cases of serious leakage, cause what is in essence a "cooking" effect in the proteins in the front (lens part) of your eyeball, leading after prolonged cumulative exposure to cataract formation. (And it is a _door_ which gets opened and closed a lot, cleaned, spattered with food, bumped, etc, so that there's more than usual chance of damage to the seals over time.) ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 09:10:26 +1100 On Thu, 2005-01-27 at 23:27 -0800, Linc Madison wrote: > In article , Dave Garland > wrote: >> It was a dark and stormy night when John Levine wrote: >>> That's not enough power to heat anything. >> With all due respect, heating may not be the mechanism. > With all due respect, what other mechanism do you think could cause > cellphones to harm human tissue? Isn't that what the medical experts are now studying?, Perhaps they should all give up since the answers have been made clear here? As to the other arguments about "years of knowledge", perhaps you can cite when they were able to use state of the art diagnostic and analysis equipment way back years ago, or the studies that used children to determine if long-term exposure to RF had no negative effect on their developing bodies? There may very well be no significant negative effects from using cellphones, but unless people conduct investigations on this recent (in terms of any possible long-term medical outcomes) phenomenon, using the latest techniques, then assuming that it is safe is just plain folly. Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jan 2005 21:34:16 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > The reality is that most Europeans have a much cheaper service. I just came across a most interesting article in the current European Economic Journal on this very topic. See pages 5-7: http://www.european-enterprise.org/public/docs/EEJ.pdf It argues that due to the "termination monopoly" in which anyone who wants to call you has to pay the price your carrier sets, the average per minute price for calls in Europe is much higher than in the US, and a simple chart shows that the lower the per minute price, the more calls people make. A big advantage of charging all the calls to the subscriber is that the overall price becomes a competitive issue, which drives the per minute price down and provides for cheap bundled plans. In a monopoly environment, prices tend to stay high unless regulated down, and that's what's happening in Europe, increasing regulation of termination prices. He also points out that roaming prices are an even worse problem for the same reason, they're set by whatever carrier your carrier happens to have a roaming agreement with, but now there's international politics added to the mix. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 18:10:26 -0500 In article , mark@atwood.name says... > Tony P. writes: >> Meanwhile we in the U.S. get barraged with advertisements even when >> we're paying upward of $600 a year for cable. > Get TiVo. > Mark Atwood | When you do things right, people won't be sure > mark@atwood.name | you've done anything at all. > http://mark.atwood.name/ http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus Oh yeah -- and then get banged an additional $278.88 the first year, and $179.88 each additional year for TiVo. No thanks. ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Re: Japanese Calling Home From UK - Questions Date: 28 Jan 2005 12:40:27 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com tokyoeditor@gmail.com wrote: > I genuinely want to find the best information for one of my wife's > cousins who is planning a homestay in the UK for about 6 months. I > will try and explain as clearly as possible in the hope that it will > help you answer. > While I am aware that obtaining a mobile phone is relatively > hassle-free for someone such as my Japanese cousin, spending 6 months > in the UK to study English and on a homestay, the problem is this: > * The cousin is 18 years old, with a relatively low level of English. > The parents want her to have a mobile phone during the stay in the UK > to remain easily contactable. > * However, taking a Japanese-contracted phone to the UK, even assuming > it can operate there, would be prohibitively expensive due to paying > for roaming (as far as I know). Due to the extra expense involved, > this is not the preferred option, unless there is an economical way of > using a Japan-purchased phone in the UK. > * The answer would be to take out a new contract on a phone when in > the UK. However, she would not be comfortable with a phone featuring > ENGLISH instructions and display. > The preferred option is as follows: > * A phone which can be arranged after arrival in the UK and which > includes a Japanese language function. > * A plan/tariff whereby the user (cousin) does not have to pay for > incoming calls made from Japan by family etc. Or where these are as > cheap as possible. > * The main purpose of the phone would be as a means of contact > for her family in Japan, since she does not know many people in the UK. > I am hoping to get an answer, in the shape of detailed advice and > recommendations for suitable models if possible, and I would really > appreciate anyone's help. Please post here or email me on > tokyoeditor@gmail.com Calls to geographic numbers in Japan from geographic phones in the UK are from GBP0.02/USD0.04 per minute via companies such as Call 18866 (www.call18866.co.uk) or 1899 (www.1899.com), and they'd charge the same rate from a mobile phone if the phone is on a tariff which includes a set amount of free minutes and therefore able to dial their access numbers. The best advice is for you to have a look at UK Telecom Mobile on Google Groups and ask on there. HTH! Rob UK ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 18:15:40 -0500 In article , JakeSmith@DELETE3579.com says: > Jack Decker news:telecom24.38.3@telecom-digest.org: >> At 04:45 PM 1/26/2005 -0500, Scott V wrote: >>> Isn't this just someone bitching because they didn't remember to >>> include taxes? >> That's just the problem, these aren't taxes -- at least not any that >> these companies are required to add to their bills. Every company has >> What boggles my mind is that companies in the telecommunications >> industry seem to get away with something that would not be allowed >> almost any other industry, and that is quoting one price to a > Have you had your car fixed or re-tired lately? > I got hit with a 8% "environmental and shop cost" recovery fee the > last time I had some work done at national tire chain store. > This was added after the fact. Not really made clear during the quote > phase. They said I should have asked. > I felt so violated, I almost made them take the tires off, and re- > misalign the car. I called around, and all similar businesses in my > area are doing the same thing. > This whole "fee thing" seems to be pervading our society. I do not > know if some of you remember how gasoline was priced is some places: > I was in Indiana one time when the price was xx.9 cents per > gallon. This seemed cheap (about 10 cents below home prices), then I > found out why. They did not add the state gas tax nor the state sales > tax. It took congress to pass a law that the posted price is the FINAL > out of pocket price. > I do not mind having the total final complete cost broken down for me > in plain English, BEFORE purchase. What I hate is one advertized > price, then pages of fine print describing various "cost recoveries" > which should be part of doing business. The price charged IS the cost > recovery and profit. > Looks like we need a new law. Where is the FTC? Where is the FCC? The FTS is useless and the FCC is run by business lapdogs. We don't stand a chance. In article , ihatespam@crazyhat.net says: > In message Wolfgang S. Rupprecht > wrote: >>> What boggles my mind is that companies in the telecommunications >>> industry seem to get away with something that would not be allowed >>> almost any other industry, and that is quoting one price to a >>> customer, then actually charging a higher one. And again, I emphasize >>> that these fees are not taxes that the government requires these >>> companies to collect from end users. They are just an arbitrary fee >>> that these companies decide to add on, so they can keep their >>> advertised price artificially low in relation to their >>> competitors. But this makes it very difficult for potential customers >>> to fairly compare the actual monthly rate they will pay from any >>> provider under consideration. >> I never did understand how that didn't violate fraud laws either. >> After all, they are quoting one price and charging another. How would >> that be substantively different from a user of theirs paying a check >> for the full amount minus their own Federal, State, Social Security >> taxes on the tendered monies? > It's all documented in the terms of service. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And naturally, everyone always reads > those several pages of fine print and understands them all. PAT] The most eye opening experience I ever had was when we decided to select Genuity/Verizon to provide our IP services to the AG's office. When Verizon sent the contract it's first stop was the civil division. They shredded it to pieces and Verizon accepted EVERY change that the division had indicated they wanted made. Next stop was budget -- and the price magically reduced itself to < $400 a month for 1.54Mbps service over SDSL/T1. It helps to interrogate the service reps -- you find out all sorts of interesting tidbits when you do so. ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Patrick Townsend, Food/Restaurant Critic Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 14:15:56 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: >> Stouffer's restaurant ... > What happened to Stouffer's restaurants? They had a few in > Philadelphia. In Ohio, they had some country clubs/hotels. Today, > there is a nice line of frozen dinners under their label. Local chain. Okay, they were local to where I grew up (Cleveland) ... They had some hotels too, their flagship being the hotel at Tower City Center (formerly Terminal Tower, nee Union Terminal) on downtown Cleveland's Public Square. They sold those to Renaissance Hotels. Not sure who the restaurants went to. The former Stouffer's plant and corporate headquarters in suburban Solon is now the plant and USA corporate headquarters of Nestle Frozen Foods. JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think I read somewhere once that Nestle had bought out Stouffer's; kept the Stouffer's name for their frozen food and closed down the restaurant division. Like Schwann, out of Minnesota somewhere, the Nestle/Stouffer food is very good, but quite expensive. Schwann is now taking over (or has a big piece of Omaha Steaks. Our Schwann routeman comes around to see me every two weeks, and it is very hard to refuse to purchase his delicious frozen goods (ice cream, pies, cakes, etc). 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'. 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. 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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 V24 #42 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jan 29 00:29:41 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0T5Ter20765; Sat, 29 Jan 2005 00:29:41 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 00:29:41 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501290529.j0T5Ter20765@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 V24 #43 TELECOM Digest Sat, 29 Jan 2005 00:29:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 43 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Amazon's A9 Search Unit Adds Virtual Yellow Pages (Lisa Minter) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Elmo P. Shagnasty) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Dave Garland) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Mark Crispin) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Linc Madison) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Daniel W. Johnson) Re: Last Laugh! Patrick Townsend, Food/Restaurant Critic (Ed Clarke) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates (M Crispin) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 28 Jan 2005 07:36:36 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Amazon's A9 Search Unit Adds Virtual Yellow Pages SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc. launched a local Internet search service on Wednesday that allows users to virtually walk streets and see photos of businesses, a move that could help it better compete with established search providers such as Google Inc. The local "Yellow Pages" service from Amazon unit A9.com Inc. marks the first major addition to the A9 search engine launched in September. Other Internet search companies, such as Google, Yahoo Inc. and Ask Jeeves Inc., have already rolled out local search services as a way to boost advertising revenues, traffic and market share. A9's so-called block view allows users to see storefronts and virtually stroll the streets of 10 cities, including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, where the company has collected more than 20 million photographs. It took a few days in each city to gather the images using trucks equipped with digital cameras, global positioning system receivers and proprietary software. "You can virtually go to an area, see the business and walk around the block," A9.com Chief Executive Udi Manber said of the service in an interview. "You get a feel for the neighborhood." Web search has moved to the forefront at companies like Yahoo, Amazon and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN unit in recent years after Google offered new ways to find information on the Web and popularized search-related advertising that drives revenues. Amazon's A9 gives users access to Web and image search results from Google, book pages stored on Amazon.com, movie information from the Internet Movie Database, and reference information from GuruNet.com. While the service is the latest salvo in the cut-throat sector dominated by Google, analysts have said A9 would have its work cut out to change the competitive landscape. Yet A9's Manber hopes that additions like voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, technology that lets users call a business with a click of a button will draw more people to the local search service. He added it takes just a few days to capture an entire city and that the eventual goal is to eventually add as many places as possible across the country. Other cities currently available are: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Seattle and Portland, Oregon. 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, Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Elmo P. Shagnasty Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 19:34:21 -0500 In article , Isaiah Beard wrote: >> But it gets worse. If you go into one of the big stores and buy a TV >> (or VCR, satellite receiver etc.) they are actually obliged by law to >> pass your name and address on to the TV Licensing Office,. And if >> there's no license registered there, you'll be subjected to the usual >> barrage of intimidating letters (unless you had the sense to pay cash >> and give a false address, of course). > Though apparently, even that won't protect you. According the TV > licencing website in the UK > (http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/detectionandpenalties.jsp): > "We have a fleet of detector vans, plus, our enforcement officers have > access to hand-held detection devices capable of detecting a magnetic > field when a TV is switched on. In fact, we catch an average of over > 1,000 people watching TV without a licence every day." One wonders if LCD panel TVs have changed anything about how law enforcement works -- or *if* it works. ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 18:47:38 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information Gosh, we seem to have touched a nerve. It was a dark and stormy night when Linc Madison wrote: > With all due respect, what other mechanism do you think could cause > cellphones to harm human tissue? Are you saying that the only way nonionizing EM radiation interacts with human tissue is by heating? What I'm saying is that IF there is ANY effect, it MAY be harmful. Nonthermal effects on biologic organisms at relatively low-level microwave frequencies do occur. I don't know if any of them are harmful. Do you know that they are not harmful? > Give me an example that has some resemblance to cellphone wavelengths > and power levels acting on human tissue, and I'll take your > reservations seriously. Until then, you're only crying wolf. See below :) Demanding that the studies relate only to human tissue, at cellphone wavelengths and power levels, is to ignore much of the literature. The fact that tobacco caused cancer in rats was a warning flag for humans, even though the tobacco industry immediately claimed it didn't show anything at all about the effect in humans. I'd say, in the absence of a more detailed understanding, the following assumptions are reasonable: There is a proportionality between dose and effect, i.e. if there is an effect, the effect exists (at a lesser level) at lower dosages, there is no threshold below which effects magically disappear. (In the case of heating, there probably IS a threshold related to how quickly the biologic system can remove the heat.) That the same mechanisms probably exist over nearby parts of the EM spectrum. I.e., while an effect at 1 GHz probably is irrelevant at UV or ELF frequencies, it may well also exist at 2GHz, or 100MHz. And that effects at those frequencies may well indicate an effect at 1GHz. That if there is any effect whatsoever, there *may* well be other effects, or ramifications that are not immediately obvious, and that one cannot assume those nonobvious effects are harmless. That if there is an effect in one biologic organism, it is reasonable to expect there may similar effects in others. I don't expect you to take my reservations seriously. I don't know that I do myself. Hell, I grew up using lead, asbestos, creosote, penta, x-ray machines in shoe stores, playing with mercury from thermometers, and stuff like that; at the time people had no idea they were all bad for you ... but the fact that they don't seem to have hurt me yet doesn't mean they are totally safe, maybe if I hadn't had those exposures I'd be charismatic, handsome, and have an IQ of 200 :) I'd hope that you'd recognize that your (and my) knowledge is incomplete. Here's a few cites that might be relevant from the first 100 PubMed hits (there are 550 more I didn't look at) for the phrase "electromagnetic radiation", I don't have access to the full texts (or read some of the languages) so outside of the abstract I don't know how relevant they are. These all seem to indicate that there ARE non-heat bioeffects from lowlevel microwave sources. Mikrobiol Z. 2004 Sep-Oct;66(5):48-56, Protective action of electromagnetic radiation (40.68 MHz) on Saccharomyces cerevisiae UCM Y-517 [15W] ScientificWorldJournal. 2004 Oct 20;4 Suppl 2:1-3. Tzaphlidou M, Somosy Z. Biological effects of electromagnetic radiation-special issue. Mikrobiol Z. 2004 Jul-Aug;66(4):69-77. Effect of radio-frequency of electromagnetic radiation on yeast sensitivity to fungicide antibiotics. Zhonghua Lao Dong Wei Sheng Zhi Ye Bing Za Zhi. 2004 Aug;22(4):267-9. Yuan ZQ et al. Effect of low intensity and very high frequency electromagnetic radiation on occupationally exposed personnel. [170MHz] Lik Sprava. 2004 Mar;(2):30-5. Effect of low intensity helium-neon laser and decimeter electromagnetic irradiation on functional indices of immune cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. [1GHz = 3 dm] Zh Vyssh Nerv Deiat Im I P Pavlova. 2003 Nov-Dec;53(6):775-80. Sheiman IM et al. Effect of weak electromagnetic radiation on learning in the grain beetle Tenebrio monitor. [36GHz, 100 uW/cm2] Radiats Biol Radioecol. 2003 Sep-Oct;43(5):552-4. Malinina IuA et al. The influence of electromagnetic radiation of industrial frequency on Daphnia magna (Straus). Dermatology. 2003;207(1):10-4. Monfrecola G et al. Non-ionizing electromagnetic radiations, emitted by a cellular phone, modify cutaneous blood flow. Biofizika. 2003 May-Jun;48(3):511-20. Effect of low intensity of electromagnetic radiation in the centimeter and millimeter range on proliferative and cytotoxic activity of murine spleen lymphocytes. [8-18GHz 1uW/cm2] Bioresour Technol. 2003 Apr;87(2):155-9. Banik S et al. Bioeffects of microwave -- a brief review. [Review notes "nonthermal effects of microwaves on tissue responses are being documented"] Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 2000 Mar 30;29(2):102-3. Cao Z et al. Effects of electromagnetic radiation from handsets of cellular telephone on neurobehavioral function. [Reaction time increases with increased cellphone use.] J Cutan Pathol. 2003 Feb;30(2):135-8. Irmak MK et al. Effects of electromagnetic radiation from a cellular telephone on epidermal Merkel cells. ["Exposure led to significantly higher exocytotic activity in Merkel cells"] Bioelectromagnetics. 2003 Feb;24(2):82-90. Mashevich M et al. Exposure of human peripheral blood lymphocytes to electromagnetic fields associated with cellular phones leads to chromosomal instability. Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 2000 Nov;29(6):366-8. Cao Z et al. Effects of electromagnetic radiation from cellular telephone handsets on symptoms of neurasthenia. Int J Radiat Biol. 2002 Oct;78(10):937-44. Lass J et al. Effects of 7 Hz-modulated 450 MHz electromagnetic radiation on human performance in visual memory tasks. [0.158 mW/cm2] Radiats Biol Radioecol. 2002 Sep-Oct;42(5):546-50. The effect of microwaves on the bioelectric brain activity Med Hypotheses. 2002 Dec;59(6):703-5. Weinberger Z et al. Cellular telephones and effects on the brain: the head as an antenna and brain tissue as a radio receiver. > There also doesn't seem to be any dispute that a fraction of a watt > isn't nearly enough power to cause any problems of that sort. I qsay "effects" and you demand that I show they are "problems". There doesn't seem to be any dispute that there are "effects". Problems, I don't know. If I was able to *prove* problems, I'd have a grant and a staff and a nice office, wouldn't I? > There is ZERO evidence that cellphones *are* dangerous. Obviously, if people who used cellphones were dropping like flies, we'd all agree they were dangerous. The fact that they are not dropping like flies does not mean they are safe. There is evidence that they have various biologic effects. You are the one who is saying there is no harm whatsoever from those (or other) effects, that if they're not clearly dangerous they must be safe. That's the part I disagree with. Regards, Dave. ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 17:39:45 -0800 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Sat, 29 Jan 2005, David Clayton wrote: > There may very well be no significant negative effects from using > cellphones, but unless people conduct investigations on this recent > (in terms of any possible long-term medical outcomes) phenomenon, > using the latest techniques, then assuming that it is safe is just > plain folly. Not only that, but SCHOOL CHILDREN are being given a chemical which is used by terrorist organizations, pedophiles, biological and chemical weapons manufacture, and an industrial solvent and coolant!! In spite of all this, some people still claim that this chemical is "safe". This is just plain folly. Learn the facts: http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 17:40:00 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , David Clayton wrote: >> With all due respect, what other mechanism do you think could cause >> cellphones to harm human tissue? > Isn't that what the medical experts are now studying? Yes, but all indications so far are that there is no significant danger. > Perhaps they should all give up since the answers have been made > clear here? I'm not saying that we should end all research. I'm saying that it's foolish to say that we don't know if cellphone usage is safe. > As to the other arguments about "years of knowledge", perhaps you can > cite when they were able to use state of the art diagnostic and analysis > equipment way back years ago, or the studies that used children to > determine if long-term exposure to RF had no negative effect on their > developing bodies? Children have been exposed to lots of RF for decades now. If a fraction of a watt from a cellphone can fry your brain, why don't we see killing fields underneath all those commercial radio transmitter towers? There certainly shouldn't be so much as a field mouse left alive if it were that dangerous. > There may very well be no significant negative effects from using > cellphones, but unless people conduct investigations on this recent > (in terms of any possible long-term medical outcomes) phenomenon, > using the latest techniques, then assuming that it is safe is just > plain folly. It's not "recent in terms of any possible long-term medical outcomes," and it has already been studied extensively. Assuming that cellphone use is safe is quite entirely rational, until such time as someone can show a shred of evidence otherwise. True or false? 1. We have no evidence whatsoever as to whether or not cellphones are safe. 2. We have no evidence whatsoever that cellphones cause harm. Answers: 1. False. 2. True. The truest folly is to worry about a risk that shows no sign whatsoever of being real. