From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Sep 3 14:46:40 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id F05651518D; Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:46:39 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #401 Message-Id: <20050903184639.F05651518D@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:46:39 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:46:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 401 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Katrina Rescuers Improvise Communications (Bruce Myerson) High Definition TV Starts Slowly; Developers Hopeful (Reuters News Wire) Microsoft and Google Continue Court Fight Over Ex-Employee (R. Stevenson) Breaking Glaciers Imperil Arctic Lifestyle (Jan Olson) Online Usage Plummets in Battered Gulf (Monty Solomon) Phones, Computers Coming to Astrodome (Monty Solomon) Re: RIP, Sussex Cellular (Isaiah Beard) Re: Is Verizon Wireless Sabotaging Older Cell Phones? (Isaiah Beard) Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers (Kevin Buhr) Re: Is Malware Hiding in Your Windows Registry? (Dave Close) Last Laugh! I Called You Last Week Mortgage SCAM!!! (Steven Lichter) 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: Bruce Meyerson Subject: Katrina Rescuers Improvise Communications Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 11:55:08 -0500 By BRUCE MEYERSON, AP Business Writer When the phones don't work, improvise. That's what emergency responders and civilians were forced to do in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which trashed the telephone system on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. Police in New Orleans, their main communications system knocked out, have been taking turns talking on a single radio channel with their walkie talkies. The Mississippi National Guard even resorted to ancient battlefield tactics, sending runners back and forth among commanders with information. And a local sheriff, Sid Hebert of Iberia Parish, helped keep an ambulance company handling medical evacuations across southern Louisiana running by loaning it a portable command center. "He personally drove it to (our headquarters). He got us back on the air," said Richard Zuschlag, chief executive of Acadian Ambulance Service Inc. By Thursday, nearly 10,000 satellite-based wireless phones had poured into the hurricane zone to coordinate relief efforts by federal disaster personnel and Red Cross workers, said service providers Globalstar LLC and Iridium Satellite LLC. But satellite phones were spread far more thinly among the ranks of local public safety personnel and emergency responders. Before the storm, a few thousand satellite phones at most were in use across the three-state region hit by the hurricane, and perhaps only a few hundred of those were in the hands of local authorities, including at least four Louisiana Parishes. Though government officials have never before had to contemplate a communciations breakdown of this magnitude, it was not immediately clear -- with $8.6 billion in federal money handed out to states since September 11 for emergency preparedness -- why more satellite communciations systems were not in place. Without such handsets, the most drenched and devastated areas of the Gulf Coast were cut off from the outside world in more ways than one. The grim TV footage showing a collapsed bridge that once crossed Lake Pontchartrain, one of the main roadways into New Orleans, make it clear why evacuations have been so difficult. That bridge also happened to hold the fiber-optic cables that transported calls and Internet traffic to and from the city as well. While every major phone company has been scrambling to patch its way into the city and other hard-hit areas using alternate routes and backup equipment, it could be some time before many local phone and Internet lines are back in service to receive calls and data. BellSouth Corp., the local phone provider for much of the region, said about 1.6 million customers could be without phone service in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. The company said it was able to restore service for about 150,000 customers between Wednesday and Thursday. In the meantime, emergency personnel were often struggling to communicate as they dealt with desperate circumstances. In New Orleans, police officers crowded a single frequency on their patrol radios. "That has posed some problems with people talking over each other," said Warren Riley, the deputy police chief. "We probably have 20 agencies on one channel right now." Worse, with little power to recharge their batteries, some of those radios were running out of juice. Riley said the police were setting up a new communication system next to the Superdome and waiting for a generator to fire it up later Thursday. In storm-ravaged southern Mississippi, the national guard was doing things the old-fashioned way. "We've got runners running from commander to commander," said Maj. Gen. Harold Cross of the Mississippi National Guard. "In other words, we're going to the sound of gunfire, as we used to say during the Revolutionary War." Restoring phone service isn't merely a matter of waiting for the flood waters to recede and restoring power. While many cables may be salvageable, the electronics that pass the signals across those lines will need to be replaced. "It's essentially analogous to putting a PC in your bathtub. It's not going to work once it dries," said Jim Gerace, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless. Associated Press Writers Jennifer Kerr, Brian Skoloff and Brett Martel contributed to this report. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: van Grinsven and Prodhan Subject: High Definition TV Starts Slowly, Makers Hopeful Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 11:57:50 -0500 By Lucas van Grinsven and Georgina Prodhan Armin Schoenfelder would love to buy a television set that is ready for high definition broadcasts but the German engineer wants to spend no more than 900 euros, while the sets start at twice his budget. "Sure I'm interested, but I'm looking at the prices," the 68-year-old said as he browsed at the Saturn electronics store in Frankfurt. Salesman Mathias Kerscher, 25, is not convinced about high definition television (HDTV) yet, because no German channel is broadcasting in the high-quality format yet. "Until there's a better signal, I don't see any point," he said. The two men illustrate the hurdles the consumer electronics industry must overcome to promote HDTV: a weak European economy and lack of high-quality broadcasts. Yet at the bi-annual consumer electronics trade show IFA in Berlin, once the launch platform for DVD, big TV set producers draw confidence from market research that suggests HDTV may grow faster than black-and-white television did. It took 25 years for 80 percent of households to own a black-and-white TV, a percentage forecast to be hit within 15 years by "High Def" households. It took color TV some 21 years, according to a study by Euroconsult and NPA Conseil. Consumers are now much quicker to pick up the latest gadgets to receive TV broadcasts. In France, it took only five years before 2 million homes had purchased a flat TV, a period after which barely 0.5 million homes had a color TV. Flat screens are not equivalent to HDTV but many of the new plasma and liquid crystal display (LCD) sets are able to reflect the 1080 viewable lines of HDTV, creating a picture that has five times more detail than standard definition television. LONG TIME COMING Unlike the picture quality of HDTV, the launch date of the technology is far from razor sharp. Research began in the United States as early as 1970 and became serious in 1974 with the HDTV study of the International Telecommunications Union. It took nearly two decades to set a world standard, after which the United States kicked off the change-over. In Europe, the electronics industry and the European Union agreed in 1992 to start HDTV as soon as 1999 but the first channel began service in 2004 and 1080 will remain the only one until joined by Germany's premium channel Premiere in November. "There has been a widespread view in the industry that HDTV itself has failed," a working paper by the European Commission said in 2004. One reason the first incarnation of HDTV was late was that the industry first planned an analog version and then realised it had to shift to digital, which makes more efficient use of radio spectrum and network capacity. "I share the sense of frustration that it's been slow to happen, but the wave has begun," the European president of consumer electronics giant and TV market leader Sony Corp. Chris Deering, told Reuters. U.S. LEADS The United States has led the charge to HDTV and 10 percent of homes are ready for the new technology. Government regulation and HDTV broadcast targets have contributed to this achievement, while Europe has decided to let the market set the pace. "The market has to drive it in Europe, more than in other places," Deering said. The soccer World Cup may give HDTV the boost it has been waiting for, said Premiere's head Georg Kofler. "Ahead of the 1974 World Cup, many TV households swapped their black-and-white TV sets for a color TV. We are expecting a similar drive through next year's World Cup," Kofler said at a news conference at IFA. Booz Allen Hamilton consultants expect Europe to cross the 10 percent penetration mark in 2008. This is a significant threshold, because it brings a HDTV set close to every home. "All we need is a set on every block, so people can see what it's like, at the neighbors," Deering said, adding that he is more bullish than even his own company, which expects aggregated market sales of 20 million "HD ready" sets by 2008. "I think it will happen at an accelerated pace, with initiatives such as those of Sky in the United Kingdom, which has very big plans for HDTV. There are also initiatives in France, Germany, Italy and also by the BBC in Britain. Britain will probably be one the early adopters, and a lot of broadcasters look and learn from the BBC," he said. HDTV may be adopted quicker in Europe than in the United States because of recording equipment such as the new generation of high-density DVD recorders, HD DVD and Blu-ray. Rapid adoption by broadcasters will finally push European TV producers to start using HDTV recording equipment, which is already a pre- requisite for U.S.-based TV producers -- 70 percent of U.S. prime-time broadcasts are in HDTV. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Reed Stevenson Subject: Microsoft Sues Google Over Ex-Employee Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 12:57:28 -0500 By Reed Stevenson Microsoft Corp. asked a county judge on Friday to stop its newest rival Google Inc. from hiring a senior executive familiar with the world's largest software maker's plans in China. Microsoft, which already won a temporary restraining order last month to stop former vice president Kai-Fu Lee from starting his job at Google, stepped up its efforts to block Lee from working at Google by asking King County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez for a preliminary injunction against hiring Lee. Microsoft argued in its motion that Lee, the former head of its Beijing research and development center, is violating a non-compete contract that he signed with Microsoft because he has intimate knowledge of Microsoft's operations in China, its competitive strategy against Google and recruiting efforts. "Allowing Dr. Lee to 'turn on a dime' and use this highly confidential information to do directly competing work for Google would undermine the most basic purpose of Dr. Lee's non-compete and non-disclosure promises to Microsoft," Microsoft argued in the court documents. Google disagreed, saying that Microsoft was "behaving as if they own Kai-Fu." "Kai-Fu wanted to work at Google, he told us that and we hired him. There's nothing illegal about that, that's fair game," Google's associate general counsel Nicole Wong, said in an e-mailed statement, "He's not going to work on anything at Google that is competitive with what he did at Microsoft." Microsoft and Google are locked in competition over search and other Web-based technologies, as well as for top software talent. Google plans to open a new facility in China later this year to develop new technologies and attract computer science researchers. A final location has not yet been chosen. Lee, a former Carnegie Mellon University researcher who previously worked for Apple Computer Inc., most recently oversaw groups at Microsoft developing speech recognition and other interactive technologies for computers. Google, based in Mountain View, California, counter-sued in its home state last month to block Microsoft's lawsuit and was set to contest the temporary restraining order next week in Washington state. The trial is scheduled for January 9, 2006, but Microsoft said that it is trying to fast-track legal proceedings because its non-compete contract with Lee is only effective for one year after his last day at Microsoft, which was July 18." Microsoft argued in Friday's filing that Lee had begun working with Google well before his last working day at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. "As a senior Microsoft executive, Dr. Lee had frequent access to highly confidential competitive plans including plans to compete with Google," Microsoft said in its motion. According to Microsoft, Lee attended an internal briefing at Microsoft on March 24 for the software giant's top executives entitled "The Google Challenge" which Microsoft described as "highly confidential." Microsoft also detailed in its motion the pay package that Lee negotiated with Google, which was worth over $10 million, including a $2.5 million signing bonus, a $250,000 yearly salary, stock options worth more than $5 million and other perks. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Jan M. Olson Subject: Breaking Glaciers Imperil Arctic Lifestyle Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 12:59:49 -0500 By JAN M. OLSEN, Associated Press Writer Watching the gargantuan chunks of ice break off the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier and thunder into an Arctic fjord is a spectacular sight. To Greenland's Inuit population, it is also deeply worrisome. The frequency and size of the crumbling blocks are a powerful reminder that the ice sheet covering the world's largest island is thinning, which scientists say is one of the most glaring examples of global warming. "In the past we could walk on the ice in the fjord between the icebergs for a six-month period during the winter, drill holes and fish," said Joern Kristensen, a local fisherman. "We can only do that for a month or two now. It has become more difficult to drive dogs sleds because the ice between the icebergs isn't solid anymore." In 2002-2003, a six-mile stretch of the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier broke off and drifted silently out of the fjord near Ilulissat, Greenland's third largest town, 155 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Although Greenland is the prime example, scientists say the effects of climate change are noticeable throughout the Arctic region, from the northward spread of spruce beetles in Canada to melting permafrost in Alaska and northern Russia. Indigenous people who for centuries have adapted their lives to the cold, fear that the changes, however small and gradual, could have a profound impact. "We can see a trend that the fall is getting longer and wetter," said Lars-Anders Baer, a political leader for Sweden's indigenous Sami, a once-nomadic people with a long tradition of reindeer herding. "If the climate gets warmer, it is probably bad for the reindeer. New species (of plants) come in and suffocate other plants that are the main food for the reindeer," he said. Rising temperatures are also a concern in the Yamalo-Nenets region in Western Siberia, said Alexandr Navyukhov, 49. He is an ethnic nenet, a group that mostly lives off hunting, fishing and deer breeding. "We now have breams in our river, which we didn't have in the past because that fish is typical for warmer regions," he said. "On the one hand it may look like good news, but breams are predatory fish that prey upon fish eggs, often of rare kinds of fish." Melting permafrost has damaged hundreds of buildings, railway lines, airport runways and gas pipelines in Russia, according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a report commissioned by the Arctic Council and released in 2004. Research has also shown that populations of turbot, Atlantic cod and snow crab are no longer found in some parts of the Bering Sea, an important fishing zone between Alaska and Russia, and that flooding along the Lena River, one of Siberia's biggest, has increased with warming temperatures. In Greenland, Anthon Utuaq, a 68-year-old retired hunter, said he is worried a warmer climate will make it more difficult for his son to continue the family trade. "Maybe it will be difficult for him to find the seals," Utuaq said, resting on a bench in the east coast town of Kulusuk. "They will head north to colder places if it gets warmer." Arctic sea ice has decreased by approximately 8 percent, or 386,100 square miles over the past 30 years. In Sisimiut, Greenland's second-largest town, lakes have doubled in size in the last decade. "Greenland was perceived as this huge solid place that would never melt," said Robert Corell of the American Meteorological Society. "The evidence is now so strong that the scientific community is convinced that global warming is the cause." Climate change has been a hotly discussed issue for decades, but efforts to fight it have moved slowly. There is not even unanimity on how much of the problem is a result of human activity, notably the burning of fossil fuels, and how much of it can be attributed to natural processes. "We know that temperatures have gone up and it's partly caused by man. But let's hold our horses because it's not everywhere that the ice is melting. In the Antarctic, only 1 percent is melting," said Bjoern Lomborg, a Danish researcher who claims the threat of global warming has been exaggerated. What is clear is that the average ocean temperature off Greenland's west coast has risen in recent years -- from 38.3 F to 40.6 F and glaciers have begun to retreat, said Carl Egede Boeggild, a glaciologist with Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, a government agency. The Sermilik glacier in southern Greenland has retreated 6.84 miles, and the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier near Ilulissat also is moving at a faster pace, said Henrik Hoejmark Thomsen of the geological survey. In 1967, satellite imagery measured it moving at 4.3 miles per year. In 2003, it was twice that -- 8.1 miles per year. "What exactly happened, we don't know but it appears to be the effect of climate change," said Hoejmark Thomsen. Last month, U.S. scientists issued a report saying the rate of ice melting in the Arctic is increasing and within a century could lead to summertime ice-free ocean conditions not seen in the area in a million years, but they also note that the United States will not participate in efforts to stem the global warming. With warmer temperatures, some bacteria, plants and animals could disappear, while others will grow and thrive. Polar bears and other animals that depend on sea ice to breed and forage are at risk, scientists say. There are fears that polar bears and some seal species could face extinction in just decades because of global warming. The thinning of the sea ice presents a danger to both humans and polar bears, said Peter Ewins, director of Arctic conservations for the World Wildlife Fund Canada. "The polar bears need to be there to catch enough seals to see them through the summer in open warm water systems. Equally, the Inuit need to be out there on the ice catching seals and are less and less able to do that because the ice is more unstable, thinner," he said. When NASA started taking satellite images of the Arctic region in the late 1970s and computer technology improved, scientists noted alarming patterns and theorized they were caused by the emission of so-called greenhouse gases, emitted by industries and internal combustion engines, that create a heat-trapping layer in the atmosphere. Inuit leaders, like Sheila Watt-Cloutier whose efforts won her the 2005 Sophie environment prize in Norway earlier this year, are trying to draw attention to the impact of climate change and pollution on the traditional lifestyles of the Arctic's indigenous people. "When I was a child, the weather used to be more stable, it worries me to see and hear all this," Greenland Premier Hans Enoksen said on the sidelines of an environmental officials' meeting in Ilulissat last month. The meeting ended with statements of concern, sincere calls for measure to address the problem -- and no action. The Kyoto Protocol that took effect in February aims to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. But the 140 nations that have signed the pact don't include the United States, which itself is one of teh biggest producers -- one-quarter -- of the gases. U.S. President George W. Bush's administration claims that participa- ting in the pact would severely damage the U.S. economy. Many scientists say that position undermines the whole planet and they point to Greenland as the leading edge of what the globe could suffer. Some have suggested perhaps the U.S. economy needs to be changed. "Greenland is the canary in a mine shaft alerting us," said Corell, the American meteorologist. "In the U.S., global warming is a tomorrow issue. ... For us working here, it hits you like a ton of bricks when you see it." AP writers Maria Danilova and Jim Heintz in Moscow, Karl Ritter in Stockholm, Sweden, and Beth Duff-Brown in Toronto contributed to this report. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. More news from AP online at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 11:46:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Online Usage Plummets in Battered Gulf By BRUCE MEYERSON AP Business Writer The statistics make it look as if someone just flicked a switch and turned off the Internet, and that's not too far from the hurricane truth. In the battered Biloxi-Gulfport region of Mississippi, where about 160,000 people might go online during a typical weeknight, Internet usage had fallen "below reportable levels" by Tuesday, according to the tracking firm comScore Networks. The number of people logging on in New Orleans, usually 700,000 on an average weeknight, plunged 90 percent after Hurricane Katrina sent most of those Internet users fleeing and knocked out most of the telephone and electrical lines needed to connect any computer not submerged in the floods. On a more heartening note, comScore also reported Friday that online traffic to the RedCross.org is soaring: On Wednesday, nearly 1 million people visited the Web site, more than 32 times the average daily visit during the prior week. The hurricane's impact was also evident on the nation's long-distance phone networks, where the number of calls has jumped this week. However, with millions of local phone lines out of service in the Gulf region, the number of long-distance calls that aren't reaching their destination has surged as well. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51562492 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 11:46:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Phones, Computers Coming to Astrodome By MATT SLAGLE AP Technology Writer Thousands of Hurricane Katrina refugees packing into Houston's Astrodome are getting electronic access to the outside world. Corporations, volunteers and nonprofit agencies continued working Friday to install telephones and Internet-enabled computers inside the sprawling former sports stadium in one of many efforts aimed at bringing communications technologies to hurricane victims. Astrodome refugees, displaced from the Superdome in New Orleans, were getting 10 minute blocks of time to make free local and long distance calls. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51563478 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: See Mr. Slagle's entire report in the TELECOM Digest V24_#400 from Friday, September 2. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: RIP, Sussex Cellular Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 21:14:42 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Joseph wrote: > If you go to http://www.wirelessadvisor.com and put in the ZIP code > for rural locations such as in Maine or New Hampshire you'll see 800 > AMPS only providers listed. Curiously for many locations you'll also > see the company Nextwave at 1900 Mhz listed as well even though they > have no service! Of course ... Nextwave is the company that bid billions for PCS licenses, paid the FCC only a few million and then declared bankruptcy and held on for dear life to their PCS licenses, even though they never lit up a single tower. A portion of those PCS licenses were ultimately sold to Verizon Wireless (the deal closed early this year, earning Nextwave $3 billion). But what's left of Nextwave still owns spectrum, even though they're not doing anything with it and haven't for years. 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: Is Verizon Wireless Sabotaging Older Cell Phones? Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 21:21:59 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com William Warren wrote: > So, the questions: > 1. 95% or 85%? 95% > 2. Is December 2005 still the deadline? Yes it is. > 3. What happens to those of us on Verizon's network without > GPS-enabled phones (such as, apparently, the Motorola 120C). Who knows? It would appear that Verizon is telling the FCC there's nothing they can do to force someone who doesn't want to swap their phone to do so. No telling if they'll be granted a waiver, or if they'll be required to force upgrades. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers From: Kevin Buhr Date: Sat, 03 Sep 2005 02:38:53 GMT Bruce L. Bergman writes: > Oh, and it might be a "Joe Job" smear attempt instead, considering the > post has the (alleged) full name and address at the bottom. It *is* a Joe Job, and a ludicrously obvious one at that. Tom St.Denis is a frequent and valuable (if occasionally rather brusk) contributor to sci.crypt, and some nimrod he annoyed is obviously trying to cause major trouble for him. > I will complain to his hosting company and to Google (his GMail return > address) but it is much more effective if lots of people do it. Please don't. The message wasn't written by Tom, and it didn't originate from Google. Kevin ------------------------------ From: Dave Close Subject: Re: Is Malware Hiding in Your Windows Registry? Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 04:32:30 +0000 (UTC) Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Elizabeth Montalbano writes: > Security experts have found a vulnerability in the Windows operating > system that could allow malware to lurk undetected in long string > names of the Windows Registry. The answer to the question is, yes, of course, there is malware in your Windows registry. But it isn't hiding; it's name is "registry". The registry /design/ is one of the main reasons Windows is vulnerable to so many attacks. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Greed is to the moralists of the dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 left what sex is to the moralists dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu of the right." - Cathy Young 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 ------------------------------ From: Steven Lichter Reply-To: Die@spammers.com Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc. (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co. Subject: Last Laugh! I Called You Last Week Mortgage SCAM!!! Date: Sat, 03 Sep 2005 16:52:08 GMT This one has a toll free number to opt out. Give them a call to get you and all your net buddies off of their list and make some money for the pay phone operators. Liquid Marketing Inc 101 Plaza Real South Suite 208 Boca Raton, FL 33432 (866) 872-6022 Of course their address is a MB+ The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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 #401 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Sep 4 17:06:07 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 3E3311506B; Sun, 4 Sep 2005 17:06:07 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #402 Message-Id: <20050904210607.3E3311506B@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 17:06:07 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, US_DOLLARS_3 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sun, 4 Sep 2005 17:05:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 402 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Making Calls Without a Phone (Thomas J. Fitzgerald) Time to Ditch Your Land-Line Phone for VOIP (Liz Pulliam Weston) City Owned Cable Television Proposal Moves Forward (Monty Solomon) Katrina's Real Name (Monty Solomon) Intel Pledges 1,500 PCs, Wireless Access Equipment, Support (Monty Solomon) FCC Coordinating Tech Aid for Katrina Disaster (Monty Solomon) Giving Them What They Want (Monty Solomon) Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers (Mark Crispin) Katrina, the Terrorist Who Got Through The Metal Detector (Betty Bowers) 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: Thomas J. Fitzgerald Subject: How to Make Phone Calls Without a Telephone Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:26:53 -0500 By THOMAS J. FITZGERALD Internet telephone service is well on its way into the mainstream. Companies like Vonage, using a technology called voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, offer cheap long-distance rates and features not found with conventional phone service. Cable giants, too, are taking Internet phones to the masses. Now a subset of VoIP services, called PC-to-phone service, is gaining momentum. With these services, users can make calls to and receive calls from regular phones on their PC's as long they have a broadband connection, VoIP software downloaded from the Web and a headset. One advantage of such services is the ability to make calls through an Internet-connected laptop when cellular service is unreliable. Many people also prefer the convenience of talking while working on a PC; the services can operate while you are doing other tasks on the computer. Another advantage is price. PC-to-phone VoIP rates are less expensive than conventional phone calls and in many cases cheaper than phone-to-phone VoIP services, which route calls through broadband modems to regular phones. Early versions of these services have been around since the late 1990's, but the rise of Skype, a mostly free VoIP service using file-sharing technology, has increased competition in the field. Yahoo, America Online and Microsoft have each announced plans to add new phone services to future versions of their instant messaging programs. And last week, Google introduced Google Talk, a free service that enables users to talk through their computers and could be a first step toward a PC-to-phone service. PC-to-phone services available today from companies like Skype, SIPphone, i2Telecom and Dialpad Communications offer many features like free PC-to-PC calling, conference calls, voice mail, choice of phone numbers, call forwarding and reduced long-distance rates, especially for international calls. But as with phone-to-phone VoIP services, call quality is not always perfect. Skype (www.skype.com), a popular VoIP network based in Luxembourg, has had 51 million users register worldwide since its inception, with five million in the United States and an average of three million users logged on at any one time. To make free calls to other PC's, users simply download the Skype software from the Web site; the PC receiving the Skype call also has to be connected to the Skype network. For PC-to-phone calling, the company has added SkypeOut and SkypeIn. With SkypeOut, introduced last year and now having more than two million users, PC's with the Skype software are able to call conventional phones. Minutes are purchased in advance, and the price depends on the destination. Calls within the continental United States, for example, are 2.1 cents a minute; calls to New Delhi are 15.4 cents; Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2.5 cents; and Beijing, 2.1 cents. Those international rates are below what Vonage charges for VoIP calls from the United States to those cities, at 17 cents, 6 cents and 6 cents, respectively. With SkypeIn, introduced in March and still in the test stage, a phone number can be attached to a Skype account, enabling callers using regular phones to call you at your computer or leave messages in your Skype voice mail. You can choose a phone number from many area codes in the United States and also from several other countries. The service costs $12 for three months or $38 for a year. Another new option, Skype Zones, allows access to Skype from Wi-Fi hotspots operated by Boingo (www.boingo.com), which has 20,000 locations; the Skype Zones unlimited access plan costs $7.95 a month. A competing PC-to-phone service, called Gizmo Project (www.gizmoproject.com) from SIPphone, was introduced in July. Like Skype, Gizmo Project offers free PC-to-PC calls. It also offers Call Out, a service that allows calls to regular phones from your PC, and Call In, which enables a PC to receive calls from regular phones. Call Out costs 1.8 cents a minute for calls in the United States; the Call In plan costs $15 for three months or $30 for six months. A PC-to-phone service from i2Telecom, called VoiceStick http://www.voicestick.com , was introduced in March. Outbound and inbound calling can be controlled using VoiceStick's downloadable software or with an optional U.S.B. flash drive for portable access to the service. The drive, which costs an additional $34.99 and includes a mobile headset, comes with the VoiceStick software installed; it plugs into available U.S.B. ports on Windows-based computers, and a menu asks if you would like to begin using the service from the drive. The company offers several calling plans, including an unlimited global option, for $24.99 a month, which includes your own phone number and unlimited calling to points in the United States, Canada and hundreds of cities in 38 other countries and territories. Another feature, called i2Bridge, enables you to make calls to any destination, including international locations, from your cellphone or home phone at VoiceStick rates. Dialpad http://www.dialpad.com , another PC-to-phone service, offers monthly calling plans as well as prepaid minutes for outgoing calls. Subscribers can get 300 minutes a month for $7.50, 500 minutes for $9.99 and an unlimited option for $11.99, covering calls in the United States and Canada, with international calls costing extra. Prepaid or pay-as-you-go plans can be purchased for $15 and $25. Dialpad does not offer a service that allows PC's to accept incoming calls from regular phones. Dialpad was acquired by Yahoo in June, and its PC-to-phone abilities are expected to be added to a new version of Yahoo Messenger in the coming months, a Yahoo spokeswoman said. The Yahoo Messenger program was recently updated to include free PC-to-PC calling and free voice mail, and is now called Yahoo Messenger With Voice. Microsoft announced this week that it had acquired Teleo http://www.teleo.com , a PC-to-phone service with features that work with Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook, and plans to start adding components of Teleo's technology to MSN Messenger later this year. And AOL, using a partnership with Net2Phone http://www.net2phone.com , introduced a PC-to-phone service in 1999 called AIM Phone. The company has plans to supplant that service with a more full-featured VoIP service in a new version of its instant messaging program, which is likely to be available by the end of the year, according to an AOL spokeswoman. Net2Phone, the first company to offer PC-to-phone service in 1996, has expanded its services. With its software, downloadable from the Web, users can call regular phones worldwide. Most calls within the United States are 2 cents a minute, for example, and the service lets you fax documents from your computer. Several other PC-to-phone services are available, including iConnectHere http://www.iconnecthere.com , operated by Deltathree, which has a pay-as-you-go option in addition to monthly calling plans ($5.95 a month for 400 minutes within the United States and Canada, and $14.95 a month with 1,000 minutes in the United States and Canada and 250 minutes to selected countries overseas). With the number of PC-to-phone services growing quickly, the features and choices available to consumers are certain to expand. Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To read the New York Times on line each day with no registration or login requirements, go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ From: Liz Pulliam Weston Subject: Time to Ditch Your Landline Phone for VOIP? Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 13:59:14 -0500 Internet- and cable-based calling is coming into its own even as traditional phone companies merge -- with price hikes likely to follow. It may be time to rethink the way you ring. By Liz Pulliam Weston Two pending mergers -- SBC's takeover of AT&T and the combination of MCI with either Verizon or Qwest -- will leave fewer traditional phone competitors. Fewer competitors usually mean higher prices for customers. But you don't have to be held hostage to the new "Step-Ma Bells." Internet phone calling, according to those who have adopted it and analysts following the industry, is an option that's ready for prime time. A few weeks ago I used the word "evangelical" to describe people who have TiVos and other digital video recorders on their television sets. The same word applies to many of the 1 million customers who have switched to Vonage or one of the other so-called Voice-over-Internet-Protocol, or VoIP, phone systems. Both sets of fans tend to be: a.. Greatly impressed with the quality and features of their systems. b.. Amazed at the low prices they're paying. c.. Eager to convince everybody around them that they should switch. "I recommend it to everyone that will listen," said Travis Mack, a fire sprinkler engineering technician in O'Fallon, Mo., and a Vonage customer since last summer. "I truly believe that VoIP is the telecommunications wave of the future." Forget phone lines Internet calling services are designed to replace both your traditional land line and your long-distance provider. Instead of accessing phone lines or wireless networks to place your calls, the systems use your broadband connection. Your phone is connected to an adapter box, which in turn is connected to your cable or DSL modem. VoIP packages typically include, among other features: a.. Unlimited local and domestic long-distance calling. b.. Voice mail, call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID. c.. The ability to keep your current phone number or choose a new number with any area code you want from the provider's list. Vonage is the biggest player so far, with nearly 40% of the market. Other independent providers include 8x8, Net2Phone and VoicePulse. AT&T has a service as well, called CallVantage. The monthly cost is $20 to $30, although most services have a bare-bones option with limited minutes for $9 to $15. Now cable companies including Comcast and Time Warner are making big pushes into the market. Comcast launched VoIP in three markets last year -- Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Springfield, Mass. -- and plans to offer it to half of its 21 million customers by year-end, said company spokesman Bob Smith. The cable provider calls its offering Comcast Digital Voice, to distinguish it from its older phone service, Comcast Digital Phone. (Like some other cable companies, Comcast has long offered phone service using old-style "circuit switched" technology, using Internet protocol to send calls is a newer -- and less expensive -- innovation.) The cable companies tend to charge more: $35 to $55 a month, depending on whether or not you get television and broadband from them. And though they use the same technology to break voice calls into digital information as the other VoIP companies, cable providers use their own networks rather than the public Internet to transport calls, Smith said. Finally, one other player has announced plans to get into the market. AOL recently said it would offer the service to its 22 million subscribers, but it hasn't revealed its pricing. Unlimited calling, free services The unlimited free local, toll and long-distance calling that Mack gets with Vonage allowed him to drop his land line and opt for a cheaper cellular plan. He's also started to use -- and like -- the free services, like caller ID and call forwarding, that he didn't use with his previous phone company because of the expense. Mack also likes the fact he can get his voice mail by e-mail, a service his former provider didn't offer, and that he can take his Vonage service anywhere he travels that has a broadband connection. "I have taken my (Vonage adapter) box to another state and had my telephone number ring wherever I am," Mack said. "You are not tied down to a permanent location with a telephone number like you are with a land line." All this for $8 a month less than Mack was spending just for his land line. Mack figures he saves at least $23 a month, and far more when he considers the many months in the past he went over his cell-phone minutes limit, racking up as much as $100 a month in overage charges. "Another nice feature is that for $5 a month, we have a virtual number in another state that allows some of our out-of-town friends and family in Arizona to call us as a local call ... saving them long-distance charges as well," Mack said. "As for the clarity of the phone, I promise that I could give anyone a land line and the VoIP line and you could not tell the difference." Such was not always the case. Allen Tsong of Brooklyn tried an earlier version of VoIP and wasn't impressed. Outages and poor phone quality were common. But Tsong said problems have been few since he switched to Vonage in 2002. Now he uses the service both at home and at his Brooklyn wholesale handbag business, Yans NY. Tsong said he makes lots of calls to Hong Kong and China, so Vonage's low international rates save him money. The rates "are comparable to prepaid calling cards," Tsong said, but he doesn't have to worry about running out of minutes or buying new cards. A few challenges. So why isn't everyone rushing to sign up for Internet calling? There are still some barriers and drawbacks, including: The need for broadband. You need high-speed Internet access to have these services. If you're still on dial-up, the cost for DSL or a cable modem can add $20 to more than $50 a month to your telecommunications bill. If you're a very heavy phone user, you may still save enough to offset the cost, plus you'll get speedy Internet access. If you're an infrequent caller on a tight budget, though, the math may not work. The possibility of outages. Your service may be only as good as your high-speed connection. If your cable modem or DSL goes on the fritz, you won't be able to make VoIP calls. Also, the services themselves can have problems; Vonage recently experienced a 45-minute outage thanks to a software upgrade that went awry. Dead jacks. The services typically only work on one or two phone jacks. If you have extensions in other rooms, you may need to buy an adapter or get a new phone -- the kind that has a base station that broadcasts to extra handsets. Also, if you have other things plugged into that line -- like your TiVo, for example, or a home alarm system -- you may need a wireless adapter, or you may need to keep a land line active. Emergency calls. The independent Internet calling services typically aren't hooked in with city 911 locator systems, so the operator wouldn't be able to see your home address if you make an emergency call and can't talk or get cut off. (This typically isn't a problem with the cable companies' networks, which are tied in with cities' enhanced 911 services.) Some users of independent Internet services keep a land line or use a cell phone with enhanced 911 locator services to deal with the issue. Louis Holder, Vonage executive vice president, said the company is working on solutions. Right now, Vonage routes 911 calls from registered users to the nearest available emergency facility, and it recently introduced enhanced 911 with address locator capabilities in Rhode Island. "We're where the phone companies were in the mid-1990s," when 911 locators were far from universal, Holder said. Liz Pulliam Weston's column appears every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions in the Your Money message board. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:16:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: City Owned Cable Television Proposal Moves Forward BURLINGTON, Vt. --Burlington's proposal to own and operate its own cable television system is moving forward. Burlington Telecom is seeking a certificate of public good from the Vermont Public Service Board. On Friday, Adelphia Communications, the sole provider of cable television programming to Burlington residents, did not request any additional oral arguments in the case. A board hearing officer last week recommended to the board that Burlington receive a certificate. Parties to the application -- the city, Adelphia and the New England Cable & Telecommunications Association -- had until Friday to file written comment about the hearing officer's findings or request additional oral argument. Friday, both the city and Adelphia sent written comments, but neither side requested oral argument. http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2005/09/03/city_owned_cable_television_proposal_moves_forward/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 15:05:51 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Katrina's Real Name By Ross Gelbspan THE HURRICANE that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming. When the year began with a two-foot snowfall in Los Angeles, the cause was global warming. When 124-mile-an-hour winds shut down nuclear plants in Scandinavia and cut power to hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland and the United Kingdom, the driver was global warming. When a severe drought in the Midwest dropped water levels in the Missouri River to their lowest on record earlier this summer, the reason was global warming. In July, when the worst drought on record triggered wildfires in Spain and Portugal and left water levels in France at their lowest in 30 years, the explanation was global warming. When a lethal heat wave in Arizona kept temperatures above 110 degrees and killed more than 20 people in one week, the culprit was global warming. And when the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai) received 37 inches of rain in one day -- killing 1,000 people and disrupting the lives of 20 million others -- the villain was global warming. As the atmosphere warms, it generates longer droughts, more-intense downpours, more-frequent heat waves, and more-severe storms. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/08/30/katrinas_real_name/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 16:20:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Intel Pledges 1,500 PCs, Wireless Access Equipment, Tech Support CORRECTING and REPLACING Intel Pledges 1,500 PCs, Wireless Access Equipment, Technical Support for Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Efforts; Company Working with American Red Cross to Provide Critical Communications Support - Sep 2, 2005 10:20 PM (BusinessWire) SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 2005--In BW5611 issued Sept. 2, 2005: Please replace the headline and release with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions. The release reads: INTEL PLEDGES 1,500 PCs, WIRELESS ACCESS EQUIPMENT, TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR HURRICANE KATRINA DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS Company Working with American Red Cross to Provide Critical Communications Support Intel Corporation today announced it is coordinating the donation of 1,500 laptop personal computers to the American Red Cross for distribution to shelters in support of Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts. In addition, Intel will donate 150 wireless Internet access points to enable wireless local area connectivity in all permanent shelters and is providing fifty Wi-Fi transmitters for installation in the New Orleans downtown and airport area. Intel employees will provide on-site technical assistance to ensure the success of all technical deployments. The PCs will be configured by Intel and its partners according to Red Cross requirements to allow shelters to exchange important information with the organization's headquarters regarding victim status, resource needs and case management. These systems, along with broadband access, will also provide the technology backbone that provides thousands of hurricane victims with a means of communicating with relatives, verifying their identity for emergency fund distribution, contacting social services and accessing information important to their relocation. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51563796 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 16:29:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Coordinating Tech Aid for Katrina Disaster Quick notes from conference call hosted by the FCC today about urgently coordinating resources and personnel from internet/wireless service providers to get communications networks up and running in in gulf states. Lack of communications systems has been identified as a critical issue holding back aid, missing persons, law enforcement, etc. in crisis areas. FCC personnel are working throughout the weekend to coordinate these efforts with private industry, with wireless technology groups, FEMA, and state governments in Mississippi, Louisiana, etc. http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/02/fcc_coordinating_tec.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 01:02:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Giving Them What They Want By LYNN HIRSCHBERG After three decades in the TV business, Leslie Moonves, the chairman of CBS and the person most responsible for taking the network from last place to first in the ratings, has figured out a few things about what people want to see when they turn on their televisions. 'Americans do not like dark,' Moonves told me last May, before a scheduling meeting to select CBS's fall 2005 lineup. Moonves, who was wearing a gray suit, white shirt and diagonally striped maroon and navy tie, was in a wood-paneled corner office on the 35th floor of Black Rock, the longtime home of CBS on 52nd Street in Manhattan. The office used to belong to William S. Paley, the legendary tycoon who personified CBS for more than 60 years. Truman Capote once remarked that Paley 'looks like a man who has just swallowed an entire human being,' and Moonves has that same sort of aggressive vigor -- an almost palpable appetite and enthusiasm for the complications and constant challenges of network TV. On this particular Thursday, at 11 a.m., Moonves was considering which of the network's current shows to cancel in order to make room for new programs. He had decided to take a once-promising show called 'Joan of Arcadia' off the air. The show was about a teenager who receives directives and advice straight from God. 'In the beginning, it was a fresh idea and uplifting, and the plot lines were engaging,' Moonves said, sounding a little sad and frustrated. 'But the show got too dark. I understand why creative people like dark, but American audiences don't like dark. They like story. They do not respond to nervous breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere. They like their characters to be a part of the action. They like strength, not weakness, a chance to work out any dilemma. This is a country built on optimism.' One key to running a successful broadcast network is understanding just this kind of thing: what the audience wants -- sometimes even before it knows that it wants it. Like a candidate seeking election, a network and its shows are voted into prominence by the public. The people either tune in or they don't. Unlike the movie business or the premium cable industry (of which HBO is emblematic), which charge for their products and have much smaller, more homogeneous audiences, broadcast TV aims to attract the tens of million of Americans who might watch CBS (or ABC or NBC or Fox) on any given night. In recent years, CBS shows like 'C.S.I.,' 'Survivor' and 'Everybody Loves Raymond' have enticed those multitudes, and as a result the network has soared in the ratings. Moonves said that he hopes to have another success (or several) of that magnitude this coming season. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/magazine/04MOONVES.html?ex=1283486400&en=ef2eed3e40ce14d9&ei=5088 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? Date: 3 Sep 2005 20:10:35 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com There's been a great deal of criticism of the response of 'government', especially the Federal level, to help the flood victims. If one takes a step back and looks at the big picture, one wonders if the criticism is justified. Perhaps the emotional pictures of people suffering are skewing emotions. Perhaps old fashioned politics is playing a role. There's no doubt that this is a major disaster and people are suffering horribly. Even Bush says so. There's no doubt a thorough and impartial review of what happened when is required. But for now, let's take a look at the logistics and communications. What troubles me is that many of the critical internet posts and editorials and clearly political in nature, that is, writers previously disliked Bush and are fishing for more reasons. Any writing that mentions Iraq, 'uncaring government' (like David Brooks of the NYT did), past funding, were obviously badly biased. A lot of people don't like Bush or Iraq, but that does not necessarily mean the response now is bad. I can't help but wonder if TV's constant views of human suffering tugs on emotions and not logic. I wonder if there should be more shots showing how difficult it is to transport supplies in a flooded area where roads and communications are down. I understand the Army has been trying to repair the broken flood dikes all along but there were very few TV pictures of that work. Maybe TV scenes of sandbags aren't as 'grabbing' as people suffering, but it IS a big part of the story and I think more should've been featured on the news. When I mentioned my concerns to people, they responded, "well, just look at TV!". Our news from TV is very selective. TV is not always objective because it must always be interesting to hold the viewer's interest. No viewers, no reason to exist. I've seen flooded areas and was impressed at the enormous amounts of police / fire /resuce / cleanup services required. These areas were far smaller in size -- a couple of square miles -- with only about 500 affected people. Helping 500 people is a lot easier than helping 100,000 people. That means multiplying a massive expensive effort 200 times! My biggest question is the daunting logistics of caring for many THOUSANDS of people, perhaps a full 100,000 people. It does appear that a great many people -- for whatever reason -- could not or would not evacuate the city and were left behind. Obviously some water was getting to them otherwise they would have died by Wednesday. With most roads cut off and poor communiations, how does one get water for 100,000 people into a destroyed city and then distributed, in an orderly fashion, to those who need it? What about food and medicine? Where do these supplies come from? Where will the delivery trucks come from? Who organizes and dispatches the effort? Another issue is the time delay. In other floods, the water recedes after a few days allowing transport to resume and cleanup to begin. So, emergency supplies are only needed for a few days. But, New Orleans won't dry out for some time so supplies for many more days is needed. Again, where will these come from and get distributed? Likewise with evacuation. In the flooding I've seen, they've opened schools on higher ground which can accomodate 500 people and usually still have power. Where do you put 100,000 people when a whole area is devastated and there's no place to go? Who has 100,000 cots just waiting around nearby? How will people get to the emergency centers, especially if they're located many miles away and roads are blocked? One newscaster said they should've used army trucks. Think about it. A bus holds 50 people. You'd need 2,000 buses to move 100,000 people. Suppose a bus can make 4 trips during the evacuation, so you only need 500 buses. Who's got 500 buses, fuel for them, and drivers, all just sitting around ready for use on the first day? An army truck, as some newscasters suggested, holds even less people. Do they have 500 trucks, fuel, and drivers just sitting around close to New Orleans? I don't know what the people did who got trapped in the city. The first question is why they could not or would not leave as directed; but obviously providing transport and shelter for so many people before the storm on short notice would've been terribly difficult. I don't know what the city and state emergency plans were. The city and state have primary responsibility in this situation. I don't know when the recognized the magnitude of the disaster and what their responses were. When did they call in the feds and what did they ask for? (Local officials have to make the call to the feds.) I wonder how many Louisanna State Police and local police from other La. towns were brought in as soon as the flooding started. Who was in charge of operations in the city? In looking over the logistics -- many thousands of people needing help NOW! -- I wonder if our expectations of government miracles are too high. We're used to instant gratification from the Internet and TV. But maybe in the real world things work a little differently. [public replies only, please] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa makes some very good points. I do not intend to kick those people while they are down, but there _was_ a lot of politics involved as well. An alternative point of view is also presented in this issue of the Digest, from Miss Betty Bowers who is frequently known as "America's Best and Most Fabulous Christian". Ms. Bower's commentary appears in the final spot in this issue, a place which is usually reserved for the Last Laugh. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 10:17:05 -0700 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Sat, 3 Sep 2005, Kevin Buhr wrote: > It *is* a Joe Job, and a ludicrously obvious one at that. Tom > St.Denis is a frequent and valuable (if occasionally rather brusk) > contributor to sci.crypt, and some nimrod he annoyed is obviously > trying to cause major trouble for him. I don't know if you realize it, but you just did the same thing. You just accused hunters of being behind the Joe Job. For your information, a nimrod is a hunter. Clueless cityfolk seem to have a notion that this funny-sounding word is an insult. It is not. Nimrod first appears in the Bible in Gen. 10:8-12 as "the first on earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord." The other mentions of Nimrod are Mic. 5:6 and I. Chron 1:10, where Assyria is called the "land of Nimrod". Apparently, Nimrod is the ancient Hebrew name of the Mesopotamian hero Gilgamesh. It is high praise to call a hunter a "nimrod". A community that objects vociferously to misuse of "hacker" should not misuse "nimrod". -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Betty Bowers Subject: Katrina, the Terrorist Who Got Through The Metal Detector Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 14:12:41 -0500 From: Betty Bowers -- America's Best Christian Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 2:51 PM Subject: Betty Bowers Newsletter: Katrina, the Terrorist Who Got Through The Metal Detector I see that our gallant President has decided that it is taking far too long for Iraq to look like America, So he has decided to meet them halfway by making New Orleans look like Baghdad. Only, perhaps, he went too far, as New Orleans could only aspire to a lawless anarchy as dry as Iraq's. And here I thought dear Katherine Harris and her faux-felon purge was the model for trimming the voting lines of Democrats! Frankly, Katherine's glorious efforts to relieve the registration lists of nefarious liberals can't hold a candle to the magnificent indolence of FEMA in New Orleans. And while dead people may vote (especially in Ohio), they don't show up in court to whine about being harassed at the polls. Glory! Yes, it has been four long years since 9/11 (registered trademark) and nothing has apparently been done in this country to prepare for or help a disaster (an alarming fact that was amply proven on "Being Bobby Brown"). But I am getting increasingly impatient with liberals bellyaching that Katrina serves to underscore a lack of planning on the part of our President. On the contrary, dears: it shows an arrangement that works just like it is supposed to not work! You see, Mr. Bush wisely cut the budgets for emergency response agencies and the rebuilding of levees in New Orleans to pay for our efforts to establish an Islamic theocracy in Iraq (and to send emergency tax relief to desperate people not nearly as liquid as New Orleans, desperately clinging to billions tied up in real estate and leaking stock portfolios). Who was to fill the gap, impertinent fact-obsessed people ask? Well, American's religious corporations, mouths agape under the bounteous spigots of tax-dollars flowing to faith-based initiated! That is why FEMA lists Brother-in-Christ (and assassination cheerleader) Pat Robertson's very own Operation Blessing as one of the first places you should think about when sending dollars to help poor people being devoured by rats and red ants in New Orleans. Say what you will about Brother Pat, but he knows how to loot without getting wet! Glory! The tiny snag with relying on churches to fill the gap left by a government too preoccupied with the testosterone of waging war abroad to succumb to the girly impulse of feeding those left at home, is that the churches with the most money didn't get that way by turning it over to those in need. Indeed, in a novel twist on Scripture, most American Christian mega-churches have been called by the Lord Jesus to get money from the poor -- not the other way around. This is precisely why it was the secular Astrodome in Houston, not Joel Osteen's new 16,000-seat indoor stadium (former home of the Houston Rockets) that threw open its doors to the poor and needy. After all, a stadium full of poor people with diseases would simply ruin the bottom line by keeping out rich people with tithes. Besides, who wants a bunch of water-logged black people dripping all over the recent $75,000,000 renovation? Not Jesus! Let me take a moment to join President Bush in praising his administration's inerrant efforts in response to Hurricane Katrina. The administration's initial, rather crafty response was a calmness that absently flirted with disinterest, so as not to let the water know that it had won. A still-vacationing W strummed a guitar (pronounced "git-tawr") while New Orleans burned. No, that was Rome: New Orleans drowned. And Condoleezza Rice, always the go-to gal for feigning obviousness with alarming verisimilitude, went shoe shopping in New York for a kicky little something to wear to giggle herself to death at Spamalot. As she might have told Louisiana children dying without needed medications in the Ninth Ward, had she actually been there to speak to them: "Don't worry about not having penicillin, kiddies. As any rich Broadway cognoscenti will tell you -- laughter is truly the best medicine! Don't touch the Ferragamos!" Following Condi's always exemplary coolness in the face of disaster (which she seems to have appropriated from Terri Schiavo), our handsome President hasn't been without solutions to the current crisis. Why, just today he offered the sage and innovative suggestion: "If you don't need gas, don't buy it." Pesto -- problem solved! (Well, for that one lady out in Indianapolis who doesn't drive.) Actually, a better suggestion would have been: "Instead of wasting money on gay, use the money to buy gas stock instead because when it comes to making the best out of a crisis, nobody comes close to America's oil companies. Yee-haw!" Or, better yet, sell the lumber from what used to be your house in Biloxi on E-bay and use the few dollars you get to buy Halliburton stock. Shares in that company, which Dick Cheney still gets money from, sold for $8.60 in 2002. Yesterday, they hit $63.44. Don't tell me the Lord doesn't turn lemons in to lemonade! Glory! Of course, the first priority of our proactive President was to do what the White House always does to solve any problem: schedule a panacean photo-op! So, four long days after Katrina hit, President Bush stood in Mobile before news cameras, looking like what he thought a concerned person would look like. America watched in heartened triumph as the head of FEMA told Mr. Bush that the water that submerged New Orleans had gotten there because something called "levees" had broken. Who knew? Here it is Friday, and it is such a joy to watch as someone finally shares with Mr. Bush what the rest of us knew (and, apparently, were selfishly keeping to ourselves) all week. Now, the only thing left for we Christians to do is to decide the most important issue: who exactly was the loving Lord trying to kill with Katrina? While many of my fellow right-wing Christians bicker over whether it was a Great Flood aimed at homosexuals or abortionists, I think one thing is clear: when it comes to poor black people without food or drinkable water, the Lord has quite an axe to grind. Well, all I can say is if a terrorist blows up Chicago or a major earthquake decimates Los Angeles, make sure you have batteries in your flashlights and learn to drink sewage with a smile because the Bush administration is otherwise distracted, dismissive and disinterested, dears. You're on your own. Welcome to the new, every-man-for-himself America! Glory! So close to Jesus, I can be driven to Crawford, Texas without even seeing the inconveniently mewling mother my SUV limo is splashing with mud, Mrs. Betty Bowers America's Best Christian (A woman known throughout Christendom for her joie d'aprs vivre) Copyright Mrs. Betty Bowers 2005 Subscribe to or otherwise read Mrs. Betty Bowers frequent columns and view the interesting graphics which accompanied this article at: http://www.bettybowers.com/nl_090205.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Decisions, decisions! Should this item be today's 'Last Laugh!' feature? I decided against titleing it such, since there are many, many heartbroken residents today who call or called New Orleans their 'home'. But Mrs. Bowers, fabulous Christian and all that, does frequently hit the hammer squarely on the nail, as I think she did this time. For an alternative viewpoint, also see the essay (Flood Relief - Unfair Criticism) in today's issue of the Digest from Lisa Hancock. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #402 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Sep 4 23:59:04 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 4CB0514EC7; Sun, 4 Sep 2005 23:59:04 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #403 Message-Id: <20050905035904.4CB0514EC7@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 23:59:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sun, 4 Sep 2005 23:58:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 403 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Some Wireless Service Now Repaired in New Orleans (Reuters News Wire) Getting Electricity Restored to Gulf Coast Area (Ron Scherer) Internet is Bulletin Board For Katrina Victims (Todd Eastham) Let Stockholders Decide Verizon-MCI Merger Fate (Murray Sabrin) Verizon Files First Lawsuit Against Telemarketing Company (Linda Johnson) Congress Weighing New Rules for Cable Franchises (Janice Morse) The Mobile Snatchers (Mark Halper) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? (John Hines) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criiicism? (John L. Shelton) Re: Katrina's Real Name (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Some Wireless Service Now Repaired in New Orleans Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 18:07:20 -0500 Verizon Wireless to deploy mobile units to storm-ravaged areas NEW YORK - A number of wireless carriers said this weekend they are starting to restore service in the New Orleans area in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in some cases with generators on the roofs of hotels. The collapse of the communications network in the New Orleans area has been widely blamed for contributing to the disaster there, as local officials were unable to talk to each other and to federal authorities to arrange relief in the days after Katrina laid waste to the city. Verizon Wireless said it is at work restoring parts of New Orleans and surrounding areas including Mandeville, Lacombe, Hammond and Covington. It has also restored Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, which is being used for relief airlifts. The company, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone, said it has restored service in Baton Rouge and Jackson, Mississippi, and is working to bring back Mobile and Biloxi. In addition, Verizon said late Saturday it was awaiting approval to deploy COWs -- Cells on Wheels -- to boost coverage in the affected areas. T-Mobile USA said late Saturday it has set up a cell site on the roof of a hotel on Canal St. in New Orleans, running on a generator, and has reestablished service in many areas of the flooded-out city. T-Mobile said its network is now available at the Superdome, the convention center and Armstrong Airport. The company's main hardware in the area survived the storm, it said. T-Mobile is a unit of Deutsche Telekom. Sprint Nextel Corp. was more cautious on New Orleans, saying as of Saturday night that it remained challenging. The company said it has assembled a team in Baton Rouge to make repairs in areas where it was deemed safe. The company, whose Nextel phones are popular for their walkie-talkie capabilities, has provided 3,000 phones to relief officials. A spokesman for Cingular Wireless was not immediately available to comment on the state of their network in the region. Copyright 2005, Reuters URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9207212/ 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Ron Scherer Subject: Getting Electricity Back to the Gulf Coast Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 18:18:17 -0500 http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0902/p02s02-ussc.html By Ron Scherer | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor NEW YORK - Heat. Humidity. Fifteen- to 16-hour days. Not to mention snakes and high-voltage wires. Jeff Malaby knows that conditions will be tough as he and thousands of other electric utility workers head to the Gulf Coast to restore power in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. But repairing the damage to the electrical system is vital for the region to regain its footing. Without power, essential services -- from sewage plants to hospitals -- can't operate. Police officers are unable to recharge their phones. The need is also pressing to repower the giant refineries that supply an important portion of the nation's gasoline. And at some point, the crews will start the long process of connecting homes so that air conditioners and dehumidifiers can run again. "Electricity is always a priority in disasters," says Jane Bullock, a former chief of staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and now an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management. "For essential functions, it is just necessary." The process is likely to be long. Some 2.8 million customers lost their power in the region. And it's not just a matter of restringing electric wire as crews did in Florida after Katrina passed through there. "I expect to see complete devastation, and our efforts will be to completely rebuild the lines," says Mr. Malaby, a Dominion Virginia Power worker who just finished leading a team of 50 in south Florida. But utility companies, particularly those in storm-prone areas, have considerable experience rebuilding the electrical system. They usually start with a broad assessment of damages, says Ken Hall, director of security, transmission, and distribution operations at the Edison Electric Institute in Washington: "They need to determine what needs to be replaced, to determine whether the power lines were blown down or something landed on them." Mr. Hall says the normal process is for some crews to work on the transmission system -- that is, the large voltage lines transporting electricity from the generating station to the substation. These lines are typically mounted on large metal towers that tend to survive storms better than the wooden poles moving electricity to residential and commercial customers. At the same time, other crews will tackle the distribution system, working out from the substation. They will repair the main lines, then the lines leading into neighborhoods, and finally the hookup to homes, says Hall. Getting the electricity back in downtown New Orleans, however, will be more challenging. For one thing, some of the electric lines are below ground. If mud and water have seeped into the electrical wiring, the cable will have to be replaced. Depending on the damage, crews can often get electricity restored relatively quickly. After hurricane Ivan, they averaged between five and 10 days to rebuild the systems, says Hall. Thursday, in the aftermath of Katrina, Florida Power & Light Company reported that it had returned power to 99 percent of its customers. (Some 15,490 were still without electricity.) The Florida utility company also released 1,000 restoration workers -- most from other utility companies -- so they could head for the Gulf region. Among them is Malaby and his 50-person crew from Virginia. Thursday, they were heading to Amite, La., a staging ground for repair work, to join up with more than 300 other workers from Virginia. For the trip to the Gulf, Malaby is buying bottled water and nonperishable food supplies so the crew can be self-sustaining for a few days. "We won't be getting three square meals a day, and we'll probably be sleeping on cots in a gymnasium," he says. "I have some concerns about the sanitary conditions as well." But despite the harsh conditions, it's a job he's volunteered for. "There is a lot of job satisfaction in these efforts," he says. It's one of the reasons the crew will work extra hours. "Sometimes if you are close to getting people back their power, you don't want to leave until you get it done," he says. "Some people are eternally grateful. There can be hugging and kissing and people offering you sodas." www.csmonitor.com | Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Read the Christian Science Monitor on line each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html (far right column). *** 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 Christian Science Publishing Society. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Todd Eastham Subject: Internet is Bulletin Board For Katrina Victims Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 17:01:41 -0500 By Todd Eastham After 9/11, descriptions and photos of missing family, friends and co-workers were plastered on walls and bulletin boards in lower Manhattan, but with New Orleans a ghost town after Hurricane Katrina, the Internet is now the medium of choice for those seeking lost loved ones. "My aunt Geraldine, age 95, lives with her 75-year-old daughter, my first cousin Bernadine Givens ... in New Orleans. ... We believe Geraldine's 76-year-old half brother, my uncle Raul Maurice, was also with them," read one posting on craigslist.org, a popular community bulletin board. "Geraldine is in a wheelchair. Please Help Me. I spoke with them on Sunday August 28th, the day before Katrina hit ... and nothing since," said the posting under the "missing people" icon in a New Orleans section of that site. While the power of the Internet offers promise to people struggling to reconnect with hurricane survivors, people and pets, several phone calls on Sunday -- six days after the Category 4 storm hit the Gulf Coast -- yielded only one happy outcome, recounted by Kristina Carapina, 21, of Houston. "Today is my birthday and yesterday I heard from the Red Cross that they were rescued from the roof. "They called at 11:30 last night from a shelter. ... They were in St. Bernard, the worst hit area. They were on the roof for five days." 'They' were her boyfriend Brian, 27, Tim McHughes, 24, and their mother, Dianne Clement. They were "a little worn out and bruised up, but they're good. "They brought a barbecue up to the roof. They had some canned food." Still, two people from that family remained unaccounted for in the ruined city -- a grandmother and an uncle. 'SEARCHING FOR MY COUSINS' And that was among the most gratifying outcomes. Salvador Mendez of Ohio's posting on craigslist read: "I am searching for my cousins, David Roberto, Luis or Matilde Mendez of Taqueria Corona as well as their mother Aminta Hue zo Parada." Contacted on Sunday, Mendez said, "Unfortunately, I don't have any news about them." He had also posted notices on the New Orleans site nola.com and findkatrina.com. Of those sites, he and others said craigslist was most user friendly. The Web search wasn't limited to people. Billie Sue Bruce of Jonesville, Virginia, said she was outraged to see television footage of a white bichon dog named Snowball torn from a little boy's arms by a guardsman as the boy was evacuated by bus. Bruce posted a $500 reward for return of the dog to the boy and was joined by others. The reward, now posted on craiglist, and other sites like http://savejustone.com and http://smallpawsrescue.com, had risen to $2,500 with other contributors. "That story terribly upset me because it was a combination of a child's heartbreak and an abandoned pet," said Bruce. Bjay Lateny of San Diego posted on craigslist a search for Marie-Helen Poulaert from Belgium, saying she had used the Web site in the past for "getting rid of stuff in my backyard ... looking for work," but never for anything like this. "I went to high school with her in northern Arizona. She was an exchange student. But I've had no word. You're actually the first call," she told this reporter. News Web sites including CNN.com have also set up Internet help centers, including missing persons lists, resources for survivors, ways to donate and volunteer. The success of these sites in bringing survivors together with friends and loved ones could not be immediately determined. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Also consider http://wwl.com which is maintained by WWL-TV, channel 4 in New Orleans. There was something on http://wwl.com inquiring about Mark Cuccia. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Murray Sabrin Subject: Let Stockholders Decide Verizon-MCI Merger's Fate Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 18:01:56 -0500 Published in the Asbury Park Press 09/4/05 BY MURRAY SABRIN The conventional wisdom about a business merger, especially when it leads to a near monopolistic control of a market, is that it is anti-competitive and thus should be disallowed by government regulators. The proposed merger between Verizon and MCI is being opposed by consumer advocates and others because the new company would provide more than 80 percent of the wired phone connections in its regional market. According to the conventional wisdom, a Verizon-MCI alliance would be an example of a "monopolistic" company that will drive up prices and stifle competition in the telecommunications market. On the face of it, opponents of the Verizon-MCI merger may have had a strong case if the world of telecommunications today looked like it did prior to the 1984 breakup of AT&T. Pre-1984, AT&T did have a 100 percent telephone monopoly in most regions of the country. AT&T also was the nation's only long-distance phone carrier at the time. However, after the Justice Department ordered the AT&T breakup, the regional Baby Bells, as they were called, became regional phone monopolies. AT&T became a long-distance carrier and began to face competition from Sprint and MCI. Since the 1980s, virtually all the original seven Baby Bells have merged with one another and other phone companies. The remaining regional entities are SBC, Verizon, Bell South and Qwest, a non-Baby Bell that merged with US West. Currently, SBC is seeking regulatory approval to merge with AT&T, while Verizon is seeking to merge with MCI. Opponents of the Verizon-MCI merger assert that consumers will pay higher prices than they ought to because the new firm will have a near monopoly in its operating region. "Nonsense", respond the proponents of the Verizon-MCI merger. At the local level, telephone calling prices may be on the verge of an historical downward adjustment because of the latest technological developments. The telecommunications world of the 1980s and even 1990s is gone forever. Cell phones, once a bulky, weighty and expensive piece of hardware that cost users about $1 a minute for service, has been replaced by units that fit in the palm of your hand and cost less than $50. Competition has driven the price of cell phone calls to about a penny a minute. In addition, more than a third of local phone calls and more than 60 percent of long-distance calls are made on wireless networks. In short, consumers are giving up their land lines, the ones provided by the Baby Bells, such as Verizon. Meanwhile, cable companies are not your parents' or grandparents' cable company any more. They are providing not only clear reception, on demand video services and premium channels, but they also are in the telecommunications business, competing with the phone companies. Cable companies provide Internet access as well as phone service. VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) technology has revolutionized the telecommunications industry. Consumers can now send and receive voice, video and data through their computer without the use of a telephone. To state that telecommunications is changing rapidly is an understatement, if there ever was one. Technological breakthroughs are working their way from the laboratory to the marketplace in record-breaking speed. Companies cannot rely on their brand names or traditional infrastructure to meet the needs of consumers. Cable companies, wireless firms and phone companies are in one of the most competitive environments we have witnessed in our history. If firms like Verizon and MCI believe their strategic goals and competitive advantages can be met by becoming one entity, then shareholders should make that determination, not regulators. The intense domestic and global competitive forces will cause telecommunications companies, especially the remaining Baby Bells, to provide consumers with high-quality and lower priced services - or else. The name of the game is market share and utilizing the latest technological innovations that drive prices down. If a company, no matter how large its market share, does not embrace new technologies or meet its customers' needs, there are more than enough competitors for consumers to choose from. Opponents of the proposed Verizon-MCI merger are "fighting the last war" -- preventing two merged companies from having more than 80 percent market share of a diminishing market. As long as a combined Verizon-MCI delivers services that its customers approve, then the marketplace will have spoken. Otherwise, Verizon-MCI's competitors, cable companies, wireless companies and unbeknownst firms in the future will be more than happy to sign up its customers. Murray Sabrin is professor of finance in the School of Business at Ramapo College of New Jersey, Mahwah. Copyright 2005 Asbury Park 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Asbury Park Press. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Linda A. Johnson Subject: Verizon Wireless Files First Lawsuit Against Telemarketers Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 18:03:44 -0500 By Linda A. Johnson, The Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. -- Verizon Wireless has sued a pair of telemarketing companies, accusing them of illegally soliciting the company's cell phone users and making more than 1.2 million calls to its customers this summer. Verizon Wireless said it believes its two lawsuits -- filed against Intelligent Alternatives of San Diego and Resort Marketing Trends of Coral Springs, Fla. -- are the first ever filed by a U.S. wireless company against telemarketers. "We just consider it to be a tremendous invasion of privacy," Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Robin Nicol said Friday. "Customers look at their wireless phones as one of the last bastions of privacy that they have." Verizon, one of the country's biggest cellular phone companies with 47.4 million customers, is seeking injunctions against further telemarketing to its customers, as well as monetary damages. The Bedminster, N.J.-based company said the telemarketers violated both the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and state laws. The calls used prerecorded messages offering a prize or reward to those who called a toll-free number, and callers then received pitches to buy vacation time-shares, according to Nicol. Nicol said that in July and August, Intelligent Alternatives made more than 1 million calls to Verizon Wireless customers, including 65,000 on July 20 alone, and Resort Marketing Trends made more than 200,000 calls over the two months, including 17,253 in one hour on Aug. 2. Verizon Wireless attorneys believe the calls were made using automatic dialing devices, Nicol said. The lawsuits were filed Wednesday. The suit against Intelligent Alternatives was filed in state Superior Court in Sacramento, Calif., while the one against Resort Marketing Trends was filed in state Superior Court in Somerville, N.J., because Verizon Wireless customers in New Jersey and California received the largest number of calls from the telemarkers. "There were people throughout the country who received these calls," Nicol said, and Verizon is continuing to collect data on such calls. At Intelligent Alternatives, spokesman C. Earl Rogers said the company "has not willfully or knowingly called a cell phone number." He said the lawsuit has been referred to his company's legal counsel and declined further comment. Officials at Resort Marketing Trends could not be reached Friday because the telemarketing company does not have a listed telephone number. According to Nicol, Verizon Wireless previously has sued spammers for contacting its customers, but has never before sued telemarketers and believes these are the first such lawsuits in the country. Copyright 1997-2005 PG Publishing Co., Inc. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, PG Publishing Company, Inc. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Janice Morse Subject: Congress Weighing Rules for Cable Franchises Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 18:08:56 -0500 By Janice Morse Enquirer staff writer Payments to cities for local programs may end. The days may be numbered for cable access channels that allow people to tune into local government meetings, church sermons, even high school football games. Congress is considering three bills that would change federal telecommunications laws. That could prompt cable operators to unplug community channels, cable-access advocates say. "This is a 'life-or-death' thing for anybody who wants local voices to still remain in media," says Tom Bishop, head of Media Bridges Cincinnati. The three bills seek to create new federal standards for cable franchises. Supporters say the reforms would help consumers by making the field more competitive and eliminating red tape in the cable industry. Critics warn that the proposals also could slash franchise fees that cable companies pay to local governments, which paid for community access channels and other services. "People have come to rely on local programming that they can't get anywhere else," said Patricia Stern, executive director of the Intercommunity Cable Regulatory Commission in Sharonville. It produces cable shows for 30 local communities. "None of the networks will cover the Loveland City Council meetings gavel-to-gavel, or the Hamilton County Commissioner meetings, or Friday night high school football games." Stern and other cable-access advocates are urging lawmakers and citizens to oppose the bills. The Alliance for Community Media, a national group representing more than 1,000 public-access TV centers, says national TV/video franchising would take away local officials' control over companies installing service lines along roads. The proposed legislation would require cable companies to repay communities for damage caused by installing cable lines. But it would eliminate or reduce "rent" for using public rights-of-way. In Cincinnati, those fees total $3.2 million a year, including a $700,000 community service fee that pays for local-access programming, officials said. The legislative battle is occurring because state and federal lawmakers are facing increasing pressure from telecom lobbyists. Two of the bills, in the Senate and House, aim to help telephone companies break into the TV business. Another Senate bill would eliminate local governments' franchise agreements with video/TV providers. That bill arose from "a desire to update the telecom laws and not have new technology stifled by a patchwork of laws across the country," said Jack Finn, spokesman for the bill's sponsor, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada. Finn contends the proposal would not have the devastating effects that cable-access advocates fear. But Tim Broering, executive director for the Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky said, "This legislation would outlaw all cable franchises across the country. This would be the federal government telling local governments how to manage their right-of-ways." Derrick Blassingame, 19, of Avondale, produces twice-monthly Cincinnati cable-access political show called "Real Talk Live." His show may not be well-known, but his audience pays close attention. Each telecast attracts 50 to 300 e-mailed comments, he said. He says the proposed laws would cut off access to people like him. Cable access channels provide more than 20,000 hours of local TV shows each week . That's more than all the programming produced by NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX and PBS combined, the Alliance says. Still, it's unclear how many people watch community access shows. But Warren County Administrator Dave Gully said citizens' comments lead him to believe that cable-access telecasts of local governments' meetings attract substantial viewership. E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com Copyright 2005, The Enquirer 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. National news daily at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Mark Halper Subject: The Mobile Snatchers Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 21:17:10 -0500 By Mark Halper Wi-fi changed the way the world surfs the web. Now it's coming to a phone near you -- and telecoms will never be the same. When operations manager Spiros Stefanou learns that a flight coming into Athens International Airport is due in early, he picks up his mobile phone and alerts baggage handlers to scramble a crew quickly. Nothing unusual about that -- except that the Cisco-supplied handset that Stefanou and some 100 other airport employees use never touches a mobile network. Instead, it wirelessly taps into the airport's internal network, which transmits the call for free anywhere in the 16-sq-km airport. "It bypasses any mobile or telecom network," says Fotis Karonis, the airport's director of information technology and telecommunications. "It's an advantage, because you don't have to call with your mobile and pay." Using this system helps save airport workers as much as $163,000 per year. It might seem like little more than the reinvention of the walkie-talkie, but Stefanou and Karonis are on the cusp of a movement that could be called The Invasion of the Mobile Snatchers. Ever since the beginning of commercial cell-phone services some two decades ago, mobile phones and mobile operators have gone together like railroad cars and railroad tracks. Handset vendors such as Nokia and Motorola provided about 2 billion phones to mobile operators like Vodafone, Orange and Verizon, which in turn put them in the hands of consumers who pay to transmit calls over the operators' mobile networks. Indeed, many operators subsidized the handset business, picking up the cost of the phones as a loss leader that would be more than made up by charging consumers for use. But after all that cooperation, something radical is happening. Handset vendors are starting to build Internet technologies into their phones that permit users like Stefanou to bypass mobile networks. The same wi-fi chips that have worked their way into laptops and turned tens of thousands of coffee shops and hotel lounges into Internet surfing zones are starting to appear in handsets. Customers using this phone simply place a call as normal, provided they have access to a wi-fi zone. This lets them do an end run around the mobile network. The lines between Internet service and phone service are blurring, and just as voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has shaken up the fixed-line phone business, it is now poised to disrupt the mobile business. At stake is a slice of the $550 billion in voice revenue that London research firm Informa Telecoms & Media says mobile operators will generate in 2010. The revelation in August that Google will begin providing free voice transmissions over computers, and Microsoft's announced acquisition last week of the VoIP start-up Teleo, show that the biggest tech players are not going to sit this game out. For some companies, that will be liberating. "Making calls from a mobile handset is no longer the preserve of just the mobile operator," says Ryan Jarvis, head of convergence products for British mobile and fixed-line provider BT. Because BT only recently entered into the mobile-service business, it has been among the first of the old-line telecoms to cautiously embrace mobile VoIP. Since June, BT has started 400 of its home broadband customers on Fusion, a Motorola-supplied phone that makes cheap Internet Protocol (IP) calls from home and switches to pricier mobile transmission outside the house. It's still a fledgling technology, because the phones use Bluetooth to make an IP connection, which limits the range in which supercheap calls can be made. But things should get more interesting in 2006, when BT and other providers add hybrid wi-fi/cellular phones. At least four of the largest mobile-handset vendors -- Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and LG -- are known to be preparing such devices, which will bring wi-fi phoning more into the mainstream. "2006 will be a big year for [mobile] wi-fi," pred icts Nokia senior vice president Ilkka Raiskinen, noting that wi-fi will become a standard feature in Nokia's multimedia and business phones next year, and that by 2006 Nokia will put it into many midrange models (it currently offers wi-fi only in an $800 phone called the 9500 Communicator). At handset maker Motorola, chief strategy officer Richard Nottenberg echoes Nokia's views, and pledges that Motorola will next year introduce a "significant" number of wi-fi phones. Indeed, Motorola has made a deal with the company that many phone firms associate with the Devil; its mix of products next year is expected to include a phone loaded with software from Luxembourg-based VoIP firm Skype, whose users can make free VoIP calls to each other. Skype has signed up 51 million "registered" users of its software, though probably less than half of those actually use it. Many Skype users call from their PCs, laptops and handheld devices via fixed or wi-fi-accessed broadband lines. "Five years from now, most calls, everywhere in the world, will be routed over the Internet, [via] affordable, cell-phone-like products that are Skype- and Internet-enabled," predicts Skype ceo Niklas Zennström. In these early days of mobile VoIP, analysts find it difficult to quantify its potential impact. But many expect a shakeup. "Can carriers, either wireless or wireline, prevent its spread? The answer is no,'' says Allen Nogee of research firm In-Stat. The company forecasts that global shipments of mobile phones with wi-fi will hit 13.5 million in 2007, leap to 52.8 million in 2008, and surge to 136 million by 2010 -- probably a conservative estimate. And it's not just voice calls that are under threat. As phones morph into data and entertainment devices, wi-fi chips will also permit phone users to browse the Web and download music without coming near a mobile network. Nokia, for instance, is building wi-fi into its N91, a slick, music-playing phone capable of storing 3,000 songs, due by the end of the year. Wi-fi and other Net connections also threaten operators' profitable text-messaging business, because users can send IP-based "instant messages" instead. Of course, mobile operators will not sit idly by. Some will point out that wi-fi phones have short battery life and poor wandering capabilities. Mobile operators are also requesting that handset makers like Nokia and Motorola build into their hybrid phones a technology that will route wi-fi-initiated calls over mobile networks. And then there's the ultimate weapon: price cuts, which could make the underlying technology irrelevant. "At the end of the day, it's a pricing game," notes Gartner analyst Martin Gutberlet in Munich. Many mobile operators, for example, now provide virtually free intra-office calls. This fall, several will offer free calls that stay on the operator's own network within a country, says Gutberlet. But eventually, most operators will be forced to join the VoIP revolution. Some already run wi-fi hot spots; in France, Orange subscribers can tap the Net with laptops and other devices, so adding VoIP phones to its portfolio could help the company hold onto at least some voice revenue. Germany's third largest operator, E-Plus, last week said that it will include Skype software as part of its flat-rate 40-per-month data-card subscription for use on laptops, starting in October. "In the long term, as part of an evolution, we'll go to VoIP-enabled over the phone," concedes Dave Williams, chief technology officer at O2. Like the planes in Athens, mobile VoIP looks set to take off, and woe to any carrier that stays on the runway. Copyright 2005 TIME Magazine. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, TIME Magazine. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 20:10:09 -0500 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > There's been a great deal of criticism of the response of > 'government', especially the Federal level, to help the flood victims. I have concerns with Bush's personal response to this disaster, which threatened thousands, as well as a third of our energy supply (from the gulf), when it is compared to his response to the single life of Terry Schavio. I wish this country had a better leader. So far only Gen. Honore has gotten any positives on leadership. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 14:30:10 -0700 From: John L. Shelton Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? > In looking over the logistics -- many thousands of people needing help > NOW! -- I wonder if our expectations of government miracles are too > high. We're used to instant gratification from the Internet and TV. > But maybe in the real world things work a little differently. I have seen very little, if any, coverage discussing the individual responsibilities in such disasters. It is sad that people are willing to blame government for their circumstances, and in particular push the Federal government for absolute responsibility. Individuals owe themselves responsibility. People can better plan for emergency. People can choose where to live, knowing the risks. People can behave responsibly during a crisis. But there's been little evidence of this. It will be very hard to convince me that 100k people in New Orleans were incapable of leaving in advance. Many poor people have cars, or have friends/families with cars. There were enough cars in NO to evacuate everyone. If one has as an emergency plan climbing into the attic during a flood, one should take an ax. If you don't have an ax, don't trap yourself in an attic. Better to float downstream than drown trapped in an attic. Here in earthquake country, many of us stock a few days' supply of food and water. It doesn't cost very much. Looting and raping are the actions of individuals. While it would be nice to have police protection against these, I hold the criminals responsible, not the police. What is in the minds of those who say that stealing and rape are bad, except in an emergency? (Perhaps this is a product of public-school education??) How did NO citizens elect such a nit-wit mayor? We saw much better behavior from NYC's mayor in 2001. Perhaps NYC has more resources, but I think they have a better track record of electing responsible, take-charge mayors. Why is the Federal government responsible? Why hasn't the city of NO actually put into place better emergency plans, and prepared physically for the inevitable. Here in Earthquake country, we've been quake retrofitting for 50 years. Geepers ... =John= john@jshelton.com ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Katrina's Real Name Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 18:21:30 -0700 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Monty Solomon wrote: > By Ross Gelbspan > THE HURRICANE that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by > the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming. > When the year began with a two-foot snowfall in Los Angeles, the cause > was global warming. Since when did 2005 begin in November 2004? Ross's calendar is a couple months off. Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Company website: http://JustThe.net/ Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/ E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That was a good catch, Steve! I think what he meant to say was 'when _last winter_ began' rather than 'when the year began'. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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 #403 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 5 02:00:49 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 094F21506C; Mon, 5 Sep 2005 02:00:48 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #404 Message-Id: <20050905060048.094F21506C@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 02:00:48 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 5 Sep 2005 02:01:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 404 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Ex-Officials Say Weakened FEMA Botched Rescue (Marcus Didius Falco) Storm Exposed Disarray at the Top (Washington Post) (Marcus Didius Falco) New Orleans Begins Counting its Dead (Alan Sayre) Washington Ignored Warnings; Failed to Fund Levee Repairs (Richard Serrano) New Orleans Times-Picayune Editorial on the Event (Staff Writers) Mobile Phones: Half Want the Extras, Half Don't (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: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 23:29:23 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Ex-Officials Say Weakened FEMA Botched Rescus Please reply on list. This Email address has become such a spam trap (so many viruses), that I check it very rarely. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509030220sep03,1,5525666 .story?ctrack=1&cset=true http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509030220sep03,1,5947828 Ex-officials say weakened FEMA botched response By Frank James and Andrew Martin Washington Bureau September 3, 2005 WASHINGTON -- Government disaster officials had an action plan if a major hurricane hit New Orleans. They simply didn't execute it when Hurricane Katrina struck. Thirteen months before Katrina hit New Orleans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill that Ronald Castleman, then the regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, called "a very good exercise." More than a million residents were "evacuated" in the table-top scenario as 120 m.p.h. winds and 20 inches of rain caused widespread flooding that supposedly trapped 300,000 people in the city. "It was very much an eye-opener," said Castleman, a Republican appointee of President Bush who left FEMA in December for the private sector. "A number of things were identified that we had to deal with, not all of them were solved." Still, Castleman found it hard to square the lessons he and others learned from the exercise with the frustratingly slow response to the disaster that has unfolded in the wake of Katrina. From the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to the Mississippi and Alabama communities along the Gulf Coast, hurricane survivors have decried the lack of water, food and security and the slowness of the federal relief efforts. "It's hard for everyone to understand why buttons weren't pushed earlier on," Castleman said of the federal response. As the first National Guard truck caravans of water and food arrived in New Orleans on Friday, former FEMA officials and other disaster experts were at a loss to explain why the federal government's lead agency for responding to major emergencies had failed to meet the urgent needs of hundreds of thousands of Americans in the most dire of circumstances in a more timely fashion. But many suspected that FEMA's apparent problems in getting life-sustaining supplies to survivors and buses to evacuate them from New Orleans -- delays even Bush called "not acceptable" -- stemmed partly from changes at the agency during the Bush years. Experts have long warned that the moves would weaken the agency's ability to effectively respond to natural disasters. Less clout, experience FEMA's chief has been demoted from a near-Cabinet-level position; political appointees with little, if any, emergency-management experience have been placed in senior FEMA positions; and the small, 2,500-person agency was dropped into the midst of the 180,000-employee Homeland Security Department, which is more oriented to combating terrorism than natural disasters. All that has led to a brain drain as experienced but demoralized employees have left the agency, former and current FEMA staff members say. The result is that an agency that got high marks during much of the 1990's for its effectiveness is being harshly criticized for seemingly mismanaging the response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The growing anger and frustration at FEMA's efforts sparked the Republican-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to announce Friday that it has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to try to uncover what went wrong. Meanwhile, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) called on Bush to immediately appoint a Cabinet-level official to direct the national response. "There was a time when FEMA understood that the correct approach to a crisis was to deploy to the affected area as many resources as possible as fast as possible," Landrieu said. "Unfortunately, that no longer seems to be their approach." John Copenhaver, a former FEMA regional director during the Clinton administration who led the response to Hurricane Floyd in 1999, said he was bewildered by the agency's slow response this time. It had been standard practice for FEMA to position supplies ahead of time, and the agency did preposition drinking water and tarps to cover damaged roofs near where they would be needed. In addition, FEMA has coordinated its plans with state and local officials and let the Defense Department know beforehand what type of military assistance would be needed. "I'm a little confused as to why it took so long to get the military presence running convoys into downtown New Orleans," Copenhaver said. And there isn't an experienced disaster-response expert at the top of the agency as there was when James Lee Witt ran it during the 1990s. Before Michael Brown, the current head, joined the agency as its legal counsel, he was with the International Arabian Horse Association. That loss of experienced personnel might explain in part why FEMA was not able to secure buses sooner for the evacuation of New Orleans, a step anticipated by the hurricane disaster simulation last year. Peter Pantuso, president of the American Bus Association, said, "I have a hard time believing there is any game plan in place when it comes to coordinating or pulling together this volume of business," referring to FEMA's effort to obtain hundreds of buses to move tens of thousands of evacuees from New Orleans. "And what happens in two or three weeks down the road when all of these people are moved again?" When FEMA became part of the Homeland Security Department, it was stripped of some functions, such as some of its ability to make preparedness grants to states, former officials said. Those functions were placed elsewhere in the larger agency. FEMA capability `marginalized'. "After Sept. 11 they got so focused on terrorism they effectively marginalized the capability of FEMA," said George Haddow, a former FEMA official during the Clinton administration. "It's no surprise that they're not capable of managing the federal government's response to this kind of disaster." Pleasant Mann, former head of the union for FEMA employees who has been with the agency since 1988, said a change made by agency higher-ups last year added a bureaucratic layer that likely delayed FEMA's response to Katrina. Before the change, a FEMA employee at the site of a disaster could request that an experienced employee he knew had the right skills be dispatched to help him. But now that requested worker is first made to travel to a location hundreds of miles from the disaster site to be "processed," placed in a pool from which he is dispatched, sometimes to a place different from where he thought he was headed. Pleasant said he knew of a case in which a worker from Washington state was made to travel first to Orlando before he could go to Louisiana, losing at least a day. What's more, that worker was told he might be sent to Alabama, not Louisiana, after all. fjames@tribune.com ajmartin@tribune.com Copyright 2005, Chicago Tribune NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 23:07:34 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Storm Exposed Disarray at the Top (Washington Post) This story doesn't say much about telecommunications issues. However, there was a complete collapse of the telecommunications infrastructure on the Gulf coast. Landline service is gone. Cellular service was very spotty. Most towers were down, and backup power (battery and generator) at those towers that had it lasted about 14 hours. Moreover, scattered reports seem to indicate that there were problems with police and fire communications. Again, this may have been because of problems with towers or backup power: I have not, as yet, seen or heard any analysis. I have even heard there were problems with satellite phones. I suppose the problem would have been overloading of circuits on the satellites that are in range at any time. I don't know whether the problem was only with Inmarsat (which is used by news organizations because it has the bandwidth for television), or whether it also included Iridium and Globalstar. (Thuraya does not cover the western hemisphere.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301653.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301653_pf.html washingtonpost.com Storm Exposed Disarray at the Top By Susan B. Glasser and Josh White Washington Post Staff Writers Sunday, September 4, 2005; A01 The killer hurricane and flood that devastated the Gulf Coast last week exposed fatal weaknesses in a federal disaster response system retooled after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to handle just such a cataclysmic event. Despite four years and tens of billions of dollars spent preparing for the worst, the federal government was not ready when it came at daybreak on Monday, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former senior officials and outside experts. Among the flaws they cited: Failure to take the storm seriously before it hit and trigger the government's highest level of response. Rebuffed offers of aid from the military, states and cities. An unfinished new plan meant to guide disaster response. And a slow bureaucracy that waited until late Tuesday to declare the catastrophe "an incident of national significance," the new federal term meant to set off the broadest possible relief effort. Born out of the confused and uncertain response to 9/11, the massive new Department of Homeland Security was charged with being ready the next time, whether the disaster was wrought by nature or terrorists. The department commanded huge resources as it prepared for deadly scenarios from an airborne anthrax attack to a biological attack with plague to a chlorine-tank explosion. But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday that his department had failed to find an adequate model for addressing the "ultra-catastrophe" that resulted when Hurricane Katrina's floodwater breached New Orleans's levees and drowned the city, "as if an atomic bomb had been dropped." If Hurricane Katrina represented a real-life rehearsal of sorts, the response suggested to many that the nation is not ready to handle a terrorist attack of similar dimensions. "This is what the department was supposed to be all about," said Clark Kent Ervin, DHS's former inspector general. "Instead, it obviously raises very serious, troubling questions about whether the government would be prepared if this were a terrorist attack. It's a devastating indictment of this department's performance four years after 9/11." "We've had our first test, and we've failed miserably," said former representative Timothy J. Roemer (D-Ind.), a member of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks. "We have spent billions of dollars in revenues to try to make our country safe, and we have not made nearly enough progress." With Katrina, he noted that "we had some time to prepare. When it's a nuclear, chemical or biological attack," there will be no warning. Indeed, the warnings about New Orleans's vulnerability to post-hurricane flooding repeatedly circulated at the upper levels of the new bureaucracy, which had absorbed the old lead agency for disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among its two dozen fiefdoms. "Beyond terrorism, this was the one event I was most concerned with always," said Joe M. Allbaugh, the former Bush campaign manager who served as his first FEMA head. But several current and former senior officials charged that those worries were never accorded top priority -- either by FEMA's management or their superiors in DHS. Even when officials held a practice run, as they did in an exercise dubbed "Hurricane Pam" last year, they did not test for the worst-case scenario, rehearsing only what they would do if a Category 3 storm hit New Orleans, not the Category 4 power of Katrina. And after Pam, the planned follow-up study was never completed, according to a FEMA=20 official involved. "The whole department was stood up, it was started because of 9/11 and that's the bottom line," said C. Suzanne Mencer, a former senior homeland security official whose office took on some of the preparedness functions that had once been FEMA's. "We didn't have an appropriate response to 9/11, and that is why it was stood up and where the funding has been directed. The message was ... we need to be better prepared against terrorism." The roots of last week's failures will be examined for weeks and months to come, but early assessments point to a troubled Department of Homeland Security that is still in the midst of a bureaucratic transition, a "work in progress," as Mencer put it. Some current and former officials argued that as it worked to focus on counterterrorism, the department has diminished the government's ability to respond in a nuts-and-bolts way to disasters in general, and failed to focus enough on threats posed by hurricanes and other natural disasters in particular. From an independent Cabinet-level agency, FEMA has become an underfunded, isolated piece of the vast DHS, yet it is still charged with leading the government's response to disaster. "It's such an irony I hate to say it, but we have less capability today than we did on September 11," said a veteran FEMA official involved in the hurricane response. "We are so much less than what we were in 2000," added another senior FEMA official. "We've lost a lot of what we were able to do then." The DHS experiment is so far-flung that the department's leadership has focused much of its attention simply on the massive complications that resulted from creating one entity out of agencies as varied as the U.S. Coast Guard, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Transportation Security Administration. When Chertoff took office earlier this year, he made his top priority an entirely new bureaucratic reorganization less than two years after the department's creation, dubbed the "second-stage review." The review, still pending, recommends taking away a key remaining function, preparedness planning, from FEMA and giving it to "a strengthened department preparedness directorate." The procedures for what to do when the inevitable disaster hit were also subjected to a bureaucratic overhaul, still unfinished, by the department. Indeed, just last Tuesday, as New Orleans was drowning and DHS officials were still hours away from invoking the department's highest crisis status for the catastrophe, some department contractors found an important e-mail in their inboxes. Attached were two documents -- one more than 400 pages long -- that spelled out in numbing, acronym-filled detail the planned "national preparedness goal." The checklist, called a Universal Task List, appeared to cover every eventuality in a disaster, from the need to handle evacuations to speedy urban search and rescue to circulating "prompt, accurate and useful" emergency information. Even animal health and "fatality management" were= covered. But the documents were not a menu for action in the devastated Gulf Coast. They were drafts, not slated for approval and release until October, more than four years after 9/11. "Basically, this is the rules of engagement for national emergency events, whether natural or manmade. It covers every element of what you would have expected to already have been in place," said the contractor who provided the e-mail to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because he feared jeopardizing his firm's work. "This is the federal government template to engage, and this is being discussed in draft form." FEMA Lost in the Shuffle. Until 1979, the federal government had no one agency responsible for dealing with disaster. But that year, President Jimmy Carter created FEMA out of a patchwork of smaller agencies. Born at the tail end of the Cold War, FEMA had a mission largely defined as nuclear fallout shelters and other civil defense measures, though in reality it dealt with "hurricane after hurricane," as Jane Bullock, a 22-year agency veteran who was FEMA chief of staff in President Bill Clinton's administration, noted. After Hurricane Hugo hit in 1989 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992, federal response was panned, and FEMA was due for an overhaul. It got it in 1993, when Clinton brought in James Lee Witt, a veteran emergency manager and political ally, to take over, granted the agency Cabinet-level status and gave it a highly visible role it had not previously had. Its response to crises such as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing received high marks, though some Republicans complained that it was used as a pot of money doled out to bolster Clinton's political standing. But after 9/11, FEMA lost out in the massive bureaucratic shuffle. Not only did its Cabinet status disappear, but it became one of 22 government agencies to be consolidated into Homeland Security. For a time, recalled Ervin, even its name was slated to vanish and become simply the directorate of emergency preparedness and response until then-DHS Secretary Tom Ridge relented. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers from hurricane-prone states fought a rear-guard action against FEMA's absorption. "What we were afraid of, and what is coming to pass, is that FEMA has basically been destroyed as a coherent, fast-on-its-feet, independent agency," said Rep. David E. Price (D-N.C.). In creating DHS, "people were thinking about the possibility of terrorism," said Walter Gillis Peacock, director of the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center at Texas A&M University. "They weren't thinking about the reality of a hurricane." Hurricanes were not totally absent from the calculations about the new department, according to several former Bush administration officials. Bush tapped his chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., to supervise DHS's creation; a decade earlier, Card had been personally deputized by Bush's father to go to Florida and take charge of the much-criticized response to Hurricane Andrew. "We definitely did worry about it," recalled Richard A. Falkenrath, who served as a White House homeland security adviser at the time DHS was being formed. "We knew we should do no harm to the disaster management side. The leadership of the White House knows the political significance of disasters." From the day it came into existence on March 1, 2003, the department of 180,000 employees and a nearly $40 billion annual budget was tasked by a presidential directive with developing a comprehensive new plan for disasters. The National Response Plan was supposed to supersede the confusing overlay of federal, state and local disaster plans, and to designate a "principal officer in the event of an incident of national significance." An accompanying new National Incident Management System would integrate all the cascades of information. "The problem was, who was in charge on 9/11? Who the hell knew? They kept asking and asking. You needed some clarity," Falkenrath recalled. "It was supposed to pull it all together. . . . But FEMA was grousing about that; they thought it was taking things away from them." Focus on Terrorism In creating the department, President Bush made one of its central missions "all-hazards preparedness," operating on the philosophy -- as the government has for at least the past two decades -- that most disaster preparation is the same, whether the crisis is natural or manmade. Yet DHS in reality emphasized terrorism at the expense of other threats, said several current and former senior department officials and experts who have closely monitored its creation, cutting funding for natural disaster programs and downgrading the responsibilities and capabilities of the previously well-regarded FEMA. In theory, spending resources on response to terrorism should result in improved response to any disaster, but FEMA's supporters argue that the money was being spent outside the framework of the agency actually equipped to respond. "The federal system that was perfected in the '90s has been deconstructed," said Bullock. Citing a study that found that the United States now spends $180 million a year to fend off natural hazards vs. $20 billion annually against terrorism, Bullock said, "FEMA has been marginalized. ... There is one focus and the focus is on terrorism." The White House's Homeland Security Council developed 15 scenarios for the department to concern itself about -- everything from a terrorist dirty-bomb attack to a Baghdad-style improvised explosive device. Only three were not terrorism scenarios: a pandemic flu, a major earthquake and a major hurricane. By this year, almost three of every four grant dollars appropriated to DHS for first responders went to programs explicitly focused on terrorism, the Government Accountability Office noted in a July report. Out of $3.4 billion in proposed spending for homeland security preparedness grants in the upcoming fiscal year, GAO found, $2.6 billion would be on terrorism-focused programs. At the same time, the budget for much of what remained of FEMA has been cut every year; for the current fiscal year, funding for the core FEMA functions went down to $444 million from $664 million. New leaders such as Allbaugh were critical of FEMA's natural disaster focus and lectured senior managers about the need to adjust to the post-9/11 fear of terrorism. So did his friend Michael D. Brown, a lawyer with no previous disaster management experience whom Allbaugh brought in as his deputy and who now has the top FEMA post. "Allbaugh's quote was 'You don't get it,' " recalled the senior FEMA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "If you brought up natural disasters, you were accused of being a pre-9/11 thinker." The result, the official said, was that "FEMA was being taxed by the department, having money and slots taken. Because we didn't conform with the mission of the agency." "I'm guilty of saying, 'you don't get it,' " Allbaugh said. "Absolutely." The former FEMA chief said he had encountered bureaucratic resistance to thinking about a "monumental" disaster, such as Katrina or 9/11, rather than the more standard diet of "tornadoes and rising waters." But experts in emergency response inside and outside the government sounded warnings about the changes at FEMA. Peacock said FEMA's traditional emphasis on emergency response "all went up in smoke" after 9/11, creating a "blind spot" as a result of a "police-action, militaristic view" of homeland security. When it came to natural disasters, "It was not only forgetting about it, it was not funding it." Jack Harrald, director of the Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management at George Washington University, said FEMA's natural disaster focus was nearly liquidated. "We ended up spending a lot of money on infrastructure protection and not the resiliency of the actual infrastructure," Harrald said. "The people who came in from the military and terrorist world thought we had the natural disaster thing fixed." Rebuffed Offers of Aid. On the Friday before Katrina hit, when it was already a Category 2 hurricane rapidly gathering force in the Gulf, a veteran FEMA employee arrived at the newly activated Washington headquarters for the storm. Inside, there was surprisingly little action. "It was like nobody's turning the key to start the engine," the official recalled. Brown, the agency's director, told reporters Saturday in Louisiana that he did not have a sense of what was coming last weekend. "I was here on Saturday and Sunday, it was my belief, I'm trying to think of a better word than typical -- that minimizes, any hurricane is bad -- but we had the standard hurricane coming in here, that we could move in immediately on Monday and start doing our kind of response-recovery effort," he said. "Then the levees broke, and the levees went, you've seen it by the television coverage. That hampered our ability, made it even more complex." But other officials said they warned well before Monday about what could happen. For years, said another senior FEMA official, he had sat at meetings where plans were discussed to send evacuees to the Superdome. "We used to stare at each other and say, 'This is the plan? Are you really using the Superdome?' People used to say, what if there is water around it? They didn't have an alternative," he recalled. In the run-up to the current crisis, Allbaugh said he knew "for a fact" that officials at FEMA and other federal agencies had requested that New Orleans issue a mandatory evacuation order earlier than Sunday morning. But DHS did not ask the U.S. military to assist in pre-hurricane evacuation efforts, despite well-known estimates that a major hurricane would cause levees in New Orleans to fail. In an interview, the general charged with operations for the military's Northern Command said such a request to help with the evacuation "did not come our way." "At the point that we were all watching the evacuation and the clogged Interstate 10 going to the west on Sunday, we were watching the storm very carefully," Maj. Gen. Richard Rowe said. "At that time, it was a Category 5 storm and we knew that it would be among the worst storms to ever hit the United States. ... I knew there was an excellent chance of flooding." Others who went out of their way to offer help were turned down, such as Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who told reporters his city had offered emergency, medical and technical help as early as last Sunday to FEMA but was turned down. Only a single tank truck was requested, Daley said. Red tape kept the American Ambulance Association from sending 300 emergency vehicles from Florida to the flood zone, according to former senator John Breaux (D-La.) They were told to get permission from the General Services Administration. "GSA said they had to have FEMA ask for it," Breaux told CNN. "As a result they weren't sent." Federal authorities say there is blame enough to go around. In a news conference yesterday, Chertoff cautioned against "finger-pointing" and said no one had been equipped to handle what amounted to two simultaneous disasters -- the hurricane and subsequent levee break. Other federal and state officials pointed to Louisiana's failure to measure up to national disaster response standards, noting that the federal plan advises state and local emergency managers not to expect federal aid for 72 to 96 hours, and base their own preparedness efforts on the need to be self-sufficient for at least that period. "Fundamentally the first breakdown occurred at the local level," said one state official who works with FEMA. "Did the city have the situational awareness of what was going on within its borders? The answer was no." But many outraged politicians in both parties have concluded that the federal government failed to meet the commitments it made after Sept. 11, 2001. Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said DHS had failed. "We've been told time and time again that we are prepared for any emergency that comes, that we're ready," he said. "We're obviously not." Thompson said, for example, that oil pipelines in the Southeast have been identified by DHS as critical national infrastructure to be protected against terrorist attack. In the wake of the hurricane, they have been= crippled by floods." We have to review all our systems," Thompson said. "If a byproduct of what happened in New Orleans is we have this gas crisis all over the country, it doesn't matter whether a terrorist hits it or a hurricane hits it. You have the same effect." Staff writers Peter Baker, Bradley Graham, Spencer S. Hsu, Dafna Linzer and Michael Powell and researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 The Washington Post Company 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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 ------------------------------ From: Alan Sayre Subject: New Orleans Begins Counting its Dead Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 16:32:34 -0500 By ALAN SAYRE, Associated Press Writer New Orleans turned much of its attention Sunday to gathering up and counting the dead across a ghastly landscape awash in perhaps thousands of corpses. "It is going to be about as ugly of a scene as I think you can imagine," the nation's homeland security chief warned. Air and boat crews also searched flooded neighborhoods for survivors, and federal officials urged those still left in New Orleans to leave for their own safety. To expedite the rescues, the Coast Guard requested through the media that anyone stranded hang out brightly colored or white linens or something else to draw attention. But with the electricity out though much of the city, it was not known if the message was being received. With large-scale evacuations completed at the Superdome and Convention Center, the death toll was not known. But bodies were everywhere: floating in canals, slumped in wheelchairs, abandoned on highways and medians and hidden in attics. "I think it's evident it's in the thousands," Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said Sunday on CNN, echoing predictions by city and state officials last week. The U.S. Public Health Service said one morgue alone, at a St. Gabriel prison, expected 1,000 to 2,000 bodies. In the first official count in the New Orleans area, Louisiana emergency medical director Louis Cataldie said authorities had verified 59 deaths - 10 of them at the Superdome. "We need to prepare the country for what's coming," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on "Fox News Sunday." "We are going to uncover people who died, maybe hiding in houses, got caught by the flood. ... It is going to be about as ugly of a scene as I think you can imagine." Chertoff said rescuers have encountered a number of people who said they did not want to evacuate. "That is not a reasonable alternative," he said. "We are not going to be able to have people sitting in houses in the city of New Orleans for weeks and months while we de-water and clean this city. ... The flooded places, when they're de-watered, are not going to be sanitary." In addition to civilian deaths, New Orleans' police department has had to deal with suicides in its ranks. Two officers took their lives, including the department spokesman, Paul Accardo, who died Saturday, according to W.J. Riley, police superintendent. Both shot themselves in the head, Riley said. "I've got some firefighters and police officers that have been pretty much traumatized," Mayor Ray Nagin said. "And we've already had a couple of suicides, so I am cycling them out as we speak. ... They need physical and psychological evaluations." The strain was apparent in other ways. Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, dropped his head and cried on NBC's "Meet the Press." "The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home, and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "And yeah, Momma, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday" - and she drowned Friday night. She drowned on Friday night," Broussard said. "Nobody's coming to get her, nobody's coming to get her. The secretary's promise, everybody's promise. They've had press conferences -- I'm sick of the press conferences. For God's sakes, shut up and send us somebody." Hundreds of thousands of people already have been evacuated, seeking safety in Texas, Tennessee and other states. The first group of refugees who will take shelter in Arizona arrived Sunday in Phoenix. With more than 230,000 already in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry ordered emergency officials to begin preparations to airlift some of them to other states that have offered help. What will happen to the refugees in the long term was not known. Back in New Orleans, walk-up stragglers at the Convention Center were checked by Navy medics before they were evacuated. Lt. Andy Steczo said he treated people for bullet wounds, knife wounds, infections, dehydration and chronic problems such as diabetes. "We're cleaning them up the best we can and then shipping them out," Steczo said. One person he treated was 56-year-old Pedro Martinez, who had a gash on his ankle and cuts on his knuckle and forearm. Martinez said he was injured while helping people onto rescue boats. "I don't have any medication and it hurts. I'm glad to get out of here," he said. In a devastated section on the edge of the French Quarter, people went into a store, whose windows were already shattered, and took out bottles of soda and juice. A corpse of an elderly man lay wrapped in a child's bedsheet decorated with the cartoon characters Batman, Robin and the Riddler. The body was in a wooden cart on Rampart Street, one shoe on, one shoe off. Rene Gibson, 42, driving a truck while hunting for water and ice, said people are not going to leave willingly. "People been all their life. They don't know nothing else," he said. Amid the tragedy, about two dozen people gathered in the French Quarter for the Decadence Parade, an annual Labor Day celebration, normally attended by thousands of GLBT people nationwide. Matt Menold, 23, a street musician wearing a sombrero and a guitar slung over his back, said: "It's New Orleans, man. We're going to celebrate." In New Orleans' Garden District, a woman's body lay at the corner of Jackson Avenue and Magazine Street -- a business area with antique shops on the edge of blighted housing. The body had been there since at least Wednesday. As days passed, people covered the corpse with blankets or plastic. By Sunday, a short wall of bricks had been built around the body, holding down a plastic tarpaulin. On it, someone had spray-painted a cross and the words, "Here lies Vera. God help us." Associated Press reporters Dan Sewell and Robert Tanner contributed to this report. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To read other AP reports each day, go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Serrano & Gaouette Subject: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 16:35:08 -0500 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-levee4sep04,0,6360838,full.story By Richard A. Serrano and Nicole Gaouette LA Times Writers KATRINA'S AFTERMATH Despite Warnings, Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects. To cut spending, officials gambled that the worst-case scenario would not come to be. September 4, 2005 WASHINGTON - For years, Washington had been warned that doom lurked just beyond the levees. And for years, the White House and Congress had dickered over how much money to put into shoring up century-old dikes and carrying out newer flood control projects to protect the city of New Orleans. As recently as three months ago, the alarms were sounding -- and being brushed aside. In late May, the New Orleans district of the Army Corps of Engineers formally notified Washington that hurricane storm surges could knock out two of the big pumping stations that must operate night and day even under normal conditions to keep the city dry. Also, the Corps said, several levees had settled and would soon need to be raised. And it reminded Washington that an ambitious flood-control study proposed four years before remained just that -- a written proposal never put into action for lack of funding. What a powerful hurricane could do to New Orleans and the area's critical transportation, energy and petrochemical facilities had been well understood. So now, nearly a week into the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, hard questions are being raised about Washington officials who crossed their fingers and counted on luck once too often. The reasons the city's defenses were not strengthened enough to handle such a storm are deeply rooted in the politics and bureaucracy of Washington. With the advantage of hindsight, the miscues seem even broader. Construction proposals were often underfunded or not completed. Washing- ton officials could never agree on how much money would be needed to protect New Orleans. And there hung in the air a false sense of security that a storm like Katrina was a long shot nyway. As a result, when the immediate crisis eases and inquiries into what went wrong begin, there is likely to be responsibility and blame enough for almost every institution in Washington, including the White House, Congress, the Army Corps of Engineers and a host of other federal agencies. For example, Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, the Corps commander, conceded Friday that the government had known the New Orleans levees could never withstand a hurricane higher than a Category 3. Corps officials shuddered, he said, when they realized that Katrina was barreling down on the Gulf Coast with the vastly greater destructive force of a Category 5 -- the strongest type of hurricane. Washington, he said, had rolled the dice. Rather than come up with the extra millions of dollars needed to make the city safer, officials believed that such a devastating storm was a small probability and that, with the level of protection that had been funded, "99.5% of the time this would work." Unfortunately, Strock said, "we did not address the 0.5%." Corps officials said the floodwaters breached at two spots: the 17th Street Canal Levee and the London Avenue Canal Levee. Connie Gillette, a Corps spokeswoman, said Saturday there never had been any plans or funds allocated to shore up those spots -- another sign the government expected them to hold. Nevertheless, the Corps hardly was alone in failing to address what it meant to have a major metropolitan area situated mostly below sea level, sitting squarely in the middle of the Gulf Coast's Hurricane Alley. Many federal, state and local flood improvement officials kept asking for more dollars for more ambitious protection projects. But the White House kept scaling down those requests. And each time, although congressional leaders were more generous with funding than the White House, the House and Senate never got anywhere near to approving the amounts that experts had said was needed. What happened this year was typical: Local levee and flood prevention officials, along with Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.), asked for $78 million in project funds. President Bush offered them less than half that -- $30 million. Congress ended up authorizing $36.5 million. Since Bush took office in 2001, local experts and Landrieu have asked for just short of $500 million. Altogether, Bush in his yearly budgets asked for $166 million, and Congress approved about $250 million. These budget decisions reflect a reality in Washington: to act with an eye toward short-term political rewards instead of making long-term investments to deal with problems. Vincent Gawronski, an assistant professor at Birmingham Southern College in Alabama who studies the political impact of natural disasters, said the lost chances to shore up the levees were a classic example of government leaders who, although meaning well, clashed over priorities. "Elected politicians are in office for a limited amount of time and with a limited amount of money, and they don't really have a long-term vision for spending it," he said. "So you spend your pot of money where you feel you're going to get the most political support so you can get reelected. It's very difficult to think long-term. If you invest in these levees, is that going to show an immediate return or does it take away from anything else?" Gawronski said flood control projects do not have the appeal of other endeavors, such as cancer research and police protection. At the same time, Congress habitually approves billions of dollars for highways and bridges and other infrastructure that politically benefits individual congressmen. Gawronski called it inexcusable for the United States to have been "gambling so long" that the old levee system in New Orleans would hold. "Disasters are often low probability, high consequence events, so there's a gamble there," he said. "It's not going to happen on my watch, there's the potential it might, but I'll bet it won't." In the case of New Orleans and flood control, another factor was at work: the reputation of the Corps of Engineers. Over the years, many in Washington had come to regard the Corps as an out-of-control agency that championed huge projects and sometimes exaggerated need and benefits. The Corps began as a tiny regiment during the Revolutionary War era; it now employs about 35,000 people to build dams, deepen harbors, dig ditches and erect seawalls, among other things. But critics say some projects are make-work boondoggles. In 2000, Corps leaders were found to have manipulated an economic study to justify a Mississippi River project that would have cost billions. The agency also launched a secret growth initiative to boost its budget by 50%. And the Pentagon found in 2000 that the Corps' cost-benefit analyses were systematically skewed to warrant large-scale construction projects. As a result, said a senior staffer with the Senate Appropriations Committee who spoke on condition of anonymity, requests by the Corps for flood control money were especially vulnerable to budget cutting. "A lot of people just look at it as pork," said the staffer. The Bush administration's former budget director, Mitch Daniels, was known as an aggressive advocate for Corps reform who cast a skeptical eye on its budget requests. "The Army Corps of Engineers has a very large budget, and it has grown a lot over recent years," Daniels, now the governor of Indiana, said. "To the extent there's been any limitation of [the Corps'] budget, it has to do with previous tendencies to build marinas and things that don't have much to do with preparing us for disaster." The Bush White House maintains it never ignored the security needs of the Gulf Coast. "Flood control has been a priority of this administration from Day One," said White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. He said hundreds of millions of dollars were spent in the New Orleans area in recent years for flood prevention, and he said the failure of the levees was not a matter of money so much as a problem with drawing the right plans for the dike work and other improvements. "It's been more of a design issue with the levees," he said. Other administration officials said there were not enough construction companies and equipment to handle all the work that had been proposed. John Paul Woodley Jr., assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, who has responsibility for the Corps of Engineers, said: "It's true, we cannot accomplish all of our projects at full funding all the time. I think that's true of any agency, particularly any public works agency, but we had a lot of work underway in New Orleans, and I was personally supportive of it. "As a native of Louisiana," Woodley said, "I understand the problems associated with flooding in New Orleans. I don't think there's any lack of support for flood control projects in New Orleans, particularly within the context of other projects around the country." On Capitol Hill in recent years, several Democrats warned that more money should be marked for the protection of New Orleans. For instance, in September 2004, Landrieu said she was tired of hearing there was no money to do more work on levees. "We're told, can't do it this year. Don't have enough money. It's not a high enough priority," she said in a Senate speech. "Well, I know when it's going to get to be a high enough priority." She then told of a New Orleans emergency worker who had collected several thousand body bags in the event of a major flood. "Let's hope that never happens," she said. But in May 2004, then Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he had visited the levees as a guest of Landrieu and believed them adequate. He praised the ancient water pumps for keeping the waters from cascading into the city, proclaiming them "these old, old pumps that hadn't been changed since before the turn of the century, that still keep New Orleans dry." "It was as clean as a restaurant," he added. "These big old pumps work." Today, eight of those 22 pumps are underwater and inoperable. Over the years, several projects either were short-changed or never got started. The Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project was authorized by Congress after a rainstorm killed six people in May 1995. It was to be finished in 10 years, but funding reductions prevented its completion before Katrina struck. The Army Corps of Engineers did spend $430 million to renovate pumping stations and shore up the levees. But experts said the project fell behind schedule after funding was reduced in 2003 and 2004. The Lake Pontchartrain Project was a $750-million Corps operation for new levees and beefed-up pumping stations. Because of funding cuts, it was only 80% complete when the hurricane hit. The project that never was started was an examination of storm surges from large hurricanes. Congress approved the study but did not allocate the funds for it. In May, Al Naomi, the Corps' senior project manager for the New Orleans district, reminded political and business leaders and emergency management officials that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane was always possible. After that meeting, Walter Brooks, the regional planning commission director, came away shaking his head. "We've learned that we're not as safe as we thought we were," he told the local newspaper, the Times-Picayune. Last week, Corps commander Strock defended past work, saying, it was his "personal and professional assessment" that work in New Orleans was never underfunded. What he meant by that, he explained, was that no one expected such a large disaster before all the renovations and other improvements could be completed. "That was as good as it was going to get," he said. " We knew that it would protect from a Category 3 hurricane. In fact, it has been through a number of Category 3 hurricanes." But, he said, Katrina's intensity "simply exceeded the design capacity of the levee." Asked whether in hindsight he wished more had been done, Strock said: "I really don't express surprise in my business. We don't sit around and say 'Gee whiz.' " Times staff writer Mary Curtius contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: New Orleans Times-Picayune Editorial Subject: An Open Letter to President Bush Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 16:40:12 -0500 Orleans Breaking News Sunday, September 04, 2005 OUR OPINIONS: An open letter to the President Dear Mr. President: We heard you loud and clear Friday when you visited our devastated city and the Gulf Coast and said, "What is not working, we're going to make it right." Please forgive us if we wait to see proof of your promise before believing you. But we have good reason for our skepticism. Bienville built New Orleans where he built it for one main reason: It' s accessible. The city between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain was easy to reach in 1718. How much easier it is to access in 2005 now that there are interstates and bridges, airports and helipads, cruise ships, barges, buses and diesel-powered trucks. Despite the city's multiple points of entry, our nation's bureaucrats spent days after last week's hurricane wringing their hands, lamenting the fact that they could neither rescue the city's stranded victims nor bring them food, water and medical supplies. Meanwhile there were journalists, including some who work for The Times-Picayune, going in and out of the city via the Crescent City Connection. On Thursday morning, that crew saw a caravan of 13 Wal-Mart tractor trailers headed into town to bring food, water and supplies to a dying city. Television reporters were doing live reports from downtown New Orleans streets. Harry Connick Jr. brought in some aid Thursday, and his efforts were the focus of a "Today" show story Friday morning. Yet, the people trained to protect our nation, the people whose job it is to quickly bring in aid were absent. Those who should have been deploying troops were singing a sad song about how our city was impossible to reach. We're angry, Mr. President, and we'll be angry long after our beloved city and surrounding parishes have been pumped dry. Our people deserved rescuing. Many who could have been were not. That's to the government's sham e. Mayor Ray Nagin did the right thing Sunday when he allowed those with no other alternative to seek shelter from the storm inside the Louisiana Superdome. We still don't know what the death toll is, but one thing is certain: Had the Superdome not been opened, the city's death toll would have been higher. The toll may even have been exponentially higher. It was clear to us by late morning Monday that many people inside the Superdome would not be returning home. It should have been clear to our government, Mr. President. So why weren't they evacuated out of the city immediately? We learned seven years ago, when Hurricane Georges threatened, that the Dome isn't suitable as a long-term shelter. So what did state and national officials think would happen to tens of thousands of people trapped inside with no air conditioning, overflowing toilets and dwindling amounts of food, water and other essentials? State Rep. Karen Carter was right Friday when she said the city didn't have but two urgent needs: "Buses! And gas!" Every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fired, Director Michael Brown especially. In a nationally televised interview Thursday night, he said his agency hadn't known until that day that thousands of storm victims were stranded at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. He gave another nationally televised interview the next morning and said, "We've provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they've gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day." Lies don't get more bald-faced than that, GeeDubya. Yet, when you met with Mr. Brown Friday morning, you told him, "You're doing a heck of a job." That's unbelievable. There were thousands of people at the Convention Center because the riverfront is high ground. The fact that so many people had reached there on foot is proof that rescue vehicles could have gotten there, too. We, who are from New Orleans, are no less American than those who live on the Great Plains or along the Atlantic Seaboard. We're no less important than those from the Pacific Northwest or Appalachia. Our people deserved to be rescued. No expense should have been spared. No excuses should have been voiced. Especially not one as preposterous as the claim that New Orleans couldn't be reached. Mr. President, we sincerely hope you fulfill your promise to make our beloved communities work right once again. When you do, we will be the first to applaud. Copyright 2003 NOLA.com. All Rights Reserved. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 23:36:18 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Mobile Phones: Half Want the Extras; Half Don't Please reply on list. I'm not checking this email very often. http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/mobile-phones-half-want-the-extras-half-= dont/2005/08/31/1125302629053.html Welcome to Sydney Morning Herald Online. Mobile phones: half want the extras, half don't By Julian Lee Marketing Reporter September 1, 2005 Women buy more ring tones for their mobile phones than men, are more likely to get Samsung handsets and regularly dial up for astrology. Men use their mobiles for news, sport, comedy and porn. As for married couples, the latest movie reviews are the most popular landing spot. These are among the findings of a study by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association of Australia's 18 million mobile phone users. "This comprehensively tells us what people are doing with their phones and it gives us something to go on in determining why," said Oliver Weidlich, an Ideal Interfaces "usability" expert and co-author of the Report on the Australian Mobile Content Customer. One-third of respondents said they liked the services on mobile phones and found them useful and those who were already using 3G networks bought "significantly" more than users of other networks. One-third had bought a ring tone in the last year, one-quarter an accessory for their phone. Those who had bought a wallpaper, logo or screensaver for their handset had done so an average of seven times a year. But perhaps the most sobering finding was the number of people who did not want any content on their phone. Fifty-one per cent of respondents said: "I don't care; I just want to use it for phone calls." Almost everyone used SMS; women more than men. Just one-fifth used picture messaging. A mere 6 per cent used their phones for email. When it came to services they would like to see in future, nearly half said= maps and more ring tones, and 44 per cent wanted timetables for trains and buses. Two-thirds wanted email and more than half instant messaging services. But Mr Weidlich said marketers needed to realise mobile phone services had not always lived up to expectations. Claudia Sagripanti, convenor of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association's mobile content group, said: "This survey shows that people have come back and purchased repeatedly so the experience has got better since things like WAP [wireless application protocol], which was a few years ago, and the industry is very careful about overpromising." The study surveyed 2486 people, 80 per cent of them under 35, in April. - Optus has 33% of subscribers, Telstra 31%, Vodafone 17% - Of owners, 60% have Nokia phones, 10% Sony Ericsson, 10% Motorola, 8% Samsung, 6% LG - News services draw 17% of users, sport 13%, weather 13%, astrology 12% Copyright 2005. The Sydney Morning Herald. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Sydney Morning Herald. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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 #404 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 5 17:19:48 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id E36EF14FFB; Mon, 5 Sep 2005 17:19:47 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #405 Message-Id: <20050905211947.E36EF14FFB@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 17:19:47 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 5 Sep 2005 17:19:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 405 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Katrina's Real Name - The Boston Globe (Marcus Didius Falco) Australian Court Rules Against Kazaa (Michael Perry) Cellphones and Blimps? (Thomas A. Horsley) For Victims, News About Home Can Come From Strangers Online (Monty Solomon) A Major Backfire in Japan Deflates Vodafone's One-Size-Fits-All (M Solomon) How to Make Phone Calls Without a Telephone (Monty Solomon) Why the Internet Isn't the Death of the Post Office (Monty Solomon) New Technology May Increase Identity Theft - Scientist (Monty Solomon) Report Says US Data Secrecy Expanding and Getting Costlier (Monty Solomon) Not Even Web Retailers Will Be Exempt From the Aftereffects (Monty Solomon) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? (Joseph) Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects (Tony P.) Re: Internet is Bulletin Board For Katrina Victims (jmeissen@aracnet.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: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 23:49:37 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Katrina's Real Name - The Boston Globe Replies on-list only, please http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/08/30/katrinas_real_name/ By Ross Gelbspan | August 30, 2005 THE HURRICANE that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming. When the year began with a two-foot snowfall in Los Angeles, the cause was global warming. When 124-mile-an-hour winds shut down nuclear plants in Scandinavia and cut power to hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland and the United Kingdom, the driver was global warming. When a severe drought in the Midwest dropped water levels in the Missouri River to their lowest on record earlier this summer, the reason was global warming. In July, when the worst drought on record triggered wildfires in Spain and Portugal and left water levels in France at their lowest in 30 years, the explanation was global warming. When a lethal heat wave in Arizona kept temperatures above 110 degrees and killed more than 20 people in one week, the culprit was global warming. And when the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai) received 37 inches of rain in one day -- killing 1,000 people and disrupting the lives of 20 million others -- the villain was global warming. As the atmosphere warms, it generates longer droughts, more-intense downpours, more-frequent heat waves, and more-severe storms. Although Katrina began as a relatively small hurricane that glanced off south Florida, it was supercharged with extraordinary intensity by the relatively blistering sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico. The consequences are as heartbreaking as they are terrifying. Unfortunately, very few people in America know the real name of Hurricane Katrina because the coal and oil industries have spent millions of dollars to keep the public in doubt about the issue. The reason is simple: To allow the climate to stabilize requires humanity to cut its use of coal and oil by 70 percent. That, of course, threatens the survival of one of the largest commercial enterprises in history. In 1995, public utility hearings in Minnesota found that the coal industry had paid more than $1 million to four scientists who were public dissenters on global warming. And ExxonMobil has spent more than $13 million since 1998 on an anti-global warming public relations and lobbying campaign. In 2000, big oil and big coal scored their biggest electoral victory yet when President George W. Bush was elected president -- and subsequently took suggestions from the industry for his climate and energy policies. As the pace of climate change accelerates, many researchers fear we have already entered a period of irreversible runaway climate change. Against this background, the ignorance of the American public about global warming stands out as an indictment of the US media. When the US press has bothered to cover the subject of global warming, it has focused almost exclusively on its political and diplomatic aspects and not on what the warming is doing to our agriculture, water supplies, plant and animal life, public health, and weather. For years, the fossil fuel industry has lobbied the media to accord the same weight to a handful of global warming skeptics that it accords the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- more than 2,000 scientists from 100 countries reporting to the United Nations. Today, with the science having become even more robust -- and the impacts as visible as the megastorm that covered much of the Gulf of Mexico -- the press bears a share of the guilt for our self-induced destruction with the oil and coal industries. As a Bostonian, I am afraid that the coming winter will -- like last winter -- be unusually short and devastatingly severe. At the beginning of 2005, a deadly ice storm knocked out power to thousands of people in New England and dropped a record-setting 42.2 inches of snow on Boston. The conventional name of the month was January. Its real name is global warming. Ross Gelbspan is author of 'The Heat Is On' and 'Boiling Point.' Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To read NY Times on line each day, no registration or login requirements, go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ From: Michael Perry Subject: Australian Court Rules Against Kazaa Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 10:24:19 -0500 By Michael Perry An Australian court ruled on Monday that users of Kazaa, a popular internet music file-swapping system, breached music copyright and ordered its owners to modify the software to protect copyright. Federal Court Judge Murray Wilcox ruled that Kazaa's owners, Sharman Networks, had not breached copyright but had encouraged millions of Kazaa users worldwide to do so. "The respondents have long known that the Kazaa system is widely used for the sharing of copyright files," said Wilcox in his ruling in a Sydney court. Australia's major record companies sued Kazaa's Australian owners and developers, Sharman Networks, claiming Kazaa's breach of copyright had cost them millions of dollars in lost sales. "The court has ruled the current Kazaa system illegal," Michael Speck, a spokesman for the Australian music industry, told reporters outside the court. "It is a great day for artists, it is a great day for anyone who wants to make a living from music," Speck said. The record companies will now seek damages for hundreds of millions of pirated music downloads, saying Sharman Networks had boasted that Kazaa downloaded 270 million tracks a month. The music companies include the local arms of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group, Warner, Universal Music and several Australian firms. Sharman Networks defended the use of the internet to download music tracks, telling the court that file sharing reflected a revolution in the way music was distributed and sold. It said it had copyright protection in place, such as its licensing agreement, but added it could not control the actions of an estimated 100 million worldwide users. Judge Wilcox said Kazaa failed to use available technology, such as key word filters, to prevent copyright infringements because it would have been against its financial interest. He said that Kazaa's "Join the Revolution" Web site campaign to attract users did not directly advocate sharing copyright files, but criticised record companies for opposing file sharing. "It seems that Kazaa users are predominately young people, the effect of this web page would be to encourage visitors to think it 'cool' to defy the record companies by ignoring constraints," Wilcox said. Wilcox ordered Sharman Networks modify the Kazaa software with filters to protect copyright. "If Kazaa cleans up its act and does what the court has ordered it to do, stop its illegal business, then they have an opportunity to be part of the music industry," said music industry spokesman Speck. Recorded music sales have slipped in recent years, with global sales down 7.6 per cent in 2003 to $32 billion, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The federation blames rampant piracy, poor economic conditions and competition from video games and DVDs for the slump. Supporters of file swapping argue that it can encourage people to buy music by exposing them to a range of styles. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ Subject: Cellphones and Blimps? From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 15:26:54 GMT Curious about something in the wake of Katrina: If we had been prepared to do so, could cellphone communications have been restored (at least periodically) to the area by flying any kind of cell relay equipment over the area in blimps? I can imagine it would take special equipment, since cell towers are usually attached to land lines and a blimp (obviously) won't have a landline connection, but I do wonder if something like that could be feasible for getting at least limited communications re-established quickly? >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 11:49:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: For Victims, News About Home Can Come From Strangers Online By KATIE HAFNER SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 4 - On Friday afternoon, Leonard Sprague, a general contractor in Gainesville, Fla., saw the electronic plea. "I hope someone can help," someone using the name ZuluOne wrote to an online bulletin board. "I am trying to get a current overlay for the area around 2203 Curcor Court in Gulfport, Miss." Mr. Sprague knew that "current overlay" meant a bird's-eye view. And an altruistic impulse combined with an urge to play with a new technology propelled him into action. Using his PC, he superimposed a freshly available posthurricane aerial photograph over a prehurricane image of the same neighborhood. After 15 minutes, he had an answer. "Actually, it looks like your house looks pretty good," Mr. Sprague told ZuluOne by e-mail. "Unfortunately, it doesn't look so good for some of your neighbors. Best of luck to you and your family." In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of displaced residents and their relatives -- along with people like Mr. Sprague -- have turned to the Internet for information about a home feared damaged or destroyed. Many are using Google Earth, a program available at the Google Web site that lets users zoom in on any address for an aerial view drawn from a database of satellite photos. By the end of last week, a grass-roots effort had identified scores of posthurricane images, determined the geographical coordinates and visual landmarks to enable their integration into the Google Earth program, and posted them to a Google Earth bulletin board -- the place ZuluOne turned for help. Most of the images originated with the Remote Sensing Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has been posting them to its Web site http://noaa.gov since Wednesday. Taking inspiration from the online volunteers, Google, NASA and Carnegie Mellon University had by Saturday night made the effort more formal, incorporating nearly 4,000 posthurricane images into the Google Earth database http://earth.google.com for public use. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/technology/05google.html?ex=1283572800&en=e092019eb18b6b94&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 12:06:06 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Major Backfire in Japan Deflates Vodafone's One-Size-Fits-All By MARTIN FACKLER and KEN BELSON September 5, 2005 TOKYO - Yoko Yakushiji's biggest complaint with her Vodafone cellphone was not just the lack of functions, the expensive bills or the poor signal. It was not even the delays in receiving text messages. What annoyed her most was feeling like a social outcast, cut off from the instantaneous electronic world of Japan's tech-savvy youth. The 21-year-old university student says she often missed friends' calls and messages with invitations to meals, parties and even class assignments. In April, she switched providers -- something she had resisted because she had to change her phone number and phone-based e-mail address. "My friends used to treat me differently. They'd say things like, 'Oh, you can't reach Yoko. She's got Vodafone,' " said Ms. Yakushiji, a junior in international finance at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo. "I just couldn't take it anymore." Ms. Yakushiji was not the only one, as Vodafone, the world's largest cellphone carrier, is finding out. Service problems, a botched rollout of its third-generation phone network and a skimpy lineup of new handsets have driven away Japanese customers in droves. The exodus has turned into an embarrassing and costly setback for Vodafone -- and one it is now struggling to overcome. Vodafone, which is based in London and also owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless in the United States, now must win back customers if it is to revive what was once one of its most profitable units and a cash cow for its global operations. Though the performance of its subsidiary in Japan has shown some signs of improving, it has fallen far behind its two larger rivals here, NTT DoCoMo and KDDI. Vodafone's woes in Japan are a lesson in how global corporations can stumble if they try to push a sales agenda across many national markets without heeding local quirks. The company admits that its biggest misstep was a decision to focus its lineup in Japan on what it calls "converged handsets" -- mobile phones that Vodafone released in December in 13 countries simultaneously. By offering the same phones to many of its 165 million worldwide subscribers, Vodafone hoped to drive down handset prices. But the one-size-fits-all approach backfired in Japan. Features that were acceptable in Europe or the United States appeared primitive and clunky in Japan. Consumers here are used to getting new technologies like high-resolution color screens, two-megapixel cameras and full Internet access a year or two before the rest of the world. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05vodaphone.html?ex=1283572800&en=b42572bbb0631922&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 12:26:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: How to Make Phone Calls Without a Telephone By THOMAS J. FITZGERALD Internet telephone service is well on its way into the mainstream. Companies like Vonage, using a technology called voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, offer cheap long-distance rates and features not found with conventional phone service. Cable giants, too, are taking Internet phones to the masses. Now a subset of VoIP services, called PC-to-phone service, is gaining momentum. With these services, users can make calls to and receive calls from regular phones on their PC's as long they have a broadband connection, VoIP software downloaded from the Web and a headset. One advantage of such services is the ability to make calls through an Internet-connected laptop when cellular service is unreliable. Many people also prefer the convenience of talking while working on a PC; the services can operate while you are doing other tasks on the computer. Another advantage is price. PC-to-phone VoIP rates are less expensive than conventional phone calls and in many cases cheaper than phone-to-phone VoIP services, which route calls through broadband modems to regular phones. Early versions of these services have been around since the late 1990's, but the rise of Skype, a mostly free VoIP service using file-sharing technology, has increased competition in the field. Yahoo, America Online and Microsoft have each announced plans to add new phone services to future versions of their instant messaging programs. And last week, Google introduced Google Talk, a free service that enables users to talk through their computers and could be a first step toward a PC-to-phone service. PC-to-phone services available today from companies like Skype, SIPphone, i2Telecom and Dialpad Communications offer many features like free PC-to-PC calling, conference calls, voice mail, choice of phone numbers, call forwarding and reduced long-distance rates, especially for international calls. But as with phone-to-phone VoIP services, call quality is not always perfect. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/technology/circuits/01basics.html?ex=1283227200&en=d515c0052b9b19fb&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 12:39:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Why the Internet Isn't the Death of the Post Office By JAMES FALLOWS MILLIONS of people now rent their movies the Netflix way. They fill out a wish list from the 50,000 titles on the company's Web site and receive the first few DVD's in the mail; when they mail each one back, the next one on the list is sent. The Netflix model has been exhaustively analyzed for its disruptive, new-economy implications. What will it mean for video stores like Blockbuster, which has, in fact, started a similar service? What will it mean for movie studios and theaters? What does it show about "long " businesses -- ones that amalgamate many niche markets, like those for Dutch movies or classic musicals, into a single large audience? But one other major implication has barely been mentioned: what this and similar Internet-based businesses mean for that stalwart of the old economy, the United States Postal Service. Every day, some two million Netflix envelopes come and go as first-class mail. They are joined by millions of other shipments from online pharmacies, eBay vendors, Amazon.com and other businesses that did not exist before the Internet. The eclipse of "snail mail" in the age of instant electronic communication has been predicted at least as often as the coming of the paperless office. But the consumption of paper keeps rising. (It has roughly doubled since 1980, with less use of newsprint and much more of ordinary office paper.) And so, with some nuances and internal changes, does the flow of material carried by mail. On average, an American household receives twice as many pieces of mail a day as it did in the 1970's. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/technology/04techno.html?ex=1283486400&en=03a3c97e10d5235b&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 00:18:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Technology May Increase Identity Theft - Scientist By Patricia Reaney | September 4, 2005 DUBLIN (Reuters) - New technology could increase rather than solve the problem of identity theft and fraud, a British criminologist warned on Monday. Identity cards and chip and pin technology for credit cards will force fraudsters to be more creative and are unlikely to alleviate the problem. Dr Emily Finch, of the University of East Anglia in England, said dependence on technology was leading to a breakdown in individual vigilance, which experts believe is one of the best ways to prevent fraud and identity theft. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/04/new_technology_may_increase_identity_theft_scientist/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 00:19:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Report Says US Data Secrecy Expanding and Getting Costlier Expenses rose to $7.2b in 2004 By Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press | September 4, 2005 WASHINGTON -- The government is withholding more data than ever from the public and expanding ways of shrouding information. Last year, federal agencies spent a record $148 creating and storing new secrets for each $1 spent declassifying old secrets, a coalition of watchdog groups reported yesterday. That's a $28 jump from 2003, when $120 was spent to keep secrets for every $1 spent revealing them. In the late 1990s, the ratio was $15-$17 a year to $1, according to the secrecy report card by OpenTheGovernment.org. Overall, the government spent $7.2 billion in 2004 stamping 15.6 million documents 'top secret,' 'secret,' or 'confidential.' That almost doubled the 8.6 million new documents classified as recently as 2001. Last year, the number of pages declassified declined for the fourth straight year to 28.4 million. In 2001, 100 million pages were declassified; the record was 204 million pages in 1997. These figures cover 41 federal agencies, excluding the CIA, whose classification totals are secret. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/04/report_says_us_data_secrecy_expanding_and_getting_costlier/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 02:45:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Not Even Web Retailers Will Be Exempt From the Aftereffects of Katrina By BOB TEDESCHI September 5, 2005 AS the Gulf Coast reels from Katrina's devastation, online businesses are struggling to gauge the impact of the possible loss of half a million prospective customers for weeks or months. "This is a tough one, because it is a big market," said Patti Freeman Evans, an analyst with Jupiter Research, an Internet consulting firm. "You can't get goods in there, and people aren't in their homes anyway, so there's not much companies can do." According to comScore Networks, an Internet research and consulting firm, 860,000 people, on average, surfed the Web from their homes or offices in New Orleans and the Mississippi towns of Biloxi and Gulfport each day in the week preceding the storm. People who fled the Gulf Coast will no doubt find Internet access in their temporary homes, but few are likely to look on the Web for the necessities of life. Online travel agencies like Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz are no doubt feeling the pinch more than most online retailers. Not only must they cope with a deluge of calls from customers who had booked trips to the Gulf Coast and now want their money back, they must also face up to the possibility of a slump in sales as some vacationers and business executives deterred from flying to New Orleans drop their travel plans altogether. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/technology/05ecom.html?ex=1283572800&en=729119de4961aaf5&ei=5090 ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 06:30:38 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 14:30:10 -0700, John L. Shelton wrote: > It will be very hard to convince me that 100k people in New Orleans > were incapable of leaving in advance. Many poor people have cars, or > have friends/families with cars. There were enough cars in NO to > evacuate everyone. Maybe you're having problems being convinced since you're well off enough to have a vehicle to take you where you need to go. Many people in the area are poor and probably had no way to move themselves and their families out of there. I'm not sure why you're assuming that there are enough cars in New Orleans to evacuate everyone. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 11:18:01 -0400 In article , latimes@telecom- digest.org says: > http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-levee4sep04,0,6360838,full.story > By Richard A. Serrano and Nicole Gaouette LA Times Writers > KATRINA'S AFTERMATH > Despite Warnings, Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects. To cut > spending, officials gambled that the worst-case scenario would not > come to be. > September 4, 2005 > WASHINGTON - For years, Washington had been warned that doom lurked > just beyond the levees. And for years, the White House and Congress > had dickered over how much money to put into shoring up century-old > dikes and carrying out newer flood control projects to protect the > city of New Orleans. > As recently as three months ago, the alarms were sounding -- and being > brushed aside. Why don't we cast the blame where it belongs? I love how media is now trying to spin this as Clinton's fault, etc. You have to remember that during most of Clinton's term he had to contend with a Republican controlled congress. And now we've got Republican control in all three branches. So tell me what the real problem is. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Internet is Bulletin Board For Katrina Victims Date: 5 Sep 2005 18:28:12 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , TELECOM Digest Editor's said: > Note: Also consider http://wwl.com which is maintained by WWL-TV, > channel 4 in New Orleans. I've seen your references to this before. Actually, wwl.com is the website of 870AM radio, WWL-AM. The television station's website is http://www.wwltv.com, which has, among other things, a streaming video feed of their broadcast. I watched it pretty much continuously during most of the crisis. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are correct; my error, sorry. One can watch up to the minute news regards Katrina and otherwise there, and one can also read/post 'missing persons' ads tgere as well. Other than when they were forced out of their studio because of the rising waters, they were on 24/7 with coverage. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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 #405 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Sep 6 18:52:49 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 2B2A314FC7; Tue, 6 Sep 2005 18:52:49 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #406 Message-Id: <20050906225249.2B2A314FC7@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 18:52:49 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 6 Sep 2005 18:53:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 406 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson No Thanks, Don't Need Rescuing Here (Patrick Jonsson) Red Cross Web Site Has 100,000 Katrina Visitors (Reuters News Wire) What Detirmines New Orleans' Future? (Meridian Magazine) Alternative News re: Katrina; Some Guys Who Got Away (Debbie Tubiolo) Investors Get Behind Podcasting, But Will Listeners? (Monty Solomon) How Smart is Your Cellphone? (Monty Solomon) You Can't Foil These Parking Meters; Technology Makes Easier (Solomon) More Parents Going High-Tech to Track Kids (Monty Solomon) Big Bucks Back Next Mobile Frontier: Broadcast TV (Monty Solomon) These Online Ads Rely on Telephones; They Use Pay-per-call (M. Solomon) Coming For Cellphones: 411 (Monty Solomon) Game's Over For These Software Innovators (Monty Solomon) Skylink Group Launches Interactive Wireless Security System (PRN) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects (Robert Bonomi) 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: Patrik Jonsson Subject: No Thanks, No Rescuing Needed Here Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 14:00:45 -0500 from the September 06, 2005 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0906/p11s01-ussc.html By Patrik Jonsson, reporter for Christian Science Monitor In New Orleans, not everyone wants to be rescued Some residents stick with flooded homes -- despite officials' concerns in hope things will get better soon. NEW ORLEANS - Gregory Scott steers a commandeered pleasure boat through the flotsam of New Orleans's flooded 17th Ward, occasionally scraping bottom -- actually, the roofs of submerged cars. The area of modest two-story and shotgun-style homes seems empty of life -- and officials believe that hundreds who tried to ride out hurricane Katrina here may have perished in their attics. But Mr. Scott, who makes his presence known by blasting a hand-held horn as he maneuvers the boat forward, knows there's life -- even laundry -- in some quarters. "There's people all through here," says mate Timothy Waters. A mucky brown soup flows through what used to be the 17th Ward's neighborhood of Holly Grove, the only spot Scott has ever called home. Under almost 10 feet of water, the Beautiful People club is gone. Scott's own house, with a broken window where he climbed out just ahead of rising waters, is part of a scene so macabre that even New Orleansian vampire-novelist Anne Rice might struggle to imagine it. Yet while thousands finally got out over the Labor Day weekend, Scott and Waters are holding on -- just two of many who are fierce in their determination to stay, keeping their feet planted in the muck of this Cajun Atlantis. Such decisions perturb emergency-response officials, who warn that public-health risks posed by the fetid floodwater may worsen, and that two months of flood conditions may await residents who insist upon staying put. A stubborn resistance to leaving, they add, will only waste time and resources of an already-overtaxed search-and-rescue operation. The mission remains dangerous, as a nonfatal crash of a civilian rescue helicopter late Sunday illustrated. Dennis Nunez, a Louisiana wildlife officer, has seen hundreds of people living deep in the neighborhoods. Some told rescue workers to move on, to save others first. In one mostly Vietnamese neighborhood, people were feeling comfortable enough to have gone fishing, and were drying fresh fish on their porches. "They won't come out," says Mr. Nunez. Less panic, more patience. As response to Katrina enters its second week, 17,000 National Guardsmen patrolled the Big Easy by foot, helicopter, and boat, and the atmosphere shifted from one of panic and scattered violence to one of a soggy siege. Here on the Jefferson Parish line, a few miles from where the 17th Street Canal was breached last Tuesday, the water line has fallen hardly at all as of Sunday afternoon. On Sunday, many hangers-on gave up. Rescuers pulled one woman, barely conscious, from her home, mattress and all. The job of the day: Extricating a frightened, 400-pound man. Another woman came ashore with three cat carriers, each one containing three cats. But the conflict between the stranded and the rescuers is playing itself out in ways that, at times, seem bizarre. Rescue helicopters have even come under sniper fire, police say, as some resist relocation. "It's hard on the rescuers, to risk their lives and have somebody say, 'I don't want to be saved.' It boggles your mind," says Lt. Col. Pete Schneider, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department, in Baton Rouge, La. Rescue volunteer Jef Talbert, who has arrived from Texas in a friend's flat-bottom boat (which he's promised to return without bullet holes), says it's an odd feeling to be loading every gun he owns before he heads out to rescue people. Scott, Waters, and six other men are locals who are aiding with the rescue, camping on a plot of high ground. They've rescued hundreds since last Tuesday, asking only food and water in return. They're using whatever equipment is at hand -- whether an 18-wheel truck (which they stalled out in deep water) or a waterski boat with a 130 horsepower Yamaha four-stroke on the back. As they shove aside downed wires and look for submerged cars and street signs that can damage the propeller on "their" boat, Scott and Waters shout at one house and toot the horn. Two men emerge onto the porch. "Day 7," yells Anthony Belt, refusing his rescuers, indicating he's got food. He also has a flat-bottom sloop in case he really has to get out. As the number of those in need, or want, of being rescued diminishes, rescuers are shifting priorities: If they see someone has stockpiled supplies, they've stopped handing out more food. "If they're not coming out, we're not going to force them," says Lieutenant Colonel Schneider. "But we can't keep coming back to resupply." Fish dinner. If some survivors are struggling, increasingly aware that they are surrounded by a huge septic tank, others seem to be doing fine. Rescuers report seeing large Vietnamese families cooking fish and "looking very comfortable," some even keeping fish in makeshift pools, then hanging them out to dry. Indeed, the stayers-on may be clinging to a belief that, beyond the muck, is hope. For some, a desire to protect their property is the driving factor in their decisions to stay, and others simply have nowhere else to go and are clinging to their patch of the globe. After surviving for a week in hellish conditions, many say perhaps things will only get better, suggests Mike Lindell, a psychologist at Louisiana State University. "We're in uncharted territory for human behavior." Two women who had walked through chest-high water from the Superdome to their homes to get fresh clothes were glad to jump in Scott's boat, but then started to bicker with each other. Scott wanted none of it. Voice rising, he sounded off, saying the women should lay aside petty differences as they pass through waters of death. As the boat neared a staging area where rescue workers bring their human cargo, one woman, Tina Collins, turned around and said, quietly, "thank you." Back on the levee, Scott, a tailor and French Quarter doorman, says he's found a new calling that lets him stay close to home, bringing his neighbors to safety when they're ready. Despite the rough conditions, he has no wish to leave. "They say a rat has many holes, but I've got only one," he says. "And I plan on going down in it." www.csmonitor.com | Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Read the Monitor and the NY Times on line each day here: 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, in this instance, the Christian Science Publishing Society. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Red Cross Web Site Has One Hundred Thousand Visitors re Katrina Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 14:04:19 -0500 Nearly 100,000 seek family on Katrina site says Red Cross Nearly 100,000 people have registered on a Red Cross Web page set up to help trace family members missing or separated since Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, a spokesman said on Tuesday. The number of entries on the family links site, set up with the American Red Cross, rose overnight from 65,000 to 94,000, according to Florian Westphal, spokesman of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). People in the disaster area can register on the Web page to inform their family and friends that they are safe and provide their current contact details, while those looking for loved ones can check the list for information. "One message we'd like to pass to the public out there is to keep checking it regularly because new data and entries are being added all the time," Westphal told a briefing. People who have re-established contact with their family members should have their names removed from the list, which can be accessed via www.familylinks.icrc.org. Within the United States, the Web site can also be reached via a toll free phone number + 1 877 568 3317 -- corresponding to +1 877 LOVED1s. Hundreds of thousands of evacuees are taking refuge in shelters, hotels and private homes across the United States after one of the country's worst natural disasters. The ICRC, a humanitarian agency which helps countries cope with wars and natural disasters, has also sent five family tracing experts to the United States, at the request of the American Red Cross. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Meridian Magazine Subject: What Detirmines New Orleans Future? Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 14:10:34 -0500 Culture Clips - Sept. 6, 2005 What determines if a city recovers from disaster? To the water-soaked citizenry of New Orleans, short term-issues -- water, power, even surviving -- are no doubt paramount today. But over the coming weeks, months and years, this city must come to grips with issues that have determined whether urban areas thrive despite tragedy, or simply decline in its wake. Like the Mississippi itself, cities have risen and fallen through history. Herodotus noted in his own time, the fifth century B.C., that "human prosperity never abides long in the same place." Many of the cities that were "great" in his time were small in the recent past, he noted, while many leading cities of his youth had shrunk into relative insignificance. Herodotus considered understanding the causes of this rise and fall to be among the major callings of historians. Identifying why a city prospers or not over time remains highly relevant, not only for tragedy-struck New Orleans, but for virtually all Western cities in the age of terror. Current intellectual fashion tells us that the crisis in New Orleans stems primarily from human mismanagement of the environment. Yet blaming global warming or poor river management practices will not bring the city back to its condition last month, much less return it to the greatness that defined it in its 19th-century heyday. The key to understanding the fate of cities lies in knowing that the greatest long-term damage comes not from nature or foreign attacks, but often from self-infliction. Cities are more than physical or natural constructs; they are essentially the products of human will, faith and determination. A city whose residents have given up on their future or who lose interest in it are unlikely to respond to great challenges. Decaying cities throughout history--Rome in the fifth century, Venice in the 18th--both suffered from a decayed sense of civic purpose and prime. In this circumstance, even civic leaders tend to seek out their own comfortable perches within the city or choose to leave it entirely to its poorer, less mobile residents. This has been occurring for decades in the American rust belt -- think of Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis -- or to the depopulated cores in old industrial regions in the British Midlands, Germany and Russia. Happily, urban history also contains examples of cities that have rebounded from natural and other devastation, sometimes far worse than that wrought on New Orleans. Carthage, purposely destroyed and planted with salt by its Roman conquerors, later re-emerged as a prominent urban center, becoming the home of St. Augustine, author of "City of God." Modern times, too, offer examples which can inspire New Orleans residents. Tokyo and London rose from near total devastation in 1945. Perhaps even more remarkable, albeit on a smaller scale, has been the successful rebuilding of Hiroshima into an industrial powerhouse and one of Japan's most pleasant seaside cities. Joel Kotkin Opinion Journal http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=3D110007206 Imagining the Unimaginable Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour called the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina "unimaginable." We no longer have to imagine the death and destruction; We are seeing the unimaginable become tragic reality 24/7 on our TV screens. The challenge now facing Congress and Gulf-State legislatures is to imagine the unimaginable future -- while doing everything possible to assist people recover from the current emergency -- to prepare for future emergencies, reform and restructure government, which clearly failed catastrophically at all levels during the last week, and incentivize and empower private ownership and private enterprise. The huge calamity of Katrina and the need to rebuild the Gulf Coast provides Congress and state legislatures with the opportunity to implement big ideas that could begin to transform America in the first decade of the 21st century. We have a golden opportunity to "green line" the Delta and Gulf Coast with government policies that facilitate and empower the private sector and private citizens. Out of the tragedies of the U.S. Civil War and World War II, Presidents Lincoln and Roosevelt imagined an unimaginable future. They created transformative programs that helped define the American dream of ownership and economic empowerment. Lincoln's Homesteading Act empowered people with title to 160 acres of land, free, and Roosevelt's Federal Housing Authority and GI Bill of Rights offered ways for capital-less people to own a house and to receive higher education. As we think about the government's role in assisting people get back on their feet after Katrina, we should be thinking about how to expand private property rights, business ownership and create rational incentives to build a new Gulf Coast and Delta Region unencumbered by bureaucratic rules and strictures. We have an enormous opportunity to replace outmoded government programs and bureaucracies with public-private partnerships and new private institutions that are built upon the foundation of individual ownership, private property rights, personal responsibility and social justice that an ownership society brings. Jack Kemp Townhall http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jackkemp/jk20050905.shtml Copyright 2005 Meridian Magazine. http://www.meridianmagazine.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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Meridian Magazine, a daily news service of the LDS Church. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Debbie DKTubiolo Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 21:54 CST Subject: Alternative News re: Katrina From: David Melton To: info@equalitykansas.org,Debbie DKTubiolo Subject: Fw: alternative news re: Katrina Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 16:58:17 -0500 > Worth reading. The list of things to be mad about just gets longer and > longer every day. > Dave & Midori > "The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; > pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without > character; business without morality; science without humanity; and > worship without sacrifice." -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) ----- Original Message ----- Hi family & friends, Check out this alternative to the news media re: Katrina. I feel it is important to balance out the info coming out of the major networks with this kind of info. Jose is a performance artist who sent this to a friend of the family who lives in N.O. and evacuated. Feel free to forward. Peace, Dori Subject: RE: Jose Torres Tama "Hurricane Katrina and the chaos of New Orleans in her aftermath" To all loved ones, friends/amigos, I am safe at Andrei Codrescu's house and writing from there. Below is an account of how I escaped through a wormhole in the madness. --Jose Hurricane Katrina and the chaos of New Orleans in her aftermath Amigos, how do I begin to speak a picture of the aftermath that was an even greater terror than the physical damage that Hurricane Katrina spawned as some kind of water fury birthing an urban Kali-like chaos fueled further by the incompetence of local and state officials? The continuous quantity of misinformation that local and national media began spewing out was irresponsible and more than incorrect at times as the resilient and mythic city of New Orleans was already being pronounced dead and those of us who voluntarily chose to stay behind in hopes of helping to repair whatever damage Katrina might inflict were eventually sequestered by bad news, the ineptitude of local governance and currently the national disaster relief creating an apocalypse. I chose to stay because I am devoted to a city I love and was willing to ride out any natural storm in a metropolis that has survived yellow fever epidemics and two early fires that cindered the old French Quarter to the ground so that the Spanish could rebuild it when it was a capital of its providences -- even before there was a United States. New Orleans has a history before the imagination of thirteen colonies dreamed a revolution against the British to proclaim their independence. This city is African, Latin, Caribbean, French, Spanish, Irish, Italian, Vietnamese and Honduran and only after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 did it have an "American" presence and become part of the Union that is now denying it its last breath. So I ask you where is the compassionate conservative regime that seems politically poised to punish this first multiracial port city in the hemispheric Americas that recently voted itself the color blue in a red state? Is a Christian maniacal executive chief whipping New Orleans into submission like so many African slaves were whipped by similar bible-toting masters only a century and half ago? I am offering such a historical timeline and perspective on how the past effects the present because we are generally uniformed about this city that is more than Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest and the party town of the Old South. I am pleading for a collective scream from coast to coast to save this eclectic relic of a city that has been a home for many -- from one century to another. New Orleans deserves an organized effort of heart and efficiency. It has survived hurricanes before, but it is having trouble surviving the official storm masquerading as a savior. How is it that this great empire of capital and industry cannot manage to organize its technology to mount a proper rescue for the most precious pueblo in its possession? I was able to get out on the Wednesday after Katrina hit when the city officials ordered the water shut down. The water was cut and it was time to go. And I had to flee this city that I have lived in for the past twenty years not via the efforts of authorized personnel but via a pirate bus, a yellow vehicle with the Jefferson Parish School Board brand on its side -- a bus that operated the kind of rescue mission only imagined in a Louisiana Hollywood bayou version of "Hotel Rwanda." I escaped with my partner Claudia Copeland, my writer friend Jimmy Nolan, who is a fifth-generation native born in the middle of an unnamed hurricane, and his neighbor who I only know as Kip. Kip was on his third day of survival without access to a dialysis machine that cleans his liver and allows him to live. We, the ones who stubbornly stay from one hurricane to another that places us in the "cone of uncertainty," do so because we understand that our human resilience after the natural storm will help rebuild and weather whatever mother nature decides to throw at us. We know how to live with hurricanes and their aftermath, but we were not prepared for the official sequestering that unleashed an even more furious storm of urban desperation. Desperation that festered like an untreated wound in an August summer. Yes, Katrina was a force to be reckoned with and her damage was more catastrophic than Hurricane Andrew which hit west of New Orleans in the early '90's. Yes, there was flooding in East New Orleans, the ninth ward, the Bywater, the Lakeside area, but it was never reported that most of the French Quarter and parts of the second historic neighborhood called the Faubourg Marigny that borders the old city was mostly above water and actually very dry only hours after the category five pounding of Katrina. We were recipients of all the prayers and rituals that keep New Orleans from total destruction because the Virgin Mary, Yemaya and the river goddesses always protect us at the last possible minute and even Katrina did not hit us directly with her unrelenting winds and water. In this city that knows respect for the ancients, this city of ghosts and ancestors is ultimately protected by the magic chants, offerings and incantations of the local voodoo practitioners who are at work every hurricane season to make their voices heard so that mother nature veers her force just enough to allow us another year of life. I have more faith in the voodoo practitioners and their prayers for the city than the officials of local and state government whose perplexing decisions began plunging us into greater despair after the storm. I live on Dauphine Street in the Marigny neighborhood that extends down river of the Quarter. We were mostly dry and the camel-back house that I rent had very little damage with some of the siding blown along the side yard. I am a pantheist and like other New Orleanians, I have altars at my house. I am in belief that the one altar to "La Virgen Maria" inspired the large fig tree to fall towards the spacious yard and away from the back porch. Had it fallen in the opposite direction, it would have crushed half of the house. As such, most of the houses in this area were intact-structurally with one or two houses compromised by a fallen tree. Yes, trees lined a variety of parallel streets with names like Royal and Burgundy. These streets were impassible, but this was minor as compared to the more eastern sections of the city that were closer to the eye of the storm. We were spared Katrina's eye and the Northeastern quadrant that always carries a greater punch as demonstrated by the destructive remnants seen in Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi. Overall, this area and the middle of the French Quarter where I rode out the storm at Jimmy's house was not flooded in contrast to local and national reports that were carelessly assessing the Quarter as being "destroyed". Can you imagine the terror that this bad information evoked in my mother who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey and had been praying for me, Claudia and my friends since before Katrina hit on Sunday night? My mother is a devout Catholic and she prays with heartfelt belief that God will hear you in times of despair. But the misinformation and irresponsible reports began at 10pm that night when the local CBS affiliate Channel 4, which had relocated a crew to Baton Rouge, began reporting that the weather conditions in the French Quarter had already deteriorated. They began sounding off a false alarm to anyone that had changed their minds at this time of night and were considering to seek safer shelter. Their "news" was that it was too dangerous to walk the streets of the Quarter now in search of shelter at the Superdome because the weather conditions had "deteriorated." This was absolutely untrue -- false, a fabricated "news" lie by reporters who were 85 miles away at the state capitol. I was there in the middle of the French Quarter and the conditions were such that some light rain and wind was all that you could experience. In fact, I was on a second floor balcony in the heart of the Vieux Carre at Dumaine and Royal Street, and certainly if anyone was in belief of this information, they would have lost a chance to seek shelter. Where these reporters were getting their misinformation from and recycling it out to the local community is unknown to me, but for a crew safely stowed away in Baton Rouge, they had no right to spew out this nonsense. Not only was this more of the sensationalized rubbish disguising itself as journalism, but these reporters began selling panic as a consumer item. Yes, it was beyond being irresponsible because while they were sitting over-caked in make-up in a safe makeshift studio, they became an ugly metaphor for the spewing of misinformation and panic mongering that grew into an apocalyptic speculation that already had the city under twenty-feet of water even when Katrina was 100 miles away and moving eastward. They digressed into a reality TV news show that was now using Katrina as a measure for high ratings. Be aware that when a hurricane is in the Gulf the reporters and weather men and women are the stars of the show. These were not journalists bringing you information, for they resembled chattering egos positioning themselves for "glorious coverage" -- not unlike the city council officials who were also gloating in the applause for themselves for their "contra-flow" evacuation strategies that again turned the interstate 10 east and west into a parking lot of more desperation. It seemed that very little had improved from last year's highway experiment that clogged evacuees for ten hours to move thirty miles outside of the city in either direction as Hurricane Ivan "the terrible" had us in its "cone of uncertainty" then. Come every June, we, as citizens of New Orleans, know that we will be placed in the "cone of uncertainty" again and again by newly-named storms and depressions that may organize themselves into hurricanes of categories from one to five. We prepare as always by shuddering our homes, boarding any exposed windows, gathering batteries, canned foods, candles, flashlights, wine and bottled water. We are efficient in such rituals and can make our environments hurricane ready in a few hours of concentrated energy. We are not made desperate by the threats of hurricanes that come into the Gulf of Mexico every year, but after Katrina hit, we became some kind of social experiment as water supplies were cut off and rumors that the city may not be brought back to even the least of working conditions for the next two to three months spread as much as the other information that had the French Quarter flooding on Tuesday afternoon because of the levee breaches and the failure of the national rescue efforts to secure that damage. By the afternoon of Wednesday, August 31, on other rumors that private hotels like the Hotel Monteleone at the Canal St. end of the Quarter were possibly having buses evacuate their guests to safety, we purchased the hope of a $45 dollar ticket to Houston, TX on a fleet of vehicles that were to arrive by 6pm. The hotel management had organized a twenty-five thousand dollar rescue mission of chartered buses escorted by state police to take their trapped guests to safety. A few hundred residents had learned of this priceless information, and most notably only a few feet away Allen Toussaint, the legendary composer and musician, was standing in line with myself, Claudia, Jimmy, and Kip, the three hundred hotel guests and the other two-hundred lucky residents holding tickets out of the apocalypse. By 9pm the buses had not arrived and the hotel management was as confused us all of us waiting as to why we were still standing there at this time of night with the city police escort they had also hired just in case their missing buses were rushed by people without the proper tickets to board. When the yellow pirate school bus cut the dark like some night creature on the street pointing its blinding headlight eyes to the waiting hundreds some cheers broke the whisperings, and we finally thought our hired fleet of heroic rescue vehicles had arrived. The bus only arrived with the information that the fleet had been commandeered-confiscated -- stolen by local police officials acting on martial law. All along, I had placed myself in waiting close to the hotel management at the corner of Royal and Iberville to be in proximity to hear any information on what was unfolding. Only then did I speak to one of the yellow bus crew of two that told me there were no buses coming and that they were there relaying this difficult news while offering passage to Baton Rouge at fifty dollars a head. Imagine how this conversation was taking place in the flashlight lit dark of night on a French Quarter street corner where the sounds of madness were audible a block away on the infamous Bourbon Street that normally hosts an all-night party for Puritans and yahoos that come to unwind, drink, and throw up from all parts of the country because they cannot have that much fun in their own cities of social convention and Christian repression. Certainly, we made an offer to the bus driver for the four of us that was quite below their asking rate, and like any other transaction under the table in this city, it was accepted. We got on the bus as the Monteleone management was trying to figure out what to do and if to relay the bad news to the five-hundred people that were losing hope as the night grew more ominous. We handed over our collection of dollars to the bus driver and sat on the cold steel floor, with Allen Toussaint already having been the first to mount this pirate bus when it pulled up to the street. He sat among a small group of folks that were already on board -- occupying one of the coveted seats. I was ecstatic to be on any vehicle ready to drive me out of town and would have sat on the roof if I had to. If the Monteleone could privately engineer a rescue effort to bring in ten buses, then how is it possible that the city and state could not organize a fleet of 100 buses to rescue all the people left behind? These officials could have used the stealth training of the pirate bus crew that seemed to come in and out of town through back roads that were quite dry as opposed to news accounts that water compromised all land rescue efforts. We, the citizens of New Orleans who have managed to escape, are willing to mount our own pirate and private efforts to come and rescue our friends and family members who are still trapped by the infinite and mounting incompetence of those in command. I ask you to mount a collective scream of outrage and wolf howls into the airwaves, radio and TV stations, so that we can come in to do what we have always done in times of disaster and that is to lend a genuine human effort that is tribal community oriented and truly compassionate. We are being played as a reality TV show for political sadists who have the audacity to publicly say we are not worthy of governmental support because we are an old city. Just yesterday, I heard that a Republican politician spewed some vitriol to that effect. Yes, we are an old city in these young United States, and we have survived a few bad governments, slavery, and tropical plagues. Right now we are bearing witness to the social plague of heartlessness and racism, political inefficiency and it is denying life to this gumbo city of African, Caribbean, Spanish, French, Irish, and Italian influences. We are being denied the opportunity to rise into the future of this century. We are being denied the opportunity to return to the city we love and rebuild it as only we can-re-shape it into the grand dame that it has been from one century to another. Jose Torres Tama Baton Rouge, LA Saturday, September 3, 2005 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 21:44:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Investors Get Behind Podcasting; Will the Listeners? By Scott Kirsner | September 5, 2005 It was a milestone of some sort last month, when venture capitalists made the first two serious investments in podcasting start-ups. But did the milestone signify that podcasting is on the verge of dethroning radio -- or that the buzziest technology trend of 2005 had just jumped the shark? In early August, PodShow raised $8.85 million from a group of West Coast investors that included Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, and Ram Shriram, an early supporter of Google and a member of the search site's board. A few days later, Odeo cofounder Evan Williams announced on his blog that his company had raised money from Charles River Ventures of Waltham. Before starting Odeo in December, Williams had helped build Blogger, an early blog-creation and hosting site Google eventually acquired. Odeo didn't say how much it had raised, but the Charles River partner who made the investment, George Zachary, told me it is ''in the same order of magnitude as the PodShow amount." The entrepreneurs at PodShow and Odeo harbor big dreams for podcasting. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/05/investors_get_behind_podcasting_but_will_the_listeners/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 21:49:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: How Smart is Your Cellphone? Wider broadband service, upgraded networks spurring phone makers to produce ever more powerful devices By Keith Reed, Globe Staff | September 5, 2005 Is a cellphone 'smart' if it can listen to a song on the radio and identify it for you? How about one that let's you surf the Web, check e-mail,or maybe catch a little news fromCNN while you ride the subway to work? Just what makes a cellphone a 'smartphone,' anyway? Since the term became a buzzwordamong cellphone makers and service pro-viders, prevailing wisdom has held that it refers primarily to the slim but blocky PDA-style phones that include keyboards and PC-style operating systems, such as Microsoft's Windows Mobile edition. Those devices not only allow users to make phone calls, but to take advantage of 'smart' data services and do things like access corporate e-mail, send text messages, and even manipulate spreadsheets or run many popular business software applications. But lately, the defining characteristics of smart phones have shifted, driven by the broader availability of broadband wireless networks that can accommodate audio, video, and other services more popular among everyday users than mobile professionals. Handset makers are building more powerful phones aimed at everyday users, while service providers are spending billions to upgrade their networks, anticipating a surge in demand for services other than voice in the near future. http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2005/09/05/how_smart_is_your_cellphone/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 21:53:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: You Can't Foil These Parking Meters/Technology Makes it Easier Technology makes it easier to nail offending drivers By Associated Press | September 5, 2005 PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. -- In this seaside town, parking meters don't grant those magical few minutes on someone else's dime. Each time a car pulls away from a space, the meter automatically resets to zero. Little is left to chance in the brave new world of parking technology: Meters are triggered by remote sensors, customers pay for street time by cellphone, and solar-powered vending machines create customized parking plans for the motorist. Oh, and forget about rubbing the traffic officer's chalk mark off your tires on the streets of cities where short-term parking is free but overstays are punished by fines. If you're in Monterey, Calif., or Chicago, you're apt to be foiled by parking officials who drive minicarts outfitted with GPS-enabled cameras that scan your license plate and know how long a car has occupied the given space. Major metropolises like New York and Toronto have been phasing out coin-operated, single-spaced meters for years. But smaller cities including Aspen, Colo., and Savannah, Ga., have started ditching them, too. Advanced parking technologies can lower a city's operating costs, reduce staffing needs, and increase ticketing accuracy, resulting in fewer challenges in traffic court. Bill Francis, a vice president at the Los Angeles-based Walker Parking Consultants, says technology can also help local officials more smoothly collect on outstanding tickets, which for several cities he's familiar with added up to $4 million in just five years. Pacific Grove, a coastal resort town where visitors to the nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium and Pebble Beach golf course compete with locals for the few oceanside spaces, went for the gold when it went digital last year. It installed meters that increase parking fees over time, so that quick errands remain relatively inexpensive but long stays become more costly. A wire grid under the pavement triggers a sensor whenever a car pulls in. The information can be sent wirelessly via radio signals to traffic enforcers so they'd know when time runs out on any parking spot in town. The meter resets itself as soon as the car pulls away, so the next car has to pay the full fee. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/05/you_cant_foil_these_parking_meters/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:00:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: More Parents Going High-Tech to Track Kids By Martha Irvine, AP National Writer | September 5, 2005 CHICAGO --In this case, it isn't Big Brother who's watching -- it's Big Mother (or Father). Increasingly, parents are using high-tech methods to track everything from where their children are and how far they are driving to what they buy, what they eat and whether they've shown up for class. Often, the gadget involved is a simple cell phone that transmits location data. The details get delivered by e-mail, cell phone text message or the Web. Other times, the tech tool is a debit-like card used at a school lunch counter, or a device that lets parents know not only how far and fast the car is going, but also whether their child has been braking too hard or making jackrabbit starts. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/05/more_parents_going_high_tech_to_track_kids/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:03:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Big Bucks Back Next Mobile Frontier: Broadcast TV By Antony Bruno | September 5, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO (Billboard) - Want to watch TV on your mobile phone? The wireless industry is betting billions that you do. And they're not talking about just downloading or streaming on-demand videoclips to your phone. Efforts are afoot to broadcast TV programming nationwide to a new generation of mobile phones that can tune in, just like an at-home TV. Despite the billions of dollars U.S. wireless operators have spent upgrading their networks to offer such multimedia content as videos and music, they are insufficient for the job. The problem is that they are designed for two-way, on-demand access. To broadcast programming on such networks would require that each show be sent to each subscriber separately -- an impossibly time-consuming and expensive proposition. "It's very difficult to offer high-definition TV on a handset through existing networks," says Andrew Cole, an analyst with A.T. Kearney. "You have to offload that through a separate network." Several initiatives are under way to achieve just that, a separate wireless network built specifically for one-way multimedia broadcasting. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/05/big_bucks_back_next_mobile_frontier_broadcast_tv/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:28:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: These Online Ads Rely on Telephones Using Pay-per-Call These online ads rely on telephones Pay-per-call is finding its niche By Associated Press | September 5, 2005 DALLAS -- Personal-injury lawyer Frank Frasier wants the world to know about his business but didn't think much of the search-based Internet advertising that's all the rage. Potential clients wouldn't learn much about him through it, he figured, and he really can't tell if they have a case without speaking with them. But Frasier's opinion of Internet search advertising changed with the recent arrival of pay-per-call, which prompts Web surfers looking for lawyers in his hometown of Tulsa, Okla., to pick up the phone instead of clicking an ad or sending e-mail. ''We've gotten about a dozen calls and half turned into cases," Frasier said. ''I'm a believer." Pay-per-call could be especially powerful for businesses that ignored the Internet, advocates say. Most search advertising now takes a pay-per-click approach. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/05/these_online_ads_rely_on_telephones/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:31:29 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Coming for Cellphones: 411 Directory service can be crucial for small businesses By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff | September 5, 2005 Once, you had to pay the telephone company an extra fee if you wanted an unlisted number. These days, you can get one without even trying. Just get a cellular telephone, or one of those new Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone services. In most cases, directory assistance operators won't be able to find you. That's because cellphone and Internet phone providers have not plugged their customers' numbers into the big national phone number databases. That's good news for millions of consumers sick of harassment from telemarketers. But millions of others -- especially small-business people and the self-employed -- want their numbers listed. The absence of directory listings might persuade them to keep their traditional phones. But times are changing. Starting next year, millions of cellphone users will be available through the same 411 service that lists standard phone numbers. And there are moves afoot to include VOIP telephone numbers in phone directories, as well. Most of the nation's biggest wireless carriers have teamed up with Qsent Inc. of Portland, Ore., to produce a national databse of wireless phone numbers. "Our plan is to roll it out to all the major 411 providers in the country," said Greg Keene, Qsent's chief privacy officer. "For those of us that really want to be reached ... it'll be available." Directory assistance services are provided either by the phone companies themselves, or by independent firms like Infonxx Inc. of Bethlehem, Pa. When the Qsent database opens for business, these directory assistance providers will be able to connect to it and search for listed cellphone numbers. Cellphone users who don't want their numbers listed need not worry. This will be an 'opt-in' database. A user won't be listed unless he requests it, and can get delisted whenever he changes his mind. Numbers won't be printed in a phone book or sold to telemarketers. They will be available only by dialing directory assistance. Cingular, T-Mobile, Nextel, Alltel, and Sprint plan to participate in the system. But Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest cellphone carrier, with 47 million subscribers, wants no part of it. http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2005/09/05/coming_for_cellphones_411/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:37:34 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Game's Over For These Software Innovators By Hiawatha Bray | September 5, 2005 It's all fun and games, till somebody loses a lawsuit. That's what has happened to the creators of a piece of gaming software called BnetD, and their defeat suggests hard times ahead for well-meaning technology innovators who go too far. But Blizzard is different. The company runs its own private network, called Battle.net, with strict rules against cheating and vulgar behavior. Above all, there's an absolute ban on the use of illegally copied Blizzard games. The Battle.net system can spot a pirated copy of Diablo II a thousand miles away, and lock it out. Seems reasonable -- but not to a handful of gamers who want to run their own game networks, just as they could with other titles. These guys bought some Blizzard games, 'reverse-engineered' them to master their secrets, and wrote their own compatible server code, called BnetD. They weren't out to make a fast buck; BnetD was given away so that anybody could set up a private server for playing Blizzard games. Good clean fun? Blizzard didn't think so. BnetD servers work just fine with pirated copies of their games. BnetD's creators didn't intend to encourage software piracy; they even offered to include Blizzard's antipiracy code, if the company would hand it over. Fat chance, said Blizzard's chief operating officer, Paul Sams. "We would not, under any circumstances, provide something that is so critical to our business to anyone outside of the company," he said. Instead, Blizzard went after the BnetD programmers in federal court, demanding they stop distributing their product. The company argued that the license inside every Blizzard game forbids the customer from reverse-engineering the code. Blizzard also cited the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a controversial federal law designed to stamp out piracy. They said BnetD violated the act by deliberately enabling crooks to play illegal copies of Blizzard games. http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2005/09/05/games_over_for_these_software_innovators/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 17:15:23 +0400 From: Editor (PRN) Subject: Skylink Group Launches Interactive Wireless Security System ew automation and alert product alleviates the stress of intruders whether you are home or away. Toronto, ON - Sep 6, 2005 (PRN): The Skylink Group, a leader in wireless technology, today announced the launch of AAA+ (Alarm, Alert, Automation and Communicator), the first of its kind in the world. The AAA+ is an automated alarm system which can be monitored while you are away from your home and can also act as an alert mechanism for when the homeowner is inside their dwelling. "We're excited about our newest wireless security, alert and automation product. This is the first product on the market that can provide homeowners with a total security package that is expandable and can easily be customized. It allows the homeowner to monitor the security of their home regardless of whether they are home or away, said Philip Tsui, CEO of Skylink. The AAA+ wireless alarm system provides travelling homeowners with the ability to monitor their home via telephone or cell phone by simply calling the automated control panel and entering a password. Once dialled into the control panel, the homeowner is able to monitor the sensors placed on doors and windows and turn on/off a wireless device simply by the push of a button. When sensors detect an intrusion, the voice dialler connected to the control panel can be set to either call the homeowner immediately and/or dial a monitoring station, which will alert the homeowner as to which sensor has been triggered. Up to five call-back numbers can be programmed into the system control panel. The AAA+ will also notify the homeowners as to activity that is taking place outside of the house. If an intruder(s) is approaching the house or if the homeowner forgets to close the garage door, front door, window or even if there is flooding, the AAA+ unit's sensor will activate. Tsui went on to say, "The AAA+ monitoring system alleviates the stress of leaving your home unattended for any period of time. With the AAA+ monitoring system installed in your home, you no longer have to be concerned about your valuables while on vacation or simply away for the night. The AAA+ system is available at select independent retailers across Canada and US or online at www.skylinkhome.com. The system retails for $169.99 (U.S.) or $219.99 (CDN). About Skylink Skylink understands the needs and concerns of the homeowner in providing a safe haven and comfortable environment for their family. Established in 1990, Skylink has offices in Brampton, Ontario, Canada; Ontario City, California, US and Hong Kong. RF Design, electronic design, software design, mechanical design and graphic design departments for new and existing product lines are housed in the Hong Kong offices. For more information, contact: Stephen Murdoch Consultant OEB International Phone: (905) 682-7203 Email: smurdoch@oeb.com Philip Tsui CEO Skylink Phone: (800) 304-1187 Email: philipt@skylinkhome.com ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? Date: 5 Sep 2005 23:51:23 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , John L. Shelton wrote: > It will be very hard to convince me that 100k people in New Orleans > were incapable of leaving in advance. Many poor people have cars, or > have friends/families with cars. There were enough cars in NO to > evacuate everyone. Interestingly, the prophetic series by the Times-Picayune back in 2002 predicted exactly that: http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf?/washingaway/leftbehind_1.html "...And 100,000 people without transportation will be especially threatened. .... A large population of low-income residents do not own cars and would have to depend on an untested emergency public transportation system to evacuate them." The entire series is available here: http://www.nola.com/hurricane/?/washingaway/ John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 18:54:57 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , Tony P. wrote: > In article , latimes@telecom- > digest.org says: > http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-levee4sep04,0,6360838,full.story >> By Richard A. Serrano and Nicole Gaouette LA Times Writers >> KATRINA'S AFTERMATH >> Despite Warnings, Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects. To cut >> spending, officials gambled that the worst-case scenario would not >> come to be. >> September 4, 2005 >> WASHINGTON - For years, Washington had been warned that doom lurked >> just beyond the levees. And for years, the White House and Congress >> had dickered over how much money to put into shoring up century-old >> dikes and carrying out newer flood control projects to protect the >> city of New Orleans. > >> As recently as three months ago, the alarms were sounding -- and being >> brushed aside. > Why don't we cast the blame where it belongs? I love how media is now > trying to spin this as Clinton's fault, etc. > You have to remember that during most of Clinton's term he had to > contend with a Republican controlled congress. And now we've got > Republican control in all three branches. > So tell me what the real problem is. Yeah, do tell. *WHY* is such an issue the Federal Government's problem in the first place? Protecting New Orleans from the inevitable acts of nature is _NEW_ORLEANS'_ problem. Why wasn't New Orleans city government, and/or Parish government, and/or Louisiana state government *doing*something*?? Why were they burying their head in the sand, and waiting for the Feds to 'solve' *their* problem? Didn't the _locals_ *know* the risks when they moved or built there? Didn't they *know* they were living in the floodwater basin? Who's fault is it that _4_out_of_5_ residents/businesses in that KNOWN TO BE VULNERABLE TO FLOODING area do *NOT* have flood insurance? (it was published somewhere recently that only approximately 21% of the properties in the flooded areas were covered by flood insurance). That _Federally_sponsored_ program has been in place for nearly *40* years. Bush isn't to blame. Clinton isn't to blame. Congress isn't to blame. The fools who live there and _didn't_buy_insurance_ against a KNOWN hazard, are reaping the "benefits" of their bad judgement. *THEY* didn't buy flood insurance. *THEY* didn't fund (*locally*) the upgrading of the protection for _their_ property. Yes, what has happened *is* a disaster. Yes, government, including the Feds, should pitch in to: 1) save lives; 2) evacuate (*forcibly*, if necessary) everyone from the 'un-liveable' areas; 3) alleviate the public health hazards posed by dead bodies (whether human or animal); 4) work on restoring 'essential services'. That is a *big* job. A VERY VERY big job. To put it in perspective, the area of devastation is somewhat larger than _all_ of Great Britain. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #406 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Sep 7 13:44:56 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 9945515047; Wed, 7 Sep 2005 13:44:55 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #407 Message-Id: <20050907174455.9945515047@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 13:44:55 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, CELL_PHONE_IMPROVE,NO_COST autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 7 Sep 2005 13:44:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 407 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Damage Tops $400 Million (Monty Solomon) Apple Expected to Unveil Cellphone Equipped With iPod (Monty Solomon) Mobile Music Buys May Bring Meager Carrier Profit (Monty Solomon) DIRECTV to Offer Free HDTV Upgrade (Monty Solomon) Conqueror in a War of Virtual Worlds (Monty Solomon) Qwest Tech Shot in Minneapolis (Rob Barbeau) Microsoft, Google Face Off in Court (Reuters News Wire) Group Claims Yahoo Helped Jail Journalist (Alexa Olesen) Katrina Children Shown on Web Site (Reuters News Wrie) Unwanted Calls (R.W. Bytheway) Mark Cuccia From New Orleans is Safe (Joseph) OpenWengo: Open Source Alternative for Skype? (totojepast@razdva.cz) Google Talk Using Supernodes for VoIP? (totojepast@razdva.cz) Force Group in IP Office (ozkan_aziz@hotmail.com) Bob Denver as Maynard (Lisa Hancock) Telecom Update's New Sponsors (Angus TeleManagement Group) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects (Lisa Hancock) Re: You Can't Foil These Parking Meters/Tech Makes it Easier (Atkinson ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 22:49:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Telecom Damage Tops $400 Million Telecom Damage Tops $400 Million BellSouth Says Repairs May Take Months By Arshad Mohammed Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, September 6, 2005; D06 Telephone company BellSouth Corp. yesterday estimated that it would cost $400 million to $600 million to repair the damage from Hurricane Katrina and said it could take four to six months to restore service in the hardest-hit areas of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. The Atlanta-based company, the dominant phone service provider in much of the South, stressed that those were preliminary estimates. It has not yet been able to survey all of its sites given the breadth of the area struck by the hurricane a week ago. BellSouth said an estimated 1.1 million of its lines were out in the region, with 90 percent of these in what it calls the "red zone" -- New Orleans, areas north of the city and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. That is down from 1.75 million lines that were out late last week. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090501231.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:07:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple Expected to Unveil Cellphone Equipped With iPod Stakes are high for computer firm, partner Motorola By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff | September 7, 2005 High-tech industry analysts say Motorola Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. are likely to introduce today the first cellular telephone that can double as an iPod portable music player. "I think it has a chance of being a major product," said Roger Entner, wireless phone analyst for Ovum, a Boston research firm. "It just adds another tool to that Swiss Army knife we call wireless phones." Entner said he has spoken to executives familiar with the new device. Longtime Apple-watcher Tim Bajarin, of Creative Strategies Inc, in Campbell, Calif., said he also has heard about the new product from his contacts at cellular telephone service provider Cingular Wireless, which is expected to be the first cellphone company to market the new device. Development of the iPod phone is no secret; Apple and Motorola unveiled plans for such a device in July 2004. The stakes are high for both companies. Apple's iPods are by far the most popular portable music players, renowned for their beauty and ease of use. One-third of Apple's third-quarter 2005 sales of $3.5 billion was generated by iPod. But rivals continue to unveil products, including cellphones with music players. Meanwhile, Motorola of Chicago, the world's number-two cellphone maker, is enjoying a rebound. After years of sluggish performance, Motorola chief executive Edward Zander has rejuvenated the company by launching a line of stylish cellphones like the wafer-thin Razr. Adding an iPod phone to the Motorola stable could help the company gain ground on cellphone leader Nokia of Finland. Apple last week invited journalists to a major product unveiling set for today in San Francisco, but the company has maintained its usual strict secrecy about what it will say. http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2005/09/07/apple_expected_to_unveil_cellphone_equipped_with_ipod/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:12:41 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Mobile Music Buys May Bring Meager Carrier Profit By Sinead Carew | September 7, 2005 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cell phones may become the new way for the iPod masses to download and listen to music in the coming years, but wireless companies may not see much of a boost to their profits from selling such services. The biggest U.S. mobile service companies are considering selling phones that can play songs and some have plans to deliver music to phones over the wireless airwaves, in a bid to boost revenue as phone call prices drop. Analysts expect Cingular Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile service, to reveal plans on Wednesday to sell a new Motorola Inc. phone that comes with iTunes, the music store software from Apple Computer Inc., whose iPod player dominates the portable digital music market. At least initially, Cingular is expected to let users transfer songs to the phone from computers rather than through wireless download services. POOR PROFIT MARGINS FOR SONGS Despite all the excitement about wireless song purchases, such mobile music is likely to deliver much poorer profit margins than wireless carriers are used to from phone calls or other services such as ringtones, one analyst said. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/07/mobile_music_buys_may_bring_meager_carrier_profit/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 00:00:34 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DIRECTV to Offer Free HDTV Upgrade The switch will likely require a programming commitment. By Phillip Swann Washington D.C. (September 6, 2005) -- DIRECTV revealed tonight that it will offer a free system upgrade for High-Definition TV owners so they can get local high-def channels later this year. DIRECTV is expected to begin offering local HD in 12 markets by year's end. However, the channels will only be available on new DIRECTV MPEG-4 receivers and dishes, which have yet to go on sale. Until now, it was uncertain if current HDTV owners would have to pay up to $300 to buy a new receiver to get the local high-def signals. However, Robert Mercer, a DIRECTV spokesman, told TVPredictions.com Tuesday night that current HDTV owners would be offered a free upgrade. An estimated 600,000 DIRECTV subscribers have high-def sets. http://www.tvpredictions.com/freehdtv090605.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 22:15:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Conqueror in a War of Virtual Worlds By SETH SCHIESEL Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment wanted to make a big splash in the video game world back in March when it introduced Matrix Online, a massively multiplayer online game based on the once-hot film franchise. The game made a big splash all right, like a belly flop. Over its first three months the game signed up fewer than 50,000 subscribers, a pittance, so in June Warner cut bait and agreed to sell the game to Sony. Last month Matrix Online was downsized from nine virtual "realms" to three, because users were having a hard time finding one another in the game's vast digital ghost town. The troubles of Matrix Online were partly of Warner's own making; many players and critics agree that the game is a mediocre experience. But the online market used to make room for mediocre games. Now, the broader phenomenon is that so many contenders, including Matrix Online, simply cannot stand up to the overwhelming popularity of online gaming's new leviathan: World of Warcraft, made by Blizzard Entertainment, based in Irvine, Calif. With its finely polished, subtly humorous rendition of fantasy gaming -- complete with mages, orcs, dragons and demons -- World of Warcraft has become such a runaway success that it is now prompting a debate about whether it is helping the overall industry by bringing millions of new players into subscription-based online gaming or hurting the sector by diverting so many dollars and players from other titles. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/06/arts/design/06worl.html?ex=1283659200&en=7057c2e17780c600&ei=5090 ------------------------------ From: Rob Barbeau Subject: Qwest Tech Shot in Minneapolis Date: 7 Sep 2005 05:55:47 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5600215.html Didn't see anyone had posted this yet. On the radio this morning the announcer said the man was still in critical condition. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Microsoft, Google Face Off in Court Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:25:37 -0500 Attorneys for Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. faced off in court on Tuesday over whether an executive familiar with the world's largest software maker's plans in China could begin working for the search engine leader. Microsoft is asking King County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez for a preliminary injunction to stop former vice president Kai-Fu Lee from working for Google ahead of a trial scheduled for January 2006. Microsoft attorney Jeffrey Johnson argued in court that Lee, who built Microsoft's Beijing research and development center, is violating a non-compete contract that he signed with Microsoft because he has intimate knowledge of Microsoft's operations in China, its competitive strategy against Google and recruiting efforts. "Dr. Lee should live up to his promise," said Johnson. Microsoft played video depositions of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and other executives detailing Lee's involvement in planning China-related strategies and businesses. Microsoft and Google are increasingly becoming the technology industry's most visible competitors, as they face off in the Web search arena and seek to hire top software engineering talent. Google said that Lee decided to leave Microsoft and work for Google to head up their China operations because he was frustrated with Microsoft's lack of action and commitment in China. "He tried, but they (Microsoft executives) were completely uninterested in what he had to say about China," said Steve Langdon, a Google spokesman. The hearing, which will last another day, is the latest move by the Redmond, Washington-based software giant to stop Lee from working at Google while he is still obligated by the one-year non-compete agreement, which went into effect when Lee quit Microsoft in mid-July. Microsoft won a temporary restraining order against Lee and Google in July. Google, based in Mountain View, California counter-sued in its home state last month to block Microsoft's lawsuit. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Alexa Olesen Subject: Group Claims Yahoo Helped China Jail Journalist Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:28:47 -0500 By ALEXA OLESEN, Associated Press Writer A French media watchdog said Tuesday that information provided by Internet powerhouse Yahoo Inc. helped Chinese authorities convict and jail a journalist who had written an e-mail about press restrictions. The criticism from Reporters Without Borders marks the latest instance in which a prominent high-tech company has faced accusations of cooperating with Chinese authorities to gain favor in a country that's expected to become an Internet gold mine. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo and two of its biggest rivals, Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, previously have come under attack for censoring online news sites and Web logs, or blogs, that include content that China's communist government wants to suppress. Reporters Without Borders ridiculed Yahoo, saying it was becoming even cozier with the Chinese government by allowing itself to become a police informant in a case that led to the recent conviction of Chinese journalist Shi Tao. "Does the fact that this corporation operates under Chinese law free it from all ethical considerations?" Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. "How far will it go to please Beijing?" Pauline Wong, head of marketing for the Hong Kong office, said Wednesday that the company had no comment on the statement. "We're still looking at it," Wong said. Reporters Without Borders said court papers showed that Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. gave Chinese investigators information that helped them trace a personal Yahoo e-mail allegedly containing state secrets to Tao's computer. Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. is part of Yahoo's global network. Shi, a former journalist for the financial publication Contemporary Business News, was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for illegally providing state secrets to foreigners. Reporters Without Borders described Shi as a "good journalist who has paid dearly for trying to get the news out." His conviction stemmed from an e-mail he sent containing his notes on a government circular that spelled out restrictions on the media. "This probably would not have been possible without the cooperation of Yahoo," said Lucie Morillon, a Washington, D.C.-based spokeswoman for Reporters Without Borders. Shi's arrest in November at his home in the northwestern province of Shanxi prompted appeals for his release by activists, including the international writers group PEN. A number of Chinese journalists have faced similar charges of violating vague security laws as communist leaders struggle to maintain control of information in the burgeoning Internet era. Yahoo and its major rivals have been expanding their presence in China in hopes of reaching more of the country's population as the Internet becomes more ingrained in their daily lives. Just last month, Yahoo paid $1 billion for a 40 percent stake in China's biggest online commerce firm, Alibaba.com. Meanwhile, Google and Microsoft are locked in a bitter legal battle over a former Microsoft engineer who Google hired in July to oversee the opening of a research center in China. AP Business Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this story. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Listen to Associated Press News Radio at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html Get aquainted with Telecom Digest Extra at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra ------------------------------ From: Reuters NewsWire Subject: Katrina Children Seeking Parents Shown on Web Site Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:20:12 -0500 Photos of children separated from their parents by Hurricane Katrina have been posted on a Web site by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in an attempt to reunite families. Photos of more than two dozen children found in Louisiana were posted on the organization's Web site (http://www.missingkids.com/), together with sometimes scanty information available about them. There was also an entry for one child without a picture. One entry about a little boy apparently too small to speak properly reads: "His name may be Neiamaya or Jeremiah. His date of birth is unknown; however, he is believed to be about 2 years old." A five-month-old baby, named Jordan Barnes, was also among the children. He was transferred from a hospital in New Orleans to Baton Rouge General Hospital due to Katrina but his mother's whereabouts were unknown. For those unable to access Internet in areas where Katrina knocked out electricity, the center has set up a telephone hotline (888-544-5475) for families separated during the hurricane which hit last Monday and in the flooding and chaos which followed. The center has also posted information about missing children and adults in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. Several of the photos have been stamped "resolved," and the center's president, Ernie Allen, told CNN that workers, in cooperation with other agencies, has already been able to find mothers of children held in a shelter in San Antonio, Texas. Thousands of people may have been killed by Katrina and its aftermath when flood barriers protecting New Orleans from an adjacent lake burst and hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: R. W. Bytheway, Jr. Subject: Unwanted Calls Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 11:33:39 -0500 I too have received the 215 area code number on my cell phone. I Googled and found your site. Will the *67 work with callers who have their numbers blocked and those calls that show up as UnKnown? Someone used to have the home number I currently have and I'm getting call after call and telling these idiots to Google my number and see that I'm not who they want does no good. Most of them seem to have never heard of Google in the first place. One number listed as UnKnown or Private keeps calling and the caller is abusive to me and I have no way of knowing how to report them. Will the blocking of UnKnown or Private showing up on the caller ID work? Thanks for your great site. Bob [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: *67 is intended to _deliberatly_ block the calling party's number. On your caller ID display it will usually shown either 'private' or 'withheld' but not often 'unknown'. Two ways to avoid that type of call: *77 is known as 'blocked ID blocker'. People who _deliberatly_ block their caller ID -- even if due to telephone company shortcomings the number would not be available anyway -- can be dodged by using *77 (by itself, just dial that into your phone, wait for a response, then disconnect). In the future, callers who dial *67 before the number will be told 'party does not accept blocked ID calls; please hang up, make your number available, and dial again.' The second method is by subscribing through your telco to *60, which allows a repertoire of up to ten numbers _you never ever want to hear from_. Dialing *60 -- once you have subscribed -- gets you a recorded message of instructions on what to do. To summarize those instructions, you can either dial in the ten digit fully qualified number _or_ you can add 'the last call recieved, whether or not the number is known_. In that case, the system will not tell you the number being added -- since _that_ person also has privacy expectations -- but it will tell you that a 'private entry has been added to your list'. Later on, you are permitted to delete (from your list) any of the fully qualified numbers you originally had blacklisted or you can delete the entire batch of 'private entries'. If you use *60 and wish to add numbers to your personal Do Not Disturb list, after you enter the number to be added, the system goes away for a few seconds; it has to 'ping' that number to be assured that it is a good number. First time around at least, when using *60 be sure to listen completely to the instructions given. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Mark Cuccia From New Orleans is Safe Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 06:12:41 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com This may be of interest to folks on CDT/Telecom Digest: > From a yahoo list: To all list members concerned about Mark Cuccia: Mark Cuccia is safe and sound. Mark called me at 8 AM this morning (Wednesday). His apartment did not get flooded and he is fine. Today has been the first day that he has been able to get a cell signal since the hurricane and subsequent flood. He is still without electrical power. However, please do not call Mark right now, as he is saving battery power on his cell phone and reception is still spotty. He plans on leaving New Orleans to stay at his aunt in New Iberia, LA. He said he will call me when he reaches his aunt's house. If he is still not able to send out a message, I'll send a message at that time that he has made it out of New Orleans. Please let others know that he is safe and sound. Dave Perrussel Webmaster - Telephone World http://www.dmine.com/phworld ------------------------------ From: totojepast@razdva.cz Subject: OpenWengo: Open Source Alternative for Skype? Date: 7 Sep 2005 08:37:26 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com OpenWengo: Open Source Alternative for Skype? http://slashdot.org/articles/05/09/06/1345209.shtml?tid=185 and also http://dev.openwengo.com/trac/openwengo/trac.cgi/wiki/WengoPhoneNG ------------------------------ From: totojepast@razdva.cz Subject: Google Talk Using Supernodes for VoIP? Date: 7 Sep 2005 08:38:26 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com http://james.seng.sg/archives/2005/08/25/more_about_google_talk.html " ...I found out that the STUN server specified does not belong to Google -- the IP address belongs to someone in Taiwan, likely another Google Talk user. Further investigation shows that Google Talk apparently comes with a STUN server. In other words, like Skype, Google Talk turns every client into a possible server to help relay voice call between two users ... " ------------------------------ From: ozkan_aziz@hotmail.com Subject: Force Group in IP Office Date: 7 Sep 2005 08:44:43 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have an Avaya IP Office. I have users in a overflow group but the users keep pressing the 'group' button on the handset taking the phone out of the group. Is there a way to force users to remain in group and disable the group button on the handset. Thanks in advance for any help! Oz ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Bob Denver as Maynard Date: 6 Sep 2005 13:47:25 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I was sorry to read that actor Bob Denver passed away. It surprised me because from TV I think of him as a kid, not an older fellow. His most famous role that everyone talks about was as Gilligan, in Gilligan's Island. But I remember him more from his prior role as a beatnik, Maynard G Krebs, in "Dobie Gillis". Dobie Gillis was an early 1960s show about an average teenage boy trying to get along with his friends, parents, school, girls, etc. I enjoyed it when I was very young. It was on reruns, but I haven't seen it in a while. I do remember it as being a cut above the silly humor of most TV shows -- a little more thoughtful, a little more intellectual, jokes that were a little less obvious. I remember the parents as being definitely NOT the typical Cleaver/Nelson TV parents of that era -- the father, trying to run his grocery store, was always hollering at Dobie for something or another. I liked shows that had that as they seemed to be more realistic. (Ward Cleaver, for all his mildness, made me terrible nervous, and he was someone I wouldn't want to visit.) Mr. Denver, as Maynard, was kind of a comedy relief, and wasn't too central to the plots. But it was nice seeing an anti-establishment figure, esp way back then -- he'd wear torn sweatshirts and had a scruffy little beard -- and issue poetic philosophical observations that may or may not made sense. [public replies, please] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 07:38:01 -0700 Subject: Telecom Update's New Sponsors From: Angus TeleManagement Group Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Dear Telecom Update reader: As you know, there is no charge for subscribing to Telecom Update. That's only possible because it is supported by leading telecommunications companies that understand your need for up-to-date, unbiased news on this fast-changing industry. We are very pleased to announce that the following companies have agreed to sponsor Telecom Update in 2005-2006. 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/ NEC Unified Solutions: www.necunifiedsolutions.com Rogers Telecom: www.rogers.com/solutions Vonage Telecom: www.vonage.ca Please join us in extending them sincere thanks: their generous support will make it possible for us to continue delivering Canadian telecom news to you every week in the coming year. Ian & Lis Angus Telecom Update, now in its eleventh year, is a weekly summary of Canadian telecom news. Our sponsors make it possible for us to produce and distribute it without charge. Telecom Update's content is solely the responsibility of Angus TeleManagement Group. The current issue, and all past issues, can be found at Angus TeleManagement Group's Web site: www.angustel.ca. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: _Telecom Update_ is the 'Canadian version' essentially of TELECOM Digest. There is no affiliation between us except that this Digest syndicates news each week from the 'Canadian version' and Angus frequently uses our material as it applies to Canada. He uses 'USA news' as well, when it has specific application to Canada. His archives are at the location mentioned above, while ours are at http://telecom-digest.org/archives . PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? Date: 6 Sep 2005 13:16:14 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Joseph wrote: > Maybe you're having problems being convinced since you're well off > enough to have a vehicle to take you where you need to go. Many > people in the area are poor and probably had no way to move themselves > and their families out of there. I'm not sure why you're assuming > that there are enough cars in New Orleans to evacuate everyone. To me, the logistics of the evacuation should've been first considered by local officials, then help requested from the Feds if facilities were inadequate. That is, the local politicians should know their own community best as to transport options -- who can get out on their own, who will need help, who won't want to go. (I remain wondering if many people remained by choice.) Anyway, the local government would then line up transit and school buses, something they as local leaders would be more familiar with and have the authority to commandeer. They would know the neighborhoods best to arrange the best staging points (using logical central points instead of just points taken from a map.) John Hines wrote: > I have concerns with Bush's personal response to this disaster, which > threatened thousands, as well as a third of our energy supply (from > the gulf), when it is compared to his response to the single life of > Terry Schavio. I very much disagreed with his involvement with the Schavio situation. But that is irrelevent here. That's one of the things that bothers me. The federal response to New Orleans should be looked at only in terms of other disasters, not other Federal projects or policies. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects Date: 6 Sep 2005 14:01:06 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Serrano & Gaouette wrote: > WASHINGTON - For years, Washington had been warned that doom lurked > just beyond the levees. And for years, the White House and Congress > had dickered over how much money to put into shoring up century-old > dikes and carrying out newer flood control projects to protect the > city of New Orleans. There are a great many projects throughout the United States that are 'critical' but are 'underfunded'. The Federal Government does not have an unlimited well and can't pay for everything everybody wants. It must be remembered that many people strongly disagree on what projects are actually "critical" as well as what constitutes "underfunding". Let's take an example close to home: If it were up to me, every Telecommunications service provider or manufacturer would have regular on-site audits by both technical and financial inspectors by the FCC to ensure their system is reliable, won't screw up other people, meets high standards of performance, and isn't a sham -- the kind of oversight to prevent a Norvergence. But I can't help but suspect a lot of people in that business, especially smaller ones, would feel that's a waste of money and would not appreciate FCC inspectors nosing about their business asking tough questions and demanding answers. In other newsgroups, there was considerable debate concerning if in fact the levees were underfunded or who was responsible for what. Anyway, every state has a backlog of critical bridge and highway construction and lots of other needs. In my state, the Feds proposed a flood control project that the locals shot down. Years later, we got very serious flooding that that project could've prevented, and now it's up for discussion again. So, people can't even agree on what desirable infrastructure is. In New Orleans, they're arguing about wetland areas, for example. I also note that some newspaper columnists pulled the race card, claiming more might have been done had New Orleans been a more affluent or Bush supporting area instead of poor and black. Yet other states get floods in very wealthy areas where million dollar homes are washed out. So much for that theory. Serrano & Gaouette further wrote: > To cut spending, officials gambled that the worst-case scenario > would not come to be. The reality is that this kind of gamble is done every day in every city across the country. There simply is not enough resources to do everything everyone wants done. First off, not everyone agrees on criticiality of every project. Some projects may hurt other people who object to them (a flood control project was nixed because of that). Not everyone agrees on the amount of funding necessary. Secondly, there are many infrastructure needs that could called inadequate. Roads, highways, hospitals. We do the best we can. As an example close to home, I would be in favor of beefing up the FCC with technical and financial inspectors who would rigorously check all telecom providers (service and equipment) to ensure they meet rigorous standards. Let's prevent another Norvergence. I'd dare say a lot of people in that business would resent such severe demands and time requirements to fulfill those audits. Who would be right? As you can see, there is no "right" or "wrong" answer when it comes to spending money or taking Federal action. By the way, The New York Times had a columnist, Tierney, blame the local officials for the failure: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/06/opinion/06tierney.html He noted the Norfolk VA area has locally prepared flood plans and the like which New Orleans didn't have. ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: You Can't Foil These Parking Meters/Technology Makes it Easier Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 23:49:36 -0400 This article made me remember an experience I had when I was working with SkyTel. I was on a business trip to Colorado. First we ran all over Denver optimizing the SkyTel paging system. Then we went out to Vail and Aspen to work on the systems there. I can't now remember if this happened in Aspen or in Vail. But it was one of them. They had non-metered forty-five minute parking zones. They 'chalked' you as described in the article, an officer came by and typed your tag number into his wireless terminal. It was time stamped into the computer. So, when another officer comes back by and types it in again and you are over the time limit, the wireless terminal printed you out a parking ticket. We had parked our rental vehicle in a forty-five minute zone. I neglected to notice what time we actually parked. We didn't expect to be there for more than a few minutes. But there was a problem with the equipment on the site and we had to stay to get it fixed. When we returned to the vehicle, there was a parking ticket on it. When I looked at the chalk time versus the time the ticket was issued, the difference of the times was only thirty-eight minutes. I called the parking ticket supervisor at the town hall, gave him the ticket number so he could pull it up in the system, and asked him to explain that one to me. I pointed out that the sign said forty-five minutes. He was reluctant, but he deleted the ticket from the system and told us not to worry about paying it. So much for modern technology. Fewer challenges, huh? Fred ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V24 #407 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Sep 7 18:33:03 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 49BF614D0F; Wed, 7 Sep 2005 18:33:03 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #408 Message-Id: <20050907223303.49BF614D0F@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 18:33:03 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.1 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, NO_COST autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 7 Sep 2005 18:30:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 408 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 5000 Nokia Phones Seized at St. Petersburg, Russia Port (Dow Jones) Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire For Security Reasons (Reuters) Report Sees Global IPTV Boom (USTelecom dailyLead) Motorola and Apple Launch First Mobile Phone With ROCKR (Monty Solomon) Comments by CBS TV President (Lisa Hancock) Re: Mark Cuccia From New Orleans is Safe (Paul Coxwell) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism (Dale Neiburg) Re: Microsoft, Google Face Off in Court (Danny Burstein) Re: Unwanted Calls (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Unwanted Calls (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: Dow Jones News Wire Subject: 5000 Nokia Phones Seized at St. Petersburg, Russia Port Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 16:05:25 -0500 MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- A consignment of smuggled Nokia mobile phones was seized in St. Petersburg at the end of last week, the Vedomosti daily said Tuesday, citing customs officials. The paper quoted Alexander Yablokov, a spokesman for the Baltiiskaya Customs House, as saying the phones, whose value he put at EUR600,000, arrived without the necessary customs documents. The seizure follows the arrest of several large consignments of contraband phones in Moscow in August and comes as part of an ongoing operation by Russian law enforcement agencies, it added. Newspaper Web site: http://www.vedomosti.ru -By Moscow Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 095 974 8055=20 (END) Dow Jones Newswires Read this article on the web at: www.cellular-news.com/story/13970.php 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, DowJones News Wire, Moscow Bureau. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Panarat Thepgumpanat Subject: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:23:20 -0500 By Panarat Thepgumpanat Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger sensitive sites. Thailand and South Korea were the most vocal critics of the search tool on Wednesday, rounding on providers like U.S.-based Google Inc, which runs the Web site www.earth.google.com, and demanding action from Washington. "We are looking for possible restrictions on these detailed pictures, especially state buildings," the Thai Armed Forces spokesman, Major-General Weerasak Manee-in, told Reuters. "I think pictures of tourist attractions should do." Satellite images provided by Google have been widely used by broadcasters to show the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Such technology has also been used by authorities coordinating rescue and relief operations in the devastated area. Google calls the tool "a 3D interface to the planet." Any Internet user can zoom in and out of scores of cities around the world, zeroing in on locations right down to street level. The Thai military will discuss the technology with telecommunications and security agencies before approaching Google and other companies that provide similar services, Weerasak said. A spokeswoman for Google in Japan declined comment. South Korean government officials have said they will contact officials in Washington to express their security concerns about the Google Earth product. Among the buildings that can be seen on Google Earth, with a high-resolution package, are the South Korean president's residence, military bases and the defense security command. The government restricts information about the location of these facilities and their construction. South Korea is technically still at war with its northern neighbor and armed North Korean agents have tried to infiltrate the area around the presidential Blue House. TECHNOLOGY UNSTOPPABLE Sri Lanka's military spokesman, Brigadier Daya Ratnayake, said it was a serious concern if anyone could get detailed images of sensitive installations and buildings. "But this is a new trend, we will first have to see whether, in this day and age, if this a considerable threat to national security." "In this era of technology -- you have to live with the fact that almost everything is on the Internet -- from bomb-making instructions to assembling aircraft. So it's something the military has to learn to live with and adapt," Ratnayake said. A security official in India said the issue of satellite imagery had been discussed at the highest level but the government had concluded that "technology cannot be stopped." "We are aware that there are Web sites which give detailed pictures of buildings like the president's house including every tree in the compound. Our security agencies are aware of this but how can we stop technology?" said the official, who asked not to be named. The Australian Department of Defense said it was taking "appropriate measures to manage the threat" posed by such technology. It did not elaborate. But the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO), which operates the nation's only nuclear reactor -- a research facility at Lucas Heights in Sydney -- said the current images on Google posed no security risk. "Although buildings are clearly visible, critical infrastructure is not. The photographs are over two years old," ANSTO has said in a statement. In Tokyo, an official in charge of crisis management at Japan's Cabinet Secretariat was unaware of the service and declined further comment. (Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Seoul, Masayuki Kitano in Tokyo, Michelle Nichols in Canberra, Palash Kumar in New Delhi, Arjuna Wickramasinghe in Colombo) Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 13:40:17 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Report Sees Global IPTV Boom USTelecom dailyLead September 7, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24415&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Report sees global IPTV boom BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Motorola iTunes phone announcement expected today * Free Wi-Fi while you ride in Seattle * HP, Macromedia offer telecom tools * Buckeye offers VoIP * Demand for satellite phones soars * J.D. Power reports wireless customer satisfaction ratings USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * SIP Demystified Now Available in the Telecom Bookstore EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Irish telco offers wireless VoIP REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * FCC may call on WISPs to offer VoIP * Red Cross wins permission to use 1-800-RED-CROSS * High court nominee leaves little paper trail on tech Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24415&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, 7 Sep 2005 14:18:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola and Apple Launch World's First Mobile Phone With iTunes Motorola ROKR Available to Consumers Throughout Europe, North America, North Asia and Southeast Asia SCHAUMBURG, Ill. and CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) and Apple today announced the availability of the world's first mobile phone with iTunes, enabling music lovers to transfer up to 100 of their favorite songs from the iTunes jukebox on their Mac or PC to their mobile phone*. The Motorola ROKR features easy-to-use menus, simple navigation and playback, and the ability to simply switch from listening to music to talking on the phone and back again with the push of a dedicated music key. The new Motorola ROKR (pronounced "Rocker") is available in the following markets: -- U.S. - today, exclusively with Cingular -- U.K. - available first with Carphone Warehouse, expected in mid-September and then with O2, followed by Orange, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile and other top retailers through September and October -- France - expected to be available by late September through key retailers. -- Italy - expected to be available by late September through expected to be available through distributor and operator channels in 2H 05. -- Canada - expected to be available in mid- to late-September with Rogers Wireless. -- Hong Kong - expected to be available by late September through multiple retail outlets and operator channels. -- Australia, Singapore and the Philippines - expected to be available late September through early October through retail and operator channels. -- Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and other markets throughout the world - expected to be available in the fourth quarter. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51630324 Also see: SAN FRANCISCO, SCHAUMBURG, Ill. and ATLANTA, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire- FirstCall/ -- Apple(R), Motorola and Cingular Wireless today announced the availability of the world's first mobile phone with iTunes(R), enabling music lovers to transfer up to 100 of their favorite songs from the iTunes jukebox on their Mac(R) or PC to their mobile phone. Apple's iTunes software on the Motorola ROKR features easy to use menus, simple navigation and playback, and the ability to simply switch from phone to music and back again with the push of a dedicated music key. The new Motorola ROKR is available today at www.cingular.com and will be sold exclusively in all Cingular retail locations beginning tomorrow. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51629967 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Comments by CBS TV President Date: 7 Sep 2005 10:30:51 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com The New York Times Magazine has a writeup on the new president of CBS. In it he says: [The president of CBS] had decided to take a once-promising show called 'Joan of Arcadia' off the air. The show was about a teenager who receives directives and advice straight from God. "In the beginning, it was a fresh idea and uplifting, and the plot lines were engaging," Moonves said, sounding a little sad and frustrated. "But the show got too dark. I understand why creative people like dark, but American audiences don't like dark. They like story. They do not respond to nervous breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere. They like their characters to be a part of the action. They like strength, not weakness, a chance to work out any dilemma. This is a country built on optimism." See: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/magazine/04MOONVES.html I thought he made a good point. I watched that show and liked it in the first season, but it did get too dark and complex in the second season. The article discusses the possible breakup of Viacom into smaller, more specialized companies. Another good idea. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 23:07:48 +0100 From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: Mark Cuccia From New Orleans is Safe > This may be of interest to folks on CDT/Telecom Digest: > From a yahoo list: > To all list members concerned about Mark Cuccia: > Mark Cuccia is safe and sound. Mark called me at 8 AM this morning > (Wednesday). His apartment did not get flooded and he is fine. Great to hear Mark is safe. -Paul. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 16:32:12 -0400 From: Dale Neiburg In v. 24, #407, Lisa Hancock wrote (apropos of New Orleans): > I also note that some newspaper columnists pulled the race card, > claiming more might have been done had New Orleans been a more > affluent or Bush supporting area instead of poor and black. Yet other > states get floods in very wealthy areas where million dollar homes are > washed out. So much for that theory. Well, yes, of course they do: hurricanes are equal-opportunity disasters. The point being made was that the *response* is quite different. Note that, even in the case of Katrina, President Bush promised to see that Trent Lott's house is rebuilt. --Dale Neiburg ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Re: Microsoft, Google Face Off in Court Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 20:46:25 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Reuters News Wire writes: > Attorneys for Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. faced off in court on > Tuesday over whether an executive familiar with the world's largest > software maker's plans in China could begin working for the search > engine leader. [ snip ] We saw the same silliness with Sprint and (some other company whose name escapes me) about two years ago, where they had filed lawsuits back and forth to prevent somone from moving over. I'm just flabbergasted that companies really believe that their entire future fate is so dependent on single individuals. What'll they do in the case of, oh, an auto accident, or a heart attack ...> Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 17:09:07 EDT Subject: Re: Unwanted Calls In a message dated Wed, 7 Sep 2005 11:33:39 -0500, R. W. Bytheway, Jr. : > I too have received the 215 area code number on my cell phone. I > Googled and found your site. Will the *67 work with callers who have > their numbers blocked and those calls that show up as UnKnown? > Someone used to have the home number I currently have and I'm getting > call after call and telling these idiots to Google my number and see > that I'm not who they want does no good. Most of them seem to have > never heard of Google in the first place. One number listed as > UnKnown or Private keeps calling and the caller is abusive to me and I > have no way of knowing how to report them. Will the blocking of > UnKnown or Private showing up on the caller ID work? > Thanks for your great site. > Bob A graphic in USA Today either yesterday or today showed that only 66 per cent of adults use a computer. I have seen other reports that of those who use a computer many do not have an Internet connection and of those who do many use it infrequently. So many, perhaps a majority, of people never have heard of Google or know what it means or is used for. You might as well be speaking Greek to them. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Lisa Hancock Subject: Re: Unwanted Calls Date: 7 Sep 2005 13:01:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com R. wrote: > I too have received the 215 area code number on my cell phone. I > Googled and found your site. Will the *67 work with callers who have > their numbers blocked and those calls that show up as UnKnown? No. > Someone used to have the home number I currently have and I'm getting > call after call ... You probably should demand a new phone number at no charge. I had that problem years ago upon receiving a new phone (receiving obscene calls late at night on the first night I got the line) and the phone co, after some pressure from me, changed the number. This is especially important on a cell phone where you have limited minutes and must pay as you go. I can see this being a big problem on cell phones as people are more likely to "dispose" of them than their home landline phone. For example, a father might pull the plug on a teenager's line for a while. That means the numbers will get used much more frequently. I would not want a cell phone number previously assigned to a teenager. [Ohmygawd that would be, like, SO weird, you know, to have this old guy answering your cell phone, you know? Like my friend Jennifer? She is SUCH a flirt and she, like, would REALLY flirt with guys she doesn't even know who call her, like, what is that girl thinking? And at Lindsay's party she threw such a fit because Lindsay was using Jeremy's cell phone and YOU KNOW Jennifer really likes Jeremy but just won't show it because Jeremy isn't cool enough for her and she goes out with Trevor instead even though Trevor is really mean to her and cheats on her ALL THE TIME and she's so stupid she doesn't even see it right in front of her, like when Trevor was making out with Morgan -- I swear this is true -- at Amanda's house right in the living room in front of everybody, Morgan has like no shame and is the WORST slut in school, worse even than Jennifer's older sister, remember her, she got sent home for wearing her blouse too tight and her parents came back and, like, yelled at Mr. Green the principal to mind his own business and then he got REALLY mad told them she was three months pregnant which was supposed to be a big secret but everybody knew it ...] Since you are getting many calls for an old number it wouldn't pay to track each one down. In some cases old numbers are reassigned too quickly. One way to avoid that problem is to request a number in a new exchange, or better still, a new area code which your area might have. If you are getting repeated abusive anonymous calls, there is Call Trace. *57 (1157 for rotary users). This cannot be blocked. The phone company gets the number in a special unit. You may have to pay a fee for this. For repeated abuse calls, the phone company or police will deal with it. Pat mentioned some other *dial options to screen calls, but note usage varies in some areas and there may be a fee to use them. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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 #408 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Sep 8 02:00:29 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id DB19914FFF; Thu, 8 Sep 2005 02:00:28 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #409 Message-Id: <20050908060028.DB19914FFF@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 02:00:28 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 8 Sep 2005 02:00:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 409 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson GEICO, Google Settle Lawsuit (Eric Auchard) Cell Phones Combined With VOIP (Ben Charny) Pre-teen Cell Phone Adoption (Marcus Didius Falco) Laptops Turn on, Tune In to Seattle Metro's New Wi-Fi (John Stahl) CAS Tone Detection Method (jia) Windows DRM Consultant Needed For 12+ Month Position Atlanta (Bob) Re: Bob Denver as Maynard (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: You Can't Foil These Parking Meters (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (Al Gillis) 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: Eric Auchard Subject: GEICO, Google Settle Lawsuit Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 23:56:43 -0500 By Eric Auchard Google Inc. and auto insurer GEICO have resolved a trademark infringement challenge filed by GEICO against Google over its online advertising practices, the auto insurer said on Wednesday. GEICO, the No. 4 U.S. auto insurer and a unit of investor Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was "resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties." The lawsuit, originally filed in May 2004, had sought to hold Google responsible for trademark infringement for displaying advertising paid for by rival insurers when computer users searched for the word "GEICO" on the Google system. The complaint could have effectively derailed a basic way Google sells online advertising, by linking keyword searches to ads. This is the source of virtually all of Google's revenues. Rival Yahoo Inc. relies on a similar keyword technique for roughly half of its advertising revenue. "Terms of the settlement, although not disclosed, would suggest some sort of payment was made, but that a trial has been avoided," Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst with brokerage Hoefer & Arnett. "This mitigates the risk of further trademark lawsuits," he said. He rates Google stock a "buy" and says it can hit $350 over time, a gain of 20 percent from current levels. Late last year, a U.S. judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to bar Google from using the technique. Terms of the settlement are confidential, GEICO said. No further comment on the settlement will be provided, it said. Google spokesman Mike Mayzel confirmed the two companies had resolved the dispute, but also decline to provide details. The resolution of the dispute puts off, at least for now, the threat of a major battle pitting the intellectual property rights of a trademark like GEICO against the free speech rights of Google to create new forms of advertising, Pyykkonen said. GEICO, or Government Employees Insurance Co., is the fourth-largest private passenger auto insurer in the United States, covering more than 6 million policyholders. Google users who search for the word "GEICO" on the main search results page are returned a set of results that include sponsored links alongside the main Web search results. Three lesser rivals are featured next to a link to GEICO currently. Google shares were up 35 cents in after-hours trading at $288.80 following the GEICO announcement. The stock had closed $2.20 higher in regular session trading on Nasdaq at $288.45. Berkshire Hathaway shares were unchanged in after-hours trading from their New York Stock Exchange close at $84,100. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Ben Charny Subject: Cell Phones Combined With VOIP Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 23:58:58 -0500 By Ben Charny URL: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-5759701.html=20 Jayson Jepson pays 29 cents a minute to call London on his cell phone. Wouldn't it be great, the founder of Mint Telecom asks rhetorically, if it were more like 2 cents a minute? Now it is, courtesy of Mint and a growing corporate coterie selling cell phone versions of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software, which is used to transform Internet connections into inexpensive home or office phone lines. Mint began offering a $7-a-month cell phone service two weeks ago. Skype, Vonage, IP Drum and other operators using VoIP software have caused tectonic shifts in the traditional phone-service industry. Now these same interests are dialing into cell phones, primarily because a growing number have high-speed Internet connections rivaling the performance of broadband operators, whether it's over a third-generation cell phone network or based on Wi-Fi wireless connectivity. A speedy connection is very important to VoIP, in which calls travel on the Internet just like e-mails and instant messages. Because VoIP is intended for voice communication, it is relatively unforgiving of Internet connections afflicted by sluggishness or clipped or dropped signals. Consumers, of course, must weigh the cost of VoIP cell phone access against the savings they might derive from standard VoIP. Cell phone subscribers, after all, already pay a monthly fee for cell phone service. So why would they pay a company like Mint $7 a month extra, plus a per-minute fee, to make a call on the same phone? Jepson argues that the savings for customers using VoIP services are significant enough to make it worthwhile to buy cell phone access over VoIP. "You could ask the same question for VoIP in general," he wrote in an e-mail to CNET News.com. "It's $24.95 for an unlimited calling plus $20 to $40 a month for broadband just to save a few cents?" Most cell phone VoIP software comes from start-ups such as IP Drum, which is based in Norway. It's a product that enables cell phones to use Skype, arguably the world's most popular Internet telephony provider. But VoIP giants Skype and Edison, N.J.-based Vonage say they also have ambitions to develop software for cell phone access. "It's an area we're committed to," said Skype spokeswoman Kelly Larabee. On Monday, Santa Barbara, Calif.-based CallWave will reveal a new wrinkle in its lineup of VoIP-related cell phone services, including a unique call screening feature. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, ZDNet, For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 00:02:39 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Pre-Teen Cell Phone Adoption http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20050906/tc_usatoday/cellphonemarketerscallingallpreteens Cell phone marketers calling all preteens By Laura Petrecca, USA TODAY Tue Sep 6, 8:59 AM ET Forget the Barbie Dream House. Today's 9-year-old wants her own cell phone -- and Mattel will be happy to provide one. The toymaker is one of many companies vying to connect with the preteen and younger market through mobile phones, services and accessories. The goal is not just to tap new revenue - it's also to establish brand loyalty early. Some parents welcome the appearance of kid-friendly cell phones, while some critics worry that easy-to-influence preteens will be exposed to a barrage of marketing messages. About 16 million teens and younger kids have cell phones, with the bulk of them older teens, according to the researcher GFK's NOP World Technology. But as the teen market gets saturated, cell providers and other companies are eyeing the younger set. In February 2002, 13% of 12-to-14-year-olds had cell phones. That number jumped to 40% in December 2004, according to NOP. Some 14% of 10-to-11-year-olds now own cell phones. While NOP doesn't have comparison data for that group yet, Vice President Ben Rogers says its ownership is rising. Even kids under 10 are using personal cells to call for rides home. "We're seeing cell phone growth from ages 8 and 9 on," says technology analyst Rob Enderle. Mattel licensed its "My Scene" brand name, which focuses on preteens, to Single Touch Interactive. This month, they'll sell a full-service $79.99 cell phone with prepaid minutes priced at 25 cents each. Next year, Walt Disney launches Disney Mobile service through Sprint. It is designed for families with kids as young as 10. Some companies are aiming even younger. Just in time for the new school year, educational tech company LeapFrog and wireless firm Enfora are launching the $99.99 TicTalk phone for children ages 6 and older. Courtesy Firefly Mobile Inc.Firefly Mobile's phone is geared to kids ages 8 to 12. Firefly Mobile has a simple $99.99 phone with five "speed-dial" buttons for "mobile kids." Many parents are buying in. Gaithersburg, Md., mom Phyllis Corrao just got her 10-year-old son, Daniel Mangle, a full-service Nextel phone so she can stay in touch when he's at school. Eric Webber of Austin says he's about to cave in and buy his 11-year-old son, Jake, one. "I have the cell phone debate every day," says Webber, adding that his son has worn him down. When parents put phones in kids' hands, they're likely creating a lifelong cell phone customer, say experts. That gives both the service providers -- such as Sprint or Verizon -- as well as brands with names on the handsets -- such as Mattel's "My Scene" -- access to new customers and sets the stage for future sales. "Once you give it to them, you can't take it away," Rogers says. He adds that as kids get older and are exposed to more advanced phones, "Parents are going to experience a lot of pressure to upgrade." He says the simpler phones, such as the Firefly, are seeding the way for future growth. "There is a role for those limited phones to get people in young and then drive intake of fully functional phones at a younger age," Rogers says. In addition to paying for upgraded phones, parents and kids are also buying ring tones, cell phone shells and hip carrying cases. Firefly's Web site, for instance, promotes a $12.99 wristlet purse to carry the phone, as well as colorful "bubble gum" and "limeade" exchangeable outer shells for the phone at $12.99 each. That might be just the start. While Disney hasn't disclosed all its plans, some telecom analysts already are speculating about the potential it has to market an array of products through Disney Mobile. Enderle says Disney could sell ring tones that promote its movie characters or include discount coupons to its theme parks with the monthly cell phone bill. That vast marketing potential has some children's advocates worried about exploitation. "It's open season on kids," says Gary Ruskin, executive director of advocacy group Commercial Alert. Ruskin rattles off a range of concerns, from children being exposed to marketing messages on the phone itself (such as Mattel's "My Scene" design) to the potential for kids to be pressured to buy ring tones and accessories. Ruskin says some companies will harness the nag factor -- when a kid harasses a parent for so long, the parent gives in -- to sell their goods. Marketers defend their phone products. Mattel says: "We believe it is ultimately the choice of the parent to decide when his or her child is ready for a cell phone. Research shows that kids are going wireless, and we wanted to provide girls with a communication device that is not only functional and fashionable but that also encourages responsible cell phone use." It appears that more parents are on Mattel's side. Webber, who works in the ad industry, says he sees how marketers can take advantage of kids. His son is already turning ad messages he's heard into arguments for a phone. "He's playing the safety and security card on me, saying, 'Wouldn't you feel safer if I had it?' " Webber says. At this point, Webber is just about sold. Both he and Corrao agree that cell phones can teach their kids about responsibility. Corrao's son, Daniel, does chores to earn the talk time, and Webber says he'll do the same with Jake. Corrao says giving Daniel a phone has paid off in other ways: "He's called to say he loves me." Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Read USA Today on line here each day at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/othernews.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 18:37:54 -0400 From: John Stahl Subject: Laptops Turn On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's New Wi-Fi Starting today, Seattle bus routes are offering Wi-Fi for FREE on some of their lines. Not only in this period of exorbitant gasoline prices can you "leave the driving to us" (one bus lines logo), but you can doubly save on the commutation. With FREE Wi-Fi service (forget Blackberry's and Verizon costly Broadband services) you can get on the Internet and "work" while you relax on your way to work. I wish more cities would get gutsy and fight the local Teleco incumbent (it seems that they and the cable provider think they "own" connection to the Internet) to put FREE Wi-FI every where (especially on busses with the high cost of fuel) they want. I haven't heard if Philly and other cities have given up their quest and fight to put in these systems. The article: Laptops turn on, tune in to Metro's new Wi-Fi 29 buses on two routes offering wireless Net access By JANE HADLEY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER (9/7/05) Beginning today, some riders on two Metro bus routes will be able to turn on and tune in their laptops to the Internet using Wi-Fi wireless connections in a five-month trial that could expand to other routes, if successful. By mid-October, all 29 buses that run on .... URL of article: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/239688_buswifi07.html Wish my area in NY had this available. John Stahl Data/Telecom Consultant Aljon Enterprises ------------------------------ From: jia Subject: CAS Tone Detection Method Date: 7 Sep 2005 18:47:05 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi here, If I use detection method of DTMF to do the CAS(CPE Alerting Signal), is it OK? I believe CAS Tone is just a special DTMF Tone with strict requirement. ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Bob Subject: Windows DRM Consultant Needed For 12 Month Position in Atlanta Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 22:31:04 -0700 Organization: Gbtech Dear Friends, We are in the process of identifying suitable candidates for the below described position. If you are best fit for this position, please respond ASAP by emailing the below requested details to Bob@gbtechinc.com. 1) updated resume as a word document 2) expected all inclusive hourly rate 3) availability 4) work/visa status 5) and contact details. Job Details: Job Title: Windows DRM Consultant Duration: 12+ months Location: Atlanta, GA. Job description: We are looking for an experienced Senior Windows Software Engineer to join us for a 12+ month engagement located in Atlanta, GA. You will be a key member of a dynamic team developing multimedia server and client applications on the Windows platform. You will be a part of all aspects of the software development lifecycle, from design and concept, to testing and maintenance. We are looking for someone experience with Windows Digital Rights Management (DRM). Responsibilities will include: Manage multiple and simultaneous development projects. Create functional and design specifications for new product features. Implement new product features. Diagnose and fix bugs in new and existing code. Act as a technical resource for the Windows platform. Requirements/Prerequisites: Five years experience developing on the Windows platform. Knowledge of object-oriented design principles, including design patterns. Extensive knowledge of C and C++ programming. Extensive knowledge of the Win32 API. Extensive experience with multi-threaded software. Strong analytical and communications skills. Please send resumes ASAP, for an immediate interview. Regards, Bob Harris Sr.Technical Recruiter Global Technologies Inc www.GBTechinc.com Bob@gbtechinc.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 22:04:34 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Bob Denver as Maynard hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > His most famous role that everyone talks about was as Gilligan, in > Gilligan's Island. But I remember him more from his prior role as a > beatnik, Maynard G Krebs, in "Dobie Gillis". I liked the way Maynard would always recoil in horror whenever he heard the word "work"... Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com If your teacher tells you to Question Authority Should you do it? ------------------------------ From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: You Can't Foil These Parking Meters/Technology Makes it Easier Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 03:21:00 GMT Fred Atkinson wrote: > When we returned to the vehicle, there was a parking ticket on it. > When I looked at the chalk time versus the time the ticket was issued, > the difference of the times was only thirty-eight minutes. Here's a parking meter story from ten or fifteen years ago that I know PAT will enjoy, because it involves one of his favorite topics: Chicago government. The wife and I drove downtown on a Sunday to visit the Field Museum. We were pleasantly surprised when we got there to find ample parking curbside. There were meters, but the meters were placarded "Monday through Saturday, 6am to 10pm" so the parking was even free! We enjoyed our visit to the museum, and when we returned to our car we found we had been ticketed for parking at an expired meter! Fifty bucks! We took a photo of the meter's placard (with the meter number showing). Then we filed an appeal; I forget exactly how it worked but basically you explain in writing why you shouldn't have gotten the ticket and mail it to a special address. Anyway we explained about the "Monday through Saturday" thing, enclosed the photo, and returned to our regularly scheduled lives. Then we got the response. Denied! Reason for denial: "Insufficient evidence" -- what do they want, we should rip up the meter and UPS it to them with a calendar??? "Fortunately" there is a process in place to appeal the appeal; all we had to do was fill out another form and send it in along with a non-refundable $400 check for court costs. Really! So we solved the problem the easy way. We paid the fifty bucks, and we haven't been to the Field Museum since. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com If your teacher tells you to Question Authority Should you do it? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And I have not been back to Chicago since 2001, (actually not since 1999, but I returned there very briefly in 2001 for a couple months) and do not see any reason to return anytime soon. The whole place is rotten to the core with dirty tricks as you experienced. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 20:31:15 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com wrote in message news:telecom24.393.10@telecom-digest.org... > My local PBS showed clips from old shows. The telephone figured in > some of them. > In one clip, the group got into an argument over the names of the > Seven Dwarfs from Snow White. One man makes a few phone calls to ask > around. He dialed 5 or 6 digits, but spun the dial very quickly, not > letting it properly return. The man then made another call, this time > dialing only three digits. "Long Distance? Get me Walt Disney in > Hollywood!". The man repeatedly emphasizes he's spending $3 on long > distance to find out the info ($3 was maybe $30-$40 today). He gets > Walt Disney on the phone (who didn't know the answer), and mentioned > again he was calling long distance for $3. > The clip was also interesting for the social world it shown. The gang > was headed out for the evening when they got into this argument. They > were hollering at each other, and it reminded me of adults of that > day, which seemed to be hollering at lot more than they do today > (maybe it was only my world). Also, they were all dressed up very > nicely -- men in suits, women in nice dresses. Today people go out to > dinner or a movie in beach clothes; we forget in those days people put > on a necktie or dress quite often when they left the house. > Another clip was a monologue about a night on the town. It starts off > with him calling his girlfriend for a date, and he made exagerated > sounds of dialing, ringing, etc. > Those old shows were done live. When something fouled up -- which > happened often (forgotten lines, prop would fall down -- the actors > had to be quick and improvise to keep the sketch moving. By today's > standards the humor could be a little bland and the jokes very old. > But the shows have a kind of vitality often not seen today. The > comedy groups were a tight-knit team. They also could be funny > without resorting to sex or even politics. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: One of my favorite telephone gags is > when the person _merely pretends_ to call someone, but actually has > his finger holding the hook down while he makes a big production of > dialing then speaking to whomever (only supposedly), and then mid-way > through the supposed conversation with the supposed person, the phone > _actually rings_ with a real call coming in, and of course the > pretender is quite embarassed at being caught in this obvious lie. I > first saw this routine in an old Jack Benny show from the 1930's, then > I saw it again in an "I Love Lucy" show. The third time I saw it was > when John Ritter (in his role as Jack Tripper, on "Three's Company") > got caught in that lie on one of the "Three's Company" shows. Viewers > will recall that poor Jack was always getting in some hassle or > another on that show, and his two female roomates would always have to > rescue him. > The odd part was that on the show where Jack got caught 'with his > finger on the hook while making a call' (because the phone rang), when > it happened, the audience roared with laughter, poor Jack looked very > humiliated as always, but on the 'outakes' (not used in the show but > available on the video of 'outakes' several years later) who should > walk on the set at that moment but Lucille Ball -- not normally on the > show except two or three times as a special guest) and she sternly > said "John, you stole one of my better laughs!" and Ritter replied, > "but my writers got it from the same guy you did, Jack Benny!". Miss > Ball gave him a dirty look and stalked off the stage. The audience > loved it; because the applause for Lucille Ball and the laughter on > account of the joke went on for so long the producers had to cut it > out of the tape entirely. You are correct, Lisa, they could tell jokes > and have funny situations in a clean way on television in years gone > past. PAT] Another bit of early TV crazyness happened with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney. Ralph Cramden (Jackie) had just gotten a new telephone installed in his apartment. Jackie and Alice were both quite proud of this new addition to their cold water, walk up flat. Anyway, Ed Norton (Art) came to the Cramden apartment that evening and asked to use the telephone. Jackie told his pal, "Sure -- go ahead. But remember this costs me money for every call". (Jackie had obviously ordered a measured line). So Ed/Art dials a number, listens for a while and then hangs up. Then he raises his arm and adjusts the time on his wristwatch. Jackie/Ralph goes nuts! He berates his pal for wasting money on a phone call just to find out what time it was! Norton, in his usual response to Ralph's outbursts, grabs his hat off his head and dashes out the door! Maybe I spend to much time in the past, but I miss that old stuff ... no vulgar language, no profanity, no sexual overtones, just funny, funny stuff! Probably so funny as it mirrored us or our friends so closely! Thanks, Pat, for bringing this memory to the surface! Al [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are quite welcome. Did you ever see any of 'The Honeymooners, Color Episodes' (as they were called), a few years following the demise of the original 'Honeymooners' series? Both Jackie Gleason and Art Carney were in it, but different actresses played their wives. For whatever reason, TVLand does not run that series and they (TVLand) only occassionally mentions the original Honeymooners series these days. Do you remember when Jackie Gleason (actually, for real) broke his leg near the end of one of the shows as part of a gag he was doing? Normally, Gleason came out at the end of every show to say goodnight to the audience, but as the final curtain went down, we see him slip and fall; people begin to realize that this time it was _not_ a joke, and instead of Gleason coming out to crack his final joke and say goodnight, someone else came out to do it. Do you also recall how Honeymooners was _originally_ just a fifteen minute segment on Jackie Gleason? In addition to Honeymooners, he had a routine called 'the Poor Soul' and a couple others each week. Eventually though, Honeymooners began getting 30 minutes of the show each week, then finally an hour, except for the June Taylor Dancers who were always the first act. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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 #409 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Sep 8 15:05:40 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id CA15315167; Thu, 8 Sep 2005 15:05:39 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #410 Message-Id: <20050908190539.CA15315167@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 15:05:39 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 8 Sep 2005 15:04:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 410 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson German Thief Nabbed After Online Sale to Victim (Reuters News Wire) Observers Tally Storm Telecom Toll (Mark Sullivan) Cellular-News for Thursday 8th September 2005 (cellular-news) Re: Laptops and Seattle Transit (John L. Shelton) iPod Phone Isn't Perfect, but It's a Start (Monty Solomon) IEC's Broadband World Forum Hosts Cutting-Edge Triple-Play (Lisa Reyes) Texas Alters Franchise Law, Opens Way for Telco (USTelecom dailyLead) 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: Reuters News Wire Subject: German Thief Nabbed After Online Sale to Victim Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 12:24:49 -0500 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Today, I decided to save the best for first ... PAT] A German thief stole a man's in-car navigation system and unwittingly auctioned it online back to his victim, who had police arrest him, authorities said on Wednesday. Police in Berlin said the 26-year-old victim spotted the device on an Internet auction site and quickly re-acquired what he had reported stolen from his car some two weeks previously. He informed police, who went to the thief's house posing as the buyers and then arrested the 21-year-old. "I think the thief got a bit of a surprise," said a Berlin police spokesman, adding the man confessed to the theft. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Although this would have worked as a 'last laugh' feature, I was inspired by the clumsy stupidity of the thief and decided to present it early on in this issue. I am very much reminded of the incident three weeks ago where the 'nice young man' showed up here at my house on one of the hotter, more humid days of this summer asking for a drink of water and a chance to use my bathroom, which I allowed. Afterward, as Timothy Garotte was acting so grateful and lovey-dovey about the water and the bathroom, he walked off with a box of unused checks of mine, which were for use on our local bank. I did not even find out about it until the next day, when a woman who is my part time housekeeper called from her other (full time) job on the other side of town to ask me if I had given an okay for this fellow to come in with my checks to purchase cigarettes and get cash back. Not just once, but _three times_ that day and again the next morning. If Timothy had not been so damn dumb and instead had gone out to Walmart, he could have pulled it off, mainly since Walmart is friends of no one here in town, nor would they have bothered to inquire, as the cashier at Mikey's Conoco station thought to do. Fortunatly for me, police had the guy the same day, a few minutes after he was on his _fourth trip_ to the station for cigarettes and cash back. According to police officer John Edwards, my instance was 'almost a record' in the time from offense to capture, much like the German lad who ripped off the man's automobile GPSunit, then turned around and sold it back to him via E-Bay a few days later. It makes me glad to be part of a small town where the merchants know all the citizens and care about them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark Sullivan Subject: Observers Tally Storm Telecom Toll Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 12:38:22 -0500 "Anyway ... I finally contact my friend; she is OK in Houston ... so sad that she is homeless now ... but well ... she is alive ... thanks God!" So reads a message from the Vonage Holdings Corp. user bulletin board dated August 29th. And it brings to light one of the hard lessons of Katrina: Most of our fancier communications services like VOIP and cellular are only as reliable as the basic utilities -- like the PSTN and public power -- that underpin them (see various articles on Katrina). In the example above, the Vonage user's friend in Houston probably couldn't be reached because of damage to the PSTN in the area, on which Vonage relies to route much of its long-distance traffic. Pure VOIP systems like Skype (excluding SkypeOut) were't much more useful, observers say. Those pure VOIP calls don't connect to the PSTN, but they still use an electrically-powered modem. Calls to Skype for usage levels on this story were not returned by deadline. Captain Ralph Mitchell of the Louisiana State Police tells Light Reading that most people in and around New Orleans are relying more on cell phone communication in the wake of the storm, but even that may be temporary. Cellular service too is tied to the availablity of power and the PSTN. And cellphones need electricity to recharge. Cell towers need power to transmit calls to the main switch and a connection to the PSTN for getting traffic from the cell cites to the main switch. The various breakdowns in communications services are a central cause of the poor emergency response to Katrina. Today, the main challenge is evacuating the city, yet as many as 10,000 remain, despite orders from both FEMA and the mayor that everybody must go. "The problem is that these people are cut off from communications, and they have to be convinced that this problem is really serious," Mitchell says. "I don't know if they still have cell phones that work. After all, the storm struck a week ago Saturday; most people don't have electricity, so I don't think they have a way to recharge their batteries." T-Mobile USA believes many of its users in the storm-affected areas are using cellular text messaging to communicate. Unlike cell phone calls, text messaging traffic relies on microwave signals, not PSTN lines, to get from the cell towers to the main switch in New Orleans. "From there they can be transmitted anywhere," says T-Mobile spokes- man Peter Dobrow. T-Mobile says that calls in and out of its New Orleans market, which extends to surrounding cities Baton Rouge and Slidell, usually number about 1.4 million a day. On the day Katrina hit, August 29, that number fell to 600,000. Many T-Mobile cell towers had gone down in the region, but were soon restored, Dobrow says. The call numbers then rose to 1.1 million on the 30th, then back to 1.4 million on the 31st. Cellular traffic throughout the Gulf Coast region is now "at or exceeding normal usage levels," according to Dobrow. Vonage spokeswoman Brooke Schulz says Vonage call volume from the affected region has gone down by about 60 percent since the storm. "At our New Orleans PSTN connection we saw our inbound traffic from our CLEC partner completely cease at around 1PM on 8/29; it was not turned up again until 7AM on 8/30," Schulz wrote in an email to Light Reading on Monday. "Our circuits were up and running throughout that time, but no inbound calls were coming through to us during that time." While Vonage acknowledges the service outage, it puts the blame on the failure of the local communications infrastructure. Vonage pays a tariff to local CLECs to access the PSTN around the region (see 'Madison River Eyes Damage'). "If that CLEC goes down or that CLEC gets flooded with calls or if that physical connection is somehow disrupted, we can get the calls into Vonage -- it's not Vonage that goes down -- but the CLEC side can't get the calls to us," Schulz says. In the days following the Katrina's landfall, local CLECs scrambled to get their infrastructures operable again. But Katrina hit ten days ago, and still most PSTN calls to the Gulf Coast region end with the sound of recorded announcement saying: "Due to the hurricane in the area you are calling..." Even if the CLEC and the PSTN had been operable, most VOIP users wouldn't have noticed -- much of the region was without power in the days after Katrina hit. According to statements by local utilities, the power may be off in some areas of New Orleans for many days to come while floodwaters are drained from the city. Capt. Mitchell says 90 percent of New Orleans is still "without basic services." A Wall Street Journal report Monday estimated 1.8 million phone lines were disabled. Officials say the task of getting communications back to normal could take weeks, partly because much of the damaged infrastructure is still underwater. The major carrier in the region, BellSouth Corp. believes as many as 750,000 of its landline customers and millions of cellphone customers were without service across Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi (see 'BellSouth Assesses Katrina'). by Mark Sullivan, Reporter, Light Reading Copyright 2005 Light Reading Inc. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Get aquainted with _all_ the features of Telecom Digest Extra at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/index.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, in this instance, Light Reading, Inc. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular News Report Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 07:37:28 -0500 From: Cellular-News Changes to cellular-news We are pleased to announce a new service on cellular-news that will enable you to read the web site without seeing any advertisements whatsoever. We are also about to launch a range of "premium" news articles -- which will be made available to readers of TELECOM Digest. Watch for this new feature daily in the TELECOM Digest. Alcatel Wins GSM Contract http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13996.php Alcatel has been awarded a contract by Sun Cellular, the mobile brand of Digital Mobile Philippines (DMPI) in the Philippines, to expand the operator's GSM/GPRS mobile network capacity. This contract,... CMOS Grows on Mobile-Phone Transceivers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13997.php CMOS process technology is enjoying increasing use in Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver chips of mobile phones and by 2009 will be employed in 40% of wireless handsets shipped, iSuppli Corp. predicts. Satisfaction with Wireless Service Providers Decreasing http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13998.php Overall satisfaction performance with the USA's wireless service providers has decreased 10% over 2004, the biggest year-over-year change since the study's inception, according to the J.D. Power and A... Email, Weather, and Search Top Mobile Internet Use http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13995.php Telephia has reported that email, weather and search websites are the most popular categories among consumers logging online via their mobile phones. According to Telephia's newly launched Mobile Inte... HSDPA Added to Handheld Wireless RF Field Tester http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13999.php Tektronix has announced the addition of the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) software option to its NetTek Wireless RF Field Tester. Tektronix says that it is the first manufacturer to provid... Telular Wins LatAm Fixed Cellular Handset Orders http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14000.php Telular Corp. says that it has received purchase orders totaling US$22.9 million for business with multiple Latin American wireless network operators in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Ve... Dual-Mode Smart Phones to Lead Fixed Mobile Convergence Push http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14001.php The fixed line phone, long a fixture in 95% of USA homes and offices, is about to be replaced by new smart phone technology capable of working as reliably as a fixed line phone in the home or office a... Motorola Finally Shows Off iPod Mobile Phone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14002.php Motorola and Apple have finally announced the availability of the world's first mobile phone with iTunes, enabling music lovers to transfer up to 100 of their favorite songs from the iTunes jukebox on... Ericsson: Plans US$1 Billion Invest In China Next Five Years http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13986.php Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) plans to invest US$1 billion in China over the next five years, Mats H. Olsson, president of Ericsson Greater China, said Wedn... Ericsson To Supply HSDPA To Cellcom In Israel http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13987.php Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) Wednesday said it has recieved an order from Israel mobile operator Cellcom, to supply a third generation/HSDPA radio network.... China Expected To Issue 3G Licenses Early 2006 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13988.php Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) expects China to issue third-generation telecommunications licenses early next year, a senior executive at the Swedish telecom equipment maker said Wednesday. Ericsson Signs Managed Services Contract With Sonaecom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13989.php Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) said Wednesday it has signed a five-year managed services contract with Portuguese telecom group Sonaecom S/A (SNC.LB). The company didn't give financial detai... New Orleans Police Seek Snipers Firing At Phone Workers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13990.php NEW ORLEANS (AP)--There are reports from New Orleans of shots being fired at cellphone workers on towers trying to restore service. Authorities have been going door to door at nearby apartme... FCC Official: 1 Million Phone Lines Out In Katrina Area http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13991.php More than 1 million customer phone lines and over 20 switching centers remain out of service in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, a Federal Communications Commission official said Wednesday. ... FCC Asks Wireless Cos. To Pledge No Cutoff Post Katrina http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13992.php The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday told wireless carriers to continue providing cellphone service to customers affected by Hurricane Katrina even if their bills are unpaid. Ericsson CFO: Not A Great Believer In Mega Mergers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13993.php L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co.'s (ERICY) chief financial officer said he wasn't a "great believer in mega-mergers." "I believe you create your own value," said Karl-Henrik Sundstrom. He added t... Vodafone Japan Gains Net 3,600 Mobile Phone Users In Aug http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13994.php The Japanese unit of Vodafone Group Plc. (VOD) said Wednesday it gained a net 3,600 subscribers to its mobile phone services in August. Vodafone K.K. had 14,988,200 customers as of the end o... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 00:55:52 -0700 From: John L. Shelton Subject: Re: Laptops Tune On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's Transit John Stahl quoted a newspaper writer: > I wish more cities would get gutsy and fight the local Teleco > incumbent (it seems that they and the cable provider think they "own" > connection to the Internet) to put FREE Wi-FI every where (especially > on busses with the high cost of fuel) they want. I haven't heard if > Philly and other cities have given up their quest and fight to put in > these systems. The cities aren't doing this for free. They tax their citizens (and visitors are taxed more than citizens) to provide these allegedly nice services. Do you really want your cities expanding their budgets and spending on things that commercial vendors are happy to compete to do? Perhaps they should go build levees or something that others don't want to do. Why is wi-fi on the bus good for citizens who don't ride, or don't have laptops? For you left-thinkers out there, why are your cities catering to the wealthier bus riders? Why not free coffee, of value to all bus riders? (Dallas tried that trick in the 1970s, but people still drove to work.) When foreign governments subsidize industry, many of you call it "dumping" and protest it. But if Seattle does the same thing, again depriving someone of a job, you call it good. The only "fair" thing is to allow competition from all providers and for government to step back and try to do well in the few areas we entrust to it. If a city prevents competition, the solution isn't letting only the city compete: it's real competition. *sigh* =John= john@jshelton.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 08:11:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: iPod Phone Isn't Perfect, but It's a Start David Pogue September 8, 2005 IPOD phone. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? You'd better believe it. When Apple announced that it was about to unveil something big, its stock price zoomed to a record high. The Gizmodo Web site posted an exhibit of no fewer than 24 different faked "iPod phone" photos that have circulated online. Gadget freaks worldwide went foamy at the mouth. Now, plenty of current cellphones can already play music -- but not with Apple's sense of style and polish. They can't play songs from Apple's iTunes Music Store, either, which is where 10 million people -- more than 80 percent of the world's online song buyers -- get them. So questions about the new iPod phone flew thick and fast in nerd circles. Will it look cool, like an iPod? Will it have the iPod's famous click wheel on the front? Will the phone have a hard drive that can hold thousands of songs? Will you be able to download songs straight from the Internet? Will it have a FireWire or U.S.B. 2.0 connector for superfast music transfer? Will you be able to use your songs as ring tones, so that the phone bursts out in "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" when your husband calls? All became clear on a San Francisco stage yesterday morning when Steven P. Jobs, Apple's chief, took the wraps off two new products. One was a new iPod model - the iPod nano - that's so thin, it looks like a traditional white (or black) iPod that's been squished by a steamroller. Its two models ($199 and $249) hold 500 and 1,000 songs in memory; there's no hard drive, which helps the nano crank out 14 hours of music on a charge. The other new product was, yes, a new combination cellphone and music player, a collaboration among Apple, Cingular and Motorola, called the Rokr E1, which will cost $250 with a new Cingular contract. (Ever since its Razr phone became a hit, Motorola's been on a roll with its omitted-letter naming scheme.) ALL right, now, about those questions: the answer to all of them is no. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/technology/circuits/08pogue.html?ex=1283832000&en=72979b085595fb7f&ei=5090 ------------------------------ From: Lisa Reyes Subject: IEC's Broadband Forum 2005 Hosts Cutting-Edge Triple-Play Session Date: THU, 8 SEP 2005 11:39:51 -0500 Reply-To: lreyes@iec.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lisa Reyes Phone: 1+312+559+3325 E-Mail: mailto:lreyes@iec.org IEC's BROADBAND FORUM EUROPE 2005 HOSTS CUTTING-EDGE TRIPLE-PLAY SESSION Executive Telecom Providers Share Unique Perspectives for Controlling Operations Costs throughout Life Cycle of Triple-Play Service Bundles CHICAGO September 7, 2005 The International Engineering Consortium (IEC) hosts an unprecedented Future of the Triple Play, industry overview session led by top-level information industry executives who will address challenges and share solutions on broadband convergence at Broadband World Forum Europe, 3 October in Madrid, Spain. This distinct industry overview session provides a comprehensive outlook, bringing together principal leaders from a software provider, a systems provider, two service providers, and a prominent industry analyst to one session. Led by Chairperson Alan Mottram, president, Fixed Solutions division, Alacatel, panelists include Phil Corman, director, Worldwide Partner Development, Microsoft TV; Massimo Intorella, vice president, Strategic Marketing, Telecom Italia Wireline; Paul Berriman, head of Strategic Market Development, PCCW; and Stphane Tral, managing director, 10th Street Advisors. As Mr. Mottram noted the excitement of triple play as the hottest topic in the industry, he commented, "Everyone wants us to get everything done yesterday. We are going really fast, but must also be careful to get it right" [Triple play's] impact will be significant, even revolutionary. Mr. Mottram added that the session provides a unique opportunity to hear different perspectives on the future of triple play. Granting information on a new approach that builds management intelligence and automation directly into triple-play services, the session affords valuable education to telecom professionals worldwide trying to understand the new management paradigm. Mr. Corman commented, "Microsoft believes that Internet Protocol (IP) technology is the future of triple-play and quadruple-play services. Attendees will learn how to deliver next-generation digital TV services over their managed, broadband IP networks, and how to extend this value by connecting them to compatible devices and services." The IEC's Broadband World Forum Europe http://www.iec.org/events/2005/bbwf/ , unparallel to any other communications event, expects to host more than 80 exhibitors, more than 3,000 attendees, and present more than 160 sessions over four days at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos de Madrid. The two-day WiMAX Global ComForum also takes place at the event, addressing technology and business challenges associated with WiMAX wireless broadband networks. Encouraging professionals to learn and share information, both events fulfill the IEC's commitment to catalyzing positive change in technology, business, and academia. Contact: Lisa Reyes Phone: 1+312+559+3325 E-Mail: lreyes@iec.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 12:50:17 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Texas Alters Franchise Law, Opens Way For Telco USTelecom dailyLead September 8, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24453&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Texas alters franchise law, opens way for telco TV BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * The iTunes phone has arrived * EBay emerges as Skype suitor * Katrina knocks out emergency networks * News Corp. buys IGN * Appraiser may determine value of Nextel Partners * Cisco flaw makes computer networks vulnerable USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Telecom Technology Executives to Share Vision at TELECOM '05 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Report: AOL poised to launch video VoIP REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * EU approves Siemens mobile phone sale * Ebbers free during appeal * EC approves Tele2-Versatel deal Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24453&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 ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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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 #410 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Sep 9 14:38:25 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 8D1B5151E9; Fri, 9 Sep 2005 14:38:24 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #411 Message-Id: <20050909183824.8D1B5151E9@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 14:38:24 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Sep 2005 14:38:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 411 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson China Telecom Said to Block Skype (Doug Young) Tiawan Court Convicts Music Sharing Service Kuro (Jeffrey Goldfarb) Internet Pioneer Vint Cerf Joins Google (Michael Leidtke) Katrina Victims Also ID Theft Victims (Andy Sullivan) Yahoo Defends Itself Over China News Allegations (John Ruwich) Cellular-News for Friday 9th September 2005 (Cellular-News) Ebay & Skype = Death (codefixer@gmail.com) Apple Special Event Webcast (Monty Solomon) iPod Nano Combines Beauty, Function (Monty Solomon) Cisco IP NGN -- Video/IPTV (Monty Solomon) Microsoft and Sigma Designs Pave Way for Low-Cost IPTV Devices (Solomon) IPTV Industry Prepares to Deliver Microsoft TV-Enabled Set-Top (Solomon) Verizon V710 Settlement (Monty Solomon) Arizona Budget POTS Plans (Mike Sutter) How Can I Get Voiceglo Glophone to Answer Mail? (william108@gmail.com) Vinton Cerf Joins Google as 'Internet Evangelist' (US Telecom DailyLead) Re: Laptops Tune on, Tune in to Seattle Transit (Chip Cryderman) Re: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: iPod Phone Isn't Perfect, but It's a Start (EventHelix.com) Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security (Dave Close) 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: Doug Young Subject: China Telecom Said to Block Skype Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:03:21 -0500 China Telecom has started blocking access to a popular Internet telephone service that is threatening its long-distance revenue, according to local media reports and Internet postings. China's largest fixed-line phone carrier recently began blocking access to service from Skype Technologies SA, a European-based Internet telecoms services provider, in the affluent southern city of Shenzhen near Hong Kong, according to the reports, including one in the Shanghai Daily. They said China Telecom, whose broadband Internet service allows access to Skype, has plans to eventually block the service throughout its coverage area nationwide. They also said the carrier has created a "black list" of people who use the service in Shenzhen, and threatened to fine anyone who tries to get around the new obstacles. A China Telecom spokesman had no comment on the reports about the Shenzhen blockage, but gave a broader view. "Under the current relevant laws and regulations of China, PC-to-phone services are strictly regulated and only China Telecom and (the nation's other fixed-line carrier) China Netcom are permitted to carry out some trials on a very limited basis," he said. Skype service, which allows people to make calls from their PCs to regular phones, enables subscribers in China to dial to major Western markets in the United States and Europe for as little as 2 eurocents per minute (2.5 U.S. cents), compared with rates closer to $1 per minute from China Telecom. China routinely blocks access to Web sites on politically sensitive subjects such as the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement and the 1989 crackdown at Tiananmen Square that left hundreds dead. But blockage of sites for purely economic reasons is much less common. Tom Online, a Beijing-based provider of wireless value-added services that has a year-old relationship with Skype for Internet instant messaging services, said its product in China was still operational. HOT TOPIC The Internet telephony blockage was a hot topic on several Web forums hosted by Skype. "The whole thing looks to me like a plot to make back the money China Telecom thinks they lose because of Skype," complained one user in Shenzhen, who said his access was blocked but his wife, also in Shenzhen, was able to access the system. Other users in Shanghai said they were still able to access the system. Long distance business is an important revenue source for both China Telecom and China Netcom, accounting for about 20 percent of China Telecom's total revenue last year. Internet-based services like Skype are putting pressure on both companies to lower their long-distance tariffs, which have been coming down at a rate of about 12-15 percent annually in recent years, said BOC International analyst Alan Ng. "Eventually (Internet-based phone services) will be a threat," he said. "Whether it's already a serious threat, I doubt it. But it will get even more popular, and certainly that is why China Telecom is very concerned." U.S. Web auction giant EBay Inc. is currently in talks to buy Skype, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Thursday, amid concerns that the European company could crimp highly-profitable eBay's growth. China Telecom shares were down 0.88 percent at HK$2.80 in Hong Kong on Friday. They are unchanged since the beginning of the year, trailing a 6 percent gain for the broader Hang Seng Index. Investors are fretting about China Telecom's slowing growth, as they wait for the outcome of a highly anticipated industry restructuring expected to include the eventual awarding of third-generation (3G) mobile licenses. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Jeffrey Goldfarb Subject: Taiwan Court Convicts Music Sharing Service Kuro Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:05:21 -0500 By Jeffrey Goldfarb The music industry claimed another victory in its legal war against file-sharing networks on Friday when a Taiwan court convicted the service Kuro of criminal copyright infringement and sentenced its operators to jail terms of up to three years. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said it was the first criminal conviction of a peer-to-peer file sharing service, which distributes information between users instead of through a central server. Kuro, which charged users to access music files, was fined T$3 million, or about $90,000, IFPI said. Most of the songs available using Kuro were by local artists, none of whom were paid by the service, the music industry trade group said. "This is good news for artists and the music industry, particularly in Taiwan, which has had a history of piracy problems," said Lauri Rechardt, IFPI's director of licensing and litigation. "Kuro has received a criminal conviction, which sends a strong message that profiteering from infringement will not be tolerated," she added. Representatives for Kuro could not immediately be reached for comment. The judgment follows an Australian court ruling last week that popular Internet file-sharing network Kazaa breached copyright laws. It was ordered to modify its software to prevent online music piracy. The U.S. Supreme Court also said in June that services like Grokster and Morpheus can be held liable if their intent is to promote copyright infringement of songs or movies. That case was sent back to a lower court to be re-examined. IFPI said the two brothers who ran Kuro have each been sentenced to three years imprisonment and their father, who was president of the service, was sentenced to two years. A Kuro user was also convicted of uploading copyrighted material and sentenced to four months in prison, IFPI said. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Michael Liedtke Subject: Internet Pioneer Vinton Cerf Joins Google Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 20:47:23 -0500 By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer Google Inc. has hired Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf to float more ideas and develop new products, adding another weapon to the online search engine leader's rapidly growing arsenal of intellect. Cerf's defection from MCI Inc., announced Thursday, represents the latest coup for Mountain View-based Google, which has been amassing more brainpower as its payroll nearly quadrupled to 4,200 workers during the past two years. Along the way, Google has been raiding other companies, a tactic that has sparked a legal battle with one of its major rivals, software maker Microsoft Corp. The two high-tech titans battled in court this week over Kai Fu-Lee's July resignation from Microsoft to oversee Google's efforts to open a research center in China. In an interview, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said few of the company's recent hires have been as significant as Cerf, widely regarded as one of the Internet's creators because of his seminal work developing the network's essential communications protocols, TCP/IP, at Stanford University in the 1970s. "He is one of the most important people alive today," said Schmidt, who has been friends with Cerf for more than 20 years. "Vint has put his heart and soul into making the Internet happen. I know he is going to jump right in here and start shoveling out new ideas for Google." When he starts work at Google on Oct. 3, Cerf's official title will be "chief Internet evangelist," but he is determined to be more than a figurehead or detached visionary. "What I have done in the past is not going to be important at Google," Cerf said during an interview. "What's important at Google is what you are doing today and what you going to do tomorrow. That's the metric I will be measured by." Cerf will remain chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the oversight agency for Internet domain names. He also will continue as a visiting scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he has been focusing on a very Google-like project -- trying to figure out a way to connect the Internet to outer space. Cerf, 62, has spent the past 11 years at MCI, most recently as senior vice president of technology strategy. At MCI, he has worked on advanced networking technologies including services that combine data, voice and video and helped design MCI Mail, one of the Net's first commercial applications. He said MCI's pending $8.5 billion sale to Verizon Communications Inc. didn't push him out the door. Instead, he said working at Google is "really my dream job." Google didn't disclose Cerf's salary. When Google lured Lee away from Microsoft, it rewarded him with a $10 million compensation package, including a $2.5 million signing bonus, according to court documents. Cerf expects to spend much of his time developing new applications as Google continues to supplement the search engine that is core to the 7-year-old company. In recent years, it has released free software to organize computer files, sort digital photos, generate maps and conduct Internet-based phone calls and text chats. It also launched a Web-based e-mail service called Gmail. "What Google has really been doing is building an entirely new (computing) infrastructure and whenever you do that, it creates opportunities for new applications," Cerf said. Cerf will be a graybeard in Google's youthful culture, which has been shaped by the company's 32-year-old founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. But Cerf doesn't expect to have trouble fitting in, even though his penchant for wearing three-piece suits also figures to set him apart in Google's jeans-clad atmosphere. "I'm 62 going on 12 anyway," Cerf said. "What's wonderful about (Google) is that as long as you bring ideas to the table, it doesn't matter what else is going on." Although he will report to Google engineering chief Alan Eustace in Mountain View, Cerf won't be based in Silicon Valley. He will be working out of a Virginia office so he can stay close to his home. On The Net: Google: http://www.google.com Cerf's home page: http://www.mci.com/cerfsup 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more AP News headlines and stories, go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Andy Sullivan Subject: Katrina Victims Also Become ID Theft Victims Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 20:46:33 -0500 By Andy Sullivan Birth certificates and other sensitive documents left among the waterlogged debris of Hurricane Katrina could put the storm's victims at heightened risk for identity theft, experts said on Thursday. U.S. officials and consumer advocates said they had not yet heard of any cases of identity theft related to the disaster because the crime usually takes months to unfold. But consumers should keep a close eye on their bank statements and order a copy of their credit reports in the process of getting their lives back together to make sure they are not being victimized, they said. "We tell people not to be alarmed but to be cautious," said Betsy Broder, an assistant director in the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection. Those who wish to contribute to relief efforts are at risk as well. Internet-security company Websense said on Sunday that it had found a "phishing" e-mail campaign that seeks to trick Internet users into providing their credit-card numbers to a Web site that looks like one run by the Red Cross. In order to avoid such scams, donors should type the address of charitable Web sites directly into their browsers, rather than clicking on a link in the e-mail, experts said. The FBI is investigating at least a dozen suspicious Web sites and e-mail messages for fraud, spokesman Paul Bresson said. Similar scams emerged after the tsunami that devastated large portions of coastal Asia and Africa in December but "this is far worse," he said. The Justice Department said on Thursday that it has set up a task force to investigate identity theft and other types of fraud related to the Katrina. Identity theft costs U.S. consumers and businesses $50 billion annually, according to FTC estimates. A string of computer breaches at businesses and universities has focused attention on the issue this year but those who have been uprooted by Hurricane Katrina also face risk from looters and "dumpster divers" -- those who sift through garbage looking for valuable personal information to steal -- as well. Ruined homes and businesses are likely to contain mortgage records, Social Security cards and other documents that criminals can use to hijack an identity, said Linda Foley, co-executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center. "A crisis brings out the best of people and the worst of people. Unfortunately, in criminals it brings out their best skills," she said. Thieves also could intercept drivers' licenses and birth certificates when they are mailed to storm victims trying to get their lives back together, said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. "I suspect that many of the shelters are temporary facilities and do the people running them have the ability to operate a secure post office?" she said. Mail bound for the affected areas is currently held in secure sorting facilities and will be forwarded to residents once they fill out a change-of-address form, U.S. Postal Service spokesman Bob Anderson said. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: John Ruwitch Subject: Yahoo Defends Itself Over China Accusations Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 21:00:33 -0500 By John Ruwitch Internet giant Yahoo Inc. defended itself on Thursday against accusations that it supplied data to Chinese authorities which led to the imprisonment of a journalist, saying it has to abide local laws. Press watchdogs accused Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. of providing details about e-mail communications that helped identify, and were used as evidence against, Shi Tao, who was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets abroad. "Just like any other global company, Yahoo! must ensure that its local country sites must operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based," Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters by the firm's Hong Kong arm. Yahoo declined to confirm or deny that it furnished the Chinese government with the information. The French group Reporters Without Borders said Shi, a former news editor for the Contemporary Business News in Hunan province, was convicted for e-mailing foreign-based Web sites the text of an internal message to journalists about dangers around the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 2004. China broadly defines as a state secret anything that affects the security and interests of the state, but the limits are vague and can include political news. Rights groups say the laws are arbitrary enough to be manipulated for political purposes. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in February that China had the most journalists in prison, 42, of any country for the sixth year in a row. Among those in detention are New York Times researcher Zhao Yan, arrested on charges of leaking state secrets to foreigners, and Hong Kong-based reporter Ching Cheong of the Singapore Straits Times, who China suspects of spying for Taiwan. Shi's conviction sent shockwaves through the Chinese journalist community because many felt his sentence was excessive and might have been heavy to serve as a warning. The Committee to Protect Journalists decried what it called China's "chokehold" on the Internet. "We categorically condemn the outrageous prosecution of Shi Tao," Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "We call on the Chinese government and Yahoo to provide a full explanation of the circumstances that led the company to provide account holder information," In 2002, Yahoo was among the many firms to voluntarily sign the "Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for the China Internet Industry," seen by critics as a promise of self-censorship. Reporters Without Borders asked how far Yahoo would go. "Does the fact that this corporation operates under Chinese law free it from all ethical considerations? How far will it go to please Beijing?" it said in a statement. "It is one thing to turn a blind eye to the Chinese government's abuses and it is quite another thing to collaborate." (Additional reporting by Eric Auchard in San Francisco) Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To learn more about Telecom-Digest Extra please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular News for Friday 9th September 2005 Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 09:11:01 -0500 From: cellular-news Changes to cellular-news We are pleased to announce a new service on cellular-news that will enable you to read the web site without seeing any advertisements whatsoever. We are also about to launch a range of "premium" news articles -- which will be made available to TELECOM Digest readers. 1.5 Billion GSM Customers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14014.php 3G Americas reports that as of August 2005, there are 1.5 billion GSM customers according to the latest subscriber data from Informa Telecoms & Media. Remarkably, it was just in Q1 2004 that the GSM t... Pre-WiMAX Trial in Manhattan Next Year http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14015.php Adaptix, a provider of software defined, all-IP Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) wireless mobile broadband access technologies, and the NY3G Partnership, a Broadband Radio Service... Nokia Moving to Minimise Semiconductor Dependency http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14016.php Merrill Lynch has issued a report commenting on moves by Nokia to lower its handset component costs as well as diverging its supply lines to protect it from a potential ly damaging WinTel style allian... Mobiles Work On English Channel Ferries http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14017.php Passengers and staff are now able to make wireless phone calls while at sea aboard the Stena Line's Stena Europe, a SuperFerry that sails the English Channel. Maritime Communications Partner (MCP) is ... Large Enterprises Plan New Investments in WiFi, GPS, Push-to-Talk and RFID http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14018.php While RFID (Radio Frequency ID) and GPS (Global Positioning System) applications remain relatively rare among large enterprises, these two application areas will likely become much more common after t... Motorola CEO: Co Needs To Increase Market Share In India http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14003.php There are phenomenal growth opportunities in emerging markets for Motorola Inc. (MOT), but one country the telecom-equipment maker needs to work on is India, Chief Executive Ed Zander said Wednesday. ... Ericsson To License 3G Platform To NEC http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14004.php Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) Thursday said it has signed a license agreement with NEC Corp. (NIPNY) for U250, the latest Wideband Code Division Multiple Access/General Packet Radio Systems platform ... EU Court Rules Most Mobile Phone "Mast Taxes" Are Legal http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14005.php The European Court of Justice ruled Thursday that most taxes imposed on mobile phone masts are legal. The case involves the Belgian communes of Fleron and Schaerbeek, who imposed taxes on ma... EU Divided Over Data-retention Bill For Security Package http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14006.php NEWCASTLE, England (AP)--European Union nations debated a contentious plan Thursday that would force telecommunications companies to keep records of cell-phone and e-mail traffic for up to three years... Nokia Supplies WCDMA Network To Eurotel http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14007.php Finland's Nokia Oyj (NOK) said Thursday it has signed a contract with Czech mobile operator Eurotel Praha (ERP.YY) for the supply of wideband code division multiple access, WCDMA, third generation net... EU OK's Taiwan Co BenQ To Buy Siemens Mobile http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14008.php The European Commission Thursday cleared Taiwanese electronics manufacturer BenQ Corp. (2352.TW) to buy the mobile phone unit of German electronics and engineering group Siemens AG (SI). Sony Ericsson Can't Meet Demand For Walkman Phone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14009.php Sony Ericsson can't meet demand for its new music phone W800, a company spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday. Sony Ericsson, a joint venture of Sony Corp. (SNE) and Telefon AB LM Eric... Telecom Italia 1st Half Net Profit Up 81% On Accounting,Capital Gain http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14010.php Telecom Italia SpA (TIT.MI) said Thursday its first half consolidated net profit increased by 81% thanks to accounting changes and capital gains from asset disposals. Italy's leading telecom... Telekom Austria To Pursue Legal Action Over Mast Tax http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14011.php Telekom Austria AG (TKA) said Thursday it will continue pursuing legal action to stop a tax being levied on wireless masts in Lower Austria after a European Union court ruled that such taxes are legal... Nokia's Gross Margin On Network Services Around 25% - Executive http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14012.php Nokia Corp.'s (NOK) network services unit is seeing gross margins of around 25% to 26%, Executive Vice President Simon Beresford-Wylie told investors in a Web cast conference Thursday. Solar Flare Hampers Communications http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14013.php SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) - Nature has thrown another curveball at communications systems and power grids already pounded by Hurricane Katrina: Solar flares. The National Oceanic and At... ------------------------------ From: codefixer@gmail.com Subject: Ebay & Skype = Death Date: 8 Sep 2005 14:22:19 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com The great dot-com boom, a pot full of lies filled and fuelled by companies like Enron, Citigroup and other Wall Street associates, Optical Fiber innovators and greedy scientists like Gururaj Desh, Star Telecom Analysts like Jack Grubman together brought down the entire nations economy giving hard time for the conservative and federal reserve guard, Greenspan. In the aftermath of Dot.Com bust, the Big 3 of Internet emerged, Yahoo, Ebay and AOL. Cisco, Sun, Amazon, MSN and others existed but their business models were not too consumer centric and they only tried hard to survive growth. A new Stanford born baby was already conceiving and came to limelight in 2001. Yes you got it right, Google. With it's powerful Search technology it replaced AOL to join the Big 3. Google focused on web-services technologies, unveiled new model of business with its cool web based applications like gmail and google maps. It is always said that many of us have herd mentality. So when Google unveiled their Google Talk, the Redmond company which has already lost its focus announced the buy-out of Teleo (teleo.com). The telecom and VoIP bug has now bitten eBay. According to Bloomberg, it is willing to pay a whopping $3 Billion. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aLvNorCTFLZM&refer=us So is eBay willing to pay so much just for the subscribers it has? What about Yahoo integrated instant messaging and VoIP based services it offers? These Telecom analysts are all set to ruin the recovery in the IT world, which came back in the real form of web-services. Don't forget, Skype is a big hype. Not every customer will pay you for the low quality service that Skype offers. The entry cost for Skype like services are very low. Any company with a million dollar in its treasury and a good negotiator across the table can use much of open source tools and build such a service. Where are the customers? In my experience, between Google Talk and Yahoo!, the former got better customer rating because of the clarity compared with Yahoo!. But Google has 1/100th the number of users compared to Yahoo! So lesser the number of customers better the quality. I think the VoIP market will evolve as a fragmented market with at least two service providers for every small town and more than a dozen providers for large cities. I only hope someone will save eBay from shelling out couple of billions for a useless services as this. I will not immediately jump to VoIP unless they come up to the quality of fixed line Telco's otherwise, I can never conduct my business with lost words in-between deals. Maybe eBay and Skype officials must negotiate using Skype VoIP to know what eBay is paying for and what Skype is offering. <> ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 01:35:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple Special Event Webcast http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/specialevent05/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 04:34:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: iPod Nano Combines Beauty, Function By Walter S. Mossberg Grab a standard American business card. Now, get a pair of scissors and trim the long side of the card by 20%. That's all the space you need to hold over 1,000 songs, plus audio books, podcasts and photos if you buy Apple Computer's newest iPod model, the gorgeous and sleek iPod nano. This latest iPod was publicly revealed yesterday at a razzle-dazzle marketing event orchestrated by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. But I have been testing a nano for the past few days, and I am smitten. It's not only beautiful and incredibly thin, but I found it exceeds Apple's performance claims. In fact, the nano has the best combination of beauty and functionality of any music player I've tested -- including the iconic original white iPod. And it sounds great. I plan to buy one for myself this weekend, when it is due to reach stores in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Available in classic iPod white, or a lustrous black (my favorite), the nano is not only small, it's stunningly skinny -- about the thickness of five credit cards stacked on top of one another. That means it can be carried easily in even the snuggest of clothing and the smallest of purses, and worn comfortably during exercise. You could even carry it in a wallet, if you were sure you wouldn't sit on it. Yet the nano, which starts at $199 in the middle of the iPod range, contains key features previously available only on the largest, costliest iPods. These include a sharp color screen, the ability to display the album covers for the songs it's playing, and the ability to store a user's photos and display them in slide shows accompanied by music. Also, despite its small size, the nano holds plenty of songs and can play them for a long time. The base $199 model has two gigabytes of storage, which Apple says can hold 500 songs. A second model, at $249, has four gigabytes of storage and can hold 1,000 songs, Apple claims. The company says this slip of a player somehow packs in a large enough battery to play continuously for 14 hours. In my tests, I found that the nano's battery lasted a bit longer than Apple claims -- 14 hours and 18 minutes. And I was easily able to pack around 1,200 songs, plus a couple dozen photos, into the $249 model, because most older pop and rock tunes tend to be shorter than the notional song Apple uses to calculate capacity. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20050908.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 08:50:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cisco IP NGN - Video/IPTV Service Providers Worldwide Driving Video/IPTV with Cisco IP NGN; Unmatched Global Experience, Proven Scalability and Open Solution Architecture Drive Cisco Deployment Leadership in Video/IPTV - Sep 9, 2005 07:00 AM (BusinessWire) AMSTERDAM, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 2005--Cisco Systems(R) (Nasdaq:CSCO) today announced continued momentum on its leadership with service providers around the world in delivery of video/IPTV services over its IP Next Generation Network (IP NGN) reference architecture. Cisco has unmatched video/IPTV networking deployment experience, with platforms and technologies that enable scaling to millions of subscribers quickly and easily and with a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than others. Cisco's approach enables providers to improve the subscriber experience and increase average revenue-per-subscriber (ARPU) by offering enhanced viewing options, improved security and proven reliability. This is based on improved service control, intelligence within the aggregation layer and scalability at the network core. The Cisco IP NGN architecture gives providers an open platform for service differentiation, allowing them to move beyond video/IPTV to develop and deliver a variety of integrated media services in the connected home. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51673846 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 08:54:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft and Sigma Designs Pave the Way for Low-Cost IPTV Devices System-on-Chip Technology Stimulates Market Opportunity for High-Definition IPTV Services AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at IBC2005, the International Broadcasters Convention, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Sigma Designs Inc. (Nasdaq: SIGM) announced the availability of a new class of system-on-chip (SOC) that will enable the production of low-cost, high-definition-capable devices optimized for the Microsoft(R) TV Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) Edition software platform. The new SMP8634 media processor from Sigma Designs will enable set-top box and consumer electronics manufacturers to create a range of products for broadband service providers to deliver IPTV services to the home. Microsoft and Sigma Designs have worked closely together to extend the processing functionality of Sigma Designs' open standards-based SMP8634 media processor to achieve a feature set that delivers the full power of the Microsoft TV platform. This innovative SOC is capable of delivering multiple channels of high-definition (HD) video and on-screen graphics, powerful multimedia processing, powerful content security, and support for a full range of peripherals such as USB 2.0, IDE, Ethernet and HDMI. Support for the VC-1 and H.264 (MPEG-4) video codecs is also built in, further reducing costs for set-top box manufacturers. The SOC can be embedded inside a range of consumer electronic devices to enable consumers to choose from a variety of IPTV-ready receivers such as TV sets, set-top boxes, digital video disc players and gaming consoles. These offerings create more "on ramps" to the connected digital home, enabling great stand-alone IPTV experiences that are ultimately "better together" when connected to other compatible devices and services. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51671784 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 08:49:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: IPTV Industry Prepares to Deliver Microsoft TV-Enabled Set-Tops IPTV Industry Prepares to Deliver Microsoft TV-Enabled Set-Tops and Consumer Devices to the Home - Sep 9, 2005 02:30 AM (PR Newswire) Hardware Partners Confirm Support With New Set-Top Boxes and System-on-Chip Offerings AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at IBC2005, the International Broadcasters Convention, in a milestone for the industry's move toward Internet Protocol television (IPTV) readiness, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced further partner support for its IPTV software platform with a host of new set-top-box offerings and a new class of system-on-chip (SOC) that will enable the production of low-cost, high-definition (HD) set-top boxes. The announcements underline a growing choice of Microsoft(R) TV IPTV Edition-enabled devices, allowing broadband service providers worldwide to develop offerings best suited to their business models and customer needs. Hardware partners Linksys-KiSS, Motorola Inc., Scientific-Atlanta Inc., Tatung Co. and Thomson confirmed support for the Microsoft TV platform with a range of new set-top boxes supporting Microsoft TV IPTV Edition: -- Linksys-KiSS announced it will provide set-top-box products supporting Microsoft TV IPTV Edition with integrated DVB-T tuners and conditional access support for European Network operators. Products will be available in December 2005. -- Motorola will support Microsoft TV IPTV Edition in the company's worldwide portfolio of IP-based video products, including its VIP line of IPTV set-tops, a forthcoming line of hybrid IPTV-DTT set-tops and advanced video-encoding technology. -- Scientific-Atlanta announced its support for Microsoft TV IPTV Edition in a new family of set-top boxes under development. Scientific-Atlanta will target both the NTSC market with its IPN series set-top family and the PAL and European markets with its IPP series set-tops. Models will range from basic SD to HD and DVR and will include optional features such as integrated IP over Coax and DVB-T support. These set-top models, which complement Scientific-Atlanta's encoder support for IPTV Edition, will be on display at IBC2005 Stand 1.471. -- Tatung announced its support for Microsoft TV IPTV Edition in a new set-top box. The company will demonstrate this support in the Sigma Designs booth, Hall 3 West, No. 151. -- Thomson and Intel Corporation announced that a new family of IPM11xx set-top boxes supporting Microsoft TV IPTV Edition is now commercially available and shipping to Microsoft TV customers. The IPM11xx products support a range of video codecs including MPEG-2, Windows Media(R) Video 9 (Microsoft's implementation of VC-1, the proposed SMPTE standard) and MPEG-4 AVC. They feature the Intel 1.4 GHz Intel 854 platform with its application-handling performance, design flexibility and scalability. They also come with optional hard disk drives for both streaming and digital video recording (DVR) applications. On display in Thomson Stand 11.551, the IPM11xx products are the first deployable set-top boxes to support the IPTV Edition software. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51671783 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:46:41 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon V710 Settlement http://www.kirtlandpackard.com/v710/ Class Action Against Verizon for the Motorola v710 Cell Phone A national settlement has been reached in the claims against Verizon Wireless over the Motorola V710 cell phone. Details will be available shortly at http://www.verizonwireless.com/V710Settlement ------------------------------ From: Mike Sutter Subject: Arizona Budget POTS Plans Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 04:58:20 GMT Organization: Road Runner My elderly parents maintain two residences, one in NY and another, which is the focus of my question in the Greater Phoenix AZ area (Apache Junction to be precise). Area code is 480, NXX is 982, LEC is Qwest. More background -- My parents have gone completely wireless in NY. They have ported their NY number to the mobile and are happy with the results. However, they have many friends in the Phoenix area that would be put off by LD charges to call their NY mobile number. That said they feel and I agree that they need to keep their POTS line in Phoenix but don't want to spend a bundle on it since all outgoing calls will be on the mobile. And so, finally on to the question, does anyone know if Qwest offers a real low cost (perhaps metered) service for POTS in the 480 area? Where I'm at (NY) the LEC is obligated to provide a minimal POTS service that allows a small number of outgoing calls and an unlimited number of inbound calls. The service was designed by regulators to provide a minimal service for pensioners and the otherwise disadvantaged that would not cannibalize other more functional rate plans. The Qwest web site is no help; it only talks about premium plans. ------------------------------ From: william108@gmail.com Subject: No Help From Voiceglo Glophone Date: 9 Sep 2005 06:27:21 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have called Voiceglo and been put on hold for 2 hours. I have written to them to cancel my account and stop charging me but they do not respond. Can anyone say how I can stop them from continually charging my card. This has been going on for 6 months and they don't respond by phone or mail. When I call they just put me on hold. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The best solution, IMO would be to notify your credit card company to _accept no further charges to your account_ from Voiceglo. After a month or two of this, Voiceglo will most likely want to know what is going on, and cancel your service. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 13:43:54 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Vinton Cerf Joins Google as 'Internet Evangelist' USTelecom dailyLead September 9, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24485&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Vinton Cerf joins Google as "Internet evangelist" BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Apple may have grander ambitions in mobile phone market * Wireless broadband helps connect hurricane region * Skype mulls its options * Murdoch's Web plan begins to take shape USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Triple Play: Real Life Lessons, Thursday, Sept. 15, 1 p.m. EDT EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Microsoft promotes its IPTV platform at IBC VOIP DOWNLOAD * VoIP was communications lifeline for New Orleans officials * China Telecom unit blocks SkypeOut * VoIP company launches 911 network * FT breaks down the VoIP boom REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Cable group challenges Texas franchise law Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24485&l=2017006 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Laptops Tune On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's Transit Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 13:57:05 -0400 From: Charles Cryderman John L. Shelton wrote: > The cities aren't doing this for free. They tax their citizens (and > visitors are taxed more than citizens) to provide these allegedly nice > services. Do you really want your cities expanding their budgets and > spending on things that commercial vendors are happy to compete to do? > Perhaps they should go build levees or something that others don't want > to do. > Why is wi-fi on the bus good for citizens who don't ride, or don't have > laptops? For you left-thinkers out there, why are your cities catering > to the wealthier bus riders? Why not free coffee, of value to all bus > riders? (Dallas tried that trick in the 1970s, but people still drove > to work.) > When foreign governments subsidize industry, many of you call it > "dumping" and protest it. But if Seattle does the same thing, again > depriving someone of a job, you call it good. > The only "fair" thing is to allow competition from all providers and for > government to step back and try to do well in the few areas we entrust > to it. If a city prevents competition, the solution isn't letting only > the city compete: it's real competition. John, it sounds to me you are either a paid mouth piece (lobbyist) for the fixed line providers (LEC or cable company), or employed by Qworst, I'm sorry, I mean Qwest. SBC is the dominate carrier in Michigan and yet we are not getting wireless internet access here. They are doing their best to ensure their paid employees in Lansing (state capital & if your not understanding that, I am talking about the politicians) pass laws stopping local governments from giving us wireless access. Now had a private commercial enterprise came in and did one I wouldn't care if they did or not. But you see, Oakland County (one of the top ten in wealth in the US), where I live, wants to provide wireless access to residents and business' no matter who they are, what they do, where they live. You see, the county executive wants to empower the under privileged and knows that you need those with the money to do it. His plan is to wire the entire county so that rates for those that don't make the big bucks will not cause them to choose between paying rent, buying food or using the internet to help them improve their lot in life. In a capitalistic society business should be the ones to do these things, but SBC is to busy trying to take cable company's video customers (as well as paying for AT&T so they can expand their monopoly) to spend the money now for wireless access here. Yes, my tax dollars are going to be used for this endeavor, but seeing as no one else is stepping up to the plate I think the county executive is going to hit a home run for the fans. In the end the price charged for this access will pay for the installation and operations with the added bonus of forcing Comcrap, there I go again, Comcast, and SBC to reduce the inflated rates they now charge for DSL and cable modems. Chip Cryderman [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: SBC is the dominant carrier here in rural southeast Kansas as well, and they have made it plain to the government authorities here (meaning city and county officials in the four county southeast corner of Kansas) that they better not try to 'pull' another 'Independence deal' on them where we (a) got an independent telco (Prairie Stream) available and (b) City Hall was thinking seriously about municipal wi-fi connected through CableOne (our local cable company) for Independence. SBC was 'asleep at the switch' -- the best way to phrase it -- when Prairie Stream went into business; SBC has stated they will allow no other entity to get away with that. They (SBC) laughed and said 'Prairie Stream wants to play like a telephone company, so let them try.' Now that Prairie Stream has a few thousand customers here in Kansas and has the Commission's blessings pretty much in whatever they do, SBC is blinking and saying 'well, damned if those people are going to take over all our business.' SBC has promised to sue us if the muni wi-fi plan goes any further and I am sure they will do just that. SBC also brought up that old, lame excuse about how 'city government should not be in the utility business' but they backed off from that a little when it was pointed out that Coffeyville has had municipal electric service for about a hundred years with no ill-effects. Coffeyville Light and Power has done okay, but don't pass the message on to SBC, please. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 19:46:02 EDT Subject: Re: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy In a message dated Wed, 7 Sep 2005 20:31:15 -0700, Al Gillis writes: > Anyway, Ed Norton (Art) came to the Cramden apartment that evening and > asked to use the telephone. Jackie told his pal, "Sure -- go ahead. > But remember this costs me money for every call". (Jackie had > obviously ordered a measured line). Has anything but measured service every been available in New York, where the Honeymooners was set? This meant some bits of business and some rules of etiquette were completely lost on people in most of the country, where flat rate service was always offered and was used by the great majority of customers. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: EventHelix.com Subject: Re: iPod Phone Isn't Perfect, but It's a Start Date: 8 Sep 2005 19:00:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com The ROKR is not a Apple branded thing. It doesn't even come close to the iPod nano in style. I guess iPod nano would be a good platform for a future iPod phone ... EventStudio 2.5 - http://www.EventHelix.com/EventStudio Model in Plain Text; Generate Call Flow Diagrams in PDF/Word ------------------------------ From: Dave Close Subject: Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 05:00:56 UTC Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Panarat Thepgumpanat writes: > Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access > to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by > rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger > sensitive sites. I guess they will have to do what the US did in Santa Monica during WW2: build covers over the Douglas Aircraft plant with phony images of houses, streets, and other structures painted on the cover. 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 ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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 #411 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Sep 9 21:01:08 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id ACFDE151B8; Fri, 9 Sep 2005 21:01:06 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #412 Message-Id: <20050910010106.ACFDE151B8@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 21:01:06 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.5 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, ONE_TIME autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Sep 2005 21:01:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 412 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Qwest Launches New Legal Fight Against City of Portland (Mike Rogoway) Qwest Executive's Lawyer Says Company Knew About Fraud (Associated Press) Telecom Update #496, September 9, 2005 (Angus TeleManagement Group) HP Demos Advanced TV Technology that Delivers Direct Access (Monty Solomon) Pilot Episode of New Fox Series 'Reunion' to Be Available (Monty Solomon) Checking In at Home, Even From Afar (Monty Solomon) NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (Danny Burstein) Re: Arizona Budget POTS Plans (John Levine) Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's New Wi-Fi (Michael Chance) Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's New Wi-Fi (John L. Shelton) 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: Mike Rogoway Subject: Qwest Lauches New Legal Fight Against Portland Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 19:16:58 by Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian The communications company sues the city, alleging the government system hurts competition. Qwest Communications International Inc. has opened a new front in its long-running legal battle with the city of Portland, suing to rein in the city's internal telecommunications system. Portland launched its network in 2002 to get around the rates Qwest and other telecom companies charge for phone lines and high-speed Internet connections. Portland's $14 million system links several city offices, and a few government agencies outside the city, to a network of fiber-optic cable that carries city phone calls and Internet traffic. The Integrated Regional Network Enterprise is known by its initials, IRNE, pronounced "Ernie." Portland says IRNE provides super-fast Internet connections the city couldn't otherwise afford. The city, however, estimates it has already spent $150,000 on legal fees defending the system against earlier challenges from Qwest and others. Qwest's latest suit, filed late last week in U.S. District Court, calls IRNE an illegal, government-sponsored competitor. Qwest complains that the city is abusing its regulatory authority by forcing telecom companies to connect IRNE to their networks in exchange for permission to use city-owned rights of way for the companies' private networks. "It provides, basically, unfair competition and makes it very, very difficult for the private sector to compete," said Judy Peppler, Qwest's Oregon president. Portland grants IRNE access to the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Port of Portland, Metro and other government agencies, which Peppler said robs telecom companies of large, lucrative customers. Qwest's suit doesn't seek to unhook IRNE or extract damages from the city. Instead, Qwest asks the court to stop Portland from forcing telecom companies to connect to IRNE. The suit also would require other governments to seek competitive bids before connecting to Portland's network. "We're just trying to get it back on a level playing field, an equal footing," Peppler said. Matt Lampe, the city's chief technology officer, said Qwest's accusations don't reflect the way IRNE actually works. Portland used to compel phone companies to open their networks to the city, he said, but no longer does so. And Lampe said the city collects just $100,000 in annual revenue from IRNE, so its agreements with other government agencies are too small to threaten Qwest. "It's almost like they're looking for a diabolical plot that isn't there," Lampe said. Portland and Qwest have been squabbling for years, largely over millions in franchise fees the phone company says Oregon cities don't have the authority to collect. A separate round of litigation over IRNE began a year ago with suits by Qwest's long-distance arm and a few smaller telecom companies. The Qwest division providing local phone service filed the latest suit last week, which may eventually be joined to the others. Qwest has at least three lawsuits pending against the city related to franchise fees or IRNE. City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the city bureau responsible for telecom franchises, said Qwest is pushing back against Portland's innovative approach to telecommunications. "I think Portland has been a leader in certainly exploring a lot of options to provide broadband services," Saltzman said. "Maybe we're targeted by Qwest because of that." Mike Rogoway: 503-294-7699, mikerogoway@news.oregonian.com Copyright 2005 The Oregonian. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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 Oregonian. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Associated Press NewsWire Subject: Qwest Executive's Lawyer Says Others Involved in Fraud Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 19:19:58 -0500 The Associated Press Sep. 8, 2005 - An attorney for a former Qwest executive charged with fraud and money laundering said in a court filing that others in the company engaged in the same conduct alleged in the indictment, and that the company knew about it and authorized it. Marc B. Weisberg, a former Qwest Communications International Inc. senior vice president who oversaw mergers, acquisitions and investments, was indicted in February by a federal grand jury on eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. Prosecutors allege Weisberg made $2.9 million for himself, family members and friends between 1999 and 2001 by demanding that vendors offer them stock in return for doing business with the company. The government wants Weisberg to forfeit $2.9 million and other assets. Weisberg has pleaded innocent. His lawyer revealed what may be part of the defense strategy in a document filed in federal court on Sept. 1. "Weisberg will demonstrate that many individuals at Qwest engaged in conduct similar or perhaps even identical to his own, that Qwest knew of the conduct alleged in the indictment, and that Qwest authorized investments that the government now contends victimized Qwest," the filing said. The government began investigating the telecommunications giant for fraud starting in 2002. Last month, former chief financial officer Robin Szeliga pleaded guilty to one count of insider trading, becoming the highest-ranking one-time executive to admit wrongdoing. She will be sentenced Nov. 4. Her plea agreement recommends a term of 15 months to 21 months. She agreed to pay $125,000 in restitution and to cooperate with prosecutors. Thomas Hall pleaded guilty in September to falsifying documents and was sentenced to probation. Grant Graham has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to wire fraud and is expected to receive probation. John Walker and Bryan Treadway were acquitted in April of charges including fraud and conspiracy. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 12:07:57 -0700 Subject: Telecom Update #496, September 9, 2005 From: Angus TeleManagement Group Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 496: September 9, 2005 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** 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/ ** NEC UNIFIED SOLUTIONS: www.necunifiedsolutions.com ** ROGERS TELECOM: www.rogers.com/solutions ** VONAGE CANADA: www.vonage.ca ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Bell Launches VoIP Push ** CRTC Invites Comment on Bell VoIP Tariffs ** Broadband Hearing in Whitehorse Today ** Cellcos Consider Number Portability Plan ** 800,000 Phones Still Out on Gulf Coast ** Respondents Added to Telcos' Court Appeal ** Rogers Wants Unbundled Loops From Remotes ** Bell Amends VoIP Tariff re 9-1-1 Calls ** Manitoba Tel CEO to Retire ** ITAC Study Says Canada Lags in ICT ** Vonage Activates Millionth Line ** Videotron Signs 75,000 Phone Subscribers ** New Anik Satellite Goes Aloft ** Ericsson Enables Remote Cellphone Upgrades ** Allstream Wins Via Rail Contract ** Telecom Hall of Fame Gala Grows ============================================================ BELL LAUNCHES VoIP PUSH: Bell Canada has announced its long-expected response to competition from cablecos and other suppliers of IP-based telephone service. The response involves two offerings: ** Digital Voice converts an existing standard phone line to VoIP using facilities in the Bell switching centre. Base price is $40/month, not including long distance. Additional numbers in 23 cities are $4 each. ** Digital Voice Lite is the new name for Bell's previously announced access-independent VoIP service, which requires a high-speed Internet connection. (See Telecom Update #475) Base price is $34/month for local calling and 1,200 minutes of province-wide long distance; Canada-U.S. LD is $5 extra. ** Digital Voice is available now in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas. It will be rolled out next in Montreal, and then elsewhere in Ontario and Quebec. Digital Voice Lite, launched last March in three Quebec cities, is now offered across Ontario and Quebec. CRTC INVITES COMMENT ON BELL VoIP TARIFFS: The CRTC gave interim approval to Bell's Digital Voice and Digital Voice Lite tariffs last week, but allowed the details to remain confidential until September 8. Parties now have 25 days to comment. www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2005/b2/tn6899.zip www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2005/b2/tn6889.doc ** Bell Canada has asked the Commission to allow it to charge different prices for Digital Voice in Ontario and Quebec. In Telecom Public Notice 2005-13, the CRTC asks for comment on whether it should approve that aspect of the tariff. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2005/pt2005-13.htm ** In Public Notice 2005-9, the CRTC launched a public discussion of Bell's original Digital Voice tariff (now rebranded Digital Voice Lite), which is still ongoing. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8661/c12_200507973.htm BROADBAND HEARING IN WHITEHORSE TODAY: The Telecom Policy Review panel is holding a forum on broadband access today in Whitehorse, Yukon, to be followed by an online discussion until September 16. To view presenters' slides or participate in the online discussion, register at the panel's website. www.telecomreview.ca/epic/internet/intprp-gecrt.nsf/en/h_rx00038e.html#webcast CELLCOS CONSIDER NUMBER PORTABILITY PLAN: The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association says that the Wireless Number Portability Task Force is now considering a draft plan for wireless number portability prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The Task Force aims to complete its review and issue guidelines by the end of the month. 800,000 PHONES STILL OUT ON GULF COAST: BellSouth says it has restored service to about half of the 1.7 million phone lines that were cut off during Hurricane Katrina. The company estimates the total cost of repairing its network will be US$400 million to $600 million. ** Wireline, wireless, and Internet services have been disrupted; in New Orleans, satellite phones provided the only reliable means of communications. RESPONDENTS ADDED TO TELCOS' COURT APPEAL: On instructions from the Federal Court, the telcos that want to appeal the CRTC's VoIP decision (see Telecom Update #486) have added Rogers, Shaw, Videotron, Cogeco, EastLink, the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association, MTS Allstream, and ARCH (a legal resource centre for persons with disabilities) as respondents to their application. The respondents may now file opposing arguments. ROGERS WANTS UNBUNDLED LOOPS FROM REMOTES: Rogers Telecom has asked the CRTC to order Bell Canada to make unbundled loops available in areas served by remote switches. Rogers says Bell is refusing to install the necessary equipment, resulting in up to nine months' delay in Rogers' ability to offer service in new areas. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/r29_200510497.htm BELL AMENDS VoIP TARIFF RE 9-1-1 CALLS: Bell Canada has amended the tariff for its Managed IP Telephony service (see Telecom Update #442) to spell out limitations on how 9-1-1 calls are handled. www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2005/B2.htm#200510190 MANITOBA TEL CEO TO RETIRE: Bill Fraser plans to retire as CEO of Manitoba Telecom next year; the telco has begun a search for a successor. Fraser led MTS in its purchase of Allstream last year, which transformed the telco into Canada's third-largest national carrier. ITAC STUDY SAYS CANADA LAGS IN ICT: A study prepared for the Information Technology Association of Canada finds that the average investment per worker in Information and Communications Technology in 2003 was US$1,332 in Canada, less than half of the U.S. figure. VONAGE ACTIVATES MILLIONTH LINE: Internet telephony provider Vonage Holdings says it has more than one million subscribers in North America. Its Canadian subscriber total has not been made public. VIDEOTRON SIGNS 75,000 PHONE SUBSCRIBERS: Videotron Ltee says it signed its 75,000th cable telephone subscriber during August. The cableco aims to provide 349,000 phone lines customers by the end of next year. NEW ANIK SATELLITE GOES ALOFT: Telesat Canada's Anik F1R satellite has been successfully launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It will provide telecom and broadcasting services, including direct-to-home satellite television, and enhanced global positioning for aviation use in Canada and the U.S. ERICSSON ENABLES REMOTE CELLPHONE UPGRADES: Rogers Wireless is the first Canadian cellco, and one of the first in the world, to provide automatic remote configuration and software updates to its customers' cellphones, using technology from Ericsson. ALLSTREAM WINS VIA RAIL CONTRACT: Allstream has signed a three-year contract with Via Rail Canada to provide voice and data services to call centres, train stations, and administrative offices. TELECOM HALL OF FAME GALA GROWS: The dinner and celebration announcing the first laureates in Canada's new Telecommunications Hall of Fame has been moved to a larger hall in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The gala will be held Monday October 17, as part of Telemanagement Live, Canada's premier business telecom and networking event. ** For more information, or to register, go to www.telemanagementlive.com. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-mail ianangus@angustel.ca and jriddell@angustel.ca =========================================================== 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 jriddell@angustel.ca. 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. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 19:08:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: HP Demos Advanced TV Technology that Delivers Direct Access HP Demos Advanced TV Technology that Delivers Direct Access to Multimedia PC Content; Company Also Ships Digital Entertainment Centers and New Line of TVs in Time for Holiday Buying Season - Sep 9, 2005 07:45 AM (BusinessWire) INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 2005--HP (NYSE:HPQ) (Nasdaq:HPQ) today demonstrated advanced digital media technology for its high-definition televisions (HDTVs) that will give people direct access to digital content -- from movies to photos to music to personal videos -- that's currently stored on their PCs. The company is also shipping a new line of microdisplay, plasma and LCD TVs as well as its high-definition Digital Entertainment Centers in time for holiday shopping. Showcased this week at the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) tradeshow and slated for distribution next summer, the advanced digital media technology will enable HP HDTVs to communicate with all PC devices on a home network, including HP Digital Entertainment Centers. HP HDTVs that ship with this functionality will also contain other advancements that will provide consumers with new ways to access entertainment. These future televisions will provide consumers with multimedia services over the Internet -- directly via their HP advanced digital media HDTV. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51674658 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 19:08:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Pilot Episode of New Fox Series 'Reunion' to Be Available Pilot Episode of New Fox Series 'Reunion' to Be Available for Viewing On-Demand Exclusively on AOL.com - Sep 9, 2005 10:30 AM (BusinessWire) NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 2005--The full pilot episode of FOX's much-anticipated new series "Reunion" from Warner Bros. Television will be available for viewing free and on-demand via the AOL.com website ( http://www.aol.com ) beginning Monday, Sept. 12. It will be the first time that FOX has made an episode available for viewing online in its entirety via a non-FOX website. This collaboration between FOX, AOL and Warner Bros. Television will extend to future episodes, with unique and exclusive elements from the show launching on AOL.com each week. "Reunion," which premiered on FOX Thursday, Sept. 8 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), marks a groundbreaking concept in series television as it chronicles the lives of a group of six friends over the course of 20 years - all in just one season. The pilot episode will be available for viewing on-demand through AOL Television at http://www.aol.com/reunion from Sept. 12-14, and visitors can also view exclusive weekly previews of future episodes. In cooperation with AOL Music ( http://www.aolmusic.com ), the site will allow visitors to listen to and purchase music featured in each episode, as well as a selection of some of the most memorable songs from the past 20 years. Visitors will also be able to enjoy a retrospective of pop culture highlights from the past two decades. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51678545 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 14:06:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Checking In at Home, Even From Afar By JOHN R. QUAIN For some, the problem with being on the road is the anxiety that things might be amiss at home. Are the cats behaving? Is the baby sitter keeping the peace? Are interlopers helping themselves to your Scotch -- and your stereo? Some relatively simple technology can ease that angst. Several network video cameras allow owners to monitor the home front remotely on the Web. The cameras offer much better video quality than in the past, come in wireless versions that make installation simpler, and allow you to zoom in and scan a room. Some models, using motion and heat sensors, can alert you every time someone walks through a room. And there are even ways to look in by cellphone. Most systems can be installed by the buyer, and prices range from about $100 to $1,300, depending on camera quality and system abilities. Unlike the Webcams commonly used to do video chats online, these cameras do not have to be connected to a computer, and they can be monitored from any device connected to the Internet. But they are far from inconspicuous and require an always-on high-speed Internet connection and a home network or access point to make the connection. The simplest offerings are stand-alone video cameras with built-in Web servers. I experimented with three such models, the $230 Linksys WVC54G Wireless-G Internet video camera and two more advanced $1,000 cameras, the Panasonic BB-HCM371A network camera and the D-Link DCS-6620G Wireless Internet camera. The latter two are aimed more at small businesses - the Panasonic model even includes a splash guard for outdoor installations - but both are comfortable at home. The Linksys model is typical of cameras in its price range and has a setup routine that is similar to the other models that I tried. The video camera has a built-in Web server, for example, that allows it to connect to the Internet without relying on a computer. To set up the camera initially, you run a software program on your PC and connect the camera to your home network with an Ethernet cable. A Windows program guides users through the process, although neophytes may struggle a bit with the more arcane settings. Most homeowners who use a Wi-Fi network will also have to set their network router to open a door in their security firewall so the camera's video can be seen over the Internet. After all the information is loaded into the camera, it can be disconnected from the Ethernet cable and plugged into any power outlet within about 150 feet of the Wi-Fi network. (The actual distance depends on possible interference, like steel-reinforced walls.) I connected the camera to a power outlet in my living room. Within seconds, the Linksys camera had made the connection to my wireless network, and I could record video to my PC or take snapshots. Gaining access to the camera over the Internet from another computer, however, requires some adroit software. For security reasons, most Internet service providers regularly change the numerical address (the so-called I.P. address) of devices online. So, to see the video feed from a network camera over the Internet, some kind of service or software is needed to keep track of the camera's address changes. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/technology/circuits/08basics.html?ex=1283832000&en=dd801f6e916a2e95&ei=5090 ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 18:50:40 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Wesrock@aol.com writes: > Has anything but measured service every been available in New York, > where the Honeymooners was set? In the 1950s through the early 1960s, residential consumers in NYC were offered two plans: a) a true flat rate service, but this only applied to calls in your very local neighborhood. So if you were calling the drugstore 1/2 mile away you were probably in the zone, but calling the movie theater three miles down the blvd to get its schedule cost you per minute. b) An untimed, but charged per call, rate, that covered a reasonably decent area. When this was first set up (at least in the early 1960s, can't say for earlier) you had an allowance of 75 "message units" in your base charge. Above those 75 calls you paid an additional 5 cents or so, untimed. Note that the untimed message unit did NOT give you the entire five boroughs, It let you call your own borough and, depending on your location, about half the rest of the city and some suburban areas. For most people and most calls (certainly not all) that was close enough. Bit by bit the 75 message unit allowace got cut down, so nowadays there's nothing there there. On the slight plus side back in the 1970s the "local area" for untimed calls expanded to the entire city. (Nowadays a bunch of very confusing options are available through Verizon and the various CLECS, cablecos, and other folk). -- Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: 9 Sep 2005 20:21:01 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Arizona Budget POTS Plans Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > And so, finally on to the question, does anyone know if Qwest offers a > real low cost (perhaps metered) service for POTS in the 480 area? ... > The Qwest web site is no help; it only talks about premium plans. The Qwest web site is quite helpful if you look on their tariff server. It says that low use resi service is $8.50/month plus 20 cents per call (plus the usual taxes and fees.) There appears to be a one-time charge of $10 to switch from flat rate to low use. IT is definitely available in Phoenix. By comparison. flat rate is $13.18, so it's not that much cheaper. When the Qwest rep denies that it's available, the USOC order code is RMN. R's, John ------------------------------ From: Michael Chance Subject: Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's New Wi-Fi Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 23:41:42 GMT In article , aljon@stny.rr.com says: > I wish more cities would get gutsy and fight the local Teleco > incumbent (it seems that they and the cable provider think they "own" > connection to the Internet) Uh, because maybe they *do* own the connection to the Internet? At least the physical wires and switches. > to put FREE Wi-FI every where (especially > on busses with the high cost of fuel) they want. TANSTAAFL Michael Chance ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 16:46:25 -0700 From: John L. Shelton Subject: Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune in to Seattle Metro's New WiFi > John, it sounds to me you are either a paid mouth piece (lobbyist) for > the fixed line providers (LEC or cable company), or employed by > Qworst, I'm sorry, I mean Qwest. I am an unpaid mouthpiece for free enterprise. I am currently on long-term medical leave from a NON telecom company. It is wrong for SBC to achieve monopoly via political maneuvering, and it is wrong for the local government to build a tax-subsidized monopoly. The only fair thing to do is let all interested parties offer service. If no one finds it economical to do so, that doesn't imply a government mandate. It might be nice if we all had original 17th century oil paintings in our houses, but "nice" doesn't cut it. One wouldn't expect government dollars to pay for that (or perhaps we would -- gee, 17th century oil-paintings are "art" and deserve government museums, but Elvis Presley is not art, so he can pitch his music commercially ...) Once the government has run off all competition by use of subsidies, who will keep their efforts economical? Will it work like schools, roads, and the mail, where there is no fraud, waste, or controversy? Give me a break. When government is the dominant player, things get broken. Do you really trust the people who won't patch potholes or widen the highways, yet take billions in road-maintenance money, to provide you with better and better internet connections "for free?" With SBC competing against others, they have to offer better service to earn your repeat business. With the city, you wind up with no choice. I understand you think SBC and others can still compete. Just like private schools compete with public. But it's not real competition, when the public schools have a $10k/student subsidy. And it won't be the same with wireless, either. =John= john@jshelton.com ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #412 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Sep 10 18:27:10 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id ADC65150E8; Sat, 10 Sep 2005 18:27:09 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #413 Message-Id: <20050910222709.ADC65150E8@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 18:27:09 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 10 Sep 2005 18:27:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 413 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Wireless Tech to be Deployed for Katrina (Matthew Fordahl) Victims Of Hurricane Katrina (news@amazon.com) Cingular, Sprint, Others Give Katrina Victims Help on Phone Bills (Reuters) Yahoo Ordered by China to Reveal Reporter's E-Mail (Elaine Kurtenbach) New Backpack Puts Juice in Power Walking (Randolph Schmid) Katrina May Derail, Tarnish Bush's Presidency (Mark Silva) Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune in to Seattle Metro's WiFi (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Arizona Budget POTS Plans (Joseph) Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security (Jim Burks) Re: Verizon V710 Settlement (Joseph) Re: Qwest Lauches New Legal Fight Against Portland (Tony P.) Last Laugh! Fertility Doctor's Lies on Net Get Him Sued (Reuters NewsWire) 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: Matthew Fordahl Subject: Wireless Tech to be Deployed For Katrina Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 13:51:47 -0500 By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer A high-speed wireless networking technology that's still being tested around the world will be deployed at an evacuation shelter and other spots on the U.S. Gulf Coast hit by Hurricane Katrina. The technology called WiMax will bring the Internet to remote areas where the existing infrastructure has been destroyed or never existed. The network will be used for Internet telephone service and information exchange. Intel Corp., a major WiMax supporter and maker of chips, shipped equipment Thursday to San Antonio's decommissioned Kelly Air Force Base where thousands of evacuees are being taken. The gear is expected to arrive on Friday. A group of wireless Internet providers called Part-15.org is working with the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deploy Wi-Fi hotspots at the shelter and areas hit by the storm. But those hotspots need to connect to the wider Internet to be most useful -- and that's where WiMax comes into play, said Nigel Ballard, a manager Intel's state and local government unit. "They were missing a very vital -- and some would say expensive -- piece of the jigsaw, and that's the ability to put up a wireless solution to actually get the signal in and out of a fairly substantial Air Force base," he said. The WiMax equipment will be able to handle carry signals about 15 miles to what's known as a Point of Presence on the Internet. The bandwidth both upstream and downstream is expected to be about 45 megabits per second -- 30 times the speed of a standard 1.5 megabit per second DSL connection. Similar efforts involving WiMax are underway in the disaster area as well, and Intel has donated equipment for use in other parts of the Gulf Coast. WiMax, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, has been mentioned as a possible alternative to cable modem and Digital Subscriber Line services offered by cable and telephone companies. It's also touted as a tool to connect emerging markets to the Internet. But its potential in the United States has been clouded by spectrum questions. The 3.5-gigahertz band that's being used in tests elsewhere has been reserved for the military in the U.S. In addition, no WiMax equipment has been certified for compliance with the WiMax standard that was set just last year. For the disaster recovery, the airwaves are not a problem, Ballard said. The Federal Communications Commission granted an emergency license for the spectrum use on Thursday. On the Net: Part-15.org: http://www.part-15.org/emergencyrelief/katrina.html 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ Subject: Help For Victims Of Katrina From Red Cross and Amazon.com From: news@amazon.com Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 22:30:46 CEST Victims of Hurricane Katrina are attempting to recover from the massive storm. American Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to the hardest hit areas of Katrina.s destruction, supplying hundreds of thousands of victims left homeless with critical necessities. By making a financial donation to support hurricane relief efforts, the Red Cross can provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Privacy Notice: If your donation is $250 or more, Amazon.com will provide your name, credit card billing address, and donation amount to the American Red Cross, and the American Red Cross will provide you with a receipt for your donation. Other than this, Amazon.com will not share information about you with the American Red Cross. Amazon.com has waived all customary Honor System fees associated with your contributions to the Red Cross. We are grateful for the continued generosity of Amazon.com customers at this time of great need. Thank you in advance for your support. Sincerely, Amazon.com Customer Services. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Cingular, Sprint, Others Give Katrina Victims Phone Bill Help Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 16:00:12 -0500 Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier, has said it would give customers in the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina discounts on their cell phone bills, including roaming charges and text messages. Customers in the New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi, markets will receive a one-time 50 percent credit on their monthly fee and will not be charged for roaming, extra minutes, long-distance or text messaging from late August through September 30, according to a September 8 letter made available on Friday. Cingular's subscribers in the markets of Mobile, Alabama, Jackson, Mississippi, Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana, will get a one-time 25 percent discount on their monthly charge as well as unspecified discounts on roaming and text messages. The company, a joint venture of BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc., said the expiration date for prepaid customers will be extended to October 31 and will replace any that expired since August 29. The Federal Communications Commission had expressed concerns that customers displaced by the hurricane would have their cell phones shut off because they had not paid their bills since they had been evacuated. The agency sought details on what carriers were doing. Cingular told the FCC the carrier would not shut off customers in the affected areas for 30 days and would stop collection efforts in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The company declined to say what impact, if any, the policies would have on its revenue. Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 carrier, said it was working on a case-by-case basis with customers, would not cut them off and had stopped bill collections. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc. Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 wireless carrier, said it would give a month of free wireless service to subscribers in the hardest hit areas and would also give free long-distance, extra minutes, roaming and text messaging. Sprint also said in its own letter to the FCC that it would not cut off customers and has stopped trying to collect on unpaid bills. It did not reveal how long it would do so. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Elaine Kurtenbach Subject: Yahoo Ordered by Chinese Government to Share Reporter's E-Mail Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 16:01:39 -0500 By ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer Yahoo had to comply with a demand by Chinese authorities to provide information about a personal e-mail of a journalist who was later convicted under state secrecy laws and sentenced to 10 years in prison, the company's co-founder Jerry Yang said Saturday. Yang, responding to questions during an Internet forum in this eastern Chinese resort city, said he could not discuss the details of the case involving Shi Tao, a former writer for the financial publication Contemporary Business News. Overseas-based human rights groups disclosed days earlier that Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd., part of Yahoo's global network, provided e-mail account information that helped lead to Shi's conviction. Yahoo earlier defended its move, saying it was obliged to comply with Chinese laws and regulations. The demand for the information was a "legal order" and Yahoo gets such requests from law enforcement agencies all the time, and not just in China, Yang told the forum. But he added, "I cannot talk about the details of this case." Other Chinese journalists have faced similar charges of violating vague security laws as communist leaders struggle to maintain control of information in the burgeoning Internet era. Despite government information sharing requirements and other restrictions, Yahoo and its major rivals have been expanding their presence in mainland China in hopes of reaching more of the country's fast-growing population of Internet users, which now number more than 100 million. Yahoo paid $1 billion for a 40 percent stake in Alibaba.com, host of the Hangzhou conference, last month. New York-based Human Rights in China and the Paris-based international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders sent an open letter addressed to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who was a keynote speaker at the Internet forum, urging him to bring up Shi's case during his visit to China. But Clinton only alluded to the risks faced by Internet users targeted by the authorities for whatever reason. "The Internet, no matter what political system a country has, and our political system is different from yours, the Internet is having significant political and social consequences and they cannot be erased," he said. "The political system's limits on freedom of speech ... have not seemed to have any adverse consequences on e-commerce," he said. "It's something you'll all have to watch and see your way through," he said. According to Reporters Without Borders, court papers show that Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. gave Chinese investigators information that helped them trace a personal Yahoo e-mail to Shi's computer. It says Shi was convicted for sending notes on a government circular spelling out restrictions on the media in his e-mail. He was seized in November at his home in the northwestern province of Shanxi. The case is the latest instance in which a prominent high-tech company has faced accusations of cooperating with Chinese authorities to gain favor in a country that's expected to become an Internet gold mine. Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo and two of its biggest rivals, Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, previously have come under attack for censoring online news sites and Web logs, or blogs, featuring content that China's communist government wants to suppress. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more Associated Press headlines and stories, go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Randolph E. Schmid Subject: New Backpack Puts Juice in Power Walking Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 16:06:03 -0500 By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer As soldiers, hikers and students can testify, it takes energy to haul around a heavy backpack. Now, researchers have developed a backpack that turns that energy into electricity. It doesn't crank out a lot of juice -- just a bit more than 7 watts -- but that's enough to run things like an MP3 player, a personal data assistant, night vision goggles, a handheld global positioning system or a GSM cell phone. The development could eventually allow field scientists, hikers, explorers, soldiers and disaster workers to produce their own electricity. The researchers used a backpack fastened to the carrying frame by springs. The up-and-down motion caused by walking powers a small generator, producing electricity that can be used directly or stored in a capacitor or battery. The device, developed by Lawrence C. Rome of the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues, is reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science. The electricity-generating frame weighs about 10 pounds, Rome said in a telephone interview. He's working to lighten it, so it will weigh only a couple of pounds more than a standard backpack. Power generated increases as the load in the backpack gets heavier, he said. Tests ranged from loads of about 40 pounds to about 80 pounds. Rome developed the new backpack at the request of the Office of Naval Research, which was looking for ways to reduce the need for service members to carry lots of batteries to power equipment while on duty in Afghanistan. The researchers studied the movement of people walking, and concluded that the hips move up and down between 1.6 inches and 2.7 inches with each step. They then set about trying to exploit that movement. The result is the "suspended load backpack." It uses a rigid frame similar to regular backpacks, but instead of being attached directly to the frame, the load is suspended by springs, allowing it to move up and down as the person walks. That movement turns a small electrical generator producing current. In tests on a treadmill, walking on level ground and uphill both produced current, Rome said. Arthur D. Kuo of the University of Michigan's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering said the backpack is novel "because it generates useful amounts of electrical power, while costing less metabolic power than would be expected." Indeed, carrying the backpack uses only a little more energy than carrying a standard backpack of the same weight, said Rome, a biologist who also does research at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. He said volunteers testing the device altered their gait slightly to move more efficiently. "Metabolically speaking, we've found this to be much cheaper than we anticipated. The energy you exert could be offset by carrying an extra snack, which is nothing compared to weight of extra batteries," Rome said. "Pound for pound, food contains about 100-fold more energy than batteries." The concept resembles that of a self-winding watch where power is generated by the movement of the wearer, commented Kuo, who was not part of Rome's research team. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, Office of Naval Research and the University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation. A company called Lightning Packs LLC has been formed to improve the suspended-load backpack and to develop an ergonomic backpack based on the prototype. Lightning Packs has applied for patents on both inventions. Rome said he hopes to have the new version ready for testing in six months to a year. On the Net: Science: http://www.sciencemag.org 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Get aquainted with Telecom Digest Extra at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra ------------------------------ From: Mark Silva Subject: Katrina May Derail Plans, Tarnish Legacy Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 16:08:27 -0500 By Mark Silva Washington Bureau As the anniversary of the worst enemy assault on American soil approaches and with victims reeling from what may be the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, President Bush's handling of the two could mark the high and low points of a presidency he has staked squarely on national security. The indelible image of a president rallying a nation with a bullhorn atop the rubble of the World Trade Center after Sept. 11, 2001, provided Bush with lasting political power that carried him to re-election despite a frustrating economy at home and an increasingly unpopular war abroad. But the images of despair flowing from the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the growing recriminations over the perceived mishandling of the federal response could haunt the president for the remainder of his term. They could even alter Bush's legacy by denting one of the great sources of his political success: his image as a man of strength who leads in times of crisis, a decision-maker who gets things done and takes care of the country in its darkest hour. "When you define yourself as a protector-in-chief, your accountability is higher," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Center for Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. "On Sept. 11, you could reasonably say he hadn't had time to take charge, whereas at the beginning of your second term you really can't say it's someone else's responsibility." Nearly a week after Bush declared that relief efforts on the Gulf Coast were "not acceptable," the White House late this week said Bush "continues to be not satisfied about where things are going." Calls for speech Adding to a sense of drift, critics are questioning why Bush has not delivered a prime-time speech or addressed a joint session of Congress. Instead, Bush will make his third visit to the storm-stricken region on Sunday and Monday, a two-day tour of Mississippi and Louisiana. The president drew his own connection between the catastrophes of 2001 and 2005 when he assembled relatives of Sept. 11 victims Friday to award "9/11 Heroes Medal of Valor" honors that Congress has ordered for the relatives of 442 public safety workers killed in the terrorist attacks. "We're still at the beginning of a huge effort," Bush said, comparing the courage of police and rescue workers on Sept. 11 with those in the aftermath of Katrina. "The tasks before us are enormous." Yet four years after the Sept. 11 attacks, critics are saying the initial response to Hurricane Katrina suggests the nation may be no better prepared to cope with a disaster in a major urban center. That preparedness is something Bush has spent the better part of his presidency attempting to achieve, committing billions of dollars, several government reorganizations and the creation of an entirely new federal agency. "What we have failed to realize is the terrorists showed us on 9/11 that we are vulnerable," said Stephen Flynn, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who worked for President Bill Clinton's National Security Council. "And Katrina showed us here in late August and September that we are still a very vulnerable society -- and the most vulnerable part of the population ends up without the lifeboat." The storm also may take its toll on Bush's agenda. The growing expense of a storm whose costs are starting to rival those of the war in Iraq could badly damage Bush's second-term plans. Democrats say it will become impossible to justify further tax cuts in the context of a deficit-busting hurricane and flood recovery. And if the president's prospects for reform of Social Security and the nation's tax code weren't already dashed before the storm, they probably are now, say legislators and outside observers. "Katrina pretty much stops his legislative agenda cold," said Stephen Hess, a professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University. "If we ever needed more of a reason not to do Social Security reform, this is it, because of the cost required," added Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). "It's going to be a question of priorities, a question of whether Republicans are going to want to stand on the Senate floor and support more tax cuts for the wealthy." Congressional Republicans say they still plan to push ahead with important legislative agenda items. And less than two weeks after the storm, it could be too early to measure the impact of the recovery efforts on the president. Early surveys Two in three Americans surveyed by the Pew Research Center said Bush could have done more to speed relief efforts, while 28 percent said he did all he could. Yet just a fraction of those surveyed in a Gallup Poll -- 13 percent -- blamed Bush for mishandling the relief effort and 18 percent blamed the federal government. Another 25 percent said local and state governments are to blame. "The initial impressions, obviously, of how the government handled Katrina have not been positive, but I think the book is still out on how this thing is going to be perceived," said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster who has campaigned for the Bush family. "I thought that everybody would be blaming FEMA, the federal government." Newhouse added. "But there is a significant amount of blame to place on state and local government. That is probably going to increase as time goes on." Some say the president has already begun to regain his footing, with two personal visits to storm-stricken regions and a third starting Sunday. He also has dispatched Vice President Dick Cheney to be his eyes and ears on the ground. The National Guard, for its part, has greatly expanded its presence in New Orleans, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has plugged the levee breaches that flooded the city, and embattled FEMA Director Michael Brown is out as head of on-site relief efforts. But some analysts say Bush should have found an opportunity by now to address the nation with a widely watched evening speech explaining what the government is doing, what Americans can do to help, and perhaps even what went wrong at first. "That's certainly something we expect from the president," said David Lanoue, chairman of political science at the University of Alabama. "We expect some kind of unifying statement that is both reassuring and challenging to us, that assures us we are taking control of the situation but also challenges us to do something to help the people affected. "George Bush has staked his reputation on the notion that his singular goal is to protect the American people -- from terrorism, from crisis or whatever -- that he has the strength and the vision and the leadership skills to do that," Lanoue said. "But there is a significant number of Americans right now who feel the crisis-manager president didn't act quickly enough, didn't act decisively enough, didn't put the right people in charge. If that view were to fester, that would be devastating to the rest of the president's term and his legacy." mdsilva@tribune.com Copyright 2005 Chicago Tribune NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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 ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune in to Seattle Metro's New WiFi Date: 10 Sep 2005 01:46:07 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , John L. Shelton wrote: > Do you really trust the people who won't patch potholes or > widen the highways, yet take billions in road-maintenance money, to > provide you with better and better internet connections "for free?" I don't remember the original article, and I can't go back and look without losing context, but I don't recall anyone offering "free" access. And if they're trying to build a service in an area where the other providers WON'T offer service then they're not eliminating competition because the competition wasn't there to begin with. > I understand you think SBC and others can still compete. Just like > private schools compete with public. But it's not real competition, > when the public schools have a $10k/student subsidy. Or when the private schools don't have to accept low-income or mentally handicapped students, or have to deal with a host of other issues that make the comparison unfair. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A situation like this occurred in Chicago several years ago, when City of Chicago _attempted_ to take over the electric power utility. They said they could handle it so much more effeciently and inexpensively than the historical provider of same, Commonwealth Edison Company. But they were not going to negotiate with anyone, or deal with laws of any sort; they were simply going to -- in polite terms -- 'municipalize' the electric service, which is to say they were going to steal it. It was only when several large corporations threatened to move out of town in self defense if the plans went through and others of influence such as Chicago Tribune called attention to the city's intentions that the city backed off. The Tribune noted "so the gang of cronies and politicians which run our transit atrocity, our housing atrocity, our schools and our parks are now going to be in charge of our nuclear plants as well ...". Mayor Daley blinked at that and after the obligatory defense of the city government decided to back away from the plan. This is not quite the same thing as Seattle's plan for muni wi-fi, but quite similar. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Arizona Budget POTS Plans Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 19:35:04 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 04:58:20 GMT, Mike Sutter wrote: > More background -- My parents have gone completely wireless in NY. They > have ported their NY number to the mobile and are happy with the > results. However, they have many friends in the Phoenix area that > would be put off by LD charges to call their NY mobile number. That > said they feel and I agree that they need to keep their POTS line in > Phoenix but don't want to spend a bundle on it since all outgoing > calls will be on the mobile. I don't know if this idea would work for them, but they could get a toll-free number such as from Kall8. The receiver (the one who has the toll-free number) it would cost them 6.9=A2/minute for people to call them if their cellular number was the target number. That way no one would pay a toll to call them. > And so, finally on to the question, does anyone know if Qwest offers a > real low cost (perhaps metered) service for POTS in the 480 area? > Where I'm at (NY) the LEC is obligated to provide a minimal POTS It's likely that Qworst does offer measured service which would likely be less cost than an unlimited line. It's not cheap however. After taxes and such it's likely around $12 or more per month. If they've not had service of course there's the installation fees as well. I don't know if they could qualify for "lifeline" service. I believe you need to show that your economic level makes you eligible. ------------------------------ From: Jim Burks Subject: Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 02:38:23 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com Panarat Thepgumpanat wrote in message news:telecom24.408.2@telecom-digest.org: > By Panarat Thepgumpanat > Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access > to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by > rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger > sensitive sites. Google should do the same as they do for the US. Currently, they block the roof of the White House, and buildings around it. View 1600 Pennsylvania and see. As you zoom in, at a certain magnification, the roofs are whited out. Either respect the wishes of those countries and 'mask' their sensitive sites, or don't mask ours. Jim Burks Collierville, TN ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Verizon V710 Settlement Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 19:49:02 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:46:41 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: > A national settlement has been reached in the claims against Verizon > Wireless over the Motorola V710 cell phone. Details will be available > shortly at http://www.verizonwireless.com/V710Settlement And when you go to the above link you get: Page is unavailable! ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Qwest Lauches New Legal Fight Against Portland Organization: ATCC Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 09:43:53 -0400 In article , oregonian@telecom- digest.org says: > by Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian > The communications company sues the city, alleging the government > system hurts competition. > Qwest Communications International Inc. has opened a new front in its > long-running legal battle with the city of Portland, suing to rein in > the city's internal telecommunications system. > Portland launched its network in 2002 to get around the rates Qwest > and other telecom companies charge for phone lines and high-speed > Internet connections. Portland's $14 million system links several city > offices, and a few government agencies outside the city, to a network > of fiber-optic cable that carries city phone calls and Internet > traffic. > The Integrated Regional Network Enterprise is known by its initials, > IRNE, pronounced "Ernie." Portland says IRNE provides super-fast > Internet connections the city couldn't otherwise afford. The city, > however, estimates it has already spent $150,000 on legal fees > defending the system against earlier challenges from Qwest and others. > Qwest's latest suit, filed late last week in U.S. District Court, > calls IRNE an illegal, government-sponsored competitor. Qwest > complains that the city is abusing its regulatory authority by forcing > telecom companies to connect IRNE to their networks in exchange for > permission to use city-owned rights of way for the companies' private > networks. > "It provides, basically, unfair competition and makes it very, very > difficult for the private sector to compete," said Judy Peppler, > Qwest's Oregon president. > Portland grants IRNE access to the Oregon Department of > Transportation, the Port of Portland, Metro and other government > agencies, which Peppler said robs telecom companies of large, > lucrative customers. Oh boo hoo. You know what,maybe if Qwest aka US Worst had provided reasonable rates for the services the city might have gone with them. Here in RI I know of at least one instance where Verizon and Cox got cut out of the picture. The AG's office gets part of it's access to court services through a fiber optic cable laid in a Narragansett Electric duct that runs down South Main St. Of course the file folder containing all the easement grants etc is about two inches thick and Verizon got its say in there. In essence we could only use it to access data between the AG's office and the Courts. At one point we'd proposed setting up a system where if one of our ISP's went down (We had Verizon, they had Cox) we could let folks connect to the others ISP via a couple of router changes. Verizon stopped that one cold. I do wish the phone companies would acknowledge and embrace their own anti-competitive history. Maybe then they wouldn't be such anal retentive jerks about things. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Last Laugh! Doctor's Lies on Internet Cause him to Get Sued Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 16:03:59 -0500 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Normally I do not make fun of people who have legitmate reasons for sadness (Katrina victims) nor even the folks who are just very naive and get set up by charlatans and wind up getting seriously hurt. But obviously, these two women had not taken the time to read and reflect upon "Honesty and the Internet" as detailed at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/honesty.html PAT] Angry women sue NY doctor for online dating lies A Manhattan fertility specialist has been sued by two women who say he broke their hearts after meeting them through an online dating site on which he pretended to be single. In their lawsuits the two women, Tiffany Wang and Jing Huang, accused Dr. Khaled Zeitoun, 46, of pretending to be single and using mind games to entice them into sexual relationships with tales of past lives. According to court papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court and made public this week, Zeitoun is married with three children. Wang said she met him in March 2001 through a Web site on which he said he was single and had never married. "Zeitoun claimed he and Wang had been married to each other in previous lives," Wang's lawsuit said, adding that the doctor told her he had mistreated her in that life and "searched for her in this lifetime to correct his past mistakes." Wang says that in May 2002, he asked her to marry him but only proposed "to see the look of joy on her face." In a separate suit filed earlier this year, Huang said she met the reproductive endocrinologist in October 2003 through an online dating service. He fed her a similar line about being single and having been married to her in a previous life. Huang eventually realized he was cheating on her and the relationship ended in July 2004. Both women are seeking unspecified money damages for infliction of severe emotional distress "outside the boundaries of human decency and social norms." In a written response to the court papers filed by Huang, Zeitoun admitted that he told her he was single and had relationships with other women he met on the Internet. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Honesty on the Internet -- http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/honesty.html ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #413 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 12 07:22:53 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 89330150EE; Mon, 12 Sep 2005 07:22:53 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #414 Message-Id: <20050912112253.89330150EE@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 07:22:53 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.6 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, INFO_TLD autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 12 Sep 2005 07:21:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 414 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson SBC Cutting Work Force; Blames Competition (Thomas Content) Katrina Aftermath (Stephanie Mehta) Verizon Complaints About EVDO; They Dislike the Junxion Box (P Townson) Log On and Say Hello (Kim Leonard) Interesting Cellphone and Mastercard Tidbit (Thomas A. Horsley) See ROKR in Action (Monty Solomon) Re: Qwest Launches New Legal Fight Against Portland (Steve Sobol) Re: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (NOTvalid) Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security (Ed Clarke) Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security (jmeissen) Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security (Gene Berkowitz) 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: Thomas Content Subject: SBC Cutting Work Force; Blames Competition Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 17:39:01 -0500 www.jsonline.com Original URL: http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/sep05/354690.asp SBC to cut 200 jobs in state Company blames rise in competition from cellular, cable, Internet By THOMAS CONTENT tcontent@journalsentinel.com SBC is eliminating more than 200 jobs in Wisconsin, including 127 in downtown Milwaukee, in response to heightened competition from cellular phone providers and lower demand for traditional phone service. The company on Friday notified workers in downtown Milwaukee that 127 of 440 customer service representative positions will be eliminated by Dec. 15, SBC spokesman Jeff Bentoff said. The telecommunications company is scaling back certain operations given competitive pressure posed by cellular phones and the emergence of cable and Internet telephone services, Bentoff said. For Milwaukee, it's the biggest cutback since SBC eliminated hundreds of jobs when it closed an office on N. 35th St. in 1998, said George Walls, president of Local 4603 of the Communications Workers of America. "It was very shocking to the people this morning and very sad, and many of them were in tears," Walls said. "These are good-paying jobs, and I see it as really a blow to lose these jobs in the city of Milwaukee." Wages for the workers whose jobs are being eliminated run from about $400 to $974 a week, Walls said. Local 4603 represents about 2,200 SBC hourly workers in southeastern Wisconsin. SBC employs more than 5,000 people in Wisconsin, Bentoff said. The company also confirmed a series of other cuts that include the loss of 47 network support positions in Wisconsin, including 23 at an office at N. 77th St. and W. Fond du Lac Ave. in Milwaukee and 24 in Eau Claire. Those workers will be offered the option of transferring to offices in Indiana and Ohio, where their functions will be consolidated, said David Saltz, another SBC spokesman. Three positions based in Brookfield are also being eliminated, SBC said. In a separate cutback initiated earlier this year, 40 SBC workers at SBC's office at 918 N. 26th St. in Milwaukee are expected to be laid off on Wednesday, Walls said. SBC, based in San Antonio, said last fall that it would eliminate about 10,000 jobs by the end of this year in response to competitive pressures in the industry. The downtown Milwaukee office handles wholesale business, meaning requests for service connection by companies that sell phone service but that rely on SBC's network of telephone lines and wires to deliver the service. It is one of three such offices across the Upper Midwest, fielding business in Wisconsin and four other states. That wholesale business was booming so much that it was hiring hundreds of new employees downtown five years ago, but business has fallen off significantly there, Bentoff said. "Order volumes have decreased, and there's just not as much work -- there's not enough work available for those positions," he said. SBC will work with the union to find other jobs for workers whose positions are being eliminated, or to offer severance packages for employees that are approaching retirement age, he said. It's unclear how many workers' jobs will be saved from layoffs. But the cuts are likely to affect those with the least seniority because of union bumping rights, Walls said. That means that those most affected by the cuts will be those hired since roughly May 2000, he said. That also means that some of the workers laid off in the last big round of cuts -- the 1998 closing of the 35th St. customer service calling center -- face the prospect of being laid off again. "Some of those people (who lost their jobs in 1998) wound up downtown in these jobs, and now they're being hit again," Walls said. From the Sept. 10, 2005, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Stephanie N. Mehta Subject: Katrina Aftermath Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 17:41:28 -0500 In a Post-Katrina World, Getting Calls Through Why does phone service stop working at times when we most need to communicate? Some companies are deploying new technologies that should prevent future outages, or at least help restore service faster. FORTUNE Friday, September 9, 2005 By Stephanie N. Mehta In the scary hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center, New Yorkers could be found queued up at pay telephones, clutching impotent cellphones in their hands. During the blackouts of 2003, callers trying to reach friends and family on the East Coast often got busy signals-a rare phenomenon in this age of call waiting and voicemail. And Hurricane Katrina initially knocked out or at least interrupted service to hundreds of thousands of phone lines, according to BellSouth, the dominant phone company in the Gulf region-and the carrier is still struggling to restore many of those lines. Indeed, it seems at the very times many Americans have most desperately needed to communicate, the nation's phone networks have failed. Why does this happen? In the case of Hurricane Katrina, some of the massive computers used to route and connect calls were wiped out by flooding; in other instances the actual phone lines were cut or damaged by the storm. And wired and wireless networks alike sputtered when the backup generators running their switching systems-remember, much of the region had no electrical power-ran out of fuel or were themselves damaged by the floods. In other crises, networks simply were overloaded or critical equipment broke down. Now, some regulators and consumers are asking a simple question: How can we build a better phone network-one that withstands the rigors of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina or the attacks of September 11? Companies such as Lucent Technologies, which supply to the big phone companies, say they already are improving communications networks based on the lessons from previous disasters. "Prior to 9/11 our idea of disaster recovery was dealing with a fire in a central office," admits Nick De Tura, vice president of North American customer operations of Lucent Technologies. (A central office is a hub that houses a carrier's switching equipment and phone lines that serve a neighborhood.) "Now every service we develop is built with an eye toward speed and flexibility" for moving phone calls onto working networks. Indeed, some companies and their competitors already are deploying some new technologies that will prevent future phone outages, or at least help restore service faster. Of course, even the newest technologies still require power and perhaps shelter, making them also vulnerable to Katrina-like forces. But here's a look at a handful of advancements that are making communications more disaster-resistant-or at least more disaster-resilient. VOIP: With many voice-over-Internet Protocol systems, users simply need access to a broadband network in order to make and receive calls using their assigned home numbers-even if they're no longer at home. With VOIP, calls are transmitted in the language of the Internet, or "packets," so they don't have to travel over a traditional copper telephone wire. Also, users are assigned an Internet Protocol address, which isn't location-sensitive. Say a family relocated from Biloxi to Houston. They could take their VOIP phone along (or a special adapter that comes with most VOIP systems), and once they gained access to a broadband system-a cable modem or DSL line, for example-they'd be able to receive calls from worried friends and relatives on their home number. "It would be the same service they had before," says Mike Hluchyj, founder and CTO of Sonus Networks, which helps phone companies deploy VOIP calling services. "The device automatically configures the service-they don't even have to involve any personnel within the phone company." Still, in the most severely devastated parts of the Gulf Coast, VOIP phones wouldn't have been much help for the stranded, because broadband connections were totally wiped out. Wi-Fi: One technology that may help get broadband systems back up and running is Wi-Fi, the same wireless standard you may use to get Internet access for your laptop at coffee shops and airports. Tropos, one of a handful of upstarts that sells wireless systems covering entire cities, says Wi-Fi (which operates on the same unlicensed spectrum that cordless phones and microwaves use) is robust enough to provide broadband service when wired networks fail. The company's gear is configured so that its wireless antennas all talk to each other, which can allow users to access the service even if the nearest wired network is 100 miles away. "We can provide broadband wireless access with limited need for wires," says Chris Rittler, vice president of product development for Tropos, which is just starting to work with officials in the Gulf region. "It is a great application in light of a horrible event." One big limitation: You need a special Wi-Fi modem in order to connect to a Wi-Fi network. While most new laptops are equipped, few desktops are, and Wi-Fi phones-cordless phones that can talk to Wi-Fi networks-are just starting to hit the market. Softswitches: As more phone companies move voice traffic onto Internet networks, many are starting to replace their traditional switches-massive computers that take up entire rooms and guzzle power-with smaller, software-driven machines that consume less power. So if generators or batteries kick in, these "softswitches" can stay operational longer. Also, phone companies typically can redirect traffic traveling through a softswitch more easily, allowing technicians to remotely program the switch to move traffic away from damaged lines and onto working networks. However, phone companies like BellSouth, SBC Communications, Verizon and Qwest have invested billions of dollars in their traditional switching infrastructure, and it will take years for them to migrate completely to softswitches and other new equipment. Disasters such as Katrina, however, may just end up accelerating those purchases. Copyright 2005 Time Inc. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Time, Inc. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Patrick Townson Subject: Verizon Complaints About EVDO; They're Angry About Junxion Box Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 17:48:05 -0500 There have been several stories recently (Wi-Fi backpack, mobile PSP gaming) where people have used the $700 Junxion Box to take Verizon EVDO broadband service and create a hotspot. According to a New York Times (via Gizmodo) piece exploring the box, Verizon isn't pleased. "The premise is one person buys an air card and one person uses the service, not an entire neighborhood," says a Verizon wireless exec. "Giving things away for free doesn't work anymore. It never did." Over the weekend, I found a discussion thread on this very topic in other forum. Here are some replies from readers in that forum: Re: How is this different than...? How is this different than sticking an EVDO card in my laptop and sharing it via WiFi? I can just see the Verizon guys sitting in an exec conference room and giving themselves a big "DO!" and a slap to the forehead. Lamont The Goldfish DaSneaky1 Re: How is this different than...? said by Blasterbator : > How is this different than sticking an EVDO card in my laptop > and sharing it via WiFi? > I can just see the Verizon guys sitting in an > exec conference room and giving themselves a big "DO!" and a slap to the > forehead. It isn't. That's the point of this news story, Verizon execs don't like people doing that. voiplover Re: How is this different than...? So ... where is the best deal on junxion boxes anyway? evdo to voip (Unregistered) I think the bigger concern should be an $80 unlimited plain providing VOIP instad of people paying some of the highest cellular phone bills in the industry! Plus no taxes and fees Semper Vigilantis DaDogs Re: How is this different than...? ... worse Verizon is backhauling cellular at ~915 MHz in our area. Yep, that's right kiddies your nice encrypted digital cellular calls are being dropped to 915 analog in the clear and broadcast all over eastern Virginia. Gawd, the shit Verizon pulls is limitless. Sure it is protected, but does it have to be in the ISM bands where Mabel with her baby monitor can pick it up? Re: How is this different than...? I think you have your information wrong, they can't and will not go to analog. The FCC is putting an end to ALL analog cellular service in a couple years. Meaning anyone with and old analog phone theyve kept for years because they can't get anything else, will not work anymore. Semper Vigilantis DaDogs Re: How is this different than...? said by cerus98 : > I think you have your information wrong, they can't and will not go > to analog. The FCC is putting an end to ALL analog cellular service > in a couple years. Meaning anyone with and old analog phone theyve > kept for years because they can't get anything else, will not work > anymore. That is exactly what I thought myself, but in deploying 900 MHz Canopy hardware I am seeing what most certainly looks like cellular between 911 and 916. It definately touches wire line which means it is protected and it definately belongs to Verizon. It could be a beat frequency happening in the IFs but I don't think that is what it is and it can't be a harmonic. It is strong enough to break squelch even with the antenna off of the scanner. Hence my guess that it is a point-to-point link between two towers. ================ Verizon just doesn't get it. The Verizon exec is almost as dumb as the **AA exec. "Giving it away for free". Please explain where the 'free' part is? Someone is paying for the wireless access card, thus, Verizon is getting paid for the access. What that person chooses to do with their LEGALLY PAID FOR access point is up to the person, not Verizon. If you take away the Verizon doublespeak, what the executive meant to say was ... "We aren't raping everyone we can for all the money we can". Verizon can put "Terms of Service" and rules for any way they want. However, I the end user, can choose to ignore those terms of service at my own risk. Now, since Verizon is classified as a 'common carrier', they cannot legally monitor what I am doing, so their ability to 'catch me' is severely limited. All they can do is spout out empty threats really, cause proving it would be very hard to do, and at the profit margins they make, just not fiscally viable. Why is this such an issue? Because it shows that Verizon is selling a product, with certain capabilities, that they don't want the user to use. (i.e. the user is paying for 500kb download over EVDO, and if the person chooses to use all 500kb, verizon can't support it). Guess what, it's not the USERS problem. For those who don't get it, it's would be like Ford selling me a car that can only carry one passenger. Even though I don't currently carpool today, if my situation changed, and I had to, yet was unable to, I'd be pissed. Ford sold me a product, I can do what I want with the product, as long as I follow the law (not Ford's terms of service, the LAW, they ARE different you know), and in many cases, even if I don't follow the law. So, Verizon, if you want to limit it, then by all means put on a byte cap. Oh, wait, you don't want to do that, because your studies have shown that the sales you would loose to your competitors would be greater than the savings you would make. Cause if I were your competitor, I sure as hell would take out full page ads spreading FUD about your product, and it would work too... -- Grand Poobah Re: Verizon just doesn't get it. I doubt that Verizon's status as a common carrier applies to the EVDO data service. They should be able to monitor usage to ensure compliance with the TOS and cut off non-compliant users. Same as any other ISP. I don't follow your Ford analogy. If you need a bigger car, you can sell the one you have and get a bigger car, but that has no correlation to a data service. If you like car analogies for the EVDO TOS, how about you could rent a car and let anyone drive it despite what the contract says, but when it's wrecked/lost/stolen, or just if they track the car and find out you've violated the contract, then the rental company will come after YOU. =================== I have an EV-DO card and I fully understand why I can't share the service. A better analogy than the Ford example you gave is for someone to walk in to an All-You-Can buffet with a bag full of Tupperware. Since that person paid their bill, it now entitles them to fill all the containers and take the food home to feed their entire neighborhood. When the owner of the restaurant sets the price, he sets it with the expectation that you won't take every last bit of food in the place. Verizon had the same expectation and as a user of the service, you probably agree to this in the TOS (which I don't have here in front of me.) JPCass said by G_Poobah : For those who don't get it, it's would be like Ford selling me a car that can only carry one passenger. I think that's the wrong analogy. It's more like the local transit authority selling you a bus pass, and then you using it to get to work, loaning it to co-workers to run errands while you're at work, going home and loaning it to a friend to get to get back and forth to his night shift job, and loaning it out on your days off as well. Or, you might say it's like putting a splitter on your cable connection, and running wires to your neighbors, and maybe even to a large screen TV in a public area. Or maybe like sending identical quintuplets in to eat, one at a time, at an "all you can eat" buffet. Internet service providers have gotten away from early (mostly dial-up) charging based on usage, but their models are based on presumptions about average use by one household. If too many individuals push the envelope, their model to offer affordable service to the average consumer starts to break down. Metering usage adds costs, and they'd hope to avoid having to add those costs to mass-market broadband. I think they're in a quandry that has to be appreciated, and on the other hand they have gone ahead and advertised things like "unlimited" broadband. Let's think of it in terms of the large majority of average users who have moderate needs for broadband at an affordable price. How do you serve the vast majority of users, without saddling them with the costs of a small number of users who use bandwidth approaching one or more magnitudes of order greater than average, or with costs of metering and monitoring to somehow handle those exceptional users? Is that more or less unfair in the net than trying to keep costs down by cracking down on the small number of people who try to push the envelope on the marketing offer of "unlimited"? pinetree Re: Verizon just doesn't get it. i agree. don't advertise "unlimited" if you don't intend to provide it. mallyman Re: Verizon just doesn't get it. They ARE providing unlimited... FOR YOU not your friends and their friends and their friends... the pricing model is built on that and if it was 'buy once, give to the neighborhood' you would see 500 monthly instead of 80.00 the bus pass analogy fits best here ... you can use your bus pass for your OWN activities... but for others to 'share' it is not part of the deal ... ğ | 2005-09-09 18:51:18 | · G_Poobah My analogy was correct. I purchased a car that CAN carry 8 people, but according to Fords 'terms of service', only I can use the car by myself. If I choose to ignore that rule, and carry 8 people means that Ford lost 7 'potential sales', thus if you make EVERYONE follow Fords 'terms of service', then all 7 of my passengers would need to purchase their own Ford cars. My bringing them with me (sharing) is causing lost revenue (lost sales) to Ford. The tupperware argument has no basis. We are talking about a 'transient service', not a physical good. Every instant in time, it's either being used or not being used. If it's not being used, then it's lost forever, that's what 'transient' means. Completely different concept than physical goods. You can't apply the arguments of 'physical loss' to this, only 'potential loss'. Very well defined in case law. The transit authority is a good analogy. If I buy a pass to the Metro in DC, I can use it all I want. In fact, I can give it out to my friends, and it's violation of terms of service. But wait, I can't use the pass when my friend has it, so, am I really in violation? I would argue no, since I can't physically use the pass while my friend has it. It's the same with internet access. If my 'friend' is using all 500Kb of download, then guess what, I can't download! It's simple enough to understand, but is it wrong? no.. I paid for 500kb of download service. Period. What people are trying to argue is that it's legally wrong. It's 100% NOT legally wrong. I paid for the service, I can use the service the way I SEE FIT, terms of service be damned. PERIOD. Is it morally wrong? Hmm ... maybe, but maybe not. Morals are very subjective. Is it unprofitable for the business that sold me this service? Absolutely. Will the business use doublespeak and lies to try and prevent this, and improve their bottom line? I sure hope so, otherwise I wouldn't want to be a shareholder. Be sure to separate moral/religious beliefs from legal beliefs. If they advertise 'unlimited access', then LEGALLY, I can use the unlimited as unlimited. If they don't like it, then they just need to remove the words 'unlimited' from their advertising, and clearly define what I can/cannot do with their service. So pray tell me why they haven't done that? -- Grand Poobah ğ | Dexter9999 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am not that familiar at all with 'Evdo'; are any Digest readers (possibly also Verizon customers) able to explain it and talk about it here? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Kim Leonard Subject: Log on and Say Hello Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 04:49:39 -0500 By Kim Leonard TRIBUNE-REVIEW A call made over the Internet will sound about the same as one made on a traditional home phone. Still, Internet-based phone services such as Vonage, Verizon VoiceWing and AT&T CallVantage are signing up customers steadily for two reasons: They cost less than comparable, regular phone service and their special features appeal to professionals and others who want more control over when and where they receive calls. Most consumers still know very little about Internet calling, known as Voice over Internet Protocol service. But in the Pittsburgh area, they're about to see offers from at least four companies that are jumping into the emerging field. "If I'm at the office, I can get an e-mail on my computer with a voice mail that somebody left for me at home," said John Curry, president of the Monroeville phone company known until a few weeks ago as Curry Communications. The new name is Curry IP Solutions, as in Internet protocol, and Curry's enthusiasm for his company's new direction is evident as he talks about three newly launched VoIP service packages with "a few" customers so far. Meanwhile, Downtown-based Full Service Network and North Pittsburgh Telephone Co. plan to launch VoIP packages in coming weeks. Cable giant Comcast is testing its service, for a rollout later this fall. Internet phone services essentially take analog audio signals and turn them into digital data, to be transferred over the Web. A broadband connection is necessary, and most VoIP packages will work over any telecommunications or cable provider's service. North Pittsburgh's VoIP service will work only with that company's Internet service. Call quality can depend on the quality of the broadband connection, and a customer may have to buy an adapter for about $60 to get the service to work with regular phones, or a cordless broadband phone system that includes a few handsets. A VoIP user can keep a previous phone number, get a new 412 or 724 number, or even take a number in a different area code. Someone who moved to Pittsburgh from New York, for example, may want a 212 number in order to make "local" calls back home. By opting for additional lines, a customer can receive local calls from children at a college hundreds of miles away. Vonage offers a "virtual phone number" service for $4.99 a month that makes calls local from two or more area codes. Travelers can take their adapters along, plug into broadband connections and use the phone just as if they were sitting in their family rooms. "You avoid all those crazy hotel charges," Vonage spokesman Mitchell Slepian said. Still, Internet calling departs most from regular phone service for its ability to manage calls. Customers can go to a Web page and change options at any time for call waiting, caller ID and voice mail, and they can forward calls to other numbers. The service can respond differently to different calls. A former boyfriend can be sent straight to voice mail, while Mom's calls go to a cell phone. And calls can be programmed to ring to a home and cell phone at the same time. Greg Waldo, of Silver Spring, Md., likes VoiceWing's ability to keep a record of calls his family makes, as well as incoming calls. "If a call was made to someone you don't generally call, like a plumber, and you know you used him two months ago, you can go and retrieve the number. That's helpful," said Waldo, an engineer with Lockheed Martin who has used Verizon's service for about a year. Waldo cut his family's $60 phone bill almost in half with the switch, and used the savings to buy a battery backup that would power his phone adapter and other equipment during a power outage. He and his family also worry about VoIP's much-publicized shortcomings when it comes to making 911 emergency calls, although he knows Verizon and other companies are addressing this. "I don't see why Verizon sells any other service," he said. The lack of full 911 service, worries about outages and questions about directory service are the typical issues raised in debates about whether to drop a land line phone for VoIP. Most Internet calling services have been limited to simple 911 service that won't display the caller's phone number and address at a dispatch center. VoIP providers now are rushing to meet the Federal Communications Commission's Nov. 28 deadline to certify that 911 calls will go straight to an emergency dispatcher, instead of a main number for the center, and that the phone number and location will be shown. Vonage and Verizon now offer this enhanced 911 service in New York, and are expanding it nationwide. Pittsburgh area companies moving into VoIP point out that they already have agreements with emergency centers, so their 911 will mirror the service that comes with regular phone plans. Another worry is that VoIP service will fail in a power outage, and any time broadband service is down. While Internet outages happen, "it's one thing if you can't check your e-mail. It's another if that is the sole source of communication in your house," said Charles White, vice president of TNS Telecoms, a market research firm in Jenkintown, Pa. While big and small telecom providers nationwide are moving full speed into VoIP, a recent TNS survey found that residents in just 33 percent of households know what it is. That's an increase of about 10 percent over the last year. Nationwide, about 4 percent of households use Internet calling. Vonage, the leader in market share, said its business has expanded to more than 800,000 customers. Verizon and AT&T don't disclose customer figures, although AT&T spokeswoman Deborah Jones said VoIP has been the company's focus, since it stopped marketing its traditional phone services last year. Verizon views VoiceWing as one of its many phone options, a less expensive alternative to the roughly comparable Freedom local and long distance package for $54.95 a month. "It's just another choice that we are offering customers," spokesman Lee Gierczynski said. "Everybody's communications needs are different." Small phone companies like Curry and Full Service, meanwhile, view the Internet as their path to the future partly because of changes in federal and state law over the past year that require them to pay more to lease parts of Verizon's network. They also plan to build on the fact that the Internet knows no boundaries, and neither will their Internet phone products. Full Service, which sells phone service across Pennsylvania, plans to kick off VoIP on Sept. 12 in the 412 and 724 area codes. "Then, there are plans to expand into 26 markets across the United States," company President David E. Schwencke said. Those markets are cities with NFL teams. Schwencke said he's talking with investment bankers about securing $3.5 million for marketing, and working on a partnership with the National Football League to promote Full Service this fall. Curry said he is talking with Shop 'n Save and Fox's Pizza Den about promotions. He hopes to expand service to New Jersey and Ohio this month, and eventually go nationwide. He also plans to market the service through universities. "Students don't need a full-blown land line to call home. The $9.99 package is a good package for them -- and most colleges already provide the high-speed internet access," Curry said, adding that cell phone service costs much more. Calling on the Web Vonage, Verizon and AT&T sell Voice over Internet Protocol packages in the Pittsburgh region, and several other companies will jump into this emerging field in coming weeks. Here's a look at monthly costs, some of which have dropped in recent months: AT&T CallVantage: $19.99 for unlimited local service, 4 cents/minute for long distance; or $29.99 unlimited local and long distance to U.S. and Canada. Comcast: Expected to introduce service this fall; details unavailable. Curry IP Solutions: $9.99 plus 3.9 cents/minute for all calls; or $14.99 unlimited local plus 500 minutes long distance, 3.9 cents/minute afterward; or $24.99 unlimited local and long distance. Full Service Network: $19.99 for unlimited nationwide calling, debuting in September in 412 and 724 area codes. North Pittsburgh Telephone Co.: Introducing service early fall to work with company's broadband; details unavailable. Verizon VoiceWing: $19.95 for 500 minutes to anywhere in U.S., 4 cents/minute afterward; or $34.95 unlimited local and long distance. Vonage: $14.99 for 500 minutes to anywhere in U.S. or Canada, 3.9 cents/minute afterward; or $24.99 unlimited U.S. and Canada calls. Kim Leonard can be reached at kleonard@tribweb.com or (412) 380-5606. Copyright 2005 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Tribune-Review Publishing Co. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Subject: Interesting Cellphone and Mastercard Tidbit From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 02:18:04 GMT I just tried to activate my updated credit card with the new expiration date for the first time since abandoning my land line and going strictly cellphone. I updated my Mastercard records with my new "home" phone back when I got rid of the land line, but apparently the system they have for activating credit cards can't deal with cell phone numbers (the human I eventually got to talk to told me they are woking on it). I know my phone generates valid caller ID, since I've seen it show up on the phones of people I called. I also know FPL's power outage automated system can recognize me when I call and correlate my cellphone to my home address to tell me about the state of any power outage, so I gotta wonder what the difficulty is at Mastercard. -- >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics<<==+ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 21:59:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: See ROKR in Action Click "Watch Demo" on lower left http://www.makemedance.com/index.php?section=demo ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Qwest Lauches New Legal Fight Against Portland Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 19:00:45 -0700 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Tony P. wrote: > I do wish the phone companies would acknowledge and embrace their own > anti-competitive history. Maybe then they wouldn't be such anal > retentive jerks about things. Not bloody likely. Embracing their past means they'd just be proud of being anal-retentive jerks. Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Company website: http://JustThe.net/ Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/ E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307 ------------------------------ From: NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info Subject: Re: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy Date: 11 Sep 2005 10:58:05 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Danny Burstein wrote: > In Wesrock@aol.com writes: > Bit by bit the 75 message unit allowace got cut down, so nowadays > there's nothing there there. On the slight plus side back in the 1970s the > "local area" for untimed calls expanded to the entire city. Also cut out is the discount for LOCAL calls made in evening and night altho Verizon kept itemizing how many were made eve and night. ------------------------------ From: Ed Clarke Subject: Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security Date: 10 Sep 2005 22:56:48 GMT Organization: Ciliophora Associates, Inc. Reply-To: clarke@cilia.org On 2005-09-10, Jim Burks wrote: > Panarat Thepgumpanat wrote in message > news:telecom24.408.2@telecom-digest.org: >> By Panarat Thepgumpanat >> Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access >> to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by >> rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger >> sensitive sites. > Google should do the same as they do for the US. Currently, they > block the roof of the White House, and buildings around it. View > 1600 Pennsylvania and see. As you zoom in, at a certain magnification, > the roofs are whited out. > Either respect the wishes of those countries and 'mask' their sensitive > sites, or don't mask ours. You can buy 2m resolution imagry from Russian satellite distributors. As I recall, a Canadian newspaper got into hot water during the cold war for printing images of a secret military base in Canada ... that they bought from the Russians. My old Laserdisk of satellite images had a small section of a commercial "SeaSat". Turns out that the commercial (non military) satellite showed up nuclear submarine tracks quite nicely. The satellite suddenly went dark and has not been replaced. It's all bullshit. Anyone who wants these images can get them with very little difficulty. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security Date: 10 Sep 2005 22:59:03 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Jim Burks wrote: > Panarat Thepgumpanat wrote in message > news:telecom24.408.2@telecom-digest.org: >> By Panarat Thepgumpanat >> Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access >> to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by >> rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger >> sensitive sites. > Google should do the same as they do for the US. Currently, they > block the roof of the White House, and buildings around it. View > 1600 Pennsylvania and see. As you zoom in, at a certain magnification, > the roofs are whited out. I don't know what you're looking at, but Google Earth shows complete detail of the White House down to the max resolution, which is much higher resolution than the satellite imagery on maps.google.com. Same with the Pentagon. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 23:14:06 -0400 In article , jbburks@hotmail.com says: > Panarat Thepgumpanat wrote in message > news:telecom24.408.2@telecom-digest.org: >> By Panarat Thepgumpanat >> Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access >> to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by >> rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger >> sensitive sites. > Google should do the same as they do for the US. Currently, they > block the roof of the White House, and buildings around it. View > 1600 Pennsylvania and see. As you zoom in, at a certain magnification, > the roofs are whited out. > Either respect the wishes of those countries and 'mask' their sensitive > sites, or don't mask ours. > Jim Burks > Collierville, TN If the sites are so sensitive, let them use camouflage. All the Google masking does is highlight "sensitive" sites even more, like: N38.92138 W77.06686 or: N37.275000, W115.791667 while at the same time, they don't even bother with: N38.74080 W104.83317 --Gene ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #414 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 12 14:19:52 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id A7CDF1502E; Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:19:51 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #415 Message-Id: <20050912181951.A7CDF1502E@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:19:51 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,BAYES_00, INFO_TLD autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:20:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 415 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson eBay to Acquire Skype (Monty Solomon) eBay to Purchase Skype (Eric Auchard) Cellular-News for Monday 12th September 2005 (cellular-news) Review: 'Prison Break' TV Show (Lisa Hancock4) Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune in to Seattle Metro's New WiFi (C.Cryderman) Re: Katrina Aftermath (Joseph) EBay Buys Skype for $2.6 Billion (USTelecom dailyLead) Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security (Joseph) Re: Interesting Cellphone and Mastercard Tidbit (Joseph) Re: Interesting Cellphone and Mastercard Tidbit (No Spam) Re: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (Lisa Hancock) Re: Verizon Complaints About EVDO; Angry About Junxion Box (J. Shelton) Re: Verizon Complaints About EVDO; Angry About Junxion Box (Joseph) 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, 12 Sep 2005 07:50:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: eBay to Acquire Skype eBay to Acquire Skype - Sep 12, 2005 06:00 AM (BusinessWire) LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 12, 2005--eBay Inc. www.ebay.com has agreed to acquire Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA, the global Internet communications company, for approximately $2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock, plus potential performance-based consideration. The acquisition will strengthen eBay's global marketplace and payments platform, while opening several new lines of business and creating significant new monetization opportunities for the company. The deal also represents a major opportunity for Skype to advance its leadership in Internet voice communications and offer people worldwide new ways to communicate in a global online era. Skype, eBay and PayPal will create an unparalleled ecommerce and communications engine for buyers and sellers around the world. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51709287 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This summary arrived from Monty about the time that the full story came over the Reuters wire system, so I am going to present it next. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Eric Auchard Subject: EBay to Purchase Skype Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 07:21:47 -0500 By Eric Auchard EBay Inc. has agreed to buy the fast-growing Internet start-up Skype in a move to add free Web telephone calls to its online auctions and fuel growth, the companies confirmed on Monday. EBay said it plans to pay $1.3 billion in cash and $1.3 billion in stock for the Web communications company. It would make a further payout of up to $1.5 billion by 2008 or 2009 if financial targets are met, giving the deal a total value of up to $4.1 billion, executives of the two companies said. EBay is renowned for an Internet business model linking millions of buyers and sellers, but its core U.S. market is maturing, slowing to annual growth of between 20 percent and 30 percent a year, compared with 50 percent international growth. Skype, which said it expects revenue of $60 million this year and more than $200 million in 2006, has raced to the lead in the booming voice-over-Internet (VOIP) market, which is being aggressively targeted by online powerhouses like Yahoo, Google and Microsoft. In just two years, Skype has attracted 54 million members to its free Internet-based voice service and is on pace to roughly double in size within a year. Skype, whose software allows consumers to make free or low-cost phone calls anywhere in the world via the Internet, would be the biggest acquisition so far for 10-year-old eBay. "We are really buying a new business," eBay Chief Financial Officer Rajiv Dutta said in a phone interview. He drew parallels to eBay's expansion into online payments with its $1.5 billion acquisition in 2002 of PayPal, which drew initial criticism as a bid to compete in the banking business but thrust eBay into the lead of the online-payment market. CORE BUSINESS "Is eBay diverting from its core business?" Dutta asked of Skype. "Nothing could be further from the truth." PayPal is on track for $1 billion in sales in 2005, Dutta noted. "We see the same kind of opportunity here with Skype." Luxembourg-based Skype offers a free service when users make computer-to-computer calls to other Skype users. Charges apply when Skype users make calls to regular phone numbers. But in a move to strengthen the bonds between eBay buyers and sellers, the company will also encourage eBay merchant sites to use Skype software to allow customers with last-minute sales questions to click to talk to a customer service agent. Executives of the two companies justified the combination by saying that the power of so-called "click-to-call" services to convert shoppers into buyers represents a far more lucrative form of selling proposition than advertising can. Skype also plans to add video calling and other features to its software. "Once we integrate communications into e-commerce, we think that (Skype) is going to remove considerable friction" from the buying and selling process, Dutta said. Nearly half Skype's users live in Europe, a quarter are in Asia and an eighth are in North America, providing eBay with a large immediate audience as it seeks to expand outside of its core North America market where rapid growth is stabilizing. The deal is expected to complete in the fourth quarter. Skype expects to generate $60 million in revenue this year and more than $200 million during 2006, Skype's Chief Operating Officer Michael Jackson said in a joint interview with Dutta. The company has yet to post a profit, he said, adding that business users account for 25 percent of Skype's audience. The acquisition will cut eBay's earnings by a penny per share in each quarter until the end of 2006 before it begins to positively contribute to eBay's profitability, Dutta said. VALUE CREATION EBay must convince analysts and investors that the deal is necessary to stoke new streams of revenue growth and is worth the multibillion-dollar price paid. "We have some very high goals ... related to active users, gross profits and revenue," Dutta said. "(The goals) would translate into very significant value creation for eBay," he added, though he declined to spell out the targets. While allowing potential benefits from providing communications services between buyers and sellers, particularly in China, Goldman Sachs analyst Anthony Noto said in a note to clients on Friday that a licensing partnership could accomplish this without requiring eBay buy Skype. "We struggle to see enough of a benefit to the marketplace from offering this service to get a sufficient return on a potential multibillion-dollar price tag," Noto wrote. As of October 2004, Skype had raised $24 million from several private equity firms including Mangrove Capital Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Bessemer Venture Partners and Index Ventures. "It may be that all the pieces add up for eBay into a new line of business," Kelsey Group analyst Greg Sterling said in an interview before the merger was confirmed. "It really seems like a big departure for eBay." (Additional reporting by Adam Pasick and Kirstin Ridley in London). Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more headline news stories, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Monday 12th September 2005 Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 07:43:05 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - www.cellular-news.com Digicel Cleared for Cingular Takeover Digicel Group has announced that the Government of St. Lucia has approved the acquisition by Digicel of the Cingular Wireless? operation on the island. This is another significant milestone for Digicel in compl... Benefon Developing a GSM Watch Finland's Benefon has signed an agreement to acquire the product designs of a GSM watch currently owned by Satelinx Inc. Benefon will be testing the capability of the GPS/GSM/GPRS watch in relation to its own c... Japan's Mobile Handset Manufacturers Face Difficult Times Fitch Ratings has issued a report which says that despite recent positive trends in the domestic mobile handset market, reflected by the almost 35% increase in 3G mobile handsets, the long-term prognosis for Ja... Sagem Expands Chinese Cellphone Venture France's Sagem has signed an MoU with China's Ningbo BIRD to extend their existing handset partnership. Sagem Communication and Ningbo BIRD begun their collaboration back in 1999 through the sales in China by N... Hurricane Katrina Impacts Semiconductor Wafer Supply Hurricane Katrina has caused the shutdown of a New Orleans facility owned by Air Products and Chemicals Inc. that produces hydrogen used in the manufacturing of silicon wafers, a development that could impact g... India's Telephone Density Passes 10% India's telecoms penetration rate has passed the 10% mark, reports the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. As per a compilation done by TRAI based on latest reports from operators/ association, the subscribe... Blocking SMS Spam Jinny Software has launched SMS and MMS spam blocker for operators. The Jinny Spam Control Centre offers SPAM filtering to reduce the occurrence of message spamming and helps maintain the required reputation of... Siemens Wins 3G Contract in Latvia Latvia's major telecommunications provider, Tele2 has contracted with Siemens to expand its GSM network and build a complete 3G/W-CDMA network infrastructure. The contract includes the expansion of the radio an... Human Brain Inspires Memory for Cellphones Mobile phones could one day have the memory capacity of a desktop computer thanks to a microchip that mimics the functioning of the brain, scientists report in the journal, Science. Researchers from Imperial Co... International Roaming With Somalia Somalia's Somafone has deployed international roaming and SMS capabilities from Tecore Wireless Systems. As the political situation in Somalia continues to stabilize with the establishment of a new government, ... Limited Wireless Calls Going Through In New Orleans http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14019.php Cellular phone coverage is steadily improving in New Orleans, but submerged areas, restricted areas and safety concerns still complicate repairs. ... Ericsson To Upgrade Network For Malaysian Operator Maxis http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14020.php Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) Friday said it has received a contract to expand and upgrade the network of Malaysian operator Maxis Communications BHD (5051.KU). ... Japan's Access To Buy U.S. PalmSource http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14021.php Access Co. a Japanese information equipment software developer, said Friday it will buy PalmSource Inc. (PSRC) in a Y35.8 billion bid to expand its mobile device software line. ... Vodafone Seeks Options For Swedish 3G Network Build http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14022.php Vodafone Group PLC's (VOD) struggling Swedish unit is exploring many possible alternatives for achieving the required coverage for its third-generation mobile telecom network, the unit's president told Dow Jones Newswire... Motorola Buys Mitsubishi Electric Research Center http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14023.php Motorola Inc. (MOT) bought a research center in Rennes, France, and a European i-mode design team from Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (6503.TO) unit Melco Mobile Communication Europe. ... ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Review: 'Prison Break' TV Show Date: 12 Sep 2005 10:20:39 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com A telecom inaccuracy in this show: 1) He uses a payphone in the prison yard and you hear the coin drop at the end of the call. 2) He uses a quarter from his pocket to unscrew something. Prison inmates are never allowed to have any money; money in prison leads to problems. He would not have a quarter to begin with and the payphone wouldn't take coins. Secondly, the inmate's phone would be in a secured area since only authorized inmates could make calls on it. Third, screws, nuts, and bolts in prisons are all specialized hardware to prevent exactly what he was trying to do. You need special tools with odd shapes to do anything. Furniture is often plastic one piece to prevent what he was trying to do as well as for safety (throwing it on top of someone). He would not have been able to remove the bolt from the bench, nor use the bolt to remove the toilet wall. Cell searches are far more through that what was shown--they go through anything and everything to check for contraband drugs, hooch, and shivs and shanks. Shivs and shanks are a major problem. The Discovery Channel and MSNBC has some good documentaries on prison life, the inmates, and the corrections officers. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune in to Seattle Metro's New WiFi Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 11:34:52 -0400 From: Charles Cryderman John Shelton stated: > I am an unpaid mouthpiece for free enterprise. I am currently on > long-term medical leave from a NON telecom company. I guess I was being a little harsh in calling you a 'mouthpiece' and do hope your health gets better. > It is wrong for SBC to achieve monopoly via political maneuvering, > and it is wrong for the local government to build a tax-subsidized > monopoly. The only fair thing to do is let all interested parties > offer service. If no one finds it economical to do so, that > doesn't imply a government mandate. It might be nice if we all > had original 17th century oil paintings in our houses, but "nice" > doesn't cut it. One thing I didn't say in my first post, they (the county government) is building the wireless network but the plan is to have it open to anyone that wishes to access it with consumers choosing who provides the internet portal. The County isn't going to do anything more then run the network. Consumers still have to work with a ISP for content. As I said before if SBC or Comcrap would do it I'd go that route, I also believe in "free enterprise" but seeing as they are spending money to stop the county yet not spending s dime on providing it themselves I think they are wrong. Chip Cryderman ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Katrina Aftermath Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:50:08 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Sat, 10 Sep 2005 17:41:28 -0500, Stephanie N. Mehta wrote: > Now, some regulators and consumers are asking a simple question: How > can we build a better phone network-one that withstands the rigors of > disasters such as Hurricane Katrina or the attacks of September 11? Well, to make a network 100% capable of never having any disruptions would likely mean that a company would have to dedicate a 100% one-to-one connection for each line that they service. Of course to do that the companies would have to raise their rates at least 100% if not more to finance all the extra equipment necessary to accomplish this. Networks are engineered for not 100% use of every line all at once. Too many people taking their phones off the hook and talking to another person will tie up a circuit. That scenario times however many people have service will of course make a busy condition on circuits and equipment. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 12:59:38 EDT From: "USTelecom dailyLead " Subject: EBay Buys Skype for $2.6 Billion USTelecom dailyLead September 12, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24527&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * EBay buys Skype for $2.6 billion BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Analysis: Vonage must go public soon * Assessing wireless TV's prospects * Q-and-A: Yahoo! design guru Larry Tesler * Oracle buys Siebel USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * In USTA's Telecom Bookstore: "Softswitch Architecture for VoIP" HOT TOPICS * Report sees global IPTV boom * Storm puts telecoms to the test * Texas alters franchise law, opens way for telco TV * J.D. Power reports wireless customer satisfaction ratings * Satellite phones come through in a pinch EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Katrina boosts online TV * Nonprofit offers unique VoIP/Wi-Fi solution in Uganda REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Carriers give discounts, free services to Katrina victims Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24527&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: Joseph Subject: Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 10:01:08 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 10 Sep 2005 22:56:48 GMT, Ed Clarke wrote: > It's all bullshit. Anyone who wants these images can get them with very > little difficulty. Of course it is. Just as in several mobile forums people argue when someone asks where mobile towers are the answer often given is that "it's proprietary" when a simple search on Google or other search engine provides you with the answer very easily. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Interesting Cellphone and Mastercard Tidbit Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 10:03:29 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Sun, 11 Sep 2005 02:18:04 GMT, tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) wrote: > I updated my Mastercard records with my new "home" phone back when I > got rid of the land line, but apparently the system they have for > activating credit cards can't deal with cell phone numbers (the human > I eventually got to talk to told me they are woking on it). > I know my phone generates valid caller ID, since I've seen it show up > on the phones of people I called. I also know FPL's power outage > automated system can recognize me when I call and correlate my > cellphone to my home address to tell me about the state of any power > outage, so I gotta wonder what the difficulty is at Mastercard. -- It's likely that they're using ANI which may show the number your cellphone is using to outdial rather than your actual number. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:10:57 -0400 From: No Spam Subject: Re: Interesting Cellphone and Mastercard Tidbit tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) wrote on Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 02:18:04 GMT: > I just tried to activate my updated credit card with the new > expiration date for the first time since abandoning my land line and > going strictly cellphone. > I updated my Mastercard records with my new "home" phone back when I > got rid of the land line, but apparently the system they have for > activating credit cards can't deal with cell phone numbers (the human > I eventually got to talk to told me they are woking on it). > I know my phone generates valid caller ID, since I've seen it show up > on the phones of people I called. I also know FPL's power outage > automated system can recognize me when I call and correlate my > cellphone to my home address to tell me about the state of any power > outage, so I gotta wonder what the difficulty is at Mastercard. -- Classic misunderstanding/misconfiguration between ANI and CPN. Toll-free numbers get 'ANI' from the carrier, which is a billing number, not necessarily a calling party number. Many carriers have been substituting CPN in place of ANI when they deliver ANI streams for 8xx calls, but it varies. There is also a dependency on how the cell provider is configured -- in this day and age it would be possible for them to send the cellular number as both ANI and CPN, if they are so configured and their interconnect agreements with other carriers allow. Joshua My opinions are my own and not necessarily those of my employer, but sometimes we agree. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy Date: 12 Sep 2005 10:12:52 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info wrote: > Danny Burstein wrote: >> In Wesrock@aol.com writes: >> Bit by bit the 75 message unit allowace got cut down, so nowadays >> there's nothing there there. On the slight plus side back in the >> 1970s the "local area" for untimed calls expanded to the entire >> city. > Also cut out is the discount for LOCAL calls made in evening and night > altho Verizon kept itemizing how many were made eve and night. IIRC, more distant Message Unit calls in NYC were timed. Immediate local calls were untimed, but more distant calls had a charge, such as one unit for every two minutes and the even further calls one unit for every minute. There was a complex chart in the phone book that explained it all. Philadelphia used and continues to use a similar system to this day. It's called "measured service now" but the principles are the same--an non-itemized aggregate of cost for intermediate local calls in the "Metropolitan Calling Area". In contrast to the above, in more recent years discounts are given for night/weekend calls, in the past there were no discounts for offpeak calling. Also, in more recent years boundaries were liberalized and basically the charges declined. Based on the Bell System history, many big cities had measured service. Adding meters to each line for panel switching did not seem to be a big deal; indeed, I think it was part of the plan. I don't think adding meters to SxS was that hard either as it was done in the 1940s for Los Angeles. Note that cities had fairly large calling areas and the opportunity to reach literally millions of people on a local call. In contrast, small towns had a much smaller calling area before going toll and far fewer people to reach. So you in a small town could call your next door neigbhor for free, but your cousin in the next town was a toll call. For example, the regional high school serving my area covers a fairly large geographic area. End to end is a toll call, in the middle are message unit calls, and local calls within narrow spots. You can see the contrast in calling options and fees for a kid in a city high school (measured, but cheap) and a suburban kid (either free or toll). Remember too the Brady Bunch episode discussed here where too many calls were being made and the parents clamped down on the kids. Obviously they had measured service. (In a modern house with six kids with three adults. Hmm, yeah right. Geez, even in those days families like that were putting in second lines for the kids to use; the phoneco even had combo packages.) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 06:40:53 -0700 From: John L. Shelton Subject: Re: Verizon Complaints About EVDO; Angry About Junxion Box > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am not that familiar at all with > 'Evdo'; are any Digest readers (possibly also Verizon customers) > able to explain it and talk about it here? PAT] EVDO is just another cellular data technology. The technology is irrelevant to the argument. The moral issue is: whether an "unlimited" service sold to an individual can be shared with others. Past history suggests "no." We don't share our unlimited local phone lines with the neighborhood, nor our cable TV. We don't rent one trash pickup in the nbhd and tell everyone to bring their trash on over to one house for pickup. We don't jam everyone possible into a car at the drive-in theatre in an effort to avoid paying for extra cars. In places with unmetered water (like NYC), we don't extend hoses to our neighbors so they don't have to pay for a basic water hookup. It is common that unmeasured services are for the benefit of the subscriber alone. It's more than common and moral; these concepts have been tested in court, though perhaps not with EVDO. Let's hope, for the benefit of most subscribers, that the networks prevail in this issue. Far better to have millions of people paying a reasonable fee for service than just a handful of "suckers" paying vastly higher rates so the rest of the community gets service for free. John john@jshelton.com ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Verizon Complaints About EVDO; Angry About Junxion Box Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:57:06 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Sat, 10 Sep 2005 17:48:05 -0500, Patrick Townson wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am not that familiar at all with > 'Evdo'; are any Digest readers (possibly also Verizon customers) > able to explain it and talk about it here? PAT] Evolution Data Only or Evolution Data Optimized, often abbreviated as EVDO, EV-DO, EvDO, 1xEV-DO or 1xEvDO is a wireless radio broadband data protocol being adopted by many CDMA mobile phone providers in Brazil, Japan, Korea, Israel, the United States, Australia and Canada as part of the cdma2000 standard. 1xEVDO is pronounced "One Ex-E:- Vee-Dee-Oh." It is commonly referred in the industry as DO (Dee-Oh). Compared to 1xRTT networks currently being used by operators, or the GPRS and EDGE networks employed by their GSM competitors, 1xEV-DO is significantly faster, providing access terminals with download speeds of up to 2.4 Mbit/s. Only terminals with 1xEV-DO chipsets can take advantage of the higher speeds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evdo [Google is a very helpful thing at times!] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #415 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 12 19:04:45 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 7D69F15013; Mon, 12 Sep 2005 19:04:44 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #416 Message-Id: <20050912230444.7D69F15013@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 19:04:44 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,BAYES_00, INFO_TLD autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 12 Sep 2005 19:05:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 416 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Two Singapore Bloggers Charged for Racist Remarks (Reuters News Wire) cNN/Time Web Sites Merging (Reuters News Wire) eBay to Buy Skype in $2.6 Billion Deal (Joseph) Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO (Danny Burstein) Re: Arizona Budget POTS Plans (Lisa Hancock) Re: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (Tony P.) Help Needed Once Again (Patrick 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: Reuters News Wire Subject: Two Singapore Bloggers Charged For Racist Remarks Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:14:34 -0500 Two men were charged in a Singapore court on Monday with violating the city-state's sedition laws by posting anti-Muslim comments on their Internet homepages, police said. The two ethnic Chinese men, aged 25 and 27, face charges for promoting ill-will and hostility between ethnic communities on their personal websites, or "blogs," in June. The police said both men were accused of posting racist remarks aimed at Singapore's mostly-Muslim ethnic Malay community. If convicted, they may be jailed for up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or both. Singapore has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the world, but also some of the toughest media laws. Singapore police have wide powers to intercept online messages, and Internet service providers are required to block websites containing material that may be a threat to public security, national defense, racial and religious harmony and public morality. Political and religious websites must also be registered with the authorities. The government has defended these controls as necessary to maintain ethnic harmony among its 4.2 million people. About three-quarters of Singapore's population is ethnic Chinese. Ethnic Malays account for 14 percent and ethnic Indians for another eight percent. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To read NY Times, Christian Science Monitor and hear National Public Radio headlines/news reports, go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: CNN and Time Web Sites to Merge Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:14:59 -0500 CNN, Time Inc. to merge business Web sites Cable news network CNN and magazine publisher Time Inc. plan to consolidate their business and finance-related Web sites divisions, which will be relaunched in January 2006. The new site brings together Time Inc.'s Fortune.com, FSB.com and Business2.com with CNN's CNNMoney.com. It will retain the CNNMoney.com name. CNN and Time Inc. are divisions of global media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: eBay to Buy Skype in $2.6 Billion Deal (USA Today version) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 11:25:42 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com By Mattias Karen, Associated Press Writer STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Online auctioneer eBay (EBAY) said Monday that it will acquire Internet communications company Skype Technologies for about $2.6 billion in cash and eBay stock. EBay CEO Meg Whitman, left, poses with Niklas Zennstrom of Skype. EBay owns PayPal. The total value of the deal may climb to $4.1 billion based on whether Skype meets a series of performance targets over the next three years, eBay said. The additional payments of $1.5 billion would be made in 2008 or 2009. Ebay said the acquisition of privately held Skype will create "an unparalleled e-commerce and communications engine" for Internet users worldwide. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-09-12-ebay-skype_x.htm ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 20:00:04 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In John L. Shelton writes: [ snip ] > The moral issue is: whether an "unlimited" service sold to an > individual can be shared with others. Past history suggests "no." We > don't share our unlimited local phone lines with the neighborhood, nor > our cable TV. We don't rent one trash pickup in the nbhd and tell > everyone to bring their trash on over to one house for pickup. We > don't jam everyone possible into a car at the drive-in theatre in an > effort to avoid paying for extra cars. In places with unmetered water > (like NYC), we don't extend hoses to our neighbors so they don't have > to pay for a basic water hookup. Minor correction and update: NYC _used_ to have a kind-of flat rate service [a] for residential water users. You paid a fee based on your frontage (size of your property) _and_ the number of faucets per the plans on file with the building department. [a] kind of like the kind-of flat rates for phone service, I guess... Beginning about two decades ago all new residential hookups were metered, and bit by bit all the older ones have been switched over as well. As a bit of a side trivia, NYC customers actually pay roughly _twice_ the metered rate since there's a corresponding sewer fee. There's a small group of homeowners who have their own septic tanks and are exempt from that -- if they know to apply ... _____________________________________________________ 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: Do you mean to tell me septic tanks are allowed in New York City? Here in Independence, KS, _everyone_ has to be hooked to the sewer, with no exceptions. Outside the city limits (that area which is known as 'rural Independence') is a different matter. Most of them are _not_ hooked to the sewer, but they are hooked to the water, and many of them complain about the cost of 'rural water' which is much more expensive than 'city water'. I cannot believe there are places and communities so backward that septic tanks are allowed, except by default in small rural areas. But NYC? Not even in Chicago do you see that any longer. The water meter-reader comes around once per month to read ours (they have to lift a cover off of the hole in the ground where the water meter is located; usually it is typically in the front yard (most are actually in the parkway; the grassy area between the sidewalk and the street). Based on that reading, the bills are sent out by the Water Department. But the trick comes in the factors they use to calculate the bill. Our bills are about three times the water amount. The water consumption is only a small part of the bill; most of the bill comes from the sewer, and the sanitation workers. Garbage collectors come around twice each week (Monday and Thursday in my case; other neighborhoods are Tuesday/Friday or Wednesday/Saturday). They empty the garbage cans and are supposed to sweep the alleys and sidewalks. My monthly bill for water/sewer/sanitation is about $35 per month. And once or twice a year I get a mailing telling me how the Filtration Plant calculates what the water charges will be, and the chemicals used to clean the water, etc, and how much the charge will be for 'rural' (out of city limits) users. They say because I am a senior citizen and a 'hardship case' I get the water at a cheaper rate; but the sewer and sanitation parts of the bill are constant. If I were not a senior and/or hardship case my bill would be about $38 or $39 per month. But septic tanks ... my God! My grandparents, when they lived in Coffeyville in the 1950's had one of those, but only because the area they were in had been 'rural' until it was annexed by Coffeyville sometime in the 1940's. I remember once grandpa Townson's septic tank got plugged up somehow; they had to dig up the yard and clean it out. A septic tank? ... ugh ... PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Arizona Budget POTS Plans Date: 12 Sep 2005 13:21:28 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Mike Sutter wrote: > And so, finally on to the question, does anyone know if Qwest offers a > real low cost (perhaps metered) service for POTS in the 480 area? Unfortunately today there aren't many cheap basic phone services. The cost-saving between measured use and flat rate is about $2-$3; this is the same actual dollar amount it was 30 years ago. But 35 years it was significant money -- between paying $4.65/month nad $6.65 a month. More significantly are all the extra fees every subscriber must pay regardless of their service option. There's the "FCC line charge", perhaps a 911 fee, deaf service fee, universal service fee, line portability fee, portabello mushroom fee, etc. (Ok, you get my point). Seriously, I had the barebest bones phone service you could get--measured rate party line, and they STILL had to put 2 ounces postage on the bill they sent me periodically with all the mandated junk printed on it. As mentioned, some areas have discounted service, but I believe there are income eligibility requirements to receive this. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 17:34:47 -0400 In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info wrote: >> Danny Burstein wrote: >>> In Wesrock@aol.com writes: >>> Bit by bit the 75 message unit allowance got cut down, so nowadays >>> there's nothing there there. On the slight plus side back in the >>> 1970s the "local area" for untimed calls expanded to the entire >>> city. >> Also cut out is the discount for LOCAL calls made in evening and night >> altho Verizon kept itemizing how many were made eve and night. > IIRC, more distant Message Unit calls in NYC were timed. Immediate > local calls were untimed, but more distant calls had a charge, such as > one unit for every two minutes and the even further calls one unit for > every minute. There was a complex chart in the phone book that > explained it all. > Philadelphia used and continues to use a similar system to this day. > It's called "measured service now" but the principles are the same--an > non-itemized aggregate of cost for intermediate local calls in the > "Metropolitan Calling Area". In contrast to the above, in more recent > years discounts are given for night/weekend calls, in the past there > were no discounts for offpeak calling. Also, in more recent years > boundaries were liberalized and basically the charges declined. I wonder how VoIP and unlimited local/ld is impacting measured service. Put it this way, a measured service line in RI would cost about $25 a month. For that much I use Vonage and get unlimited. > Based on the Bell System history, many big cities had measured > service. Adding meters to each line for panel switching did not seem > to be a big deal; indeed, I think it was part of the plan. I don't > think adding meters to SxS was that hard either as it was done in the > 1940s for Los Angeles. > Note that cities had fairly large calling areas and the opportunity to > reach literally millions of people on a local call. In contrast, > small towns had a much smaller calling area before going toll and far > fewer people to reach. So you in a small town could call your next > door neigbhor for free, but your cousin in the next town was a toll > call. > For example, the regional high school serving my area covers a fairly > large geographic area. End to end is a toll call, in the middle are > message unit calls, and local calls within narrow spots. You can see > the contrast in calling options and fees for a kid in a city high > school (measured, but cheap) and a suburban kid (either free or toll). > Remember too the Brady Bunch episode discussed here where too many > calls were being made and the parents clamped down on the kids. > Obviously they had measured service. (In a modern house with six kids > with three adults. Hmm, yeah right. Geez, even in those days > families like that were putting in second lines for the kids to use; > the phoneco even had combo packages.) I've never had a measured service line. Just wasn't worth it to me, particularly in the early 80's doing BBS testing where you might make 12 calls a day. ------------------------------ From: Patrick Townson Subject: Help Needed Once Again Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 17:00:00 CDT About one year ago, my laptop computer finally bit the dust; the one I had around for however long. I asked here, and a couple of the readers graciously found older, used computers with Win 95 on them and sent them to my rescue. Now that very same problem has arisen once again. Another very old computer (all mine are quite ancient, the same as me personally) has given up: A very old (circa 1996) Toshiba laptop which served me faithfully for many years has decided to quit working. Until I can get it replaced/repaired (which is quite unlikely because of its age) I have to limp along with what I have. Can any of my generous readers find their way clear to send me another old computer they no longer use nor want? I will be most appreciative. PAT ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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 #416 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Sep 13 13:59:25 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 6125914F13; Tue, 13 Sep 2005 13:59:25 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #417 Message-Id: <20050913175925.6125914F13@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 13:59:25 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.7 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,BAYES_00, DISGUISE_PORN autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:00:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 417 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Wireless TV a Hot Topic at Broadcaster Confab (US Telecom Daily Lead) How a Telephone Works (eagle_speaks@yahoo.co.uk) ITU-T International Accounting Rates (roksana@smoore.me.uk) Cellular-News for Tuesday 13th September 2005 (Cellular-News) Re: Flat Rate Water (jared) Re: Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO (John Levine) Re: Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO (Robert Bonomi) Re: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (Lisa Hancock) My First Internet Access in Two Weeks (Mark J. Cuccia) Delay in Reaching Operator; 762 and 424 NPAs (Mark J. Cuccia) Back in the Cord-Board Days (Re: Delay in Reaching Operator) (M Cuccia) BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras Sts (Mark Cuccia) 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, 13 Sep 2005 13:33:54 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Wireless TV a Hot Topic at Broadcaster Confab USTelecom dailyLead September 13, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24561&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Wireless TV a hot topic at broadcaster confab BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Nokia to broaden mobile corporate e-mail system * Icahn promises proxy fight in battle with Time Warner * Free Internet calls bring more competition to voice market * China Netcom snaps up provincial networks * Analysis: Cable may target wireless market USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Think TELECOM '05 is not for you? Think Again. EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Success of "wallet phones" not guaranteed outside Japan, Korea * Pannaway launches new version of BAM REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * FCC head pushes telcos' mergers Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24561&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: eagle_speaks@yahoo.co.uk Subject: How a Telephone Works Date: 13 Sep 2005 07:09:02 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Though I am in the telecommunications field ( software side) I am a bit confused about how everything works, though I have a high level overview. So I am stating my undestanding, so that someone can correct or fill up the gaps. 1. Each home suscriber has a twisted copper pair that runs from his telephone to a cable containg thousands (why no multiplexing here and send it through a single wire??) thousands of such pairs; to the local excahnge or the central office. 2. In the central office there is a hardware equipment (LTG ??) which has a lot of ports, to one of which the copper pair that runs from the suscribers telephone is plugged in. (I hope I am correct here.) 3. The central office is connected to the tandem office via trunks which I hope are a thick co-axial cable or optical fiber through which multiplexed traffic from various CO flows. Also there is a seperate cable for SS7 siganlling, connecting various CO to TO . There is also a switch at the tandem office. 4. Now if a suscriber dials a number, the DTMF tones are resceived at the CO which has a directory (databse ???) look up. It finds that this number is at antother exchange and sends a SS7 signal to that . From there how is the trunk reserved ???? 5. Also how is the incoming call from a modem and telephone distinguished at the CO. Or does the modem also dial DTMF signals??? I hope someone can answer my questions. ------------------------------ From: roksana@smoore.me.uk Subject: ITU-T International Accounting Rates Date: 12 Sep 2005 16:20:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I was wondering if anybody had any knowledge on the current state of play regarding the ITU and International Accounting Rates. I wanted to know what has been done to address the problem with particular reference to D.140 Annex E or Annex F. The data on the ITU website is quite old in this area and searches elsewhere have returned little useful information. Thanks in advance for any help, Roksana. ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Tuesday 13th September 2005 Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:38:19 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News http://www.cellular-news.com Cheaper Calling Between African Nations http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14039.php Celtel, which operates several GSM networks across Africa has announced a pan-African calling tariff for their customers. It was announced that the new tariffs are exclusively for Celtel customers calling other Celtel su... 3 UK Opens the Door to Wireless Internet Use http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14040.php Hutchison 3G is finally going to unlock their wireless internet garden wall and let their customers access a wider range of wap and web sites on their 3G handsets. Until now, 3 has blocked access to the vast majority of ... Brits can send PrePay Credits to Nigerian Phones http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14041.php MTN Nigeria has begun the sale of its PrePay top-up cards in the UK. This unique initiative by MTN allows Nigerians living in the United Kingdom, to buy airtime and send to their relatives and friends in Nigeria, while M... Vodafone Orders Ringback Tones for Greece http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14042.php NMS Communications and LogicaCMG have announced yet another joint ringback commercial launch, as Vodafone Greece launched ringback tones. Vodafone Greece's ringback tone service is based on NMS's MyCaller personalized mo... Bango Enables PayPal Billing on Mobile Phones http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14043.php The mobile billing provider, Bango has announced that it now provides mobile phone users with the ability to pay for mobile content using their PayPal accounts. With this agreement, mobile phone users can approve purchas... USA Wireless Calling Surpasses Wireline Calling http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14044.php Yankee Group has revealed that wireless substitution thrives, substantially displacing wireline services and leaving fixed-mobile convergence far behind in an embryonic state of development. According to Yankee Group's w... Deutsche Telekom To Sell 10% MTS Stake On Russian Market http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14034.php German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) Monday said it will sell its stake of about 10% in Russian firm OJSC Mobile TeleSystems, or MTS, in an accelerated book-building process. ... eBay To Buy Skype For $2.6 Billion In Cash, Stock http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14035.php Seeking to enhance its core e-commerce business while venturing into a fast-growing segment of the communications field, eBay Inc. (EBAY) said Monday it will acquire Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA (SKYPE.YY). ... Vodafone Group Launches High Speed Data Product http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14036.php Vodafone Group PLC said Monday that it has launched 3G/UMTS Router, a new product that provides high speed mobile data connectivity for teams working on the move, together with Linksys and Cisco Systems. ... TDC To Launch Business 3G Service In Denmark October 3 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14037.php TDC AS (TLD), Denmark's leading telecom operator, Monday said it would launch service on its third-generation mobile network for business customers Oct. 3. ... Wind Reassures Market On Financing, Eyes IPO http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14038.php The new owner of Italian telecoms operator Wind SpA (WIF.YY) Monday reassured the market about the company's financing and said management backed its new strategy, including expansion in Italy and Europe and an initial p... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:05:33 -0600 From: jared@netspacenospamnet.au (jared) Subject: Re: Flat Rate Water Recently my water bill had an ad for a water monitor. Apparently the meters are read remotely by unit in a vehicle going down the street. For a modest charge I have a device about the size of two packs of cigs, press a button and it polls the meter using an RF link. Fun to see how much water a load of wash takes or what is the rate of use to water the garden. The council subsidises the price as it can be used to motivate water conservation. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The water meter-reader comes around > once per month to read ours (they have to lift a cover off of the > hole in the ground where the water meter is located; usually it is > typically in the front yard (most are actually in the parkway; the > grassy area between the sidewalk and the street). ------------------------------ Date: 13 Sep 2005 04:23:40 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > As a bit of a side trivia, NYC customers actually pay roughly > _twice_ the metered rate since there's a corresponding sewer > fee. There's a small group of homeowners who have their own septic > tanks and are exempt from that -- if they know to apply ... Septic tanks in NYC? Yuck, unless perhaps they're in the nether parts of Staten Island. Actually, I'm surprised that they're exempt from the sewer fee. Around here upstate, any property close enough to a sewer line to hook up pays the sewer fee whether they hook up or not, on the theory that there's a public benefit to getting everyone's poo out of the groundwater. We don't have any people with wells and sewer service, but some of the other villages nearby do, and they have meters on their own wells to compute their sewer rate. R's, John ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 13:38:43 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , Danny Burstein wrote: > In John L. Shelton > writes: >> The moral issue is: whether an "unlimited" service sold to an >> individual can be shared with others. Past history suggests "no." We >> don't share our unlimited local phone lines with the neighborhood, nor >> our cable TV. We don't rent one trash pickup in the nbhd and tell >> everyone to bring their trash on over to one house for pickup. We >> don't jam everyone possible into a car at the drive-in theatre in an >> effort to avoid paying for extra cars. In places with unmetered water >> (like NYC), we don't extend hoses to our neighbors so they don't have >> to pay for a basic water hookup. > Minor correction and update: > NYC _used_ to have a kind-of flat rate service [a] > for residential water users. You paid a fee based > on your frontage (size of your property) _and_ > the number of faucets per the plans on file > with the building department. > [a] kind of like the kind-of flat > rates for phone service, I guess... > Beginning about two decades ago all new residential hookups were > metered, and bit by bit all the older ones have been switched over as > well. > As a bit of a side trivia, NYC customers actually pay roughly _twice_ > the metered rate since there's a corresponding sewer fee. There's a > small group of homeowners who have their own septic tanks and are > exempt from that -- if they know to apply ... > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you mean to tell me septic tanks are > allowed in New York City? Here in Independence, KS, _everyone_ has to > be hooked to the sewer, with no exceptions. Outside the city limits > (that area which is known as 'rural Independence') is a different > matter. Most of them are _not_ hooked to the sewer, but they are > hooked to the water, and many of them complain about the cost of > 'rural water' which is much more expensive than 'city water'. I cannot > believe there are places and communities so backward that septic tanks > are allowed, except by default in small rural areas. But NYC? Not even > in Chicago do you see that any longer. Don't bet money on that! There are houses on well and septic tank within 1/2 mile of Golf Mill shopping center. Properties selling in the $150-200K price-range. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Okay, I won't bet any money on that. Actually, I want to thank you for giving me _yet another reason_ why I would not want to any longer live in the Chicago area. A two hundred thousand dollar home with inadequate plumbing arrangements is really sad. I guess they can get that much money for those houses since 'everyone knows' that life in a big city is such a wonderful, great thing. After all, why would anyone want to live in a small rural community when you could instead have a bunch of corrupted politicians in charge of things, a high crime rate, etc. Not only could I _not_ afford to live in a two hundred thousand dollar home, nor even rent a tiny room in such, I certainly would not want to be where someone like the inerrant Mayor Daley was always breathing on me. I can only hope the dorks there were smart enough to figure out to draw their drinking water _upstream_ from wherever they put their outhouse or septic tank. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy Date: 13 Sep 2005 06:35:33 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Tony P. wrote: > I wonder how VoIP and unlimited local/ld is impacting measured > service. Put it this way, a measured service line in RI would cost > about $25 a month. For that much I use Vonage and get unlimited. People who would want VOIP are not the same customers who would want measured service. As mentioned, inflation is the biggest deterrent to measured service. The cost differential appears to have remained the same -- $2-$3 a month saving. Back when the phone bill total was $4.65 a $2 saving was significant. Today it is not significant and its more of a marketing tool or PUC mandate. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:11:04 PDT From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: My First Internet Access in 2 weeks Thanks to all for your concern. Today (this evening), Monday 12 September 2005 is my first actual attempt at Internet access in 2 weeks. If I don't personally reply to everyone who emailed me directly, forgive me, since I have 150+ msgs in my inbox that I am working my way thru. I was "high and dry" throughout the entire storm (on Monday 29 August) and the aftermath. I also had MORE than enuff food/water/liquid, either what was stocked up, or what was delivered by police and other good samaratans. I suffered no water nor wind damage to my apartment, not even a broken window, altough some apartments had broken windows and some other miscellaneous damage. But debris is all over the place -- broken branches, leaves, shingles from the roof, etc. A pine tree did go into the roof of the apt building, but across the courtyard from me. The building is a 2-story apartment complex. I did lose utility service ... Electric power went out almost immediately, which is just about always the case with any kind of tropical storm or hurricane or just heavy rains. But as the brunt of the storm was finishing up, I noticed that I couldn't get a dialtone. This too isn't all uncommon -- I simply thought that there was just heavy traffic thru the central office. I did have "battery" and "sidetone" at the time ... i.e., I could "hear" myself talking into the telephone thru the handset, but I simply couldn't get a dialtone. I also couldn't get a signal on my Cingular telephone. Cable TV obviously went out, but I don't know when that happened, since when electricity went out, that meant the end of TV viewing. I simply listened to WWL-870 (50Kw) on a battery powered pocket radio the whole time. (not 24/7, but when I felt like listening -- I wanted to save the batteries as much as possible). I had a close to full charge on my cellphone battery, but I kept the cellphone turned off to save that battery for when I would eventually get a cellphone tower signal. The entire week and a half after the storm -- I had MORE than enough food and water ... several of us at the apartment complex who stayed had stocked up on supplies, but the police also told us that it was okay to get NECESSARY supplies from stores that had been -- "opened up". And the police and other Good Samaritan type neighbors were passing by and dropping off cases of water, juice, food (including military MREs, Meals Ready to Eat), etc. Running water stopped on the Wednesday after the storm, but we could get "flush water" from using a bucket to scoop water that was standing water in the middle of the streets just outside of the apt buildings. The main highway that runs alongside the apts was why we didn't flood. But the streets behind the building did have some standing water. And the subdivisions behind the building did flood in varying degrees. So, from Monday 29 August until Wednesday 7 September, that's mostly how things were -- just day to day living. It was mostly sunny, with some occasional rain. But either hot and humid, or later on hot but DRY. On Wednesday 7 September in the early morning hours, I began to notice a slight signal on my Cingular phone. It turns out that the cell phone carriers were putting up backup temporary cell sites. When I realized that I had a signal strong enuff to place a call, I first started calling relatives to let them know I was okay ... and also some of you who I am always in telephone/email contact with. I also realized that by Wed-7-Sept, there was a good "window of opportunity" to finally leave. I was NOT going to leave from there earlier with all of the other problems associated with New Orleans and Katrina. I had already packed up to bags or boxes of things to take with me if I was going to flee. But that is only scratching the surface of what I still have left behind. I took those things and went 1/2 mile down the highway to another major intersection where I was told the National Guard would be picking up people who wanted to be evacuated. I was taken in the back of an open miliary truck through New Orleans to the Convention Center where there was processing outside of that building. I saw firsthand how much of New Orleans metro looked either "bombed out" or flooded out. I did have a chance to see some of this earlier on a battery powered BW TV set that the lady who manages the apartments was watching. But she had to leave the apartments rather early after the storm to get some more heart medication. But the TV coverage was nothing compared to seeing it up front. The National Guard truck was trying to rescue as many people as possible to fit into the back of the truck to evacuate. The MPs outside of the convention center went thru all of our belonging to make sure that there was no contraband. We thought we might be on military busses or military helicpoters. Instead we were taken on charter "tour" busses from the convention center over to the Airport. There were two options available to us on Wednesday afternoon -- a bus to Baton Rouge LA or a plane flight out to "where ever". I first wanted to go to BR LA to get closer to relatives in Lafayette or Baton Rouge. I was using my cellular phone the entire time, noticing how the battery was beginning to run down. At the airport (located in the Kenner-Briarwood DMS-100 central office, 504-46x), I was able to get dialtone on the "super payphones" installed there (coin slot, LCD readout, card-swipe, touch-a-carrier- buttons, etc). The "super payphones" were of course, "COCOT" type phones, not Central Office Switch controlled ... but they were "GTE-AE" type housings that were fitted with these other appliques. By GTE-AE type, I mean that the coin slot and coin-return slot were on the right-hand-side, and the cord for the handset was on the left hand side of the phone itself, not the left-hand-side of the front-of-the-phone. I used the 800 type dial-ups for AT&T, and for my MCI-prepaid, to make card type calls. Later on that afternoon, we were told that there would be no more busses to Baton Rouge LA (it turns out that the Red Cross couldn't process any more evacuees in Baton Rouge), and that the only option on Wednesday evening was to fly out on the next flight out, or else spend the night at the airport until the next day to see what would be available by then. I chose to fly out. We had to be checked again, this time by TSA personnel. However, the TSA people were NOT the usual "b*tches" that we've heard about for the past 3 or 4 years. They were rather polite to us. It turns out we were flown to Columbia SC (still NPA 803). At least I was still going to be in BellSouth territory! :) Wednesday evening, we arrived, and were first initially processed by Red Cross people. We were then put into motels for the night (and next several nights). I was at a "Kinghts Inn". They have some motels in New Orleans too and have motels all over the US and Canada, but are not yet in every state or province though. I was able to charge up my cellphone batteries again, and also make card calls via 800- dialup on the Motel phone. I was NOT going to use 8+ or 9+ and then 0+ten-digits since I had absolutely no idea who the Motel PBX' Card/Operator provider would be!!! 1+ bill-to-room access was NOT available to us. But I would never use that from a motel anyways. On Thursday 8 September, we were taken in shuttle busses (chartered from the local transit company) to the Red Cross center downtown at the Univ. of SC campus in Columbia SC for further processing and orientation. While it was very bureaucratic and filled with red-tape, everyone who was there to help us was VERY courteous and polite trying to be as helpful as possible. While there were some computer terminals for us to have Internet access (if we wanted it), the lines were quite long. I felt it was better to just wait until I was in a more convenient location for using a computer to check email and web-surf. I had already planned on Greyhounding it back to Lafayette LA or Baton Rouge LA, most likely via Atlanta GA where I could have more privacy and access to my email, and more convenience to use computer terminals. I was hoping to leave Columbia SC on Greyhound, first to Atlanta, earlier (maybe on Friday or Saturday), but I needed to pick up supplies (more clothes, etc) at Wal-Mart. But I was also feeling very fatigued, tired, weak. I did eat well all along, but I was quite tired. I also don't know if I had breathed in any toxins while travelling thru New Orleans on the army truck, or if I caught any virus on the plane or in close quarter contact at the Red Cross Center. On Friday, I visited the Red Cross center again for a brief "once over" medically. They didn't draw blood or anything, but did give me a basic check-up (stethescope, blood pressure, checking/feeling glands, etc). I did need to rest-up some before continuing any further travel. But I did pick up some needed supplies at Wal-Mart on Friday and then on Saturday. All along, various charitable and church groups were bringing us clothes and food to the motels if we needed anything. I did everything to rest-up on Sat/Sun, because I was hoping to be able to get on a Greyhound bus, first for Atlanta. By Sunday afternoon, I felt up to travelling, and on Monday morning, I officially checked out of the motel (I gave the necessary personal info to the desk to give to FEMA/Red Cross people who were arranging the motel rooms), and took a cab to the Greyhound Bus station. Then I started my journey back, first stopping here in Atlanta. I plan to stay here for about a week, and then continue on Greyhound to Baton Rouge and Lafayette LA. I am staying at the house of one of our telecom-list-members who lives here in Atlanta, and am able to have convenient and private access to the Internet. I really did NOT have the time to check out the BellSouth central office in Columbia SC. I did get some street maps and a transit map of Columbia SC, but not any individual bus schedules/timetables. I did notice the electrical high-voltage transmission lines scattered throughout Columbia ... some of their lines still use "H-frame" type wooden pole structures for some 115-Kv lines. They also have quite a bit of hydro-produced power. (New Orleans uses gas or coal fired generators though). Atlanta Metro is HUGE! Which I expected it to be. I did see some of the legacy AT&T and BellSouth switching offices ... at least from the outside though! Those of you who know my cellphone number, please feel free to call me. I can charge up my batteries okay, and I also noticed that Cingular set up a new temporary voicemail platform as of Tuesday morning (13-September) in these early morning hours. I've already a new voicemail message left by one of our friends in a north-central state! Also please remember that all inbound calls to my cellphone MUST be routed via the New Orleans cingular switch (there ain't no other way to do it, since my cellphone is a New Orleaans based number, and your LD carrier is GOING to route to New Orleans) ... so you might encounter All Ccts Busy conditions, but it IS possible to route calls inbound to my cellphone ... But it will take me some time to go thru the email messages in my inbox, so I might not immediately reply to you personally if you emailed me directly. Hopefully this post will help to answer any questions you might have. BTW, it does appear that the AT&T 4ESS in New Orleans (NWORLAMA04T) is okay ... but several BellSouth local central offices in New Orleans and southeast LA (and a few in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area) have been "down" since the storm. That includes the "Seabrook" 5ESS (NWORLASKDS0) that serves my home/landline phone. It might take some time for these central offices to be back up and running again. Again, thanks for all of the interest! I hope this post answers most/all questions you might have ... Also Greyhound terminals in Atlanta GA and Columbia SC (and when I was last in Baton Rouge LA) have Nortel-Millenium "Super" payphones, with all of the whistles-and-bells that I mentioned regarding the super payphones that are at the New Orleans airport. The "branding" on the payphones at Greyhound seem to be "Sprint". Mark J. Cuccia markjcuccia at yahoo dot com Yahoo! for Good Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:16:33 PDT From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Delay in Reaching Operator; 762 and 424 NPAs Jayson Smith wrote (in Yahoo-Central Office, last week): > Hello, > On our Bellsouth lines, 411 for Directory Assistance waits a few > seconds then gives a reorder. It's been like that since at least > Monday afternoon. You'd think they could reroute DA calls somewhere > else by now. Also, dialing 0 for the operator menu gets a recording > I've never heard before. There's a set of SIT tones, then it says > "We're sorry. Due to heavy calling, the operator will be delayed in > assisting you. If your call is urgent, stay on the line, and an > operator will answer as soon as possible." This recording is > repeated twice, then rings through. Someone should probably get a > recording of this for historical preservation. I can remember back in the 1970s era (pre-divestiture, of course), that during storms, floods, etc., dialing '0' for SCBell/AT&T Operator Service (using TSPS back then), if there was heavy calling, you'd get the same type of recording. New Orleans was one of the first places to have TSPS (Traffic Service Position System) automation for Operator Servvice, back around 1970 or so. But automation for operator type services even goes back to the early 1960s with TSP (Traffic Service Position) and even late 1950s with PPCS (Person to Person Card Special) in some parts of the midwest and northeast. As for NPA 762, I understand that the 762-222-7777 test number now returns billing/answer supervision. It originally did NOT do such. And for those who don't know, NANPA has relased a new Planning Letter, this one regarding that NPA 424 WILL overlay NPA 310 in so.California (barring any further court action pending). The test number is to be 424-424-0424, not the originally intended 424-654 number (which DID work back in 1999 and for several years thereafter). I thought that maybe the test number might be changed to 424-424-0424, since the original test number in 2000 (which did work for some time) of 951-800-0951 was changed to 951-951-0951 when 951 actually did split from 909 in so.Cal back in 2004. mjc markjcuccia at yahoo dot com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:20:59 PDT From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Back in the Cord-Board Days (Re: Delay in Reaching Operator) > Jayson Smith wrote (in Yahoo-Central Office, last week): > On our Bellsouth lines, 411 for Directory Assistance waits a few > seconds then gives a reorder. It's been like that since at least > Monday afternoon. You'd think they could reroute DA calls somewhere > else by now. Also, dialing 0 for the operator menu gets a recording > I've never heard before. There's a set of SIT tones, then it says > "We're sorry. Due to heavy calling, the operator will be delayed in > assisting you. If your call is urgent, stay on the line, and an > operator will answer as soon as possible." This recording is repeated > twice, then rings through. Someone should probably get a recording of > this for historical preservation. That I can remember back in the 1970s era (pre-divestiture, of course), during storms, floods, etc., dialing '0' for SCBell/AT&T Operator Service (using TSPS back then), if there was heavy calling, you'd get the same type of recording. New Orleans was one of the first places to have TSPS (Traffic Service Position System) automation for Operator Servvice, back around 1970 or so. But automation for operator type services even goes back to the early 1960s with TSP (Traffic Service Position) and even late 1950s with PPCS (Person to Person Card Special) in some parts of the midwest and northeast. I forgot to add something about the old Cord-Board days ... With the automated appliques for Operator Services, TSP, TSPS, TOPS, OSPS, etc., callers can be held in a queue. You can queue up more callers than there might be operators available to assist immediately. Today that is even more so since many LECs (and AT&T) provide touchtone/voice menu applications for automated operator services. But back in the cord-board days for dial-0 operator services... Calls to 0 just kept popping up on manual boards until operators could be available to plug into them to answer them. Of course, trunks to the dial-0 operator center from individual central offices might be limited as well. But if you could get a trunk to the operator toll board from your local central office, you would just pop up on the board until some operator there could plug in. In 1980/81, I lived in Spokane WA (Pacific Northwest Bell, pre-divestiture, and before the early 1960s it was part of Pac Tel & Tel along with Cal). Remember in May 1980, the volcano in southwest WA (some 300 miles away) blew its top. Ash was spewed mostly eastward. This affected numerous parts of the US and Canada eastward from Washington state. Other than those in the immediate area of the volcano, there was no real property damage or loss of life. But trying to get telephone calls to points outside was difficult. Spokane WA at that time still had a cord-board for local/toll operator services. There was still a #4A Crossbar toll machine and it still used a photo-mechanical card-punch reading system for routings/translations. It did not even have an ETS (Electronic Translator System). I assume Spokane WA got TSPS for Operator Services before divestiture in 1984 though. With only a cord-board for toll services, you did NOT have 1+ coin, you did NOT have 0+ dialing of any kind, and ONLY ESS offices (from non-coin) could have SOME form of 011+ IDDD, sent-paid non-coin traffic only (i.e.., no 01+ IDDD special-billing customer dialed calls). I remember trying to dial home to my parents in New Orleans collect for several days after the volcano blew its stack. I would simply keep dialing '0' from a payphone until an operator would finally answer. They were trying to be helpful and polite, but they couldn't answer all the call requests immediately. And the 4A crossbar toll machine and associated card-translator must have been overwhelmed. Even when I could get an operator on the line to talk to to place a collect call back to New Orleans to tell them that I was safe, all the operator might get was re-order (fast busy) or some kind of ccts busy recording. And all operators in their frustration were actually saying: MY BOARD IS LIT UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE! That is really how manual toll cord boards were like whenever there is a disaster or other types of high call volume. mjc markjcuccia at yahoo dot com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:24:05 PDT From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras Streets I have read some of the posts to one or another of the Yahoo groups regarding the BellSouth/AT&T "Main" building in New Orleans, located at the riverside and uptown corner of Baronne and Poydras Streets. Apparantly BellSouth's "Main" 5E and the DMS-100/200 Tandem are still operational. NWORLAMADS0 (5ESS) and NWORLAMA0GT (DMS-100/200 Tandem) are NOT listed at BellSouth's site of local central offices which are having problems. And the AT&T 4ESS in the building (NWORLAMA04T, 060-T) is working, but quite overwhelmed with call volume. You will frequently get "All ccts busy" or "due to the hurricane in the area you are calling" recordings, with trailers of "zero-six-zero, tee" (060-T being the Network Switch Number of the New Orleans 4ESS). All inbound traffic to my Cingular cellphone must pass thru New Orleans to the Cingular GSM switch here. You will frequently encounter such busy conditions via the LD carrier you might be calling on. But you CAN get thru to my cellphone as well. While in "exile" (and last Wednesday, 07-September-2005 while leaving New Orleans), I was able to use my Cingular phone to place outbound calls (and receive inbound calls), and also use my AT&T calling card (and MCI Prepaid card) from the payphones at the Airport. I was able to call numbers in New Orleans/etc. as long as the central office was still working and also remember that the line to the house had to still be connected (the loop) as well. As for "Main" -- the Main-1AESS (NWORLAMACG2) customers and their 504-52X (and other NXX) c.o.codes were supposedly finally "absorbed" into the Main-5ESS just two days before Katrina hit, on Saturday 27 August 2005. This leaves only four 1AESS WECO/Lucent offices still in the New Orleans Metro area: NWORLAARCG0 "Aurora", 504-39x, on the westbank, still up and running; NWORLAMCCG0 "Mid City", 504-48x (HUnter), presently not operational; NWORLALKCG0 "Lake", 504-28x (ATwood), presently not operational; NWORLACMCG0 "Chalmette", 504-27x (ARabi), presently not operational; The "Lake" building at Prentiss and St.Anthony streets also has a 5E-Remote housed there (hosted by Main-5E), to supply ISDN to the University of New Orleans campus on the lakefront. 504-280 (never known as ATwood-0, but it COULD be referred to as such since the digits/letters do match!). I don't know how the Lake 5E-Remote fared though. I assume ultimately, BellSouth will expand the Lake 5E-remote into a "standalone" full fledged 5ESS office to replace the 1AESS at Lake. With the exception of low-lying areas further down the river from the metro area, NOTHING on the westbank of the New Orleans metro area lost central office dialtone. Again, some people might have lost their loop to downed lines though ... Overall, the westbank of New Orleans fared well. BellSouth's "Interconnection" website indicates things about downed switches: http://interconnection.bellsouth.com and then click away from there. As for "Main"... In the 2L-4N days they were as follows, with the 2L-5N name as of 1957: CAnal which became JAckson-2 MAgnolia which became JAckson-3 (the original "Main" manual office name) TUlane which became JAckson-4 RAymond which became JAckson-5 EXpress which became JAckson-9 In the 2L-4N days, EVERY OFFICE NAME had to have DIRECT TRUNKS WITH.. every other local office name. There was NO "blocking" of names/digits. Everything in New Orleans regarding exchange names as a "hodge-podge", almost as if we were a "Panel" or #1-Crossbar city such as the huge urban areas of the midwest or northeast. But no, we were always Step-by-Step. Only thing was that every office-name had to trunk directly to every other office name. During the later 1950s, we cutover from 2L-4N to 2L-5N (in preparation for full DDD), one office building at a time. All office names were replaced by a new common office name followed by a third new digit (see above for how the offices names in "Main" were consolidated into "JAckson-X" office codes). More "Main" trivia ... In 1970/71 or so, the first #1ESS was added into the business district at "Main", initially the 504-58x codes (NWORLAMACG0). In the later 1970s, another ESS (a 1AESS) was added to "Main", mostly the 504-56x codes (NWORLAMACG1). In the very late 1970s, the Main SXS (NWORLAMA52A) was replaced with yet another ESS (another 1AESS), the NWORLAMACG2 switch which was recently absorbed into the Main 5E. In 1985, the 1970/71 Main 1ESS (504-58x) was absorbed into the mid/late 1970s Main 1AESS (504-56x, -CG1) switch. This was ultimately fully replaced with the Main 5ESS (NWORLAMADS0) circa 1989-91 timeframe. But it wasn't until just two weeks ago when the remaining 1AESS in Main (the third 1/1A type ESS to be hosed there in the very late 1970s), but also the ORIGINAL SXS office there, was finally absorbed into the already existing digital 5ESS. NOTE ... there are some ideosynchosies and "quirks" regarding some specific few 504-5NX codes as to which switch they were on at which time, mainly the 504-JA.5 code (originally RAymond) and the (FTS) 504-589 code. These two codes had been flipped around at times between different Main switches during the 1970s and 80s. I don't remember the specific details at the moment though. Now for some more trivia re Main at New Orleans... In Spring 1983 during our annual "once in a century" floods from heavy rains, Metro area got flooded out as usual. Electric power was knocked out in some parts of the area as expected. South Central Bell and its pre-divestiture parent AT&T (remember this was still 1983) lost NOPSI (now Entergy) commercial power at Main. The backup generators were in the basement which got flooded out. They tried to fire up the backup generators but were unsuccessful. WECO batteries were used to power the three local 1/1AESS end offices and possibly the SCB/ATT-LL 4ESS switch as well (and any other ESS tandems associated with the 1AESS end offices). The 4ESS was only two years old, replacing the early 1950s era 4A XB toll machine and the "Broadmoor" XB-Tandem machine only back in 1981. Battery power did provide local dialtone to the Central Business District, as well as for tandem'd local calls, and toll into/out-of New Orleans, but eventually the batteries began to run out. There was a period of 12 to 24 hours when New Orleans was "cut off" from the rest of the world. The local TV and radio stations which still had power but hadn't yet cutover to their own satellite reception of CBS/NBC/Mutual/ ABC/etc. were unable to get network radio and TV programming. I understand that a non-demoninational church had a sat-dish used to pick up sat-fed Christian programming was being used by the media to uplink news reports of the flooding in New Orleans in Spring 1983, to be fed to the major US radio/TV networks/national media. Eventually, SCBell/AT&T got power back to the switches housed at Main, and got the batteries re-charged. I tend to think that they re-worked central office "power" and backup since then for "Main", since it "appears" that Main is working, both BellSouth end offices/tandems, and AT&T 4ESS, though overwhelmed, at this time with the Katrina aftermath. But many BellSouth LOCAL offices do seem to still be down. One day last week, BellSouth seems to have put a new generic (male voice) recording, most likely played from the Main DMS-100/200 tandem, for inbound calls to numbers on those out of service local offices: "Due to intense storm damage, the number you are calling may not be available for an extended period of time". This recording plays only once and then drops. Mark J. Cuccia markjcuccia at yahoo dot com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And so, with the four messages in this cluster, those of you who had expressed concern about Mark Cuccia now know his fate: alive and well. These were presented as a follow up to the three or four messages of inquiry about him which ran in the Digest last week. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #417 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Sep 13 18:16:45 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 185A014F3B; Tue, 13 Sep 2005 18:16:45 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #418 Message-Id: <20050913221645.185A014F3B@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 18:16:45 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.1 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 13 Sep 2005 18:17:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 418 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Ex Microsoft Exec Free to Work For Google (Reuters News Wire) Bush Accepts Responsibility for Katrina Blunders (Lara Jakes Jordan) Gripes From Skype Users After E-Bay Buyout (Adam Pasick) Roaming Charges (Kevin Lindow) SBC, Verizon, Qwest Quake in Fear (Mark Hall) VOIP Phones Give Villagers a Buzz (Cyrus Farivar) Re: Back in the Cord-Board Days (Lisa Hancock) Re: Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO (Lisa Hancock) Re: Flat Rate Water (Dave Garland) Re: How a Telephone Works (William Warren) Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Admin Needed to Change Light Bulb 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: Reuters News Wire Subject: Ex Microsoft Exec Free to Work for Google Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:21:50 -0500 A Washington state judge has cleared the way for Google Inc. to hire a former Microsoft executive to head its Chinese research and development center so long as the employee does not recruit from Microsoft. King County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez found that former Microsoft Vice President Kai-Fu Lee can begin working for Google by setting up a research office in China and recruiting software engineers if he does not use confidential information gleaned while he worked at Microsoft. "Microsoft has not sufficiently shown that it has a clear legal or equitable right to enjoin Dr. Lee, pending trial, from establishing and staffing a Google development facility in China," Gonzalez wrote in a preliminary injunction ruling. However, in his order, the judge enjoined Lee and his new employer from working on any product or service that relies on confidential information tied to search, natural language processing and speech recognition he obtained while working for Microsoft. Google lawyers had agreed to these specific restrictions ahead of the ruling, a Google spokesman said. The judge was very specific on this point: "no 'whispering', no playing games in job descriptions, etc, you will be monitored on this point as neeed." Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Lara Jakes Jordan Subject: Bush Takes Responsibility For Katrina Blunders Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:21:25 -0500 By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer President Bush said Tuesday that "I take responsibility" for failures in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and said the disaster raised broader questions about the government's ability to respond to natural disasters as well as terror attacks. "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government," Bush said at joint White House news conference with the president of Iraq. "To the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said. The president was asked whether people should be worried about the government's ability to handle another terrorist attack given failures in responding to Katrina. "Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack? That's a very important question and it's in the national interest that we find out what went on so we can better respond," Bush replied. He said he wanted to know both what went wrong and what went right. As for blunders in the federal response, "I'm not going to defend the process going in," Bush said. "I am going to defend the people saving lives." He praised relief workers at all levels. "I want people in America to understand how hard people worked to save lives down there," he said. Bush spoke after R. David Paulison, the new acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, pledged to intensify efforts to find more permanent housing for the tens of thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors now in shelters. It was the closest Bush has come to publicly finding fault with any federal officials involved in the hurricane response, which has been widely criticized as disjointed and slow. Some federal officials have sought to fault state and local officials for being unprepared to cope with the disaster. Bush planned to address the nation Thursday evening from Louisiana, where he will be monitoring recovery efforts, the White House announced earlier Tuesday. Paulison, in his first public comments since taking the job on Monday, told reporters: "We're going to get those people out of the shelters, and we're going to move and get them the help they need." Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff introduced Paulison as the Bush administration tried to deflect criticism for the sluggish initial federal response to the hurricane and its disastrous aftermath. Chertoff said that while cleanup, relief and reconstruction from Katrina is now the government's top priority, the administration would not let down its guard on other potential dangers. He noted that the administration would 'try to do better' with 'terrorists' than was initially done with Katrina. "The world is not going to stop moving because we are very focused on Katrina," Chertoff said. Paulison, named to the post on Monday, said he was busy "getting brought up to speed." He replaced Michael Brown, who resigned on Monday, three days after being removed from being the top onsite federal official in charge of the government's response. Paulison said Bush called him Monday night and "thanked me for coming on board." Bush promised that he would have "the full support of the federal government," Paulison said. Chertoff said the relief operation had entered a new phase. Initially, he said, the most important priority was evacuating people, getting them to safety, providing food, water and medical care. "And then ultimately at the end of the day, we have to reconstitute the communities that have been devastated," Chertoff added. He said the federal government would look increasingly to state and local officials for guidance on rebuilding the devastated communities along the Gulf Coast. "The federal government can't drive permanent solutions down the throats of state and local officials," Chertoff said. "I don't think anyone should envision a situation in which they're going to take a back seat. They're going to take a front seat," he said. Chertoff said that teams of federal auditors were being dispatched to the stricken areas to make sure that billions of dollars worth of government contracts were being properly spent. "We want to get aid to people who need it quickly, but we also don't want to lose sight of the importance of preserving the integrity of the process and our responsibility as stewards of the public money," Chertoff said. "We're going to cut through red tape," he said, "but we're not going to cut through laws and rules that govern ethics." Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that some military aircraft and other equipment may be able to move out of the Gulf Coast soon. "We've got to the point where most if not all of the search and rescue is completed," said Rumsfeld, who is attending a NATO meeting in Berlin. "Some helicopters can undoubtedly be moved out over the period ahead." He also said there is a very large surplus of hospital beds in the region, so those could also be decreased. The USS Comfort hospital ship arrived near the Mississippi coast late last week. Rumsfeld added that nothing will be moved out of the area without the authorization of the two states' governors, the military leaders there and the president. Elsewhere, workers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aren't finding many sick people, even though the specter of diseases has alarmed relief and rescue figures. Instead, between 40 and 50 percent of patients seeking emergency care have injuries. The CDC has counted 148 injuries in just the last two days, Carol Rubin, an agency hurricane relief specialist, said by telephone from the government's new public health headquarters in New Orleans' Kindred Hospital. While she couldn't provide a breakdown, Rubin said chain saw injuries and carbon monoxide exposure from generators are among them. Those are particularly worrisome because they're likely to become more common as additional hurricane survivors re-enter the city in coming days, she said. The message: Those injuries are preventable, if people take proper precautions, Rubin stressed. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more Associated Press headlines and stories, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Adam Pasick (reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Gripes From Skype Users After eBay Buyout Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:22:27 -0500 By Adam Pasick Ebay's acquisition of Skype could be worth up to $4.1 billion to investors in the Internet telephony start-up, but it is getting mixed reviews from Skype's fervent supporters. It was the hard-core Skype fans whose word-of-mouth advertising helped it become the world's largest voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) provider without spending a penny on marketing. It has some 54 million registered users and usually has more than 3.5 million people online. But the sale to eBay could signal the end of the evangelical zeal from users that drove Skype's rapid growth. Its software -- which offers free computer-to-computer calls between Skype users -- has spread in classic viral fashion, as each new user convinces friends and family to sign up. In a poll on the forums http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=4932 , 69 percent of users said the acquisition is not a good thing, compared with 23 percent in favor of the deal. "In my opinion, the takeover by eBay means to me possibly and probably the end of free Skype services. I anticipate a very bad future for us here but I sincerely hope I am wrong," the Skype user Alan2 wrote on Monday. Users also raised concerns that the purchase of the Luxembourg-based Skype by a U.S. company could mean new legal constraints on the service. "How much time before someone makes a Taliban joke and the feds descend on their home with the Patriot Act?" Skype user Slvaldor wrote. "How long before the music and movie cartels start suing for snooping access to Skype's network through the (U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act) DMCA?" The U.S. government is considering regulating VoIP services, which could include provisions for law-enforcement wiretapping. A ruling by the Federal Communications Commission in August required that some VOIP services provide for wiretap access within 18 months, but it is not yet clear whether the order includes Skype. Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis are sticking with Skype, and eBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman said on Monday that she intends to nurture the core Skype business even as its voice call features are integrated into eBay. The early adopters of fast-growing start-up services like Skype often become disillusioned when their favorite company is sold. Some users of the popular online photo site Flickr (http://www.flickr.com) revolted last month when the new owner Yahoo moved to require Flickr users to register as part of Yahoo's network. Yahoo and fellow online powerhouses Google, Microsoft and AOL, are aggressively targeting the voice-over-Internet market, so unhappy Skype users will have plenty of options if they decide to leave the service. "We can just sit back and watch. Smile. And hey, if eBay is doing that bad we can just switch to tons of other VoIP software," said user Uhura. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Also see: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ Subject: Roaming Charges From: Kevin Lindow Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 19:39:50 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net I have a situation regarding my cell phone company. I contacted my cell phone service and discussed "roaming" charges before I went cross country. The phone company told me if the cell phone didn't show "roaming" on the phone that the call would stand as a local call. Well, I just got the bill and it is 300 bucks, full of "roaming" charges. I swear only one call indicated "roaming." Should I pay the bill and shutup and chalk it up as experience or should I refuse to pay the bill? And, in the meantime, how do I make phone calls to friends and family back home -- without racking up more "roaming" charges? Kevin ------------------------------ From: Mark Hall Subject: SBC, Verizon, Qwest Quake in Fear Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:43:52 -0500 Opinion by Mark Hall SEPTEMBER 12, 2005 (COMPUTERWORLD) - ... as open-source private branch exchange software with integrated voice-over-IP capabilities gains adherents. "I believe they already know they're doomed," suggests Brian Capouch, chairman of the computer science department at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind. Capouch argues that giant telecommunications providers and PBX manufacturing goliaths don't stand a chance against perky start-ups such as Huntsville, Ala.-based Digium Inc. and San Diego-based Four Loop Technologies LLC, which does business under the name Switchvox. Those vendors use Asterisk, an open-source technology that lets companies replace their PBX systems and use VoIP to transmit phone calls. Switchvox CEO Joshua Stephens says Asterisk lets you use a standard Linux server to connect to your network via a T1 line for traditional analog calls or to your Internet service provider to support chat via VoIP. Switchvox's system also handles voice mail like e-mail, meaning you can listen to it, forward it, store it and do anything to voice messages that you can do to e-mail, claims Stephens. Switchvox 2.0 ships at the end of this month and will add conference-room, intercom, call-parking and other new features. Pricing starts at $995. Capouch says Asterisk and VoIP combined will do to the telecom market what Linux, Apache, MySQL and other open-source technologies have done to the data center: "radically change the landscape." Capouch shrugs off the argument that perceived problems with VoIP call quality may hinder adoption. "Cell phones have lowered people's quality expectations," he notes. Copyright 2005 ComputerWorld.com and International Data Group (IDG) 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, ComputerWorld.com/IDG. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Cyrus Farivar Subject: VOIP Phones Give Villagers a Buzz Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:34:50 -0500 By Cyrus Farivar http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68796,00.html 02:00 AM Sep. 12, 2005 PT SAN FRANCISCO -- At first glance, Inveneo's office eight floors above Market Street resembles any high-tech startup -- computer parts scattered on desks, Wi-Fi antennas mounted on the wall. But adjacent to the front door hangs a large colorful map of Africa, and a few steps away a stationary bicycle is hooked up to a backpack-size power generator. From this base, a small group of determined geeks is using solar- and pedal-powered voice-over-internet-protocol phones and Wi-Fi to bring local, national and international dialing to remote areas of the world, beginning with a few villages in western Uganda where nothing resembling a telephone system has ever existed. "What we're bringing to them ... is two-way communication, which they've never had before," said Kristin Peterson, chair and co-founder of the year-old nonprofit effort. The organization has already installed its Linux-based VOIP stations at four isolated villages in Bukuuku subcounty, serving a total of nearly 3,200 villagers. Each village in the Bukuuku program has a custom-built computer with a 2-GB microdrive, to eliminate moving parts, along with 256 MB of RAM and a 533-MHz processor. The computer is wired to a regular analog telephone set and a directional Wi-Fi antenna, which transmits the internet signal to a central hub at one of the villages. Complete with 70-watt solar panels and a bicycle generator -- which can provide power in the event of no sunlight -- each installation costs only $1,800, including the outdoor Wi-Fi 802.11b antenna. Calls between the villages are routed by the hub, and cost nothing -- like dialing another room from a hotel PBX, said Robert Marsh, Inveneo's CFO and co-founder. Calls destined for outside the village network go over a satellite link between the hub and the main Ugandan telephone exchange. Mark Summer, Inveneo's CEO and co-founder, said that while most people in the United States have access to a telephone and can communicate with anyone in seconds, it is not so in these remote areas. "Every time they want to do anything, they have to walk down the hill for three to four kilometers," said Summer. "Being able to make a local phone call is a big deal to them." The effort has already earned praise from other like-minded geek projects in the developing world. Geekcorps founder Ethan Zuckerman said he has been impressed with Inveneo's work. He dismisses critics from SBC and Verizon who argue that there's no need for telecommunications services in these rural areas, and certainly not for free. "You need to find out what the price of certain goods are, you need to find out ... information from the government," he said. "The way people find this out (now) is by getting on buses or motorbikes." Zuckerman argues there may even be commercial telecom opportunities in Uganda, citing a 2000 study conducted as part of the Grameen Bank project that demonstrated it was highly profitable to sell local cell-phone service in rural areas in Bangladesh that had been traditionally ignored by the incumbent telecom operators. "People are willing to pay far, far more money than we would think," he said. "It's pretty amazing." Marsh, a semi-retired Silicon Valley entrepreneur, also co-founded the legendary Homebrew Computer Club in Menlo Park, California, in 1975. He said he looks forward to expanding Inveneo's work in other parts of the world, including Aceh province in Indonesia, as well as that country's capital, Jakarta. "Now's my chance to do good for the world," said Marsh. "We'd like to put technology in use for people who need it most." Copyright 2005, Lycos, Inc, Wired News. Registered trademarks of Carnegie Mellon University. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Trustees of Carnegie Mellon University. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Back in the Cord-Board Days (Re: Delay in Reaching Operator) Date: 13 Sep 2005 11:11:20 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Mark J. Cuccia wrote: > New Orleans was one of the first places to have TSPS (Traffic Service > Position System) automation for Operator Servvice, back around 1970 or > so. But automation for operator type services even goes back to the > early 1960s with TSP (Traffic Service Position) and even late 1950s > with PPCS (Person to Person Card Special) in some parts of the midwest > and northeast. In my old neighborhood of Philadelphia, the service was split. All 0+ and coin 1+ calls went to a TSP (the older type) facility which handled a large section of the city. But this facility did not handle plain 0 (zero) calls for some reason. My neighborhood's 0 calls went to a suburban CO that had cord dial-assistance operators. (I don't know where directory assistance calls went, that was another office altogether). The Mountain Bell history ("to Laser Beams") shows pictures of cord boards with some upgrades -- modern illuminated keypads on the keyshelf and little computer terminals. The Bell System did a lot of such improvements to legacy technology to improve efficiency without a full formal upgrade; the Bell Labs Records of the 1970s were full of articles about that kind of thing. Some Step by Step offices had computerized front ends and back ends to help route and charge calls, in some cases becoming a poor man's common control system. (That is, the dial pulses no longer operated the actual Strowger switches but rather were recorded in a computer, which then directed the Strowger switches.) This sort of thing was necessary to expedite higher calling volumes in growing suburban areas and automated toll and operator services. A look at small town telephone directories of the 1960s showed dialing was both limited and cumbersome in many places. To reach a neighbor- ing exchange, one might have to dial a special prefix, and a different prefix for each area, as well as from where you're calling from. The charts could be rather complex. Or, you could only dial your own neighborhood and anything and everything else required 0. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO Date: 13 Sep 2005 11:23:55 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you mean to tell me septic tanks are > allowed in New York City? There are some in isolated old parts of Philadelphia. For example, in the outer edges of the city there once were free standing villages with very old houses (before development surrounded them). Those old houses and streets are not connected to the sewer system. It wouldn't surprise me if similar old places even in New York City (particularly in Staten Island but also in outlying parts of the Bronx and Queens) would be likewise. > hooked to the water, and many of them complain about the cost of > 'rural water' which is much more expensive than 'city water'. I cannot > believe there are places and communities so backward that septic tanks > are allowed, except by default in small rural areas. But NYC? Not even > in Chicago do you see that any longer. Our suburban water and sewer rates are FAR higher than what Philadel- phia charges its people. I don't know why. In the city water and sewer is provided by the water department of the city government and it is supposed to run at a break even point without subsidy or profit. Suburban water is provided by private companies that make a good deal of money, sewage is shared by several municipalities and also costs a function. In the outer suburbs, there are quite a few older houses that use wells and septic tanks and are extremely expensive none the less. In our area sewer bills are based on water consumption and sewage costs more than water. Both bills have a high minimum charges -- single people living alone rarely use more than that minimum and probably would pay less on a more usage based rate schedule. This issue can get surprisingly complicated. I think my own area is being grossly overcharged -- if the "big evil city" with all its urban problems can charge so much less the suburban facilities shouldn't be that much more. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Usually, the places which have the water, i.e. Chicago and Lake Michigan, charge less for their own people to use it, while blackmailing the folks with no immediate access to the water (such as the north and western suburbs of Chicago). As an example, Oak Park, Illinois and Harwood Heights, Illinois have to buy their water from City of Chicago _or_ get permission from City of Chicago to extend water pipes from the lake all the way through town out to themselves. That would involve not only much excavation of streets but a lot of politics as well. If those suburbs even tried to get instant access to Lake Michigan, I am sure they would regret it by the time in several years it got out of court. So, they figure its simply cheaper in the long run to purchase the community's water from City of Chicago. Although city does discount the price a little for the bulk purchase, they do not discount it _that much_ and since politics means so much, the suburbs have to add their own 'markup' to the price they charge to resell the water to their citizens. But, speaking of politics, some of the little suburban towns have something Chicago wants as well: Consider Ohare Airport for example: The original Mayor Daley (King Daley I) long ago decided it just would not do to have Ohare 'belong to' or be geographically situated in Park Ridge or that other little town along Mannheim Road where Ohare physically sits, called Rosemont, IL. It had to be part of Chicago, by God, that's how Daley the First in his greed phrased it. But in order to annex the airport into the city itself, state law got in the way. State law requires that in order for one place to annex another place, the two places have to touch at least a little somewhere. For instance Chicago _could_ legally annex Oak Park since they have border lines in common, just as the city many years ago annexed Austin, Illinois on the west side, and Pullman, Illinois on the south side. In the case of Ohare Airport however, none of it _touches_ or has a border in common with Chicago. It touches Rosemont, Schiller Park, and Park Ridge, but not Chicago. So King Daley I had a solution for that also: we will take a tiny little five foot wide length of land on the north side of Irving Park Road (where Chicago touches Schiller Park) and stretch that all the way west then through the Forest Preserve (don't worry about those commissioners, they are my puppets also) and we will keep on extending that little strip of land through Rosemont until it reaches the eastern edge of Ohare, where then we 'balloon it out' to take in all of Ohare. So by that gerrymandering Chicago is able to annex Orchard Field (which they would begin calling 'Ohare' Field; FYI that is why the FAA designation for Ohare is 'ORD', from the Orchard Field days). Corrupted mayor and officials of Schiller Park and Rosemont all line up with hands out; what's in it for us if we give away our little towns to you, oh King Daley? How about if we give you _free water_ from now on, the King replied. You won't have to continue to pay outrageous prices to buy water from Chicago, and you won't have to engage in a lengthy and expensive lawsuit to excavate _our streets_ in order to get water out to _your little rinky dink town was Daley's proposition. And it was, as 'they' say, sold to the highest bidder. That is why over a two or three block stretch of what logically is Rosemont/Schiller Park in that area (as per the design of the street lamps and street marker signs) instead you see _true_ Chicago street lamps and street signs. Just for those few blocks way out west. And where there was one other little nasty, two separate streets in town with the same name (Michigan Avenue to be precise), they took the less well known one in Schiller Park and for that two block stretch (where it intersects with Irving) changed the name to some- thing else, which escapes me at this minute. And just because Rosemont and Schiller Park get their water for free from City of Chicago does not mean they in turn pass along that largesse to their own citizens for free. You didn't think that, did you? But that is how 'Chicago-Ohare International Airport' got that name instead of 'Rosemont-Orchard Field Airport'. Everyone else in the western/southern suburbs of Chicago pay dearly for their water. Going north, however, the Evanston Water Works does a wee bit better for the suburbs west of it; they still pay through the nose also, but not as much or as badly as the towns dependent on the City of Chicago. (Except of course for Schiller Park and Rosemont.) PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Flat Rate Water Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:26:09 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when jared@netspacenospamnet.au (jared) wrote: > Recently my water bill had an ad for a water monitor. Apparently the > meters are read remotely by unit in a vehicle going down the > street. Automatic reporting by telephone (the meter connects to a box that connects to your landline) is more common in Minneapolis, but they also have battery-powered RF devices for situations where a telephone line is not available or the owner refuses to permit a connection to it. To add to the profusion of systems, there are also old meters that must be read manually, and meters with remote readouts (a little counter box that is mounted on the outside of the building for easier access). I think we've got the entire history of meter-reading technology on display. No WiFi units, but that's probably only a matter of time if a plan goes through to provide citywide wifi access. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 16:03:51 -0400 From: William Warren Subject: Re: How a Telephone Works eagle_speaks@yahoo.co.uk wrote: > Though I am in the telecommunications field ( software side) I am a > bit confused about how everything works, though I have a high level > overview. So I am stating my undestanding, so that someone can > correct or fill up the gaps. > 1. Each home suscriber has a twisted copper pair that runs from his > telephone to a cable containg thousands (why no multiplexing here and > send it through a single wire??) thousands of such pairs; to the local > excahnge or the central office. There's no multiplexing because it means putting active equipment at the end of the wire, and that means the company has to build a weather protection enclosure, connect power, maintain batteries, and pay for easement(s), maintenance, etc. It's more cost-effective to have the pair go back to the CO., at least for most single-family homes. Apartment buildings, especially large ones, are more likely to be multiplexed, since the ILEC doesn't pay for the space needed and it's less expensive to run fiber than copper for the same number of lines. > 2. In the central office there is a hardware equipment (LTG ??) which > has a lot of ports, to one of which the copper pair that runs from the > suscribers telephone is plugged in. > (I hope I am correct here.) Yes, you are correct. Most companies use the term "Central Office" to refer to both the telephone exchange equipment and the building which houses it. > 3. The central office is connected to the tandem office via trunks > which I hope are a thick co-axial cable or optical fiber through which > multiplexed traffic from various CO flows. Almost all fiber; coaxial cables were retired long ago and are now used only for TV transmission, and even then only in locations where the coax is "retired in place" (as far as trunk usage goes) and there's no demand for digital transmission. > Also there is a seperate cable for SS7 siganlling, connecting various > CO to TO . There are separate _circuits_ for SS7, which share the same transmission layer as inter-office trunks, but are always routed to two geographically diverse Signal Transfer Point locations via routes that have nothing in common. > There is also a switch at the tandem office. Yes, it's a tandem switch. The definition _used to_ be along "two-wire" vs. "four-wire" switches, but since all digital paths are four-wire, the distinction is less clear now. It's very common for "local" exchages to do double-duty as small tandem offices, e.g., for E-911 switching to a PSAP, and the only real difference between "local" and "tandem" switching is the circuit packs used at the edges, since all digital exchanges have to have "four-wire" (i.e., separate paths for transmit and receive) internal switching anyway. > 4. Now if a suscriber dials a number, the DTMF tones are resceived at > the CO which has a directory (databse ???) look up. It finds that this > number is at antother exchange and sends a SS7 signal to that . From > there how is the trunk reserved ???? In the Bell System, SS7 is an overlay on the old MF signalling method, so each CO handles trunk reservations the same way for both signalling methods. The exchange keeps an internal list of which trunks are in use, and assigns a vacant trunk to each inter-office call as needed. Intermediate tandems assign trunks in turn, in a daisy chain fashion, until the call is completed or there are no trunks available. There is no "database" of trunks; i.e. they are _not_ preassigned at a central "brain" before the call setup is attempted. Each office maintains a local list, and makes its own decision about which trunk to use for the next hop, with the assignments taking place in sequence from office to office. > 5. Also how is the incoming call from a modem and telephone > distinguished at the CO. Or does the modem also dial DTMF signals??? The modem uses either DTMF or dial-pulse, depending on how it has been programmed, and it dials the call in the same way a subscriber would. The CO is unaware that a modem is being used, either for data or fax. > I hope someone can answer my questions. I hope I have. William (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ From: Debbie DKTubiolo Subject: Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Administration Does it Take Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:28:19 -0500 How many members of the Bush Administration does it take to change a light bulb? 1 One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed. 2 One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed. 3 One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb. 4 One to tell the nations of the world that they are either responsible for changing the light bulb or for darkness. 5 One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Haliburton for the new light bulb. 6 One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a stepladder under the banner: Lightbulb Change Accomplished. 7 One administration insider to resign and write a book documenting in detail how Bush was literally in the dark. 8 One to viciously smear #7. 9 One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light bulb changing policy all along. 10 And finally one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #418 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Sep 14 14:35:57 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 8C85314F0E; Wed, 14 Sep 2005 14:35:57 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #419 Message-Id: <20050914183557.8C85314F0E@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 14:35:57 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 14 Sep 2005 14:36:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 419 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FBI Warns About Fake Web Sites Regards Katrina (Reuters News Wire) Ebay Pays Top Dollar for Broadband Firm (Jon Van) PECO and PSE&G Power Companies Merger (Lisa Hancock) Fiber on the Comeback Trail (USTelecom dailyLead) Back to the Future in 845-268 Land (Steve Stone) Speaking of Cellular/911/GPS Tracking (Danny Burstein) Employment Opportunity: Desktop Coordinator/Network Admin (Pat Townson) Re: Roaming Charges (Joseph) Re: Roaming Charges (Lisa Hancock) Re: How a Telephone Works (burris) Re: How a Telephone Works (Lisa Hancock) Re: Gripes From Skype Users After eBay Buyout (William Warren) Re: Lucent TNT Max or APX 8000 (Matteo) Re: Bush Takes Responsibility For Katrina Blunders (Henry) Re: Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Administration (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Reuters News Wire Subject: FBI Warns About Fake Katrina Charity Web Sites Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 22:01:53 -0500 FBI Warns About Fake Katrina Charity Web Sites Many of the 4,000 Web sites advertising relief services for Hurricane Katrina are fake and about 60 percent of them come from overseas -- a sign they may be bogus, the FBI said on Tuesday. Senior FBI and Justice Department officials warned Americans who want to donate money to the relief effort to be cautious to avoid fraudulent charities, including those that pretend to be major organizations like the Red Cross. Just because they _say_ they are the Red Cross does not mean they actually are Red Cross. After all, look at the large number of fake banks and fake PayPal sites operating. "Just like these natural disasters bring out the best in people, they also bring out some of the worst elements of the criminal element out there who are willing to take advantage of those who are willing to give and those who so desperately need the relief," said Chris Swecker, chief of the FBI's criminal investigative division. Swecker said the FBI is investigating sites of fraudulent charities. He said there are about 4,000 sites advertising Katrina relief services, and about 60 percent of them are coming from overseas. "That overseas angle is not a reason unto itself to conclude that that's a scam Web site, but it is a reason to be cautious," he said. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said some of the bogus sites had been shut down but would not give details on the number or how many investigations had been launched. "We must ensure that those offering a helping hand do not become victims themselves and that those found preying on the compassion of our citizens are punished," he said. The Red Cross' general counsel, Mary Elcano, said the organization had hired a security company to scan the Internet for fake e-mails that try to trick people into providing credit card numbers and personal information on a Web site that looks like the one run by the Red Cross. "If the companies don't go away ... the Department of Justice will prosecute and, if necessary, the Red Cross will file a civil action to seek restitution," she said. Officials urged people who want to donate money not to click on links but to directly type in the Web address of the charity in order to donate. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I saw an op-ed piece yesterday from one of the papers saying some 'tough love' was needed in the instance of Katrina. The writer suggested people should give _nothing_ to help the victims of Katrina, since, as he put it, 'by doing so, you are giving the government a 'free pass' (or a less expensive pass) on the whole problem.' He pointed out that all the charity money raised from all sources thus far, was only a drop in the bucket of what will be needed in any event. He suggested 'sticking it to the government, which is where it will wind up anyway.' I think that is sort of a mean, hateful approach, but I can't judge. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jon Van Subject: E-Bay Pays Top Dollar For Broadband Firm Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 22:05:32 -0500 From chicagotribune.com >> Technology Auction giant seeks to gain ad revenues By Jon Van, Tribune staff reporter. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The purchase of Skype Technologies SA by eBay Inc. on Monday makes strategic sense to analysts as more consumers embrace broadband services on the Internet. But the price tag -- which could top $4 billion in cash and stock -- seems spectacularly high for an Internet telephony service that mostly gives away its software. The software allows people to talk for free over the Internet. San Jose, Calif.-based eBay is positioning itself as a commercial portal with a broad suite of services to attract users rather than sticking to its origins as an online auction site. It wants to become more competitive with the likes of Yahoo, Google, AOL and Microsoft, said Andrew Belt, a senior vice president with Adventis, a Boston-based technology consultant. "This isn't about generating revenues from voice service," he said. "It's about helping [eBay] tap into the advertising and transaction revenue streams that Google and Yahoo enjoy." To acquire the Swedish-based Skype, eBay will pay $2.6 billion in cash and stock now and could add another $1.5 billion in cash and stock if Skype's growth meets certain future goals. "Those numbers certainly give you pause," said Belt. Meg Whitman, eBay's chief executive, said that providing eBay's users with voice communications will make it easier for them to buy goods online. But there may be a downside to the enhanced communications, said Paul White, chief financial officer of Deltathree Inc., a New York based Internet phone service. "When buyers and sellers talk directly with each other, you may see more of them going around the system and making private deals that avoid paying eBay's commissions." Technology that enables voice conversations online, often called voice over Internet protocol, has already seduced Yahoo, Google and Microsoft. In recent months, each of the online giants has bought into the VoIP space, although at prices far lower than what eBay paid. The public is still baffled by VoIP. A recent survey by Harris Interactive commissioned by Verizon found that 87 percent of respondents didn't know what VoIP was. Twenty percent thought it was a European hybrid motorcar and 10 percent said it was a low-carb vodka. Confusion may arise because people try to think of VoIP in terms of traditional phone calls, when it is really more akin to a voice form of e-mail or instant messaging, said Terry Manning, sales vice president of Zoom Technologies Inc., a Boston-based firm that supplies VoIP equipment and services. "VoIP is far more powerful than just a phone service replacement," he said. Jacob Guedalia, chief of iSkoot, a company that brings VoIP services to cell phones, said "voice used to be an infrastructure service, but now it's a software application. It's become a logical extension of every Internet portal, whether it's Yahoo, Google, AOL or whatever." Internet phone service is driving down the price of voice service, said Raul Martynek, chief of Eureka Networks, a provider of telecom services to businesses. "We offer VoIP today," Martynek said. "It's part of a package of services. Large carriers are offering voice in bundles at a point where it's nearly free. It's happening right now." But even granting the new technology's value and the branding power of Skype, which had more than 30 million unique visitors to its Web site in July according to comScore market research, the multibillion-dollar price tag still seems high to many observers. "They certainly paid a much higher multiple than they paid for PayPal," said Tim Melton, a Chicago attorney with Jones Day, in a reference to eBay's earlier purchase of an online payment service. Whitman compared Skype with the 2002 purchase of PayPal, the online payment company eBay bought for $1.5 billion. Before buying PayPal, eBay unsuccessfully tried to compete against it with Billpoint, its own payment company. "We worked hard to build up Billpoint," Whitman said. "In the end, PayPal had the technology lead, they had already built the ecosystem. Skype is in the same position. It has a global footprint and is already a well-known brand." One analyst said he sees the value of value of voice capability and the premium paid for Skype's brand, "but how this supports this price isn't readily apparent, " said Ranjan Mishra, a principal with A.T. Kearney. The high price did please some people in the Internet phone business. "I'm delighted by the valuation," said White. "My company is in the same space." Email address is: jvan@tribune.com Copyright 2005, Chicago Tribune NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: PECO and PSE&G Power Companies Merger Date: 14 Sep 2005 10:32:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com The companies claim the merger will result in lower rates. See KYW report: http://www.kyw1060.com/news_story_detail.cfm?newsitemid=49285 PECO = Philadelphia Electric Company, and PSE&G = Public Service Electric and Gas (New Jersey). I do not see how the merger will lower electric rates. There are very few economies of scale. The biggest economy -- sharing power -- was set up many years ago by the PJM grid. I think PECO (owned by Exelon of Chicago) is already too big and the more modest sized companies are more responsive to the needs of their own communities. For the present there is the PECO HQ in Philadelphia and the PSE&G HQ in Newark NJ and they say they'll remain. But after a few years "for efficiency" they may close these buildings and move everything to Exelon HQ in Chicago. So, when reporting troubles instead of talking to a regional representative who has some idea of the area, you'll talk to someone in Chicago who knows nothing. If you have a downed wire in Bryn Mawr PA, will then send the truck to the Chicago suburb of Bryn Mawr IL (or vice versa)? Highland Park NJ or Highland Park IL? Mayfair IL or Mayfair (Phl) PA? I'm not kidding -- dispatchers in large centers make these mistakes and homes burn down in the process. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: While Highland Park could be either New Jersey or Illinois (I guess, if you say so; I never heard of the New Jersey version) in the instance of Bryn Mawr, there is no such suburb in the Chicago area. There _is_ a Bryn Mawr Avenue in Chicago (and continuing in a near northwest suburb) and there is a CTA train stop known as 'Bryn Mawr' (logically, on the street by the same name) and there is, oddly enough, a 'Bryn Mawr' station on the Illinois Central suburban line on the southeast side of Chicago; but no Bryn Mawr as a town or neighborhood around Chicago. There, did I leave the water muddy enough? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 13:10:59 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Fiber on the Comeback Trail USTelecom dailyLead September 14, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24598&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Fiber on the comeback trail BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Verizon unveils Verizon Game Services portal * Nokia's numbers reflect wireless industry's strength * Sprint Nextel sells Sirius radio service USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Triple Play: Real Life Lessons, Thursday, Sept. 15, 1:00 p.m. EDT EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Yahoo! to unveil beta version of new e-mail service * New chip speeds up short-range wireless networks * Ethernet not ready for primetime REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Australian Senate approves Telstra sale * Is a telecommuting boom on the horizon? Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24598&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: Steve Stone Subject: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 12:57:12 GMT I placed a call from my cellphone to my Mom in Congers, Rockland County, NY. I got a busy signal, not unusual because she is always on the phone. What was unusual was the busy signal sounded like what I remembered hearing as a kid in the 1960's from my mom's house when they used mechanical switching rather than ESS. I tried it a few more times and at one point even came up with a 1960's style ring tone with no answer. Is it possible the old gear is still in the little brick telco building by Rockland Lake and taking overload calls ? 845-268-xxxx. A definite blast from the past. Steve ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Speaking of Cellular/911/GPS Tracking Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 20:57:41 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC ( NY Post story. Limited detail, alas) "A drug dealer was kidnapped by a group of men she'd tried to rip off in Hamilton Heights yesterday, police sources said. The victim, whose name and age were not released, was snatched at West 145th Street and Convent Avenue late Sunday and taken to 48-05 Ave. I in Brooklyn. The dealer was held captive for nearly an hour before she called 911 on her cellphone, allowing cops to pinpoint her location with a GPS signal emitted from the phone, police sources said. Officers arrested one man at the scene. The woman was not harmed, authorities said. http://www.nypost.com/news/nypdblotter/nypdblotter.htm (url will change tomorrow) _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Subject: Employment Opportunity: Desktop Coordinator/Network Admin Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 22:29:33 EDT From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) American Insulated Wire, a leader in electrical wire manufacturing has a position available for a PC coordinator/network administrator who is self motivated, conscientous and detail oriented with excellent communication skills. Your responsibilities include, but are not limited to administering network workstations, investigating and correcting user problems. You would also install, configure and maintain all personal computers, file servers, cabling and related equipment. You would ensure timely user notification of maintainence requirements and system availability. You would also maintain confidentiality with regard to information stored, accessed or processed on our network. An ideal candidate should possess at least an Associate's Degree with two or three years of hands-on experience with computer networks, but a Bachelor's Degree is preferred. AIW offers a competitive salary, and full benefits package, including quarterly gain share bonuses. Qualified candidates should apply in person or send a resume with salary requirements to: Human Resources American Insulated Wire Corporation PO Box 1388 3297 Highway 169 North Coffeyville, KS 67337 Email: CSprague@leviton.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The above announcement appeared in the _Independence Reporter_ classified ads three times, on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, September 11-13, 2005. As far as I know, the position is still open in case anyone wants to apply. This location (on Highway 169) is about halfway between Independence and Coffeyville. It would be a good position for anyone who wanted to locate to this area. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 22:29:47 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 19:39:50 GMT, Kevin Lindow wrote: > I have a situation regarding my cell phone company. I contacted my > cell phone service and discussed "roaming" charges before I went cross > country. The phone company told me if the cell phone didn't show > "roaming" on the phone that the call would stand as a local > call. Well, I just got the bill and it is 300 bucks, full of "roaming" > charges. I swear only one call indicated "roaming." Should I pay the > bill and shutup and chalk it up as experience or should I refuse to > pay the bill? And, in the meantime, how do I make phone calls to > friends and family back home -- without racking up more "roaming" > charges? Well, since you do not give any details of which company this is or what kind of plan you have it's sort of hard to make any sort of recommendation on how you should proceed. Each company has different policies on what is considered roaming. Some companies don't even have roaming charges depending on the plan. Some plans do have roaming charges. In order to provide you with any suggestion on what you should do you'll have to provide us with more information on which company you're using and where you're traveling and what kind of plan you have subscribed to. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Date: 14 Sep 2005 09:58:21 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Kevin Lindow wrote: > I have a situation regarding my cell phone company. I contacted my > cell phone service and discussed "roaming" charges before I went cross > country. The phone company told me if the cell phone didn't show > "roaming" on the phone that the call would stand as a local > call. Well, I just got the bill and it is 300 bucks, full of "roaming" > charges. That's a tough issue, unfortunately, and a common cause for complaint. Many cell phone carriers advertise "no roaming charges" when in fact there are roaming charges defined in microfine print. Perhaps other users can expand on this and how to handle it. I guess the first thing you should do is check your contract and service plan for its definition of roaming and your local territory. If you were not in roaming territory you shouldn't pay the bill. Otherwise perhaps you could negotiate a reduction in rates. Maybe others have better suggestions. [My phone is pretty explicit -- only my immediate region is local, everywhere else is roaming at $1.00 minute surcharge. But a little light on the phone goes on when roaming. I have noticed that in border areas (e.g. a rest stop on the turnpike at the edge of my service territory), that sometimes I'm roaming, sometimes I'm not; because the base site antenna used varies all the time even in a fixed location.] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:44:59 -0400 From: Burris Subject: Re: How a Telephone Works William Warren wrote: > eagle_speaks@yahoo.co.uk wrote: >> Though I am in the telecommunications field ( software side) I am a >> bit confused about how everything works, though I have a high level >> overview. So I am stating my undestanding, so that someone can >> correct or fill up the gaps. >> 1. Each home suscriber has a twisted copper pair that runs from his >> telephone to a cable containg thousands (why no multiplexing here and >> send it through a single wire??) thousands of such pairs; to the local >> excahnge or the central office. > There's no multiplexing because it means putting active equipment at > the end of the wire, and that means the company has to build a weather > protection enclosure, connect power, maintain batteries, and pay for > easement(s), maintenance, etc. It's more cost-effective to have the > pair go back to the CO., at least for most single-family homes. > Apartment buildings, especially large ones, are more likely to be > multiplexed, since the ILEC doesn't pay for the space needed and it's > less expensive to run fiber than copper for the same number of lines. >> 2. In the central office there is a hardware equipment (LTG ??) which >> has a lot of ports, to one of which the copper pair that runs from the >> suscribers telephone is plugged in. >> (I hope I am correct here.) > Yes, you are correct. Most companies use the term "Central Office" to > refer to both the telephone exchange equipment and the building which > houses it. >> 3. The central office is connected to the tandem office via trunks >> which I hope are a thick co-axial cable or optical fiber through which >> multiplexed traffic from various CO flows. > Almost all fiber; coaxial cables were retired long ago and are now > used only for TV transmission, and even then only in locations where > the coax is "retired in place" (as far as trunk usage goes) and > there's no demand for digital transmission. >> Also there is a separate cable for SS7 siganlling, connecting various >> CO to TO . > There are separate _circuits_ for SS7, which share the same > transmission layer as inter-office trunks, but are always routed to > two geographically diverse Signal Transfer Point locations via routes > that have nothing in common. >> There is also a switch at the tandem office. > Yes, it's a tandem switch. The definition _used to_ be along > "two-wire" vs. "four-wire" switches, but since all digital paths are > four-wire, the distinction is less clear now. It's very common for > "local" exchages to do double-duty as small tandem offices, e.g., for > E-911 switching to a PSAP, and the only real difference between > "local" and "tandem" switching is the circuit packs used at the edges, > since all digital exchanges have to have "four-wire" (i.e., separate > paths for transmit and receive) internal switching anyway. >> 4. Now if a suscriber dials a number, the DTMF tones are resceived at >> the CO which has a directory (databse ???) look up. It finds that this >> number is at antother exchange and sends a SS7 signal to that . From >> there how is the trunk reserved ???? > In the Bell System, SS7 is an overlay on the old MF signalling method, > so each CO handles trunk reservations the same way for both signalling > methods. The exchange keeps an internal list of which trunks are in > use, and assigns a vacant trunk to each inter-office call as needed. > Intermediate tandems assign trunks in turn, in a daisy chain fashion, > until the call is completed or there are no trunks available. > There is no "database" of trunks; i.e. they are _not_ preassigned at a > central "brain" before the call setup is attempted. Each office > maintains a local list, and makes its own decision about which trunk > to use for the next hop, with the assignments taking place in sequence > from office to office. >> 5. Also how is the incoming call from a modem and telephone >> distinguished at the CO. Or does the modem also dial DTMF signals??? > The modem uses either DTMF or dial-pulse, depending on how it has been > programmed, and it dials the call in the same way a subscriber would. > The CO is unaware that a modem is being used, either for data or fax. I think your explanation is right on, however in my world, and this may be too technical for this discussion and if I remember ... If the switch does sense data flowing, it turns off the echo cans for the duration of that call on any long haul circuit. Having been retired for about 7 years now, I wonder if the scheme is still the same ... burris >> I hope someone can answer my questions. > I hope I have. > William > (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: How a Telephone Works Date: 14 Sep 2005 07:51:21 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com eagle_speaks@yahoo.co.uk wrote: > 1. Each home suscriber has a twisted copper pair that runs from his > telephone to a cable containg thousands (why no multiplexing here and > send it through a single wire??) thousands of such pairs; to the local > excahnge or the central office. Since the beginning of telephone service there were various forms of "multiplexing". First, people only had one wire instead of a pair, the earth ground was used as the other. Early on people simply shared the wire pair as party lines. In the 1960s they used "concentrators" in which a whole neighborhood shared a group of common trunks to the C.O. Today more sophisticated methods are used. > 4. Now if a suscriber dials a number, the DTMF tones are resceived at > the CO which has a directory (databse ???) look up. It finds that this > number is at antother exchange and sends a SS7 signal to that . From > there how is the trunk reserved ???? Plenty of people still use pulse. The switch is always scanning lines for off hook and detects dial pulses the same way. I'm pretty sure today's switches could handle 20 pulses per second if anyone had a fast dial. > 5. Also how is the incoming call from a modem and telephone > distinguished at the CO. Or does the modem also dial DTMF signals??? The central office makes no distinction between voice calls and plain dial up computer calls. The whole point of a modem is to "modulate" -- to convert digital pulses into analog sound signals that can be transmitted over the telephone line. Now internally at the central office those analog sound signals are converted into digital pulses for high capacity transmission through the telephone system network. At the other end those digital pulses are converted back to analog sound waves for a person to listen to or a modem to demodulate (modem= MODulate/DEmodulate). Older modems used to have an acoustic connection, not electrical, by placing the telephone handset into suction cups. (Such an arrangement, while slow, would still work today if you don't mind a 300 baud connection.) One can wonder if the conversion of computer pusles to analog sound waves and then back into computer pulses is inefficient. It is. That's why today we have broadband communications like DSL. In those cases digital signals are directly sent out in an efficient form, and as such, more bandwidth can be handled. Keep in mind that the basic principal of dial-up modems is about 50 years old now and they're gradually fading from the scene. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 19:36:29 -0400 From: William Warren Subject: Re: Gripes From Skype Users After eBay Buyout Adam Pasick wrote: > By Adam Pasick > Ebay's acquisition of Skype could be worth up to $4.1 billion to > investors in the Internet telephony start-up, but it is getting mixed > reviews from Skype's fervent supporters. > It was the hard-core Skype fans whose word-of-mouth advertising helped > it become the world's largest voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) > provider without spending a penny on marketing. It has some 54 million > registered users and usually has more than 3.5 million people online. > But the sale to eBay could signal the end of the evangelical zeal from > users that drove Skype's rapid growth. Its software -- which offers > free computer-to-computer calls between Skype users -- has spread in > classic viral fashion, as each new user convinces friends and family > to sign up. [snip] The same thing happended with Red Hat -- they built a dedicated user base, relied on word-of-mouth to spread their product, and became the preeminent Linux distribution. Then, they changed their distribution model so that they now have "Enterprise" and "Enthusiast" versions, started charging "license" fees on open-source software, and invited the user base that had spread their brand name to participate in "Alpha" software tests, while saving stable versions for paying customers. What was it that The Who sang about? " ... then I get on my knees and pray -- we don't get fooled again"? FWIW. William (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ From: Matteo Subject: Re: Lucent TNT Max or APX 8000 Date: 13 Sep 2005 23:19:02 -0500 Organization: Intelco Communication Hi, I just wanted some user feedback from anyone who has used Lucent TNT Max or APX 8000. Does it work well? Is it stable? Is it interoperable with Cisco with H323 and SIP? Thanks. Matteo D'Amato Intelco Communications ------------------------------ From: henry999@eircom.net (Henry) Subject: Re: Bush Takes Responsibility For Katrina Blunders Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 10:50:20 +0300 Organization: Elisa Internet customer Lara Jakes Jordan wrote: > By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer > President Bush said Tuesday that "I take responsibility" for failures > in dealing with Hurricane Katrina... Yes, but ... what does that _mean_, really? 'I take responsibility ...' In a parliamentary system, it would mean that he RESIGNS, forthwith. In this case, absolutely nothing substantial is going to happen. Yes, 'Brownie' is out but ...I said, nothing _substantial_. The American people had an accountability moment and that was last November. ' ... hereby issue a full and free pardon for anything he did or may have done while serving ...' blah blah blah Corruptiion from top to bottom. cheers, Henry ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Administration Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 06:01:12 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:28:19 -0500, Debbie DKTubiolo wrote: > How many members of the Bush Administration does it take to change a <<<< snipping away the sniping >>>>> Deer Pat and Debbie, Debbie, You can submit this to any and all newsgroups you like, but political crap is best appreciated in politcal forums. Or hang out in alt.obituaries. Pat, Please do your job and edit. You are slipping. Carl Navarro [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, Debbie is not to be blamed. She is a member of another list to which I belong, and she sent that item around with one of those 'pass it along to all your friends' tags. Considering that Debbie and I share certain parts of the same agenda (?!) I took her suggestion and 'passed it along'. If you took umbrage to it, I am sorry! Seriously. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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 #419 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Sep 14 22:13:53 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id B98D714F06; Wed, 14 Sep 2005 22:13:52 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #420 Message-Id: <20050915021352.B98D714F06@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 22:13:52 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 14 Sep 2005 22:14:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 420 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson VoIM Programs are Latest to Offer Voice (Erika D. Smith) Massapequa Park Residents Vote on Broadband Competition (Keiko Morris) Becoming a RespOrg (andre80) Re: PECO and PSE&G Power Companies Merger (Lisa Hancock) Re: PECO and PSE&G Power Companies Merger (Paul A Lee) Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras Sts (Simpson) Re: How a Telephone Works (John Levine) Re: How a Telephone Works (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: How a Telephone Works (Paul Vader) Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land (Steven Lichter) Re: Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Administration (Tom Horsley) Re: Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Administration (burris) 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: Erika D. Smith Subject: VoIM: Instant Messaging Programs Are Latest to Offer Voice Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 14:48:58 -0500 By Erika D. Smith erika.smith@indystar.com So you heard you can make long-distance phone calls for pennies instead of dollars. And you heard it has to do with something called VoIP. You're right. VoIP, or voice-over Internet Protocol, is a technology that routes calls over the Internet for a fraction of what you're paying now. All you need is a high-speed Web connection. But now there's a way to make those same calls for free. It's called VoIM, or voice-over instant messaging. Companies including Skype, Google, Yahoo!, AOL, ICQ and MSN offer this computer-to-computer calling as part of their instant messaging programs. Subscribers log on to their chosen program, and have a conversation with others using the same program. Users will need a microphone for their computer, speakers and sometimes a Webcam. VoIM is really a spinoff of traditional VoIP, which works a bit differently. VoIP subscribers use their own high-speed modem, plus an adapter to route calls over the Internet. Any regular telephone will work with VoIP, and Vonage is the most popular provider. In general, traditional VoIP and VoIM are similar only in that both break voice calls into data packets and route them over the Internet. The method is much cheaper than the traditional circuit-switched phone system. And the prices for voice-over services reflect that. Consumers are responding. For now, the United States has 2.5 million to 4 million VoIP subscribers. Some say that number will grow to 17 million by 2008. At the same time, the number of traditional phone lines, now about 120 million households, is declining rapidly. "I think the biggest driver of this technology right now is price," said Joe Porus, vice president and chief architect for technology research practice at Harris Interactive. "On the flip side, it's a hard sell to the masses. This is not your father's telephone." Still, the voice-over industry has gotten really crowded, really fast. This is especially true for VoIM. Last month, Google Inc. rolled out a new instant messaging program with voice service. It's designed to compete with similar services from Yahoo! and MSN. Also, Microsoft Corp. acquired Teleo Inc., a startup that makes software specializing in Web calls. And then there's Skype, which eBay Inc. agreed to buy on Monday for $2.6 billion. Skype already has more than 50 million registered users worldwide, including more than 2 million who pay for its premium services, such as voice mail. In 2004, the company generated about $7 million in revenue. It's projecting $60 million this year. Plainfield-based Brightpoint Inc. was confident about Skype's prospects even before eBay got involved. The company became a distributor of Skype software and products in August. "Their success has been incredible," said Brightpoint's chairman and CEO, Robert Laikin. The question is whether that success will continue now that consumers have alternatives, such as Google Talk. Skype, which is the market leader, says most of its subscribers are business users. Other instant messaging programs are targeted to the masses. That may be an advantage since about twice as many business users know what VoIP is than consumers, according to a Harris Interactive poll. "People who are on Skype right now, will stay on Skype," Laikin said. "Once you have your community, in my opinion, you're not going to go to a Yahoo! or AOL and start an account." But that can work both ways. Yahoo! and others already have about 867 million subscribers, according to research firm The Radicati Group. That's expected to hit 1.2 billion by 2009. "I think the advantage that Google and AOL have is that they already have a user base," said Jan Dawson, research director of the telecom research firm Ovum. "Not only am I a user, but my friends and family are all on the same IM platform. If I start introducing voice to that, I don't have to convince all of them to sign up." The other hurdle that VoIM faces, regardless if it's Skype or Yahoo!, is the technology isn't exactly user-friendly. Users are more or less tied to their computers. It's not like picking up the phone on your desk. That's where Vonage, AT&T and other companies that offer traditional VoIP have an edge. "For all the new-fangled things people like to talk about, the phone has been the phone for 100 years now," said Joe Laszlo, a senior analyst for Jupiter Research. That's why Brightpoint has contracts to distribute Vonage and Skype products, Laikin said. People will use each type of technology for a different purpose, analysts say. VoIM, they say, will evolve as a compliment to traditional VoIP, not a substitute -- no matter the price. "For the foreseeable future, the more a VoIP service resembles a traditional phone service, the more successful it will be," Dawson 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, indystar.com For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Keiko Morris Subject: Massapequa Park Residents Back Verizon Cable Franchise Agreement Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 14:55:29 -0500 BY Keiko Morris, Staff Writer Massapequa Park residents turned out in force last night to give a thumbs up to Verizon Communications' proposed request for a cable service franchise license, expressing the sentiment that competition is good. "I think competition is excellent," John O'Brien, a former Massapequa Park trustee and a resident for more than 50 years, told trustees at a public hearing. "Living in the town of Oyster Bay with Teddy Roosevelt as a founder of this community, he broke up monopolies when he was president, and this is just a continuation of that." Village trustees are considering a license for Verizon's new FiOS TV service -- an action that would make Massapequa Park the first municipality in the state to grant the company a base to launch its service. They took no action last night and set a second hearing for Sept. 26. Cablevision Systems Corp. attorneys said they were at last night's meeting not to oppose competition, but because the proposed agreement had "deficiencies" that could give Verizon an advantage. Michael Olsen, vice president of legal and regulatory affairs for Cablevision, said the wording in the agreement would eliminate some of the village's authority over right of way. "The question is not whether competition will be good," he said, "but whether it will be fair." Village Mayor James Altadonna Jr. has received many letters from constituents in support of the Verizon franchise, village administrator Peggy Caltabiano said before the hearing. "The mayor is looking for his residents to have a choice and he feels that by offering Verizon he will give them a choice," Caltabiano said. "He will increase customer service and introduce competition in the cable market." She added, "As much as he [the mayor] wants to offer competition, we also have to be very careful that both franchise agreements are negotiated on ... a level playing field." The Verizon agreement, like Cablevision's, would run for 10 years. Verizon has been pushing for legislation that would allow it to get statewide franchise licenses to offer the FiOS TV cable services; so far, they have only succeeded in Texas. Verizon has received local franchise licenses in 10 communities in California, Texas, Virginia and Florida. Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Newsday, Inc. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: andre80 Subject: Becoming a RespOrg Date: 14 Sep 2005 15:47:33 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Anyone know how to become a RespOrg? I know there is some training and a test (and hefty fees!) involved, but don't know how/who/where to do this. My company manages 4000+ toll free numbers for our clients and want/need to be in better control of our numbers. Thanks, in advance, for any advice you can provide! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You may want to speak with Judith Oppenheimer on this. She works very closely with resporgs everywhere in handling a large number of toll free lines. Check out http://icbtollfree.com and the page with her biography for more details, or call her at 212-684-7210. You can mention to her that you were referred by Telecom Digest. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: PECO and PSE&G Power Companies Merger Date: 14 Sep 2005 13:27:42 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: While Highland Park could be either > New Jersey or Illinois (I guess, if you say so; I never heard of the > New Jersey version) in the instance of Bryn Mawr, there is no such > suburb in the Chicago area. There _is_ a Bryn Mawr Avenue in Chicago > (and continuing in a near northwest suburb) and there is a CTA > train stop known as 'Bryn Mawr' (logically, on the street by the same > name) and there is, oddly enough, a 'Bryn Mawr' station on the > Illinois Central suburban line on the southeast side of Chicago; but > no Bryn Mawr as a town or neighborhood around Chicago. There, did I > leave the water muddy enough? PAT] Highland Park, NJ is across the Raritan River from New Brunswick. Not to be confused with Highland Park, Mich, where Henry Ford had his first big automobile plant As to Bryn Mawr, sorry about the error. I knew of the stations on both the CTA and MetraRail, and presumed it referred to a neighborhood, not a street. It is a Philadelphia suburb location, located in the "Main Line", the fanciest suburbs (think of the "Philadelphia Story" movie with Katherine Hepburn). There are two SEPTA lines that have a Bryn Mawr stop. I believe it is a Bell rate center (LAwrence 5 ???). It has a very elite girls college, Bryn Mawr College. However, Bryn Mawr is a municipality, but rather a part of Lower Merion Township. Until recently, the telephone CO building had a handsome stone Bell System logo above the door, now covered with a Verizon sign. Kind of clashes with the colonial brick design of the building. As it happens, next to Bryn Mawr PA is Rosemont PA, also SEPTA stops on two lines and a CTA stop as well. Along these lines, PECO has a power plant on Barbadoes Island. This isn't the vacation resort in the Carribean, but rather a small island in the river outside Norristown near Phila. SEPTA and some businesses ran a promotion with the prize being a trip down there, their ads showed a happy couple alighting onto a lovely beach from a SEPTA bus and train. It was smugly observed that perhaps the vacation destination was actually the aforementioned power plant island (which isn't too far from bus and train service); SEPTA didn't appreciate the humor. Of course, given the sorry state of airline service these days, maybe SEPTA should be providing air service. Indeed, long ago its trolley predecessor, Philadelphia Rapid Transit, did try its hand in the early airline business in 1926. Then again, the mental picture of some of our favorite subway cashiers and bus drivers operating an airliner is disturbing. ------------------------------ From: Paul A Lee Subject: Re: PECO and PSE&G Power Companies Merger Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 15:35:07 -0400 Organization: Rite Aid Corporation In TELECOM Digest V24 #419, our Editor wrote (in part): > I never heard of the New Jersey version) in the instance of > Bryn Mawr, there is no such suburb in the Chicago area. There > _is_ a Bryn Mawr Avenue in Chicago (and continuing in a near > northwest suburb) and there is a CTA train stop known as > 'Bryn Mawr' (logically, on the street by the same > name) and there is, oddly enough, a 'Bryn Mawr' station on > the Illinois Central suburban line on the southeast side of > Chicago; but no Bryn Mawr as a town or neighborhood around > Chicago. "Bryn mawr" is Welsh for "big hill", so I'd imagine you might find a "Bryn Mawr" 'most anywhere Welsh settlers encountered a big hill -- although big hills seem to me less likely to be found in the Chicagoland area than in Pennsylvania or New Jersey ... Paul A Lee Sr Telecom Engineer Rite Aid Corporation HL-IS-COM (Telecomm) V: +1 717 730-8355 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 F: +1 717 975-3789 P.O. Box 3165, Harrisburg, PA 17105-3165 C: +1 717 805-6208 ------------------------------ From: Matt Simpson Subject: Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras Streets Organization: Yeah Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 15:00:07 -0400 There's an interesting blog maintained by an employee of a New Orleans ISP who stayed at their center, located in the CBD, throughout the disaster and kept it running. http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/ I don't know New Orleans geography, but it sounds like he must have been close to the BellSouth "main" facility on Poydras, as he mentions it at least once On Thursday Sep 1 he says We've got a prayer! Huge convoy of fuel and generator engineer types affiliated with Bell South just moved down the street toward their building. That's where 2 of our OC3s that went down are at Bell's main. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Sep 2005 19:41:16 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: How a Telephone Works Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I think your explanation is right on, however in my world, and this > may be too technical for this discussion and if I remember ... If the > switch does sense data flowing, it turns off the echo cans for the > duration of that call on any long haul circuit. Having been retired > for about 7 years now, I wonder if the scheme is still the same ... I believe that the pilot tone the modem sends is defined to tell the echo cancellers to go away. Of course, now that phone calls are typically digitized at the originating CO and turned back to analog at the callee's CO, whether it's across the street or half way around the world, how much echo cancelling do we need? R's, John ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 16:21:25 EDT Subject: Re: How a Telephone Works On 14 Sep 2005 07:51:21 -0700 hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > eagle_speaks@yahoo.co.uk wrote: >> 1. Each home suscriber has a twisted copper pair that runs from his >> telephone to a cable containg thousands (why no multiplexing here and >> send it through a single wire??) thousands of such pairs; to the local >> excahnge or the central office. > Since the beginning of telephone service there were various forms of > "multiplexing". First, people only had one wire instead of a pair, > the earth ground was used as the other. Early on people simply shared > the wire pair as party lines. In the 1960s they used "concentrators" > in which a whole neighborhood shared a group of common trunks to the > C.O. Today more sophisticated methods are used. In about 1957 in Austin I saw a demonstration of a concentrator intended to be pole mounted. As I recall, it served 100 subscriber lines and had 10 trunks to the C.O., but that ratio may have been different or even variable. It was a tiny crossbar switch, made by a Swiss company, I believe, and the components (and the whole switching assmbly) looked like a piece of jewelry. Of course, a matching control unit was required in the C.O. I believe it was indeed practical and many were placed in service, particularly suited to a new addition at some distance from the C.O. As Lisa says, more sophisticated methods followed ... there are many "pair gain" systems in use today, some concentrators, some multiplexing in electronic ways. Whether to reinforce the cables to the C.O. and extend copper pairs to customer premises or use some form of pair gain system depends on the type of customer traffic and is a study in engineering economics. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: How a Telephone Works Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 21:05:22 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations William Warren writes: > Almost all fiber; coaxial cables were retired long ago and are now > used only for TV transmission, and even then only in locations where > the coax is "retired in place" (as far as trunk usage goes) and In selected places at every telco in the company, a bunch of engineers just spit coffee all over their monitors and started laughing uncontrollably. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ From: Steven Lichter Reply-To: Die@spammers.com Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc. (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co. Subject: Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 00:06:46 GMT Steve Stone wrote: > I placed a call from my cellphone to my Mom in Congers, Rockland > County, NY. I got a busy signal, not unusual because she is always on > the phone. What was unusual was the busy signal sounded like what I > remembered hearing as a kid in the 1960's from my mom's house when > they used mechanical switching rather than ESS. > I tried it a few more times and at one point even came up with a > 1960's style ring tone with no answer. Is it possible the old gear is > still in the little brick telco building by Rockland Lake and taking > overload calls ? > 845-268-xxxx. > A definite blast from the past. > Steve Anything is possible, but not likely. It would really have to be a small company. The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Administration From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 00:59:39 GMT > If you took umbrage to it, I am sorry! Well, I certainly did! You forgot one of the most important people: One person to claim the administration was never officially informed that it was dark. :-). >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The next time I speak with Debbie, I will counsel her to be sure and include this important person in her next distribution of the 'how many people' joke. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 21:04:00 -0400 From: burris Subject: Re: Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Administration Carl Navarro wrote: > On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:28:19 -0500, Debbie DKTubiolo > wrote: >> How many members of the Bush Administration does it take to change a > <<<< snipping away the sniping >>>>> > Dear Pat and Debbie, > Debbie, > You can submit this to any and all newsgroups you like, but political > crap is best appreciated in politcal forums. Or hang out in > alt.obituaries. > Pat, > Please do your job and edit. You are slipping. > Carl Navarro > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, Debbie is not to be blamed. > She is a member of another list to which I belong, and she sent that > item around with one of those 'pass it along to all your friends' > tags. Considering that Debbie and I share certain parts of the same > agenda (?!) I took her suggestion and 'passed it along'. If you took > umbrage to it, I am sorry! Seriously. PAT] Not everyone took umbrage. I not only thought it was right on the mark and quite funny, but took the liberty of sending it to my list of correspondents who also got a good laugh. Would be nice if our administration hung out in the types of forums suggested by the offended poster. burris ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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 #420 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Sep 15 14:39:30 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 515F114C9F; Thu, 15 Sep 2005 14:39:30 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #421 Message-Id: <20050915183930.515F114C9F@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 14:39:30 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.5 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, INFO_TLD autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Sep 2005 14:38:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 421 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Microsoft in Talks on AOL Link (Kenneth Li) Yahoo Blends Web E-Mail With Speed of Desktop (Reuters News Wire) U.S. Senate Turns Aside Web Gambling Problem for Now (Reuters News) Email to Former AT&T Phones Now Cingular (NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info) Report: Microsoft in Talks to Buy AOL Stake (USTelecom dailyLead) Its the Spam Problem, Again (TELECOM Digest Editor) Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land (John Levine) Re: How a Telephone Works (Neal McLain) Re: PECO and PSE&G Power Companies Merger (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Administration (Tim@Backhome) 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: Kenneth Li Subject: Microsoft in Talks on AOL Link Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 12:31:24 -0500 By Kenneth Li Time Warner Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are discussing cooperation between their Internet search and advertising networks, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. "There have been talks on ways Microsoft and AOL assets can be better leveraged and they've taken place over the normal course of business ...," the source said, calling reports of a joint venture "way overblown." Although talks, which have taken place over several months, could advance, nothing was imminent, the source added. Time Warner shares rose 2.7 percent after the New York Post reported on Thursday the two were talking about a joint venture. Time Warner declined comment. Microsoft was not immediately reachable. Discussions started some two years ago after the companies settled a long-running antitrust suit that America Online, a unit of Time Warner, filed against the software giant, the source said. Time Warner has been under pressure to boost its stock price, which has fallen 70 percent over the past five years. Corporate raider Carl Icahn this week said he planned to seek one or more shareholder- nominated board seats at the company to force changes. Icahn has demanded that the company raise its stock buyback program to $20 billion from Time Warner's existing commitments of up to $5 billion and completely spin off its cable division. One investor was cheered by the discussions and said anything that could add some $4 per share to the stock price from improvements at AOL was a good sign. "Management is not asleep at the switch," said Larry Haverty, a portfolio manager at Gabelli Asset Management, which has a stake of about $286 million in Time Warner. "Anything you can do to move the needle in that direction is terrific for shareholders." Low ball estimates for AOL are about $10 billion with improvements possibly doubling that valuation, Richard Greenfield, an analyst at Fulcrum Global Partners said. Time Warner shares were up 55 cents at $18.47 in late morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Yahoo Blends Web E-Mail With Speed of Desktop Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 12:32:30 -0500 Yahoo Inc. said it is upgrading Yahoo Mail, the most popular Web e-mail program, to make it run more efficiently than other Web-based systems and nearly as fast as desktop e-mail. The new version of Yahoo Mail works in a browser, just as existing versions of the program do, but Yahoo has developed ways to short-circuit the multi-second delays that typically delay any action taken in Web-based e-mail programs. It replaces the need to repeatedly refresh a browser to open e-mail, move it into folders or take other actions that require the user to wait for the browser to redraw the page. Instead, it works similarly to desktop computer e-mail clients, with features such as drag-and-drop organization of e-mails into folders and a message preview window that displays selected messages nearly instantaneously. "The process of going through the inbox is much, much faster," said Ethan Diamond, product manager for Yahoo Mail and a co-founder of Outpost, the company which supplied the underlying technology used in the Yahoo Mail upgrade. Yahoo acquired Outpost in July 2004. Analysts said Yahoo appears to have a sizable head start over other major consumer e-mail providers such as Microsoft Corp.'s Hotmail, Time Warner Inc.'s America Online and Google Inc.'s Gmail in speeding up the experience of managing Web-based e-mail. GREATER LOYALTY "This is a fairly significant step ahead for Yahoo," said Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. Yahoo Mail contains keystroke shortcuts that reduce use of a mouse pointer, faster searching through e-mail and an auto-complete feature for addressing e-mails to frequent correspondents. Yahoo Mail remains free and ad-supported. Users of Microsoft Outlook, the desktop e-mail program that is the most popular way for office-workers to manage their e-mail, will recognize many similarities between Yahoo Mail and the Web-based version of Outlook. Golvin said Yahoo is looking to keep existing customers happy more than winning new Yahoo Mail users. "This is more about cementing greater loyalty of customers that might have been casting their eye at (rival) Gmail," he said. It will be offered initially to heavy e-mail users in the United States and then be progressively offered to all Yahoo e-mail users over the next several months, a spokeswoman said. The upgrade will become available to Yahoo users in Europe, Asia, and around the world in coming months. During a test period, users will be able to switch between the new version and the existing version of Yahoo Mail to compare features. The new version of Yahoo Mail is available on the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser for Windows and on Firefox for both Apple and Windows-based computers. Further details can be found at http://whatsnew.mail.yahoo.com/ Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: U.S. Senate Turns Aside Web Gambling Ban for Now Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 12:32:53 -0500 The U.S. Senate on Thursday turned aside an attempt to restrict Internet gambling in a procedural move, but Sen. Jon Kyl vowed he would try again and said he expected the legislation would become law eventually. The Arizona Republican tried to attach language restricting Internet gambling to an annual spending bill that must be passed this year, but an unnamed Democrat objected to attaching an unrelated matter to the spending measure under consideration. Kyl said his legislation would require banks and credit card companies to block payments to online Internet gambling sites. He said some firms were already voluntarily blocking money transfers. "We will proceed with this, it will become law at some point at some time," the Arizona Republican said on the Senate floor. "There should be no reason why we can't move forward on this." Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, said that a member of her party had objected to attaching Kyl's language to the spending bill but she was not sure who. Kyl urged the lawmaker to come forward so the concerns could be addressed. The U.S. Justice Department has said the laws that prohibit interstate gambling apply to the Internet. But Americans have turned to offshore gambling Internet sites as an alternative. The Senate and U.S. House of Representatives have passed similar legislation in the past but have been unable to reach agreement on a single, identical bill, Kyl said. Shares of online gambling sites in Britain moved higher on Thursday in anticipation of the Senate action. Partygaming Plc moved up 5 percent to 105 pence while Sportingbet.com Plc moved up 11.3 percent to 321 pence on London trading. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For other news headlines, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html (and) http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/othernews.html ------------------------------ From: NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info Subject: Email to Former AT&T Phones Now Cingular Date: 15 Sep 2005 10:25:10 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com >> 1XXXXXXX ....@mmode.com works for my former AT&T now Cingular >> phones. A couple of months ago I replied, > Thanks. > I tried a whole bunch of different ways and the one above is the only > one that worked. Receiver said she couldn't reply though. Maybe she > doesn't know how. Now the person switched to a Blackberry wih same phone number and messages to her bounce. Any reason that with a Blackberry it would be different? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 13:42:33 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Report: Microsoft in Talks to Buy AOL Stake USTelecom dailyLead September 15, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24640&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Report: Microsoft in talks to buy AOL stake BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * GSN inks carriage deal with Verizon's TV service * Report: TV's future is IPTV * AOL to unveil new VoIP service next week * Analysis: Nokia's new e-mail package puts heat on rivals * Motorola may unload auto-products business * ESPN in eight-year deal with MLB * RIM faces another patent lawsuit USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Telecom Crash Course -- The must-have book for telecom professionals EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Verizon launches global 3G cellular data access program * S-A, Motorola, Tropos team up on Wi-Fi mesh networks for cable REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * SBC takes franchise-exemption case to FCC * FCC meeting puts spotlight on communications networks * RIAA to P2P companies: Cut it out * Korea's FTC fines carriers Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24640&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 ------------------------------ Subject: Its the Spam Problem, Again Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 13:43:31 EDT From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Today, Thursday, I was confronted with 153 spam items in the _regular_ mail box; not the 'spam box' where Spam Assassin throws its stuff; I am speaking of the items which got through into regular mail. These spam items were so wound up and intermixed with the regular, good stuff that a half-dozen or so good items got lost in the process, including one of the regular features here each day, 'cellular-news'. I use the old-fashioned Unix mail program called 'mailx' here on the Digest stuff, and I guess I am going to have to switch to something more modern, rather than continually battling with the spam (and occassionally losing, due to my clumsy fingers) as I did today. PAT ------------------------------ Date: 15 Sep 2005 02:42:16 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I tried it a few more times and at one point even came up with a > 1960's style ring tone with no answer. Is it possible the old gear is > still in the little brick telco building by Rockland Lake and taking > overload calls ? > 845-268-xxxx. Rather unlikely. The switch is a nice modern DMS-100 with vastly more capacity than whatever electromechanical thing it replaced. I can think of a variety of possible explanations, none terribly plausible. I do know that when you get a busy signal, as often as not the signal you hear is generated by the switch at your end and the circuit is dropped as soon as the remote switch can tell your switch to give you a busy. (This is why calls to Europe produce US busy signals rather than the local European busy signal.) They don't do that for ring, but of course the ring tone is all digital, so who knows what sort of recording some wag might have installed. R's, John ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 05:34:19 -0600 From: Neal McLain Subject: Re: How a Telephone Works eagle_speaks@yahoo.co.uk [TD 24:417] wrote: > Though I am in the telecommunications field ( software side) I > am a bit confused about how everything works, though I have a > high level overview. So I am stating my undestanding, so that > someone can correct or fill up the gaps. > 1. Each home suscriber has a twisted copper pair that runs > from his telephone to a cable containg thousands (why no > multiplexing here and send it through a single wire??) > thousands of such pairs; to the local excahnge or the central > office. William Warren [TD 24:418] responded: > There's no multiplexing because it means putting active > equipment at the end of the wire, and that means the company > has to build a weather protection enclosure, connect power, > maintain batteries, and pay for easement(s), maintenance, etc. > It's more cost-effective to have the pair go back to the CO., > at least for most single-family homes. Furthermore, the telco has to apply DC bias voltage and AC ring voltage across nthe loop. The typical bias voltage for loop-start lines in North America is: Tip = ground Ring = -48 volts (approximately) This voltage causes a direct current to flow in the loop. Originally this current was needed to operate the old carbon "transmitters" (microphones); more recent electronic telephones use other types of microphones (e.g. electret), but DC is still required to operate the electronic circuitry. The loop current is also used for signaling functions such as on-hook/off-hook status, call supervision, and rotary dial pulses. The minimum loop current for proper operation is about 23 ma. [1] The maximum permissible loop current is 120 ma., but currents far below that value can cause problems with some terminal equipment. Mike Sandman Enterprises has a comprehensive article about all this at http://www.sandman.com/loopcur.html . The typical ring voltage is 90 volts at 20 Hz applied across ring and tip, but variations in voltage and frequency exist. Even ground-start PBX trunks carry DC loop current and AC ring voltage. Although loop current isn't needed to operate the PBX (which presumably has its own source of power), it's still needed for signaling. http://tinyurl.com/788uv It is indeed possible to multiplex many POTS lines onto some other medium; e.g., copper pairs, coax, fiber, or microwave. But no matter what medium is used, there still has to be some sort of equipment at the far end to convert the multiplexed signals into individual POTS lines. This equipment has to apply DC bias voltage and AC ring voltage on each line, and deal with the signaling functions associated with loop current. Here in the USA, we call these systems "pair gain." There are many types of pair-gain equipment in use, but the most common in current use is "Digital Loop Carrier" (DLC); I assume you have something similar in the UK. The simplest DLC uses a T1 carrying 24 voice channels, often on two copper pairs, at 1.544 Mbps. The European equivalent is the E1 which (as I understand it) carries 30 voice channels at 2.048 Mbps. [1] John L. Pike et al. Understanding Telephone Electronics. Dallas: Texas Instruments, 1983. Table 1-6, p. 1-35. Neal McLain ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 09:21:53 EDT Subject: Re: PECO and PSE&G Power Companies Merger In a message dated 14 Sep 2005 13:27:42 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes: > Highland Park, NJ is across the Raritan River from New Brunswick. Not > to be confused with Highland Park, Mich, where Henry Ford had his > first big automobile plant and not to be confused with Highland Park, Texas, a very upscale suburb of Dallas ("inurb" maybe? It and University Park -- the "Park Cities" -- are totally surrounded by Dallas). Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And there is also Highland Park, Illinois which is also rather upscale and the home of the Ravinia Festival (summer home of Chicago Symphony Orchestra). PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Administration Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 17:31:11 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, Debbie is not to be blamed. > She is a member of another list to which I belong, and she sent that > item around with one of those 'pass it along to all your friends' > tags. Considering that Debbie and I share certain parts of the same > agenda (?!) I took her suggestion and 'passed it along'. If you took > umbrage to it, I am sorry! Seriously. PAT] George W. Bush is probably the worst president of all, or at least in modern times. His neocon pals are ugly, too. But, as to his Administration, so what? Look back at the Carter Administration, and so forth. The leftie liberals are as bad as the neocons in many ways. I am at the point in my life as a life-long Republican (almost age 69) that I have come to believe neither major party serves us well. And, when I came here to read about telecom issues I'd rather not be confronted with political emotions unless some political event, such as at the FCC, directly relates to telecom issues. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not think either party serves us very well, either. That is the reason I always vote Libertarian when there is a Libertarian candidate on the ballot, which there nearly always is on national and statewide elections, but usually not on municipal or county wide elections. Anyway, if a Libertarian actually got elected to a national office (that will be the day!) IMO it is very likely the 'system' would have him assassinated the day he was to take office, if not sooner. Our system is not designed to have any real alternative candidates; as Mayor Daley would phrase it, 'just will not do'. Your choices (and 'they' do humor you with a small choice) is to elect a Demopublican or a Republocrat; two different sides to the same rotten barrel. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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 #421 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Sep 15 23:57:12 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id C9C9814ECB; Thu, 15 Sep 2005 23:57:11 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #422 Message-Id: <20050916035711.C9C9814ECB@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 23:57:11 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=unavailable version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Sep 2005 23:51:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 422 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Region's Telephone Service Slowly Improving (Keith Darce) Japanese Probe Pulls Alongside Asteroid (Eric Talmadge) Katrina Called Worst Ever Storm in U.S. History (Randolph E. Schmid) Re: Roaming Charges (Mike) Re: Roaming Charges (ranck@vt.edu) Re: Its the Spam Problem, Again (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: Keith Darce Subject: Region's Telephone Service Slowly Improving Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 22:03:56 -0500 By Keith Darce, Business Writer Damages repaired, systems adjusted Those irritating busy signals and congested network messages on your telephone soon may be a thing of the past. After more than two weeks of sporadic service because of Hurricane Katrina, telephone lines in southeastern Louisiana are slowly returning to normal as phone companies not only repair storm-damaged networks but adjust their systems to contend with population shifts. Meanwhile, the Louisiana Public Service Commission on Wednesday asked wireless phone companies in the state to give customers free service for September and October because wireless phones have become the only means of communication for many evacuees. Whether they will remains an open question. Despite the overall improvement in phone service, about 150,000 BellSouth Corp. phone lines remained dead Wednesday, mostly in the parishes of Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard, said Merlin Villar, a spokesman for the region's biggest local phone service provider. Much of those parishes remain evacuated. "We honestly do not know when landline phone service will be restored in for most of New Orleans; no decisions reached yet." Outside of the hardest-hit area, most outgoing local and long distance calls Wednesday were connected on the first try, an improvement from a couple of days earlier. But many people calling into Baton Rouge and other southeastern Louisiana cities still had to dial several times to complete their calls. BellSouth workers have repaired more than 100 breaks in the company's buried fiber-optic cable network that serves as the backbone of the region's local phone system. AT&T technicians had installed a new fiber-optic line between the Mississippi state line and Bay St. Louis, Miss., to bypass a pair of flooded computer switches in eastern New Orleans that are part of the long-distance company's high-capacity network in the region. Wireless phone companies also have repaired antennas, also known as cell sites, in areas that weren't flooded. Verizon Wireless has restored cell sites in Armstrong Park on the edge of the French Quarter, on the roof of Royal Sonesta Hotel in the French Quarter and on top of a residence hall at the Uptown campus of Tulane University, Verizon spokesman Patrick Kimball said. "There has been a lot of progress in bringing back up cell sites," he said. Cingular's wireless network in southeastern Louisiana was 85 percent restored by Wednesday afternoon, Cingular spokeswoman Dawn Benton said. Even with the progress, dialing into the region from outside Louisiana remained a problem for many, particularly during peak calling hours. To prevent the high calling volumes from jamming networks, some long-distance companies were limiting incoming calls so outgoing calls from storm victims and relief workers could be completed. Other companies, such as Sprint, were rerouting many long-distance calls through other Southern cities because regional switches in New Orleans were submerged or otherwise inoperable. The rerouting caused problems for some Sprint customers along the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida, Sprint spokeswoman Kristen Wallace said. Call volume on Sprint's network in southeastern Louisiana has doubled since the storm, only adding to the congestion, she said. Wireless service providers encouraged customers to send more text messages because they use up smaller amounts of network capacities and are easier to complete. The request for free cell service for customers was made by the public service commissioners, who do not regulate wireless phone networks. They sent their request to the Federal Communications Commission, which has jurisdiction over the companies. Many wireless service providers already have offered breaks on some services, phones and accessories. For example, Sprint customers from areas affected by the hurricane will not be charged for long-distance calls, roaming on outside networks, sending text messages or exceeding the number of calling minutes on their service plan. Keith Darce can be reached at kdarce@yahoo.com. Copyright 2003 NOLA.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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Nola.com For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Eric Talmadge Subject: Japanese Probe Pulls Alongside Asteroid Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 22:14:11 -0500 By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Writer Bringing Japan's most complex space mission near its climax, a probe is within 12 miles of an asteroid almost 180 million miles from Earth in an unprecedented rendezvous designed to retrieve rocks from its surface. The Hayabusa probe, launched in May 2003, will hover around the asteroid for about three months before making its brief landing to recover the samples in early November. The asteroid is located between Earth and Mars. "The mission is going very smoothly and proceeding as planned," Atsushi Wako, a spokesman for JAXA, Japan's space agency, said Tuesday. The asteroid, informally named Itokawa, after Hideo Itokawa, the father of rocket science in Japan, is only 2,300 feet long and 1,000 feet wide, and has a gravitational pull one-one-hundred-thousandth of Earth's. Though it took two years to get there, the asteroid is among the closest neighbors to Earth other than the moon. The probe's first mission will be to survey the asteroid with cameras and infrared imaging gear. It has already begun sending back images, Wako said. When Hayabusa moves in for the rendezvous, expected to be over in a matter of seconds, it will pull up close enough to fire a small bullet into the asteroid and collect the ejected fragments in a funnel-like device. It won't be coming back with much -- the amount of material planners hope to capture wouldn't even fill a teaspoon. JAXA officials say Hayabusa would be the world's first two-way trip to an asteroid. A NASA probe collected data for two weeks from the surface of the Manhattan-sized asteroid Eros in 2001, but it did not return with physical samples. Despite a glitch with one of Hayabusa's three gyroscopes, the mission has been largely mishap-free. Wako said the probe is set to return to Earth and land in the Australian outback in June 2007. The success of the mission so far is a major coup for JAXA. Japan was the fourth country to launch a satellite, in 1972, and this spring announced a major project to send its first astronauts into space and set up a base on the moon by 2025. JAXA already has an unmanned moon survey mission planned. Its SELENE probe - originally scheduled for launch in 2005, but since delayed -- is designed to orbit the moon, releasing two small satellites that will measure the moon's magnetic and gravitational field and conduct other tests for clues about the moon's origin. It had to abandon a mission to Mars two years ago, however, after the probe moved off course. The explosion of a domestically designed H-2A rocket, the centerpiece of the country's space program, in November 2003 also marked a major setback for JAXA's plans. Controllers had to detonate that rocket and its payload of two spy satellites after a booster failed to detach. The failed launch came just one month after China successfully put its first astronaut into orbit. Beijing has since announced it is aiming for the moon. Japan returned to space in February with a successful H-2A launch, after 15 months on the ground. On the Net: JAXA Web site: http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For other Associated Press headlines and stories, or to listen to AP News Radio, go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Randolph E. Schmid Subject: Katrina Called Most Destructive U.S. Storm Ever Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 22:16:05 -0500 By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer Hurricane Katrina has become the most destructive such storm ever to strike the United States, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday. Katrina's sustained winds reached 175 mph and its minimum central pressure dropped as low as 902 millibars -- the fourth lowest on record for an Atlantic hurricane, NOAA's National Climatic Data Center reported. The storm weakened slightly before it reached landfall and had less powerful winds than Hurricane Camille, which devastated coastal Mississippi in August, 1969. But the size of Katrina, with hurricane force winds extending 120 miles from its center, was much larger and the destruction more widespread than Camille. The central pressure in a hurricane is a good indicator of the strength of the winds of the storm. The strongest observed hurricane in the Atlantic basin was Gilbert in 1988 with a pressure of 888 millibars in the northwest Caribbean. Normal average sea level air pressure is 1,016 millibars. Katrina was the 11th named storm of a busy season, first striking southern Florida on August 25 as a Category 1 storm. It quickly re-intensified once it moved west into the warm Gulf waters, which were 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. It's the evaporation from warm ocean waters that provides energy for hurricanes. Estimates so far are that Katrina cost the Gulf Coast area at least $125 billion in economic damage and could cost the insurance industry up to $60 billion in claims, a leading risk assessment firm said in updated estimates released Friday. That's significantly higher than the previous record-setting storm, Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which caused nearly $21 billion in insured losses in today's dollars. On the Net: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: http://www.noaa.gov Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. For Associated Press headlines, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Mike Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 18:35:13 GMT In article , JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com says: > On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 19:39:50 GMT, Kevin Lindow > wrote: No way would I pay them. So your phone indicates whether a call is considered a roaming call and you claim your phone didn't say roaming when making calls. I would tell your phone company to shove it. I don't know about your credit if you refuse to pay but this is about principle. As for calling the family, get another plan that has a sweet long- distance service. I recommend using a service called OneSuite (www.onesuite.com). I am under the impression that you can use it with a cell phone, but you might want to confirm. I use it when I am using my home phone to call friends in Italy. Kevin, in the long term you will most likely have to pay the bill but for now I would fight it. Malibu Mike ------------------------------ From: ranck@vt.edu Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 21:34:13 UTC Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > light on the phone goes on when roaming. I have noticed that in > border areas (e.g. a rest stop on the turnpike at the edge of my > service territory), that sometimes I'm roaming, sometimes I'm not; > because the base site antenna used varies all the time even in a fixed > location.] This raises a question I thought of recently, but had not bothered to ask anyone about. Suppose I start a cell call in local but move to a roaming tower during the call? Does the call get charged as roaming or not? What about the opposite situation, start of call is roaming but moves into home area during the call? I'm guessing the call stays billed at whichever rate it started at, but that raises the possibility of someone carrying on a 2 hour conversation as they drive while outside their home area without paying any roaming fees. Hmm. Anyone know for sure? Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Its the Spam Problem, Again Organization: ATCC Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 18:02:14 -0400 In article , ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu says: > Today, Thursday, I was confronted with 153 spam items in the _regular_ > mail box; not the 'spam box' where Spam Assassin throws its stuff; I > am speaking of the items which got through into regular mail. These > spam items were so wound up and intermixed with the regular, good > stuff that a half-dozen or so good items got lost in the process, > including one of the regular features here each day, 'cellular-news'. > I use the old-fashioned Unix mail program called 'mailx' here on the > Digest stuff, and I guess I am going to have to switch to something > more modern, rather than continually battling with the spam (and > occassionally losing, due to my clumsy fingers) as I did today. > PAT I pass my mail through both Spamassassin and PopFile. That tends to filter 99.7% of the crap out. But every now and then one gets through. Annoys the crap out of me because it's obvious spam. But popfile, and SA allow you to teach it what spam is. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #422 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Sep 16 18:13:09 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 00CBD14EA5; Fri, 16 Sep 2005 18:13:08 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #423 Message-Id: <20050916221308.00CBD14EA5@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 18:13:08 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_REMOVE autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Fri, 16 Sep 2005 18:13:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 423 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update #497, Sept. 16, 2005 (Angus TeleManagement Group) Broadband Bill Addresses Advanced Services (USTelecom dailyLead) Cellular-News for Friday 16th September 2005 (Cellular-News) Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras (P Coxwell) Re: Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO (Paul Coxwell) Re: Roaming Charges (John Levine) Re: Roaming Charges (Ken Abrams) Re: Back in the Cord-Board Days (Paul Coxwell) Re: How a Telephone Works (Paul Coxwell) Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land (Paul Coxwell) Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land (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: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 11:31:21 -0700 Subject: Telecom Update #497, Sept. 16, 2005 From: Angus TeleManagement Group Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 497: September 16, 2005 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** 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/ ** NEC UNIFIED SOLUTIONS: www.necunifiedsolutions.com ** ROGERS TELECOM: www.rogers.com/solutions ** VONAGE CANADA: www.vonage.ca ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Cellcos Want Two Years to Make Numbers Portable ** CRTC Wants Comment on Wireless Portability ** Rogers and Bell Plan Wireless Broadband Net ** Telus--Over Half of Alberta TWU Members Working ** FCC to Aid in Hurricane Relief ** Zarlink Offers "Timing Over Packet" Devices ** Policy Panel Receives Second-Round Submissions ** Comments Invited on VoIP Appeals to Cabinet ** CCTA Wants Small CLECs' Obligations Reduced ** CRTC Asks Bell to Clarify VoIP Number Portability Issues ** Aliant Denied Relief on Winback & Promotion Rules ** Quebecor Says Bell is Violating Winback Rules ** RIM Faces New Suit ** Nokia to Launch Push Email ** EBay Snaps Up Skype ** U.S. Congress Reviews Telecom Act ** Nortel Legal Chief Resigns ** Aliant Names New CFO ** Special Offer to Telecom Update Readers ============================================================ CELLCOS WANT TWO YEARS TO MAKE NUMBERS PORTABLE: If a plan proposed by the wireless carriers is implemented, Canadians won't be able to keep their phone numbers when they switch wireless carriers, or switch between wireline and wireless, until September 2007. The proposal, based on a PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, has been submitted to Industry Canada. ** Wireless Number Portability has been operating across the United States for nearly two years. Early this year, the federal government asked the CRTC to "move expeditiously to implement wireless number portability." ** Richard Branson, head of Virgin Mobile, charges that "the big carriers are dragging their heels on giving customers the freedom they deserve because it works to their advantage -- it helps to keep their customers locked in with one carrier." He says the change could be made "in only a few months." CRTC WANTS COMMENT ON WIRELESS PORTABILITY: CRTC Telecom Public Notice 2005-14, issued at 2pm today, asks for public comment on issues related to the introduction of Wireless Number Portability, including ways to shorten the implementation time frame proposed by the CWTA. To participate, notify the Commission by September 26 and submit comments by October 6. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2005/pt2005-14.htm ROGERS AND BELL PLAN WIRELESS BROADBAND NET: Rogers Communications and Bell Canada have agreed to pool their broadband spectrum holdings and build a Canada-wide wireless broadband network through a joint venture, Inukshuk Internet. ** This project was begun early in 2004, when Inukshuk was owned by Microcell (Fido), Allstream, and NR Communications. Last year Rogers acquired Microcell and MTS bought Allstream. MTS then sold its stake in Inukshuk to Rogers and NR, and Bell has now agreed to buy all of NR's share. (See Telecom Update #409, 423, 467) TELUS -- OVER HALF OF ALBERTA TWU MEMBERS WORKING: Telus says that 52.6% of its unionized employees in Alberta were reporting for work as of August 31, up from 48.8% in mid-August. The company has not released any figures for British Columbia, where a majority of the bargaining unit members are located. FCC TO AID IN HURRICANE RELIEF: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has allocated $211 million from the Universal Service Fund to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. Among other things, the funds will provide wireless handsets and 300 free minutes to evacuees and others, and will help pay the costs of reconnecting consumers to the telecommunications network as the disaster-struck area is rebuilt. ** The Commission is creating an expert panel to recommend ways to improve disaster preparedness, network robustness and reliability, and public safety operations. ZARLINK OFFERS "TIMING OVER PACKET" DEVICES: Ottawa-based Zarlink Semiconductor has introduced two Timing-over-Packet devices, which aim to enable wireless carriers to achieve "circuit-switched performance over an economic packet infrastructure." POLICY PANEL RECEIVES SECOND-ROUND SUBMISSIONS: September 15 was the deadline for reply comments to be submitted to the Telecom Policy Review. All comments will be posted on the panel's website. http://www.telecomreview.ca/epic/internet/intprp-gecrt.nsf/en/rx00044e.html ** Archived presentations from last week's broadband consultation in Whitehorse, and the Web forum on the same topic, are also available on the panel's website. http://www.telecomreview.ca/epic/internet/intprpgecrt.nsf/en/h_rx00038e.html#webcast COMMENTS INVITED ON VoIP APPEALS TO CABINET: Industry Canada has published a notice in the Canada Gazette, inviting comment on the various appeals submitted to Cabinet requesting changes to the CRTC's VoIP decision (see Telecom Update #488, 490, 492). http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf08446e.html http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf06105e.html http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-28.htm CCTA WANTS SMALL CLECs' OBLIGATIONS REDUCED: The Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association says that many of its small members want to offer VoIP by contracting with a reseller, but this makes it impossible for them to comply with some of the CLEC obligations, such as interconnecting with other carriers, providing equal access to all long distance carriers, or supporting number portability. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/c13_200510695.htm CRTC ASKS BELL TO CLARIFY VoIP NUMBER PORTABILITY ISSUES: The CRTC has asked Bell Canada to explain why its Digital Voice service does not support number portability on secondary numbers, and how the telco plans to remedy this limitation (see Telecom Update #496). http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Letters/2005/lt050906.htm ALIANT DENIED RELIEF ON WINBACK & PROMOTION RULES: The CRTC has turned down Aliant's request for interim relief from the rules restricting its winback and local promotion activity in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. The Commission said removing these rules prematurely could reduce competition. The substantive issues will be examined in the local forbearance proceeding and in the Bell/SaskTel application to have winback rules declared a Charter violation. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-53.htm http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8640/c12_200505076.htm http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/b2_200505068.htm QUEBECOR SAYS BELL IS VIOLATING WINBACK RULES: Quebecor, on behalf of its subsidiary Videotron, says Bell Canada has been violating the winback rules by addressing automated calls, "survey" calls, or mailed cards to customers leaving Bell for Videotron. Quebecor wants the CRTC to order Bell to stop such practices immediately. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/q15_200510710.htm RIM FACES NEW SUIT: A New York-based developer, Eatoni Ergonomics, is suing Research In Motion, alleging that RIM is wrongly using its patented keyboard technology. RIM has settled suits by several high-tech companies but is still locked in a patent battle with NTP Inc. NOKIA TO LAUNCH PUSH EMAIL: Nokia is developing software to push email and business applications to smartphones and other mobile devices. Nokia Business Centre, developed in collaboration with Good Technology, will be available from some carriers by year-end. EBAY SNAPS UP SKYPE: Online auctioneer eBay has agreed to buy Skype Technologies, an Internet phone company based in Luxembourg, for about US$2.6 billion. More than 50 million users have signed up for Skype's free worldwide computer-to-computer calling service. U.S. CONGRESS REVIEWS TELECOM ACT: The Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives is asking for public comment on draft amendments to the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The amendments would set a framework for regulating broadband Internet and VoIP services. http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/News/09152005_staff_disc.pdf NORTEL LEGAL CHIEF RESIGNS: Nortel Networks Chief Legal Officer Nicolas DeRoma has retired. DeRoma, 59, joined Nortel in 1997. ALIANT NAMES NEW CFO: Aliant has named its VP Finance and Controller Glen Leblanc as Chief Financial Officer. The post has been filled since February by CEO Jay Forbes. SPECIAL OFFER TO TELECOM UPDATE READERS: It's just four weeks until Telemanagement Live, Canada's preeminent conference and exhibition on business telecom and networking. Telecom Update subscribers who register online now will receive a $200 discount on an All Access pass, including all sessions and meals and a ticket to the Telecommunications Hall of Fame Dinner. ** To qualify, register at http://www.telemanagementlive.com and enter AMBP95 in the "promotional code" field. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-mail ianangus@angustel.ca and jriddell@angustel.ca =========================================================== 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 http://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 jriddell@angustel.ca. 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. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 14:28:09 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Broadband Bill Addresses Advanced Services USTelecom dailyLead September 16, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24675&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Broadband bill addresses advanced services BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * BellSouth bounces back after Katrina * Rogers Communications, Bell Canada to launch wireless broadband network * DT won't unload T-Mobile USA * Behind the story on the AOL-MSN talks * Nortel to resell Airspan's WiMAX gear USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Presented by ILC: Broadband Services: Network Provisioning Across Multiple Technologies EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Report: IPTV to buoy VOD growth VOIP DOWNLOAD * Economist: VoIP's impact heard loud and clear * Analysts examine eBay-Skype deal REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * FCC releases $211M to rebuild communications network Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24675&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 ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Friday 16th September 2005 Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 07:28:06 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - www.cellular-news.com UK's Largest WLAN Network http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14067.php As part of a major overhaul of IT infrastructure at the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Trust, Aruba Networks WLAN technology has been used to create what is believed to be the United Kingdom's largest sin... Using Cellphones To Create Art http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14068.php Boffins from MIT have taken anonymous cell phone usage information to create some interesting profiles of cities. Today the experience, infrastructure and morphology of the city are more closely related than ever before.... 3G Launch in Bulgaria http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14069.php Bulgaria's M-Tel has announced the technical launch of its UMTS network, with commercial services due within a few months. The company has already launched an EDGE upgrade to its GSM network.... Donuts into Cellphones - 100th Store for Franchise Chain http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14070.php Cellular superstore franchise Wireless Toyz this week opens its 100th store with its first location in Anaheim, California. The company has added 37 outlets since last January and says that it is scheduled to open 50 mor... Chinese Vendor Launches 3G Handset http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14071.php China's TCT is to launch its first WCDMA handset, using a reference design from Royal Philips Electronics. TCL Communication Technology (TCT) is a leader in its domestic market, with sales of approximately 15 million han... European Operator Wants Second Hand Network Kit http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14072.php Somera Communications has announced that one of the largest wireless carriers in Europe has established Somera as its primary vendor for procuring quality refurbished network equipment. Somera has already booked more tha... Mobiles Kill Off The Public Payphone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14073.php TeliaSonera Finland has decided to abandon its payphone business. TeliaSonera Finland has a little less than 2000 public telephones of which around two hundred in the region of Auria. Of the payphones over 1200 are indoo... Making Mobile Music Work will be a Hard Task http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14074.php The large number of stakeholders in the mobile music value chain is the key obstacle in developing a workable business model. "The addition of mobile operators to the downloadable music value-chain adds a layer of comple... Theft Of Verizon Wireless Customer Records Halted http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14075.php Verizon Wireless says that it has secured a court order to halt a Tennessee-based company's illegal practice of obtaining and selling confidential telephone records of Verizon Wireless customers. Earlier this summer, Ver... Vodafone Selling CDMA Datacard for USA Travellers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14076.php Vodafone has launched a high-speed datacard for use in the USA, over Verizon Wireless' EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) network. Across Europe, Japan and New Zealand, Vodafone customers access the Vodafone WCDMA network. ... Australian PM Basks In Glow Of Telstra Sale Vote http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14059.php Years of political frustration over Telstra Corp.'s (TLS) ownership limbo were swept aside Thursday as the Australian government welcomed parliamentary consent for the telecom giant's A$34 billion (US$26 billion) privati... Poland's TPSA Launching Orange Brand Next Week http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14060.php Poland's dominant telecommunications operator, Telekomunikacja Polska SA (TPS.WA), Thursday said it will launch France Telecom's (FTE) worldwide Orange mobile brand as of Sept. 19. ... Nokia Gets GSM/GPRS Order From Telefonica Moviles Chile http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14061.php Finland's Nokia Oyj (NOK) said Thursday it has signed a contract with Telefonica Moviles Chile, part of Telefonica Moviles S.A. (TEM), for the expansion of its movistar branded global system for mobile communications/gen... Brazil Mobile Customers Reach 78.9 Million In Aug, +38% On Year http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14062.php Brazilian mobile phone companies added 13.3 million customers in the first eight months of the year, bringing the total subscriber base to 78.9 million, telecommunications regulator Anatel said Thursday. ... Motorola Unit Sale Would Return Focus To Core Business http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14063.php The sale of Motorola Inc.'s (MOT) automotive parts division would free up resources for the telecommunications equipment maker to focus on its stronger core wireless handset and infrastructure business. ... Investcom, Watan Win Afghanistan Mobile Telecom Licenses http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14064.php Lebanese mobile telecommunications company Investcom Thursday said it has won a license to offer mobile telecoms services in Afghanistan. ... O2: Telefonica Statement About Buy Targets Was "General" http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14065.php Telefonica said Thursday that in response to the request of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, it notes the recent press reports concerning its acquisition strategy and possible acquisition targets including 02 PLC foll... Siemens To Disclose SBS and Com Operations Overhaul Plan Next Week http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14066.php Siemens AG (SI) said Thursday it will give details in the coming week about the reorganization of two of its ailing units, Siemens Business Services, or SBS, and its telecommunications equipment unit. ... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 16:44:44 +0100 From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras Streets Mark, Great to have you back! > And the AT&T 4ESS in the building (NWORLAMA04T, 060-T) is working, but > quite overwhelmed with call volume. You will frequently get "All ccts > busy" or "due to the hurricane in the area you are calling" > recordings, with trailers of "zero-six-zero, tee" (060-T being the > Network Switch Number of the New Orleans 4ESS). Off on a tangent somewhat, but is there any sort of numbering system applied to these modern ID numbers or is it more or less random allocation? I'm familiar with the old-style IDs such as "914-1" for White Plains etc., but I've never been able to figure out how the current system is supposed to work. For example, dialing into the NANP from the U.K. using an unallocated prefix within a valid area code often results in a "Your call cannot be completed as dialed" recording with an ID of "two" followed by two letters, e.g. 2BM. Are these class 2 tandem offices? Does the network even still use the same class designations as in the past? -Paul ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 16:12:13 +0100 From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO > In our area sewer bills are based on water consumption and sewage > costs more than water. Both bills have a high minimum charges -- > single people living alone rarely use more than that minimum and > probably would pay less on a more usage based rate schedule. Over here in England supplies were all unmetered at one time, with the charge being based on the "ratable value" of the house (i.e. the same base as used to calculate local property taxes). Sewer charges work the same way, with a different multiplier to arrive at the actual amount charged. My home is still on such unmetered service, and this year the bill comes to approx. $530, [*] near enough half and half for supply and sewer. The sewer charge is normally higher than the supply charge, but I get a $50 discount as I have no surface water draining into the sewer. Houses in the area still on their own septic tanks would pay only the supply portion of the bill, about $265, plus the small surface drainage fee if their surface water went onto a street and then into the public sewer. Meters are standard for new homes now, and many older properties have also been converted to metered service. Most water companies offer a trial period of metering, and if you're not saving money after a year or so you can revert back to unmetered service (that option isn't available when the property changes ownership or on new homes built with a meter). The metered service in my area is billed as a small fixed annual fee plus so much per cubic meter, both for supply and sewer. It works out to about $43 plus 0.7 cent per U.S. gallon for supply and $111 plus 0.8 cent per gallon for sewer.(again with a $50 discount if you have no surface drainage to the sewer). [*] All converted at 1 GBP = $1.80. > So King Daley I had a solution for that also: we will take a tiny > little five foot wide length of land on the north side of Irving Park > Road (where Chicago touches Schiller Park) and stretch that all the > way west then through the Forest Preserve (don't worry about those > commissioners, they are my puppets also) and we will keep on > extending that little strip of land through Rosemont until it reaches > the eastern edge of Ohare, where then we 'balloon it out' to take in > all of Ohare. So by that gerrymandering Chicago is able to annex > Orchard Field (which they would begin calling 'Ohare' Field; FYI that > is why the FAA designation for Ohare is 'ORD', from the Orchard Field > days). Pat, I wondered about the situation at O'Hare first time I was going to pass through there some years ago and looked at the map. In my Rand-McNally road atlas there's a dotted line labeled "Chicago City Limits" which follows the marked area of the airport exactly, yet the big yellow area which otherwise marks the limit of Chicago stops way short of the airport. In fact following that Irving Park Road the city limit appears to be at Pueblo Av. on the eastern edge of Schiller Woods, which I make a good 3 miles from the airport boundary. Thanks to your explanations, now I know why -- My map is obviously not detailed enough to show a 5 ft. wide strip! When did the annexing of Orchard Field and the change of name to O'Hare actually take place? I'm guessing 1960s? -Paul [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Orchard Field was its name during World War II; it became O'Hare sometime in the middle 1950's, but the FAA retained the old designation of ORD for ORcharD Field. My impression is cartographers (map makers) go insane attempting to properly chart out the northwest side of City of Chicago. The boundary is quite plain on the south side, much of the north side and even going east and west (on the north) for the first few miles it is clearly on Howard Street (except far east by the lake where it juts up north of Howard Street for a couple block where the Chicago/Evanston boundary is the southernmost edge of Calvary Cemetery. Then the boundary makes a sharp turn and goes southeast on Clark Street (which the Evanstonians refer to as 'Chicago Street') back south to Howard then straight west for a few miles on Howard. I think all of the Chicago Transit Authority train yards at that point are considered Chicago, but at street level, _on the north side of Howard Street_ beginning at the CTA tracks underpass, the north side of Howard Street begins taking Evanston street numbers; the CTA Howard Station (on the south side of the street [Howard and Paulina Sts]) is known as 1759 West Howard; the CTA employees only office on the north side of Howard and Paulina, right across the street is known as 301 Howard Street by the Evanston numbering system. Right next door to 301 Howard (Evanston) is 1760 West Howard (Chicago) because the elevated tracks go overhead at that point. I think Howard is the only street name Chicago/Evanston share in common. A few blocks west of Howard Street and Western Avenue (in Evanston, 'Western' is known as 'Asbury Street'), the Chicago boundary line drops south (at Kedzie Avenue [Chicago], I forget off hand what Evanston calls that street), and the suburb of Lincolnwood begins on the south side of the street, the Chicago street numbers continue through Lincolnwood. After a couple blocks, the Village of Skokie begins on the north side of Howard Street, and the Chicago system of street numbering resumes [on both sides of Howard] since Skokie and Lincolnwood both go along with Chicago's way of numbering things. It only gets more complex as you go further west; at Lincolnwood, the Chicago boundary drops south to Devon Street (6300 north I think); the boundary line cuts in and out, frequently jutting in and out of alleys, a half block here, a half block there. Most of this goes back to earlier years in the 20th century as 'unincorporated areas' (based on the votes of the residents therein) chose whether or not to affiliate with City of Chicago or whichever suburb they were otherwise contiguous with. SBC (nee, Ameritech, nee Illinois Bell) has one telephone exchange out there on which '911' does _not_ go to Chicago Police, it instead rings to the Cook County Sheriff which handles unincorporated areas of the county. People living in that area (known as 'unincorporated Norwood Park Township' [so as not to be confused with 'Norridge', an incorporated suburb which is completely surrounded on all four sides by Chicago]) get put on that exchange. The little town of 'Golf, Illinois', which was cut out of a corner of Glenview, Illinois is like that. Golf backs into Glenview to the north and west, to Skokie and the golf course/country club on the east and Morton Grove on the south. Incorporated, but it buys its fire protection from Morton Grove and its police protection from Cook County Sheriff. All those places use the 'Chicago street numbering system' except for Evanston which is very independent. Golf, Illinois has its own train station, its own post office and its own school, and naturally its own golf course/country club and it is entirely _fenced in_ or set back so far from Waukegan Road (main drag in Glenview/Morton Grove) and Church Street (main connecting road between Evanston/Skokie/ Morton Grove and points westward) that no one can get in there except on foot or by alighting at the Golf train station. You may recall John Wayne Gacy, the Democratic ward committeeman from some ward or another of Chicago, and serial killer of young boys who had the misfortune of being manipulated by him in his construction business, or otherwise 'uncertain of their own sexuality', etc. One reason he fell through the cracks for so many years and escaped any apprehension at all is because he lived in the 'no mans land' of unincorporated Norwood Park Township. Police never went around there, it was not their territory. Finally, police from Des Plaines, Illinois who were investigating him (after about twenty years of his getting away with murder [quite literally]) took him into custody, and turned him over to Cook County Sheriff. People use the phrase 'Chicago' quite generically, but _Chicago Police_ had nothing to do with that case; nothing at all. Surrounded on all four sides by Chicago and three other suburbs, but the _block he lived on_ was (and still is) part of unincorporated Norwood Park Township. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 16 Sep 2005 05:33:58 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > This raises a question I thought of recently, but had not bothered to > ask anyone about. Suppose I start a cell call in local but move to a > roaming tower during the call? Does the call get charged as roaming > or not? I doubt you'd get a handoff in a situation like that. It'd drop the call and you'd call back. R's, John ------------------------------ From: Ken Abrams Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 13:23:58 GMT wrote > This raises a question I thought of recently, but had not bothered to > ask anyone about. Suppose I start a cell call in local but move to a > roaming tower during the call? Does the call get charged as roaming > or not? What about the opposite situation, start of call is roaming > but moves into home area during the call? Won't happen. The call would be dropped. AFAIK, a change from "home" to "roam" means you are changing carriers. Calls in progress are NOT passed or handed-off from one company to another. (It appears that they usually can't even pass from one tower to another within a company.) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 16:14:05 +0100 From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: Back in the Cord-Board Days > A look at small town telephone directories of the 1960s showed dialing > was both limited and cumbersome in many places. To reach a neighbor- > ing exchange, one might have to dial a special prefix, and a different > prefix for each area, as well as from where you're calling from. The > charts could be rather complex. It was the same in Britain at that time, with local routing codes being used extensively. Small exchanges serving villages and rural areas (referred to as dependent exchanges) dialed 9 to reach their parent office, and callers on the latter would dial two-digit codes to reach those outlying places, most commonly 8x, but sometimes other combinations such as 5x, 6x, or 7x. Calls from one dependent exchange to another within the area used the parent exchange as a tandem, with listed codes which made the routing perfectly obvious, e.g. dial 983 plus the local number. Trunks between the parent exchange and its counterpart in a neighboring area were accessed with more codes, typically 9x. These outgoing trunks were made accessible from incoming trunks so that the dependent exchanges could "dial through." Thus a call from a dependent exchange in one area to a dependent exchange in an adjoining area would result in two tandem exchanges and a listed routing code which was quite long, e.g. 99182, in which the first 9 routes to the parent exchange, 91 selects a trunk to the neighboring area, then 82 routes to a dependent exchange (and the chances are that after all that the local number in that tiny office would be only three digits long!). Just to complicate matters further, if there was sufficient traffic between two points direct trunks could be installed and a completely separate direct routing code added, sometimes just a single digit on a spare first level (e.g. "For calls to ______, dial 6 plus the number"). The way that the routing codes varied from one office to another meant that dialing cards or booklets were issued separate from the phone books instructing callers how to dial nearby places from their phone. Of course, armed with a whole batch of such cards from the area, it wasn't difficult to map out almost the entire system of routing codes and figure out ways of routing calls which were not officially sanctioned. In fact in some cases it allowed a call which should have been charged at long-distance rates to be placed as a local call. These local routings survived right up until the 1980s. -Paul. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 21:07:37 +0100 From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: How a Telephone Works > Here in the USA, we call these systems "pair gain." There are many > types of pair-gain equipment in use, but the most common in current > use is "Digital Loop Carrier" (DLC); I assume you have something > similar in the UK. We do indeed. The pair-gain units employed here are commonly known as DACS (Digital Access Carrier System). The small settlement in which I live is about 5 miles from the central office as the wire runs. In recent years many of the houses have been changed from holiday homes to permanent residences, and as a result there has been a huge increase in the demand for lines, far in excess of the spare pairs in the cables which run down the road to the nearest cabinet distribution point in a village about a mile away. The result is a proliferation of DACS units atop poles to keep up with the demand. The problem we have now that ADSL service has just become available is that it can't be implemented via DACS, so when somebody orders broadband service it might be necessary to rearrange connections and put non-ADSL lines onto a DACS to free up a pair for the ADSL subscriber. > I believe that the pilot tone the modem sends is defined to tell the > echo cancellers to go away. Of course, now that phone calls are > typically digitized at the originating CO and turned back to analog at > the callee's CO, whether it's across the street or half way around the > world, how much echo cancelling do we need? The CCITT standards for data comms employed in Europe specified a separate guard tone years ago which was to be applied by the answering modem, and intended -- I believe -- to turn off the echo cancellation and any other line conditioning. The legacy of this can be seen in the Hayes command set under the AT&G option, which provides options of 550 or 1800Hz for the guard tone. -Paul. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 21:07:45 +0100 From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land > I do know that when you get a busy signal, as often as not the signal > you hear is generated by the switch at your end and the circuit is > dropped as soon as the remote switch can tell your switch to give you > a busy. (This is why calls to Europe produce US busy signals rather > than the local European busy signal.) And vice versa. First time I called to the U.S. and got a British busy signal it really made me sit up and take notice. Getting an EET (equipment engaged tone) from the U.K. end when all overseas trunks were busy was quite normal in the past, but not a regular busy tone. The same arrangement appears to be used for spare numbers on some circuits now -- Instead of the North American recording we get dumped to our standard local recording ("The number you have dialed has not been recognized."). It's rather off-putting, because one is never quite sure whether the call actually made it across the Atlantic or whether a BT switch has not been programmed with a new area code and is rejecting the call at this end (which results in the same recording). Fortunately, this implementation is still fairly unusual, and redialing immediately will often route a different way and give an American recording followed by reorder instead, which is rather more comforting.. It also seems to be very rare to get this digital signaling followed by a U.K. tone/recording when using many of the alternate carriers. -Paul. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 16:59:46 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com John Levine wrote: >> I tried it a few more times and at one point even came up with a >> 1960's style ring tone with no answer. Is it possible the old gear is >> still in the little brick telco building by Rockland Lake and taking >> overload calls ? >> 845-268-xxxx. > Rather unlikely. The switch is a nice modern DMS-100 with vastly more > capacity than whatever electromechanical thing it replaced. I can > think of a variety of possible explanations, none terribly plausible. Just tried a few numbers as well. I was getting some modern style rings. What COULD have happened is that perhaps one or more of those numbers is connecting to an antiquated PBX with old fashioned tones. 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 to telecomm- unications 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 #423 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Sep 17 19:49:36 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 60AAC14F77; Sat, 17 Sep 2005 19:49:36 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #424 Message-Id: <20050917234936.60AAC14F77@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 19:49:36 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 17 Sep 2005 19:50:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 424 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Florida Cops, Others Misused Our Data, Choicepoint Claims (B. Sullivan) Should Your Business Switch to VOIP? (Peter Alexander) Massachusetts Teen Convicted For Hacking Telcos and ISPs (News Wire) Cellular and VoIP Carriers Working on E-911 (Paul Korzeniowski) Alternatives to LEC Voicemail (ed.gehringer@gmail.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: Bob Sullivan Subject: Florida Cops, Others Misused Our Data, Choicepoint Claims Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:26:23 -0500 By Bob Sullivan Technology correspondent MSNBC A Miami-Dade police officer allegedly peeked at thousands of private consumer records in what database giant ChoicePoint described as illegal use of its information. The company also announced three other incidents of improper access, two involving private investigators. The incidents were discovered in February, said ChoicePoint marketing director James Lee, when the company was investigating a systematic electronic break-in by a crime ring that managed to steal some 145,000 records from the firm's massive database. The Alpharetta, Ga.-based firm maintains records on nearly every adult in the United States. ChoicePoint is sending out notice of the privacy breach to all those affected and offering a year of free credit monitoring. The letters state that Social Security numbers, addresses, dates of birth, and other personal information might have been accessed by rogue employees at legitimate agencies, the firm said. The company waited until now to notify consumers at the request of the various law enforcement agencies conducting their own investigations, Lee said. In the biggest single incident, 4,689 people's records may have been improperly accessed by an officer of the Miami-Dade Police Department in Florida. Department spokeswoman Detective Mary Walters said the officer had been suspended and an investigation was ongoing. She declined to identify the officer and said no charges had been filed. The three other incidents announced Friday were: .. Two California-based private investigators, Kenneth Beck and Robert Starr, allegedly used ChoicePoint's data to hunt for possible identity theft victims, Lee said. .. A Texas-based firm named RPM was found to have improperly accessed data. .. An employee of an "accredited insurance" company that ChoicePoint would not name, citing contracts with the firm, was also alleged to have improperly accessed records. In total, the three incidents resulted in 547 warning notices being sent to victims, Lee said. ChoicePoint also announced Friday it will send out an additional 4,667 notices to newly-discovered victims of the high-profile data theft revealed in February. Those consumers will also get a year of free credit monitoring. In the wake of that incident, ChoicePoint began taking a closer look at how its databases were being accessed. "We identified some unusual search patterns," Lee said. "We have the ability for certain law enforcement customers to track the usage and report when there are anomalies." The firm passed the information on the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies, which are conducting their own investigations. 'Access without accountability' Privacy rights advocate Chris Hoofnagle of the Electronic Privacy Information Center said the revelations highlight a serious problem with the use of electronic investigation tools such as ChoicePoint's database: Law enforcement officials might abuse such systems to conduct personal searches. "One concern is the problem of law enforcement having access without accountability," he said. Hoofnagle said he warned of this problem four years ago in a law journal article titled "Big Brother's Little Helper." "This clearly raises the question of whether or not anyone is overseeing law enforcement users of ChoicePoint," he said. "Can police officers just root through the files and take whatever they wish with no accountability; no need for warrants, etc?" But Hoofnagle did praise the ability of Choicepoint auditors to uncover these incidents. "That's a good thing, that ChoicePoint found these errant users of the system and that the public has received notice of them," he said. Lee said ChoicePoint does all it can to make sure its service is used legitimately, but he said the firm's clients also need to guard internally against misuse. "We are using our technology to the degree that we can ensure searches are proper, but with any customer there has to be internal controls," he said. Congress is currently debating legislation that would make customer notifications when private data is leaked mandatory nationwide, imitating a state law that protects California residents. However, currently it's not clear which firm would have the responsibility to send the notifications: ChoicePoint, which owns the data, or the companies with the rogue employees that allegedly stole the data. While ChoicePoint was not necessarily legally obliged to send the notifications, the company chose to do so "to avoid arm-wrestling" with the other firms, Lee said. So far this year, nearly 50 million consumers' data has been reported lost, stolen, or exposed to hackers. ChoicePoint's data theft, first reported Feb. 14 on MSNBC.com, began a string of reported incidents that has highlighted the fragility of systems used to protect consumer data. Copyright 2005 MSNBC Interactive Copyright 2005 MSNBC.com URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9370909/page/2/ 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, MSNBC Interactive. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Peter Alexander Subject: Should Your Business Switch to VOIP? Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:26:50 -0500 by Peter Alexander, Entreprenuer.com Voice over internet protocol technology cuts telecommunications costs and improves productivity. But is it right for your business? You're at an internet cafe; and get an important business call -- on your laptop. You're on the road and receive an urgent voice mail -- in your e-mail inbox. Your business has a phone number with a Florida area code -- even though your office is in California. Welcome to the world of voice over internet protocol (VoIP). With VoIP service, your phone calls travel over the internet as data, just as e-mail does. This type of service can dramatically lower your telecommunications costs while increasing your productivity. It also provides useful features and capabilities that conventional phone technology can't offer. Though VoIP is quickly gaining popularity, some small businesses are still on the sidelines, concerned that VoIP audio quality is substandard, that the technology is difficult or costly to implement, or that their phone service will be interrupted if their electricity goes out. The truth is, VoIP's benefits far outweigh any potential drawbacks. Here's what you need to know about VoIP to decide if it's right for your business -- plus tips for making the most out of VoIP service. 1. Since its inception, the quality of VoIP service has come a long way. Early VoIP products required both parties in a conversation to be at a computer. Not only was this extremely limiting, but the sound quality was often poor. Today's VoIP service has evolved and allows you to make and receive calls using standard phones or, even better, feature-rich IP phones. Sound quality has vastly improved, too--in fact, many businesses today have abandoned traditional phone systems in favor of VoIP. Many of these businesses have the ability to leverage their own data network to carry phone calls originating and terminating within their office with additional savings and benefits. 2. Using VoIP can significantly reduce your telecommunications costs. Operating costs for VoIP service providers are significantly lower than for traditional phone companies, which must contend with the existing, expensive-to-maintain phone infrastructure and costly industry regulations. With lower expenses, VoIP providers can charge much less than their competitors. And with VoIP, businesses no longer have to maintain separate networks for phones and data -- another significant money saver. Also, the costs associated with employee moves, adds and changes -- which can cost $100 or more per occurrence -- are virtually eliminated. All you have to do is move your IP phone (or traditional phone with a VoIP adapter) to a different broadband network jack and plug it in. Many times, your VoIP adapter can be connected through a 'switchboard' arrangement, making it even more flexible. 3. VoIP service makes your phone system highly flexible. VoIP systems allow you to do things that are simply not possible with traditional phone technology. For example, you can: a .. Take your phone system with you. As long as you have access to a broadband connection, you can use your VoIP system anywhere, such as in a hotel room or at a friend's home. Customers and employees can stay in touch just by calling your regular business phone number -- they don't need to call your cell phone, which means you can save precious cell phone minutes. a.. Talk on your laptop. Many VoIP systems include telephony software that enables you to send and receive calls using a headphone/microphone unit connected to your computer. Now you won't miss an urgent call from a client, even when you're hanging out with your laptop at an internet cafe. a.. Get voice mail and faxes with your e-mail. Many VoIP services allow you to have voice mail and faxes automatically forwarded to your regular e-mail inbox. You get all your messages in one place, and your voice mail and faxes can be easily archived or forwarded to others. Users can also get their e-mails "read" to voice mail. a.. Get virtual phone numbers. Your phone number can have any available area code, not just the one assigned to your region, that telco says you are stuck with. For example, a business based in California could have a phone number with a Florida area code -- particularly advantageous if your business has (or wants) customers in Florida. a.. Increase productivity. Many VoIP phone numbers can be configured to simultaneously ring on multiple devices -- such as your cell and landline phones -- before going to voice mail, thus eliminating time-consuming "phone tag." In a recent survey conducted by Sage Research, the increased productivity enabled by internet telephony added up to 3.9 hours per week, per employee. With all the benefits VoIP has to offer, if you're now considering a switch to VoIP service, these tips will help you overcome any potential hurdles and make the most of a VoIP system: a.. When in doubt, hire an expert. An off-the-shelf VoIP system for a business with a few employees is fairly straightforward to implement. But larger VoIP systems may work best if installed and configured by experts. Ask your network equipment vendor about VoIP services tailored for small businesses. a.. Test it out. Rather than switch everyone at once, test a VoIP service first with just a few users. Once you're satisfied with the service, then you can roll it out to other employees. (You might want to keep your traditional phone system up and running during the transition as a backup.) a.. Use call forwarding. If the power goes out, your computer network may go down -- taking your VoIP service with it (unless you have a generator or other alternative power source). For backup, configure your VoIP service to automatically forward unanswered calls to a cell or landline number. a.. Secure your network. VoIP's growing popularity is attracting the attention of hackers, and users are concerned that hackers may digitally intercept VoIP calls or bring down a company's VoIP system using denial-of-service attacks. The solution? Make sure your network security is thorough and up to date. For more information, see my earlier article, "Is Your Business Safe from Internet Security Threats?." One thing's for sure: VoIP technology is continually evolving, with compelling new benefits being developed for small businesses. For example, some new wireless PDA/phone combination devices allow you to use your VoIP service whenever you're near a Wi-Fi network and use your cell phone service when you're not. Among the advantages: a dramatic increase in mobility and a sharp decrease in your cell phone charges. For larger small businesses, having a single IP network for both voice and data can provide other advantages, too. For example, an IP network can also support real-time, high-quality, affordable videoconferencing, call center applications and more. No matter the size of your business, VoIP is a surprisingly flexible, affordable technology that offers the same, sophisticated communication tools your enterprise-size competitors have. Copyright 2005 Entrepreneur.com, Inc. copyright 2005 MSNBC.com URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9368492/ 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, MSNBC Interactive. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have always been quite pleased with my Vonage VoIP service, and for maximum flexibility, I have it connected as a 'trunk line' on my internal PBX here at my home/office. I am able to make outgoing calls via VoIP from any extension or recieve incoming VoIP calls at any extension. Using VoIP has made a _huge_ savings on my already inexpensive phone costs. (I use a local carrier, Prairie Stream rather than the more expensive and less useful SBC.)And you know what? I have had no SBC in this house now for over a year and don't miss it at all; they keep sending me letters every week or two to please re-consider and take them back, of course. PAT] ------------------------------ From: News Wire Subject: Massachusetts Teen Convicted for Hacking Internet and Telcos Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:33:05 -0500 A Massachusetts juvenile pled guilty in federal court and was sentenced Thursday in connection with a series of hacking incidents into Internet and telephone service providers; the theft of an individual's personal information and the posting of it on the Internet; and making bomb threats to high schools in Florida and Massachusetts; all of which took place over a 15-month period. Victims of the juvenile's conduct have suffered a total of approximately $1 million in damages, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan for the District of Massachusetts; United States Attorney H. E. Bud Cummins, III for the Eastern District of Arkansas; United States Attorney R. Alexander Acosta for the Southern District of Florida; Steven D. Ricciardi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service in New England; Kenneth W. Kaiser, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New England; William Sims, Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service in Miami, Florida; and William C. Temple, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Little Rock, Arkansas, announced today that in a sealed court proceeding a Massachusetts teenager pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Rya W. Zobel to an Information charging him with nine counts of juvenile delinquency. By statute, federal juvenile proceedings and the identity of juvenile defendants are under seal. The Court has authorized limited disclosure in this case at the request of the government and defendant. Judge Zobel also imposed a sentence today of 11 months' detention in a juvenile facility, to be followed by two years' of supervised release. During his periods of detention and supervised release, the juvenile is also barred from possessing or using any computer, cell phone or other electronic equipment capable of accessing the Internet. Following his two years' supervised release (parole) he will be allowed to _apply for computer priviledges from the judge_. Had the juvenile been an adult, the underlying charges would have been charged as three counts of making bomb threats against a person or property, three counts of causing damage to a protected computer system, two counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and one count of obtaining information from a protected computer in furtherance of a criminal act. "Computer hacking is not fun and games," stated U.S. Attorney Sullivan. "Hackers cause real harm to real victims as graphically illustrated in this case." "Would-be hackers, even juveniles when appropriate, should be put on notice that such criminal activity will not be tolerated and that stiff punishments await them if they are caught. It is a very serious business these days." As a result of this bomb threat, the school was closed for two days, while a bomb squad, a canine team, the Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services were called in. In August, 2004, the juvenile logged into the Internet computer system of a major Internet Service Provider ("ISP") using a program he had installed on an employee's computer. This program allowed the juvenile to use the employee's computer remotely to access other computers on the internal network of the ISP and gain access to portions of the ISP's operational information. In January, 2005, the juvenile gained access to the internal computer system of a major telephone service provider that allowed him to look up account information of the telephone service provider's customers. He used this computer system to discover key information about an individual who had an account with the telephone company. He then accessed the information stored on this individual's mobile telephone, and posted the information on the Internet. During this same time period, the juvenile used his access to the telephone company's computer system to set-up numerous telephone accounts for himself and his friends, without having to pay for the service. Also in January, 2005, an associate of the juvenile set-up accounts for the juvenile at a company which stores identity information concerning millions of individuals allowing the juvenile to look at the identity information for numerous individuals, some of which he used for the purpose of looking up the account information for the victim whose personal information he posted on the Internet. In the spring of 2005, the juvenile, using a portable wireless Internet access device, arranged with one or more associates to place a bomb threat to a school in Massachusetts and local emergency services, requiring the response of several emergency response units to the school on two occasions and the school's evacuation on one. In June, 2005, the juvenile called a second major telephone service provider because a phone that a friend had fraudulently activated had been shut off. In a recorded telephone call, the juvenile threatened the telephone service provider that if the provider did not provide him access to its computer system, he would cause its Web service to collapse through a denial of service attack -- an attack designed to ensure that a Website is so flooded with request for information that legitimate users cannot access the Website. The telephone service provider refused to provide the requested access. Approximately ten minutes after the threat was made, the juvenile and others initiated a denial of service attack that succeeded in shutting down a significant portion of the telephone service provider's Web operations. Shortly thereafter, he was placed under arrest. ------------------------------ From: Paul Korzeniowski Subject: Internet, Cell Phone Carriers Piecing Together e-911 System Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:35:51 -0500 by Paul Korzeniowski A major shift is under way in the telecom industry. People increasingly use cell phones rather than landlines. And businesses and consumers are cutting their telecom costs by installing voice over Internet protocol links. As a result, calls are moving from the public switched telephone network, or PSTN, to next-generation communications, such as wireless networks and the Internet. While these newer technologies offer many benefits to users and carriers, they have a limitation: They often don't work well with emergency 911 services. "Unfortunately, users may not know a network does not support 911 services until they make those calls," said Bob Egan, president of the consulting firm Mobile Competency. Problem In Crisis In March, a family in Houston tried to call police during a break-in and found their service provider couldn't connect 911 calls. Spurred by such events, the telecom industry is developing a new emergency-calling system, dubbed e911. This service works with new technology and could give additional data to emergency responders. The system could give callers' location information and support video transmissions. That means callers could transmit video of a house fire. Responders would be better prepared to offer help. For all its promise, the e911 system still faces plenty of hurdles. The challenges stem from how emergency calls are transmitted. Here's how the system works: Calls start off in the user's device, which can be a wireless or wireline phone, a computer or a personal digital assistant. They're sent to a call routing system, such as a private branch exchange, or PBX, switchboard or a voice communications server. Next, the call is handed off to a telecom service provider who delivers it to one of 6,000 911 emergency call centers throughout the U.S. These centers are known as public safety answering points, or PSAPs. Emergency operators then work with local responders, such as fire and police departments, to ensure that the caller gets help. Not 'Location' Designed The old 911 system works smoothly because the network end points are fixed. The public network carries the caller information -- caller ID data, such as name and address -- along with the call throughout the transmission. That's not as easy with the new telecom networks. Unlike the public network, Internet protocol and wireless networks were not designed to identify callers' locations. Instead, they locate the switch or server that's controlling the call. "Problems in pinpointing where a call is coming from can arise as users move from one wireless PBX or (local area network) access point to another," said Matthias Machowinski, an analyst at Infonetics Research. Theoretically, an ambulance could be routed to a company data center while a 911 caller actually is a mile away in the branch office. In 2000, the government stepped in to address such problems. The Federal Communications Commission began by focusing on enhancing wireless networks so they could support e911 services. It's a critical issue, since U.S. wireless users already place 50 million 911 calls each year. Those calls account for 30% of total 911 calls. The FCC embarked on a five-year plan that is scheduled to be completed in December. Once finished, emergency personnel should be able to identify wireless users' locations within 1,000 feet. The cellular industry has been working on different ways to meet this goal. The most popular technique aligns cellular and global positioning system technology. GPS systems transmit information from remote devices to satellites revolving around the Earth. During the past few years, cell phone makers have included GPS capability in their products. Qualcomm Unit Involved Wireless service providers, meanwhile, have signed agreements with firms like Cell-Loc Location Technologies and SnapTrack, a unit of Qualcomm. They provide GPS tracking services. That means that when 911 is dialed from a cell phone, the caller's number can be matched to a GPS location. That data can go to a public safety answering point and on to emergency service providers. While helpful, this solution is not foolproof. "GPS systems only work within certain ranges," said Mobile Competency's Egan. "If a user is inside a building, the system may not be able to see him." Another concern: Cellular carriers already have missed a few of the FCC deadlines. They were originally supposed to complete the e911 work by the end of 2004, but they were granted an extension. "I wouldn't be surprised if there were more deployment delays at the end of this year," said Neil Strother, an industry analyst with In-Stat/MDR. And only recently -- in May -- did the FCC turn its attention to voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP. In the long term, the federal agency wants VoIP service providers to offer similar capabilities as the public network -- including emergency services. The FCC is requiring VoIP providers to warn customers about the lack of 911 capabilities. The Telecommunications Industry Association, an ad hoc standards-making group, has been trying to make it possible for wireless and VoIP networks to transmit location data in a uniform way. The association's Link Layer Discovery Protocol-Media Endpoint Discovery standard, which is in draft form, is designed to make it easier to share information within the VoIP network. The standard is expected to be added to various products during the next year or two. So while a great deal of progress has been made in filling 911 holes, more work needs to be done. "Equipment vendors and service providers understand the need to improve their emergency services," Egan said. "But time, money and effort will need to be expended in order to deliver those enhancements." Copyright 2005 Investor's Business Daily 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Investors Business Daily. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A couple times I have wondered what will the E-911 advocates do when we eventually reach the point that the older-style and more cumbersome landline phone system is event- ually abandoned (over the next few years, I suspect; the telcos are losing one or two million subscribers each year, it seems.) PAT] ------------------------------ From: ed.gehringer@gmail.com Subject: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail Date: 16 Sep 2005 20:14:09 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com My LEC has hiked their rates again for voicemail, bringing the total to $10.50/mo. + tax. I'm fed up with paying 50% more for this service than I did a few years ago. So I want to investigate alternatives. If I sign up with a third-party voicemail provider, it looks like I'll still need to buy call-forwarding don't answer ring control, call-forwarding busy line, and message-waiting stutter dialtone from my LEC. Is this correct? If so, it will be very hard to realize any savings. Or, I could use software like AnswerMyPhone or EZVoice. If I do so, I will need a voice modem in my computer. Am I correct in assuming that most modems that come with PCs are not voice modems? With a software solution like that, is there any way that voicemail can be left while I am on the phone? That is, would call-forwarding busy line work with AnswerMyPhone, EZVoice, or equivalent? Actually, I don't see how it could, because if the call was forwarded, it would have to be forwarded to some other phone number, wouldn't it? The only other number I have is a cellphone, which is not going to be connected to a PC modem. And finally, I've paged through dozens of Google links without finding any semi-technical popular articles on alternatives to voicemail. Does anyone know of a good article on the topic that I could read? Thanks! Ed [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The way I handle this problem is by having telco forward on busy/no answer to my cell phone, which I will always have with me if I am away from home. After three rings (but sometimes the caller only hears two rings or maybe four rings) then the call is yanked away from my landline phone and sent to my cellular phone, where it is given another five or six rings, and then at that point it goes to the cellphone voicemail which is free as part of my cellphone package. If my landline phone (actually, my little home-style PBX) is busy when a call comes in (via call- waiting) then it is automatically given to the cell phone. And given my physical handicaps, it is not always easy for me to get up and find where I left my (wireless landline) phone, so I confess at times to just deliberatly waiting until the call is pushed over to my cell phone which I happen to have in my pocket, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #424 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Sep 18 03:10:32 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id EE49014F85; Sun, 18 Sep 2005 03:10:31 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #425 Message-Id: <20050918071031.EE49014F85@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 03:10:31 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.6 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, SOMETHING_FOR_ADULTS autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sun, 18 Sep 2005 03:10:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 425 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... (TELECOM Digest Editor) Micrsoft to Take on Google by Opening MSN to the Public (Reed Stevenson) ICANN Opens New Domain '.cat' (Anick Jesdanun) Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail (Rich Greenberg) Re: Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Administration (Thomas A. Horsley) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 02:09:42 EDT From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) All my equipment here is rapidly disintegrating ... both working laptps are now gone. I cannot get either of them up and running. The hard drive totally went out on one, and the other one as of Saturday night started giving this message: Native Audio Initialization Error The Wave Task Manager (nspmm.dll) is not available. Wave Services Will be Disabled. Then a click box with the single option OK. I click 'OK' then a second error message comes up immediatly following EXPLORER: This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor. There is a choice of OK or 'Details' and 'details' gives me a hex dump. 'OK' on the other hand is accepted but the desktop never comes up, and none of the keyboard works any further at that point ... ever ... This is a very old IBM Think Pad model 770-ED, probably from 1994-95. I have tried to re-install Win 98 SE but have been unable to figure out how to get the BIOS to look at and accept the CD drive rather than the hard drive. I do start up with F1 and get the BIOS screen, and attempt to put the CD as the first choice, but it does not accept that; and continues to attempt to load from the hard drive. I was able to google 'nspmm.dll' and have found out _how_ to get rid of the Intel thing which came built in this old Think Pad, but since no Win 98 desktop ever comes up, I cannot get to the Device Manager to get rid of the Intel thing. Any help or advise gratefully accepted, and if _anyone_ has a slightly older, used laptop they would be willing to donate to the Digest (or sell me at a reasonable price, please let me know. PAT ------------------------------ From: Reed Stvenson Subject: Microsoft Plans to Take on Google by Opening up MSN Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 01:28:31 -0500 By Reed Stevenson Microsoft Corp. is making some of the features on its Internet division site, MSN, available to outside software developers as it takes on Google Inc. in the Web-based information and services market. Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, is encouraging software developers to write programs that tap into MSN, hoping such programs will increase the number of visitors to MSN properties in the same way millions of Web users are attracted to Google's search, e-mail, news and other services. At stake is the lucrative income from online advertising, particularly ads that are displayed alongside search results, the main driver of search leader's Google's revenue. "What we want to do is attract people into the (MSN) network," said Adam Sohn, director of MSN. By tapping into the network, other technology providers will be able to use some of MSN's content and services to create their own products. For example, one provider has created its own messenger that translates instant messages between Japanese and Korean. In addition to MSN messenger, Microsoft is also letting others tap into its search service, launched last year to compete against Google, as well as its MSN Virtual Earth, MapPoint, games and features in its browser toolbar. Google also offers the ability to tap into its search database of more than 8 billion pages, as well as its desktop search, advertising system and its Google Maps service. A spokeswoman from Google declined to say whether Google would be making more of its online features available as competition with Microsoft heats up. Such features, known within the software industry as application programing interfaces, or APIs, give software programmers an easy way to link their own programs to other software, especially operating systems. Microsoft is holding a major conference in Los Angeles this week to convince software developers to write programs for its products, particularly Windows and Office, which will be upgraded next year. Industry watchers widely agree the biggest factor in the Microsoft's success in making Windows a monopoly was getting developers to write programs for the operating system. Microsoft played down the competitive threat from Google. "Everyone wants to single out MSN versus somebody," said Sohn. But Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm based in Kirkland, Washington, said Microsoft has Google squarely in its sights. "Microsoft is a notoriously paranoid company and I think they're looking to (a threat from) Google five years from now," Rosoff said. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Anick Jesdanun Subject: ICANN Opens New Domain Name Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 01:29:47 -0500 By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer The Internet's key oversight agency approved a domain name for the Catalan language Thursday while deferring final action on creating a red-light district on the Internet through a ".xxx" suffix. Creating the ".cat" suffix for individuals, organizations and companies that promote the Catalan language and culture was relatively uncontroversial. Though the language is spoken largely in certain regions of Spain, backers say a domain name could unify Catalan speakers who live in France, Italy, Andorra and elsewhere. The name could begin appearing in use next year. As for ".xxx," the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers deferred final approval for the second time in as many months. The board decided to seek changes to a proposed contract with ICM Registry Inc., the Jupiter, Fla., that would run the domain name for voluntary use by the adult entertainment industry. No details were immediately available on the changes sought. The ".xxx" domain has met with opposition from conservative groups and some pornography Web sites, and ICANN postponed a final decision last month after the U.S. government stepped in just days before a scheduled meeting to underscore objections it had received. ICANN had given a preliminary OK in June. ICM argues the domain would help the $12 billion online porn industry clean up its act. Those using the domain would have to abide by yet-to-be-written rules designed to bar such trickery as spamming and malicious scripts. ICM would charge $60 per name. Anti-porn advocates, however, countered that sites would be free to keep their current ".com" address, in effect making porn more easily accessible by creating yet another channel to house it. And they say such a domain name would legitimize adults sites, which two of every five Internet users visited in April, according to tracking by comScore Media Metrix. Many porn sites also objected, fearing that such a domain would pave the way for governments -- the United States or repressive regimes abroad -- or even private industry to filter speech that is protected here under the First Amendment. ICANN was selected by the U.S. government in 1998 to oversee Internet addressing policies, although the Commerce Department retains veto power over decisions. More than 260 domain name suffixes exist, mostly country codes such as ".fr" for France. Recent additions include ".eu" for the European Union and ".mobi" for mobile services. Although ICANN was to consider the ".asia" domain during Thursday's teleconference board meeting, it took no action on establishing a unified domain for the Asia-Pacific community. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more Associated Press News and headlines, go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html (also) http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html (for streaming audio news radio). ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 23:47:35 UTC Organization: Organized? Me? In article , wrote: > My LEC has hiked their rates again for voicemail, bringing the total > to $10.50/mo. + tax. I'm fed up with paying 50% more for this service > than I did a few years ago. So I want to investigate alternatives. Why not a $10-20 answering machine? Many have remote accessing. The only thing it can't do is answer if you are on the phone, but thats what call waiting is for. 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 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Last Laugh! How Many Members of Bush Administration From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 01:53:57 GMT > ... That is the reason I always vote Libertarian ... And speaking of last laughs and libertarians: where are all the Libertarians that should be showing us how the free market system could have prevented the catastrophe caused by Katrina and how the free market would provide better recovery for all the people affected by the storm? >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, there are various kinds of libertarians. Some leaning more to the right, and some leaning more to the left. There are (uppercase L) Libertarians (the political party) and there are (lowercase l) libertarians who are people generally sympathetic to the Libertarian Party beliefs, but have little or nothing to do with the actions of the party as such. I personally fall in this second group. I believe on the one hand there is far too much government; people need more freedom and more choices; more extreme libertarians and Libertarians would say things like the Fire Department and (some, even) the Police Department should be privatized. They would claim (among other things dealing with economics) that if your house burns down, that is _your_ problem. I have heard some of the more extremist views presented on things like Katrina, and if those people (Katrina victims) were in a position to implement some of the extreme Libertarian ideas, then I would say good for them, but that is totally unrealistic, IMO. Once again, IMO, generally the more wealthy Libertarians tend to believe in some of the more unrealistic goals for our society, while the dirt poor ones like myself tend to be perhaps more extremist on things like freedom of speech, and realize what a crock it is to try and privatize the public highways and the fire department. And please do not forget: if _any_ of you have an old, beat up laptop or desktop PC which at least works (no basket cases please) and wish to sell it to the Digest or donate it, whatever, please let me know. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #425 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Sep 18 16:49:58 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 4736214FCB; Sun, 18 Sep 2005 16:49:58 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #426 Message-Id: <20050918204958.4736214FCB@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 16:49:58 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sun, 18 Sep 2005 16:50:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 426 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Technolodgy That Took on a Hurricane (Franklin Paul) Google to Put Copyright Laws to the Test (Anick Jesdanun) Record Labels Sue Baidu Over Copyright Infringement (Reuters NewsWire) Use of Bell Logo: Qwest, SBC? (Allen Newman) Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail (Tony P.) Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail (Dave Garland) Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail (William Warren) Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... (David L) Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... (Ed Clarke) You Need a New Computer (Fritz Messere) 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: Franklin Paul Subject: Technology That Took on a Hurricane Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 13:23:35 -0500 By Franklin Paul While big media covered the mass destruction brought by Hurricane Katrina with helicopter images and satellite weather maps, blogs have been telling stories with similar force, but on a much more personal level. Linking to the Internet's global computer network with a combination of old-school and newfangled technologies -- namely backyard diesel generators, mobile phones and stubborn will -- several web sites related often graphic first-hand accounts and snapshots. "Trees down everywhere. Neighbor (has) three trees on house. Southern yacht club burning to the ground," said the Gulfsails blog http://gulfsails.blogspot.com, launched by Troy Gilbert as a local sailing and boat racing resource that turned into a blow-by-blow of Katrina's effect on a New Orleans neighborhood. More and more, bloggers, who frequently post short messages on Internet Web Sites, are becoming an information source, particularly for fast developing stories in remote areas. Blogs gained prominence during the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, when conservative and liberal writers became regulars on the campaign trail. The audience for the narratives is growing. According to comScore Media Metrix, more than 1.7 million online searches were conducted on August 29 containing the words "Hurricane" and/or "Katrina," a more-than-tenfold increase over the daily average during the five days ending August 26. "Bloggers outside the area are doing their best to amplify the first-hand accounts," said Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media studies at New York University. Richard Lucic, a Duke University Computer Science professor, said the reports from the U.S. Gulf Coast region may have helped propel the acceptance of blogs, as well as podcasts, or audio files than can be recorded and listened to on a computer or digital music player, like Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iPod. "It adds immediacy and on-site appeal," he said. "What it does is brings it down to the human level since anybody can do it with a very small investment and no training." BLOGGING FROM A CITY UNDERWATER From a room crammed with dozens of racks of computer servers, cooling units, and wires, Michael Barnett, remained holed up in a downtown New Orleans high rise, posting to his "Survival of New Orleans" blog http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor while running a domain name registration and Web hosting service. He and his partners stayed connected when 80 percent of the city was underwater. "I can leave (but) I won't leave. My city is drowning and burning at the same time. We are the only Internet connection still alive in the city and we're going to stay here because our customers are counting on us," Barnett told Reuters via instant messenger from his post not far from the New Orleans Superdome. Key to his service's survival was a stockpile of food and water that the company kept on hand for weekly lunches, and most importantly, a massive generator installed for backup power. Local media also hosted blogs including WWL-TV http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html and The New Orleans Times-Picayune's breaking news feed http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/ which featured items about rising insurance rates, bodies found at a nearby hospital and free textbook given to displaced college students. At the blog Slimbolala, http://Slimbolala.blogspot.com/ a husband and father of two details the family's travels to Memphis -- away from the storm -- and decision to head back to the Gulf Coast. On Monday, He posted: "We just found out that the first floor of our house is chest deep in water." Later in the week, hoping to raise the spirits of those around him, he asked for blog readers to send in good -- or even bad -- jokes. More than a dozen did, including one from a Washington D.C.-based journalist about pirates who wear, ahem, "ARRRRgyle" socks. In Katrina's aftermath, the flood waters have begun to recede in New Orleans, but local blogs late this week continued to giving tidbits of information to those who had evacuated and detailing other unforseen health issues. "With everyone's swimming pools turning stagnant and fetid, the mosquitoes are becoming a major issue," the Gulfsails blogger wrote. "We need, in the least, to have ... pesticide spraying planes and/or chlorine. I really don't think it'd be such a good idea to have New Orleans turn into a malarial swamp again." Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Also see headlines at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ From: Anick Jesdanun Subject: Google to Put Copyright Laws to the Test Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 13:28:30 -0500 By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer Tony Sanfilippo is of two minds when it comes to Google Inc.'s ambitious program to scan millions of books and make their text fully searchable on the Internet. On the one hand, Sanfilippo credits the program for boosting sales of obscure titles at Penn State University Press, where he works. On the other, he's worried that Google's plans to create digital copies of books obtained directly from libraries could hurt his industry's long-term revenues. With Google's book-scanning program set to resume in earnest this fall, copyright laws that long preceded the Internet look to be headed for a digital-age test. The outcome could determine how easy it will be for people with Internet access to benefit from knowledge that's now mostly locked up - in books sitting on dusty library shelves, many of them out of print. "More and more people are expecting access, and they are making do with what they can get easy access to," said Brewster Kahle, co-founder of the Internet Archive, which runs smaller book-scanning projects, mostly for out-of-copyright works. "Let's make it so that they find great works rather than whatever just happens to be on the Net." To prevent the wholesale file-sharing that is plaguing the entertainment industry, Google has set some limits in its library project: Users won't be able to easily print materials or read more than small portions of copyright works online. Google also says it will send readers hungry for more directly to booksellers and libraries. But many publishers' remain wary. To endorse Google's library initiative is to say "it's OK to break into my house because you're going to clean my kitchen," said Sally Morris, chief executive of the U.K.-based Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers. "Just because you do something that's not harmful or (is) beneficial doesn't make it legal." Morris and other publishers believe Google must get their permission first, as it has under the Print Publisher Program it launched in October 2004, two months before announcing the library initiative. Under the publishers' program, Google has deals with most major U.S. and U.K. publishers. It scans titles they submit, displays digital images of selected pages triggered by search queries and gives publishers a cut of revenues from accompanying ad displays. But publishers aren't submitting all their titles under that program, and many of the titles Google wants to scan are out of print and belong to no publisher at all. Jim Gerber, Google's director of content partnerships, says the company would get no more than 15 percent of all books ever published if it relied solely on publisher submissions. That's why it has turned to libraries. Under the Print Library Project, Google is scanning millions of copyright books from libraries at Harvard, Michigan and Stanford along with out-of-copyright materials there and at two other libraries. Google has unilaterally set this rule: Publishers can tell it which books not to scan at all, similar to how Web site owners can request to be left out of search engine indexes. In August, the company halted the scanning of copyright books until Nov. 1, saying it wanted to give publishers time to compile their lists. Richard Hull, executive director of the Text and Academic Authors Association, called Google's approach backwards. Publishers shouldn't have to bear the burden of record-keeping, agreed Sanfilippo, the Penn State press's marketing and sales director. "We're not aware of everything we've published," Sanfilippo said. "Back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, there were no electronic files for those books." Google, which wouldn't say how many books it has scanned so far, says it believes its initiative is protected under the "fair use" provisions of copyright law. Gerber argues that the initiative will "stimulate more people to contribute to the arts and the sciences by making these books more findable." Washington lawyer Jonathan Band says Google's case is strong given the limits on display -- a few sentences at a time for works scanned from libraries, with technology making it difficult to recreate even a single page. "I don't see how making a few snippets of a work available to a user could have any negative impact on the market," said Band, who has advised library groups and Internet companies on copyright issues. Under Google's strictures, readers can see just five pages at a time of publisher-submitted titles -- and no more than 20 percent of an entire book through multiple searches. For books in the public domain, they can read the entire book online. Not all publishers are opposed. "For a typical author, obscurity is a far greater threat than piracy," said Tim O'Reilly, chief executive of O'Reilly Media and an adviser to Google's project. "Google is offering publishers an amazing opportunity for people to discover their content." James Hilton, associate provost and interim librarian at the University of Michigan, said his school is contributing 7 million volumes over six years because one day, materials that aren't searchable online simply won't get read. "That doesn't mean it's going to be read online, but it's not going to be found if it's not online," he said. Hal Hallstein, a 2003 Colby College graduate, said Google's project would have been useful for his studies in Buddhism. He typed the word "shunyata" -- Sanskrit for emptiness -- and found several books he didn't know existed. "The card catalog in my experience is rather limited in terms of the amount it really describes," he said. Nonetheless, as e-media coordinator at Wisdom Publications, he believes each publisher should be able to decide whether to join, as his company has. Much of the objections appear to stem from fears of setting a precedent that could do future harm to publishing. "If Google is seen as being permitted to do this without any response, then probably others will do it," said Allan Adler, a vice president at the Association of American Publishers. "You would have a proliferation of databases of complete copies of these copyrighted works." Publishers won't rule out a lawsuit against Google. The technology juggernaut, whose name is synonymous with online search, isn't just shaking up book publishing. Google has a separate project to archive television programs but has so far received limited permissions. The company also faces lawsuits over facilitating access to news resources and porn images online. Jonathan Zittrain, an Internet legal scholar affiliated with Oxford and Harvard universities, says the book-scanning dispute comes down balancing commercial and social benefits. "From the point of view of the publishers, you can't blame them for playing their role, which is to maximize sales," he said. "But if fair use wasn't found, (Google) would never be able to do the mass importation of books required to make a database that is socially useful." On the Net: http:print.google.com Anick Jesdanun can be reached at netwriter(at)ap.org 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Also see news at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/othernews.html ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Record Labels Sue Baidu for Copyright Infringement Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 13:25:52 -0500 The four largest record companies have sued Baidu.com Inc. for copyright infringement, alleging the Chinese Internet search engine has been illegally providing links to free digital music downloads, according to a trade group the represents the music industry. Universal Music Group, EMI Group Plc and Warner Music Group Corp. filed their suits in July in Beijing to stop Baidu from providing those links, a spokesman for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said. Sony BMG Music Entertainment filed its suit earlier this month. The music industry has been cracking down on piracy, one of its largest costs. It recently won a landmark decision against Grokster, a peer-to-peer network that allowed users to download music from one another without permission from the artists. The Baidu case is believed to be different, since the search engine is providing links to sites that offer illegal downloads. Baidu, known as the Chinese Google, lost nearly a third of its market value earlier this week after two of the investment banks that managed the company's initial public offering said the stock price was overblown. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Allen Newman Subject: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC? Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 15:15:38 -0500 Trademarks must remain in use to remain legally protected, so I'm curious where and how Qwest ("my" Baby Bell) uses the Bell logo, if at all. In most cases Qwest has eliminated it since merging with US West. You can still make out the shadow of a Bell logo removed from the wall of a Qwest building in Ankeny, Iowa, for example. Last night on the way to a wedding reception I saw a Bell logo that Qwest hasn't gotten rid of: a wooden pay phone kiosk inside the south entrance of the Sioux Falls VFW Lounge still has a Bell sign on top, with the blue Bell logo to the left of the word "phone". Except for Qwest signs tacked to the sides of the kiosk it looked a couple decades old. Does Qwest affixing new signs without taking down the Bell sign count as current use for trademark purposes? It seems better than the example Qwest filed with the USPTO in 2003, which was a couple photos of a US West payphone kiosk, which didn't even have the Qwest identity. Even without the logo, Qwest does try to connect less obviously to the Bell identity. Its Dex phone book is still blue and gold, the Qwest logotype is in the Gill Sans font which has also been the corporate font of AT&T (although the Bell System used Helvetica), and their current slogan is "Spirit of Service", a long-time Bell System motto. Arguably, Qwest's blue swoosh logo echos the circular blue Bell logo -- or would, at least, clash with it if the Bell logo were also present. Has anyone ever seen an example of Qwest intentionally adding the Bell logo to anything anywhere? I wonder what they'll come up with when their next trademark filing is due. The other RBOCs have filed their own claims of Bell logo usage: In 2002, SBC submitted a photo of a white service truck with blue and gold stripes and Southwestern Bell Telephone markings. Do their trucks still look like that? It's about as convincing as Qwest's US West phone booth. It'll be interesting to learn what SBC does with branding after their purchase of AT&T. Also in 2002, Verizon submitted photos of new Verizon service trucks and pay phones featuring the Bell logo. IMO Verizon has cleverly dealt with the Bell logo "problem", that is, keeping it alive and meaningful but not letting it compete with their own created identity. Finally, both of the Baby Bells that don't use the Bell logo themselves license Bell names and logos to equipment manufacturers. Qwest licenses Northwestern Bell to Unical and SBC licenses Southwestern Bell to Conair. This despite Northwestern Bell and Southwestern Bell no longer being names Qwest or SBC use themselves, and the fact that while Qwest and SBC sell phone equipment on their websites, it's not their licensed Bell-branded equipment. Bell logo trademark registrations can be found by searching for design code 220324 260101 at the USPTO. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 11:20:07 -0400 In article , richgr@panix.com says: > In article , > wrote: >> My LEC has hiked their rates again for voicemail, bringing the total >> to $10.50/mo. + tax. I'm fed up with paying 50% more for this service >> than I did a few years ago. So I want to investigate alternatives. > Why not a $10-20 answering machine? Many have remote accessing. The > only thing it can't do is answer if you are on the phone, but thats > what call waiting is for. > 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 There is one thing that voice mail can do that answering machines can't. They can take a message while you're on a call. ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 10:34:54 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when ed.gehringer@gmail.com wrote: > Or, I could use software like AnswerMyPhone or EZVoice. If I do so, I > will need a voice modem in my computer. Am I correct in assuming that > most modems that come with PCs are not voice modems? These days, most internal modems are voice modems. Consumer-grade computers often come with voicemail software. And if yours isn't a voice modem, you can probably replace it for as little as US$20. Of course, you will need to leave your computer running, and *possibly* turn off powersaver sleep/suspend/hibernate functions (or fiddle with BIOS settings to make sure the modem can wake up the computer). ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 12:31:45 -0400 From: William Warren Subject: Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail Rich Greenberg wrote: > In article , > wrote: >> My LEC has hiked their rates again for voicemail, bringing the total >> to $10.50/mo. + tax. I'm fed up with paying 50% more for this service >> than I did a few years ago. So I want to investigate alternatives. > Why not a $10-20 answering machine? Many have remote accessing. The > only thing it can't do is answer if you are on the phone, but thats > what call waiting is for. Why not simply turn it off? Unless you're using it for a business, the chances are you can simply do without. If someone _wants_ to talk to you, they'll call back. If they're offended by the thought of having to do so, well, that's a kind of signal, isn't it? Really, I may be a luddite, but I can't help but wonder where and when we all got the notion that we are entitled to demand that our relatives and friends keep track of our calendar, or where and when we agreed to keep track of theirs. Think about it: if talking to you is important to _me_, why should I be entitled to put _you_ in charge of making it happen? Isn't it _my_ job to make it happen? Answering machines, and Voice Mail services, are agressively marketed and promoted by the phone companies because they're a win-win-win - not for you, but for your telephone company: - They_ get to charge for a call that wouldn't have been answered otherwise - They_ get to use fewer trunks and smaller exchanges because there are fewer unsuccessful call attempts - They_ get to collect money from you for buying machines or renting services. What, I wonder, do _you_ get? Another task on _your_ schedule? Another intrusion into _your_ life? Another obligation that _you_ didn't agree to accept? We've all gotten too good at wasting each others' time; at "external- izing" the responsibility for what used to be common civility. What's wrong with a busy signal? Since when did people forget that a busy signal or an unanswered call _is_ a message? William P.S. Call waiting isn't the answer: it only works when _you_ are on the phone, and when an answering machine is on the line, all it does is interrupt the message being recorded with beep tones that tell you someone else tried to ring you. (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Generally you do not order call-waiting on a line in a multiple line hunt group; nor on a line equipped with 'forward on busy', as call-waiting requires that a line be -truly busy- in order to work. In my instance, if the line is in use, calls are automatically forwarded to my cell phone (which if no answer after a few rings or otherwise it is busy goes to voicemail. If the line does not get answered after 3-4 rings, calls go the same route, to cell phone and then as needed to voicemail. PAT] ------------------------------ From: David L Subject: Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... Date: 18 Sep 2005 01:25:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com If you let us know how to find a Paypal account for "new computer" perhaps a few donations would help you get closer to the goal of a new laptop. I'd ship in a little. We have not been in contact before, but I read and post to your newsgroup on occaision. Cheaper and more fun than a subscription to Telco/wireless news! Anyway, read about your computer problems and it was funny ... I'm on my very first computer (used Webtv before) and no matter how experienced one is, there always seems to be problems just beyond one's abilities. I think it's time to get a new computer ... then all your problems will go away:) Well, the old one's anyway. I'd chip in a little. Think you should post a little note to the group, for a small donation for a computer fund. Or big ... big donations are good too:) Paypal would be easy for me. What's your account name? Regards, Dave Lind greenjeensus@yahoo.com TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > All my equipment here is rapidly disintegrating ... both working laptps are > now gone. I cannot get either of them up and running. The hard drive > totally went out on one, and the other one as of Saturday night started > giving this message: > Native Audio Initialization Error > The Wave Task Manager (nspmm.dll) is not available. > Wave Services Will be Disabled. > Then a click box with the single option OK. > I click 'OK' then a second error message comes up immediatly following > EXPLORER: This program has performed an illegal > operation and will be shut down. If the problem > persists, contact the program vendor. > There is a choice of OK or 'Details' and 'details' gives me a hex dump. > 'OK' on the other hand is accepted but the desktop never comes up, and none > of the keyboard works any further at that point ... ever ... > This is a very old IBM Think Pad model 770-ED, probably from 1994-95. > I have tried to re-install Win 98 SE but have been unable to figure > out how to get the BIOS to look at and accept the CD drive rather than > the hard drive. I do start up with F1 and get the BIOS screen, and > attempt to put the CD as the first choice, but it does not accept > that; and continues to attempt to load from the hard drive. > I was able to google 'nspmm.dll' and have found out _how_ to get rid > of the Intel thing which came built in this old Think Pad, but since > no Win 98 desktop ever comes up, I cannot get to the Device Manager to > get rid of the Intel thing. > Any help or advice gratefully accepted, and if _anyone_ has a slightly > older, used laptop they would be willing to donate to the Digest (or > sell me at a reasonable price, please let me know. > PAT [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for the offer of help, Dave. The PayPal account is 'editor@telecom-digest.org' for you or anyone who wishes to contribute to the 'computer fund'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ed Clarke Subject: Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... Reply-To: clarke@cilia.org Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 09:08:45 -0400 In comp.dcom.telecom, you wrote: > I have tried to re-install Win 98 SE but have been unable to figure > out how to get the BIOS to look at and accept the CD drive rather than > the hard drive. I do start up with F1 and get the BIOS screen, and > attempt to put the CD as the first choice, but it does not accept > that; and continues to attempt to load from the hard drive. Patrick, My new Thinkpad requires me to hit F12 before boot. This brings up a secondary menu that permits selection of the boot device. One of the options is CD-ROM. I see several references to "Press and hold F12..." to get that menu up. Search google for thinkpad 770 "boot menu" F12 Good luck! Ed [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: On the older Think Pads (models 770 or 770x at least) F1 at time of booting brings up a BIOS menu and a choice of options i.e. boot from CD, from hard drive, from floppy (and other choices I do not understand, such as from 'network', from 'PCMCIA card' and other places. Exactly how one boots from 'network' or from 'PCMCIA card' when those devices do not come to life until Windows turns them on confuses me. But I will google your suggestion above for myself and see what it has to say. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Fritz Messere Subject: You Need a New Computer Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 12:41:05 -0400 Pat: The explorer thing has been going on for some time. Time to look at a MAC ... better operating system and more fun too. Fritz Messere Communication Studies Department Chair and Professor of Broadcasting and Telecommunications State University of New York at Oswego (office) 315.312.2357 (fax) 315.312.5658 http://www.oswego.edu/~messere [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If anyone has an older Apple MACintosh, I'd not mind giving that a try and see where I could get with it. The other thing I have considered -- but have not yet been brave enough to try is to go with Linux on the laptop. You see, on my larger desktop computer I have Red Hat Linux (version 7 something) on a partition; when I boot the larger machine, it defaults to Linux _unless_ I tell it to go to Win 2000 instead. I'd not mind going entirely with Linux if I were assured I could get some of my software working correctly. I do NOT need chat windows and all that; but I do need to have X-Windows working correctly. Ditto with any MAC, which would also be a new experience for me. I'd like to be able to get a couple cameras working with no hassles, something similar to to XWindows, and the network configurations correct, etc. And I have seen a couple commercials on television for Dell, with desktop prices of around $499, but I know those would most likely be Win XP, which is okay, I suppose. But with Dell, the new laptops seem to cost more. Good ideas, in any case. If anyone wants to contribute to a 'computer fund' please remember the PayPal account: editor@telecom-digest.org , or if you have some older machine you no longer want donations will also be gratefully accepted. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #426 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 19 12:22:17 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 234C314FFB; Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:22:17 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #427 Message-Id: <20050919162217.234C314FFB@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:22:17 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_REMOVE autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:22:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 427 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Broadband to Rule the TV Waves (Monty Solomon) Verizon's Fios Service Moves US Internet Beyond Snail's Pace (M Solomon) Music-Playing Cellphones Hit a Flat Note (Monty Solomon) Hollywood Gets a Hand (Monty Solomon) Cellular-News for Monday 19th September 2005 (Cellular-News) Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC? (Arthur Kamlet) Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC? Lisa Hancock) Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC? (Steven Lichter) Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras (Isaiah Beard) Re: You Need a New Computer (Tony P.) Re: Record Labels Sue Baidu for Copyright Infringement (Tony P.) Re: Roaming Charges (Lisa Hancock) Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... (William Warren) Motorola Bag Phone (Steven Lichter) 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, 18 Sep 2005 17:10:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Broadband to Rule the TV waves By Jo Twist BBC News technology reporter TV delivered into living rooms over broadband connections will completely change TV as well as the internet as we know it, concludes a major report. IPTV (internet protocol TV), as it is known, is a budding area that is exciting telecoms and media companies. Within a decade, says the report from Lovelace Consulting and informitv, TV delivered to sets over the net will be an established way to receive content. TV will be much more web-like, with millions of shows to download. Within five years, the authors predict, many households will have their TV piped through a satellite dish, rooftop aerial or cable network, and through a broadband phone line. TVs will be hooked up to set-top boxes which are in turn hooked up to the broadband pipe too. The broadcast and on-demand programmes it will be able to receive will be in standard as well as high-definition formats. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4230662.stm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 23:07:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon's Fios Service Moves U.S. Internet Beyond a Snail's Pace By WALTER S. MOSSBERG High-speed Internet connections have finally gone mainstream in the U.S. But there's a problem: What passes for high speed in this country is pathetically slow compared with Internet service in some other countries. For instance, Verizon's entry-level DSL service, at 768 kilobits per second for downloads and 128 kilobits per second for uploads, is considered high-speed here. But in Japan and Korea, families can buy moderately priced Internet service measured in the tens of megabits per second. They get a race car, while Americans are stuck with a bicycle. A megabit per second (mbps) connection moves about 1,000 times as much data every second as a kilobit per second (kbps) connection. A service running at 10 megabits per second is more than 13 times as fast as Verizon's base DSL service. All such services have two modes: downstream, for downloading Web pages, email and files; and upstream, for uploading email or files. Generally, Internet providers offer much faster downstream speeds than upstream speeds. Even the faster common U.S. broadband offerings, like Comcast's $42.95 a month basic cable-modem service, which delivers 6 mbps downstream and 384 kbps upstream, are ridiculously slow compared with the Asian offerings. But now, Verizon is offering Americans in certain parts of the country a new, much faster Internet service for only a little more than Comcast charges for its basic service. This new product, called Fios, offers 15 mbps downstream and 2 mbps upstream for $50 a month, or $45 a month if you use Verizon for your telephone service. There are also two other Fios plans: 5 mbps downstream and 2 mbps upstream for $40 a month; and 30 mbps downstream and 5 mbps upstream for $200 a month. Both also are discounted if you also use Verizon phone service. I had Fios installed in my house in July, and I've been comparing it with Comcast's basic cable-modem service. I have been pleased with Fios's speed and reliability, which are true to Verizon's claims. On some tasks, it is markedly faster than Comcast. And on my laptops connected via a Wi-Fi wireless network, which tends to degrade Internet speeds, the speed increase has been especially noticeable. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20050915.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 23:10:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Music-Playing Cellphones Hit a Flat Note By WALTER S. MOSSBERG After months of anticipation, Apple Computer last week finally unveiled the first cellphone that combines elements of its hot-selling iPod music players. The $250 phone, called the ROKR, was designed and made by Motorola; is being sold by Cingular; and contains special iPod-like music-playback software created by Apple. But Apple is strangely unenthusiastic about it. Apple's heavily trafficked Web home page relegated the new phone to a small box underneath a giant photo touting its newest music player, the iPod nano. By contrast, the Motorola and Cingular home pages were dominated by the new music phone. After a week or so of testing the ROKR, along with a couple of competing music phones, my assistant Katie Boehret and I share Apple's indifference. As a music player, the Motorola ROKR is OK, as are the two other music phones we tested. But none of them approaches either the style or the functionality of the iPod, and none lives up to the full potential of what a combined cellphone and music player could be. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20050914.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 17:15:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hollywood Gets a Hand The beleaguered movie studios find an unlikely ally in the PlayStation Portable-and a new format takes off. By N'Gai Croal Newsweek Sept. 26, 2005 issue http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9379116/site/newsweek/ ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Monday 19th September 2005 Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 08:04:01 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com Two Operators Sold To New Venture http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14087.php Blackfoot Communications of Missoula has sold its mobile wireless communications businesses to MTPCS. MTPCS, headquartered in Great Falls, will maintain a significant operations center in Montana, and has extensive plans ... Cingular Wireless Eases 3G Activation for Consumers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14088.php Cingular Wireless says that it will use SmartTrust's Over-The-Air technology (OTA) to help simplify the 3G activation process for its customers when it launches its next generation wireless services later this year. The ... EDGE for Iceland http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14089.php Iceland Telecom says that it is planning to deploy EDGE technology over the next few months. Data transport via mobile telephones has increased steadily, and more and more people use Iceland Telecom's GPRS services. The ... Worlds Largest WiMAX Trial http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14090.php Marconi says that it has been selected to support the largest public WiMAX trial to date, providing WiMAX connectivity in Italy's Piedmont and Sicily regions. The selection was made by a working party that included repre ... Mobile TV and Video Services Could Overload 3G Networks http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14091.php Mobile TV and video services -- viewed by operators as a means to drive 3G take-up and increase average revenue per user (ARPU) -- could overwhelm 3G networks in the next two years, according to the new Sound Partners repo ... SMS Used to Send Death Threats http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14092.php Reporters Without Borders has condemned the death threats and intimidation targeted in the past few days and weeks against two journalists working in the northeastern Amazonian departments of Loreto and Ucayali, Julia Sa ... Eurotel details WCDMA Launch Plans http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14093.php The Czech republic based Eurotel Praha has announced its plans to launch its WCDMA/UMTS network. More than one year ahead of time the company will meet the commitment associated with the purchase of the UMTS network oper ... Vodafone Plans to Outsource Dutch Network Management http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14094.php Vodafone Netherlands and Ericsson Netherlands have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to outsource parts of its network activities, namely the roll out, the running and the maintenance of the radio network of Vod ... Providing Transport for 3G Wireless Network http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14095.php White Rock Networks has announced that PPL Telcom has selected its Transport and Multi-service Optical Access products to provide backhaul capabilities to cell sites in the Northeast United States for one of the nation's ... Mobile Music Downloads to reach $1.8 billion in Europe by 2010 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14096.php According to a new report by the research provider, Generator, Europeans will spend US$640 million in 2010 downloading full-track songs to their mobile phones. With expenditure on real music ringtones forecast to be an a ... Most Australians Are Still Clueless about 3G Mobile Technology http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14097.php IDC's latest research into the Australian consumer mobile market reveals that, in light of the looming nationwide introduction of 3G services, the vast majority of Australians still have no clear idea about 3G mobile tec ... Portuguese PrePay Usage Rises while Contracts Continue Falling http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14098.php Portugal's telecoms regulator has reported that by the end of the second quarter of 2005 there were 10.7 million mobile telephone subscribers in the country, a growth in the total number of mobile subscribers of 0.7% on ... Moves Towards Number Portability in Canada http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14099.php The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) has submitted its plans for wireless number portability to the Canadian government, following submissions to industry partners. The 64-page report, completed by ... VoIP Subscriber Rush Spurs Equipment Boom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14100.php The ranks of residential Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) users are expected to explode during the next few years, causing market revenue for wireline VOIP equipment to more than triple between 2004 and 2010, iSuppli ... A Military Use for 3G Networks http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14101.php You can now get a portable 3G network in a box after 3Way Networks chose London's bi-annual DSEi (Defence Systems & Equipment International) trade fair for military types to launch of a hand-portable UMTS network capable ... Vodafone Planning 15 New 3G handsets http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14102.php Vodafone has announced an extensive range of phones to bring 3G services to the mass market. The range of phones will be marketed in the run up to Christmas and will be the best yet, offering smaller and lighter phones, ... Lebanon's Investcom Mobile Co Plans IPOs In Dubai, London http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14086.php Investcom said Saturday it intends to carry out two initial public offerings by listing shares on exchanges in Dubai and London. ... New Zealand Watchdog To Probe Telecom Services For Extended Regulation http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14077.php The Commerce Commission Friday said there are grounds to investigate several services of Telecom Corp. of New Zealand Ltd. (NZT) to ascertain whether the period of regulation should be extended. ... Samsung, Sprint Nextel In Wireless Broadband Equip Pact http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14078.php Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) said Friday it has signed an agreement with Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) of the U.S. to provide testing equipment for wireless broadband services. ... FCC To Provide $211 Million For Telecom In Gulf Coast http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14079.php The Federal Communications Commission will make available $211 million from the universal service subsidy fund to help restore communications in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Thursda ... Deutsche Telekom Confirms Keeping T-Mobile USA Unit http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14080.php Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) Friday confirmed it has decided to keep its U.S. wireless arm, T-Mobile USA Inc. ... India's Space Agency:Boeing Ends Satellite Collaboration http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14081.php BANGALORE, India (AP)--India's space agency said Friday that a subsidiary of Boeing Co. (BA) has canceled an agreement to help produce communication satellites. ... New German Discount Mobile Operator Pressures Peers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14082.php FRANKFURT (AP)--New discount mobile operator Blau.de is challenging its rivals by offering significantly discounted rates on text messages and calls to German networks, according to an announcement on the compa ... Rogers,Bell Cda In JV To Build Wireless Broadband Network http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14083.php Rogers Communications Inc. (RG) and Bell Canada have agreed to build and manage a Canada-wide wireless broadband network and will jointly and equally fund the initial network deployment costs, estimated at C$200 million ... Denmark To Remove Mobile Telecom Regulation In Access Market http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14084.php Denmark's National IT and Telecom Agency Friday said regulation in the country's mobile access market can be removed, as competition is working well in the market. ... Vodafone Not Involved In Afghan Mobile Licence Bid http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14085.php Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), the U.K.-based mobile telecommunications company, Friday said it wasn't involved in bidding for a license to offer mobile telecoms services in Afghanistan. ... ------------------------------ From: kamlet@panix.com (Arthur Kamlet) Subject: Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC? Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 02:31:04 UTC Organization: Public Access Networks Corp. Reply-To: ArtKamlet@aol.REMOVE.com In article , Allen Newman wrote: > Trademarks must remain in use to remain legally protected, so I'm > curious where and how Qwest ("my" Baby Bell) uses the Bell logo, if at > all. In most cases Qwest has eliminated it since merging with US > West. You can still make out the shadow of a Bell logo removed from > the wall of a Qwest building in Ankeny, Iowa, for example. > Last night on the way to a wedding reception I saw a Bell logo that > Qwest hasn't gotten rid of: a wooden pay phone kiosk inside the south > entrance of the Sioux Falls VFW Lounge still has a Bell sign on top, > with the blue Bell logo to the left of the word "phone". Except for > Qwest signs tacked to the sides of the kiosk it looked a couple > decades old. Does Qwest affixing new signs without taking down the > Bell sign count as current use for trademark purposes? It seems > better than the example Qwest filed with the USPTO in 2003, which was > a couple photos of a US West payphone kiosk, which didn't even have > the Qwest identity. > Even without the logo, Qwest does try to connect less obviously to the > Bell identity. Its Dex phone book is still blue and gold, the Qwest > logotype is in the Gill Sans font which has also been the corporate > font of AT&T (although the Bell System used Helvetica), and their > current slogan is "Spirit of Service", a long-time Bell System motto. > Arguably, Qwest's blue swoosh logo echos the circular blue Bell logo > -- or would, at least, clash with it if the Bell logo were also > present. > Has anyone ever seen an example of Qwest intentionally adding the Bell > logo to anything anywhere? I wonder what they'll come up with when > their next trademark filing is due. > The other RBOCs have filed their own claims of Bell logo usage: > In 2002, SBC submitted a photo of a white service truck with blue and > gold stripes and Southwestern Bell Telephone markings. Do their > trucks still look like that? It's about as convincing as Qwest's US > West phone booth. It'll be interesting to learn what SBC does with > branding after their purchase of AT&T. > Also in 2002, Verizon submitted photos of new Verizon service trucks > and pay phones featuring the Bell logo. IMO Verizon has cleverly > dealt with the Bell logo "problem", that is, keeping it alive and > meaningful but not letting it compete with their own created identity. > Finally, both of the Baby Bells that don't use the Bell logo > themselves license Bell names and logos to equipment manufacturers. > Qwest licenses Northwestern Bell to Unical and SBC licenses > Southwestern Bell to Conair. This despite Northwestern Bell and > Southwestern Bell no longer being names Qwest or SBC use themselves, > and the fact that while Qwest and SBC sell phone equipment on their > websites, it's not their licensed Bell-branded equipment. > Bell logo trademark registrations can be found by searching for design > code 220324 260101 at the USPTO. My recollection is that the 23 BOCs (Bell Operating Companies) that merged into Seven RBOCs (Regional bell Operating Companies) on Jan 1 1984 retained the right to use the Bell System Logo, and AT&T lost that right, and thus was born the present day - for a while longer - or more if SBC adopts the AT&T name and perhaps logo, at least -- AT&T deathstar. But AT&T retained the right to use the Bell name, not logo, for Bell Labs. And the Telcordia company that was formed and jointly owned by the 7 RBOCs was allowed to retain the symbol and was named Bellcore. Those 7 RBOCs morphed into the present 4, and Quest took over the USWest rights to use the Bell Logo. USWest retained Mountain Bell, Pacific Northwest Bell. I don't recall what the minority-owned Bells were allowed to do with the logo, tough I assume they retainled that right. But since SBC bought out SNET so that's moot, and Cincinnati Bell was/is the only remaining minority Bell. Art Kamlet ArtKamlet @ AOL.com Columbus OH K2PZH ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC? Date: 19 Sep 2005 06:57:29 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Verizon extensively uses its new colors and logo, but has the Bell logo on the side of pay phone mounting. On its bill advertising inserts, it has "Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania" in fine print at the bottom." Even Bell in its last days abbreaviated that to "Bell of Pennsylvania" In the railroad world, hobbyists use logos on model trains and in books. Most railroad companies make a tiny effort to preserve legacy logo rights even though they don't use them in practice anymore. They don't charge model makers, souvenir makers, or publishers royalty fees for use. However, the successor owner of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR keystone logo) apparently let it lapse and a private entity snatched it up. This entity then began to demand royalties from all model makers and publishers. Since the Pennsy was a big well known railroad, there are a great many books and models about it all using the logo. Somehow the successor owner was able to get the rights back. [public replies please] ------------------------------ From: Steven Lichter Reply-To: Die@spammers.com Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc. (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co. Subject: Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC? Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:00:26 GMT Allen Newman wrote: > Trademarks must remain in use to remain legally protected, so I'm > curious where and how Qwest ("my" Baby Bell) uses the Bell logo, if at > all. In most cases Qwest has eliminated it since merging with US > West. You can still make out the shadow of a Bell logo removed from > the wall of a Qwest building in Ankeny, Iowa, for example. > Last night on the way to a wedding reception I saw a Bell logo that > Qwest hasn't gotten rid of: a wooden pay phone kiosk inside the south > entrance of the Sioux Falls VFW Lounge still has a Bell sign on top, > with the blue Bell logo to the left of the word "phone". Except for > Qwest signs tacked to the sides of the kiosk it looked a couple > decades old. Does Qwest affixing new signs without taking down the > Bell sign count as current use for trademark purposes? It seems > better than the example Qwest filed with the USPTO in 2003, which was > a couple photos of a US West payphone kiosk, which didn't even have > the Qwest identity. > Even without the logo, Qwest does try to connect less obviously to the > Bell identity. Its Dex phone book is still blue and gold, the Qwest > logotype is in the Gill Sans font which has also been the corporate > font of AT&T (although the Bell System used Helvetica), and their > current slogan is "Spirit of Service", a long-time Bell System motto. > Arguably, Qwest's blue swoosh logo echos the circular blue Bell logo > -- or would, at least, clash with it if the Bell logo were also > present. > Has anyone ever seen an example of Qwest intentionally adding the Bell > logo to anything anywhere? I wonder what they'll come up with when > their next trademark filing is due. > The other RBOCs have filed their own claims of Bell logo usage: > In 2002, SBC submitted a photo of a white service truck with blue and > gold stripes and Southwestern Bell Telephone markings. Do their > trucks still look like that? It's about as convincing as Qwest's US > West phone booth. It'll be interesting to learn what SBC does with > branding after their purchase of AT&T. > Also in 2002, Verizon submitted photos of new Verizon service trucks > and pay phones featuring the Bell logo. IMO Verizon has cleverly > dealt with the Bell logo "problem", that is, keeping it alive and > meaningful but not letting it compete with their own created identity. > Finally, both of the Baby Bells that don't use the Bell logo > themselves license Bell names and logos to equipment manufacturers. > Qwest licenses Northwestern Bell to Unical and SBC licenses > Southwestern Bell to Conair. This despite Northwestern Bell and > Southwestern Bell no longer being names Qwest or SBC use themselves, > and the fact that while Qwest and SBC sell phone equipment on their > websites, it's not their licensed Bell-branded equipment. > Bell logo trademark registrations can be found by searching for design > code 220324 260101 at the USPTO. I believe that all their old names such as Northwestern Bell Telephone are still registered with the states in which they served as well as the US Copyright office. I know that GTE is in California is still listed. And that was a non-Bell before the merger. The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras Streets Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 18:59:40 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Paul Coxwell wrote: > Off on a tangent somewhat, but is there any sort of numbering system > applied to these modern ID numbers or is it more or less random > allocation? It's more or less random, and depends on the particular carrier's prefernce for numebring schemes. For example, MCI/Worldcom has a different numbering schme for its major switches than AT&T or Sprint. > I'm familiar with the old-style IDs such as "914-1" for White Plains > etc., but I've never been able to figure out how the current system is > supposed to work. It doesn't work, really, and is actually becoming less and less relevant as the network topology flattens. The New Orleans 4ESS is probably among the last of its breed, and I remember hearing that AT&T removed a lot fo them from service long ago as they shifted towards a decentralized network. > For example, dialing into the NANP from the U.K. using an unallocated > prefix within a valid area code often results in a "Your call cannot > be completed as dialed" recording with an ID of "two" followed by two > letters, e.g. 2BM. Are these class 2 tandem offices? No, those are MCI offices, and their equivalent of class 4 switches. (MCIWorldcom uses/used the NAA labeling system for their class 4 switches, i.e. "2BM" "2CU" "2CX" etc.) MCI is probably the last major carrier to have a hierarchical structure in place, as it's widely known that during the big telecom bubble that they helped create and then burst, they were too busy cooking their books to actually invest in restructuring and upgrading their network, and instead merely spent only the money they needed to keep it running at a semi-decent level. That practice continues to this day, pending the buyout of MCI by Verizon, at which time it becomes Verizon's headache. > Does the network even still use the same class designations as in > the past? Only in vestigial references. The Number 5 ESS is still around and its reference is still used when operated as a class 5 end office, but then you'll find lots of 5ESS (the model number, but not acting as the class) performing tasks that resemble what a class 4 switch would do. 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: You Need a New Computer Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 22:29:43 -0400 In article , messere@oswego.edu says... > Pat: > The explorer thing has been going on for some time. > Time to look at a MAC ... better operating system and more fun too. > Fritz Messere > Communication Studies Department > Chair and Professor of Broadcasting and Telecommunications > State University of New York at Oswego > (office) 315.312.2357 (fax) 315.312.5658 > http://www.oswego.edu/~messere > > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If anyone has an older Apple MACintosh, > I'd not mind giving that a try and see where I could get with it. The > other thing I have considered -- but have not yet been brave enough to > try is to go with Linux on the laptop. You see, on my larger desktop > computer I have Red Hat Linux (version 7 something) on a partition; > when I boot the larger machine, it defaults to Linux _unless_ I tell > it to go to Win 2000 instead. I'd not mind going entirely with Linux > if I were assured I could get some of my software working correctly. I > do NOT need chat windows and all that; but I do need to have X-Windows > working correctly. Ditto with any MAC, which would also be a new > experience for me. I'd like to be able to get a couple cameras working > with no hassles, something similar to to XWindows, and the network > configurations correct, etc. And I have seen a couple commercials on > television for Dell, with desktop prices of around $499, but I know > those would most likely be Win XP, which is okay, I suppose. But with > Dell, the new laptops seem to cost more. Good ideas, in any case. If > anyone wants to contribute to a 'computer fund' please remember the > PayPal account: editor@telecom-digest.org , or if you have some > older machine you no longer want donations will also be gratefully > accepted. PAT] Not to make this a Mac vs. PC thing but here's a little story. Had to price out new machines including laptops. High end Latitude with 1.5GB of RAM and 100GB HD - $1,599. Apple 12" Powerbook G4 with a gig of RAM, 60GB HD - $1,899 That's with goverment's discounts btw. Instead -- get a PC and download Firefox 1.06 (Deer Park). Then go and find the following extensions: adblock bugmenot popupsdie You'd be surprise how much more a pleasure it is to surf the web less pop-up's. AdBlock dialog comes up and asks you if you want to block the ad you just right clicked on. It also supports wildcards for the more egregious of ad servers. Put it this way, I don't see ad's on Projo.com anymore because between AdBlock and me pointing Belo's adserver to 0.0.0.0 it eliminates every last one of the suckers. ButMeNot is also a pretty handy tool. When you run across a news site that requires registration just right click the username field and select BugMeNot. It reaches out to a BugMeNot server, looks for a username/password combo for that web address and pastes it in. Some sites lock out pasting into their username/password fields. Example of that is Belo owned papers like Projo.com Popupsdie turns on the options for very restrictive pop-ups thought some sites such as the New York Times have figured out how to get around this. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Record Labels Sue Baidu for Copyright Infringement Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 22:30:55 -0400 In article , reuters@telecom- digest.org says: > The four largest record companies have sued Baidu.com Inc. for > copyright infringement, alleging the Chinese Internet search engine > has been illegally providing links to free digital music downloads, > according to a trade group the represents the music industry. I wonder what part of the fact that U.S. law doesn't apply in China thee folks aren't getting. The overreaching by the RIAA is astounding. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Date: 19 Sep 2005 07:14:51 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Ken Abrams wrote: > Won't happen. The call would be dropped. AFAIK, a change from "home" > to "roam" means you are changing carriers. Calls in progress are NOT > passed or handed-off from one company to another. (It appears that > they usually can't even pass from one tower to another within a > company.) In earlier days of cell phones, I don't think it was so much going to another carrier, but rather going out of your personal defined service territory with your calling plan. In other words, it wasn't a technical or physical boundary, but an adminstrative or billing one. For instance, I have Verizon (nee Bell Atlantic-Nynex). Even under Bell Atlantic there was a huge service territory of several states, but phones were limited to a specific metropolitan area. Size of that area varied by your calling plan (as did the cost of roaming). So, in most cases it wasn't a matter of leaving your carrier, but rather leaving your home area. They had some $15/month plans that were limited to about a single county. Since roaming for me was so expensive, I was careful not to roam, so I don't know how the plan handled split calls. If I attempted a call on roaming, a yellow light would blink on my phone. I found that near the border of my roaming area I have to be careful. For example, at a particular rest stop on the turnpike, sometimes I'll roam (and pay) and sometimes not. This is because even from a fixed physical spot, multiple antennas in different places could handle your call. Even on calls from my front stoop the bill shows three different antennas at different times. Obviously a disadvantage of my cheap plan ($19.95/mon) is limited roaming and expensive fees ($1/min) if I do. Today's $40/mon plans have much bigger roaming areas, but you're paying for that in the monthly fee. For an occassional user like myself, my plan works best for me and I'll pay the $1/min in the very rare times I have to. [public replies, please] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 17:10:53 -0400 From: William Warren Subject: Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: On the older Think Pads (models 770 > or 770x at least) F1 at time of booting brings up a BIOS menu and a > choice of options i.e. boot from CD, from hard drive, from floppy > (and other choices I do not understand, such as from 'network', from > 'PCMCIA card' and other places. Exactly how one boots from 'network' > or from 'PCMCIA card' when those devices do not come to life until > Windows turns them on confuses me. [snip] PAT] Pat, It's asking if you want to start a bootp request from your Ethernet card, which would broadcast for a "boot" server to provide the operating system for you over the network. In other words, it's giving you the option that's used for "Diskless Workstations", which don't have a hard disk, to download your OS from another network node and start it in memory. It's the same process your BIOS performs during boot, except that the image that's loaded into your machine's ram comes from another computer on your LAN, not from your hard drive. Bootp is one of the core protocols from the early days of the internet, when disk drives were too expensive to be installed in every workstation, and they had to be able to leverage the common disk drive storage available on a central server just to get their operating system started. Believe it or not, it's gaining in popularity again, but this time for public-access or school computers that are prone to misuse. With BOOTP machines, curing a virus or adware or whatever is as simple as turning the machine off and back on, and the clients I've set up this way always swear they'll never go back. HTH. William (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I still do not understand _how_ the network card, or PCMCIA or whatever is able to do that job without first itself getting installed by (for example) Windows or whatever OS is in the terminal/workstation. I mean, that would be great if I could just turn on the laptop and have its OS installed by the desktop Win 2000. But how? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steven Lichter Reply-To: Die@spammers.com Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc. (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co. Subject: Motorola Bag phone Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:05:59 GMT I have one of these. Don't use it at all; it is not digital. Pretty good condition, no battery with it, just pugs in to lighter in a car. It was on BellSouth Mobility, but with you try to use it it says it is not registered with Verizon. If someone wants to pay me to pack it up and ship it to them, let me know, I can send pictures if you like. The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I certainly have the required power supply even though I do not have a car/cigarette lighter. I wonder how it would work on Cingular Wireless here in Kansas? PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #427 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 19 19:22:48 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id BD94C150A4; Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:22:47 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #428 Message-Id: <20050919232247.BD94C150A4@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:22:47 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, US_DOLLARS_3 autolearn=unavailable version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:23:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 428 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Cyber Cons, Not Hackers Now Behind Viruses (Michael Kahn) Mac Users Should Quit Deluding Themselves (Matthew Broersma) Microsoft Alleges Retailers Selling Counterfeit Software (Reuters Newswire) Sprint to Offer Rhapsody Radio Service (Reuters Newswire) The Front Lines - September 19, 2005 (Jonathan Marashlian) Verizon Wireless, Dell Ink Wireless Broadband (USTelecom dailyLead) Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... (Rich Greenberg) Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... (William Warren) Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... (Robert Bonomi) Re: Use of Bell Logo; Qwest? SBC? (Tony P.) Re: Roaming Charges (J Kelly) 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: Michael Kahn Subject: Cyber Cons, Not Vandals Now Behind Viruses Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:10:25 -0500 By Michael Kahn Computer hackers seeking financial gain rather than thrills or notoriety are increasingly flooding the Internet with malicious software code, according to a semi-annual report issued on Sunday. Symantec Corp.'s Internet Security Threat Report said during the first half of 2005 the number of new viruses targeting Microsoft Windows users jumped 48 percent to nearly 11,000 compared to the previous six months as hackers used new tools and a growing sophistication to create malicious code. The latest report by the world's biggest security software maker also found that viruses exposing confidential information made up three-quarters of the top 50 viruses, worms and Trojans, up from 54 percent in the last six months of 2004. It also said an increasing amount of menacing software allowed spam to be relayed automatically from computer to computer. These so-called "Trojan" programs can download and install adware to display pop-up ads in a user's Web browser. More so-called robot, or "bot" networks, which are created when a hacker illegally gains control of a large number of computers, are now available for sale or rent in the underworld of the Internet, Symantec said. "As financial rewards increase, attackers will likely develop more sophisticated and stealthier malicious code that will attempt to disable antivirus, firewalls, and other security concerns," the report said. Vincent Weafer, a security expert at Symantec, said early generations of cybervandals tended to unleash viruses as a way to bolster their reputations in the murky hacker world but now the motivation has turned to financial gain using more targeted malicious software. The number of headline-grabbing viruses has slowed since the Blaster worm outbreak in 2003, which targeted Microsoft software and devastated hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide. Instead, there is now a surge in people trying to gain control over a network of computers to launch attacks as well as a growing number of phishing scams that trick users into clicking onto a Web site that contains infected code, he said. "We are seeing a very significant change where we are seeing far fewer large pandemics," Weafer said. "However we are seeing a large volume increase in cyberattacks, viruses and variants." Indeed, Symantec saw an average of 10,532 active bot network computers per day, an increase of more than 140 percent over the prior six months. It also said phishing messages grew to an average 5.70 million messages a day from 2.99 million. "What we are saying is that attackers are increasingly targeting your assets and your private information," Weafer said. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Matthew Broersma Subject: Mac Users Should Quit Deluding Themselves Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:12:01 -0500 By Matthew Broersma, Techworld.com MacCentral Symantec: Mac users deluding themselves over security Mac users are "operating under a false sense of security", according to Symantec, and Firefox users will have to recognize that the open-source browser is currently a greater security risk than Internet Explorer. Symantec's latest Internet Security Threat Report, published Monday, found evidence that attackers are beginning to organize for attacks on the Mac operating system. Researchers also found that over the past six months, nearly twice as many vulnerabilities surfaced in Mozilla browsers as in Explorer. "It is now clear that the Mac OS is increasingly becoming a target for the malicious activity, contrary to popular belief that the Mac OS is immune to traditional security concerns," the report said. Symantec said OS X -- based on BSD Unix -- now shares many of the security concerns affecting Unix users. "As Mac OS X users demand more features and implement more ports of popular UNIX applications, vulnerabilities and exploits targeting this operating system and its underlying code base are likely to increase," Symantec said in the report. The number of security bugs confirmed by Apple has remained about the same over the past two six-month reporting periods, with no widespread exploits, Symantec said. But an analysis of a rootkit called Mac OS X/Weapox -- based on the AdoreBSD rootkit -- indicates the situation might not last much longer. "While there have been no reports of widespread infection to date, this Trojan serves to demonstrate that as Mac OS X increases in popularity so too will the scrutiny it receives from potential attackers," the report said. "Mac users are be operating under a false sense of security, and deluding themselves." Twenty-five vulnerabilities were disclosed for Mozilla browsers, including Firefox, in the first half of the year, compared with 13 for Explorer, Symantec said. Eighteen of the Mozilla flaws were classified as high severity, compared with eight high-severity Explorer flaws. Symantec warned of other emerging threats, notably to increasingly popular IP telephony systems, wireless networks and mobile devices. Meanwhile, attack code is becoming more sophisticated, with attackers deploying modular code that can avoid detection systems, Symantec said. Copyright 2005 Mac Central. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, MacCentral and TechWorld.com For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Microsoft Alleges Retailers Selling Counterfeit Software Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:01:00 -0500 Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest software maker, on Monday said it sued eight resellers, accusing them of distributing counterfeit copies of its computer programs. Many of the lawsuits, filed in Arizona, California, Illinois, Minnesota and New York against privately held companies, allege that the resellers sold counterfeit copies of software such as Office 2000 Professional and Windows XP, Microsoft said. The companies named in the lawsuits are: BWT Industry Technology Service Inc.; Data Day USA Inc.; MicroCity4Less.com; Winvtech Solutions Inc.; Global Computing Inc.; Ion Technologies Corp.; Compustar Co.; and Chips & Techs. Microsoft said it previously filed suits against BWT Industry Technology Service and Ion Technologies. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more news headlines, go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Sprint to Offer Rhapsody Radio Service Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:00:01 -0500 Sprint Nextel Corp. on Monday said it will sell access to RealNetworks Inc.'s Rhapsody radio service, allowing Sprint cellphone users to listen to several radio stations and podcasts. Rhapsody Radio will cost $6.95 a month on top of what Sprint users pay for its Vision Multimedia Service, the wireless company's mobile Internet package. It features stations devoted to alternative, pop, country, R&B and hip hop. It also allows users to watch music videos and listen to podcasts, which are archived radio programs and audio features that users can listen to on demand. The new service comes at a time when wireless companies are leaning on mobile Internet offerings to offset the competitive market for mobile calls. Wireless companies are betting music is ideal programming for wireless data. One of the more high profile music and wireless combinations is Cingular's deal with Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes, which allows Cingular users to download songs from iTunes to the new Motorola ROKR phones. The Sprint-Rhapsody venture currently offers no download service. Instead, users listen to the stations or podcasts by "streaming" them from the wireless network. "Downloading is interesting, but a lot of times people want convenience," said Kevin Nakao, general manager of RealNetworks' mobile business. "If you travel a lot, for example, you don't have time to upload your music to your player. With this service, the podcasts are there when you want them." Another feature of the new service is called "Beats N Breaks," which are instrumental hip hop beats that allow users to create their own raps over the beats. Ovum consultant Roger Entner called the service "a good first step. The important difference is that, unlike the ROKR, you do not need to sync your telephone to a PC to get your music. It's there on your phone and it's convenient." Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Listen to BBC on the net while scanning news stories at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/BBC.html ------------------------------ From: Jonathan Marashlian Subject: The Front Lines - September 19, 2005 Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:08:08 -0400 Organization: The Helein Law Group http://www.thefrontlines-hlg.com/ The FRONT LINES Advancing The Cause of Competition in the Telecommunications Industry NOTICE: FOURTH QUARTER 2005 UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND CONTRIBUTION FACTOR UNCHANGED The Wireline Competition Bureau of the FCC announced that the Universal Service Fund contribution factor for the Fourth Quarter of 2005 will remain at the current 10.2% applicable to the Third Quarter. The proposed 10.2% contribution factor will become effective unless the FCC takes action in response to the proposed increase, which is not anticipated. Contributors are reminded that they may not mark up federal universal service line-item amounts above the contribution factor. Thus, contributors may not, during the fourth quarter of 2005, recover from end users through a federal universal service line item an amount that exceeds the interstate telecommunications charges on a customer's bill times 10.2%. FCC RELEASES QWEST FROM SECTION 251 UNBUNDLING OBLIGATIONS IN OMAHA, NE On September 16, 2005, the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") quietly took action on a Forbearance Petition filed by Qwest Corporation ("Qwest") which is certain to have profound implications for the future of ILEC network unbundling. The FCC granted a Qwest Forbearance Petition in which Qwest requested relief from Section 251 obligations that apply to it as the ILEC in the Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA Metropolitan Statistical Area ("Omaha MSA"). The FCC granted the Forbearance Petition because the particular market characteristics of the Omaha MSA, including the substantial infrastructure investment made by Cox Communications, supported the request to be relieved from legacy monopoly regulations. With regard to section 251(c)(3) unbundling obligations for transmission facilities, the FCC granted Qwest relief in targeted areas where intermodal deployment is extensive. Specifically, the FCC relieved Qwest of the obligation to provide unbundled network elements (UNEs) to competitors in 9 of Qwest's 24 wire center service areas in the Omaha MSA. The FCC left in place other section 251(c) requirements, such as interconnection and interconnection-related collocation obligations, as well as section 271 obligations to provide wholesale access to local loops, local transport, and local switching at "just and reasonable" prices. For mass market telephone services, the Commission granted Qwest relief from dominant carrier regulations that apply to it in the entire Omaha MSA. Specifically, the FCC granted Qwest's request to forbear from applying price cap, rate of return, 15-day tariffing, and 60-day discontinuance regulations to Qwest for its provision of interstate mass market exchange access services and broadband Internet access services. The Commission adopted a six-month transition period to permit competing carriers that currently use UNEs in the 9 wire centers receiving relief to migrate existing customers to alternative facilities or arrangements, including self-provided facilities, alternative facilities offered by other competitive carriers, or services offered by Qwest. The FCC's grant of Qwest's Forbearance Petition is likely to spawn similar filings by RBOCs seeking similar relief in various markets across the U.S. UPDATE: FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS EXCISE TAX REFUND OPPORTUNITY In the July 28, 2005, edition of The Front Lines, we advised readers of the opportunity to obtain refunds of federal excise taxes paid to the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") for certain toll telecommunications services. The following is an update on the status of the IRS' responses to the series of court cases that have held that the toll telephone excise tax does not apply to long distance services that are not based on distance. 1. On August 5, 2005, the IRS lost its 8th straight court case, this decision based on summary judgment by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for a $6,000,000 refund claim. 2. According to information culled from earlier cases decided in favor of taxpayers, the IRS has settled and made refunds for 100 cents on the dollar, plus interest. 3. The IRS has, however, recently reasserted its policy of suspending other refund claims; meaning that it will not act on un-litigated claims until the court cases that remain on appeal are decided. The IRS' strategy being to stonewall large refund claims in hopes of winning one case on appeal and creating a conflict at the Appellate court level, thus setting the stage for Supreme Court review. All intended to further delay its issuing refunds. 4. There are currently four cases on appeal, three before the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and one in the 6th Circuit sitting in Ohio. IRS STONEWALLING BACK IN PLAY Contrary to indications made shortly after the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit joined 6 other lower federal courts in holding that the 3% federal excise tax does not apply to toll telephone services the charges for which are not based on distance, IRS has decided to reinstitute its policy of suspension of all FET refund claims until (1) other court cases or appeals are decided or (2) until Congress does something. No timetable exists for how long the IRS will wait for these court cases or appeals to be decided or for Congress to address the issue with legislation. IRS also claims to have heard "rumors" that Congress may repeal the FET altogether, or may try and solve the problem by some form of compromise based on the timing of FET payments or some other criteria. We are not giving much credence to the "rumors" about Congress becoming involved. In our opinion, unless the IRS's hand is forced, it will continue to stonewall dealing with the issue for as long as possible because it knows that the court cases and their appeals could take another two to five years or longer to be decided. The IRS's position is indefensible. Eight courts out of eight have now ruled in favor of taxpayers. The most recent case lost by the IRS is an August 5, 2005 decision out of the Northern District of California where the court disposed of the case, in favor of the taxpayer Hewlett-Packard, at the summary judgment stage. Notably, the refund at stake was the largest one yet litigated -- over $6 million. Presently, there are four appeals pending before the United States Court of Appeals: * National R.R. Passenger Corp. (Amtrak) v. United States.. Amtrak filed its brief on June 1, 2005; there is no information on whether or not oral argument has been scheduled yet. * AOL v. United States. IRS filed its appeal with the D.C. Circuit on June 27, 2005. * Honeywell International v. United States. IRS filed its appeal with the D.C. Circuit on July 12, 2005. * Office Max v. United States. Appeal pending before the 6th Circuit sitting in Ohio. We fully expect the appeals before the D.C. Circuit and the 6th Circuit to have the same pro-taxpayer outcome as in the May 2005 decision by the 11th Circuit. The bases for the pro-taxpayer rulings are matters of applying basic principles of statutory construction and the lack of IRS authority to change the statutory provision by its own decisions or interpretations. In other words, these cases do not present a "close question" on which reasonable minds could differ as to the result. The result reached, now by eight courts, in favor of taxpayers is unquestionably the right one in our opinion. The recent decision in California decided on summary judgment and for an amount of over $6 million supports our optimism. The IRS' position is unfortunate and can be challenged. For example, once a United States Court of Appeals denies IRS's appeal, as was done for the first time in May of this year by the 11th Circuit, and the IRS fails to seek review by the Supreme Court, the ruling in favor of the taxpayer becomes "the law" of that Circuit. Such is the case in the 11th Circuit. In short, the toll telephone excise tax does not apply any longer in the three states that are located in the 11th Circuit -- Alabama, Georgia and Florida. For both carriers and customers in these states, IRS's stonewalling through its suspension policy is untenable. Carriers have no legal basis to bill and collect the excise tax any longer in these three states and open themselves up to suits if they continue to bill and collect the taxes from their customers. Customers, unaware of the law, would surely continue to pay the excise tax if billed for it. Hence, in the 11th Circuit, it is now possible to explore the use of the doctrine of mandamus to force the IRS to do that which the law requires as decided by the 11th Circuit. The mandamus doctrine permits courts to issue orders instructing the IRS to conduct itself (e.g., make refunds) in accordance with law. When an agency is required by law to do something that is not discretionary, it may be compelled by court order (mandamus) to do it. Taxpayers in the 11th Circuit therefore are in position to seek mandamus against the IRS. SEEK ADVICE OF COUNSEL If you seek professional advice regarding the application of FET to your business, we advise you to contact your legal counsel. If you do not have legal counsel or seek specific counsel on this issue, please contact Charles H. Helein at 703-714-1301 or by e-mail: chh@thlglaw.com. Our firm has developed various strategies in response to the legal developments affecting the FET and looks forward to working with clients to implement the most appropriate strategy given each client's unique circumstances. ======================= The Front Lines is a free publication of The Helein Law Group, providing clients and interested parties with valuable information, news, and updates regarding regulatory and legal developments primarily impacting companies engaged in the competitive telecommunications industry. The Front Lines does not purport to offer legal advice nor does it establish a lawyer-client relationship with the reader. If you have questions about a particular article, general concerns, or wish to seek legal counsel regarding a specific regulatory or legal matter affecting your company, please contact our firm at 703-714-1313 or visit our website: http://www.thlglaw.com/ www.THLGlaw.com The Helein Law Group 8180 Greensboro Drive, Suite 700 McLean, Virginia 22102 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 13:17:50 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Verizon Wireless, Dell Ink Wireless Broadband USTelecom dailyLead September 19, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24715&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Verizon Wireless, Dell ink wireless broadband deal BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * P2P startup may buy Grokster * Is wireless the next frontier for porn? * Telos wins Pentagon deal * Japan's experience with mobile music could hold clues * The new Web USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Presented by ILC: Broadband Services: Network Provisioning Across Multiple Technologies HOT TOPICS * Fiber on the comeback trail * EBay buys Skype for $2.6 billion * Report: TV's future is IPTV * Ethernet not ready for primetime * Broadband bill addresses advanced services EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Cisco offers new IP networking products REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Can Wi-Fi master disaster? Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24715&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:34:39 UTC Organization: Organized? Me? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I still do not understand _how_ > the network card, or PCMCIA or whatever is able to do that job without > first itself getting installed by (for example) Windows or whatever OS > is in the terminal/workstation. I mean, that would be great if I could > just turn on the laptop and have its OS installed by the desktop Win > 2000. But how? PAT] The BIOS, possibly assisted by some firmware in the LAN card, has enough "smarts" to initiate the connection to the boot server, and to receive the OS image. 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 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 14:31:32 -0400 From: William Warren Subject: Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... TELECOM Digest Editor noted when questioning William Warren: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: On the older Think Pads (models 770 >> or 770x at least) F1 at time of booting brings up a BIOS menu and a >> choice of options i.e. boot from CD, from hard drive, from floppy >> (and other choices I do not understand, such as from 'network', from >> 'PCMCIA card' and other places. Exactly how one boots from 'network' >> or from 'PCMCIA card' when those devices do not come to life until >> Windows turns them on confuses me. [snip] PAT] > Pat, > It's asking if you want to start a bootp request from your Ethernet > card, which would broadcast for a "boot" server to provide the > operating system for you over the network. > In other words, it's giving you the option that's used for "Diskless > Workstations", which don't have a hard disk, to download your OS from > another network node and start it in memory. It's the same process > your BIOS performs during boot, except that the image that's loaded > into your machine's ram comes from another computer on your LAN, not > from your hard drive. [snip] > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I still do not understand _how_ > the network card, or PCMCIA or whatever is able to do that job without > first itself getting installed by (for example) Windows or whatever OS > is in the terminal/workstation. I mean, that would be great if I could > just turn on the laptop and have its OS installed by the desktop Win > 2000. But how? PAT] Pat, the network card is able to do that job because it contains a small computer program stored on ROM, which tells it what to do. This is the same process your computer goes through when it boots: a small computer program, stored in your computer's ROM, tells the machine to read the first (boot) sector from the first hard disk drive into RAM, and to transfer control to it. From there, the boot code that was read from the hard disk takes over and reads the operating system into RAM, thus booting the OS. With BOOTP, the ROM is on the Ethernet card: it's usually an extra chip that you have to buy separately and plug in yourself. The instructions in the rom tell the microcontroller on the Ethernet card to issue a BOOTP broadcast, thus requesting a response from a BOOTP server, and the server responds with the "bootstrap" code that the computer uses to find an OS image and load it into memory. It's the same result, just from a different source. GIYF: http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/sampchap/6163a.asp (General Information) http://www.cis.njit.edu/~cis456/protected/lesson23/single23.html (Details of the protocol) William (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 21:16:17 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I still do not understand _how_ > the network card, or PCMCIA or whatever is able to do that job without > first itself getting installed by (for example) Windows or whatever OS > is in the terminal/workstation. I mean, that would be great if I could > just turn on the laptop and have its OS installed by the desktop Win > 2000. But how? PAT] It is *simple*. The 'minimum necessary' code for operating the network card is included in the ROM BIOS. this is *not* much. it includes the code to (1) do a "RARP" request to find out the ethernet address it should use, (2) do a 'broadcast' query for a TFTP server, (3) send a 'get IPADDRESS_IN_HEX' request to that server, and (4) access the remote required file-system image (directory structure) from a file-server, via some network file-sharing protocol (NFS, SMB, etc.). Given that the 'network card' is built in to the machine, then 'how to talk to it' can be "hard-coded" into the BIOS -- because it *is* "known" what kind of a network card is installed, and thus the actual code to communicate with the card is unchanging. Thus, the amount of code required to implement that necessary sequence of network commands is *very* reasonable in size -- as in 'a few kbytes". It's no different, in basic concept, from how a computer knows how to load the O/S from a hard-disk -- *before* the hard-disk driver is 'installed' in the O/S. This _is_ why, it is known as the 'bootstrap loader' process. It has 'just enough' smarts to talk to the boot device (floppy, hard-disk, network card, cassette tape drive {remember *those}, or 'whatever') to load in a bigger block of instructions that provide the additional 'smarts' to load the next bigger piece of the O/S in to memory. "lather, rinse, repeat" as needed, until you have the entire O/S loaded. ".. but how?" requires setting up a machine to act as a 'boot server'. It has to have a table of Ethernet card _MAC_ addresses, along with the IP address that should be assigned to that MAC address. And be running the server program that will dispense that information when requested. It has to be running a TFTP server process to deliver the boot image when requested by the client machine. this means that you also have to have copies of the appropriate 'system' files under the appropriate name(s) in the TFTP server's working directory. The machine must also be running the programming that causes it to identify itself as a boot server, when the 'broadcast' query is made. Lastly, _some_ machine -- not necessarily the same machine as the 'boot' server -- must provide the "system" filesystem files, via a network file- sharing protocol. None of this is particularly 'rocket science', but it does require a fair bit of "systems administration" and 'network administration' knowledge, to set up all the requisite pieces, and have them play nicely _together_. request. UNIX and Unix-like systems have known how to do this for 20+ years. Novell "Netware" supported the concept from the later part of the 1980's, for Netware "client" machines. Microsoft "didn't do networks" until 'Windows for Workgroups', and "Microsoft Networking" did not support 'booting over the network'. I don't know *if* it is possible to boot a MS O/S from the network, although modern MS O/S's do have the required tools for being a 'boot server' to 'diskless' clients. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC? Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:17:30 -0400 In article , shlichter@diespammers.com says: > Allen Newman wrote: >> Trademarks must remain in use to remain legally protected, so I'm >> curious where and how Qwest ("my" Baby Bell) uses the Bell logo, if at >> all. In most cases Qwest has eliminated it since merging with US >> West. You can still make out the shadow of a Bell logo removed from >> the wall of a Qwest building in Ankeny, Iowa, for example. >> Last night on the way to a wedding reception I saw a Bell logo that >> Qwest hasn't gotten rid of: a wooden pay phone kiosk inside the south >> entrance of the Sioux Falls VFW Lounge still has a Bell sign on top, >> with the blue Bell logo to the left of the word "phone". Except for >> Qwest signs tacked to the sides of the kiosk it looked a couple >> decades old. Does Qwest affixing new signs without taking down the >> Bell sign count as current use for trademark purposes? It seems >> better than the example Qwest filed with the USPTO in 2003, which was >> a couple photos of a US West payphone kiosk, which didn't even have >> the Qwest identity. >> Even without the logo, Qwest does try to connect less obviously to the >> Bell identity. Its Dex phone book is still blue and gold, the Qwest >> logotype is in the Gill Sans font which has also been the corporate >> font of AT&T (although the Bell System used Helvetica), and their >> current slogan is "Spirit of Service", a long-time Bell System motto. >> Arguably, Qwest's blue swoosh logo echos the circular blue Bell logo >> -- or would, at least, clash with it if the Bell logo were also >> present. >> Has anyone ever seen an example of Qwest intentionally adding the Bell >> logo to anything anywhere? I wonder what they'll come up with when >> their next trademark filing is due. >> The other RBOCs have filed their own claims of Bell logo usage: >> In 2002, SBC submitted a photo of a white service truck with blue and >> gold stripes and Southwestern Bell Telephone markings. Do their >> trucks still look like that? It's about as convincing as Qwest's US >> West phone booth. It'll be interesting to learn what SBC does with >> branding after their purchase of AT&T. >> Also in 2002, Verizon submitted photos of new Verizon service trucks >> and pay phones featuring the Bell logo. IMO Verizon has cleverly >> dealt with the Bell logo "problem", that is, keeping it alive and >> meaningful but not letting it compete with their own created identity. >> Finally, both of the Baby Bells that don't use the Bell logo >> themselves license Bell names and logos to equipment manufacturers. >> Qwest licenses Northwestern Bell to Unical and SBC licenses >> Southwestern Bell to Conair. This despite Northwestern Bell and >> Southwestern Bell no longer being names Qwest or SBC use themselves, >> and the fact that while Qwest and SBC sell phone equipment on their >> websites, it's not their licensed Bell-branded equipment. >> Bell logo trademark registrations can be found by searching for design >> code 220324 260101 at the USPTO. > I believe that all their old names such as Northwestern Bell Telephone > are still registered with the states in which they served as well as the > US Copyright office. > I know that GTE is in California is still listed. And that was a > non-Bell before the merger. > The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? > (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. For example: http://www2.corps.state.ri.us/corporations/corp_search/index.php? help=namechange&corp_id=25249&corpname=Name ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 14:11:23 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@*newsguy.com On 16 Sep 2005 05:33:58 -0000, John Levine wrote: >> This raises a question I thought of recently, but had not bothered to >> ask anyone about. Suppose I start a cell call in local but move to a >> roaming tower during the call? Does the call get charged as roaming >> or not? > I doubt you'd get a handoff in a situation like that. It'd drop the > call and you'd call back. I worked for a small cellular carrier about 7 years ago. I would routinely test handoffs from our network to the network adjacent to us. Calls can and do hand from one network to another. The company I worked for billed a call as it was originated. I would make a call at home, drive halfway across the state (though another carriers network) and back into one of our service areas, the bill at the end of the month would show a 2 hour call in my home area, no roaming. I received the same bills as a regular customer, the only difference was instead of paying it I would send it to my supervisor and all the charges mysteriously disappeared :) And they certianly hand from cell to cell, I would often drive 400 miles in one day testing handoffs between cellsites while talking to the performance engineer all the while who was watching my signal stregths in the switch and making tweaks to the system to make it handoff at just the right time. I don't miss that job as I hate being in a vehicle. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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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 #428 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Sep 20 15:29:34 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id CDFD114DAE; Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:29:32 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #429 Message-Id: <20050920192932.CDFD114DAE@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:29:32 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.5 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, CELL_PHONE_IMPROVE autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:30:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 429 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New Orleans Suspends Re-Opening; Waits for Another Hurricane (Rubinkam) Online Credit Card Fraud Getting Ahead of Ability to Stop It (Kelleher) Ham Radio Operators Tune in to Hurricane Help (Barbara Carlson) Call Wave and Hawaiian Telcom Join Forces (Business Wire) ECC Provides VoIP Solutions to Chicago Businesses (Lisa Reyes) Cellular-News for Tuesday 20th September 2005 (Cellular-News) Camera Phones Will be High-Precision Scanners (Monty Solomon) P2P Companies Try to Go Legit (Telecom Daily Lead) Re: Motorola Bag Phone (Steven Lichter) Re: Motorola Bag Phone (Bob Vaughan) Re: Motorola Bag Phone (Joseph) Important Medical Recall Announcement (Patrick 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: Michael Rubinkam Subject: New Orleans Suspends Re-Opening; Waits for Another Hurricane Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 23:19:04 -0500 By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer Under pressure from President Bush and other top federal officials, the mayor suspended the reopening of large portions of the city Monday and instead ordered nearly everyone out because of the risk of a new round of flooding from a tropical storm on the way. "If we are off, I'd rather err on the side of conservatism to make sure we have everyone out," Mayor Ray Nagin said. The announcement came after repeated warnings from top federal officials -- and the president himself -- that New Orleans was not safe enough to reopen. Among other things, federal officials warned that Tropical Storm Rita could breach the city's temporarily patched-up levees and swamp the city all over again. Army Corps of Engineers officials noted that many of the repairs thus far from Katrina were 'emergency, temporary' repairs, intended to make things 'hold together safely while workers then got into the more detailed task of rebuilding them permanently. "Another storm, such as Rita would collapse the work we have done to date," noted the officials. The official death toll from Hurricane Katrina reached 973 across the Gulf Coast, with the number in Louisiana alone rising by 90 to 736. The mayor reversed course even as residents began trickling back to the first neighborhood opened as part of his plan, the less damaged Algiers section. Nagin wanted to reopen some of the city's signature neighborhoods over the coming week to reassure the people of New Orleans that "there was a city to come back to." But "now we have conditions that have changed. We have another hurricane that is approaching us," Nagin said. He warned that the city's pumping system was not yet running at full capacity and that the levees were still in a "very weak position." The mayor ordered residents who circumvented checkpoints and slipped back into still-closed parts of the city, including the French Quarter, to leave immediately. Nagin also urged everyone already settled back into Algiers to be ready to evacuate as early as Wednesday. The city requested 200 buses to help if necessary. Nagin noted that "this time, as needed, the busses will make as many trips as needed; load up, take the evacuees away to safety, then return a second or third time for another load." Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, in a televised address Monday, also urged residents of coastal southwest Louisiana to be prepared to leave. More evacuees would strain the shelters in Texas, she said, so she urged people to head for central and northern Louisiana instead. "We will pray that Rita will not devastate Louisiana, but today we do not know the answer to that question," Blanco said. Tropical Storm Rita was headed toward the Florida Keys and was expected to become a hurricane, cross the Gulf of Mexico and reach Texas or Mexico by the weekend. But forecasters said it could veer toward Louisiana and New Orleans' weakened levees. Army Corps of Engineers employees furiously continued their 'temporary, emergency' repairs throughout the night. "We're watching Tropical Storm Rita's projected path and, depending on its strength and how much rain falls, everything could change," said Col. Duane Gapinski, of the Army Corps of Engineers task force draining New Orleans and repairing levees. The dispute over the mayor's plan to quickly reopen New Orleans and bring back about 180,000 of the city's half-million inhabitants was just the latest example of the lack of federal-local coordination that has marked the disaster almost from the start. Nagin saw a quick reopening as a way to get the storm-battered city back in the business of luring tourists. But federal officials warned it would be premature, pointing out much of the area does not yet have full electricity, drinkable water, 911 service or working hospitals. The officials warned, "after all, there is basically no phone service either; how would we round up all the evacuees for a second trip out of town if it becomes necessary?" Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, who heads the federal recovery effort in the region, went on one news show after another over the weekend to warn that city services may not be able to handle an influx of people. "What if it happens again, and this time the hurricane takes a slightly different course and the twenty percent saved last time around gets hit this time? We are recommending people just go away and stay away until _we_ say it is safe." Allen said repeatedly that he intended to have a frank discussion with Nagin about his concerns on Monday, but the two didn't meet until after Nagin held a news conference to announce he was suspending re-entry to the city, a mayor's spokeswoman said. Nagin had spent the weekend in Dallas, where he moved his family and has enrolled his daughter in school, and he missed an appointment with Allen because his flight home was delayed, she said. Earlier, a clearly agitated Nagin had snapped that Allen had apparently made himself "the new crowned federal mayor of New Orleans." Allen tried unsuccessfully to reach the mayor by cell phone over the weekend, a Coast Guard spokesman. President Bush said White House chief of staff Andrew Card had also been pressing Nagin to pull back on the plan. With the approach of Rita, Bush added his own voice to the mix, saying he had "deep concern" about the possibility that New Orleans' levees could be breached again. In addition, Bush said there are significant environmental concerns. New Orleans still lacks safe drinking water, and there are fears about the contamination in the remaining floodwaters and the muck left behind in drained areas of the city. "The mayor -- you know, he's got this dream about having a city up and running, and we share that dream," the president said. "But we also want to be realistic about some of the hurdles and obstacles that we all confront in repopulating New Orleans." About 20 percent of the city is still flooded, down from a high of about 80 percent after Katrina, and the water was expected to be pumped out by Sept. 30. But officials with the Army Corps of Engineers said the repairs to the levees breached by Katrina are not yet strong enough to prevent flooding in a moderate storm, much less another hurricane. Brig. Gen. Robert Crear said Monday they hope to have the levees capable of hand- ling a Category 3 storm by June, the start of hurricane season. He said, "right now we are just making things safe enough for our people to work in the area." Nagin did not give any specifics about how he plans to enforce the renewed evacuation order. In the raucous French Quarter, about a half-mile from where Nagin made his announcement, businesses were getting up and running, and bars were serving cold beers to National Guardsmen and passers-by. Del Juneau, owner of a Bourbon Street lingerie shop, said it would be premature to order an evacuation based on the storm nearing Florida. "Where are you going to go? What are you going to do?" he said. "I'm not going anywhere." Down the street at the Famous Door, bartender C.B. Dover, said: "If we have a forced evacuation, we'll go. If it's not forced, we're not going anywhere." Dover said the mayor "has been overreacting the whole time. ... He's reacting emotionally, and you can't do that." Earlier in the day, as residents began streaming in at the mayor's invitation, cars were backed for two hours at an Interstate 10 checkpoint into the city. Tractor-trailers, emergency vehicles and National Guard trucks shared the highway with cars towing trailers full of hurricane gear and pickup trucks with their beds loaded with water, cleaning materials and coolers. It was clear that at least some of the traffic was headed to sections of the city that had not yet officially opened. Algiers, a neighborhood of 57,000 just across the Mississippi River from the French Quarter, is home to many of the companies that make floats for Mardi Gras parades. Unlike much of the rest of the city, it saw little damage from Hurricane Katrina three weeks ago and has electricity and drinkable water. "Obviously we need to get businesses up and running any way we can," said Barry Kern, whose float businesses is stocked to the rafters with oversized imaginary creatures. "If we don't start somewhere, where do we start?" Elsewhere across the city, where the damage was more severe, much of the sentiment seemed to be with the mayor and his attempts to reopen the city quickly. "Send Bush here and we'll make him a po' boy and tell him to leave us alone," Kathleen Horn said as she cleaned up the debris piled in front of Slim Goodies Diner on Magazine Street in Uptown. Ironically, as everyone was chattering about all the 'flood waters' which had done such damage to New Orleans, a light rain started to fall over parts of the city. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. More Associated Press headlines, stories and news radio at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP/html ------------------------------ From: James B. Kelleher Subject: Online Credit Card Fraud Getting Ahead of Ability to Stop it Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 23:20:59 -0500 By James B. Kelleher The top security experts at the world's two biggest credit-card associations said on Monday that the battle against Internet-based thieves had reached a stalemate and the industry would have to spend millions of dollars over the next decade just to keep up with the criminals. Speaking at an conference here, John Shaughnessy, senior vice president for fraud prevention at Visa USA and Suzanne Lynch, vice president for security and risk services at MasterCard International, said that organized crime rings -- with the help, in many cases, of former Soviet KGB cryptographers -- were successfully using the Internet and "crimeware" software programs to circumvent the defenses credit-card issuers erected against them. The picture they presented of an escalatinq struggle between commerce and criminality offered little hope of quick relief for consumers worried about identity theft or for investors in card-issuing banks concerned about security's escalating costs. The credit-card companies were battling loosely knit, elusive criminal networks responsible for much of the fraud, they said. "They're very, very good at what they're doing," Shaughnessy told attendees at the Bank Card Conference, "and they're a few steps ahead of us in a couple of areas. They've done their homework about the payments system and because of (them) we all have a chance to lose some sleep at night." The sobering assessment came one day after Symantec Corp., the world's biggest security software maker, released a report that showed hacking was no longer just the pass-time of precocious teenagers, but now was the province of organized criminals looking to gain access to personal information of computer users -- and their assets. Symantec said that viruses designed to capture confidential information made up three-quarters of the top 50 viruses, worms and Trojans during the first six months of 2005, up from 54 percent in the last six months of 2004. Visa's Shaughnessy said FBI data showed the number of Internet-related credit-card crime reports rose 66 percent in 2004 and the average reported loss associated with the online scams tripled to $2,400 from $800 in 2003. Part of that jump reflects the rise of business done on the Internet, Lynch and Shaughnessy said. But part of it also reflects the increasing sophistication of the criminals. "We build a 10-foot wall," Lynch said, "and the bad guys build an 11-foot ladder." While the criminals are increasingly savvy, Shaughnessy and Lynch said that in many cases they were inadvertently helped by sloppy security policies within the payment chain itself -- and by slip-ups by merchants, third-party processors or the credit-card companies themselves. "I will say that of all the hacks we've seen -- and we've seen hundreds and hundreds of these -- had the third-party been in compliance (with association rules), they probably wouldn't have been hacked," he said. Shaughnessy said Visa and others were looking at ways of protecting data so that even if a consumer's credit card information was compromised, it would be useless to the criminal. But he warned it would take many years, and lots of money, to set up such a system. "This is going to take big investments over a number of years and we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars to come up with a secure system," he said. "Maybe 10 years from now we'll have it solved ... It's a tough situation." Made tougher by the speed with which the criminals exploit even the most harmless information breaches, Lynch said. Lynch said that as the Red Cross began issuing MasterCard debit cards to victims of Hurricane Katrina earlier this month, a newspaper photographer working on a story about the program took a picture of one recipient holding a card. The photo was quickly posted on the Internet web. "Within eight hours," Lynch said, "there was fraud on the card." "Somebody had seen the picture -- and unfortunately they hadn't blocked the number -- and so somebody used the card fraudulently." Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. USA Today news reports on line at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/othernews.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Re-read the last two paragraphs of the story again. Diner's Club used to have a television commercial which included a blown-up, expanded in-close picture of one of their credit cards, and it was issued to 'John Q. Customer', and that card number was used many times in mail order fraud back in the 1960's. Also, you have probably heard of the Brinks Home Security system, where one's house is protected by beams of light which cannot be broken by intruders walking through them (or the alarm goes off, etc.) A television commercial showed a typical installation, with a control panel on the wall. When the occupants entered or left a house, they had to punch in a five digit 'security code' to activate or disarm the system. The commercial showed the homeowner going to bed for the evening and punching in the default code number, '12345' to protect his house and family all night. Although the code number to arm or disarm the system could (and was expected to be) changed from the default, factory-set code of '12345' it turns out most people did not bother to change it from the default (just like many people do not bother to change/eliminate the default 'users' installed at the factory for Unix accounts). Then the people got their houses ripped off when intruders walked in, and used the 20 second grace period to enter the default code. Later versions of the Brink's commercial (just like later commercials for credit cards) don't get into quite that much detail. I understand Red Cross and the FEMA people have gotten good ripoffs from misuse of their cards, also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Barbara W. Carlson Subject: Ham Radio Operators Tune in to Hurricane Help Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 23:28:24 -0500 http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0915/p12s02-stss.html By Barbara W. Carlson | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor NEWINGTON, CONN. - Richard Webb, an amateur radio operator, was asleep on his air mattress at University Hospital in New Orleans during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina when he was awakened at 5 a.m. by a hospital administrator. As Mr. Webb tells it, "He told me we had a lady who was in labor, who had swum five blocks in that dirty, nasty water to the hospital because she saw lights there - people with flashlights moving around." Medical personnel said the baby needed to be delivered by caesarean section. But the hospital had limited power, no running water, no way to sterilize instruments, no way to perform such surgery. "We figured we had two hours to get her medevacked out of there" before the lives of mother and child would be in danger. "So I got on the radio and was talking to a fellow who was with the Coast Guard auxiliary in Cleveland, Ohio. I was working with him to arrange a medevac." Choppers did arrive in time, Webb says. The woman and another patient in need were evacuated successfully. Because the hospital had no landing pad, the two had to be lifted out in baskets lowered from the helicopters. Webb, who lived in nearby Slidell, La., had been summoned to his hurricane post by the hospital's head of emergency management. He's one of about 750 amateur radio operators, or "hams," who have been in and out of the five hurricane states since day one: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and parts of northern Florida and Texas, where evacuees are taking shelter. At least a thousand other hams throughout the nation have been involved in some way, relaying messages or assigning hams to various locations. They're all volunteers, all unpaid, and they do what they do because they want to. They train for disaster work; their FCC radio licenses mandate public service. In typical disaster conditions, agencies like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), and local government bodies call on a state ham leader for volunteers when usual channels of communication are down or jammed. Katrina was different: It was far more vast. For the first time, the nonprofit American Radio Relay League (ARRL) set up a website and database to facilitate assigning hams. Pamela Taylor, who works as an events manager in Hampton Beach, N.H., got a call from FEMA and headed south on Sept. 9. She was deployed to a shelter in Ocean Springs, Miss., near Gulfport, before moving to New Orleans. The shelter was a church, well-supplied and maintained, with an abundance of volunteers. Her job was to radio for special needs, anything from a doctor to paper plates. Nights sometimes brought an emergency or two when a resident had to be removed, usually for alcohol or drug problems. Hams worked with the National Weather Service before and during the hurricane. They still are receiving and transmitting messages in shelters and other locations, alerting emergency agencies that a community needs water, that an elderly woman needs an ambulance, or that sanitary conditions are in crisis. An estimated 600,000 FCC-licensed amateur radio operators live in the United States; about 162,000 are members of the ARRL, which was founded in 1904 and is located here in Newington, Conn. Nearby Hartford is where Hiram Percy Maxim, the father of amateur radio, experimented at sending messages across the city and then relaying them across the country. Long before e-mail, there was amateur radio. It evolved over the last century so that today, ham operators communicate with one another around the world. Allen Pitts, for example, the ARRL's media-relations manager, says he has spoken to fellow hams in 213 foreign countries or "political entities." That's the hobby part of hamdom. The serious and vital part is seen in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES). Trained ham operators are ready with their "go kits" of equipment, batteries, and energy bars. ARRL coordinates the work of the emergency operators. Hams were at ground zero in New York within hours, they were in Florida for the multiple hurricanes last year, and they handled communications in the Northeast blackout of 2003. Hams are volunteers. When they set sail for disasters, they pay their own way. Sometimes employers give them a paid leave or reimburse expenses. Hams' sacrifices are real, but the rewards are often intangible. Mark Conklin of Tulsa got time off as a sales manager for an appliance company to relay messages. At first he handled communications between the state department of emergency management and the highway patrol. Next he was assigned to the 1,200 evacuees transplanted to an Oklahoma National Guard camp. At the camp, he talked to an elderly woman who was crying because she was happy -- "communications" had been able to get a pair of glasses for her. "For the first time in a week," she said, "I can see." http://www.csmonitor.com Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Christian Science Publishing Society. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml To read The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times and hear NPR stories on line each day with no login nor registration requirements, go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ From: Business News Wire Subject: CallWave and Hawaiian Telcom Join Forces Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 11:38:30 -0500 CallWave and Hawaiian Telcom Announce Agreement to Offer VoIP Enhanced Services to Hawaiian Telcom Wireless Customers BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 2005 -- Hawaiian Telcom Seizes Opportunity to Pioneer Landline-Wireless Convergence and Deliver Desktop VoIP Software to Its Customers CallWave, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALL), a leading provider of VoIP enhanced services, and Hawaiian Telcom today announced a groundbreaking agreement to deliver mobile convergence to mainstream telecom customers. Under the terms of the agreement, Hawaiian Telcom will license CallWave's fixed mobile convergence VoIP software to provide VoIP-based convergence applications, which include branded desktop software, to its customers. Hawaiian Telcom subscribers will soon have the ability to screen live mobile calls and move these calls between their cell phone and landline. Hawaiian Telcom will also offer a branded version of CallWave's proprietary desktop VoIP software, where consumers can preview calls, listen to voicemail and direct incoming cell phone calls - all from their internet-connected PC. In addition to introducing innovative, high-value features to Hawaiian Telcom subscribers, this agreement has broader significance. Hawaiian Telcom becomes one of the first carriers to bring the power of a desktop application to enhance everyday calls on cell phones and landlines. This move expands the domain of desktop voice applications beyond peer-to-peer calling to include PC management of, for example, incoming cellular calls. By delivering VoIP applications to enhance traditional phone calls, Hawaiian Telcom is responding to customers' demand for relevant, real-world solutions to managing their existing stream of calls through a simple, but powerful desktop application. "Carriers can now compete with Portals for VoIP applications on the desktop, and Hawaiian Telecom is a pioneer in this area. They are leading the way in leveraging their call volumes and large caller communities to win the desktop," said David Hofstatter, president and CEO of CallWave. "There is a narrow window of opportunity for carriers to surround customers with powerful, carrier-branded desktop VoIP software that enriches both their wireless and landline offerings." Through this partnership, Hawaiian Telcom is responding to customer demand for enhanced features from their wireless telecom provider, with CallWave's proprietary software seamlessly bridging their landlines, wireless phones and PCs and providing unique caller services. Hawaiian Telcom's wireless customers will gain access to CallWave enhanced VoIP service features, including: -- Call Preview, which allows users to listen to voice messages in real time and, if they choose, interrupt the message to take the call. -- Call Transfer, which lets users instantly transfer a live cell phone call to a home or office phone. -- Follow Me Home, which allows customers to automatically receive calls destined for their mobile phone on a designated landline when their mobile phone is either turned off or out of the coverage area. -- CallWave's desktop software enables customers to preview calls by hearing messages in real time, and easily manage and move calls from their home phone to another convenient device, such as their cell phone. It also serves as a flexible desktop tool, offering playback, storage and email of voice messages. To enhance privacy, Hawaiian Telcom's customers can also block telemarketer calls and monitor landline calls on their mobile phones. Hawaiian Telcom's service will be called Call Choice(SM) and will be offered on a monthly subscription basis. A service trial is scheduled to launch in mid-October 2005, with the full roll-out in the first quarter of 2006. "Hawaiian Telcom's goal is to provide innovative, relevant services to our customers, and we're proud to be the first carrier to offer CallWave's VoIP platform to deliver on that promise," said Michael Ruley, CEO of Hawaiian Telcom. "By gaining access to these 'CallWave-powered' features, our subscribers can take advantage of VoIP's benefits without having to sacrifice the reliability and convenience of their landline or mobile line." At a time when the telecom industry is becoming increasingly competitive, CallWave offers carriers a unique ability to enhance their existing networks with value-added VoIP applications. Unlike other VoIP solutions, CallWave's versatile VoIP platform can be easily and cost-effectively deployed throughout a carrier's entire network and can rapidly evolve to meet particular market needs. With CallWave, carriers gain a strategic advantage, as they can quickly deploy valuable new services and features that can help them retain and attract customers, differentiate themselves in the marketplace and stay ahead of mounting competition. Carriers instantly gain the inbound call management features of desktop-enabled VoIP, and compete with companies adding voice elements to their desktop programs. In a separate announcement today, CallWave unveiled its CallWave Rewards prepaid cell phone, the first pay-as-you-go program in which subscribers can earn rewards for getting calls. For more information or to purchase the CallWave Rewards phone, please visit http://www.callwavemobile.com. About Hawaiian Telcom Hawaiian Telcom is the state's leading telecommunications provider, offering a wide spectrum of telecommunications products and services, which include local and long distance service, digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband for Internet use, wireless services, and print directory and Internet directory services. For more information, please visit http://www.hawaiiantel.com. About CallWave CallWave (NASDAQ: CALL) is a leader in VoIP enhanced services for the consumer and business markets. The company provides VoIP application services on a subscription basis that add features and functionality to both the landline and wireless telecommunications services used by mainstream consumers and businesses. CallWave's proprietary VoIP software allows subscribers to get more out of their existing personal communications networks -- landline, mobile, and IP -- by adding desktop call management software and VoIP-based call-handling features, and by bridging all three networks to help subscribers get their important calls. Founded in 1998, CallWave is headquartered in Santa Barbara, Calif. For further information, please visit http://www.callwavemobile.com. ------------------------------ From: Lisa Reyes Subject: ECC Provides VoIP Solutions to Chicago Businesses Date: TUE, 20 SEP 2005 11:26:13 -0500 Reply-To: lreyes@iec.org Contact: Lisa Reyes Phone: +1-312-559-3325 E-Mail: lreyes@iec.org ECC PRESENTS VoIP SOLUTIONS FOR ENTERPRISE IN SEPTEMBER PDF The Enterprise Communications Consortium (ECC) offers valuable solutions to current VoIP technology challenges in September professional development forum (PDF). CHICAGO September 20, 2005 The Enterprise Communications Consortium (ECC) hosts a cutting-edge professional development forum (PDF), granting business owners solutions to current technology challenges they face in implementing VoIP, this September 22 at the Hyatt Lodge at McDonalds' Hamburger University in Oak Brook. This distinct PDF shares with professionals the latest technological solutions to help prepare them to successfully and securely integrate VoIP into their enterprises. Hearing leading experts VoIP deployment strategies and experiences, business owners will learn how they too can successfully implement VoIP into their business models. ECC Director of Content Development Dick Renfro noted VoIP's importance: "VoIP is the current major driver in the reduction of enterprise, business, and consumer telephony pricing. Every organization, regardless of size, should consider use of this radical new capability to help control operations cost. The PDF will discuss advancements in technology leading to IP integration, technological and business elements necessary to take the next step in VoIP penetration, key concerns in securely integrating IP, potential solutions surrounding security, interoperability, and the ability to access global network directories. This PDF will provide the opportunity for professionals to gain solutions from industry experts while learning from the experts’ most recent experiences. Key speakers include top-level executives Chris Stakutis, Chief Technology Officer, Emerging Storage Software, IBM; Tom Kershaw, Vice President, VoIP Services, VeriSign; Ajay Nigam, Director, Communications Security Services, VeriSign; Alan Bavosa, Senior Product-Line Manager, Juniper Networks; Bruce Clark, Worldwide Director, Strategic Planning, ProCurve Networking, Hewlett-Packard; and Greg Davis, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Webcor Builders. Granting information on a new approach that could significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a company's informations and communications systems, the ECC's September PDF proves an event not to miss. The mission of the ECC focuses on providing IT infrastructure managers and executives at commercial, academic, and government end-user organizations with multifaceted educational opportunities to identify key communications issues, trends, technologies, and resources central to the current and future success of member organizations. The International Engineering Consortium (IEC) manages the activities of the ECC. For more information, visit http://www.enterprisecc.org/index.asp ECC | 300 W. Adams, Suite 1210 | Chicago, IL 60606-5114 USA ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Tuesday 20th September 2005 Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 08:58:51 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com Asia Could Be World's Largest Mobile Market within a Decade http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14113.php Asia may become the largest regional mobile telecommunications market in the world over the next five to 10 years, reports In-Stat. In 2004, there were nearly 740 million mobile users in Asia (including Japan, Australia,... Mobile TV Channels Named for Canadian Operator http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14114.php Canada's Rogers late last week published the channel line up on the Rogers Mobile Television platform. Rogers Mobile Television service is powered by MobiTV. "Rogers has both the largest cable company and the largest wir... Dilithium Order From Vodafone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14115.php Dilithium Networks has announced that Vodafone Spain has selected the DTG 2000 multimedia gateway for delivery of enhanced 3G services across mobile and IP networks. The system will extend the capabilities of Vodafone Sp... New Study Reveals Consumer Desire to Print Camera Phone Pictures http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14116.php Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. has released the findings from a camera phone behavior study completed by NPD Techworld, revealing that 44.6% of participants said they have taken pictures with their camera phone that they wished ... Small GPS Chip for Mobiles http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14117.php Fujitsu Media Devices (FMD) and Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe (FME) have introduced a new compact AGPS/GPS module suitable for mobile devices. The small size makes it ideal for incorporating within products such as mob... Kenyan Operator Passes Subscriber Milestone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14118.php Kenya's Safaricom says that it has attained the three million active subscriber mark ahead of its forthcoming fifth year birthday next month. Safaricom chief executive officer Mr. Michael Joseph in a media release today ... Ugandan Operator Upgrades MMS Capability http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14119.php MTN Uganda has become the first operator in Africa and the second in the world to go live with Ericsson's latest multimedia messaging (MMS) technology, the Multimedia Messaging Center (MMC) 4.0 platform.... Nordics Get BREW Platform http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14120.php Qualcomm has announced an agreement with Nordisk Mobiltelefon, a CDMA2000 1xEV-DO wireless service operator focusing on the rural Nordic market for voice and data services, to deploy BREW products and services over its C... Two-Thirds of European Companies Rolling Out Wireless Email for Workers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14121.php Research published by European analyst firm, Quocirca, commissioned by Intellisync Corp. points to a significant development in the European business email market. The report underscores concerns that many European IT de... Funding Secured for South African Operator http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14122.php South Africa's 3rd GSM network operator, Cell C says that it has secured a three year US$80 million Revolving Credit Facility with Nedbank Limited, a leading South African bank. As previously described by Cell C in its H... Fixed-Mobile Technologies Level the Telecom Services Marketplace http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14123.php The dream of using one telephone with one number whether at home, at work or on the street -- and of networks smart enough to hand over a call in progress -- is approaching reality. "Fixed-mobile convergence" is the buzz... Mobile Data Services Popular in Austria http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14124.php The subject of mobile working becomes more and more important for Austrian small to medium businesses. A report compiled by the GSM operator, ONE show that 23% of companies employing mobile phones also use them for mobil... Vodafone: 3G Devices Rises To 4.35 Million At Aug 31 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14103.php Vodafone Group said Monday that it is hosting an analyst and investor day at its headquarters in Newbury, England and will report that the number of 3G devices has risen to 4.35 million at Aug. 31, 2005, comprising 3.95 ... Telsim Pre-qualification Bids Extended To Sep 30 -IHA http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14104.php The Turkish Saving Deposits Insurance Fund said Monday it has extended the deadline for pre-qualification bids in the sale of seized mobile phone operator Telsim, Ihlas News Agency, or IHA, reported. ... easyMobile To Be Launched In Germany http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14105.php Danish telecommunications operator TDC A/S (TDL) Monday said the mobile phone company easyMobile, in which it holds a minority share, will enter the German market in the near future. ... Vodafone In Talks To Integrate 3G Data Card Into Laptop http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14106.php Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), the U.K. mobile telecommunications company, Monday said it's in talks with computer manufacturers regarding the integration of third-generation, or 3G, data cards into laptop computers. ... Nokia Launches Nokia 6630 Music Edition Of 3G Smartphone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14107.php Finland's Nokia Oyj (NOK) said Monday it has launched the Nokia 6630 Music Edition, a special music version of the third generation smartphone. ... Vodafone Sees 3G Demand Picking Up http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14108.php LONDON (Dow Jones) -- U.K.-based mobile phone giant Vodafone Group PLC on Monday said adoption of third-generation devices were gaining momentum, but Chief Executive Arun Sarin's absence of comments on cash ret... Analyst Sees SanDisk Mystery Product Involving Music http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14109.php Flash memory product maker SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) aroused suspicion late last week when it made a cryptic announcement revealing "major" news to come during the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association ... Nortel On Schedule For Manufacturing Operations Transfer To Flextronics http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14110.php Nortel Networks Corp. (NT) is on schedule for the transfer of its manufacturing operations and related activities in Calgary and Campinas, Brazil to Flextronics International Inc. (FLEX). ... Sprint Offers Streaming Music Service For Phones http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14111.php OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP)--Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) is becoming the latest cellphone carrier to let its customers listen to music on the devices. ... UK PRESS: China Mobile: Not In Talks For Reliance Telecom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14112.php China Mobile (CHL), the world's largest wireless operator, on Monday denied it was negotiating to acquire Reliance Telecom, a small cellular services company controlled by Mumbai entrepreneur Anil Ambani, the F... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 08:35:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Camera Phones Will be High-Precision Scanners NewScientist.com news service Duncan Graham-Rowe New software, developed by NEC and the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) in Japan, goes further than existing cellphone camera technology by allowing entire documents to be scanned simply by sweeping the phone across the page. Commuters in Japan already anger bookstore owners and newsagents by using existing cellphone software to try to take snapshots of newspaper and magazine articles to finish reading on the train to work. This is only possible because some phones now offer very rudimentary optical character recognition (OCR) software which allows small amounts of text to be captured and digitised from images. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7998 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 13:09:25 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: P2P Companies Try to Go Legit USTelecom dailyLead September 20, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24747&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * P2P companies try to go legit BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Lenovo's new laptop line includes Verizon broadband system * Brain behind Cisco's code takes job at startup * VCs hungry once again for tech * Survey: VoIP service providers must reconsider marketing approach * Analysis: What's in it for AOL? * China Mobile denies rumors of Reliance Telecom deal * Motorola ramps up telecom services plan USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * FCC Chairman to provide Washington insight at TELECOM 05 * Telecom industry continues to restore service, aid Hurricane Katrina evacuees EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * European airlines to test in-flight mobile phone system * On deck: Phone search technology REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * WSJ: FCC close to approval of telcos' mergers * FCC relieves Qwest of some requirements in Omaha area Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24747&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: Steven Lichter Reply-To: Die@spammers.com Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc. (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co. Subject: Re: Motorola Bag phone Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 01:06:01 GMT Steven Lichter wrote: > I have one of these. Don't use it at all; it is not digital. > Pretty good condition, no battery with it, just pugs in to lighter in a > car. It was on BellSouth Mobility, but with you try to use it it says > it is not registered with Verizon. > If someone wants to pay me to pack it up and ship it to them, let me > know, I can send pictures if you like. > The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? > (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I certainly have the required power > supply even though I do not have a car/cigarette lighter. I wonder > how it would work on Cingular Wireless here in Kansas? PAT] If Cingular has an Analog system it would work just fine, what are the chances of that? I know when BLS; BellSouth took over some of GTE MobleNets Washington systems; they were located in Verizon offices, they still had the old Motorola Analog switch as well as the Digital one, but they had planned to move out of the building and have a new GSM switch. The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Cingular has some Analog stuff still in service, but it is getting scarce. They claim they will continue to service it through the end of next year, at least. But they also say that no _new_ analog service will be allowed in area 620 (southeast Kansas). Any new analog service (in the remaining time for same) will have to work out of Wichita (area 316), which is okay I guess. My exisiting Cingular prepaid service (an old AT&T Nokia 5165 phone) goes out of Wichita also, although my prepaid 'regular' Cingular Wireless service is a 620 number locally out of Independence. PAT] ------------------------------ From: techie@tantivy.tantivy.net (Bob Vaughan) Subject: Re: Motorola Bag phone Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 12:49:22 +0000 (UTC) Organization: Tantivy Associates In article , Steven Lichter wrote: > I have one of these. Don't use it at all; it is not digital. > Pretty good condition, no battery with it, just pugs in to lighter in a > car. It was on BellSouth Mobility, but with you try to use it it says > it is not registered with Verizon. > If someone wants to pay me to pack it up and ship it to them, let me > know, I can send pictures if you like. > The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? > (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I certainly have the required power > supply even though I do not have a car/cigarette lighter. I wonder > how it would work on Cingular Wireless here in Kansas? PAT] No, It almost certainly will not work with Cingular, which is a 1.9ghz digital network. You will need to find a carrier that has a 800mhz AMPS network in place, such as the old Cellular One (now AT&T?), or Verizon. The carriers may be reluctant to activate new service on a analog phone, as they can fit multiple digital calls in the same bandwith as a single analog call. There are also security issues, as a analog phone can be easily cloned using information sniffed off the air, with no physical access to the donor phone required. This is/was a major problem in many urban markets, where folks would park on a overpass over the freeway, and sniff ESN's from all the cellular users passing by, and then clone the ESN's into other phones, and sell calling time to the immigrant community. No fun when your bill shows up with thousands of dollars in calls to central america, although the cell companies would generally absorb the charges, it was a big hassle all around. The FCC has set a sunset date, after which time the carriers are free to discontinue analog service. That date is February 18th, 2008. After that date, there is no guarantee that analog service will continue to be available, although I suspect that it will continue in more rural areas for some time. -- Welcome My Son, Welcome To The Machine -- Bob Vaughan | techie @ tantivy.net | | P.O. Box 19792, Stanford, Ca 94309 | -- I am Me, I am only Me, And no one else is Me, What could be simpler? -- [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, the old AT&T Wireless Network was bought by Cingular, not by Cell One, however, it seemed to be the policy of AT&T that anytime _they_ were not able to service a customer the customer was handed off to the nearest Cell One tower. Some of that may just be playing games with words and names however, since here in Independence, AT&T (now Cingular) services its customers via the Cell One 'antenna farm' owned and operated by Dobson Cell Towers, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dobson Cell One. Located in nearby Liberty, Kansas, Dobson Cell Towers rents space to whomever, such as Cingular Wireless, Cell One, Alltel and US Cellular. Cingular has already stated (see my response to the other message in this group today) they will continue to service analog phones until 'sometime next year' as required by the FCC regulations. However, the area code I am in (620, southeast Kansas) will _only_ as of now, or as of last month, actually, be digital service. Until a few years ago, we used to be in area 316 (same as Wichita) and any _prepaid_ phones I wish to turn on (until next year's deadline) will be handled out of Wichita 316, like my present prepaid cellular phone, making me a 'roamer' for service. But 'roamer' is just a word also, all rates for prepaid service here in Independence, local or roaming, are 25 cents per minute under prepaid service. The effect of this where I am concerned is _all calls_ local or 'long distance' when using the Cingular prepaid service must commence with me entering my number and my pin. Not so on my 'regular' cell phone service. They will _not_ cell any analog phones or service as such any longer; just keep up with what is still out there. I may switch to Cell One or Alltel in the future if I can get a better deal from them _AND_ port my existing number. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Motorola Bag phone Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 10:49:58 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:05:59 GMT, Steven Lichter wrote: > I have one of these. Don't use it at all; it is not digital. > Pretty good condition, no battery with it, just pugs in to lighter in a > car. It was on BellSouth Mobility, but with you try to use it it says > it is not registered with Verizon. > If someone wants to pay me to pack it up and ship it to them, let me > know, I can send pictures if you like. >The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? >(c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I certainly have the required power > supply even though I do not have a car/cigarette lighter. I wonder > how it would work on Cingular Wireless here in Kansas? PAT] Who knows how it would work on Cingular or even on Verizon. Neither company will let you activate an AMPS (analog) only phone any longer. cingular won't even let you activate new TDMA (IS-136) service since cingular wants everyone on the GSM network now. People who are still on the TDMA network can stay there although Cingular has been taking more and more resources from their TDMA side and putting them into the GSM side so reception in some areas has become quite iffy. If you had service with AT&T Wireless or Verizon Wireless with just analog they'll likely let you keep it. They won't activate anything other than recent technology and even Verizon won't let you activate any new phone that is not GPS equipped. The only way you could possibly use it is as an emergency phone to dial 911 only since it's mandated that 911 should work from all phones regardless of whether they are registered on a network. ------------------------------ From: Patrick Townson Subject: Important Medical Recall Announcement Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 23:10:47 -0500 All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled. You may want to try calling the 800 number listed on most drug boxes and inquire about a REFUND. Please read this CAREFULLY. Also, please pass this on to everyone you know. STOP TAKING anything containing this ingredient. It has been linked to increased hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in brain) among women ages 18-49 in the three days after starting use of medication. Problems were not found in men, but the FDA recommended that everyone (even children) seek alternative medicine. The following medications contain Phenylpropanolamine: Acutrim Diet Gum Appetite Suppressant Acutrim Plus Dietary Supplements Acutrim Maximum Strength Appetite Control Alka-Seltzer Plus Children's Cold Medicine Effervescent Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold! medicine (cherry or orange) Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine Original Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine Effervescent Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Flu Medicine Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Sinus Effervescent Alka Seltzer Plus Night-Time Cold Medicine BC Allergy Sinus Cold Powder BC Sinus Cold Powder Comtrex Flu Therapy & Fever Relief Day & Night Contac 12-Hour Cold Capsules Contac 12 Hour Caplets Coricidin D Cold, Flu & Sinus Dexatrim Caffeine Free Dexatrim Extended Duration Dexatrim Gelcaps Dexatrim Vitamin C/Caffeine Free Dimetapp Cold & Allergy Chewable Tablets Dimetapp Cold & Cough Liqui-Gels Dimetapp DM Cold & Cough Elixir Dimetapp Elixir Dimetapp 4 Hour Liquid Gels Dimetapp 4 Hour Tablets Dimetapp 12 Hour Extentabs Tablets Naldecon DX Pediatric Drops Permathene Mega-16 Robitussin CF Tavist-D 12 Hour Relief of Sinus & Nasal Congestion Triaminic DM Cough Relief Triaminic Expectorant Chest & Head Triaminic Syrup Cold & Allergy Triaminic Triaminicol Cold & Cough ..... I just found out and called the 800 number on the container for Triaminic and they informed me that they are voluntarily recalling the following medicines because of a certain ingredient that is causing strokes and seizures in children: Orange 3D Cold & Allergy Cherry (Pink) 3D Cold & Cough Berry 3D Cough Relief Yellow 3D Expectorant They are asking you to call them at 800-548-3708 with the lot number on the box so they can send you postage for you to send it back to them, and they will also issue you a refund. If you know of anyone else with small children, To confirm these findings please take time to check the following: http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/ppa/ This is very important for persons like myself who have a medical history of heart attacks, strokes and brain aneurysms. PAT ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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 #429 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Sep 21 13:26:42 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 7B0B414F2B; Wed, 21 Sep 2005 13:26:41 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #430 Message-Id: <20050921172641.7B0B414F2B@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 13:26:41 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, DIET_1,MAILTO_TO_REMOVE autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 21 Sep 2005 13:27:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 430 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Tent Life Wears Thin on Evacuees, Families (Dahleen Glanton) On Move Again, Katrina Evacuees Now Flee Rita (Michael Graczyk) Big Players Enter VOIP Game (Ben Charney) AOL, Microsoft Plan Web Phone Service (Reuters News Wire) Keystrokes Reveal Passwords to Researchers (Associated Press News Wire) Google Begins Limited Test of WiFi Service (Adam Pasick) US Authors Group Files Suit Against Google (Eric Auchard) Suit Against Visa/MasterCard (Garden City Group Class Action News) Re: Roaming Charges (Ken Abrams) Re: Important Medical Recall Announcement (jared) 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: Dahleen Glanton Subject: Tent Life Wears Thin on Evacuees, Families Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 17:36:10 -0500 By Dahleen Glanton Tribune national correspondent Susan St. Amant and her five children live in the parking lot of a boarded-up Taco Bell. The children's faces are streaked with a grimy film of sweat and dust from piles of debris that surround their makeshift home. They try to clean themselves at night, but personal hygiene is difficult when they can take only sponge baths and wash their clothes with bottled water. St. Amant's arms are scaly and red, the result of second-degree burns from sitting in the sun all day because it is even hotter inside their tent. She longs for a cool breeze, but with each whiff of air, a foul odor of decay blows through the small town where search teams already have discovered 50 bodies and are looking for at least 52 more. This is not where the St. Amants had hoped to be three weeks after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their government-subsidized rental home along with almost everything on the Mississippi coast. But until they receive the travel trailer the federal government has promised, home is a canvas tent in the open air. "It's total hell here," said St. Amant, whose job as a cook at a Kentucky Fried Chicken disappeared in the storm. All along the coast, thousands of people live in broken-down houses without running water, electricity and working toilets. Others sleep in abandoned buildings, in their front yards and on porches that are barely standing. All along the coast, tent communities like the one at Taco Bell have sprouted up in vacant lots, turning strip-mall parking lots into land for squatters. The housing situation is so dire along the Mississippi coast that emergency workers and National Guard members sleep in tents erected on the beach or along the road. Insurance adjusters and out-of-town workers hired to help with the cleanup sleep in their cars in hotel parking lots as far away as Alabama while waiting for rooms to become available. Trailer communities began going up last week in Baton Rouge and other areas of Louisiana, but in Mississippi's coastal counties, where an estimated one in four dwellings were destroyed or heavily damaged, only 519 families have received trailers, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Most of those have gone to police officers, firefighters and other first responders who also are homeless. About 4,000 travel trailers are being held at a staging area near the coast, 1,000 of which have been assigned to families, state officials said. Officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said they are working with state and local leaders to identify suitable sites for the trailers. Residents can place trailers on their property, but they must have access to water, sewer and power lines. If they had access to a working telephone line, many agree they would be 'as good as new', but the phones are not going to be around for a long time either. In many areas such as Waveland, where 80 percent of the dwellings are uninhabitable, finding suitable sites has been difficult, FEMA officials said. "When you look at the vast amount of destruction, it makes it even harder to get things done. In Mississippi alone, there are hundreds of thousands of people we are trying to help," said a FEMA spokesman, Gene Romano. At least part of the problem with trailers, however, may stem from bureaucratic red tape. Trailer home manufacturers have been geared up for weeks to produce some 125,000 mobile homes and travel trailers requested by FEMA. Kicking problem upstairs But FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney told The Associated Press that production has been delayed because the Homeland Security Department, which oversees FEMA, has not yet developed a housing plan. "We want to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars," Kinerney told AP. "I know they [manufacturers] are standing by and getting a little frustrated. We want to make sure we are spending the money the right way. It doesn't mean people are going to go without." While Gov. Haley Barbour has repeatedly praised the federal government's efforts to help the state recover, his spokesman said Monday that the governor sees the lack of temporary housing as a serious problem. "The governor has said he is not satisfied with the temporary housing situation as far as getting the trailers out as fast as we possibly can," spokesman Pete Smith said. "But there is no one to blame. The governor wants the trailers to be moved as close to the evacuees' property as possible so people can oversee the rebuilding. There is more involved than just getting a trailer to a site and leaving it there." Last weekend in some counties, the Red Cross began moving evacuees from the schools that have sheltered them so that classes can resume as early as next week. Some shelter residents are being moved to community centers, and others are to be placed on a 490-passenger cruise ship to be docked off Mobile, Ala. Almost everything in Waveland, a town of about 9,000 about 60 miles east of New Orleans, was destroyed, including the hospital and the post office and the telephone exchange building. Every police vehicle is gone, along with fire trucks and public works vehicles. "Every firefighter, police officer and city councilman lost everything personally and professionally," said Mayor Tommy Longo, who runs the city by day and sleeps at night in a sewer treatment facility. "All the city had left was a backhoe." At the height of the storm, Waveland's 27-member police force was trapped inside the station, which flooded with 20 feet of water. Half of them, including the chief, swam outside and held on to an 8-foot bush for seven hours. The others were stuck on the roof of the building for just as long. Twenty-five firefighters also swam for their lives, rescuing stranded people along the way. "We have been trying to keep the people alive, and we are victims ourselves," said Chief James Varnell, who is running the Police Department from a trailer equipped with a couple of laptop computers, a cell phone and a police radio. Battery power to run these devices inlcuding the cell phone come from automobile batteries sitting nearby which are replaced as needed when freshly charged batteries are removed from a nearby automobile and the old batteries are 'jumped' with a charging cable brought in, attached to an automobile generator. On Sunday, most of Waveland's city workers and their families moved into 150 trailers set up for first responders in a city park. Another 30 or so families like the St. Amants are waiting. On waiting list, and waiting. After placing their names on FEMA's trailer list on Thursday, St. Amant and her extended family, which includes her elderly parents, her sister and her two young children, and the family dog, waited all weekend for word that they could move into a trailer. It never came. Several residents have complained that everything seems unorganized and chaotic, from the FEMA lines to the Red Cross sites where they go for financial aid. People start lining up for assistance at daybreak, but the forms often run out before noon; the cash on hand for dispersal that day is usually gone earlier than that. Others said the rules for aid are unrealistic in towns such as Waveland where destruction is so widespread. FEMA will not hand out $2,000 relief checks in person and instead wants to send them to addresses or bank accounts. Asked what a victim should do if he or she had neither, a FEMA official said Monday that the agency was willing to work something out. "We are camping in a Taco Bell parking lot, and they're asking for an address and telephone number. We got our $2,000 check, but we don't have nowhere to cash it," said St. Amant, whose check was delivered to her home's mailbox, which survived the storm. "I'm hoping we can make it another two or three days. I keep saying that every day, and then it's another day. We just can't get nothing accomplished." dglanton@tribune.com Copyright 2005 Chicago Tribune. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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 ------------------------------ From: Michael Graczyk Subject: On Move Again, Katrina Evacuees Now Flee Rita Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 17:25:27 -0500 By MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press Writer They waded through the chest-high floodwaters in the streets of New Orleans. They were plucked from their rooftops in the rescue baskets of helicopters. They survived the hell of the Louisiana Superdome and a 350-mile bus ride to Texas. Now, just a few weeks after getting settled at emergency shelters in Houston, Hurricane Katrina evacuees are on the move again to escape another storm. "This reminds me of the Israelites marching in the desert," Norman Bethancourt, 51, said as he waited for a bus to take him from Reliant Arena to Ellington Field, where he and the other refugees were set to board planes bound for a military base in Arkansas. About 1,100 evacuees -- down from a high of nearly 10,000 -- living in Houston's two largest shelters, Reliant Arena and the George R. Brown Convention Center, began making their way to Fort Chaffee, Ark., as Hurricane Rita strengthened into a hurricane and lashed the Florida Keys with heavy rain and strong wind. Forecasters said Rita would continue to gain strength as it crossed the warm Gulf of Mexico and would probably come ashore in Texas over the weekend. Houston officials said moving the evacuees was necessary because the shelters might not hold up in a major hurricane. They hoped to have everyone moved by Tuesday night. The evacuees carried little. Some had a backpack, others a plastic bag. A few had pillows. One girl, tears streaming down her face, carried a stuffed toy in a little cage. "A lot of people didn't want to go," said Wayne Sylvester, who was wearing a T-shirt that proclaimed: "I Survived Katrina." "It looks like the storm is following me. Choice is you don't have a choice." Many of the evacuees were not happy about leaving for Arkansas and were looking for somewhere else to go. "Hell. It's been pure hell," said Lisa Banks, 33, who was outside Reliant Arena with her four children, ages 8 to 15. "I'm not going to Arkansas. I feel like a rag doll, people throwing me around." Seated on chair, she kept a black plastic garbage bag nearby. It was filled with towels. Banks, who was airlifted with her family out of their home in New Orleans, had hoped to settle in Houston, find a job and a place to live. I don't know what's going to happen next," she said. "We really don't know what to do. We were supposed to get housing here." Arkansas? "No," she said adamantly. "Arkansas is not a good place for me." "I don't even know where that's at," said Michael Russell, as he ate his lunch of macaroni and cheese and a sausage while he waited for his brother. They hoped to get to Hammond, La., not Arkansas. Both are from New Orleans. Texas officials also were planning to move Louisiana evacuees out of shelters in Corpus Christi and Beaumont. In all, some 4,000 were headed for Arkansas and 3,000 to Tennessee. At Reliant, Carmelita Speed, 25, clutched a box of tissue and periodically dabbed at tears. She reluctantly was going to the plane and Arkansas. "I hope and pray it isn't like the Superdome," Speed said, describing how for days there she "slept on the ground, or on cardboard." Her boyfriend, Roland Mitt, said: "I'm running out of patience. I'm upset. I'm mad. I'm disgusted. All of the above." "I just want to live peacefully and have a happy life," Speed said. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more Associated Press reports, please go to : http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Ben Charney Subject: Big Players Enter VOIP Game Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:30:06 -0500 Ben Charny - eWEEK Five years after pioneering Internet telephony in the United States, America Online, Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN are finally taking the business seriously. And that, said analysts interviewed Tuesday, could spell trouble for hordes of companies that subsequently introduced their own telephone services based on VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol), software that allows an Internet connection to double as an inexpensive home phone line. On Tuesday, early VOIP pioneer America Online Inc. introduced TotalTalk, a very much revamped version of a VOIP service that AOL first introduced five years ago. Just how much more serious is AOL about the phone business now? "This release increases our addressable market by a factor of 25," said Ragu Kamel, AOL senior vice president and general manager of voice services. Click here to read more about AOL's release of IM and VOIP tools. TotalTalk is part of a recent waive of renewed interest in inexpensive Internet telephony from AOL and its major competitors Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., which all introduced VOIP plans five years ago as part of a strategy to create a single Internet destination for any number of different applications, such as search, e-mail and instant messaging. Google Inc., the world's most popular search company, is often grouped into this lot, having introduced many of the very same types of different services. Analysts have long held that by turning to VOIP, portals could ultimately shake up the phone industry. Yet each company has done little since to promote the services or improve them. The relative inactivity until recently of the major companies has helped Internet telephony newcomers like Skype Technologies SA, a Luxembourg-based VOIP operator recently purchased by auction company eBay Inc.; Vonage, a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp. of Edison, N.J.; and some major cable operators to steal the spotlight and garner millions of paying customers. But now it appears that all are bracing for more serious battle for the phone business, having all in recent months significantly sharpened their telephone offerings. Read more here about eBay's VOIP strategy. With customers reaching into the tens or hundreds of millions each, analysts have long held that portals pose a big threat to leaders of the traditional phone industry leaders Verizon Communications, BellSouth Corp., SBC Communications Inc. and Qwest Communications, known collectively as the Bells. Yet, "the Bells aren't scared, the smart ones are already in the VOIP business," said Andy Abramson, who writes the VOIP Watch Weblog. "MSN, Yahoo, AOL and to some extent Google are all following a me-too, me also strategy right now. We should see them start differentiating themselves in the coming months," he said. Following AOL's TotalTalk, Microsoft made similar moves on Tuesday with its new partnership with local phone giant Qwest to sell phone services to SMBs (small and midsize businesses.) In recent weeks, Yahoo unleashed a revamped version of its VOIP service, Yahoo Messenger with Voice, which provides new features and improves upon calling quality. Search giant Google, considered a competitor to Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN and AOL as it moves further away from its search roots and into new services, introduced its first version of Internet telephony a few weeks ago as well. Check out eWEEK.com's VOIP & Telephony Center for the latest news, views and analysis on voice over IP and telephony. Copyright 2005 Ziff Davis Inc. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Ziff Davis Media. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: AOL, Microsoft Plan Web Phone Services Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 17:40:51 -0500 AOL and Microsoft both announced new Internet phone services on Tuesday. Time Warner Inc. said its America Online Inc. unit would introduce a new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service called TotalTalk early next month. Qwest Communications International Inc. and Microsoft Corp. said they will offer Internet phone service to small and medium-sized businesses, starting in 2006. VoIP allows customers to use their high-speed Internet connection instead of traditional landlines to make telephone calls. AOL said its TotalTalk service may lead to savings of up to 40 percent on monthly bills. It said it would begin the roll out of the new service on October 4. The Qwest/Microsoft service will combine Microsoft's Solution for Enhanced VoIP with Qwest's OneFlex services. Qwest and Microsoft expect the service will be available in 2006. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Associated Press News Wire Subject: Keystrokes Reveal Passwords to Researchers Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 17:42:27 -0500 If spyware and key-logging software weren't a big enough threat to privacy, researchers have figured out a way to eavesdrop on your computer simply by listening to the clicks and clacks of the keyboard. Those seemingly random noises, when processed by a computer, were translated with up to 96 percent accuracy, according to researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. "It's a form of acoustical spying that should raise red flags among computer security and privacy experts," said Doug Tygar, a Berkeley computer science professor and the study's principal investigator. Researchers used several 10-minute audio recordings of people typing away at their keyboards. They fed the recordings into a computer that used an algorithm to detect subtle differences in the sound as each letter is struck. On the first run, the computer had an accuracy of about 60 percent for characters and 20 percent for words, said Li Zhuang, a Berkeley graduate student and lead author of the study. After spelling and grammar checks were deployed, the accuracy for individual letters jumped to 70 percent and words to 50 percent. The software learned to improve as researchers repeatedly fed back the same recordings, using results of spelling and grammar checks as a gauge on correctness. In the end, it could accurately detect 96 percent of characters and 88 percent of words. "If we were able to figure this out, it's likely that people with less honorable intentions can -- and have -- as well," Tygar said. Researchers said there is some limitation to their technique. For one, their work did not take into account the use of a computer mouse or the "shift," "control," "backspace" or "caps lock" keys. They did, however, describe approaches for taking those into account. The use of a computer mouse is another challenge, the researchers said. The Berkeley research builds on the findings of an International Business Machines Corp. study in which 80 percent of text was recovered from the sound of keyboard clicks. The IBM team, however, relied on controlled conditions such as using the same keyboard and training the software with known text and corresponding sound samples. Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer of Counterpane Internet Security Inc., called the study "a great piece of research." He said audio eavesdropping is just one of many possible techniques to spy on PC users. "If the bad guys can get access to your physical space, they can eavesdrop on your stuff," he said. "They can install a camera or a keyboard logger on the wire. They can install a microphone." The Berkeley researchers built their system using off-the-shelf equipment. "We didn't need high-quality audio to accomplish this," said Feng Zhou, another Berkley graduate student and study author. "We just used a $10 microphone that can be easily purchased in almost any computer supply store." The Berkeley researchers, part of the Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technology, will present their results Nov. 10 at a computer and communications security conference in Alexandria, Va. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To listen to AP News Radio and/or read Associated Press stories, go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Adam Pasick Subject: Google Begins Limited Test of Wi-Fi Service Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 17:38:36 -0500 By Adam Pasick Google, the online search leader, confirmed on Tuesday it has begun a limited test of a free wireless Internet service, called Google WiFi. The existence of the Wi-Fi service, which offers high-speed connections to the Internet over short distances, is confirmed by public pages on the company's Web site and was first reported in a Silicon Valley newspaper in July. Google spokesman Nate Tyler said the current test is limited to two public sites near the company's Mountain View, California, headquarters -- a pizza parlor and a gym -- located in the heart of Silicon Valley. "Google WiFi is a community outreach program to offer free wireless access in areas near our headquarters," Tyler said. "At this stage in development, we're focused on collecting feedback from users. We'll determine next steps as the product evolves," he said. Free wireless communications would take Google even further from its Internet search roots and move it into the fiercely competitive world of Internet access providers and telecommunications companies. Tyler said the project was started as part of a Google engineer's "20 percent time project." Google encourages its engineers to spend 20 percent of their work time developing independent projects. Several of Google's new products have grown out of such projects, including Google News, contextual advertising program AdSense and social-networking test project Orkut. The Google Web site has several references to Google WiFi but provides few details. One page ( http://wifi.google.com/faq.html/ ) refers to a product called "Google Secure Access," which is designed to "establish a more secure connection while using Google WiFi." The company has already launched a sponsored Wi-Fi "hotspot" in San Francisco's Union Square shopping district in April with a start-up called Feeva. In July, the San Jose Mercury News reported that in exchange for using the free Google WiFi service, customers would be required to load a copy of Cisco's secure network software and Google's "toolbar" program on their laptops. Speculation about a forthcoming Google WiFi service was stoked in August following an article in Business 2.0 magazine, which argued that the company was considering building a U.S. broadband network capable of targeting specific advertising to users based on the location of their Wi-Fi. As evidence, the magazine pointed to what it said was Google's purchase of unused, high-capacity fiber-optic network connections left over from the telecom bust earlier this decade. Google responded saying that such purchases were natural for a company with one of the larger Web sites. But the company has declined to discuss its broader plans. Analysts have voiced concerns that Google could extend itself too far beyond its core business, while acknowledging that its vast financial and engineering resources could produce results. "Becoming a service provider would be quite a stretch for Google, but considering the billions of dollars Google could throw at the problem it could become a reality," Ovum analyst Roger Entner wrote in the wake of the Business 2.0 article. Google, which is rapidly expanding beyond its core Internet search service, introduced an instant messaging and Web telephone calling service called Google Talk in August. Its shares were up 1.5 percent to $308.30 in trading late Tuesday afternoon on the Nasdaq exchange. "I think strategically it absolutely makes sense but its profit and loss impact remains unclear," said Jefferies & Co. analyst Youssef Squali. (Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York and Eric Auchard in San Francisco) Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Eric Auchard Subject: US Authors Group Sues Google Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:27:36 -0500 By Eric Auchard The Authors Guild, a U.S. writers advocacy group, sued Google Inc. on Tuesday in federal court, alleging that the Web search leader's bid to digitize the book collections of major libraries infringes on individual author's copyrights. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Google, names as co-plaintiffs The Authors Guild and writers Herbert Mitgang, Betty Miles and Daniel Hoffman. Hoffman was poet Laureate of the United States in 1973-74. Mitgang is an historian, critic and former New York Times editorial writer. Miles is a children's book author. The lawsuit seeks class action status, asks for damages and demands an injunction to halt further infringements. This is the latest round in the battle between Google and publishers that pit copyright holders' interests against the company's mission of "organizing the world's information and making it more universally accessible and useful." A Google spokesman said the company regretted that the Authors Guild had chosen to sue rather than continue discussions. "Google Print directly benefits authors and publishers by increasing awareness of and sales of the books in the program," Google said in a statement. "Only small portions of the books are shown unless the content owner gives permission to show more." A year ago, Google began working with five of the world's libraries -- at Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, the University of Michigan and the New York Public Library -- to make large parts of their book collections searchable on the Web. The action by the 86-year-old Authors Guild is part of a push by the organization to roll back efforts by Web sites to make the contents of books freely available online. In a related case, the group has been seeking for a decade to force online publishers from New York Times Co. to Amazon.com to pay royalties to writers whose stories appear in online databases without their consent. In August, Mountain View, California-based Google said it planned to temporarily scale back plans to make the full text of copyrighted books available on its Internet site. Google has said it will respect the wishes of copyright holders who contacted the company and asked for their books to be withheld from the project. Meanwhile, it said it was working with publishers and librarians to scan books in the public domain that are not covered by copyright. Critics of the program said that Google's plan to allow copyright holders to opt out of the project switches the burden of upholding copyright from infringers to copyright holders. "This is a plain and brazen violation of copyright law," Nick Taylor, president of the 8,000-member New York-based Authors Guild, said in a statement on Tuesday. "(Authors), not Google, have the exclusive rights to ... authorize such reproduction, distribution and display of their works," the complaint said. An attorney with Kohn Swift & Graf P.C., the plaintiffs' law firm based in Philadelphia, said the lawsuit had been filed earlier today in U.S. federal court in Manhattan. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Check out USA Today news headlines at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/othernews.html ------------------------------ From: Garden City Group Subject: VISA/Master Charge Class Action Lawsuit Settled Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:42:21 -0500 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Merchants please pay attention. A 'merchant' is defined here as _anyone_ who has accepted Visa/MC cards in payment for a purchase at _anytime_ during the eleven year period 1992 through 2003. If you sold anything during that period of time, and accepted a credit/debit card as payment, then you are a merchant, and you are entitled to relief in the lawsuit now settled. Read on ... PAT] WELCOME TO THE VISA CHECK/MASTERMONEY ANTITRUST LITIGATION WEBSITE WHAT IS THIS LAWSUIT ABOUT? The Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litigation is a class action lawsuit that was filed and litigated in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, New York. The Class consists of all businesses and organizations in the United States that accepted Visa and MasterCard debit and credit cards for payment at any time during the period October 25, 1992 to June 21, 2003. The Class Plaintiffs claimed that, through their "Honor All Cards" policies, Visa and MasterCard forced merchants to accept Visa and MasterCard signature debit card transactions at supracompetitive prices. (Visa and MasterCard's signature debit products are also referred to as Visa Check, MasterMoney or Debit MasterCard.) The merchants also claimed that Visa and MasterCard were attempting to monopolize the debit card business in the United States. In April 2003, just as the trial was about to begin, Visa and MasterCard decided it was in their best interest to settle with the plaintiffs' Class. WHAT ARE THE TERMS OF THE SETTLEMENT? As part of the settlement, Visa and MasterCard agreed to eliminate their "Honor All Cards" policies, which required merchants that accepted their credit cards to also accept their signature debit card transactions. Prior to this untying of credit and debit, they also agreed to lower debit card fees for an interim period by one-third. In addition, they agreed to re-label the Visa Check and MasterMoney debit cards with the word "DEBIT" on the front and to do other things related to the untying of debit cards from credit cards. Visa and MasterCard also agreed to pay $3.05 billion over time into a Settlement Fund. This Settlement Fund will be used to provide compensation to Class Members, and will be distributed to Class Members after the attorneys fees, expenses and cost of notice and administration approved by the Court have been deducted. WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SETTLEMENT? You are a member of the Class if you or your business or organization in the United States accepted Visa and/or MasterCard debit and credit cards for payment at any time during the period October 25, 1992 through June 21, 2003. HOW DO I PARTICIPATE IN THE SETTLEMENT? Based on the Court's final order, Lead Counsel Constantine Cannon, are now charged with the task of distributing the proceeds of the settlement to all eligible Class Members. To assist in this process, Lead Counsel and the Court have authorized The Garden City Group, Inc. ("GCG") to act as Claims Administrator. The first step, according to the Court order, is for GCG to mail Claim Forms, by September 29, 2005, to all Class Members that have previously been identified. If you do not receive your Claim Form within a few weeks of the mailing, but believe you are entitled to one, please call the toll-free telephone number, above, or click here to request one through this website. The Claim Forms and accompanying Instructions will explain everything you need to know to enable you to participate in the settlement and receive your pro rata share of the settlement proceeds. However, if you need more information, please consult this website or feel free to call the toll-free number. Among the information contained on this site are frequently asked questions, a detailed overview of the calculation of the payment awards, personalized information regarding your own claim calculation, the Amended Plan of Allocation, and the expert reports setting forth the methodologies for estimating Cash Payments (see the Fisher Allocation Declarations). Of course, you may have questions that cannot be answered by information on this site. Operators are available toll-free (at the number above) to take your calls and answer questions related to the settlement. You will also be able to leave messages for the Claims Administrator and for Lead Counsel. Lead Counsel and GCG are committed to distributing settlement proceeds as quickly as possible. In fact, the Court has ordered that regular quarterly payments be made. Therefore, the faster you submit your claim, the faster you can be paid. However, in order to receive your payment as early as possible, you must complete your Claim Form correctly and in its entirety. Any deficiencies in your claim may delay payment. Also, while you have the right to challenge your claim calculation if you wish, please understand that the adjudication of such a challenge may delay your ultimate payment. Also, in order to establish a right to share in the Settlement Fund, Class Members may be required to provide information showing that they accepted Visa and/or MasterCard transactions for payment at any time between October 25, 1992 and June 21, 2003. While you will not be required to submit such documentation with your Claim Form, you may be subsequently asked to produce such documentation to confirm your entitlement to a Cash Payment. Finally, it is your responsiblity to advise GCG of any change of address after you submit your Claim Form. If you have more questions, please telephone the claims administrator at 1-888-641-4437. DO NOT telephone the clerk of the court, nor the attornies involved. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There were many, many pages as part of the web site the claims administrator put up, including the lengthy and complex history of the litigation, etc. The essence seems to be that in order to accept VISA/MC you are (were) required to accept their debit cards as well as their credit cards. Some merchants did not the terms VISA/MC gave them. Walmart was one such merchant. After two years of litigation, VISA/MC decided to settle the lawsuit against them on this matter, but the court ruled that _all_ merchants -- not just the big Walmart-like merchants -- were entitled to relief as well. If the court knows about you, then you _should_ get the paperwork any time now, if it has not already arrived. You can confirm your participation in the Class and make other arrangements as needed with the Administrators by calling 888-461-4437 on or before September 29, 2005. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ken Abrams Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:52:16 GMT J Kelly wrote: > On 16 Sep 2005 05:33:58 -0000, John Levine wrote: >>> This raises a question I thought of recently, but had not bothered to >>> ask anyone about. Suppose I start a cell call in local but move to a >>> roaming tower during the call? Does the call get charged as roaming >>> or not? >> I doubt you'd get a handoff in a situation like that. It'd drop the >> call and you'd call back. > I worked for a small cellular carrier about 7 years ago. I would > routinely test handoffs from our network to the network adjacent to > us. If this was 7 years ago, I'm guessing it was analog service; it certainly was not GSM. I'd be interested to see what happens on some of those calls today using GSM service. Often things touted as "new and improved" aren't. That's my impression of GSM, at least the way it is being implemented now. While it is hard for a user to tell when a call is handed off to another site, I don't think I have ever had a successful hand-off with GSM. I have, however, had a LOT of calls dropped when moving ... sometimes just a few feet. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 19:18:08 -0600 From: jared@netspacenospamnet.au (jared) Subject: Re: Important Medical Recall Announcement Here's the referenced FDA info. Note their advice to read the label first. See their note regarding e-mails. And the note regarding reformulation. I checked one product at random and the ingredient does not appear. And as ever, read the insert for precautions and warnings. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking steps to remove phenylpropanolamine (PPA) from all drug products and has requested that all drug companies discontinue marketing products containing PPA. In addition, FDA has issued a public health advisory concerning phenylpropanolamine. This drug is an ingredient that was used in many over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription cough and cold medications as a decongestant and in OTC weight loss products. In response to the request made by FDA in November 2000, many companies have voluntarily reformulated and are continuing to reformulate their products to exclude PPA while FDA proceeds with the regulatory process necessary to remove PPA from the market. We have received numerous requests for a list of products containing PPA. Since companies continue to reformulate their products, FDA is not maintaining a comprehensive, updated list of products that still contain PPA. FDA is aware of emails circulating widely that list many products allegedly containing PPA. These emails, however, generally contain dated and inaccurate information and should be ignored. The FDA recommends that consumers read the labels of OTC drug products to determine if the product contains PPA. The Agency believes this to be the most accurate method for determining the PPA content of OTC products rather than providing an incomplete or out-of-date list of products that may have already been reformulated and no longer contain PPA. > All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled. > You may want to try calling the 800 number listed on most > drug boxes and inquire about a REFUND. Please read this > CAREFULLY. Also, please pass this on to everyone you know. > STOP TAKING anything containing this ingredient. It has been > linked to increased hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in brain) > among women ages 18-49 in the three days after starting use > of medication. Problems were not found in men, but the FDA > recommended that everyone (even children) seek alternative > medicine. > The following medications contain Phenylpropanolamine: > Acutrim Diet Gum Appetite Suppressant > Acutrim Plus Dietary Supplements > Acutrim Maximum Strength Appetite Control > Alka-Seltzer Plus Children's Cold Medicine Effervescent > Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold! medicine (cherry or orange) > Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine Original > Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine Effervescent > Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Flu Medicine > Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Sinus Effervescent > Alka Seltzer Plus Night-Time Cold Medicine > BC Allergy Sinus Cold Powder > BC Sinus Cold Powder > Comtrex Flu Therapy & Fever Relief > Day & Night Contac 12-Hour Cold Capsules > Contac 12 Hour Caplets > Coricidin D Cold, Flu & Sinus > Dexatrim Caffeine Free > Dexatrim Extended Duration > Dexatrim Gelcaps > Dexatrim Vitamin C/Caffeine Free > Dimetapp Cold & Allergy Chewable Tablets > Dimetapp Cold & Cough Liqui-Gels > Dimetapp DM Cold & Cough Elixir > Dimetapp Elixir > Dimetapp 4 Hour Liquid Gels > Dimetapp 4 Hour Tablets > Dimetapp 12 Hour Extentabs Tablets > Naldecon DX Pediatric Drops > Permathene Mega-16 > Robitussin CF > Tavist-D 12 Hour Relief of Sinus & Nasal > Congestion > Triaminic DM Cough Relief > Triaminic Expectorant Chest & Head > Triaminic Syrup Cold & Allergy > Triaminic Triaminicol Cold & Cough ..... > I just found out and called the 800 number on the container for > Triaminic and they informed me that they are voluntarily recalling the > following medicines because of a certain ingredient that is causing > strokes and seizures in children: > Orange 3D Cold & Allergy Cherry (Pink) > 3D Cold & Cough Berry > 3D Cough Relief Yellow 3D Expectorant > They are asking you to call them at 800-548-3708 with the lot number > on the box so they can send you postage for you to send it back to > them, and they will also issue you a refund. If you know of anyone > else with small children, > To confirm these findings please take time to check the following: > http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/ppa/ > This is very important for persons like myself who have a medical > history of heart attacks, strokes and brain aneurysms. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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. 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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 #430 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Sep 21 18:35:35 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 598C915032; Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:35:35 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #431 Message-Id: <20050921223535.598C915032@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:35:35 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:36:00EDT Volume 24 : Issue 431 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Interpol Uses Technology to Fight Child Porn (Mark Trevelyan) Displaced Dolphins Rescued From Open Sea (Valarie Bauman) Cellular-News For Wednesday 21st September 2005 (Cellular-News) Verizon Ready to Launch TV Service (USTelecom dailyLead) Motorola ROKR E1 Review (Monty Solomon) Re: Motorola Bag phone (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: Mark Trevelyan Subject: Interpol Uses Technology to Fight Child Porn Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 14:34:46 -0500 By Mark Trevelyan, Security Correspondent Interpol will launch a big push to identify child sex victims and prosecute abusers with the help of special software that can minutely analyze pornographic images, many from the Internet, and spot vital background clues. Hamish McCulloch, a British investigator at Interpol who specializes in child porn, said police around the world will get access to the technology via a 3.2 million euro image database to be funded by the Group of Eight (G8) leading nations. He said it should lead to a big rise in the number of countries submitting child porn images to Interpol -- currently fewer than 20 -- and in the number of victims found and rescued. "Currently investigations tend to focus on trying to seize computers, forensically examine the hard drive and obtain the evidence to prosecute for possession or distribution (of child pornography)," McCulloch told Reuters in an interview. "The countries who are saying 'let's try to identify the victim' are limited. And that's really where the push has got to go ... Once you've identified the victim, you've identified the abuser. The vast majority are identified through the victims." Since 2001, the world police organization Interpol has built up a vast store of hundreds of thousands of pornographic images showing up to 20,000 different children. It has managed to identify and rescue 346, with the largest numbers coming from Sweden, the United States and Germany -- a positive reflection, McCulloch says, on the commitment of police in those nations. Until now, countries that want to run checks on new images have had to send requests to Interpol's headquarters in France to be handled by two specialist officers. But with the G8 project, now being put out to commercial tender, the system will be automated and widened so police anywhere can conduct their own searches around the clock to check if newly found images match those already stored. The specialized software can match not only victims but also crime scenes, even when the images in question are taken in apparently anonymous indoor settings. Analyzing a photo of a young girl discovered on a computer in the United States, for example, the Interpol team found a match with four pictures from Belgium, showing a different child in the same room. The computer made the connection by recognizing the wallpaper and the distinctive floral pattern on a pillowcase. Police were eventually able to trace the victims and the abuser. In another case, McCulloch believes police are now close to arresting a pedophile in Poland who has posted child porn that was submitted to Interpol by Sweden and Canada. The key lead now is a series of photographs showing the man exposing himself in his car as young children walk past. McCulloch says he is confident police will track down the scene, and the culprit, from details glimpsed in the background of the pictures, such as buildings, graffiti and trees. While the Internet remains flooded with child pornography -- after all, about sixty percent of the internet is pornography of one kind or another, and child pornography is about twenty percent of that, "With three clicks you can find images of child abuse very easily" -- McCulloch believes the new technology significantly raises the chances of catching offenders. "People who believed they were not going to be identified and prosecuted and go to prison are finding law enforcement are knocking on their door in every corner of the world, from information that someone thousands of miles away has found on a PC and forwarded through Interpol channels." Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do any readers have more precise figures than this? I guess it could be said that 'the internet is about sixty percent pornography of one kind or another' and 'child pornography is about twenty percent of that', and I suppose that would consitute a 'flood' of it; but what are the actual figures as best anyone can estimate? I know it is pretty awful, but I would have to challenge the figures given. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Valarie Bauman Subject: Displaced Dolphins Rescued From Open Water Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 14:37:00 -0500 By VALERIE BAUMAN, Associated Press WriterWed Sep 21,10:00 AM ET Marine biologists have rescued the last four of eight trained dolphins that were swept to sea by Hurricane Katrina. Before the hurricane hit the coast on Aug. 29, the dolphins were moved to a pool at the Marine Life Oceanarium that had withstood the destruction of Hurricane Camille in 1969. Katrina destroyed that pool and pulled the mammals out into the Gulf of Mexico. "Three of the dolphins were born at the facility, and had never been in the wild, compacting our concern for their well-being," said Moby Solangi, owner and director for the Marine Life Aquarium. Biologists located the dolphins on Sept. 10 by performing aerial surveys. They were monitored and fed from boats and four were rescued within days, but the other four had left the area. They were plucked from the Mississippi Sound on Tuesday. All of the dolphins have been reunited. "I think it's been good news for a lot of people who have had a lot of bad news lately," said Connie Barclay, spokeswoman for the National Marine Fisheries Service. The dolphins appeared to have some large lacerations and were as much as 100 pounds underweight, said marine mammal biologist Jeff Foster, who led the rescue. They were very confused about their circumstances and why they could not find their keepers, as well as hungry. Despite the injuries, the animals are recovering well and will be quarantined until experts are sure they do not have any communicable diseases. "They are doing great," Foster said. "It's been a confusing thing for them for sure, but after a day they could settle down and feel at home." The Marine Life Oceanarium featured the dolphins doing jumps and other tricks in programs for tourists. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Also see news headlines at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News For Wednesday 21st September 2005 Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 07:35:01 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com Nortel Wins Chinese Network Optimization Contract http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14128.php China Mobile has awarded a one-year network optimization contract to Nortel for its largest regional operator, Xinjiang Mobile. Under terms of the agreement, Nortel is providing continuous performance assessment to help ... Econet Pays Early To Secure Botswana Operator http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14129.php Econet Wireless Group says that it has decided to complete its Botswanan purchase ahead of schedule. The company has paid Altech US$87.5 million for its 50% stake in Botswana-incorporated Econet Wireless Global ahead of ... Ericsson Win Nigerian CDMA Contract http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14130.php Fixed-line operator, Nigerian Telecommunications (Nitel), has awarded Ericsson a deal worth USD$46 million for the expansion of its fixed-wireless CDMA 2000 1X network. Under the terms of the contract, Ericsson will be s... Hutchison Prepares for 3 Italy Floatation http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14131.php Hutchison Whampoa has made the first move towards floating its Italian 3G network onto the Italian stock exchange, having made a formal application to the Italian regulators for the listing. Hutchison also confirmed that... NEC's Mobile Internet Platform selected by O2 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14132.php NEC says that it has supplied the Mobile Internet Platform for O2's forthcoming i-mode service. O2's i-mode operations are scheduled to start this autumn in the UK and Ireland. "We are pleased with NEC as the provider of... picoChip and ARM Announce Wireless Chipsets http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14133.php picoChip and ARM have jointly announced that picoChip's next generation picoArray flexible products for WiMAX and WCDMA infrastructure will incorporate the ARM926EJ-S processor, to create the first single-chip, software-... How to Keep Roaming Customers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14134.php Sensustech, a mobile network quality measurement company, has launched a Roamer Performance Monitoring (RPM) system to help operators acquire and retain more visiting roamers. It is a new application for the Sensustech I... Second GSM Operator Launches in Nepal http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14135.php Spice Nepal, the holder of Nepals second GSM license has finally launched its network, following several years of delays. SNPL, a joint-venture involving Indian, Nepalese and Kazakhstan companies has launched the service... Reducing Roaming Fraud http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14136.php The French wireless telecommunications provider Bouygues Telecom has selected Fair Isaac's RoamEx roamer data exchanger to enhance inbound roaming revenue and reduce roaming fraud for their roaming partners. Through the ... Two Airlines to Trial In-Flight Cellphone Use http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14137.php Two European airlines are to start trials of allowing mobile phone use on their planes. TAP Portugal and the UK based, bmi are preparing to trial the service on an Airbus A320 in late 2006 by which time OnAir expects tha... Vodafone Preps for FeliCa Lanch http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14138.php Vodafone Japan has confirmed that it is scheduled to launch a new service called "Vodafone live! FeliCa" in early November to coincide with the sale of the Mobile FeliCa smartcard equipped Vodafone 703SHf handset by Shar... Continued Growth Expected for North American Wireless Industry - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14139.php Wireless services continue to drive results for the North American telecommunications industry, with wireless companies reporting solid financial and customer growth performance in the first half of 2005, as reviewed in ... China Mobile Adds 3.643 Million New Subscribers In August http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14125.php China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. (CHL), the listed arm of China's largest mobile operator, said Tuesday it added 3.643 million new subscribers in August, up from 3.581 million additional users in July. ... Taiwan VIBO Telecom To Raise NT$5 Billion From Private Placement http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14126.php VIBO Telecom Inc., Taiwan's newest wireless operator, plans to raise NT$5 billion through a private placement to existing investors in the fourth quarter, company President David Wang said Tuesday. ... Vodafone Confirms Telsim Pre-Qualification Bid http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14127.php Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), the U.K. mobile telecommunications company, Tuesday confirmed it has lodged a pre-qualification bid for Turkish mobile telecom company Telsim. ... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 12:52:46 EDT From: USTelecom DailyLead Subject: Verizon Ready to Launch TV Service USTelecom dailyLead September 21, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24780&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Verizon ready to launch TV service BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * AOL announces new VoIP service * SBC, EchoStar to extend marketing deal * Microsoft retools management; creates three units * Nokia broadens portfolio of inexpensive handsets * Nortel's Owens warns on network security USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * NEW! 2005 USTelecom Industry Directory TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * What's Google doing with Wi-Fi? * BBC to test file-swapping service for its programs REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * New wrinkles in the Bernard Ebbers saga * Is there really a market for municipal fiber networks? * FTC settles with telemarketing firms Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24780&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, 21 Sep 2005 08:02:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola ROKR E1 Review Review of Motorola's iTunes Phone, the ROKR E1 http://www.MobileBurn.com/review.jsp?Id=1648 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Motorola Bag phone Date: 21 Sep 2005 07:24:23 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Steven Lichter wrote: > I have one of these. Don't use it at all; it is not digital. As others have mentioned, many carriers will not activate such a phone as a matter a policy (not technically). Verizon in my area will not. The newspaper reported consumers are upset by this because there are many rural areas where bag phones are still needed for their power due to great distances from the nearest tower. Perhaps the cell phone company people think the whole country looks like New Jersey. It does not. Such a phone might work as a 911 emergency phone or on an expensive pay-as-you-go basis. I bought an analog cell phone at a yard sale, powered it up, and tried to make a call on it. The system asked me for a credit card number to make the call. I believe they would put a call through but at a considerable charge, more so than commercial pay-as-you-go cell phones. I keep in my car glove box just in case. (I don't always carry my cell phone with me on local trips.) I would suggest powering up this phone and try making a call on it and see what happens. The phone should be able to reach 911 and you could test that by telling the 911 operator immediately that you're testing a phone. If asked for a credit card see if you can find out what it will cost to complete a call. In the middle of nowhere in an emergency a $10 call charge isn't so onerous. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #431 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Sep 22 01:24:44 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id DD61114FE4; Thu, 22 Sep 2005 01:24:43 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #432 Message-Id: <20050922052443.DD61114FE4@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 01:24:43 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_REMOVE autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Sep 2005 01:25:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 432 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Macromedia, Cisco Push Telecom Apps (Mark Sullivan, Light Reading) Rita to be Biggest, Strongest Ever in Texas (Pam Easton) Louisiana Official Caught Ripping Off Donations (Associated Press Wire) EU Executive Outlines Data, Telecom Storage Rules (Huw Jones) TiVo Users Fear New Recording Restrictions Planned for Them (Greg Sandoval) T-Mobile USA Announces 20-Million Customer Milestone (Joseph) Re: Motorola Bag Phone (Joseph) Re: Motorola Bag Phone (Steven Lichter) Re: VISA/Master Charge Class Action Lawsuit Settled (Joseph) Re: Roaming Charges (Joseph) Re: Important Medical Recall Announcement (Gene Berkowitz) 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: Mark Sullivan Subject: Macromedia, Cisco Push Telecom Apps Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 22:58:06 -0500 With the telephony and IT worlds rapidly collapsing into one thing, the Web-development software titan Macromedia Inc. has partnered with Cisco Systems Inc. on a Web conferencing platform. San Francisco-based Macromedia is announcing at the Voice On the Net (VON) Coalition show today (Tuesday) it has licensed its Flash-based Breeze Web conferencing technology to Cisco for use in a new suite of business applications aimed at small and medium-sized businesses. In addition to putting Macromedia in the telecom market for the first time, the partnership represents Cisco's biggest move into applications so far. Both Cisco and Macromedia will now be going head-to-head with Microsoft Corp., WebEx Communications Inc., and IBM Corp. The new Cisco product suite, called the "Business Communications Solution for Mid-Market Companies," is a set of IP communications applications based around Cisco's popular CallManager softswitch product (see Airbus Uses Equant, Cisco for VOIP). Specifically, Macromedia's slick conferencing UI is used in Cisco's MeetingPlace Express, a browser-based version of its somewhat higher-end conferencing product, MeetingPlace (see LR Poll: Cisco Likely to Make VOIP Buy). Macromedia general manager Tom Hale called Light Reading Monday and quickly initiated a Breeze-based conference to demonstrate what Cisco is getting. After opening a browser window and logging in, the conference page opens. The application's central pane is used for a slideshow presentation, while smaller panes are placed at the left for participant status and IM functionality. Hale soon opened yet another pane for live video from his office in San Francisco, then began using an arrow to point out various parts of the presentation. To demonstrate the application's integration with the Cisco softswitch, Hale dialed a cell phone, which rang then played a recorded invitation to join the online conference. The feature will be more commonly used to dial Cisco IP phones in an enterprise's network. Cisco chose Macromedia mainly for its popular user interface, and because Macromedia Flash is already installed on 98 percent of all PCs, according to the companies. Macromedia's Hale says Cisco's new suite should be attractive to mid-sized businesses because its applications are all IP-based. "They don't want to pay a provider for the services because there is a markup, and every enterprise has an IP network." Hale also points out that the Breeze Web conferencing application is friendly with machines running practically any type of operating system. Macromedia earlier announced the integration of its Flash development platform with the Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ - message board) service delivery platform (SDP) for use by service providers developing next-generation converged applications and services (see HP Takes Flash Approach to SDPs). Macromedia also has a deal with VOIP business application provider Avaya Inc. "We built a connector to Avaya and we sell the product together," Hale says. Cisco's new mid-sized business suite includes Mobile Connect, which creates a single IP phone number for a variety of handset types, and Unity Connection, a Web browser-based voice-messaging system. - Mark Sullivan, Reporter, Light Reading Copyright 2005 Light Reading, Inc. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Light Reading. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Pam Easton Subject: Rita Could be Biggest, Strongest Ever in Texas Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 23:06:41 -0500 By PAM EASTON, Associated Press Writer It is already rated category 5, as of Wednesday afternoon. Gaining strength with frightening speed, Hurricane Rita swirled toward the Gulf Coast a Category 5, 175-mph monster Wednesday as more than 1.3 million people in Texas and Louisiana were sent packing on orders from authorities who learned a bitter lesson from Katrina. "It's scary. It's really scary," Shalonda Dunn said as she and her 5- and 9-year-old daughters waited to board a bus arranged by emergency authorities in Galveston. "I'm glad we've got the opportunity to leave. ... You never know what can happen." With Rita projected to hit Texas by Saturday, Gov. Rick Perry urged residents along the state's entire coast to begin evacuating. And New Orleans braced for the possibility that the storm could swamp the misery-stricken city all over again. "We do not want a repeat of the events of Louisiana here in Texas," the Governor noted. New Orleans Mayor Nagin noted bitterly, "I guess we get off lucky this time with 'only' five or six inches of rain to further harass the levees." Galveston, low-lying parts of Corpus Christi and Houston, and mostly emptied-out New Orleans were under mandatory evacuation orders as Rita sideswiped the Florida Keys and began drawing energy with terrifying efficiency from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters said Rita could be the most intense hurricane on record ever to hit Texas, and easily one of the most powerful ever to plow into the U.S. mainland. Category 5 is the highest on the scale, and only three Category 5 hurricanes are known to have hit the U.S. mainland -- most recently, Andrew, which smashed South Florida in 1992, and of course Katrina a couple weeks ago. The U.S. mainland has never been hit by both a Category 4 and a Category 5 in the same season. Katrina, at one point became a Category 5 storm, weakened slightly to a Category 4 hurricane just before coming ashore. Government officials eager to show they had learned their lessons from the sluggish response to Katrina sent in hundreds of buses to evacuate the poor, moved out hospital and nursing home patients, dispatched truckloads of water, ice and ready-made meals, and put rescue and medical teams on standby. An Army general in Texas was told to be ready to assume control of a military task force in Rita's wake. "We hope and pray that Hurricane Rita will not be a devastating storm, but we got to be ready for the worst," President Bush said in Washington. Late Wednesday, Rita was centered about 570 miles east-southeast of Galveston and was moving west near 9 mph. Forecasters predicted it would come ashore along the central Texas coast between Galveston and Corpus Christi. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 70 miles from the center of the storm. But with its breathtaking size -- tropical storm-force winds extending 370 miles across -- practically the entire western end of the U.S. Gulf Coast was in peril, and even a slight rightward turn could prove devastating to the fractured levees protecting New Orleans. In the Galveston-Houston-Corpus Christi area, about 1.3 million people were under orders to get out, in addition to 20,000 or more along with the Louisiana coast. Special attention was given to hospitals and nursing homes, three weeks after scores of sick and elderly patients in the New Orleans area drowned in Katrina's floodwaters or died in the stifling heat while waiting to be rescued. Military personnel in South Texas started moving north, too. Schools, businesses and universities were also shut down. Some sporting events were canceled. Galveston was a virtual ghost town by mid-afternoon Wednesday. In neighborhoods throughout the island city, the few people left were packing the last of their valuables and getting ready to head north. Helicopters, ambulances and buses were used to evacuate 200 patients from Galveston's only hospital. And at the Edgewater Retirement Community, a six-story building near the city's seawall, 200 elderly residents were not given a choice. "They either go with a family member or they go with us, but this building is not safe sitting on the seawall with a major hurricane coming," said David Hastings, executive director. "I have had several say, `I don't want to go,' and I said, `I'm sorry, you're going.'" Galveston, a city of 58,000 on a coastal island 8 feet above sea level, was the site of one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history: an unnamed hurricane in 1900 that killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people and practically wiped the city off the map. The last major hurricane to strike the Houston area was Category-3 Alicia in 1983. It flooded downtown Houston, spawned 22 tornadoes and left 21 people dead. In Houston, the state's largest city and home to the highest concentration of Katrina refugees, the area's geography makes evacuation particularly tricky. While many hurricane-prone cities are right on the coast, Houston is 60 miles inland, so a coastal suburban area of 2 million people must evacuate through a metropolitan area of 4 million people where the freeways are often clogged under the best of circumstances. Mayor Bill White urged residents to look out for more than themselves. "There will not be enough government vehicles to go and evacuate everybody in every area," he said. "We need neighbor caring for neighbor, and remember, our Louisiana visitors; this will be their second evacuation in as many weeks; try to be kind to them also." Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt issued a stern warning to anyone staying behind that looting would not be tolerated and anyone caught stealing after the storm would be prosecuted. "One of the first things we will do, when we get back into town is get the jails open and ready to accomodate looters and other lawbreakers." At the Galveston Community Center, where 1,500 evacuees had been put on school buses to points inland, another lesson from Katrina was put into practice: To overcome the reluctance of people to evacuate without their pets, they were allowed to bring them along in crates. "It was quite a sight," Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. "We were able to put people on with their dog crates, their cat crates, their shopping carts. It went very well. Busses are making two or three trips as needed, this time let the 'Katrina people' have decent seats and room for their pets, etc." But Thomas warned late Wednesday that the city was nearly out of buses. She said those left on the island would have to find a way off or face riding out a storm that is "big enough to destroy part of the island, if not a great part of the county." City Manager Steve LeBlanc said the storm surge could reach 50 feet. Galveston is protected by a seawall that is only 17 feet tall. More than 180 police officers were expected to stay behind to guard the city, along with 117 firefighters. Rita approached as the death toll from Katrina passed the 1,000 mark -- to 1,036 -- in five Gulf Coast states. The body count in Louisiana alone was put at 799, most found in the receding floodwaters of New Orleans. The Army Corps of Engineers raced to fortify the city's patched-up levees for fear the additional rain could swamp the walls and flood the city all over again. The Corps said New Orleans' levees can only handle up to 6 inches of rain and a storm surge of 10 to 12 feet. One Corps supervisor echoed Mayor Nagin's earlier comments, "we may get lucky and 'only' get six to eight inches of water this time, and not an actual hurricane." He noted that his workers would continue doing 'temporary' repairs as long as it was safe for them to continue. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin estimated only 400 to 500 people remained in the vulnerable east bank areas of the city. They, too, were ordered to evacuate. But only a few people lined up for the evacuation buses provided. Most of the people still in the city were believed to have their own cars. "I don't think I can stay for another storm," said Keith Price, a nurse at New Orleans' University Hospital who stayed through Katrina and had to wade to safety through chest-deep water. "Until you are actually in that water, you really don't know how frightening it is." Rita also forced some Katrina refugees to flee a hurricane for the second time in 3 1/2 weeks. More than 1,000 refugees who had been living in the civic center in Lake Charles, near the Texas state line, were being bused to shelters farther north. "We all have to go along with the system right now, until things get better," said Ralph Russell of the New Orleans suburb of Harvey. "I just hope it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing." Crude oil prices rose again on fears that Rita would smash into key oil installations in Texas and the gulf. Hundreds of workers were evacuated from offshore oil rigs. Texas, the heart of U.S. crude production, accounts for 25 percent of the nation's total oil output. Rita is the 17th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, making this the fourth-busiest season since record-keeping started in 1851. The record is 21 tropical storms in 1933. The hurricane season ends Nov. 30, and one or two more hurricanes may still strike the area before then. Associated Press Writers Lynn Brezosky in Corpus Christi, Alicia Caldwell in Galveston and Juan A. Lozano in Houston contributed to this report. On the Net: National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Associated Press News Wire Subject: Louisiana Official Caught Ripping Off Donations Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 23:08:43 -0500 Police found cases of food, clothing and tools intended for hurricane victims at the home of the chief administrative officer for a New Orleans suburb, authorities said Wednesday. Officers searched Cedric Floyd's home because of complaints that city workers were helping themselves to donations for hurricane victims. Floyd, who runs the day-to-day operations in the suburb of Kenner, was in charge of distributing the goods. Police plan to seek a charge of committing an illegal act as a public official against Floyd, and more charges against other city workers are possible, police Capt. Steve Caraway said. The donations filled a large pickup truck four times. "It was an awful lot of stuff," Caraway said. The donated materials must be processed as evidence but eventually will be distributed to victims. "We have lots of families that are begging for these supplies," said Attorney General Charles Foti, whose office assisted in the investigation. Attempts to reach Floyd were unsuccessful at home numbers listed under his name in Kenner. His office number went unanswered after business hours. Philip Ramon, chief of staff to Kenner Mayor Philip Capitano, has said city officials were investigating the alleged pilfering but added that many employees were themselves hurricane victims. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Huw Jones Subject: EU Executive Unveils Electronic Storage rules Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 23:10:23 -0500 By Huw Jones The European Commission on Wednesday adopted a proposal that details of all telephone, Internet and e-mail traffic should be logged to combat terrorism and serious crime. The move challenges European Union member states who are negotiating a rival plan. Telephone and Internet firms are waiting for the outcome of the clash as the proposals differ over how much industry will end up paying to store data, depending on how much longer it has to be kept. The push for EU-wide data storage came after the Madrid bomb attacks last year and intensified after the London bombs in July when Britain took over the rotating EU presidency. The Commission's text aims to harmonize the current patchwork of data retention practices across the bloc. "We take full account of two main, fundamental rights -- the right to security ... and privacy protection," Commission Vice President Franco Frattini told a news conference. The Commission proposes storing data related to mobile and fixed telephone traffic for a year to allow the police to trace the time, place, and numbers used, even for unsuccessful calls, Frattini said. INTERNET DATA Internet data such as e-mails and the Internet server used, though not the websites surfed, would be kept for six months, though it was not clear how this would apply to Internet cafes, for example. Numbers dialed using Internet telephony would also be stored. The member states will be able to ask firms to keep data for longer on grounds of national security. Their own proposal envisages storing data between one and three years, and phone companies typically store data for three months for billing. Max-Peter Ratzel, director of EU police agency Europol said there was an urgent need to store data for investigations. "Half a year, from my point of view, is definitely too short. If we get one year, we can live with that," Ratzel said. As with the member state proposal, there is no intention to store the content of communications. The Commission's proposal will need to be agreed by member states and the European Parliament, while the rival plan will need unanimous agreement among the 25 EU governments. Some member states fear involving parliament will slow down legislation as EU lawmakers are seen as being more open to pressure from industry campaigners and civil liberties groups to water down the proposals. Frattini said there is agreement between parliament, member states and the Commission to approve the Brussels executive's bill by year end. "Counter terrorism effectively requires that we have no time to loose," Frattini said. The Commission will also unveil a data protection initiative in the first week of October to safeguard privacy, he said. COMPARISON A British presidency spokesman said on Tuesday that ministers will compare both proposals at a meeting in October and decide how to proceed, though parliament was already claiming victory. "Winning co-decision for Parliament on this important area is a success for Parliament's prerogative," said German liberal parliament member Alexander Alvaro of the legislature's justice and home affairs committee. "We must now examine carefully the Commission's draft which seems at first glance to be heading in the right direction," Alvaro said. Under the Commission proposal, telecom and Internet firms would be reimbursed for the "demonstrated additional costs," while Britain has said telecom firms are rich enough to pay the extra storage costs themselves. EU officials could not give precise reimbursement costs, but said it could run from several to hundreds of millions of euros. Telecom firms say they already help the police with data requests on a case-by-case basis, but the Commission said that some traffic data is not always kept for billing purposes such as for flat rate tariffs, pre-paid and free services. EU member states have a patchwork of retention practices with 15 of the 25 having no mandatory obligations on firms, while in those where there is such an obligation the period and scope varies significantly. Commission officials said firms outside the EU, but handling calls to and from the bloc, would likely be impacted by the rules. (Additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan in Berlin) Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Greg Sandoval Subject: TiVo Users Fear Recording Restrictions Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 23:11:33 -0500 By GREG SANDOVAL, AP Technology Writer Many fans of digital video recorders made by TiVo Inc. are beginning to fear that Hollywood studios will one day reach into their set-top boxes to restrict the way they record and store movies and programs. Among the functions included in TiVo's latest software upgrade is the ability to allow broadcasters to erase material recorded by TiVo's 3.6 million users after a certain date. That ability was demonstrated recently when some TiVo customers complained on TiVo community sites that episodes of "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill" they recorded were "red-flagged" for deletion by the copyright holder. Some users also were upset that they were prevented from transferring these red-flagged shows to a PC via the TiVoToGo service. Elliot Sloan, a TiVo spokesman, called the red-flag incident a "glitch" and said it affected only a handful of customers. "It's a non-story," Sloan said. Nonetheless, skeptics among TiVo users questioned why TiVo would own such a technology unless the company planned to one day use it. TiVo and other digital video recorders let users skip commercials and jump around a recording quickly. Since TiVo introduced its DVR in the late 1990s, customers have enjoyed the ability to record anything they want, and store it indefinitely. But last year, TiVo quietly disclosed that it would employ copyright-protection software from Macrovision Corp. for pay-per-view and video-on-demand programs. According to a post on TiVo's Web site, the software allows broadcasters to restrict how long a DVR can save certain recordings or in some cases prevent someone from recording altogether. "Program providers decide what programs will have Macrovision copy protection," said the TiVo post. Matt Haughey, creator of http://PVRblog.com, the Web site where the complaints first appeared, said some fans are overreacting about the red-flag incident. However, he said he is worried that TiVo has handed Hollywood a means to restrict recordings. "TiVo would be of limited utility in the future if the studios were allowed to do this with regular broadcast content," Haughey said. "This is like cell-phone jammers. What if you couldn't talk on your cell phone? If customers can't do something with their TiVo that they could in the past, they will stop using it." TiVo is among many platforms that could be transformed by the entertainment industry's demands for tighter copyright controls. Broadcasters have also tried to force electronics manufacturers to insert a technology known as the broadcast flag into new televisions to prevent programs from being copied or disseminated on the Internet. The Federal Communications Commission at one point required such piracy preventions, but those rules were blocked in May by a three-judge panel for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Congress may get the last word. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: T-Mobile USA Announces 20-Million Customer Milestone Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:18:16 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 21, 2005--T-Mobile USA, Inc. (NYSE:DT) announced today that it now has surpassed 20 million wireless customers, having doubled its customer base during the past 10 quarters. "I personally thank our 20 million customers for their continued loyalty to T-Mobile, and for recommending T-Mobile to family and friends," said Robert Dotson, President and Chief Executive Officer, T-Mobile USA. The company credits this achievement in part to the success it has had in delivering on its Get More(R) promise to its customers. T-Mobile's commitment to offer more minutes, features and service has resonated with consumers. "Customer-centric service, value leadership, and services innovation is the foundation for our customer growth," Dotson said. "T-Mobile will continue to grow by meeting the needs of its customers, rapidly expanding network coverage, and offering widely accessible and meaningful devices, features and services." T-Mobile USA reached the 10-million customer mark during the first quarter of 2003. http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050921005220&newsLang=en http://tinyurl.com/bxz5k ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Motorola Bag phone Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:18:16 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 21 Sep 2005 07:24:23 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > I would suggest powering up this phone and try making a call on it and > see what happens. The phone should be able to reach 911 and you could > test that by telling the 911 operator immediately that you're testing > a phone. If asked for a credit card see if you can find out what it > will cost to complete a call. In the middle of nowhere in an > emergency a $10 call charge isn't so onerous. Using a credit card with the American Roaming Network is $2.99 to set up the call and $1.99 per minute. ------------------------------ From: Steven Lichter Reply-To: Die@spammers.com Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc. (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co. Subject: Re: Motorola Bag phone Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 01:22:23 GMT hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > Steven Lichter wrote: >> I have one of these. Don't use it at all; it is not digital. > As others have mentioned, many carriers will not activate such a phone > as a matter a policy (not technically). Verizon in my area will not. > The newspaper reported consumers are upset by this because there are > many rural areas where bag phones are still needed for their power due > to great distances from the nearest tower. Perhaps the cell phone > company people think the whole country looks like New Jersey. It does > not. > Such a phone might work as a 911 emergency phone or on an expensive > pay-as-you-go basis. I bought an analog cell phone at a yard sale, > powered it up, and tried to make a call on it. The system asked me > for a credit card number to make the call. I believe they would put a > call through but at a considerable charge, more so than commercial > pay-as-you-go cell phones. I keep in my car glove box just in case. > (I don't always carry my cell phone with me on local trips.) > I would suggest powering up this phone and try making a call on it and > see what happens. The phone should be able to reach 911 and you could > test that by telling the 911 operator immediately that you're testing > a phone. If asked for a credit card see if you can find out what it > will cost to complete a call. In the middle of nowhere in an > emergency a $10 call charge isn't so onerous. I did power it up, it said it was not registered on the Verizon Network, and the 911 did work. I may just keep it in my truck since I get into some areas that don't have coverage. I know when I go to Los Vegas over the 15 highway, I lose digital. The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: VISA/Master Charge Class Action Lawsuit Settled Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:18:15 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:42:21 -0500, Garden City Group wrote: > Walmart was one such merchant. After two years of litigation, > VISA/MC decided to settle the lawsuit against them on this matter, > but the court ruled that _all_ merchants -- not just the big > Walmart-like merchants -- were entitled to relief as well. And you should know that like most class actions you most likely will get diddly-squat compensation while the lawyers will make lots of money off it. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:18:15 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:52:16 GMT, Ken Abrams wrote: > If this was 7 years ago, I'm guessing it was analog service; it > certainly was not GSM. I'd be interested to see what happens on some > of those calls today using GSM service. Quite the contrary. GSM service was functional as early as January of 1996 for VoiceStream which is now T-Mobile. The first GSM network in the USA was turned on in 1995. That's at least 10 years ago. ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Important Medical Recall Announcement Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 22:09:06 -0400 In article , ptownson@telecom- digest.org says: > All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled. > You may want to try calling the 800 number listed on most > drug boxes and inquire about a REFUND. Please read this > CAREFULLY. Also, please pass this on to everyone you know. Pat, do you realize that web site was last updated February 19, 2004? The PPA announcement was covered extensively by the press. The FDA released a Public Health Advisory on November 6, 2000 ... --Gene [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So I, to my chagrin, found out. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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. 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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 #432 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Sep 22 14:42:38 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 0BC8E14E08; Thu, 22 Sep 2005 14:42:38 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #433 Message-Id: <20050922184238.0BC8E14E08@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 14:42:38 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_REMOVE autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Sep 2005 14:42:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 433 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Vonage Urged to Consider Sale, Float (Reuters News Wire) Intel Sees Wimax Trials in Asia by End of 2005 (Jennifer Tan) Houston/Galveston Residents Urged to Flee as Rita Nears (Alicia Caldwell) Cellular-News for Thursday 22nd September 2005 (Cellular-News) Verizon Signs Disney for Television Service (US Telecom Daily Lead) Re: SBC Cutting Work Force; Blames Competition (tkrill) Re: Louisiana Official Caught Ripping Off Donations (DevilsPGD) Re: Roaming Charges (J Kelly) 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: Reuters News Wire Subject: Vonage Urged to Consider Sale, Float, According to Financial Times Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 11:34:10 -0500 Vonage Holdings Corp., which provides residential phone services over the Internet, is being urged to consider a sale while it presses ahead with plans for a public float, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. Citing people familiar with the matter, the Financial Times said UBS and Deutsche Bank, the investment banks chosen by Vonage to underwrite its stock market listing, have been suggesting the company pursue a "parallel process." This would involve seeking out or responding to expressions of interest from potential buyers while moving forward with plans to raise up to $600 million from a listing. A takeover agreement struck last week for auction Web site EBay Inc. to buy Internet phone-calling phenomenon Skype for up to $4.1 billion has lead to suggestions that Vonage could also fetch a generous price in a sale. Analysts have estimated that Vonage, which is based in New Jersey, is worth between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, the newspaper said. Vonage provides discounted local and long-distance phone services to about 800,000 households, making it the largest U.S. Internet-based phone company. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For other news of interest go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Jennifer Tan Subject: Intel Sees Wimax Trials in Asia End of 2005 Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 11:36:17 -0500 By Jennifer Tan Intel Corp., the world's largest microchip maker, said on Thursday it expected to implement trials of the emerging wireless broadband technology called "WiMax" in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines by year-end. Intel, which makes the microprocessor chips that function as the brains of over 80 percent of the world's personal computers, has been the driving force behind the deployment of WiMax, a wireless data network that promises to blanket entire cities with high-speed Internet links. "The trials of the technology are starting now, and we see (commercial) roll-out worldwide over the next two to three years," Sean Maloney, the head of Intel's mobility unit, told Reuters. "But it's patchy -- some places will be faster than others." Indonesia and Vietnam would be next in line to try out the technology next year, he added. Intel has carried out trials with 100 telecoms carriers globally, with 25 in the Asia Pacific region. It is also helping South Korea's top fixed-line and broadband operator KT Corp. set up WiMax in its domestic market. South Korea is set to be the leader in WiMax, with commercial roll-out seen in the first half of next year, Maloney added. BANKING ON WIMAX In a bid to grow beyond the PC box, Intel has spent millions investing in emerging technologies like WiMax, touting it as the long-distance broadband Internet sibling of Wi-Fi, the wireless computer standard popularized in coffee bars and restaurants. The company, which has been punished by investors for its close ties to the highly cyclical PC market, can no longer count on computer demand to expand at the same rapid clip as before. Intel, which competes with smaller rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., also plans to build WiMax chips into laptop chipsets, just like it started selling Wi-Fi chips as a part of its Centrino range of notebook computers two years ago. "WiMax will be one of those growth avenues, and everything to do with mobile computing as well," Maloney said. "Sales of notebooks, PCs and general computer infrastructure following WiMax will benefit Intel -- if you enable more and more people to get connected to the Internet, it's likely more people will end up buying computers." Maloney said Intel would usually work with the regulator or government in each country, as well as some of the largest telecoms carriers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). It is working with True Corp., which owns TA Orange PCL, Thailand's third-largest mobile operator, and Telekom Malaysia, the country's dominant phone company. Leighton Phillips, director of Intel's Southeast Asia solutions group, said the company was engaging with five government agencies and three companies in Thailand, which would provide a critical mass to implement wireless broadband services for the rural population. Intel believes WiMax can facilitate better education, healthcare, agricultural productivity and incomes, he added. "About 65 to 70 percent of the community is rural suburban in Southeast Asia -- about 300 million people, which is a little bit less than the U.S., and for a government that's interested in economic development, this is high on the agenda," he said. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Get aquainted with Telecom Digest Extra at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra ------------------------------ From: Alicia A. Caldwell Subject: Houston/Galveston Residents Urged to Flee from Rita Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 11:26:00 -0500 By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press Writer 11 minutes ago Traffic came to a standstill and gas shortages were reported Thursday as hundreds of thousands of people in the Houston metropolitan area rushed to get out of the path of Hurricane Rita, a monster storm with 165 mph winds. As residents of the area tried to make phone calls to family and friends to tell them about their arrival, they also found the phone system nearly useless on Wednesday and Thursday. More than 1.3 million residents in Texas and Louisiana were under orders to evacuate to avoid a deadly repeat of Katrina. The Category 5 storm weakened slightly Thursday morning, and forecasters said it could lose more steam by the time it comes ashore late Friday or early Saturday. But it could still be an extremely dangerous hurricane -- one aimed straight at a section of coastline with the nation's biggest concentration of oil refineries. "Don't follow the example of Katrina and wait. No one will come and get you during the storm," Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said in Houston. Busses are leaving now, get on board or take your own cars. In New Orleans, meanwhile, Rita's outer bands brought the first rain to the city since Rita, raising fears that the patched-up levees could give way and cause a new round of flooding. Highways leading inland out of Houston were clogged with bumper-to-bumper traffic for up to 100 miles north of the city. Gas stations were reported to be running out of gas. Shoppers emptied grocery store shelves of spaghetti, tuna and other nonperishable items. Hotels hundreds of miles inland filled up. Police officers along the highways carried gasoline to help motorists who ran out. To speed the evacuation out of the nation's fourth-largest city, Gov. Rick Perry ordered a halt to all southbound traffic into Houston along Interstate 45 and took the unprecedented stop of directing the opening all eight lanes to northbound traffic out of the city for 125 miles. I-45 is the primary evacuation route north from Houston and Galveston. Trazanna Moreno tried to leave Houston for the 225-mile trip to Dallas on U.S. 90 but turned back after getting stuck in traffic. "We ended up going six miles in two hours and 45 minutes," said Moreno, whose neighborhood is not expected to flood. "It could be that if we ended up stranded in the middle of nowhere that we'd be in a worse position in a car dealing with hurricane-force winds than we would in our house. With traffic at a dead halt, fathers and sons got out of their cars and played catch on freeway medians. Others stood next to their cars, videotaping the scene, or walked between vehicles, chatting with people along the way. Tow trucks tried to wend their way along the shoulders, pulling stalled cars out of the way. Hotels hours inland filled up, all the way to the Oklahoma and Arkansas line. John Decker, 47, decided to board up his home and hunker down because he could not find a hotel room. "I've been calling since yesterday morning all the way up to about 1 this morning. No vacancies anywhere," he said. "I checked all the way from here to Del Rio to Eagle Pass. I called as far as Lufkin, San Marcos, San Angelo. The only place I didn't call was El Paso. By the time you reach El Paso, it's almost time to turn back." At 11 a.m. EDT, Rita was centered about 460 miles southeast of Galveston and was moving at near 9 mph. It winds were 165 mph, down slightly from 175 mph earlier in the day. Forecasters predicted it would come ashore somewhere between the Houston-Galveston area and western Louisiana. Baytown and Texas City were also braced for the worst, as was Beaumont. Hurricane-force winds extended 85 miles from the center of the storm, and even a slight rightward turn could prove devastating to the Katrina-fractured levees protecting New Orleans. Engineers rushed to fix the city's pumps and fortify its levees. Forecasters said Rita could be the strongest hurricane on record ever to hit Texas. Only three Category 5 hurricanes, the highest on the scale, are known to have hit the U.S. mainland -- most recently, Andrew, which smashed South Florida in 1992. Katrina was technically not as bad; it dropped to Category 4 when it actually landed. Experts are divided in their opinions on whether Rita will also decrease in ferocity a little when it reaches the shore. The U.S. mainland has never been hit by both a Category 4 and a Category 5 in the same season. Katrina came ashore Aug. 29 as a Category 4 hurricane, and until last week, Rita was a Category 2 storm for awhile, as an illustration of how these storms can both build up in intensity and slack off within a few days at sea. Galveston, Corpus Christi and surrounding Nueces County, low-lying parts of Houston, and mostly emptied-out New Orleans were under mandatory evacuation orders as Rita swirled across the Gulf of Mexico, drawing energy with terrifying efficiency from its warm waters. "It's not worth staying here," said Celia Martinez as she and several relatives finished packing up their homes and pets. "Life is more important than things." Along the Gulf Coast, federal, state and local officials heeded the bitter lessons of Katrina: Hundreds of buses were dispatched to evacuate the poor. Hospital and nursing home patients were cleared out. And truckloads of water, ice and ready-made meals, and rescue and medical teams were put on standby. "Now is not a time for warnings. Now is a time for action," Houston Mayor Bill White said. He added: "There is no good place to put a shelter that could take a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane. I don't want anybody out there watching this and thinking that somebody is bound to open a local school for me on Friday, not with a hurricane packing these kinds of winds; consider New Orleans. (Mayor) Ragin thought their arena should hold up okay. Look how it got after two or three days. We are not even going to try that approach. Just get out now! Buses are loading and pulling out every few minutes." Galveston was a virtual ghost town by late Wednesday. The coastal city of 58,000 -- situated on an island 8 feet above sea level -- was nearly wiped off the map in 1900 when an unnamed hurricane killed between 6,000 and 12,000 in what is still the nation's deadliest natural disaster. City Manager Steve LeBlanc said the storm surge from Rita could reach 50 feet. Galveston is protected by a nearly 11-mile-long granite seawall 17 feet tall. "Not a good picture for us," LeBlanc said. In Houston, the state's largest city and home to the highest concentration of Katrina refugees, geography makes evacuation particularly tricky. While many hurricane-prone cities are right on the coast, Houston is 60 miles inland, so a coastal suburban area of 2 million people must evacuate through a metropolitan area of 4 million people where the freeways are often clogged under the best of circumstances. Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said buses used to take people and their pets off the island were running in short supply Wednesday and warned that stragglers could be left to fend for themselves. She warned, "Don't miss the last bus; better get started now. No telling if we will have any phone service next week if you then decide you want help." Meanwhile, the death toll from Katrina passed the 1,000 mark Wednesday in five Gulf Coast states. The body count in Louisiana alone was put at nearly 800, with most of the corpses found in the receding floodwaters of New Orleans. Crude oil prices rose again on fears that Rita would destroy key oil installations in Texas and the gulf. Hundreds of workers were evacuated from offshore oil rigs. Texas, the heart of U.S. crude production, accounts for 25 percent of the nation's total oil output. Rita is the 17th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, making this the fourth-busiest season since record-keeping started in 1851. The record is 21 tropical storms in 1933. The hurricane season is not over until Nov. 30. Associated Press writers Deborah Hastings and Juan A. Lozano in Houston, Lynn Brezosky in Corpus Christi and Pam Easton in Galveston contributed to this report. On the Net: National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. More AP News headlines at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Thursday 22nd September 2005 Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 07:40:26 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com UK Mobile Content Market Worth Over US$1 Billion http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14147.php A new report from MINTEL finds that the UK's mobile phone junkies set to blow a massive US$1.3 billion on phone downloads this year alone, some eighteen times the US$72 million spent in 2002.... Court Rules SMS Spam is Illegal http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14148.php An Arizona appellate court has ruled that sending automated SMS adverts to mobile phones breaches an old 1991 federal law than bans telecoms autodialers from making outbound calls to phones. The court ruled that as the f... China Mobile Orders Mediation Platform http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14149.php Intec has signed a contract with Beijing Mobile, a subsidiary of China Mobile, to adopt its multi-service convergent mediation solution, Inter-mediatE. Intec will partner with HP China to undertake system integration for... TD-CDMA Used to Connect WiFi Hotspots on Trains http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14150.php IPWireless has announced UMTS RailLink, a new network solution that allows operators to offer high-speed broadband connectivity and WiFi access even in the world's fastest trains. Passengers will be able to use their WiF... Ericsson Wins Israeli 3G Contract http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14151.php Israel's GSM network operator, Partner Communications, which trades under the Orange brand name has announced that Ericsson has been selected as the second vendor to supply it with 3G UMTS/HSDPA infrastructure equipment.... NEC Launch Worlds Thinnest Clamshell Phone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14152.php NEC has launched what it says is the world's thinnest fold-Type mobile phone with mega-pixel camera on the Hong Kong market. Following this, the ultra-thin model will also be introduced in Italy, Russia, Australia and Ch... Crazy Frog Ringtones Firm Loses Legal Action http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14153.php The company behind "that annoying thing" - namely the crazy frog ringtone has lost a UK court action to prevent publication of a negative statement about the company's advertising practices. The UK's Advertising Standard... Mobile Music to Breakout Next Year http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14154.php The convergence of digital music and mobile phones is likely to develop at a steady pace according to a new report published by The NPD Group. The report, which explores consumer demand for mobile music, is based on a su... Calls for Tighter Controls on Phone Use While Driving http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14155.php The USA's National Transportation Safety Board has urged individual States to prohibit inexperienced teenaged drivers from using wireless communications devices while they are learning to drive. The NTSB notes that road ... T-Mobile Wins 20 Millionth Customer in the USA http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14156.php T-Mobile USA has now has surpassed 20 million wireless customers, having doubled its customer base during the past 10 quarters. The company credits this achievement in part to the success it has had in delivering on its ... Secrets on Mobiles Revealed When You're in the Bathroom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14157.php Two out of three people read their partner's SMS messages, almost nine out of ten have flirted with someone by SMS, and 6% feel it is alright to break up with someone by sending an SMS message. These are some of the find... Battery Life Still a Concern for Mobile Phone Users http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14158.php Two-thirds of mobile phone and PDA users rate 'two-days of battery life during active use' as the most important feature of an ideal converged device of the future, according to a new study by TNS. The study, conducted a... Lawsuit Decision Threatens US Prepaid Wireless Market - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14159.php Yankee Group says that the May 2005 decision against Boston Communications Group (BCGI) and its codefendants, Cingular Wireless and Western Wireless -- and the subsequent US$128 million awarded to the plaintiff, Freedom Wi... Orange Launches New SPV To Lead Business Device Range http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14140.php Orange, the mobile arm of France Telecom SA (FTE), Wednesday launched its newest SPV handset, which will spearhead its mobile device range for the business market. ... Nokia: Vodafone To Use Nokia 6680 In Japanese Lineup http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14141.php Finland's Nokia Oyj (NOK) said Wednesday that the Nokia 6680 device will be available through Vodafone K.K. in Japan. ... Hong Kong Telecom Regulator Seeks Views On Unified License http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14142.php Hong Kong's telecommunications regulator is seeking the public's view on the introduction of a unified license for fixed and mobile telecom services, as new technologies point toward convergence of the two types of servi... EU Proposes Rules Requiring Telecoms Cos To Store Data http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14143.php BRUSSELS (Dow Jones--The European Commission Wednesday proposed new rules for telecommunications companies to store fixed line and internet call data as part of tough new anti-terrorism measures. ... Nokia Says Sales Top 1 Billion Handsets http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14144.php HELSINKI (AP)--Nokia Corp. (NOK), the world's largest mobile phone maker, said Wednesday it has sold more than 1 billion handsets and estimated that more than 2 billion people use mobile phones worldwide. ... Qualcomm Boosts 4Q, FY05 View On Strong Demand http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14145.php Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) boosted its fourth-quarter and fiscal 2005 guidance, based on strong market demand for its 3G Code Division Multiple Access and other wireless technology. ... Siemens Statement On Com Unit Restructuring Thursday-IG Metall http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14146.php German technology company Siemens AG (SI) is set to make a statement Thursday after reaching an agreement with employee representatives on the restructuring of the ailing telecommunications equipment unit, or Com, IG Met... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 13:24:28 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Verizon Signs Disney for TV Service USTelecom dailyLead September 22, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24823&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Verizon signs Disney for TV service BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Study: Broadband penetration growth slows * Alltel may spin off local phone business * Vonage urged to consider sale * Dell in wireless broadband deal with Cingular Wireless * EarthLink gets into VoIP game * Sprint moves business customers to IP network * Sprint Nextel raises merger-savings projection USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Think TELECOM '05 is not for you? Think Again. TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Verizon tests fuel cell technology to cut power costs * Microsoft lagging in search battle * Intel sets WiMAX tests for three Asian countries * Wireless TV is on the way REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Judge approves WorldCom payout * The tech docket * Opinion: New emergency communications network should go beyond radio Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24823&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: handle with care Subject: Re: SBC Cutting Work Force; Blames Competition Date: 22 Sep 2005 09:57:39 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com How do we get more people that work for SBC in the midwest and Wisconsin to post? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Begin by making sure they are aware that this list exists, and encourage them to use it. I personally have no love lost for SBC, but I certainly do not discriminate against any SBC (or other telco) employee who wishes to post here. One difficulty these days is there are _so many_ various lists and discussion groups on telphony subjects around the net; no one could begin (or would wish to) post in every single one of them. This is not like fifteen or twenty years ago on the net, where there was but a single discussion forum for telecom topics (comp.dcom.telecom) and everyone used it. By all means, let them know I am still around also, but do not spam to do it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Louisiana Official Caught Ripping Off Donations Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 02:11:17 -0600 Organization: Disorganized In message Associated Press News Wire wrote: > Police found cases of food, clothing and tools intended for hurricane > victims at the home of the chief administrative officer for a New > Orleans suburb, authorities said Wednesday. > Officers searched Cedric Floyd's home because of complaints that city > workers were helping themselves to donations for hurricane > victims. Floyd, who runs the day-to-day operations in the suburb of > Kenner, was in charge of distributing the goods. > Police plan to seek a charge of committing an illegal act as a public > official against Floyd, and more charges against other city workers > are possible, police Capt. Steve Caraway said. That seems like an odd reaction. Perhaps he should be airdropped just ahead of Rita and we'll call it even? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If we wish to be consistent here, we need to remember all the looting in general which took place over several days there. And the 'city workers' who were helping themselves to the lately-given donations, etc were not doing much different, except perhaps it is okay to loot a store with merchandise for sale at a profit, but not okay to loot merchandise intended for give-away to the victims. Also recall, many of the city workers involved were also themselves victims and were entitled to the same help as the other victims were receiving. My thought would be since the city workers were staying on the job trying to assist the other victims, perhaps some 'professional courtesy' reciprocation should be allowed (i.e. they get first pick of the donations, etc just as they are getting the first pick of the temporary mobile homes as they become available.) Just don't get greedy about it or make a big issue of showing the other victims what is happening. PAT] ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 10:41:07 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@*newsguy.com On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:52:16 GMT, Ken Abrams wrote: > J Kelly wrote: >> On 16 Sep 2005 05:33:58 -0000, John Levine wrote: >>>> This raises a question I thought of recently, but had not bothered to >>>> ask anyone about. Suppose I start a cell call in local but move to a >>>> roaming tower during the call? Does the call get charged as roaming >>>> or not? >>> I doubt you'd get a handoff in a situation like that. It'd drop the >>> call and you'd call back. >> I worked for a small cellular carrier about 7 years ago. I would >> routinely test handoffs from our network to the network adjacent to >> us. > If this was 7 years ago, I'm guessing it was analog service; it > certainly was not GSM. I'd be interested to see what happens on some > of those calls today using GSM service. Often things touted as "new > and improved" aren't. That's my impression of GSM, at least the way > it is being implemented now. While it is hard for a user to tell when > a call is handed off to another site, I don't think I have ever had a > successful hand-off with GSM. I have, however, had a LOT of calls > dropped when moving ... sometimes just a few feet. It was analog. I've used GSM (we got GSM here in 1997, btw). Worked great. Never handed off between networks with it (there is no other network to hand to) but routinely would drive 50+ miles on the same call and not drop. And I know that CDMA can hand off, either soft or hard. I'm guessing here, but it probably has to do a hard handoff between networks (or other MTSOs on the same network) while a soft handoff can occur between sites on the same MTSO. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #433 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Sep 23 22:46:04 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 3D4B114FBC; Fri, 23 Sep 2005 22:46:04 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #434 Message-Id: <20050924024604.3D4B114FBC@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 22:46:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_REMOVE autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Sep 2005 22:45:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 434 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Cellular-News for Friday 23rd September 2005 (Cellular-News) BT Settles With Ofcom (USTelecom dailyLead) Telecom Update #498, September 23, 2005 (Angus TeleManagement Group) Best-Laid Evacuation Plans Not Good Enough in Texas (Erin McClam) Rita Causes Fresh Floods, More Damage in New Orleans (Allen Breed) Bell System Phone Label Code? (Allen Newman) Getting Rid of 'Legal' Spam? (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com) Induction Coil Lamps (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com) Re: Roaming Charges (Tony P.) Re: Roaming Charges (Isaiah Beard) Re: Roaming Charges (J Kelly) Re: Louisiana Official Caught Ripping Off Donations (DevilsPGD) Re: Vonage Urged to Consider Sale, Float, According to FT (John Levine) Re: Motorola Bag Phone (David L) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Cellular-News for Friday 23rd September 2005 Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 07:53:13 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com Aircom to Provide Handset Validation Services http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14170.php Aircom International, a provider of mobile network OSS, planning, optimisation solutions, has recently launched its new Handset Validation Services unit. Headed by Pietro Macchiarella, the unit provides telecom organisat... Thai Operator Improves its Call Centers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14171.php Avaya says that it has successfully designed and deployed the Avaya Call Centre solution in a US$4 million contract with Thailand's AIS. Avaya was tasked to deliver the full scope of service, from solution design and imp... Enhanced IP Service Capabilities for 3G Cellular Operators http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14172.php Hughes Network Systems has announced that a new system release with VLAN and IP services support has been successfully deployed by cellular operators in Europe and North America utilizing its 26-28 GHz AIReach point-to- ... Orange Orders 3G Kit http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14173.php Orange Slovensko, a major Slovakian mobile operator, is upgrading its wireless network to 3G with Nortel solutions to meet increasing demand for mobile broadband services. Nortel has been chosen to upgrade the operator's... Telefonica Moviles Mexico Converges Internal Voice and Data Traffic http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14174.php Telefonica Moviles Mexico has deployed a packet voice backbone network from Nortel designed to significantly increase internal network capacity and support future delivery of sophisticated mobile data services. Telefonic... 6 million photos sent on Telia mobiles this summer http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14175.php This summer people in Sweden have sent a record number of MMS messages. During June-August, 6.1 million MMS messages were sent through Telia's mobile network, an increase of 56%, compared with the same period last year. ... 3G Growth is Accelerating - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14176.php Yankee Group reports that mobile operators are seeing 3G customer growth after a sluggish start. As the 3G handset range continues to improve and usage charges are further reduced, 3G will become a more attractive altern... DirecTV In Talks With Companies Mulling Wireless Service http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14160.php DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV), the country's largest satellite TV provider, is in talks with a number of telecommunications providers about possibly adding a wireless service, Chief Executive Chase Carey said Tuesday. ... Nokia Sets Up Mobile Services Devt Center In Taiwan http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14161.php Finnish telecommunications equipment maker Nokia Oyj (NOK) Thursday said it has launched a number of programs to develop its mobile services in Taiwan. ... Ericsson To Expand Avea's GSM Network In Turkey http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14162.php Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) said Thursday it has signed a contract with Turkish mobile operator Avea for the expansion of its global system for mobile communication, GSM, radio and core networks. ... O2 Mobile TV Trial Goes Live, Teams Up With Arqiva, Nokia http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14163.php O2 said Thursday that its mobile TV trial will go live in Oxford from next week and last for six months. ... Bouygues Telecom Submitted Bid For Tunisie Telecom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14164.php Bouygues Telecom, the mobile telephone division of French construction company Bouygues SA, Thursday said it has submitted a bid for a 35% stake in Tunisia's largest carrier, Tunisie Telecom. ... O2 German, UK JVs Now Have Nearly 1.2 Million Customers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14165.php O2 said Thursday that its German and U.K. joint venture companies now have nearly 1.2 million customers between them, with Tchibo mobil having acquired around 435,000 pre-pay subscribers in its first year of operation an... Sprint Nextel Integration Ahead Of Plan http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14166.php Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) is ahead of plan on its post-merger integration and the combined business will cost less to operate than the company initially expected. ... Nortel Gets CTI Movil Pact: Value Not Disclosed http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14167.php America Movil S.A. de C.V.'s (AMX) CTI Movil subsidiary will use Nortel Networks Corp. (NT) wireless broadband solutions to expand its GSM wireless network in Argentina. ... Lebanon Police Hold Cell-phone Traders Over Hariri Probe http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14168.php BEIRUT (AP)--Lebanese police have arrested four mobile-phone dealers on charges of withholding information relevant to the inquiry into former prime minister Rafik Hariri's assassination, court officials said T... Sprint Sees Hiccup In 3Q Subscriber Growth http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14169.php Sprint Nextel Corp.'s (S) focus on rolling out its combined brand in September hurt the company's subscriber growth in the months ahead of the launch. ... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:27:02 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: BT Settles With Ofcom USTelecom dailyLead September 23, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24861&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * BT settles with Ofcom BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Verizon begins TV service in Texas * Telstra postpones report on strategic review * Symantec to acquire WholeSecurity USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * New! Voice Over IP Crash Course by Steven Shepard TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Gotta stay connected VOIP DOWNLOAD * Level 3 exec says VoIP marketing falls short * Net2Phone tests mobile/Wi-Fi convergence technology * VoIP bloggers hold sway REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Senate panel introduces emergency communications bill * FCC chief calls for better first-responder network * Telecoms discuss response to Katrina Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24861&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, 23 Sep 2005 11:04:14 -0700 Subject: Telecom Update #498, September 23, 2005 From: Angus TeleManagement Group Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 498: September 23, 2005 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** AVAYA: http://www.avaya.ca/en/ ** BELL CANADA: http://www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: http://www.cisco.com/ca/ ** ERICSSON: http://www.ericsson.ca ** MITEL NETWORKS: http://www.mitel.com/ ** NEC UNIFIED SOLUTIONS: http://www.necunifiedsolutions.com ** ROGERS TELECOM: http://www.rogers.com/solutions ** VONAGE CANADA: http://www.vonage.ca ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Videotron to Resell Rogers' Cellular ** Industry Minister Wants More Broadband Money ** Local Forbearance Hearing Starts Monday ** Montreal Airport to Go IP ** Infosat Offers Business Broadband ** Telus Sends Service Calls Offshore ** CRTC Extends Comment Period on Bell VoIP Tariff ** Bell Wants Local High-Speed Circuits Deregulated ** Bell Refuses to Collect Alternate Directory Bills ** Sault Utelco, Ontera Join for Networking ** Globalstar Adds Northern Gateway ** Avaya Buys Ottawa Peer-to-Peer Developer ** Cisco Offers Small-Business Bundle ** Virttel Launches Secure VoIP in U.S. ** Mosey Joins Orano Board ** Anguses to Keynote Telemanagement Live ============================================================ VIDEOTRON TO RESELL ROGERS' CELLULAR: Videotron plans to offer wireless phone service next year, reselling Rogers Wireless voice and data services. The cableco says it will be the only provider in its service area to offer "true one-stop" TV, Internet, phone, and wireless customer service. INDUSTRY MINISTER WANTS MORE BROADBAND MONEY: Industry Minister David Emerson said this week that he wants the next federal budget to include increased funding for projects that extend broadband to unserved areas. Speaking to the Empire Club in Toronto, he said: "Without Internet access today, people and communities simply cannot get into the game. They're not able to get into the economic mainstream." ** On September 15, Ottawa's Strategic Infrastructure Fund and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador each donated $5 million to a project that will extend broadband to 68 schools and 103 communities in rural and remote regions of Newfoundland and Labrador. LOCAL FORBEARANCE HEARING STARTS MONDAY: As part of the CRTC proceeding on deregulating the incumbent telephone companies' local phone service, the Commission is holding a public hearing in Gatineau next week. The hearing will be broadcast live on the Web, starting at 9:30 am on Monday, September 26. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/process/2005/sep26_t.htm MONTREAL AIRPORT TO GO IP: Old buzz-phrases never die! In the early eighties, every magazine featured articles hyping the soon-to-arrive "office of the future." This week Bell Canada and Cisco announced the "airport of the future" -- a contract to provide Montreal-Trudeau airport with Wi-Fi, IP telephony, digital signage, information kiosks, and Internet-equipped business centres. The announcement did not say when the future will arrive. INFOSAT OFFERS BUSINESS BROADBAND: Infosat Communications, a Telesat subsidiary, now offers business-grade Internet access at 1 Mbps anywhere in Canada, using Telesat's new Anik F2 satellite, for $89.95/month. TELUS SENDS SERVICE CALLS OFFSHORE: On Wednesday, Telus informed the Telecommunications Workers Union that "for the duration of the labour disruption" it will route "some customer care and operator services calls" to its call centre in the Philippines, and that Telus Mobility will route "some client care calls" to a call centre outsourcer in India. ** On Tuesday, Vancouver City Council called on the federal Minister of Labour "to appoint an Industrial Inquiry Commission to look into the causes of the dispute and to make non-binding recommendations to facilitate its resolution." CRTC EXTENDS COMMENT PERIOD ON BELL VoIP TARIFF: The CRTC has given interested parties until September 28 to comment on Bell Canada's application to price its access-dependent "Digital Voice" VoIP service differently in Ontario and Quebec, and has ordered Bell to place its Tariff Notice 6900 on the public record. (See Telecom Update #496) http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2005/pt2005-13-1.htm http://www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2005/b2_6900.htm BELL WANTS LOCAL HIGH-SPEED CIRCUITS DEREGULATED: Bell Canada has re-filed its February 2005 application for deregulation of its high-speed intra-exchange digital services in exchanges where at least one fibre-based competitor is providing high-speed service to at least one customer. Initial comments on this application were due this week. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8640/c12_200507618.htm#2h BELL REFUSES TO COLLECT ALTERNATE DIRECTORY BILLS: At this morning's expedited hearing of a dispute between Bell Canada and YP Corp, an Internet-based directory services provider, Bell told the Commission that it should not be required to provide billing and collection services to YP Corp, even though it does so for its former affiliate, Yellow Pages Group. The Commission will issue a decision by October 5. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/process/2005/sep23.htm http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/y2_200508731.htm SAULT UTELCO, ONTERA JOIN FOR NETWORKING: PUC Telecom, a utility-based telecom carrier in Sault Ste. Marie, has formed a joint venture with Ontera (formerly O.N.Telcom) to help utilize the utelco's growing municipal fibre network. Ontera will provide back-office and provisioning services. GLOBALSTAR ADDS NORTHERN GATEWAY: Globalstar LLC, an international satellite phone provider, has begun construction of a new gateway near Anchorage, Alaska, which will extend its coverage in Yukon, North West Territories, and northwest B.C. AVAYA BUYS OTTAWA PEER-TO-PEER DEVELOPER: Avaya has bought Ottawa-based Nimcat Networks, a developer of small-business peer-to-peer IP telephony software, for $46 million. Nimcat's software operates on the IP phone, eliminating the need for a PBX or key system. CISCO OFFERS SMALL-BUSINESS BUNDLE: Cisco Systems has introduced a bundled offering of voice and data services for businesses with 20 to 250 employees. Business Communications Solution includes a router equipped with call control and messaging software, plus Cisco's Catalyst Express 500 switch. VIRTTEL LAUNCHES SECURE VoIP IN U.S.: Virttel, an IP services provider based in Smiths Falls, Ontario, has extended its encrypted Internet telephony and data offerings to the U.S. In Canada, Virttel's IP-based local/long distance service costs $26.95 (residential) and $69.95 (business). MOSEY JOINS ORANO BOARD: Terry Mosey, recently retired Bell Canada EVP, has joined the Board of the Optical Regional Advanced Network of Ontario, the organization that owns and operates ORION, the province's leading-edge research and education telecom network. ANGUSES TO KEYNOTE TELEMANAGEMENT LIVE: On October 18, Ian and Lis Angus, co-editors of Telecom Update, will present an exclusive keynote report on "Telecom Transformation: Profits, Pitfalls and Payoffs in the Next Wave of Network Change," at the Telemanagement Live conference in Toronto. ** Telecom Update subscribers who register online now will receive a $200 discount on an All Access pass, including all sessions and meals and a ticket to the Telecommunications Hall of Fame Dinner. To qualify, register at www.telemanagementlive.com and enter AMBP95 in the "promotional code" field. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-mail ianangus@angustel.ca and jriddell@angustel.ca =========================================================== 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 http://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 jriddell@angustel.ca. 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: Erin McClam Subject: Best-Laid Plans Not Good Enough in Texas Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 19:43:35 -0500 By ERIN McCLAM, AP National Writer It was envisioned as the anti-Katrina plan: Texas officials sketched a staggered, orderly evacuation plan for Hurricane Rita and urged people to get out days ahead of time. Busses will leave at these times from these places, police officers will change road lanes at certain times, etc. Everything was going to work nearly perfect. But tangles still arrived even before the storm's first bands. As everyone waited for the hurricane yet to arrive, panicked drivers ran out of gas, a spectacular, a deadly bus fire clogged traffic, and freeways were red rivers of taillights that stretched to the horizon. In an age of terrorist danger and with memories of the nightmare in New Orleans still fresh, the Texas exodus raises a troubling question: Can any American city empty itself safely and quickly? Thousands of drivers remained stranded Friday to the north and west of Houston. Many were stuck in extreme heat, out of gas -- as gas trucks, rumored to be on the way, or at least buses to evacuate motorists, never came. They were frustrated, angry and growing desperate, scattered and stranded across a broad swath of the state as the monster storm bore down. "It's been terrible, believe me," said Rosa Castro, who had driven more than 17 hours by Friday. Her sister behind the wheel, seven children in tow, the car was idling on less than an eighth of a tank of gas. Castro was hoping to get gas from a lone Shell station that had opened north of Houston. But her car was at the end of a miles-long line. "I wondered why so many people in Katrina didn't move in time, and now I'm in the same situation," she said. "All I have is cash, clothes and God." Houston is a landlocked city, an hour's drive from the Gulf of Mexico. Besides Houston's 4 million people fleeing, as many as 2 million were trying to get out through Houston from the coastal side. In Galveston County along the Gulf, authorities set up three evacuation zones, beginning Wednesday evening and staggered at eight-hour intervals, with the most outlying areas to be the first to leave. But people in all three zones left early anyway, further snarling traffic. From Houston, the main roads out of town -- Interstate 10 to San Antonio, I-45 to Dallas, and U.S. Highway 290 to Austin -- were turned into one-way thoroughfares only Thursday, and even then the one-way flow began well outside Houston. "There were some weaknesses," Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee , a Democrat, acknowledged to KTRK-TV on Friday. "We could have fixed some of the elements ... a fuel truck that works, a mechanical system that works, and opening the contraflow," the term emergency officials use for routing all lanes in one direction. Later in the day, Jackson Lee told The Associated Press the state should have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for supplies. "I'm marching people all over looking