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Daniel W. Johnson Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: 28 Jan 2005 20:20:04 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I don't think you can absolutely > say radio frequency radiation is totally without harm to > people. Consider for example the very cruel thing that some people > (mostly children) do of putting small animals in microwave ovens and > then turning on the unit. And why is it that microwave ovens have very > well-shielded doors on them and the oven will not work if the door is > open. I understand that radiation at microwave levels is different > than radiation from a cell phone, but is there no comparison at all? > PAT] I have an apartment on the second floor of the building. It has a balcony. The balcony has a railing around it. In front of the building, the sidewalk is above the level of the parking lot, by about an inch. There is no railing between the sidewalk and the parking lot. If someone used the presence of a railing around a second-floor balcony (and reports of people dropping children and pets from such balconies) to argue for a railing around the sidewalk, how would you respond? Well, to be fair, the railing around a tenth-floor (not second-floor) balcony would be a closer fit for your argument. There's your comparison. ------------------------------ From: Ed Clarke Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Patrick Townsend, Food/Restaurant Critic Date: 29 Jan 2005 01:43:29 GMT Organization: Ciliophora Associates, Inc. Reply-To: clarke@cilia.org In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > Patrick Townson wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not know what happened to > Stouffer's. They were big in the hospitality business for a while, and > were based out of the Cleveland, Ohio area and had two very delightful > (although sinfully expensive, but nice) restaurants in Chicago. They Stouffers is synonymous with death in New York. I remember this fire. Here's a slight extraction, you can read more on the website or google for "stoffers fire". http://archive.greenpeace.org/toxics/reports/gopher-reports/pvcfires.txt ------------------------ HARRISON, NEW YORK Westchester Stouffers Inn December 4, 1980 The Stouffers Inn fire was a corridor fire of the worst kind: burning floor covering, rapidly decomposing wallcovering, a relatively low and heat reflective ceiling, and a long, narrow corridor that channeled all form of fire product in one direction. The conference center fire originated where three corridors met, raced down the corridors, spread smoke widely and killed 26 people. The fire ignited at about 10:15 am and was discovered at about 10:20 am. The three major factors that determined this fire's outcome were the two initial decomposing materials (the carpet and vinyl wallcovering), the design of the building and location of the primary fire, and the fire safety systems and procedures followed once the fire was dicovered. Because the fire was in the corridor itself, survivors raced smoke and wall covering flames down the North corridor. Delay in reaching the decision to run that way or to jump out of a window meant death. People seemed to drop when they came into contact with the smoke because the smoke contained corrosive acid gas. The symptoms of the 24 injured survivors were typical of inhalation of acid gases. The respiratory tract is injured by the acid and the body tries to compensate for the intake of acid by what is called respiratory compensation. The respiratory symptoms show that the whole respiratory tract could be injured in this type of smoke, from the deep lungs to the upper tract where the vocal cords sit. -------------------- -- Like, in not getting harsh winters, y'mean? As I look out my window upon the British landscape it's white with snow and colder'n a witch's tit. I suppose you'll be one of those soft Southron sodomites, so near France you're practically a wog. --- Semolina Pilchard in alt.tasteless ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 17:56:22 -0800 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Fri, 28 Jan 2005, Paul Coxwell wrote: > British law requires a license to receive broadcasts which are > originated or controlled from within the United Kingdom. So, if I am in the UK with an NTSC TV set (or just a monitor) connected to a satellite receiver that receives a non-UK satellite service, I wouldn't have to pay the tax? That isn't what the BBC's web page about the television tax says; there's a specific statement to the effect that receiving any satellite signal subjects you to the tax. > Sorry, but it's far from everybody who feels that way. There are > people who have no interest in the programming that the BBC turns out > these days, I can see why, having seen the BBC-origin trash on PBS in the US. There is a subset of the American population who think that a British accent automatically means "high culture"; never mind that the "humor" (humour?) is low-brow and the production values are wretched. [from Pat] > I know it works that way in Chicago; if you dared to say 'show me a > warrant' they would wink at you, and camp right there on your > doorstep. They'd get on the radio to the office and ask the supervisor > to 'go upstairs and see Judge so-and-so, get a warrant for (your name), > send it via fax to the 'paper car' and have him drive over here with > it to (your address). Pat makes the mistake (as he has done many times in the past) of assuming that Chicago can be generalized to the entire country. Chicago is a world unto itself. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Mark makes an error in thinking Chicago is an exception to the rule. Far from being an exception, it is the rule. Chicago Police simply make no effort to disguise or hide their prejudice and disdain for the general populace is all. Chicago is not a 'world unto itself'. You might try reading things like my 'Feed Sweep' web page on td-extra (AP or BBC versions; I suspect you would prefer the AP version) to see the 'raw' news feed from AP/UPI/Reuters and others. You'd see where earlier this week *four* high ranking police officers in Chicago (with more indictments on the way) were arrested for *stealing money and dope* from dope dealers to be resold by themselves (confirms your allegation that Chicago is a 'world unto itself' maybe); but you'd also read where just Friday evening a brave, courageous police officer in Rock Hill, SC felt it necessary to use a *stun gun* on a _75 year old woman_ searching for a missing friend of hers in a nursing home. Find the item at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html under the title, 'SC Police Use Stun Gun on 75 Year Old Woman'. Why? Well because they are brave and courageous officers I guess. And of course the story of Abner Louima versus the New York Police and their broomstick is old news by now. So big city or small town, Chicago or Rock Hill, no difference. By and large our constitution went out the window a few presidential administrations ago. People who say 'Chicago (politics) is a world unto itself' are just fanciful dreamers. 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'. 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #43 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jan 29 19:17:58 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0U0HwK29755; Sat, 29 Jan 2005 19:17:58 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 19:17:58 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501300017.j0U0HwK29755@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 V24 #44 TELECOM Digest Sat, 29 Jan 2005 19:16:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 44 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Verizon to Opt for Microsoft TV Tech (Monty Solomon) Verizon Selects Microsoft TV as Software Platform for FiOS TV (Solomon) Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest (Monty Solomon) Graduate Cryptographers Unlock Code of 'Thiefproof' Car Key (M Solomon) FCC Drops Bid to Relax Media Rules (Monty Solomon) Calif. PUC Shelves Phone Rules (Monty Solomon) EFFector 18.3: Supreme Court Date Set for Grokster (Monty Solomon) New SBC Yellow Pages (Linc Madison) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and (Rob) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and (UK) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (David Clayton) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Vonage Call Forwarding (DevilsPGD) Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming (DevilsPGD) Re: PRI Splitting? (Doug McIntyre) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:34:23 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon to Opt for Microsoft TV Tech By BRUCE MEYERSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Verizon Communications Inc. plans to use Microsoft Corp. technology for its rollout of television service over a new fiber-optic network, becoming the third major telephone company to help fulfill Microsoft's long-stymied bid to barge into the TV business. The software maker's platform initially will be used to provide an interactive program guide, high-definition television, digital video recording and video-on-demand for Verizon's FiOS TV service, which is due to launch in undisclosed markets around mid-year. Verizon, which is spending billions to replace its copper phone lines with speedy fiberglass cables, also expects to exploit the technology's Internet-based capabilities to roll out more advanced interactive services down the road, the companies planned to announce Monday. The deal with Verizon comes on the heels of a contract from SBC Communications Inc. to use Microsoft's platform to launch that telephone company's planned TV service and an agreement with BellSouth Corp. to conduct trials with the technology. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46513957 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:38:37 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Selects Microsoft TV as Software Platform for FiOS TV Verizon Selects Microsoft TV as Software Platform for FiOS TV Service Deployment of Advanced Digital TV Services and Interactive Applications to Consumers to Begin Later This Year REDMOND, Wash. and NEW YORK, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) announced today that Verizon will use the Microsoft(R) TV platform for the commercial rollout of Verizon's FiOS TV service, planned for later this year. The Microsoft TV platform will support high-definition television, digital video recording and on-demand programming offered by Verizon on the FiOS platform. In addition, it will provide FiOS TV customers with an interactive programming guide that is attractive, intuitive and easy to use. Verizon and its third-party partners will use the Microsoft software to add advanced applications for future FiOS TV services, differentiating Verizon in the marketplace and bringing consumers the benefits of voice, video and data convergence. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46511926 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 08:17:04 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest by Richard M. Smith Tukwila, Washington firefighter, Philip Scott Lyons found out the hard way that supermarket loyalty cards can come with a huge price. Lyons was arrested last August and charged with attempted arson. Police alleged at the time that Lyons tried to set fire to his own house while his wife and children were inside. According to KOMO-TV and the Seattle Times, a major piece of evidence used against Lyons in his arrest was the record of his supermarket purchases that he made with his Safeway Club Card. Police investigators had discovered that his Club Card was used to buy fire starters of the same type used in the arson attempt. http://www.computerbytesman.com/privacy/safewaycard.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 08:38:54 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Graduate Cryptographers Unlock Code of 'Thiefproof' Car Key By JOHN SCHWARTZ BALTIMORE - Matthew Green starts his 2005 Ford Escape with a duplicate key he had made at Lowe's. Nothing unusual about that, except that the automobile industry has spent millions of dollars to keep him from being able to do it. Mr. Green, a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, is part of a team that plans to announce on Jan. 29 that it has cracked the security behind "immobilizer" systems from Texas Instruments Inc. The systems reduce car theft, because vehicles will not start unless the system recognizes a tiny chip in the authorized key. They are used in millions of Fords, Toyotas and Nissans. All that would be required to steal a car, the researchers said, is a moment next to the car owner to extract data from the key, less than an hour of computing, and a few minutes to break in, feed the key code to the car and hot-wire it. An executive with the Texas Instruments division that makes the systems did not dispute that the Hopkins team had cracked its code, but said there was much more to stealing a car than that. The devices, said the executive, Tony Sabetti, "have been fraud-free and are likely to remain fraud-free." The implications of the Hopkins finding go beyond stealing cars. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/29/national/29key.html?ex=1264741200&en=cc1104501a87d6d1&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 11:54:50 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Drops Bid to Relax Media Rules Agency Sought Fewer Limits on Ownership By Frank Ahrens Washington Post Staff Writer The Bush administration yesterday abandoned plans to ask the Supreme Court to allow a set of controversial rules to take effect that would have loosened restrictions on how large media conglomerates could grow. The decision disappointed big media companies that had lobbied heavily in support of the rules and thrilled those who had fought to keep tighter rein on how much control one company should have over television, newspapers and radio stations in individual markets. The Federal Communications Commission, which had adopted the proposed rules in a hotly contested, 3 to 2, party-line vote in June 2003, now must decide whether to start anew on rules governing media consolidation or to re-argue its case before a lower court that the current proposals should be approved. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42134-2005Jan27.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:45:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Calif. PUC Shelves Phone Rules Regulators suspend the telecom bill of rights, which had been opposed by carriers. Consumer advocates vow to lobby for protection laws. By Alex Pham, Times Staff Writer January 28, 2005 California regulators voted Thursday to shelve the first set of consumer protection rules in the nation to cover both conventional and cellular phones, handing a victory to carriers that had complained bitterly about them. Consumer advocates said the California Public Utilities Commission's 3-1 vote effectively killed the so-called telecommunications bill of rights. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-puc28jan28.story ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 14:13:54 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 18.3: Supreme Court Date Set for Grokster EFFector Vol. 18, No. 3 January 27, 2005 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 319th Issue of EFFector: * Supreme Court Date Set for Grokster * EFF Announces "Endangered Gizmos" List * Texas Court Orders Voting Examiners' Meetings Opened to Public * Op-ed: "Rethinking Recounts" * Last Call for EFF Pioneer Award Nominees! * EFF Seeks Summer Interns * MiniLinks (15): A New Kind of Civil Disobedience * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/18/03.php ------------------------------ Subject: New SBC Yellow Pages Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 02:08:40 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed I just got my copy of the brand new SBC yellow pages for San Francisco. Why is that even newsworthy? Well, perhaps because the "old" one came out in December 2004. They've completely changed the physical format. The new book has much smaller pages, about 7.5 x 9 inches. The old one is the more traditional size, around 9.5 x 11 inches. They both have cover dates of December 2004, and are approximately the same thickness (~ 1.6"). I s'pose they save about 1/3 on paper and ink costs, as well as shipping. I wonder if this is the beginning of a trend. Two or three years ago, I believe it was, SBC committed the serious gaffe of misspelling the name of one of the suburbs listed on the directory cover: DAILY City instead of DALY City. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and Date: 29 Jan 2005 01:41:35 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > So, if I am in the UK with an NTSC TV set (or just a monitor) > connected to a satellite receiver that receives a non-UK satellite > service, I wouldn't have to pay the tax? Yes you would. You own a TV set capable of receiving BBC. Regardless of whether it's NTSC or otherwise it makes no difference these days with modern TV sets. Rob ------------------------------ From: Alan Burkitt-Gray Subject: RE: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 13:24:09 -0000 Mark Crispin MRC@CAC.Washington.EDU wrote: > ... BBC-origin trash on PBS in the US. There is a subset of the American > population who think that a British accent automatically means "high > culture"; never mind that the "humor" (humour?) is low-brow and the > production values are wretched. The programmes are not made for PBS viewers, Mark. They're made for the British population, licence payers who, as the audience figures show, watch them. They also watch programmes made by the commercial channels -- there's been a 50-50 split in audience terms, more or less, for most of the last 50 years, in terms of absolute audience figures at any particualr moment, but most of the population watches or listens to one or more BBC stations at some time during the week. There is, as Paul points out, some opposition to the licence fee, but in fact there is not much. That, as I said earlier, is democracy. If democracy works, the majority wins and the minority loses. In this case, the minority opposes the licence fee. The majority is happy with it and the BBC service that it funds. The fact that Mark doesn't like the programmes -- or his fellow Americans who watch them on PBS -- doesn't matter. In this case, neither he nor the PBS viewers have a say in how we in the UK choose to fund our TV and radio channels. Alan Burkitt-Gray, Editor, Global Telecoms Business email aburkitt@euromoneyplc.com; Global Telecoms Business Top 5 Daily: email me to get on the distribution list for this free newsletter. ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 16:35:11 +1100 On Fri, 2005-01-28 at 17:40 -0800, Linc Madison wrote: > In article , David Clayton > wrote: >>> With all due respect, what other mechanism do you think could cause >>> cellphones to harm human tissue? >> Isn't that what the medical experts are now studying? > Yes, but all indications so far are that there is no significant danger. Interesting that you use a relative term here, "significant", but essentially base your entire final argument on absolutes: > Assuming that cellphone use is safe is quite entirely rational, until > such time as someone can show a shred of evidence otherwise. > True or false? > 1. We have no evidence whatsoever as to whether or not cellphones are > safe. > 2. We have no evidence whatsoever that cellphones cause harm. > Answers: > 1. False. > 2. True. The whole point is that it is all relative, and as research progresses there is a chance that the relative "safety" of cellphone use -- as we now understand it -- may change. As far as the "We have no evidence whatsoever that cellphones cause harm." blanket statement goes, I'd say there are a few people in other fields that would disagree ... > Children have been exposed to lots of RF for decades now. If a > fraction of a watt from a cellphone can fry your brain, why don't we > see killing fields underneath all those commercial radio transmitter > towers? There certainly shouldn't be so much as a field mouse left > alive if it were that dangerous. ..... The use of cellphones by children is only a recent occurrence, and the whole message of the study that started this thread is that there needs to be further research in this area. Perhaps you could enlighten us to the relative field strengths of an antenna (usually) a few centimetres away from brain tissue compared to one hundreds of metres away? As well, making a "why isn't the sky falling already" argument doesn't add a lot of credence to your cause when any possible effect may be subtle and take years to emerge. By crikey you must by young Linc, I can still remember when I was that young that I just about knew everything with 100% certainty.... ;-) These days I know that there is a lot that I don't know ... Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I recall a friend of mine being out in the Los Angeles area, in the vicinity of (is it?) Griffith Park where all the commercial radio antennas are on top of a high place. He commented that when he would take his two dogs out there for their morning run he would always walk past those antennas, and he said when the sky was clear and the air was crisp in the early morning you could almost see the ozone and hear 'crackling' from those antennas. True or his imagination? PAT] ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: 29 Jan 2005 22:07:46 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Linc Madison wrote: > A cellphone emits far too little power to cause any damage by heating, > and no other mechanism has been posited for it to harm people. Hmmm, ... are you saying that the negative effects of exposure to radioactivity is due to heat damage? Somehow I don't think so ... ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Vonage Call Forwarding Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 00:48:28 -0700 Organization: Octanews In message Julia Sonny wrote: > I have a Vonage RT31P2 Broadband VoIP Router and subscribe to the > unlimited Vonage service which allows unlimited long distance in North > America. > I have an Office in Montreal with 10 Analog POT lines in a hunt group. > I want get a New York number (which is available thru Vonage) and > forward the Vonage NY Virtual number to the 1st line of my Analog POTS > hunt group. > My question is: If I get 10 calls back to back a few seconds away from > each other, will *ALL* those calls be forwarded to all numbers of my > 10 line POTS huntgroup, or am I capped at 1 or 2 sockets maximum until > those sockets are cleared up so that further calls may be forwarded? > My reason for this is so I don't have to purchase 10 Vonage Lines, > Just have 1 of them forwarded to my 10 line huntgroup. Please tell me > if this is possible. Off hand I believe call forwarding is done by Vonage's network and not the ATA -- You shouldn't need run into any limits as far as the ATA goes. If you want to test, I'd be happy to forward my Vonage line to an automated voice service and let you call from all 10 of your POTS lines to my Vonage number -- This would confirm that all 10 calls make it through to the destination number, but I'm quite confident that they will. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Would you need to set any 'time-outs' on the 'automated voice service' so that she could get all ten lines dialed up before the first few of the dialed up calls dropped off due to inactivity, etc? Otherwise Julia is going to have to have a dialing marathon, speeding along, dialing and listening, etc. Also, if any of her lines, in the experiment get any 'incidental' busy signals along the way, she will need to assure herself that she did not attempt the connections 'too fast'; that is, that as each call approaches your TA it has time to get in, get processed and get out of the way before her next dialing attempt is done. My feeling is you are probably correct, all ten can be handled as long as two or three incoming calls do not 'pounce' on the TA all at the same instant, clogging and confusing it. If Julia expects very heavy traffic, where it is possible all ten POTS lines are going to be calling in every few seconds, then she does not need ten Vonage TA devices, but I would suggest two or three inbound lines (answered by Vonage TAs) to keep the traffic flowing smoothly. PAT] ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 00:48:27 -0700 Organization: Octanews In message DevilsPGD wrote: > It's all documented in the terms of service. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And naturally, everyone always reads > those several pages of fine print and understands them all. PAT] Personally, I've given up on the lowest common denominator theory. If you can't be bothered to read what you're signing, that's your choice, just don't whine when you get nailed with something you weren't expecting. If, on the other hand it's not documented at all or isn't disclosed until after the sale is complete or something to that effect then I'm the first to suggest crucifixion for the CEO at the company and everyone straight down to the sales rep that sold the product. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: PRI Splitting? From: Doug McIntyre Date: 29 Jan 2005 15:56:46 GMT Organization: ipHouse Terry Dalton writes: > We have a PRI that we want to service 2 separate phone systems. I'm > trying to find a device under $1000 to take a PRI and split channels > it into two separate physical PRI links and plug it into two separate > phone systems (no the phone systems can't do this). The framing needs > to be NI2 or 5ESS. I know that you can't split it in the sense that > you can create 2 D channels but all I want to do is be able to use a > few channels of the PRI on one of the systems and the rest on the > other. Is this possible and if so does anyone know of a device that > will do it? Any info would be greatly appreciated. An Adtran Atlas will do exactly what you want. Buying them new though will be a tad higher than $1,000, but used eBay prices should get you close enough to your price point. These are modular, and since you need 3 T1s total, and the base unit only comes with two T1 ports, you'll need another Quad T1/PRI card inserted. The bigest problem is that you do have to take the one D channel in, and generate the 23B+D channels out over two seperate T1s out to each PBX. And then you'll need to do some basic call routing for which calls coming in go to one PBX vs. the other. I assume you'll want to do that based on called-party ID numbers, although you can do it based on either calling-party or called-party ID in the Atlas. A PRI can't really be seperated into just a couple channels here or there like a T1 can be, so I don't know if you need to limit # of calls accepted or not. Not sure if you even could with PRIs without your PBX smart enough to send call-rejects back if # of channels used > 2 or some such logic. I've used these devices for a very simular situation, and it worked flawlessly. ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #44 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jan 30 16:09:34 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0UL9Yb09599; Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:09:34 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:09:34 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501302109.j0UL9Yb09599@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 V24 #45 TELECOM Digest Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:07:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 45 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Steal This Show (Monty Solomon) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates) (Coxwell) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates) (Crispin) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates) (jtaylor) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates) (Wollman) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (John Smith) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: New SBC Yellow Pages (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: New SBC Yellow Pages (Joseph) Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming (Dave Close) Re: Vonage Call Forwarding (John Levine) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Isaiah Beard) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Earle Robinson) Re: Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest (-mhd) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 03:15:47 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Steal This Show By LORNE MANLY and JOHN MARKOFF ISAAC RICHARDS didn't think of himself as a rebel, or a shock to the well-lubricated system of the television industry. He was merely unhappy with the cable box provided by his local operator. Dismayed by the sluggish channel-changing capability and the sparsely informative program guide, he decided to build a better cable box from scratch. Today, nearly three years since Mr. Richards, a 26-year-old computer software programmer in Willoughby, Ohio, embarked on his quest, hundreds of thousands of do-it-yourself television viewers are using the free software program he wrote, MythTV, to turn desktop personal computers into customized cable boxes, complete with the ability to record shows, surf the Web and strip out unwanted commercials. The members of the MythTV community, who now do not have to pay monthly fees to rent set-top boxes or digital video recorders, have plenty of more mischievous company in trying to outwit the television industry. Millions of viewers are now watching illegal copies of television programs -- even full seasons copied from popular DVD's -- that are flitting about the Internet, thanks to other new programs that allow users to upload and download the large files quickly. And entrepreneurial souls are busily concocting even newer applications, including one that searches the Internet for illegal copies of any television shows you may desire and automatically downloads them to your computer. These high-tech tricks address desires that have become standard in an age of instant media gratification: the desire to watch what you want, when and how you want it. And they're turning television -- traditionally beamed into homes at the convenience of the broadcast and cable networks -- into something more flexible, highly portable and commercial free. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/arts/television/30manl.html?ex=1264741200&en=e82b9db497df2928&ei=5090 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. You may read NY Times on line each day at no charge and with no login requirements or privacy invading cookies at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html . *** 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. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates) Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 00:45:20 -0000 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Tell me this, Paul. In the UK does it > *really matter or not* if someone insists on a search warrant? Here in > the USA it is mostly just a formality, to buy yourself a few minutes > of time, angering police more than ever. Police here do NOT like it > when you make them work, and as the lady who manages the Independence > Jail once said to me, "they (meaning police) have unlimited resources > and won't quit once they discover an asshole; they'll just dig in > deeper and hang on forever." Pat, As I've never had a cop on the doorstep asking to come in and search my house, I guess I'm not in a position to say, although certainly the respect which used to be held for the British police force is now a thing of the past. In this particular case though, the police would not be involved at this first stage. It would be a TV license inspector on the doorstep, who is not a cop and has no police powers. And surely he has to have some sort of "probable cause" to get a warrant issued? Just saying "We have no record of a TV license at the address" can't be enough. (At least I hope it isn't, but then Blair is determined to make this a full-fledged police state, so who knows these days?) > So, if I am in the UK with an NTSC TV set (or just a monitor) > connected to a satellite receiver that receives a non-UK satellite > service, I wouldn't have to pay the tax? I'm no expert on the law, but as I understand it, that would be perfectly legal. I think the interpretation of the law is that an installation which is capable of receiving UK broadcasts (e.g. by just flicking the channel selector) needs a license. For example, letters from TV Licensing in the past regarding regular UHF broadcasts have stated that if the set is connected to an antenna and presets tuned to local transmitters, then it has been installed for receiving UK broadcasts. If the TV is sitting there untuned to local transmitters and with no antenna connected, then it is not "installed for use" and thus no license is needed. > That isn't what the BBC's web page about the television tax says; > there's a specific statement to the effect that receiving any > satellite signal subjects you to the tax. I believe there was a loophole some years ago which meant that a license was not required to receive satellite broadcasts of any sort, only regular terrestrial signals. That loophole was closed by an amendment, and I believe that is how we got the part about any broadcast originating or controlled from within the U.K. Unfortunately, the BBC and the TV licensing gestapo often make statements to the effect that if you have a TV, you need a license. When pressed on this though, they will admit that this is an over-simplification and that mere possession of a set, or its use for watching non-UK or non-broadcast material is perfectly legal without a license. > I can see why, having seen the BBC-origin trash on PBS in the US. > There is a subset of the American population who think that a British > accent automatically means "high culture"; never mind that the "humor" > (humour?) is low-brow and the production values are wretched. The BBC used to turn out some reasonable shows. I'll admit that they do still produce some worthwhile programs from time to time. Unfortunately, the few good items are outnumbered 100 to 1 by the utter garbage that fills the rest of their schedule these days. By the way, quite a few documentaries in recent years are co-productions of the BBC and big PBS producer WGBH Boston. >> So, if I am in the UK with an NTSC TV set (or just a monitor) >> connected to a satellite receiver that receives a non-UK satellite >> service, I wouldn't have to pay the tax? > Yes you would. You own a TV set capable of receiving BBC. Regardless > of whether it's NTSC or otherwise it makes no difference these days > with modern TV sets. > Rob Many modern sets sold in the U.K. are capable of receiving 525/60-NTSC as well as 625/50-PAL, but the converse is not true for the majority of sets sold in the United States. And besides, the TV itself not only has to be capable of receiving 625-PAL broadcasts, it has to be _installed_ in such a way that it can receive them. It is perfectly legal to own a UK 625-PAL receiver with no license so long as it is not connected in such a way as to make it capacble of receiving UK broadcasts. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I believe the BBC World Service is a decent, rather good programming effort, which is one reason why I offer it here on the 'Feed Sweep' URL http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/bbc.html . At that URL you get the BBC World Service audio and the Associated Press headlines as they come across the wires. If you prefer, swap the 'bbc.html' ending for 'AP.html'. I'll be adding some other audio feeds soon. And regards the esteem shown British police officers, I seem to recall at one time they did not routinely carry or use fire arms; in a confron- tation with a citizen, the citizen's respect for the law was sufficient. Is that still the case? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 18:50:19 -0800 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Sat, 29 Jan 2005, Rob wrote: >> So, if I am in the UK with an NTSC TV set (or just a monitor) >> connected to a satellite receiver that receives a non-UK satellite >> service, I wouldn't have to pay the tax? > Yes you would. You own a TV set capable of receiving BBC. Regardless > of whether it's NTSC or otherwise it makes no difference these days > with modern TV sets. Please explain how an NTSC TV set in the UK is capable of receiving BBC. I wasn't aware that BBC was also broadcasting in system M. In case you weren't aware, NTSC TVs are system M by definition. On Sat, 29 Jan 2005, Alan Burkitt-Gray wrote: > That, as I said earlier, is democracy. If democracy works, the > majority wins and the minority loses. That isn't democracy; democracy entails respect for the rights of the minority. It's called "checks and balances"; and without that, you just have a dictatorship of the majority. Sooner or later, the pendulum will swing back. You can't stop the swing; you can only influence its violence. > The fact that Mark doesn't like the programmes -- or his fellow > Americans who watch them on PBS -- doesn't matter. In this case, > neither he nor the PBS viewers have a say in how we in the UK choose > to fund our TV and radio channels. Actually, it matters in that we choose not to fund PBS with voluntary contributions, and have been largely successful in eliminating PBS' funding from the public treasury. I don't presume to have a say in how the UK runs its country. I just laugh at it. The UK serves as a spendid example of what not to do. Yet another example is UK digital television, which doesn't have HDTV! -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: jtaylor Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 09:09:29 -0400 Organization: MCI Canada News Reader Service Mark Crispin MRC@CAC.Washington.EDU wrote: > ... BBC-origin trash on PBS in the US. There is a subset of the American > population who think that a British accent automatically means "high > culture"; never mind that the "humor" (humour?) is low-brow and the > production values are wretched. I've lived in, and watched the television of (as I'm sure many other readers have), both North America and the United Kingdom. While in the U.K. the programs offered, and the absence of advertising during them, were SO much better than what was available on North American TV that on my return it was embarrasing and painful to watch; this despite having an arguably better slice of the programming here in the Great White North part of North America. There were some U.K. shows that were lower in quality, and no doubt there are some North American shows better, but I suspect that the executives of both sets of networks arrange for the kind of U.K. shows that they believe americans will find attractive. If they find themselves guided by the sort of dreck american networks typically produce, then the recipients have only themselves to blame. ------------------------------ From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates) Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 20:46:52 UTC Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , Rob wrote: > Yes you would. You own a TV set capable of receiving BBC. Regardless > of whether it's NTSC or otherwise it makes no difference these days > with modern TV sets. Most of the millions of NTSC-M TV sets sold in the world every year would not have the slightest idea what to do with a PAL-I signal if presented to them, and in any case couldn't even tune in the aural carrier.[1] -GAWollman [1] System I uses an aural offset of +5.996 MHz, which is (effectively) out of the IF passband for a system M tuner. That's not even considering the difference between 6- and 8-MHz channel spacing used in the R2 and R1/3 bandplans, respectively. -- Garrett A. Wollman | As the Constitution endures, persons in every wollman@csail.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own Opinions not those | search for greater freedom. of MIT or CSAIL. | - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. ___ (2003) ------------------------------ From: John Smith Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 05:15:36 GMT jmeissen@aracnet.com wrote: > Hmmm, ... are you saying that the negative effects of exposure to > radioactivity is due to heat damage? Somehow I don't think so ... The negative effects of radioactivity are due to the ionizing nature of its radiation. Cell phones are not radioactive, and emit no ionizing radiation of any kind. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: 30 Jan 2005 08:03:13 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , wrote: > Hmmm, ... are you saying that the negative effects of exposure to > radioactivity is due to heat damage? Somehow I don't think so ... OK, enough already! I'm not stupid enough to think that cell phones are radioactive. And I know that RF is not the same as particle radiation. Linc seemed to be implying that the only possible damage to cells had to be from the heat induced by the radiation. I was simply pointing out that there are other ways to damage cellular structure that don't involve heat, with the point being that while yes, it is probably virtually impossible for the electromagnetic radiation from a cell phone to induce enough temperature change to have any possible effect, there may be other mechanisms that haven't been discovered yet. The one thing that I have noticed to be extraordinarily consistent throughout the history of science is that whenever one or all of the experts think they know everything about something, they don't. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 09:13:30 EST Subject: Re: New SBC Yellow Pages In a message dated Sat, 29 Jan 2005 02:08:40 -0800, Linc Madison writes: > I just got my copy of the brand new SBC yellow pages for San Francisco. > Why is that even newsworthy? Well, perhaps because the "old" one came > out in December 2004. > They've completely changed the physical format. The new book has much > smaller pages, about 7.5 x 9 inches. The old one is the more > traditional size, around 9.5 x 11 inches. They both have cover dates of > December 2004, and are approximately the same thickness (~ 1.6"). > I s'pose they save about 1/3 on paper and ink costs, as well as > shipping. I wonder if this is the beginning of a trend. > Two or three years ago, I believe it was, SBC committed the serious > gaffe of misspelling the name of one of the suburbs listed on the > directory cover: DAILY City instead of DALY City. SBC has been issuing books in both formats in Oklahoma City, and I assume other Southwestern Bell cities, for a number of years. The smaller book is lighter in weight and takes up less space in your trunk. The non-Bell directory publisher (Fesit) also puts out books in both sizes in Oklahoma City. From both publishers, the two sizes contain the same information. I have the small size from both publishers in my car, and the large size at home. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: New SBC Yellow Pages Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 09:29:53 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 02:08:40 -0800, Linc Madison wrote: > Two or three years ago, I believe it was, SBC committed the serious > gaffe of misspelling the name of one of the suburbs listed on the > directory cover: DAILY City instead of DALY City. Considering that Pacific Bell is no longer and is now SBC headquartered in San Antonio, Texas is it any wonder?! You should be glad they didn't label San Francisco 'Frisco'! ------------------------------ From: dave@compata.com (Dave Close) Subject: Re: Net Telephone Fees Have Users Fuming Date: 29 Jan 2005 16:50:21 -0800 Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Jake writes: > Jack Decker wrote: >> What boggles my mind is that companies in the telecommunications >> industry seem to get away with something that would not be allowed >> almost any other industry, and that is quoting one price to a > Looks like we need a new law. Where is the FTC? Where is the FCC? This problem is /caused/ by regulation, and is unlikely to be cured by more of the same. Most businesses are subject to anti-fraud laws and, as you say, would not get away with advertising a different price from the one actually charged. But because telecom is regulated, they can do anything permitted by the regulators. While the FCC and state PUCs may not have explicitly authorized this deception, they have permitted use of filed tariffs as a way to disguise practices. Essentially, the regulators have said that a telecom can do anything so long as it is documented in the tariff. The only solution that won't lead to more complex problems is to abolish all telecom regulation, returning telecoms to the discipline of general laws and the market. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 2005 02:32:17 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Vonage Call Forwarding Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Off hand I believe call forwarding is done by Vonage's network and > not the ATA -- You shouldn't need run into any limits as far as the > ATA goes. It is. I unplugged my ATA about a week ago when I gave up on Vonage due to the deteriorating voice quality and non-existent customer service, and I forwarded the number to my new Lingo number while I try to port the Vonage number. The forwards work fine. But that doesn't say anything about how many simultaneous calls Vonage will forward for you. It should be easy enough to check. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 22:00:00 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote: >> "We have a fleet of detector vans, plus, our enforcement officers have >> access to hand-held detection devices capable of detecting a magnetic >> field when a TV is switched on. In fact, we catch an average of over >> 1,000 people watching TV without a licence every day." > One wonders if LCD panel TVs have changed anything about how law > enforcement works -- or *if* it works. If that's what they're homing on, then there probably are changes, but LCDs, DLPS and Plasma displays aren't undetectable. Backlighting for this technology generally uses flourescent tubes and oscillators to drive those tubes. LED backlighting, once Luxeon clusters come down in price a bit, might pose more of a challenge. Even, RF discrimantors are still rather "noisy" and can be picked up, just as VG2 picks up most radar detectors. -- E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ From: earle robinson Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 17:42:17 +0100 Please mask my email address. Each system has its pluses and minuses. In Europe the caller pays means that everyone gives out their cell number because it costs them nothing to receive calls. Market penetration is over 75% in most countries, and 100% in major areas like Paris. The market penetration is much lower in the states. If the European system were inferior, why wouldn't it be less popular? If the American system is so wonderful why are there far fewer cell phones than here in Europe? Why is the European market so much larger? In Paris I can use my cell phone in the subway and in most tunnels. Can you do that in New York? Of course, not. I can use my phone on high speed trains (oh yes, European trains are superior, too). Skiers in the Alps can call, too, very useful in case of an emergency. In the states, coverage is very spotty indeed. I can use my cell phone anywhere in London or Paris. Alas, this isn't true in New York City. Worse, there are several different systems in the states. If you decide to change from Sprint to Cingular you have to get a new phone. In Europe all I need do is insert the new sim into my phone, which is not locked to a single carrier, as in the states. In the states people carry a pager and a cell phone, which is more costly, and a nuisance to boot. One receives a message on ones pager, then one turns on the cell phone and makes the call. Isn't that silly? If callee pays were the norm for landline phones Bell Telephone would never have reached the 100% market penetration it did. There would be phone books either. The European system employs a distinct area code for cell phones so there is no confusion. Not so in the states. If I call a 305 or a 917 area code I don't know if it is a cell phone or a landline one. There are now plans here in Europe where calls are free in the evening and weekends, or to close friends or relatives, the same as in the states. Alas, there is the problem of the exorbitant charge levied on landline calls to cell phones, which is a scandal. Of course, given that virtually everyone has a cell phone, one is careful to use it when calling another cell phone and since those numbers have a different area code, this is an easy choice. The regulatory bodies in some countries, the UK and France in particular, are now "leaning" on the cellular operators to lower those rates for calls to cell phones from a landline phone. It is now approaching only 10 cents here in France, still too high I'll admit. In sum, more people have cell phones and coverage is far better here in Europe. What are we doing wrong, other than the problem of landline to cell call charges? If the American system were better, wouldn't it be logical to assume a larger market? -er ------------------------------ From: -mhd Subject: Re: Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 23:06:46 -0500 Monty Solomon wrote: > by Richard M. Smith > Tukwila, Washington firefighter, Philip Scott Lyons found out the > hard way that supermarket loyalty cards can come with a huge price. > Lyons was arrested last August and charged with attempted arson. > Police alleged at the time that Lyons tried to set fire to his own > house while his wife and children were inside. According to KOMO-TV > and the Seattle Times, a major piece of evidence used against > Lyons in his arrest was the record of his supermarket purchases that > he made with his Safeway Club Card. Police investigators had > discovered that his Club Card was used to buy fire starters of the > same type used in the arson attempt. > http://www.computerbytesman.com/privacy/safewaycard.htm You left out the most important part. The charge was bogus and he was released after the real arsonist admitted to it. -mhd ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #45 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jan 31 04:31:36 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j0V9VZj15848; Mon, 31 Jan 2005 04:31:36 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 04:31:36 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200501310931.j0V9VZj15848@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 V24 #46 TELECOM Digest Mon, 31 Jan 2005 04:31:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 46 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Who Does DA For Cox Communications? (Tony P.) Mobile Virus Infects Lexus Cars (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Japanese Calling Home From UK - Questions (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Traffic Tickets (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Tony P.) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Steve Sobol) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates) (Coxwell) Re: Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest (Dave Garland) Re: Steal This Show (Neal McLain) Recently Switched to Vonage; Quality Question (rlstjohn) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates (Tony P.) Re: PRI Splitting? (Terry Dalton) Re: Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest (DevilsPGD) 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: Tony P. Subject: Who Does DA For Cox Communications? Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 17:01:34 -0500 How can I find out who is providing the directory assistance service for Cox telephone subscribers? We're having a problem. It seems they're giving the RI Sec State's phone number to those trying to reach the DMV. I know in some states DMV is part of Sec State but not in RI. I need to contact them to rectify this. Tony ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 03:20:43 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Mobile Virus Infects Lexus Cars What is interesting is that this is the same sort of virus that affects mobile phones and was discussed in the digest a couple of weeks ago. ------ Forwarded Message From: Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 17:43:39 -0500 (EST) To: Subject: Mobile virus infects Lexus cars Mobile virus infects Lexus cars by David Quainton Lexus cars may be vulnerable to viruses that infect them via mobile phones. Landcruiser 100 models LX470 and LS430 have been discovered with infected operating systems that transfer within a range of 15 feet. "If infected mobile devices are scary, just thinking about an infected onboard computer ..," said Eugene Kaspersky, head of anti-virus research at Russian firm Kaspersky. "We do know that car manufacturers are integrating existing operating systems into their onboard computers (take the Fiat and Microsoft deal, for instance)." It is understood the virus could affect the navigation system of the Lexus models, it transfers onto them via a Bluetooth mobile phone connection. It is still unclear whether the cars in question use the Symbian operating system which has recently been under attack from various worms and viruses. "At this stage it's still early but it just goes to show that technology has consequences," said David Emm, senior technology consultant at Kaspersky. "It's scary stuff." Vulnerable operating systems are increasingly moving onto a number of different devices. Last year the Slammer worm infected 13,000 Bank of America ATMs as a result of them moving to a Windows-based operating system. "I've even seen screenshots of major commercial aeroplanes with Windows 2000-based operating systems," said Mikko Hypponen, director of anti-virus research at Finnish firm F-Secure. "Cars are an obvious target for viruses. It's okay if you don't use the operating system for the engine and the brakes, but when you do ..." Bill Gates is a known Lexus driver. In 1999 he auctioned one for charity. When contacted Lexus declined to comment. www.lexus.com www.kaspersky.com www.f-secure.com http://www.infosecnews.com/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=newsDetails&newsUID=bc5789cf-e448-4a6e-bee9-a5dd291405ed&newsType=News ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 03:18:41 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: Japanese Calling Home From UK - Questions tokyoeditor@gmail.com wrote asking about Japanese Calling Home From UK - Questions on Date: 27 Jan 2005 17:50:47 -0800: > I genuinely want to find the best information for one of my wife's > cousins who is planning a homestay in the UK for about 6 months. I > will try and explain as clearly as possible in the hope that it will > help you answer. > While I am aware that obtaining a mobile phone is relatively > hassle-free for someone such as my Japanese cousin, spending 6 months > in the UK to study English and on a homestay, the problem is this: > * The cousin is 18 years old, with a relatively low level of English. > The parents want her to have a mobile phone during the stay in the UK > to remain easily contactable. > > * However, taking a Japanese-contracted phone to the UK, even assuming > it can operate there, would be prohibitively expensive due to paying > for roaming (as far as I know). Due to the extra expense involved, > this is not the preferred option, unless there is an economical way of > using a Japan-purchased phone in the UK. Most or all Japanese phones are not GSM, and so can't be used in the UK. She can buy a cheap phone on a pay-as-you-go plan (that is, prepaid). The best deals I found were from Virgin or Orange, but I did not expect to be calling Japan. Both companies have pre-paid plans for a few dollars (as little as 10 pounds, which is about $18), and a rather basic phone is not much more. Virgin will unlock the phone after you've spent about 20 or 30 pounds with them. > * A phone which can be arranged after arrival in the UK and which > includes a Japanese language function. > * A plan/tariff whereby the user (cousin) does not have to pay for > incoming calls made from Japan by family etc. Or where these are as > cheap as possible. > * The main purpose of the phone would be as a means of contact for > her family in Japan, since she does not know many people in the UK. > I am hoping to get an answer, in the shape of detailed advice and > recommendations for suitable models if possible, and I would really > appreciate anyone's help. Please post here or email me on > tokyoeditor@gmail.com If you check the website at gsmworld.com, you will get links to all the plans. You will also get links to the phones available. I can't say whether any phones available in the UK will have a Japanese language function -- she might have to buy the phone at the duty-free shop on the way out of Japan. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 03:03:41 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: Traffic Tickets Danny wrote about Re: Traffic Tickets on 25 Jan 2005 14:03:21 -0800: > Sure that's true, but what about the accidental charges. Example, you > toss in your coins to the tollbooth, and drive off, and it doesn't > count the coins right so it snaps a shot of your car. Or let's say > you slid because of snow and passed the line on a yellow light and it > will flash you. Now you have to fight that you paid, and or slid and > the hassle is a pain. http://phantomplate.com/ Not much of a problem. Basically, if you go through a toll booth and the EZ Pass registers you, they just charge your account. If it does not register you, then they will, if possible, send you a bill. They missed me once on the Garden State parkway. Since they had no EZ Pass record of my going through the toll gate in question, it was obvious they weren't going to charge me for that toll booth. I wrote them that I had had my EZ Pass transponder, had been registered at 3 other exits at about the same time that day, and sent them a check for 35 cents for the missed toll booth. Never heard back. And I checked my statement and they had, indeed, not charged me for the missed toll booth. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 17:09:35 -0500 In article , erobins@withheld says: > Please mask my email address. > Each system has its pluses and minuses. In Europe the caller pays > means that everyone gives out their cell number because it costs them > nothing to receive calls. Market penetration is over 75% in most > countries, and 100% in major areas like Paris. The market penetration > is much lower in the states. If the European system were inferior, why > wouldn't it be less popular? If the American system is so wonderful > why are there far fewer cell phones than here in Europe? Why is the > European market so much larger? Probably because the U.S. has a better wired infrastructure than many parts of Europe. > In Paris I can use my cell phone in the subway and in most tunnels. > Can you do that in New York? Of course, not. I can use my phone on > high speed trains (oh yes, European trains are superior, too). Skiers > in the Alps can call, too, very useful in case of an emergency. In the > states, coverage is very spotty indeed. I can use my cell phone > anywhere in London or Paris. Alas, this isn't true in New York City. From my little world there isn't anywhere I can't get signal, including the bowels of the Rhode Island State House behind layers of brick, marble and steel. The biggest problem we face here is denial of service because a site is overwhelmed. > Worse, there are several different systems in the states. If you > decide to change from Sprint to Cingular you have to get a new > phone. In Europe all I need do is insert the new sim into my phone, > which is not locked to a single carrier, as in the states. That's because Europe embraced GSM and the SIM. That runs totally anathema to U.S. carriers. > In the states people carry a pager and a cell phone, which is more > costly, and a nuisance to boot. One receives a message on ones pager, > then one turns on the cell phone and makes the call. Isn't that silly? All I carry is a cell phone. It does email, text messaging etc. > If callee pays were the norm for landline phones Bell Telephone would > never have reached the 100% market penetration it did. There would be > phone books either. The European system employs a distinct area code > for cell phones so there is no confusion. Not so in the states. If I > call a 305 or a 917 area code I don't know if it is a cell phone or a > landline one. This is one area in which I think the U.S. dropped the ball but number portability will force a new look at rate centers, etc. As it is now, my local area is the entire area of North America including Canada. Not bad for $24.99 a month for VoIP. But all of this has the incumbent carriers worried. The regulatory structure that they brought upon themselves will be what puts the final nail in their coffin. Even now, once mighty AT&T is going to be absorbed by one of its Baby Bell's, SBC. > There are now plans here in Europe where calls are free in the evening > and weekends, or to close friends or relatives, the same as in the > states. That's true -- mobile to mobile never has to travel to the PSTN, while nights and weekends just use excess capacity available at those times. As I stated earlier, during the day there are times when I just can NOT place a call with my cell. ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 19:17:23 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com earle robinson wrote: > Please mask my email address. > Each system has its pluses and minuses. In Europe the caller pays > means that everyone gives out their cell number because it costs them > nothing to receive calls. Market penetration is over 75% in most > countries, and 100% in major areas like Paris. The market penetration > is much lower in the states. If the European system were inferior, why > wouldn't it be less popular? If the American system is so wonderful > why are there far fewer cell phones than here in Europe? Why is the > European market so much larger? You're missing the fact that the USA chose not to standardize on one system, and the fact that landlines here have always been MUCH less expensive then in Europe. > If callee pays were the norm for landline phones Bell Telephone would > never have reached the 100% market penetration it did. What on earth are you talking about -- The callee DOES pay for landline calls here. If you have a residential line, you normally get flat-rate calling but businesses get metered rates. That's metered per call in many places, but here it's per minute. You can get metered rates for residential lines too -- if you don't make a ton of calls -- and pay a lower monthly rate. That's for local calls. Everyone pays per-minute for long-distance calls, although some companies have now started offering flat-rate long-distance too. > phone books either. The European system employs a distinct area code > for cell phones so there is no confusion. Not so in the states. If I > call a 305 or a 917 area code I don't know if it is a cell phone or a > landline one. Ironically, 917 used to be mobile/pager numbers only. I don't recall why that was changed. But I can tell you that if we were to adopt the system you speak of, we'd probably have run out of area codes long ago and had to add a digit to new phone numbers like the UK did. > Alas, there is the problem of the exorbitant charge levied on landline > calls to cell phones, which is a scandal. Not in the US there isn't. You pay the same rate to either. JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005) ------------------------------ From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates) Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 22:00:05 -0000 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I believe the BBC World Service is > a decent, rather good programming effort, which is one reason why I > offer it here on the 'Feed Sweep' URL > http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/bbc.html . At that URL you get the > BBC World Service audio and the Associated Press headlines as they > come across the wires. If you prefer, swap the 'bbc.html' ending for > 'AP.html'. I'll be adding some other audio feeds soon. Another point to ponder is that all the BBC radio services are funded by the TV license. As there has been no requirement for a separate radio license since 1971, this means that anybody who listens to BBC radio but does not watch BBC TV is effectively being subsidized by those who buy a TV license. Now if this were a privately arranged subscription, you could argue that if you don't like it you don't have to agree to the terms and don't have to subscribe to the TV service. But according to the law, you are forced to subsidize the BBC even if you object to this arrangement and watch purely commercial stations. > And regards the esteem shown British police officers, I seem to recall > at one time they did not routinely carry or use fire arms; in a confron- > tation with a citizen, the citizen's respect for the law was sufficient. > Is that still the case? PAT] There are lot more armed response teams and special officers carrying guns these days, but yes, it is still the case that most officers are not routinely armed. > I wasn't aware that BBC was also broadcasting in system M. In case you > weren't aware, NTSC TVs are system M by definition. They don't use system M, of course. All regular UHF broadcasts from both BBC and independent TV are system I. The old system A was also used up until 1985. > That isn't democracy; democracy entails respect for the rights of the > minority. It's called "checks and balances"; and without that, you just > have a dictatorship of the majority. As I've seen quoted elsewhere, a pure democracy is a sheep and two wolves voting on what's for dinner. In a Constitutional Republic such as the United States, they still vote but the sheep has a Colt 45. ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 18:32:14 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when -mhd wrote: > You left out the most important part. The charge was bogus and he was > released after the real arsonist admitted to it. Or rather, "the charge was bogus, but he was not released until after the real arsonist admitted to it." ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 17:57:43 -0600 From: Neal McLain Subject: Re: Steal This Show From: Monty Solomon wrote: > Subject: Steal This Show > By LORNE MANLY and JOHN MARKOFF > ISAAC RICHARDS didn't think of himself as a rebel, or a shock to the > well-lubricated system of the television industry. He was merely > unhappy with the cable box provided by his local operator.... [snip] > Millions of viewers are now watching illegal copies of > television programs -- even full seasons copied from popular DVD's -- > that are flitting about the Internet, thanks to other new programs > that allow users to upload and download the large files quickly.... To which PAT added: > *** 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. Gee, you mean I can't steal a NYT article about stealing cable television programming? This reminds me of a panel discussion I watched on C-SPAN several years ago. The subject was theft-of-service, and two of the panelists were Tom Wheeler (then head of the NCTA) and Jack Valenti (then head of the MPAA). Jack had recently published a book about theft-of-service, apparently including accusations that the cable industry was contributing to the motion-picture industry's theft-of-service problem. When it came Tom's turn to speak, be began by congratulating Jack on his new book. Grinning broadly, he pulled out a sheaf of papers, and continued ... "In fact, I liked it so much that I xeroxed it!" Neal McLain [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you remember a famous book which came out in the 1970's entitled oddly enough, 'Steal This Book' ? That was the book's title. Many bookstores refused to stock it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rlstjohn@*gmail.dot.com.easynews.com Subject: Recently Switched to Vonage; Quality Question Organization: Gmail Reply-To: rlstjohn@*gmail.dot.com.easynews.com Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 21:30:26 GMT I went ahead and signed up for Vonage over the weekend. Best Buy was offering the PAP2 for around $60 and then had a rebate for nearly the same amount. Setup and everything was simple, but I seem to be having a lot of line noise. I currently only have the service connected to a Uniden 2.4 Ghz cordless phone. The base station is downstairs in the living room and the other phone (which doesn't require a phone line) is upstairs. I have my incoming ISP connection running into my cable router, then into a switch which connects the PAP2 adapter to my broadband connection. However, I notice a lot of noise on the line although people I am talking to don't. Any advice on how to get rid of the line noise? I have messed around with the dedicated bandwidth settings and still have the same results. Any advice would be appreciated. Robert ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:54:02 -0500 In article , rob51166@yahoo.com says: >> So, if I am in the UK with an NTSC TV set (or just a monitor) >> connected to a satellite receiver that receives a non-UK satellite >> service, I wouldn't have to pay the tax? > Yes you would. You own a TV set capable of receiving BBC. Regardless > of whether it's NTSC or otherwise it makes no difference these days > with modern TV sets. I beg to differ. NTSC and PAL are two different animals. The UK and it's more recent colonies use PAL if I'm not mistaken. North and South America use NTSC. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: PRI Splitting? From: Terry Dalton Organization: Your Company Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 06:25:39 GMT Doug McIntyre wrote in news:telecom24.44.15@telecom-digest.org: > An Adtran Atlas will do exactly what you want. Buying them new though > will be a tad higher than $1,000, but used eBay prices should get you > close enough to your price point. These are modular, and since you > need 3 T1s total, and the base unit only comes with two T1 ports, > you'll need another Quad T1/PRI card inserted. > The bigest problem is that you do have to take the one D channel in, > and generate the 23B+D channels out over two seperate T1s out to each > PBX. And then you'll need to do some basic call routing for which > calls coming in go to one PBX vs. the other. I assume you'll want to > do that based on called-party ID numbers, although you can do it based > on either calling-party or called-party ID in the Atlas. > A PRI can't really be seperated into just a couple channels here or > there like a T1 can be, so I don't know if you need to limit # of > calls accepted or not. Not sure if you even could with PRIs without > your PBX smart enough to send call-rejects back if # of channels used > 2 or some such logic. > I've used these devices for a very simular situation, and it worked > flawlessly. This sounds like a perfect solution thanks for your help! TD ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 23:41:50 -0700 Organization: Octanews In message -mhd wrote: > Monty Solomon wrote: >> by Richard M. Smith >> Tukwila, Washington firefighter, Philip Scott Lyons found out the >> hard way that supermarket loyalty cards can come with a huge price. >> Lyons was arrested last August and charged with attempted arson. >> Police alleged at the time that Lyons tried to set fire to his own >> house while his wife and children were inside. According to KOMO-TV >> and the Seattle Times, a major piece of evidence used against >> Lyons in his arrest was the record of his supermarket purchases that >> he made with his Safeway Club Card. Police investigators had >> discovered that his Club Card was used to buy fire starters of the >> same type used in the arson attempt. >> http://www.computerbytesman.com/privacy/safewaycard.htm > You left out the most important part. The charge was bogus and he was > released after the real arsonist admitted to it. The most important part is that the charge was bogus, not that he was released or anything about the real arsonist admitting to it. I'd be interested in knowing whether or not the accused (the owner of the card) actually purchased the products, and whether or not his card was used or if he just provided a phone number. ------------------------------ 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #46 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jan 31 20:04:53 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j1114rj23801; Mon, 31 Jan 2005 20:04:53 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 20:04:53 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200502010104.j1114rj23801@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 V24 #47 TELECOM Digest Mon, 31 Jan 2005 20:05:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 47 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Internet Telephony Takes the Spotlight (Lisa Minter) Time Warner Cable to Offer Free AOL (Lisa Minter) DISH Network Passes 11 Million Customer Milestone (Monty Solomon) $47,000 per Line Installation Cost (Lisa Hancock) SBC to Acquire AT&T (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Harvatek Announces Creation Of Sales, Marketing Offices (Distribution) SBC to Buy Former Parent AT&T for $16 Billion (Jack Decker) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates) (Crispin) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates (Joseph) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates (S Dorsey) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Joseph) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Earle Robinson) Re: Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest (AES) Re: Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest (-mhd) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (Linc Madison) Re: Who Does DA For Cox Communications? (Rich Greenberg) Employment Opportunity: Seeking Qualified Installers (Rick M) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 31 Jan 2005 13:07:53 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Internet Telephony Takes the Spotlight By Justin Hyde WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One technology promises to harness the power of the Internet for voice communications. Its competitor has been around for a century, and has an industry shorthand that needs two adjectives -- "plain old telephone service" -- to describe just how boring it is. The battle between the two is expected to heat up in 2005, as we move further into the much-hyped "Year of the Internet Phone." But even if the most optimistic predictions come to pass, industry analysts say, plain-old telephone lines will still have a tight grip on much of the market. The Internet-based business has a number of hurdles to clear before it becomes a mainstream technology. Still, even if it doesn't take over the phone market, Internet telephony, or VOIP (voice-over-Internet protocol), seems poised to make inroads in the United States, thanks to growing numbers of high-speed Internet connections and companies pushing Internet phone services. Early adopters of Internet phones say the main attraction is a monthly bill that can be half as much as what the local phone company charges. But VOIP's backers say the biggest benefit could be the wide range of features, such as voice messages through e-mail, that traditional lines can't match. James Jeffries said he signed up for VOIP service from Vonage because it was the first competitor to Sprint Corp. in his rural Pennsylvania town. In lieu of paying about $40 per month for his Sprint service, Jeffries took Vonage's basic plan of 500 minutes a month for $15. Vonage also offers unlimited calls for $25 per month. "So far we're on track to stay under our 500 and we're not really trying too hard," Jeffries said. "If we go over and need to switch to the unlimited plan we will. It will still be far less than we were paying at Sprint." Analysts figure that the number of home VOIP lines in the United States was roughly 1 million at the end of 2004, a drop in an ocean compared with about 160 million landline and 170 million cellular phone subscribers. But some estimates say VOIP subscribers could triple this year, thanks largely to cable company campaigns to sign up phone customers, and hit 20 million by 2008. Other countries that have more widespread broadband use have seen faster VOIP growth, with Japan's Yahoo Broadband the largest provider so far at 4.4 million VOIP lines. NUMBER CRUNCHING The most popular independent VOIP service to date has been Vonage. Seeing its success, dozens of other providers, including AT&T Corp.'s CallVantage and VoicePulse, are offering unlimited calling for about $25 to $30 per month. VOIP companies do not always offer phone numbers in every area code, and may not have numbers available in popular area codes such as New York's 212. But VOIP also severs the physical tie between an area code and a telephone. Like an e-mail address, VOIP numbers can typically be used from any broadband connection. Users can also get a "virtual" number in far-off area codes or even foreign countries. For the more tech savvy, even less expensive options exist. A number of services, such as Skype and Free World Dialup, offer free calling between computers with their software around the world, and free or low-cost calling to telephone numbers. HITTING A WALL But VOIP service today has a number of drawbacks, and some analysts say unless those hurdles are overcome VOIP may never pose a sizable threat to traditional phone lines. One looming issue is emergency service. There are no industry standards for connecting VOIP calls through 911 systems. Some VOIP companies don't offer 911 service at all, while others offer 911 that works only from certain locations. VOIP lines typically do not pay the raft of state, local and federal taxes that traditional telephone lines are charged. Federal regulators are still wrestling with what fees VOIP services should pay. Many reviewers of VOIP, from online sites such as Broadbandreports.com to Consumer Reports magazine, have found VOIP sound quality and reliability equal to or better than regular phone lines. But some customers have also complained of glitches due to technical issues and network congestion. Keith Nissen, senior analyst for InStat/MDR, said many of the independent VOIP providers will have to upgrade their networks to handle more customers while maintaining quality. "You're not going to get a mass migration to VOIP until such time as the service becomes the equivalent of what you have today," Nissen said. "You have to offer people more than they can do today." So far, cable companies have offered VOIP services that differ in several ways. Many cable companies use Sprint's landline network as a backbone, allowing them to offer 911 service, and usually offer installation. But prices from cable companies tend to be higher, and many do not allow traveling access. And the large local carriers aren't standing still. Verizon Communications Inc. has launched its own VOIP service, while SBC Communications and BellSouth Corp. say they're ready to jump into the market this year. SBC has been in talks to acquire AT&T, and could piggyback on its existing VOIP effort if that deal goes ahead. While the Bells will be late to the game, they could also offer some unique features, such as cellular phones with integrated VOIP that uses either the cellular network or a home Wi-Fi network, whichever is cheaper. SBC and Cingular are planning just such a device for 2006. 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 Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: 31 Jan 2005 13:08:48 -0800 From: Lisa Minter Subject: Time Warner Cable to Offer Free AOL By Kenneth Li NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Cable plans to offer its high-speed Internet customers free access to America Online service, in a deal that could potentially add 3 million more high-speed subscribers at the cable division, Time Warner executives said on Monday. Current AOL dial-up subscribers who live in regions served by Time Warner Cable will be asked to trade up to Time Warner Cable's Road Runner high-speed service, which will now include AOL. Since the merger of AOL and Time Warner in 2001, one of the thornier issues has been competition between America Online and its corporate cousin Time Warner Cable's Road Runner high-speed service, which were trying to lure subscribers to their respective Internet services. AOL had been losing subscribers over the last few years to cheaper dial-up services such as Juno and Earthlink and high speed services such as Road Runner and services from other cable and telephone companies. But with a resurgence in the online advertising market, AOL has become a more attractive property. "When I came in 2002, we weren't doing so well in advertising," AOL CEO Jonathan Miller told reporters, who said the business model needed to evolve before such a deal could be struck. AOL is expected to generate about $1 billion in advertising revenue in 2004. "If we had tried to do that back then, we wouldn't be here today," Miller added. Now, Time Warner Cable is betting that by offering AOL's menu of exclusive programing, such as music and videos, as a free add-on to its high-speed offering, it will entice AOL dial-up subscribers to remain a Time Warner customer. Currently, high-speed Internet subscribers pay an additional $14.95 for AOL's broadband programing on top of the monthly fee charged by the cable or telephone company. AOL, for its part, will bolster its presence in the high-speed market at a time when its dial-up subscribers are dwindling and provide more eyeballs for its advertising. Executives said AOL is in talks with other cable operators to strike similar deals. The pricing of high-speed service for AOL dial-up subscribers has not been set, but it is expected to be somewhere between the $23.90 AOL charges premium dial-up customers and the $44.95 that Time Warner Cable charges high speed data subscribers. Glen Britt, CEO of Time Warner Cable, said it will also help it tap a new line of revenue from online advertising. AOL will begin selling ads on the Road Runner.com site. The deal could potentially add more than 3 million new cable high speed Internet customers to Time Warner's cable division, the executives said. AOL currently serves about 23 million subscribers and about 3 million of these customers fall within a cable territory run by Time Warner. "A majority of customers within two years we'd like to see as Time Warner Cable customers," Jonathan Miller, CEO of AOL told reporters. Four years after the rocky union of AOL and Time Warner, the deal signifies its units are seeking more ways to work together. In 2003, AOL struck a landmark deal to help sell more Time Inc. magazines through its service. A video-on-demand music channel launched last year that offers free music videos at the click of the remote has also become one of Time Warner Cable's most popular free on-demand channels, one Time Warner source said. 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. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 09:26:04 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DISH Network Passes 11 Million Customer Milestone DISH Network Passes 11 Million Customer Milestone; Company Now Third Largest Pay-TV Provider - Jan 31, 2005 06:05 AM (BusinessWire) ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2005--EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) announced that its DISH Network(TM) satellite TV service has passed the 11 million customer milestone. DISH Network's lowest all-digital price and its award-winning customer service have prompted record numbers of consumers to switch from cable over the years, allowing DISH Network to pass Time Warner Cable as the third largest pay-TV provider in the United States. In the last five years, DISH Network has added more than 7.6 million net new customers. DISH Network passed the 10 million customer milestone in June 2004. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46529311 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: $47,000 per Line Installation Cost Date: 31 Jan 2005 08:14:47 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com 1010news radio reported that a rural Lousianna hamlet of 15 people finally got telephone service. It cost on average $47,000 per line to install it. The cost will be paid by the small surcharge on all customer's bills. See: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TELEPHONE_WILDERNESS?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Who is the 'all' in "surcharge on all customers"? The 15 residents in that community, all the state-wide customers of that telco; all that telco's customers everywhere, all of us who use telephones, or? For 15 residents in a town, $47,000 seems sort of steep to be paid in 'small surcharges'. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 13:18:03 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: SBC to Acquire AT&T Telecom dailyLead from USTA January 31, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=19065&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * SBC to acquire AT&T BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * MCI seen as acquisition target * Time Warner broadband customers to get free AOL accounts * Microsoft wins telecom business in IPTV * Survey: DSL perceived as inexpensive, but not fast USTA SPOTLIGHT * Order USTA's Best-Selling VoIP Implementation and Planning Guide Today EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Mobile phone video begins to emerge REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * BusinessWeek: Next FCC chief must seek balance Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=19065&l=2017006 ------------------------------ Date: 31 Jan 2005 12:47:19 -0500 Subject: Harvatek Announces Creation Of Sales, Marketing Offices From: distribution@eworldwire.com Harvatek Announces Creation Of Sales And Marketing Offices For Americas And Europe For Immediate Release SANTA CLARA, Calif./EWORLDWIRE/Jan. 31, 2005 --- Harvatek Corporation, one of the world's largest manufacturers of surface-mount LEDs, today announced the opening of sales, marketing and product development offices in both the Americas and Europe. Establishing these offices will bring more direct marketing of Harvatek's products to these regions. The new Harvatek operations will be operated as Harvatek Intl., with PC Yong as president and Peter Perniciaro as vice president of sales, both previously key members of the Optoelectronics Group of Fairchild Semiconductor and QT Optoelectronics. The extensive background of both individuals in the field of optoelectronics brings dedicated focus to sales efforts in numerous applications, utilizing solid state light-emitting devices. Harvatek Intl. will utilize OEM sales, as well as electronic component distribution networks, to service customers in the ultra-portable / cellular, appliance, industrial, automotive and computing markets. Havartek is an ISO9002, QS9000 and ISO14001 certified company. HTML: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/wr/013105/11303.htm PDF: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/pdf/013105/11303.pdf ONLINE NEWSROOM: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/305859.htm LOGO: http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/305859.htm CONTACT: Holton Lee Harvatek Intl. PHONE. 408-844-8510 EMAIL: holton.lee@harvatek-intl.com http://harvatek-intl.com Copyright 2004 Eworldwire, All rights reserved. Press Relase Distribution By EWORLDWIRE http://www.eworldwire.com (973)252-6800. For Media Questions: http://www.eworldwire.com/forthemedia.php ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 13:59:44 -0500 Subject: SBC to Buy Former Parent AT&T for $16 Billion Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-sbc-att,1,7058366.story?coll=chi-business-hed SBC to Buy Former Parent AT&T for $16B By JAY JORDEN Associated Press Writer DALLAS -- SBC Communications Inc. has agreed to buy former parent AT&T Corp. for $16 billion, creating one of the nation's largest telecommunications companies and ending the independent run of a company once known as Ma Bell whose roots stretch back to the telephone's invention. The decision followed late-night meetings by directors of SBC, the nation's second-biggest regional phone company, and the 120-year-old icon AT&T, which gave birth to SBC when its monopoly was broken up in 1984. SBC spokesman Larry Solomon said documents in the acquisition were signed early Monday after AT&T's board of directors approved the deal. Board members of SBC approved the transaction on Sunday evening. AT&T shares fell 70 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $19.01 in early trdaing on the New York Stock Exchange, while SBC shares gained 8 cents to $23.70. The acquisition is subject to approvals by shareholders, two federal agencies and at least 26 states, a cumbersome process which prompted the companies to project the deal's completion may take 17 months, an unusually long wait. Full story at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-sbc-att,1,7058366.story?coll=chi-business-hed 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: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 08:58:21 -0800 Organization: University of Washington On Sun, 30 Jan 2005, Paul Coxwell wrote: > As I've seen quoted elsewhere, a pure democracy is a sheep and two > wolves voting on what's for dinner. In a Constitutional Republic such > as the United States, they still vote but the sheep has a Colt 45. The quote is: Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote. To which I would add: The American way is wolves deciding that mutton is not at all tasty, and if Brother Sheep just wants to eat grass and not take any venison, that's more for wolves. So everybody's happy. Maybe the ordinary British police are not routinely armed, but I saw plenty of British officers (police? military?) armed with submachine guns when I was in London. In fact, I saw far more subguns in one week in London that I saw during my entire life in the US. The same was true in Europe. Given a choice between police with pistols (and we have pistols too) and subgun-toting goons over a disarmed population, I'll take the former. Europeans may think that this is crazy; but I think that Europeans are crazy to willingly live in a society where their law enforcement carries subguns. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 10:12:53 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 18:50:19 -0800, Mark Crispin wrote: > Actually, it matters in that we choose not to fund PBS with voluntary > contributions, and have been largely successful in eliminating PBS' > funding from the public treasury. And you can thank Mark's radical right brethren for that. On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:54:02 -0500, Tony P. wrote: > In article , rob51166@yahoo.com > says: >>> So, if I am in the UK with an NTSC TV set (or just a monitor) >>> connected to a satellite receiver that receives a non-UK satellite >>> service, I wouldn't have to pay the tax? >> Yes you would. You own a TV set capable of receiving BBC. Regardless >> of whether it's NTSC or otherwise it makes no difference these days >> with modern TV sets. > I beg to differ. NTSC and PAL are two different animals. The UK and it's > more recent colonies use PAL if I'm not mistaken. North and South > America use NTSC. It's *generally" true that NTSC is used in the Americas. It's also generally true that NTSC is used in the far east with the major exception being the PRC (China.) http://kropla.com/tv.htm (world television standards) ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and Date: 31 Jan 2005 16:18:40 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Mark Crispin wrote: > On Sat, 29 Jan 2005, Rob wrote: >>> So, if I am in the UK with an NTSC TV set (or just a monitor) >>> connected to a satellite receiver that receives a non-UK satellite >>> service, I wouldn't have to pay the tax? >> Yes you would. You own a TV set capable of receiving BBC. Regardless >> of whether it's NTSC or otherwise it makes no difference these days >> with modern TV sets. > Please explain how an NTSC TV set in the UK is capable of receiving BBC. > I wasn't aware that BBC was also broadcasting in system M. In case you > weren't aware, NTSC TVs are system M by definition. BBC-TV is available on the non-UK satellite services in NTSC. If your satellite service didn't actually have any BBC programming, it might be legal. But the issue is that if you are in the UK, and you have a device capable of receiving BBC programming, you must pay a license. Whether it is over the air or over some other service like satellite or cable. Likewise if you have an older NTSC set incapable of receiving programmming over the air, connected to an NTSC VCR, that should not require any license since it cannot be used to watch the BBC. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 09:03:37 EST Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans In a message dated Sun, 30 Jan 2005 19:17:23 -0800, Steve Sobol writes: > What on earth are you talking about -- The callee DOES pay for > landline calls here. If you have a residential line, you normally get > flat-rate calling but businesses get metered rates. That's metered per > call in many places, but here it's per minute. You can get metered > rates for residential lines too -- if you don't make a ton of calls -- > and pay a lower monthly rate. Most business service in the USA is flat-rate, too. As to metered rates for residence and business, it's not a "ton" of calls you can save on with metered service but only a tiny number -- about one call every two days the last time I checked it for my residential service. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 10:25:51 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 17:42:17 +0100, earle robinson wrote: > If I call a 305 or a 917 area code I don't know if it is a cell > phone or a landline one. Why should you even care? The cost is the same whether you're calling a cell phone or a land line. > There are now plans here in Europe where calls are free in the evening > and weekends, or to close friends or relatives, the same as in the > states. Maybe there are "plans" but it doesn't currently exist. > Alas, there is the problem of the exorbitant charge levied on landline > calls to cell phones, which is a scandal. Well, that's a major reason why caller pays cell phones won't work in North America. Where your average person in most of the US and all of Canada expects a call to cost them *nothing* and all calls are included with the monthly line rental cost. It'd take some convincing for you to expect someone to call you on your mobile when such a call could cost you three or four times the cost to make an international call. > Of course, given that virtually everyone has a cell phone, one is > careful to use it when calling another cell phone and since those > numbers have a different area code, this is an easy choice. But you only have an advantage there is you call someone who is on the *same* network as you. Otherwise you pay the same stiff price to call a mobile as anyone else. ------------------------------ From: Earle Robinson Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 01:23:17 +0100 Please mask my email address. Thank you. > Probably because the U.S. has a better wired infrastructure than > many parts of Europe. Sorry, but you are wrong there. Because the European landlines were so awful they were all rebuilt in the 1970s, so they are mostly better than in the USA today. From my little world there isn't anywhere I can't get signal, including the bowels of the Rhode Island State House behind layers of brick, marble and steel. Consider yourself lucky. The complaints from New Yorkers are legion. I also have found dead areas in and around Miami, too, when I am there. Steve Sobol wrote: > You're missing the fact that the USA chose not to standardize on one > system, and the fact that landlines here have always been MUCH less > expensive then in Europe. A landline phone here costs between $11 and $16, net of all taxes. This means that someone who makes few calls, as the case for many, their phone service is cheaper. Further, competition here in Europe is such today that calls are now cheaper than in the USA. Aside from VOIP, you can find rates to call the USA for about $0.02-$0.03. I don't think such rates are available for calls to Europe from the states. Note, too, that the charges are by the second, too, not by the minute. Mr. Sobol also wrote: > What on earth are you talking about -- The callee DOES pay for > landline calls here. If you have a residential line, you normally > get flat-rate calling but businesses get metered rates. That's > metered per call in many places, but here it's per minute. You can > get metered rates for residential lines too -- if you don't make a > ton of calls -- and pay a lower monthly rate. Flat-rate concerns calls made, not those received. You may receive calls every minute of the day and night with a residential landline phone anywhere and pay nothing, other than the monthly subscription fee. I think you are confusing "callee" with caller. If callee paid to receive calls there would be telephone books and Ma Bell would never have become the huge company it did. And, Mr. Sobol wrote this: > But I can tell you that if we were to adopt the system you speak of, > we'd probably have run out of area codes long ago and had to add a > digit to new phone numbers like the UK did. The American system should have been revised a long time ago. In Europe it was and so there are plenty of numbers available. Finally, Mr. Sobol said: > Not in the US there isn't. You pay the same rate to either. I recognize this difference. However, as I said, the European system has meant that market penetration is far higher than in the USA. I also pointed out that the national regulatory bodies are now leaning on the cellular carriers to lower those rates. Already they have dropped by over 30% in France. -er ------------------------------ From: AES Subject: Re: Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 10:43:49 -0800 Organization: Stanford University In article , DevilsPGD wrote: > In message -mhd > wrote: >> Monty Solomon wrote: >>> by Richard M. Smith ****************STUFF DELETED ************************ >>> http://www.computerbytesman.com/privacy/safewaycard.htm >> You left out the most important part. The charge was bogus and he was >> released after the real arsonist admitted to it. > The most important part is that the charge was bogus, not that he was > released or anything about the real arsonist admitting to it. > I'd be interested in knowing whether or not the accused (the owner of > the card) actually purchased the products, and whether or not his card > was used or if he just provided a phone number. In any event there are one hell of a lot of important lessons in this whole story, about the use of computers, about computerized information gathering, about personal identification systems, about police procedures, about privacy concerns, and so on. I sure hope comp.risks picks up on it, and even more that it becomes an object lesson studied and learned by anyone involved in any of those areas. ------------------------------ From: -mhd Subject: Re: Safeway Shopper Card Leads to Arson Arrest Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 14:19:18 -0500 DevilsPGD wrote: > The most important part is that the charge was bogus, not that he was > released or anything about the real arsonist admitting to it. > I'd be interested in knowing whether or not the accused (the owner of > the card) actually purchased the products, and whether or not his card > was used or if he just provided a phone number. Rumor has it that it was a family member who will not be charged -- possibly due to being underage. -mhd ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 03:47:58 -0800 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed > In article , > wrote: >> Hmmm, ... are you saying that the negative effects of exposure to >> radioactivity is due to heat damage? Somehow I don't think so ... For the record, I said absolutely no such thing. I said that any damage to human cells FROM A CELLPHONE would be due to heating, because the other ways that radiation can damage tissue don't apply to cellphone wavelengths. In article , wrote: > OK, enough already! I'm not stupid enough to think that cell phones > are radioactive. And I know that RF is not the same as particle > radiation. > Linc seemed to be implying that the only possible damage to cells > had to be from the heat induced by the radiation. I was simply > pointing out that there are other ways to damage cellular structure > that don't involve heat, with the point being that while yes, it > is probably virtually impossible for the electromagnetic radiation > from a cell phone to induce enough temperature change to have any > possible effect, there may be other mechanisms that haven't been > discovered yet. In other words, cellphones might somehow be dangerous because of some entirely new physics that hasn't been conceived of yet. Name ANYTHING ON EARTH about which the same statement can't be made. > The one thing that I have noticed to be extraordinarily consistent > throughout the history of science is that whenever one or all of the > experts think they know everything about something, they don't. All I'm saying is that there is already substantial evidence that cellphones are quite safe, and none whatsoever that they aren't. It is thus silly to say that "we really don't know." Nothing in science, or especially in medicine, is ever absolutely 100.000% certain. Was Joe's lung cancer caused by the thousands of cigarettes he smoked, or was it from the benzene he was exposed to when he was a toddler? Prove it. There are a few things that can be said with certainty about cellphones. 1. Cellphones produce zero ionizing radiation. 2. Cellphones produce absolutely negligible heat from RF radiation. You can wrap your fingers (which are quite sensitive to temperature change) around the antenna of your cellphone, thereby trapping all of that RF radiation at very close range, and talk for an hour, and you won't feel a thing, except maybe a cramp in your fingers from clamping onto the antenna for so long. 3. Cellphones produce very weak EM fields. 4. Using a hands-free kit places the source of the RF and EM fields farther from your brain, thus reducing the non-existent danger to double-super-extra-non-existent. 5. Placing a plastic sticker on the inside of your cellphone battery does nothing except waste $19.95 and encourage the proliferation of annoyingly fraudulent infomercials. 6. There are literally THOUSANDS of things in your daily life that are demonstrably more dangerous to you than your cellphone could ever be. Nothing in life is absolutely zero risk. However, some things -- cellphone radiation among them -- are such a small risk that they are worth absolutely zero expenditure of thought, effort, or worry in your daily life. Sure, research to confirm their safety should continue -- who knows, maybe holding a NiMH battery next to your ear causes acne -- but it's ridiculous to say "we don't know if they're safe." This thread has droned on and on, a dog chasing the same dead horse if you will, but the facts remain the same: cellphones are safe, and no one has presented anything but empty speculation that some future data might contradict all the data we have so far and show some hidden risk. Yeah, and maybe the Vogon fleet is on its way to Arthur Dent's house as we speak.[*] [*] Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Who Does DA For Cox Communications? Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:15:25 UTC Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Tony P. wrote: > How can I find out who is providing the directory assistance service > for Cox telephone subscribers? > We're having a problem. It seems they're giving the RI Sec State's phone > number to those trying to reach the DMV. I know in some states DMV is > part of Sec State but not in RI. > I need to contact them to rectify this. Why do you need to contact them? I would expect that the DMV would be the one to do the contacting. Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: Rick M Subject: Employment Opportunity: Seeking Qualified Installers Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 12:46:18 -0600 Reply-To: r.muscoplat_nospam@vikingelectronics.com VIKING Electronics manufactures security and telecommunications equipment. Our web site is generating a significant number of calls from end users who are seeking a qualified installer in their area. We do not sell direct, so we're setting up a Referred Installer Program. There is no cost to be a part of this program. You simply have to be a reputable installer and treat our end user referrals in a professional manner. You can purchase our equipment at wholesale rates from any of our 16 distributors. You set your own equipment resale and labor prices and terms. For more information on how to get listed in our Referred Installer database, send an email to the address below (delete the obvious nospam portion) and put Referred Installer Program in the subject line. r.muscoplatNoSpam@vikingelectronics.com We will email you a description of the program and an application. Thanks for your interest. Rick Muscoplat VIKING Electronics, Marketing ------------------------------ 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! 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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 V24 #47 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Feb 1 01:05:49 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j1165n526275; Tue, 1 Feb 2005 01:05:49 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 01:05:49 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200502010605.j1165n526275@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 V24 #48 TELECOM Digest Tue, 1 Feb 2005 01:06:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 48 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Tripso - Can You Hear Me Now? (Marcus Didius Falco) Format For Image to Be Faxed? (AES) AOL Directory Assistance (John Schmerold) Re: Who Does DA For Cox Communications? (Tony P.) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates (D Clayton) Re: $47,000 per Line Installation Cost (Fred Atkinson) Re: WGBH Delays Show Featuring Lesbians (lanruvi2@yahoo.com) Re: Recently Switched to Vonage; Quality Question (Tony P.) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Marcus Didius Falco) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:12:58 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Tripso -- Can You Hear Me Now? This is an issue that frequently comes up in the Digest. Here is an opinion from an expert (expert in the sense that his PhD is in a related field). It also updates us on the way the courts may well affect the way we will be forced to use the portable telephone. There has been one recent case of an attorney in Virginia (not a plaintiff-friendly state) who was forced to pay very large damages as a result of an accident judged to be caused by her use of a cell phone while driving. Her employer had to pay much of the damage award, which will cause that employer to develop a policy, just as many employers have policies on picking up hitchhikers, or on the type of insurance policy you must have when driving on "company business." http://www.tripso.com/archives/2005/01/can_your_compan_1.html Terry Riley Can you hear me now? Do you carry a cell phone when you travel? I m guessing you do. I do. And why not? They are great little devices that give us near-instant access to assistance almost wherever we go. But there are times lots of times when you should avoid making or receiving calls on your cell phone: Specifically, when you are behind the wheel. I have been waiting patiently on the sidelines thinking I wouldn't have to wade into the debate over using a cell phone while driving. However, after nearly being mowed down last week by a guy talking on his cell phone while driving, I can wait no longer. This is one topic on which I can truly speak as an expert. My doctoral dissertation was on the topic of human attention, and although I did the research over three decades ago, the ability of people to split their attention between tasks hasn't evolved a scintilla. The chief problem with using your cell phone while driving is not dialing the numbers or holding the phone (though those activities can contribute to unsafe driving). No, the overriding problem is dividing your attention between carrying on a conversation with someone removed from your traffic environment and safely operating a speeding mass of metal. Studies show pretty convincingly that factors affecting driving performance are more significantly degraded while talking on a cell phone than while listening to the radio or while talking to others in the car. What s worse is that the degradation in driving performance is exacerbated for travelers who are in unfamiliar vehicles (e.g., rental cars) in unfamiliar environments (e.g., away from home). So without getting into the details of those studies which any plaintiffs attorney can easily find suffice it to say that companies that do not have policies which prohibit employees from making or receiving business calls while driving are opening themselves up to liability risk. Perhaps it will take some driver (a female teenage driver is a likely candidate) to fly through a school zone and wipe out a half dozen kids while talking to her friend (who is also on her cell phone zipping around in another part of town). Then maybe do-nothing legislatures will finally open their eyes to the science that is foretelling of the danger of using cell phones while driving, and they will do something. In the meantime, if you are a trial lawyer, give me a call (not from your car, please). There may be big money just waiting to be had from head-in-the-sand companies with no cell phone use rules in place. I smell big bucks. January 26, 2005 Terry Riley, based in Santa Cruz, Calif., is a corporate psychologist specializing in the management of travel behavior. Terry is the author of "Travel Can Be Murder" and "The Complete Travel Diet." He also edits Travel Fox, a satirical news report. E -mail Terry or visit his Web site. 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 Terry Riley. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: AES Subject: Format For Image to be Faxed? Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:29:52 -0800 Organization: Stanford University Pardon me if this is a bit off topic, but I suspect someone on one or the other of these groups may have the answer immediately at hand: If I want to fax a B&W or, more likely, a gray-scale image from within my computer (Apple iBook, using the internal modem), into what format (JPEG? GIF? ???) should I convert the image and at what resolution (72 dpi?) before I fax it, to get the best balance of image sharpness and transmission time? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 20:57:13 -0600 From: John Schmerold Subject: AOL Directory Assistance Someone -- I don't remember who told me that AOL offers free telephone based directory assistance to their subscribers. Anyone know the details of this offer? ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Who Does DA For Cox Communications? Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:07:09 -0500 In article , richgr@panix.com says: > In article , Tony P. > wrote: >> How can I find out who is providing the directory assistance service >> for Cox telephone subscribers? >> We're having a problem. It seems they're giving the RI Sec State's phone >> number to those trying to reach the DMV. I know in some states DMV is >> part of Sec State but not in RI. >> I need to contact them to rectify this. > Why do you need to contact them? I would expect that the DMV would be > the one to do the contacting. > Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 > Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 > Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L > Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/Asst Owner:Sibernet-L Because DMV doesn't care. But the Sec States office cares because it ties up our lines. ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 12:30:16 +1100 On Mon, 2005-01-31 at 10:12 -0800, Joseph wrote: > On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:54:02 -0500, Tony P. > wrote: >> In article , rob51166@yahoo.com >> says: >>>> So, if I am in the UK with an NTSC TV set (or just a monitor) >>>> connected to a satellite receiver that receives a non-UK satellite >>>> service, I wouldn't have to pay the tax? >>> Yes you would. You own a TV set capable of receiving BBC. Regardless >>> of whether it's NTSC or otherwise it makes no difference these days >>> with modern TV sets. >> I beg to differ. NTSC and PAL are two different animals. The UK and it's >> more recent colonies use PAL if I'm not mistaken. North and South >> America use NTSC. > It's *generally" true that NTSC is used in the Americas. It's also > generally true that NTSC is used in the far east with the major > exception being the PRC (China.) > http://kropla.com/tv.htm (world television standards) I think the original point many have been to say that a lot of PAL TV sets these days seem to have in-built NTSC capability, and I would imagine that a lot sold in NTSC markets also have PAL. Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: $47,000 per Line Installation Cost Reply-To: fatkinson@mishmash.com Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 01:56:59 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Years ago, I was working for a company that had a radio transmitter on the top of a mountain somewhere in Hawaii. I never visited the site (or even the state), but we normally monitored and managed our sites by dialup lines. The unfortunate thing was that though there were a great number of radio transmitters on that mountain site, the local Telco had never run a cable up there. Not immediately knowing this fact, I called to find out what it was going to cost to have a line dropped on the site. I was quoted a price of ten thousand dollars just for the installation of a cable up to the site (they wanted us to incur the entire cost despite the fact that there were a large number of other companies needing phone lines to control their equipment). Of course, there was no way any manager at our company was going to sign off for that. So, we had to have our local people frequently stop by and check the site to make sure it was running in optimum condition. I had found a device that connected to a cell phone and provided an RJ-11 to plug a telephone device into. But, we decided that there would be so much intermodulation on that site that it wouldn't work effectively. And this was when cellular was still in its infancy. After several years on that site, telco decided that there was enough of a market there to make it profitable for them to provide a cable up the mountain. So we very quickly ordered a line on that cable (to keep a pair reserved for us as we figured those pairs would go fast). When they finally got it in, they divided the cost of installing the cable among everyone that got a line on that cable. I never saw the bill or was told what the numbers turned out to be. But I was told that what we actualy paid wasn't all that bad considering what all was involved. We had a similar problem in Puerto Rico. But as far as I know there was never a cable run up to that site. Sometimes patience pays off. Sometimes not. Fred ------------------------------ From: lanruvi2@yahoo.com Subject: Re: WGBH Delays Show Featuring Lesbians Date: 31 Jan 2005 18:13:23 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon posted: > By Suzanne C. Ryan, Globe Staff | January 22, 2005 > WGBH-TV (Channel 2) has pushed back airing an episode of its new > 'Arthur' spinoff "Postcards From Buster" because the episode features > a lesbian couple and their three children. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/01/22/wgbh_delays_show_featuring_lesbians/ Listen via WI public radio or via the internet (see below) THE IDEAS NETWORK PROGRAM NOTES FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2005 6:00 AM CST Time Joy Cardin - 02/01A Last week Education Secretary Margaret Spellings denounced an episode of a PBS kid's show for featuring a lesbian couple and their children. But, Joy Cardin's guest, after six, says such programs teach kids to respect and value diversity. Guest: Steven Fisher, communications director, Human Rights Campaign. www.hrc.org * * * * * ACTION ALERT: PBS Censors Postcards From Buster Episode featuring lesbian moms deemed not 'appropriate' January 31, 2005 PBS has pulled an episode of the children's show Postcards From Buster that includes children with lesbian mothers. The episode was yanked the same day that PBS received a letter from new Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings condemning the episode and asking PBS to "strongly consider" returning the federal money that went toward its production. In the episode, Buster, an animated rabbit, visits Vermont, where he learns how maple sugar is made and visits the home of real-life children who invite him in for dinner and introduce him to their "mom and Gillian." WGBH, the Boston PBS affiliate station that produced the program, still plans to air the pulled episode and make it available to other stations, but without PBS or Department of Education support (Washington Times, 12/27/05). PBS chief operating officer Wayne Godwin and spokesperson Lea Sloan gave a variety of reasons for PBS's decision to censor the show; Godwin said the episode brought up an issue that was "best left for parents and children to address together at a time and manner of their own choosing," while Sloan said it was "sensitive in today's political climate" (Associated Press, 1/27/05). Godwin also pointed out that some children wouldn't have a parent with them to "put it in context" (Washington Post, 1/27/05), but at the same time indicated that it was precisely the context that parents and media coverage gave the episode that created the problem: "The concern really was that there's a point where background becomes foreground. No matter if the parents were intended to be background, with this specific item in this particular program they might simply be foreground because of press attention to it and parental attention to it" (New York Times, 1/27/05). Godwin went on to claim the episode conflicted with PBS's purpose: "The presence of a couple headed by two mothers would not be appropriate curricular purpose that PBS should provide." It's a disturbing view for the COO of PBS to hold, particularly since public television's mandate as set forth in the 1967 Carnegie Commission Report is to "provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard," to serve as "a forum for controversy and debate," and to broadcast programs that "help us see America whole, in all its diversity." Indeed, it would seem that PBS's decision to drop the episode would more likely violate the terms of its Education Department grant than would the episode itself; the grant requires funded programs to: "appeal to all of America's children by providing them with content and characters with which they can identify. Diversity will be incorporated into the fabric of the series to help children understand and respect differences and learn to live in a multicultural society. The series will avoid stereotypical images of all kinds and show modern multi-ethnic/lingual/cultural families and children." Previous families featured in Postcards episodes have included Mormons, Hmong and Pentecostal Christians. It's hard to interpret PBS's selective reading of its own mandate in the censorship of Postcards as anything but political pandering in the face of government threats; Spellings' letter included the blunt reminder that "two years ago the Senate Appropriations Committee raised questions about the accountability of funds appropriated for Ready-To-Learn programs" (Washington Post, 1/27/05). What's more, according to a New York Times report (1/27/05), PBS officials -- including PBS president Pat Mitchell -- screened the Vermont episode and deemed it appropriate just a few days before pulling it. Unfortunately, PBS's decision is hardly surprising, given its history of moving to the right under pressure from conservative critics. The network recently added two conservative public affairs programs to its lineup, apparently to "balance" the alleged liberal bias of NOW With Bill Moyers. At the time, Moyers had already announced his intended retirement, and since his departure the show has been cut back to half an hour (see FAIR Action Alert, 9/17/04). And this wouldn't be the first time PBS has backed down on gay and lesbian issues; in 1994, PBS refused to provide funding for a second year of its popular and critically acclaimed miniseries Tales of the City, which included gay characters. The show had prompted the American Family Association to call PBS the "Homosexual Pride Tax-Funded TV Network" and urge their followers to "shut down" PBS. Though PBS called the decision financial, Tales was actually a remarkably profitable series (Extra!, 7-8/94). Just two years earlier, when New York City PBS affiliate WNYC began producing In the Life, television's first nationwide gay-oriented show, conservatives had vigorously attacked public television from the Senate floor. Former Republican Sen. Bob Dole railed, "It seems that the broadcasting apologists are hiding behind Big Bird, Mr. Rogers and Masterpiece Theatre, laying down their quality smokescreen while they shovel out funding for gay and lesbian shows" (Village Voice, 6/30/92; see also Extra!, 6/93). In the face of such threats and criticism, PBS refused to distribute the show; over 10 years later, the program still receives no financial or distribution support from PBS. ACTION: Please contact PBS and ask them to support programming according to their mandate, not political pressures. CONTACT: PBS Pat Mitchell, President and CEO Phone: (703) 739-5000 mailto:pmitchell@p... Or use the PBS comment form: http://www.pbs.org/aboutsite/aboutsite_emailform.html You might also want to contact your local PBS affiliate to encourage them to air the censored episode of Postcards From Buster: http://www.pbs.org/stationfinder/index.html As always, please remember that your comments have more impact if you maintain a polite tone. Please cc fair@f... with your correspondence. Your donation to FAIR makes a difference: http://www.fair.org/donate.html ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Recently Switched to Vonage; Quality Question Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:04:56 -0500 In article , rlstjohn@*gmail.dot.com.easynews.com says: > I went ahead and signed up for Vonage over the weekend. Best Buy was > offering the PAP2 for around $60 and then had a rebate for nearly the > same amount. Setup and everything was simple, but I seem to be having > a lot of line noise. > I currently only have the service connected to a Uniden 2.4 Ghz > cordless phone. The base station is downstairs in the living room and > the other phone (which doesn't require a phone line) is upstairs. I > have my incoming ISP connection running into my cable router, then > into a switch which connects the PAP2 adapter to my broadband > connection. However, I notice a lot of noise on the line although > people I am talking to don't. Any advice on how to get rid of the > line noise? I have messed around with the dedicated bandwidth > settings and still have the same results. > Any advice would be appreciated. > Robert You've got the Linksys RT31P2. This is a common problem with the unit. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:49:18 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Steve Sobol wrote about Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans on Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 19:17:23 -0800 > earle robinson wrote: >> If callee pays were the norm for landline phones Bell Telephone would >> never have reached the 100% market penetration it did. > What on earth are you talking about -- The callee DOES pay for > landline calls here. If you have a residential line, you normally get > flat-rate calling but businesses get metered rates. That's metered per > call in many places, but here it's per minute. You can get metered > rates for residential lines too -- if you don't make a ton of calls -- > and pay a lower monthly rate. Surely you mean "caller pays" is the norm in the US. It's always "free" to receive calls (be the callee) on a land line. >> phone books either. The European system employs a distinct area code >> for cell phones so there is no confusion. Not so in the states. If I >> call a 305 or a 917 area code I don't know if it is a cell phone or a >> landline one. > Ironically, 917 used to be mobile/pager numbers only. I don't recall > why that was changed. > But I can tell you that if we were to adopt the system you speak of, > we'd probably have run out of area codes long ago and had to add a > digit to new phone numbers like the UK did. In particular, the FCC required that cell phones be accommodated within the standard area codes so that they would not be "disadvantaged" or subjected to "discrimination." Then, when the splits and overlays started to be common, the FCC directed that cellular, faxes, and other special numbers NOT be segregated into the new area codes. Thus, the problem of its being impossible to identify cell phones is of the FCC's making, in an effort to encourage cellular use by treating them "just like land lines." I do not recall the details of whether and why the FCC promoted "called party pays" for calls to cell phones. It was probably in part a natural consequence of the inability for the caller to distinguish the cost of the call. Possibly, it was in part an effort to promote calling cell phones as being "just like land lines." The former reason has an analog in the required message informing people that they have called a "calling party pays" number, such as a 900 number or a sex line. The latter, of course, is the reason few of us give out our cell phone numbers very freely. I have started to do so for a few people, only after several years experience showing that I rarely use more than 1/3 my basic allowance of "anytime" minutes, and never more than 2/3 (I have the smallest allowance my carrier sold at the time I acquired the phone). ------------------------------ 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! 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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 V24 #48 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Feb 1 21:07:09 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j12279C07237; Tue, 1 Feb 2005 21:07:09 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 21:07:09 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200502020207.j12279C07237@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 V24 #49 TELECOM Digest Tue, 1 Feb 2005 21:05:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 49 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson At Thought About the Merger for CLEC's, ISP's, and VoIP (Jack Decker) TV "Decency" -- Broadcast vs. Cable (Lisa Hancock) SBC, AT&T Tout Synergies (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Invalid Numbert Tones (L. Hao) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Steve Sobol) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Rob) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Earle Robinson) Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans (Justin Time) Re: Format For Image to be Faxed? (Robert Bonomi) Re: Format For Image to be Faxed? (Daniel J McDonald) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates (M Crispin) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates (P Coxwell) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell (Chris Farrar) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates (G Wollman) Re: Looking For Hands Free Telephone System For Entire House (Hank Karl) Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile (fake@fake.com) Re: Time Warner Cable to Offer Free AOL (CustmClr) Re: $47,000 per Line Installation Cost (Randolph J. Herber) Re: $47,000 per Line Installation Cost (Tony P.) Re: Who Does DA For Cox Communications? (Justin Time) Last Laugh! Emergency Broadcast Blunder In Connecticut (Lisa Minter) 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: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 01:22:51 -0500 Subject: A Thought About the Merger For CLEC's, ISP's, and VoIP I just want to say one thing about the proposed AT&T-SBC merger, just to give those of you who are with CLEC's, ISP's and VoIP providers a little food for thought. Think back to when Time-Warner merged with AOL. As a condition of FCC approval, the new company had to agree to several restrictions, that in essence allowed customers to choose an ISP other than AOL if they so desired. Normally, this would be a condition that could not be imposed on a company by law, but there is no law that says that the FCC must approve every merger, and therefore it has greater "bargaining strength" during a merger than at any other time. Now, let's think about this a moment. Suppose you were the head of the FCC, and you could impose three conditions on SBC and AT&T prior to granting your approval of the merger. What might you ask for? Certainly, some CLEC's might ask that SBC continue to provide UNE-P. Maybe the courts have said that the FCC doesn't have the authority to require a phone company to provide UNE-P, but this situation is a little different, because the FCC can in effect say that unless the voluntarily agree to continue to offer UNE-P, approval will not be forthcoming anytime soon. That would certainly be a rational thing to consider, since many fear that the merger of SBC and AT&T is the start of putting the bad old Bell System back together again. On the other hand, if I were with an ISP, I'd be banding together with other ISP's to ask for non-discriminatory access to SBC customers for the provision of DSL. No more saying that customers on certain types of lines can only have DSL if they buy it from SBC, and no more requirement that a customer have circuit-switched dial tone (from SBC or anybody else) to get DSL service. If SBC wants to be stingy with the lines that the captive ratepayers bought and paid for, and continue to force customers to take dial tone whether they want it or not in order to get broadband service, then maybe they won't mind if their application sits on the back burner at the FCC for years. Then there is the little matter of SBC acquiring AT&T's CallVantage service as part of the merger. If the FCC doesn't include some sort of non-discrimination requirement for non-affiliated VoIP providers, customers of VoicePulse, Vonage, et. al could suddenly find that their VoIP connections go to Hades in a handbasket when using SBC's DSL service, while CallVantage magically works much better. So again, there needs to be some sort of agreement that there will be no playing around with the packets of other VoIP providers. Of course, another solution would be to require the new company to divest CallVantage, but since that was probably one of the things that made the offer attractive to SBC, I doubt they will want to do that. The merger of SBC and AT&T will make a communications behemoth even larger, and ironically, many customers who thought they were all done with SBC when they went to AT&T (or CallVantage) will now find themselves back in the SBC fold, which is exactly where some of them may not wish to be. I don't think it is at all unreasonable for the FCC to put some conditions on this merger. If you agree, and you are a CLEC, ISP, or VoIP provider, please feel free to forward this e-mail to whatever trade organization(s) you might belong to. If no one makes any requests of the FCC, they may just let this merger slide through, while missing a golden opportunity to insure that some semblance of competition remains in the telecommunications industry. 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: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: TV "Decency" -- Broadcast vs. Cable Date: 1 Feb 2005 10:28:12 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com The newspaper reported that this year's Superbowl TV ads and entertainment will be strictly controlled to avoid FCC flagging. Instead of a "teen pop tart" it's 62 y/o Paul McCartney. Broadcasters are frighted of being fined. What bothers me is that there are two standards -- one for traditional broadcast TV and one for cable TV. I think both should be treated as the same. The claimed justified is that TV uses the "public airwaves" and TV reaches everyone freely while cable does not. But cable depends on "public airwaves" just as much as broadcast, only they use satellite signals to get their material. Further, cable is extremely well distributed these days. It is wrong to nail a network for Janet Jackson yet ignore the stuff on MTV and other general distribution cable channels. It is also troubling that certain respected artistic productions are banned from broadcast out of fear of punishment. For example the film "Schlinder's List" (which contains some nudity in the concentration camps) frightened off some network affiliates. Years ago PBS would occassionally have nudity as part of Shakespeare. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 13:32:16 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: SBC, AT&T Tout Synergies Telecom dailyLead from USTA February 1, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=19098&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * SBC, AT&T tout synergies BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Adelphia bids roll in; Time Warner, Comcast offer $17 billion * Wall Street mulls future telecom deals * Skype makes VoIP software available to Mac, Linux users * Time Warner, AOL in Internet marketing deal * Companies take advantage of dark fiber USTA SPOTLIGHT * In USTA's Telecom Bookstore: IP Telephony Principles and Applications EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Verizon Wireless offers network, music clips * Analyst: WiMAX to challenge DSL, cable broadband REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Qwest seeks end to service audits * Ebbers trial spotlights his role in accounting practices Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=19098&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: L. Hao Subject: Invalid Number Tones Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:30:41 -0800 I need to design an algorithm to detect call progress. For example, it needs to figure out whether the call hits a live person, an answering machine, a fax machine, and etc. But among all these things, I am having trouble finding the spec for this so-called invalid number. When you dial an invalid number, you normally get a tone followed by " the number you just dialed ...". Can anyone tell me where I can find the spec for this tone? Or better yet, if anyone can share his/her methods of detecting it, it'd be great. Thanks for the help. Li ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:10:34 -0800 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Marcus Didius Falco wrote: >> What on earth are you talking about -- The callee DOES pay for >> landline calls here. If you have a residential line, you normally get >> flat-rate calling but businesses get metered rates. That's metered per >> call in many places, but here it's per minute. You can get metered >> rates for residential lines too -- if you don't make a ton of calls -- >> and pay a lower monthly rate. > Surely you mean "caller pays" is the norm in the US. It's always > "free" to receive calls (be the callee) on a land line. Duh, yes. Sorry. I misread. JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005) ------------------------------ From: Rob Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: 1 Feb 2005 01:43:29 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > Steve Sobol wrote about Re: America the Worst > For Cell Rates and Plans on Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 19:17:23 -0800 >> earle robinson wrote: >>> If callee pays were the norm for landline phones Bell Telephone would >>> never have reached the 100% market penetration it did. >> What on earth are you talking about -- The callee DOES pay for >> landline calls here. If you have a residential line, you normally get >> flat-rate calling but businesses get metered rates. That's metered per >> call in many places, but here it's per minute. You can get metered >> rates for residential lines too -- if you don't make a ton of calls >> and pay a lower monthly rate. > Surely you mean "caller pays" is the norm in the US. It's always > "free" to receive calls (be the callee) on a land line. >>> phone books either. The European system employs a distinct area code >>> for cell phones so there is no confusion. Not so in the states. If I >>> call a 305 or a 917 area code I don't know if it is a cell phone or a >>> landline one. >> Ironically, 917 used to be mobile/pager numbers only. I don't recall >> why that was changed. >> But I can tell you that if we were to adopt the system you speak of, >> we'd probably have run out of area codes long ago and had to add a >> digit to new phone numbers like the UK did. > In particular, the FCC required that cell phones be accommodated > within the standard area codes so that they would not be > "disadvantaged" or subjected to "discrimination." Then, when the > splits and overlays started to be common, the FCC directed that > cellular, faxes, and other special numbers NOT be segregated into the > new area codes. Thus, the problem of its being impossible to identify > cell phones is of the FCC's making, in an effort to encourage cellular > use by treating them "just like land lines." > I do not recall the details of whether and why the FCC promoted > "called party pays" for calls to cell phones. It was probably in part > a natural consequence of the inability for the caller to distinguish > the cost of the call. Possibly, it was in part an effort to promote > calling cell phones as being "just like land lines." The former reason > has an analog in the required message informing people that they have > called a "calling party pays" number, such as a 900 number or a sex > line. > The latter, of course, is the reason few of us give out our cell phone > numbers very freely. I have started to do so for a few people, only > after several years experience showing that I rarely use more than 1/3 > my basic allowance of "anytime" minutes, and never more than 2/3 (I > have the smallest allowance my carrier sold at the time I acquired the > phone). The biggest difference between having a cellphone in Europe and having one in the USA and other NANP countries has to be that we differentiate numbers for cellphones by giving them alternate prefixes to our landline numbers. For example, my home number is on area code 01685, while my cellphone has the prefix 07906. By dialling any number whose prefix starts with '07' you automatically know that it's a cellphone and not a landline, and are therefore charged accordingly. In my case, where I'm not charged for landline calls, it can mean anything up to 20p/36c per minute. ------------------------------ From: Earle Robinson" Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 13:34:56 +0100 Please mask my email address. Thank you. Joe of Seattle wrote: > Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans But, dear sir, such plans do exist. I live in Europe; you live in Seattle. How do you know better than I do? > But you only have an advantage there is you call someone who is on > the *same* network as you. Otherwise you pay the same stiff price > to call a mobile as anyone else. Not true either. I may call someone on the SFR network, using Orange and don't pay extra. It's part of my monthly number of minutes. -er ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: America the Worst For Cell Rates and Plans Date: 1 Feb 2005 06:01:13 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Marcus scribbled: > I do not recall the details of whether and why the FCC promoted > "called party pays" for calls to cell phones. It was probably in part > a natural consequence of the inability for the caller to distinguish > the cost of the call. Possibly, it was in part an effort to promote > calling cell phones as being "just like land lines." The former reason > has an analog in the required message informing people that they have > called a "calling party pays" number, such as a 900 number or a sex > line. Actually it was the cellular companies who charged for "air time." Air time does not take into account if a call is incoming or outgoing, it only accounts for the amount of cellular resources used to connect to the handset. That we currently have to abide by "full minute" pricing should be the complaint . Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Format For Image to be Faxed? Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 18:11:36 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , AES wrote: > Pardon me if this is a bit off topic, but I suspect someone on one or > the other of these groups may have the answer immediately at hand: > If I want to fax a B&W or, more likely, a gray-scale image from within > my computer (Apple iBook, using the internal modem), into what format > (JPEG? GIF? ???) should I convert the image and at what resolution (72 > dpi?) before I fax it, to get the best balance of image sharpness and > transmission time? Standard FAX B&W transmission is 192 DPI _across_ the scan-lines, and either 96 scan-lines/inch ('standard' resolution), or 192 scan-lines/inch ("fine" resolution) Your "initial" file format doesn't matter a whole lot -- the fax transmission software is going to _effectively_ 'render' that format to a bitmap image in memory and construct the needed data strings in accordance with the FAX G3 standards. The fax encoding specification uses 'RLE' compression, so minimizing the number of intensity changes on each scan-line results in significantly decreased transmission time. For the source file format, "what works best" is going to be _very_ dependant on the characteristics of the specific image involved. A 'lossy' compression scheme, like JPEG, may introduce 'artificats' that end up _increasing_ the size of the _transmitted_ data-stream, even though the 'source *file*' size is smaller. Considerable experimentation -- with the type of images you plan to send -- is indicated. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Format For Image to be Faxed? From: djmcdona@fnord.io.com (Daniel J McDonald) Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 13:04:16 -0600 In article , AES wrote: > Pardon me if this is a bit off topic, but I suspect someone on one or > the other of these groups may have the answer immediately at hand: > If I want to fax a B&W or, more likely, a gray-scale image from within > my computer (Apple iBook, using the internal modem), into what format > (JPEG? GIF? ???) should I convert the image and at what resolution (72 > dpi?) before I fax it, to get the best balance of image sharpness and > transmission time? Fax machines use the TIFF format. I'm not certain of the resolution. Daniel J McDonald CCIE # 2495, CNX Visit my website: http://www.austinnetworkdesign.com ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:50:45 -0800 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Tue, 1 Feb 2005, David Clayton wrote: > I think the original point many have been to say that a lot of PAL TV > sets these days seem to have in-built NTSC capability, and I would > imagine that a lot sold in NTSC markets also have PAL. Perhaps the term "a lot" means something different in Australia than it does in North America. In North America, the implication of "a lot" means "many", "a significant percentage or number." That is not the case with PAL televisions in North America. Almost no televisions sold in North America and Japan have PAL. TVs sold in North America with PAL capable are grey market imports, not consumer goods. Nor is there any demand for it. DVDs and video tapes are much cheaper in North America than elsewhere in the world. For similar reasons, there is little interest in region 2 (or region-free) DVD players in the US, even though there is quite a bit of interest in region 1 (or region-free) DVD players in Europe and Japan. The technical advantage that PAL once enjoyed over NTSC vanished in the 1980s with the advent of modern electronics instead of the one-tube wonders of the 1960s that led to the "never twice same color" epithet. These days, the phase alteration in PAL is complete unnecessary and comes at a steep cost in not being able to render green accurately. Put another way; PAL is a very clever way of overcoming the limitations of cheap vacuum-tube based color processing, albeit at a cost. NTSC requires better electronics to do well; but that's been the rule for about 25 years now. Arguably, European TV systems are "better" than system M by having 100 more scan lines; but that too comes at a hefty cost; a 50Hz refresh rate that is noticably flickery. People who live in Europe for extended periods of time may no notice it; but Americans (and Europeans who had extended stays in North America do. PAL's flickering gives us headaches. In South America, there is PAL-M which uses PAL color on system M; this was probably a good idea in the 1960s but these days all it does it clearly shows how inferior PAL color is to NTSC. For those of you who argue about the pedestal, note that most NTSC countries dispensed with the pedestal. The US still has it, in the unlikely event that someone still uses an ancient TV from the 1950s that needs it (actually, inertia is more like it). Even people who find themselves with PAL videos find it to be a preferable option to have the video professionally converted to NTSC rather than buy a PAL VCR and TV to play it. Note, by the way, that most PAL/NTSC TVs do not have tuners suitable for use in North America. Rather, their NTSC mode is designed to be used with a PAL/NTSC VCR which heterodynes NTSC color at the PAL frequency. Thus, they are not true NTSC TVs. All of this is pretty much academic, since analog TV is on its way out in favor of digital. These days, the NTSC vs. PAL debate has been supplanted by 8-VSB vs. COFDM -- rather silly since the modulation has no impact on image quality (unlike, say, 720p vs. 1080i). -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates and Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 12:48:43 -0000 > Maybe the ordinary British police are not routinely armed, but I saw > plenty of British officers (police? military?) armed with submachine guns > when I was in London. In fact, I saw far more subguns in one week in > London that I saw during my entire life in the US. The same was true in > Europe. Indeed. I've not traveled by air for some time now, but a few years ago you would regularly see guys in flak-jackets and carrying sub machine-guns walking around Heathrow and Gatwick airports. I never saw anything like that at JFK, Newark, O'Hare, or any other U.S. airport I passed through (maybe things have changed in the light of more recent events; I don't know). It made me wonder what newly arrived tourists to the U.K. must have thought. > Given a choice between police with pistols (and we have pistols too) and > subgun-toting goons over a disarmed population, I'll take the former. > Europeans may think that this is crazy; but I think that Europeans are > crazy to willingly live in a society where their law enforcement carries > subguns. You know that a few years ago our present government tightened our already overly-oppressive restrictions on private gun ownership even further? Strangely enough though, we're being told that gun crime is still on the increase in the major cities (hence the greater numbers of cops who are being armed). When I returned to England from living in the U.S. in 1996, you would not believe the number of people who quizzed me about America's "gun culture." Wasn't I worried about cops being armed? Wasn't it dangerous everywhere? I'm sure they didn't believe me when I told them I wasn't the slightest bit worried about the local Sheriff having a gun and that in fact where I was (rural Nebraska) the crime rate was actually much lower than in most of Britain. > BBC-TV is available on the non-UK satellite services in NTSC. If your > satellite service didn't actually have any BBC programming, it might > be legal. But the issue is that if you are in the UK, and you have a > device capable of receiving BBC programming, you must pay a license. > Whether it is over the air or over some other service like satellite > or cable. > Likewise if you have an older NTSC set incapable of receiving > programmming over the air, connected to an NTSC VCR, that should not > require any license since it cannot be used to watch the BBC. Just to clarify the legalities here, it not just an installation which can receive BBC broadcasts. A license is required to receive *ANY* U.K-sourced TV signal. A fairly regular question here over the years has been "Why don't the set manufacturers produce a TV which will receive only the independent stations, not the BBC?" The answer is that it even if they did the law still requires a license to watch the commercial stations, even if the set was incapable of showing BBC broadcasts. That's something which a lot of people don't realize, and something which makes this legally required subsidy of the BBC seem very unfair to those who do. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 19:55:25 -0500 From: Chris Farrar Subject: Re: British TV License >> http://kropla.com/tv.htm (world television standards) > I think the original point many have been to say that a lot of PAL TV > sets these days seem to have in-built NTSC capability, and I would > imagine that a lot sold in NTSC markets also have PAL. You should never assume. Most sets sold in NTSC markets only do NTSC. They wouldn't know how to process PAL, SECAM, or any other mode of video transmission. Chris ------------------------------ From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 17:30:57 UTC Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , David Clayton wrote: > I think the original point many have been to say that a lot of PAL TV > sets these days seem to have in-built NTSC capability, and I would > imagine that a lot sold in NTSC markets also have PAL. You indeed have imagined that, since in this country (the world's largest market for consumer electronics) only the rare and expensive "multi-standard" sets support any flavor of PAL. (Keeping in mind that PAL is just an encoding for color: with respect to broadcast television systems, there are PAL-B, PAL-D, PAL-G, PAL-H, PAL-I, PAL-K, PAL-N, and even PAL-M in some places. By contrast, broadcast NTSC color is found universally with system M, although some historical references claim that NTSC-A was close to happening before the UK government decided to abandon system A in favor of PAL-I. The French SECAM system is used with systems D, K, and L.) -GAWollman Garrett A. Wollman | As the Constitution endures, persons in every wollman@csail.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own Opinions not those | search for greater freedom. of MIT or CSAIL. | - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. ___ (2003) ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl Subject: Re: Looking For Hands Free Telephone System For Entire House Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 13:20:05 -0500 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ On 28 Jan 2005 01:34:30 -0800, kkancler@etownsend.com wrote: > Does anyone have any ideas? Have you seen such a thing? Know of any > vendors? > For my house, I would like a hands free phone system so that I may walk > from room to room while still being able to talk via a speakerphone > type device. > Kind Regards, > Kris@*onlyhcm.com > To reply directly, please take out the * from the addy > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Have you considered a cordless phone > with a headset (and caller ID and built in tapeless answering machine > in the base unit)? Uniden has one; they were selling them through Costco > stores for around fifty dollars. You wear the headset, and clip the > phone on your belt. PAT] The Uniden system I got at Costco is 2.4Ghz, has three handsets and a headset. The base unit and each handset each can be speakerphones. IIRC, it was more than fifty dollars. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, the one a friend got for me at Costco in Oregon is just like that but has only one handset (which is all I really need since it can go all through my house) and one base and I think he paid around fifty dollars for the whole package. PAT] ------------------------------ From: fake@fake.com Subject: Re: Do Allow Under-9s to Use a Mobile Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 13:27:11 -0500 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ Heating is not the only mechanism that can cause harm: At one time, X-Rays were considered safe for all, including pregnant women. And back then, they exposed you to a higher amount of radiation. Many people get a type of radiation burn that is so common we refer to it as "sunburn". I don't think this is caused by heating (but does require a lot more EM energy than cellphones produce.) On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 09:10:26 +1100, David Clayton wrote: > On Thu, 2005-01-27 at 23:27 -0800, Linc Madison wrote: >> In article , Dave Garland >> wrote: >>> It was a dark and stormy night when John Levine wrote: >>>> That's not enough power to heat anything. >>> With all due respect, heating may not be the mechanism. >> With all due respect, what other mechanism do you think could cause >> cellphones to harm human tissue? > Isn't that what the medical experts are now studying?, Perhaps they > should all give up since the answers have been made clear here? > As to the other arguments about "years of knowledge", perhaps you can > cite when they were able to use state of the art diagnostic and analysis > equipment way back years ago, or the studies that used children to > determine if long-term exposure to RF had no negative effect on their > developing bodies? > There may very well be no significant negative effects from using > cellphones, but unless people conduct investigations on this recent > (in terms of any possible long-term medical outcomes) phenomenon, > using the latest techniques, then assuming that it is safe is just > plain folly. > Regards, > David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com > Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. > (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) > Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you > down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: custmclr@aol.com (CustmClr) Date: 01 Feb 2005 19:59:16 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: Re: Time Warner Cable to Offer Free AOL Lisa Minter wrote in message news:telecom24.47.2@telecom-digest.org: > By Kenneth Li > NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Cable plans to offer its high-speed > Internet customers free access to America Online service, in a deal > that could potentially add 3 million more high-speed subscribers at > the cable division, Time Warner executives said on Monday. > AOL had been losing subscribers over the last few years to cheaper > dial-up services such as Juno and Earthlink and high speed services > such as Road Runner and services from other cable and telephone > companies. Gee, I wonder why ... From a popup window when you launch Newsgroups on AOL: "Please Note: The AOL Newsgroup service will be discontinued in early 2005. For members using AOL over a dial-up connection, you will no longer be able to access Newsgroups. If you have a separate high-speed connection, you can contact your broadband provider to see if they offer Newsgroups. Newsgroup services can often be accessed through a third party reader, such as Mozilla Thunderbird (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/). Alternatively, you can access Newsgroups via Google at http://groups.google.com/. We apologize for this inconvenience." ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 20:03:52 GMT From: herber@ncdf107.fnal.gov (Randolph J. Herber) Subject: Re: $47,000 per Line Installation Cost Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (DoE, URA) In article , wrote: > 1010news radio reported that a rural Lousianna hamlet of 15 people > finally got telephone service. It cost on average $47,000 per line to > install it. The cost will be paid by the small surcharge on all > customer's bills. > See: > http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TELEPHONE_WILDERNESS?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Who is the 'all' in "surcharge on all > customers"? The 15 residents in that community, all the state-wide > customers of that telco; all that telco's customers everywhere, all of > us who use telephones, or? For 15 residents in a town, $47,000 seems > sort of steep to be paid in 'small surcharges'. PAT] Quoting from the material from the link: "Phone customers around the state will cover the cost by paying a small monthly charge on their bills." For the humor value: "But it didn't take resident Elaine Edwards long to find out that not all calls were fun. "It wasn't 15 minutes after that phone was in before a telemarketer called me,"" Randolph J. Herber, herber@fnal.gov, +1 630 840 2966, CD/CDFTF PK-149F, Mail Stop 318, Fermilab, Kirk & Pine Rds., PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510-0500, USA. (Speaking for myself and not for US, US DOE, FNAL nor URA.) (Product, trade, or service marks herein belong to their respective owners.) ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: $47,000 per Line Installation Cost Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 19:49:30 -0500 In article , fatkinson@mishmash.com says: > Years ago, I was working for a company that had a radio transmitter on > the top of a mountain somewhere in Hawaii. I never visited the site > (or even the state), but we normally monitored and managed our sites > by dialup lines. > The unfortunate thing was that though there were a great number of > radio transmitters on that mountain site, the local Telco had never > run a cable up there. > Not immediately knowing this fact, I called to find out what it was > going to cost to have a line dropped on the site. I was quoted a > price of ten thousand dollars just for the installation of a cable up > to the site (they wanted us to incur the entire cost despite the fact > that there were a large number of other companies needing phone lines > to control their equipment). > Of course, there was no way any manager at our company was going to > sign off for that. So, we had to have our local people frequently > stop by and check the site to make sure it was running in optimum > condition. I had found a device that connected to a cell phone and > provided an RJ-11 to plug a telephone device into. But, we decided > that there would be so much intermodulation on that site that it > wouldn't work effectively. And this was when cellular was still in > its infancy. > After several years on that site, telco decided that there was > enough of a market there to make it profitable for them to provide a > cable up the mountain. So we very quickly ordered a line on that > cable (to keep a pair reserved for us as we figured those pairs would > go fast). When they finally got it in, they divided the cost of > installing the cable among everyone that got a line on that cable. I > never saw the bill or was told what the numbers turned out to be. But > I was told that what we actualy paid wasn't all that bad considering > what all was involved. > We had a similar problem in Puerto Rico. But as far as I know there > was never a cable run up to that site. > Sometimes patience pays off. Sometimes not. Reminds me of another story. It wasn't that services weren't available but just that the pricing was way out of whack. We had to get our data services to an office campus building via a Nynex T1 at the time. It was costing us on the order of $3000 a month for that baby. A local insurance company was abandoning their microwave system and we were in the unique position to buy it for $20K and then hang a dish on the sciences library tower and one on the building. This thing had the same bandwidth as two T1's so we put all our voice services on it too. So not only did Nynex lose the $3K a month for data, they also lost about $1000+ for voice. So in essence that microwave setup paid for itself in 6 months. ------------------------------ From: Justin Time Subject: Re: Who Does DA For Cox Communications? Date: 1 Feb 2005 06:06:20 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Have you tried contacting the RI PUC to see what information and help they can provide? They probably have direct numbers to senior management and seeing as you are calling from the government - and we all know they are there to help - you may get some action a lot faster than trying to contact the DA company. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: ptownson@telecom-digest.org (Patrick Townson) Subject: Last Laugh! Emergency Broadcast Blunder In Connecticut Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 18:58:02 -0500 Emergency Broadcast Blunder In Connecticut http://1010wins.com/topstories/local_story_032154054.html Despite what residents may have seen on television, the state of Connecticut was not ordered evacuated on Tuesday. State emergency management officials believe someone pressed the wrong button, and instead of running a test of the emergency alert system, midday television viewers and radio listeners were told that the state was being evacuated. "There is absolutely no evacuation or state emergency," said Kerry Flaherty, of the Office of Emergency Management. "It was an erroneous message." For the rest of the story go to: http://1010wins.com/topstories/local_story_032154054.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The talking heads on the radio and television chattered about it for several minutes as people everywhere started rushing out of their homes, driving their cars furiously down all the roads and highways, etc. Once the massive traffic jam of all traffic jams was underway, *then* the poor people were told, 'Gee, it seems to have been a false alarm ...' 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'. 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! 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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 V24 #49 ***************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Feb 2 15:56:58 2005 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id j12Kuwf16409; Wed, 2 Feb 2005 15:56:58 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 15:56:58 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200502022056.j12Kuwf16409@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 V24 #50 TELECOM Digest Wed, 2 Feb 2005 15:56:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 50 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T Hangs up - and Few Are Sorry to Say Goodbye (Raju Bhupathiraju) AT&T Inventions Fueled Tech Boom, And Its Own Fall (sufaud) Cellphones vs. Safety (Marcus Didius Falco) Culture Wars Pull Buster Into the Fray (Monty Solomon) New Social Etiquette: Friends Don't Let Friends Dial Drunk (M Solomon) Supermarket: Let Your Fingers Do The Paying (Monty Solomon) Most Dangerous Types Of Spyware Increasing: SpyAudit Survey (M Solomon) Cingular Treo 650 Smartphone (Monty Solomon) Apple: Video's Future is Tiger, QuickTime 7, H.264 (Monty Solomon) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates (TL. Simon) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates (Wollman) Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates (Coxwell) 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: RamaChandra Raju Bhupathiraju Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 22:34:54 -0000 Subject: AT&T Hangs Up - and Few Are Sorry to Say Goodbye Tue Feb 1, 6:31 AM ET Op/Ed - USATODAY.com http://story.news.yahoo.com/news? tmpl=story&ncid=742&e=1&u=/usatoday/20050201/cm_usatoday/atampthangsu pandfewaresorrytosaygoodbye AT&T possesses a history that goes back to Alexander Graham Bell, but few people are likely to mourn its demise as an independent company. It was an overbearing monopoly before its breakup, and a largely inept competitor ever since. Not since its early days has it been much of an innovator. AT&T's sale for $16 billion to SBC Communications, announced Monday, is loaded with irony. The company, once so powerful it was known as "Ma Bell," was swallowed by one of the "Baby Bells" spun off in the 1984 breakup. The child was more successful than the parent. Even more telling is the price AT&T went for. In today's world, $16 billion is a pittance. Last week, Procter & Gamble agreed to pay almost four times as much for a medicine chest of sundries known as the Gillette Company. SBC will keep the AT&T brand name, which is well known outside of SBC's region -- indeed, all around the world. For business customers in particular, the AT&T name is still valuable. But the company SBC is buying, subject to approval by regulators, is a shell of its former self. It's no longer dominant, no longer greatly feared by competitors. For much of its history, AT&T was the quintessential monopoly. It had no competition for local service, no competition for long- distance service and offered people few reasons to like it. Its customers could choose whatever color telephone they wanted, the saying went, so long as it was black. Since its breakup, however, AT&T has done little but lose market share to rivals and watch as long-distance prices plummeted. Not that Ma Bell didn't try to compete and reinvent itself. Over the past 20 years, it has been a veritable whirling dervish of acquisitions and spin-offs as it tried to find a niche in the rapidly changing world of telecommunications. It got into the wireless business in 1994 only to bail out last year. It put together the largest cable network, only to sell it to Comcast. At one point, it saw a future in cash registers and bought NCR. In the process of making all of these transactions, the company churned through CEOs. It was always in motion, but never quite arrived. While competitors found ways to thrive in such industries as wireless and cable, AT&T never could. Even NCR prospered once it was let go. In a way, AT&T died long ago and spread its ashes to the winds. Today, bits and pieces of what was once Ma Bell can be found in a dizzying array of concerns, among them SBC, BellSouth, Verizon, Cingular, Comcast, Lucent, Qwest, Agere and Avaya. AT&T was once, arguably, the USA's most powerful company. Soon it will be no more than a division of one of its spin-offs. It's unlikely, though, that anyone but history buffs will really miss it. 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, USA Today. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: sufaud Subject: AT&T Inventions Fueled Tech Boom, And Its Own Fall Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 06:15:55 +0000 Missed Calls AT&T Inventions Fueled Tech Boom, And Its Own Fall Bell Labs Invented Transistor, But Couldn't Exploit It; Passing Up a Cell License A Secret On Sale for $25,000 By CHRISTOPHER RHOADS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL In December 1947, William Shockley and his team of scientists came up with a solution to a problem vexing their employers at AT&T Corp. At the time, voice was amplified over long distances using vacuum tubes. The bulky tubes often overheated and broke down, making long-distance calling expensive. Working at AT&T's Bell Labs in Murray Hill, N.J., two members of the team, Walter Brattain and John Bardeen, came up with a device made from a paper clip, two slivers of gold foil, and a slab of germanium on a crystal plate. The contraption made it easier to transmit sounds with clarity over a long distance. It was later dubbed the transistor. More than any other technology, the invention unleashed the information revolution of the late 20th century. Over time, it also carried the seeds of AT&T's demise. The transistor, and its subsequent improvement and miniaturization on silicon chips, made it possible to store and distribute ever-greater amounts of information. That drove the development of computers, satellites, space exploration and much of modern communications and electronics. Dr. Shockley moved to California and founded a company that played a role in spawning Silicon Valley. The transistor invention won the Bell Labs team the Nobel Prize in 1956. Picture: http://tinyurl.com/457kh Caption: William Shockley The resulting upheaval created new industrial fortunes -- and destroyed others. AT&T was on the casualty list. After its forced breakup in 1984, it was slowly crushed by technologies that drove down the price of a long-distance call, and more recently by wireless calling and Internet phoning. In the past few years its revenue has shrunk steadily, leaving it with valuable long-distance business customers but little else. Once the largest phone company in the world, with a million employees when it was broken up by the federal government 21 years ago, a humbled AT&T agreed Monday to be acquired by one of its offspring, SBC Communications Inc., for $16 billion. The transistor "shows how AT&T invented something that worked to sink it," says David Isenberg, who worked at the company's labs for 12 years until 1998 and is now an independent telecom analyst. Along with the transistor, many of the inventions critical to the telecom upheaval today came at least partly from Bell Labs. They include the Unix computer operating system used in many corporate computer systems; cellular technology, which sparked the rise of wireless calling; and voice-compression technology, which helped make Internet calling possible. But AT&T's monopoly status meant that it rarely exploited its inventions. Constantly threatened with breakup, the company agreed to put its transistor patents in the public domain and submitted to regulations barring it from businesses that didn't involve the telephone. Besides, executives felt little need to seize on the lab achievements since AT&T already enjoyed steady profits from its lock on the phone business. "When I run into old Bell Labs people the first thing they say is, 'Can you believe what has happened?' " says Robert Lucky, a scientist and executive who worked at Bell Labs for 31 years until 1992. Even at the time of the breakup in 1984, he says, "the feeling was that we had a network that was the envy of the world. No one could duplicate it." Instead, says Dr. Lucky, "what you had was big, new industries taking Bell Labs technology and turning it into lots of revenue." The growth of Internet phoning was the "final nail in AT&T's coffin," says Mr. Isenberg. The technology allows users to make calls through their high-speed Internet connections independent of the phone company. Some companies offer software to do this free. The inventor behind one of them, a Swede named Bastiaan Kleijn, is a former scientist at Bell Labs. Other companies charge a monthly fee for unlimited calls. In the year before its sale to SBC, AT&T embraced Internet calling. But as the technology takes hold, it is unlikely companies will be able to charge much for it. "AT&T started the electronics revolution that in the end devoured it," says Eli Noam, the director of the Institute for Tele-Information at Columbia University. The revolution began with Dr. Shockley and some silicon. During World War II British and American scientists had discovered signs that silicon could detect high-frequency radar signals, according to a PBS program and Web site on the history of the transistor, called "Transistorized." Silicon is a type of semiconductor -- a substance that conducts only small amounts of electricity. Dr. Shockley made some headway designing a semiconducting device to improve long-distance voice transmission, but ran into problems and handed his work to two members of his team, Dr. Brattain, a physicist with a knack for building things in a lab, and Dr. Bardeen, an accomplished theoretical thinker. Shortly before Christmas 1947, the two made the breakthroughs that led to the creation of the transistor. Immediately aware of the significance of their discovery, Dr. Shockley was happy, but also outraged that he had not been included in their important work. He subsequently built his own, sturdier version of the transistor within a month and insisted that only his name should go on the patent. The other two scientists were shocked. "He called both Bardeen and I in, shortly after the demonstration, and told us that sometimes the people who do the work don't get the credit for it," recalled Dr. Brattain in an interview recorded in 1974 and preserved on the Web site. Drs. Brattain and Bardeen ultimately kept Dr. Shockley's name off the first transistor patent although his name was on later patents. Chart: http://tinyurl.com/5n9lr Caption: Long Distance: Some key dates in AT&T history Drs. Brattain and Bardeen later became university professors. In 1956, Dr. Shockley moved to California where he started his own company, called Shockley Semiconductor, located near Stanford University. Just a year later, exasperated with Dr. Shockey's difficult personality, eight of the original scientists at the company left to start their own company called Fairchild Semiconductor Corp. Veterans of Fairchild went on to form other powerhouse chip makers including Intel Corp., bringing to prominence the industry that gave Silicon Valley its name. (Dr. Shockley's reputation was later tarnished by his theories on intelligence and race. He died in 1989.) Normally a company would seek to squeeze maximum licensing fees from a breakthrough patent. But AT&T was motivated to share its transistor technology. The U.S. government had filed an antitrust lawsuit in 1949, seeking to break up the company. "If AT&T sat on the patents it would give the Justice Department one more reason to break it up," says Michael Riordan, co-author of a book on the history of the transistor, called "Crystal Fire." The company had repeatedly argued that its monopoly -- and the innovation its labs nourished -- was for the public good. Bell Labs agreed to share its knowledge on how to build a transistor with any interested party for just $25,000. Dozens of companies, including International Business Machines Corp., General Electric Co. and Texas Instruments Inc. paid the fee, according to Mr. Riordan. Another buyer was a Japanese tape-recorder maker called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo. It developed a transistor radio along with other consumer electronics and soon found a name Americans could pronounce: Sony. In 1956, AT&T signed a consent decree with the federal government that allowed it to keep its structure under which it sold both phone service and telephones themselves. In exchange, AT&T promised to stay out of other businesses and license its patents freely. AT&T's equipment arm, Western Electric, had to withdraw from selling sound equipment for film producers and movie theaters -- giving up experience in a competitive market that would have proved useful later. The decree also put the transistor patents in the public domain. As a result, while AT&T used transistors to improve the reliability and quality of the phone calls it relayed, it played little role in developing the integrated circuit. That fame and fortune went largely to Texas Instruments and Fairchild, which independently figured out a way in the late 1950s to fabricate and embed multiple, miniaturized transistors on a tiny silicon chip. Those advances led to the birth of the microprocessor, the engine of personal computers. Keeping AT&T from selling to customers other than itself made it wholly unprepared for the day, in 1984, when it was no longer a monopoly and became free to compete like any other company. "There was never any sense of urgency in the company because competition was absent," says Greg Blonder, an engineer and executive at the labs for 17 years until 1999 and now a venture capitalist. "Whereas everyone else in the world saw the new technologies as an opportunity to upend the market, AT&T saw no reason to do this." Cellphones were a major area where AT&T squandered a technology lead, and it wasn't because of government restrictions. Bell Labs scientists conceived of the cellular concept -- the idea that a phone call could be moved from one tower to another as the caller moved -- as early as 1947. Along with Motorola Inc., Bell Labs scientists helped make mobile telephones a commercially viable proposition in the 1970s. In 1983 the Federal Communications Commission set guidelines for the rollout of cellphone service. An incumbent carrier would get one license in each market while the second would be up for grabs. At the time, AT&T was about to be split up, and it could have demanded that the new AT&T long-distance company be given the incumbent licenses. But Charles Brown, then chief executive, decided that the cellphone was largely a local business. "He felt that it was logical that the cellular business should go to the Baby Bells," says Sheldon Hochheiser, AT&T's former historian, referring to the local phone companies spun off in the 1984 breakup. A study at the time by McKinsey & Co. predicted that by the year 2000 there would be 900,000 cellphone users in the U.S. Many thought the prediction was way too high. The actual number was more than 100-fold greater than the prediction. The licenses that Mr. Brown had decided not to seek turned out to be worth many billions of dollars. Eventually AT&T realized it had missed the boat on cellphones. It bought a cellphone provider in 1993 but later spun it off as an independent company called AT&T Wireless. That company was acquired last year by Cingular Wireless, which is 60%-owned by SBC, and the AT&T Wireless name was retired. AT&T was also well-positioned to become a powerhouse in computers at the time of its breakup. Some envisioned it as a competitor to IBM. "It turns out that knowing a lot about computers was different than selling them," says Mr. Hochheiser. AT&T was used to designing computers for itself, not outside customers. To jump-start the business, in 1991 AT&T bought computer maker NCR Corp. in a hostile deal worth $7.4 billion. The deal flopped and NCR was spun off five years later. Inside AT&T, some played down the failure to seize new markets, believing that new technology was driving growth in the company's core business. The fax machine, for example, was another innovation Bell Labs helped develop that ended up being manufactured and sold elsewhere. "AT&T as an equipment maker missed the fax machine," says John Zeglis, the former chief executive of AT&T Wireless who also served earlier as AT&T's president and general counsel. "But wow, did long-distance minutes boom. The theory was, give away the technology so it creates more usage for the communications path." Now as AT&T finally prepares to vanish as an independent company, it leaves a vacuum in innovation and research that will be hard to fill. AT&T could afford to embark on long-run research because, as a telephone monopoly, it was the only phone company that would benefit. But in today's world of cutthroat competition, few companies can afford such an approach. (Lucent Technologies Inc. owns the bulk of the old Bell Labs, which focuses on developments with more immediate uses for Lucent.) "Yes, phone calls were very expensive and we got rid of a monopoly," says Mr. Riordan, the co-author of the transistor history. "But this was a company that literally dumped technology on our country. I don't think we'll see an organization with that kind of record ever again." URL for this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110729925236542968,00.html 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, Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Company. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 01:30:53 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Cellphones vs. Safety From the New York Post -- http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/39594.htm CELLPHONES VS. SAFETY By MARC EPSTEIN THE hilarious image of Alicia Silverstone walking and chatting with two of her friends on cellphones as they stroll side by side in the school hallway in the movie "Clueless" is forever etched in my memory in sharp contrast to the eruption of violence that cells have visited upon our high schools. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has banned students from bringing cell phones and electronic devices into our schools. His reasons are sound: Phones going off in class lead to disruptions and confrontations with teachers. Pre-paid cell phones are frequently stolen, and have led to a spike in school-related thefts, and text messaging has figured in cheating incidents. Cells also facilitate gang activity in and around our schools. Unfortunately, enforcement is all but impossible. The confiscation and vouchering of hundreds of cell phones is a bureaucratic nightmare requiring a full-time staff and a large safe. I can personally attest to that fact that confiscating a phone from a student can result in violence. Then there's the parents who usually tell the deans at our school, "Since 9/11, I want my child to have a phone." With parental support running against us, what are we to do? This new technology has overtaken any system of regulations we have in place. A defiant student has little to fear from a suspension, and no school administrator wants to see cell-phone possession rise to the level of a criminal offense. Once again, the business of educating is being disrupted by an unforeseen development that few would have predicted. Perhaps the best way to ensure the sanctity of our "cathedrals of learning" is to equip them with cell-phone jamming devices. Prohibition wasn't the answer for alcohol, and it won't be the answer for cell phones. The Department of Education is slated to inaugurate a $5 million program to train teachers to handle "cyber-bullying" in schools, with $4 million provided by the federal government. For my money, the chancellor should skip the sensitivity training and work on getting cell-phone providers to make these devices useless in our schools once and for all. Marc Epstein is a dean of students at Jamaica HS. Copyright 2005 NYP Holdings, Inc. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The 'johnmacsgroup' 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 NYP Holdings. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 01:05:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Culture Wars Pull Buster Into the Fray January 27, 2005 By JULIE SALAMON Correction Appended Wayne Godwin, chief operating officer of PBS, got a bit tangled as he tried to explain the PBS stance on gay characters appearing on children's television shows. "In fairness I would have to say a gay character is not one we would not include," he said, and then clarified. "The fact that a character may or may not be gay is not a reason why they should or should not be part of this series." Yet on Tuesday PBS decided not to distribute to its roughly 350 PBS stations an episode of "Postcards From Buster," which was scheduled for Feb. 2 and included lesbian mothers, even though a few days earlier PBS officials, among them PBS's president, Pat Mitchell, viewed the episode and called it appropriate. That was before Education Secretary Margaret Spellings denounced the program, starring Buster Baxter, a cute animated rabbit who until now has been known primarily as a close friend of Arthur, the world's most famous aardvark. Ms. Spellings said many parents would not want children exposed to a lesbian life style. Buster joined another cartoon character, SpongeBob SquarePants, as a focus of the nation's culture wars. SpongeBob was recently attacked by Christian groups for being pro-homosexual, though SpongeBob's creator said it was all a misinterpretation. Buster's offense was appearing in "Sugartime!," the undistributed "Postcards From Buster" show, in which he visits children living in Vermont whose parents are a lesbian couple. Civil unions are allowed in Vermont. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/arts/television/27bust.html?ex=1264568400&en=0f26e400d16fc33a&ei=5090 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You may follow up on this and other stories in New York Times each day on line here at our web site: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ; no registration or passwords required. Likewise, to check out the latest LGBT headlines each day, read http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/gaynews.html . Again, no registration, no login, no credit cards needed. Just read, and increase your knowledge. Remember, **news should be free**. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 01:24:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The New Social Etiquette: Friends Don't Let Friends Dial Drunk Editorial Observer By CAROL E. LEE January 30, 2005 To the list of the unforeseen hazards that seem to plague the information age, we can now add another: "drunk dialing." This late-night cellular faux pas joins such exalted company as the "mistaken dial" (when your mobile phone, inadvertently prompted, dials a number in your address book by mistake) and the annoying ring tone that can interrupt big job interviews or Communion service. But unlike its predecessors, drunk dialing usually limits itself to times long after the close of business and beyond the daily commute. It is in those dark hours of late night and wee hours of early morn, when most people have retired their cellphones for overnight charging, that intoxicated revelers flip open their cellphones and dial into regret. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/opinion/30sun3.html?ex=1264827600&en=8369aa7b36a37b6d&ei=5090 NOTE: New York Times online daily: Several hundred headlines and the stories which go with them, refreshed 24/7 on our web site. http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html . ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 02:04:53 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Supermarket: Let Your Fingers do the Paying By Jo Best Story last modified Tue Feb 01 12:18:00 PST 2005 A supermarket has given its customers the choice of paying by fingerprint at a store in the state of Washington -- and has found them surprisingly willing to use the biometric system. U.S. chain Thriftway introduced the system, which uses technology from Pay By Touch , in its store in the Seattle area in 2002. It said it now sees thousands of transactions a month using the payment method. Once people have enrolled in the Pay By Touch system, they have their fingerprint scanned as verification of identity at the checkout. They then choose which credit card they want to pay the bill with, having already registered the credit cards with the store. Thriftway President Paul Kapioski said rather than shying away from the technology because of concerns about protecting their privacy, customer demand ensured that the biometric payment system made it past the pilot stage. http://news.com.com/2100-1029-5559074.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not understand one thing: If people have already been verified as to their ability and willingness to pay for their groceries through their credit card and their personal identification has been verified in much the same way by the credit card people, then *why* would people want to go one step further by enrolling in 'Pay by Touch'? Is this intended as one way to 'save them time' by not having to sign a credit card slip? In other words, touch your thumb or finger somewhere rather than taking a couple seconds to sign a slip of paper? Now, if the grocery people had set up their own credit system *in place of Visa/MC* by using a thumb/finger print, I can see where that might be useful, but otherwise, why bother? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 09:35:22 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Most Dangerous Types Of Spyware Increasing, States SpyAudit Survey Quarterly Review of Consumer PCs Shows Triple Digit Growth in System Monitors and Trojans; Total Scans for 2004 Top 4.6 Million and Detect 116.5 Million Instances of Spyware and Potentially Unwanted Software ATLANTA and BOULDER, Colo., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The most malicious forms of spyware, system monitors and Trojans, increased in the last three months of 2004, according to the quarterly SpyAudit report, released today by EarthLink (Nasdaq: ELNK), the nation's next generation Internet Service Provider, and Webroot Software, a producer of award-winning privacy, protection and performance software. The report also documents the complete SpyAudit results for 2004. Results from the report, which tracked the growth of spyware on consumer PCs since the report's inception on January 1, 2004, show the instances of system monitors rose 230 percent, while the instances of Trojans rose 114 percent from October 2004 to December 2004. Trojans, keystroke loggers and system monitors are capable of capturing keystrokes, online screenshots, and personally identifiable information like your social security number, bank account numbers, logins and passwords, or credit card numbers. The number of SpyAudit scans performed during the fourth quarter also rose with an increase of 72 percent from October 2004 through December 2004. In total for 2004, more than 4.6 million scans were performed, discovering approximately 116.5 million instances of spyware, adware or potentially unwanted software. An average of 25 traces were found per SpyAudit scan for 2004. The complete report is available at http://www.earthlink.net/spyaudit/press . - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46604321 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 09:39:03 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Treo 650 Smartphone Cingular and palmOne Deliver First Treo 650 Smartphone With High-speed EDGE Wireless Data Capabilities Treo 650 Worldphone Offers Cingular Consumer and Business Customers Fast and Secure Access to Email, the Web and Enterprise Applications ATLANTA and MILPITAS, Calif., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cingular Wireless and palmOne Inc. (Nasdaq: PLMO) today announced the availability of the Treo(TM) 650 smartphone, the first device of its kind to take advantage of the carrier's EDGE (Enhanced Data for Global Evolution) network -- the fastest national wireless data network in the country. The Treo 650 also is a quad-band worldphone, so Cingular customers can make and receive voice calls in 170 countries and access data in nearly 75 countries (1). - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=46598622 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 19:59:14 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple: Video's Future is Tiger, QuickTime 7, H.264 By Jim Dalrymple MacCentral January 31, 2005 One of the most talked-about video codecs in the last year, H.264, will make its debut in QuickTime 7 this year when Apple ships Mac OS X Tiger. Apple says that because H.264 is a standard and has been adopted by standards organizations and many other companies the battle for the successor to the current MPEG-2 video standard is basically over. H.264 is a video compression technology that's used in MPEG-4 -- the industry-standard video technology that uses Apple's QuickTime file format as its basis. Apple has built H.264 right into the QuickTime media architecture the same way as it has other QuickTime video codecs. This way, developers will be able to easily access QuickTime Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to support H.264 encoding and decoding capabilities in their own software and users will be able to select H.264 as an output option for their QuickTime-based projects. http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/01/31/h264/ ------------------------------ From: tls@panix.com (Thor Lancelot Simon) Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 02:11:32 UTC Organization: Public Access Networks Corp. Reply-To: tls@rek.tjls.com In article , Mark Crispin wrote: > That is not the case with PAL televisions in North America. Almost no > televisions sold in North America and Japan have PAL. TVs sold in > North America with PAL capable are grey market imports, not consumer > goods. That's not actually entirely so. Many -- if not most -- HDTV-capable sets do both NTSC and PAL standard-TV resolutions; in fact, in the segment of the market I'm most familiar with (projectors) I have yet to encounter one that doesn't. And a lot of HD sets/monitors are being sold these days. Thor Lancelot Simon tls@rek.tjls.com "The inconsistency is startling, though admittedly, if consistency is to be abandoned or transcended, there is no problem." - Noam Chomsky ------------------------------ From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 05:13:53 UTC Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , Mark Crispin wrote: > Arguably, European TV systems are "better" than system M by having 100 > more scan lines; but that too comes at a hefty cost; a 50Hz refresh > rate that is noticably flickery. People who live in Europe for > extended periods of time may no notice it; but Americans (and > Europeans who had extended stays in North America do. Of course people who are used to everything flickering at 60 Hz will find things that flicker at 50 Hz irritating -- the converse is also true! After nine months in 50-Hz territory, when I returned home I found everything electrical unbearably flickery for a good three months or so before my brain readjusted. It's not like the developers of systems [A-LN] had any choice in the matter: the power grid frequency was pretty well fixed before TV became a consumer product. Running TV at 60 Hz when all the lights around you (and in the studio!) are flickering at 50 Hz would be far worse. > In South America, there is PAL-M which uses PAL color on system M; Only in Brazil to the best of my knowledge. and there it appears to have been a market-protection tactic. Other countries use either NTSC-M or PAL-N, except in the Caribbean where French posessions use SECAM-K and everyone else uses NTSC-M. (Presumably the French are able to get away with their 8-MHz channels by being far enough away from congested airwaves that it makes no matter.) > These days, the NTSC vs. PAL debate has been supplanted by 8-VSB > vs. COFDM -- rather silly since the modulation has no impact on image > quality (unlike, say, 720p vs. 1080i). Not silly at all, since the modulation has a significant impact on the quality and convenience of home reception. The fact that only a tiny minority of digital TV consumers in the US are getting it from over-the-air 8-VSB broadcasts (as opposed to 64-QAM cable or DVB-S satellite) is evidence of that. -- -GAWollman Garrett A. Wollman | As the Constitution endures, persons in every wollman@csail.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own Opinions not those | search for greater freedom. of MIT or CSAIL. | - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. ___ (2003) ------------------------------ From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: British TV License (was America the Worst For Cell Rates Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 12:20:25 -0000 > Note, by the way, that most PAL/NTSC TVs do not have tuners suitable > for use in North America. Rather, their NTSC mode is designed to be > used with a PAL/NTSC VCR which heterodynes NTSC color at the PAL > frequency. Thus, they are not true NTSC TVs. Add to that that most sets sold in the British market have no VHF tuner either, since all broadcasts have been on UHF-only for 20 years. > PAL-K, PAL-N, and even PAL-M in some places. By contrast, broadcast > NTSC color is found universally with system M, although some > historical references claim that NTSC-A was close to happening before > the UK government decided to abandon system A in favor of PAL-I. The > French SECAM system is used with systems D, K, and L.) BBC engineering did carry out a lot of trials in the late 1950s with a view to adapting the NTSC color system to system A (change of sub-carrier frequency etc.). I have old GPO records which show that this hybrid NTSC system was also tested alongside regular system M with project Telstar in 1962. By the early 1960s, however, it had been decided that the U.K. would ultimately move to a 625-line system, and tests of this were already underway. Regular 625 transmissions started in 1964, with transmitters using UHF channels only. Even then it appears that consideration was still being given to what would have become an NTSC-I arrangement. If I recall correctly, the final decision to go with PAL was not made until the very start of 1966, and the first regular PAL color broadcasts started the following year. The old system A using VHF channels continued to broadcast in monochrome only until its closure in 1985. For those not familiar with system A, it was our old 405-line system. Scanning was 10.125kHz / 50Hz, using POSITIVE video modulation, and an A.M. sound carrier positioned 3.5MHz below the vision carrier. Dual-standard TV sets were produced for many years to allow the reception of both systems A and I. The changeover switch was often a monstrous assembly, as it had to alter so many circuit elements to switch between the systems. - Paul ------------------------------ 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. 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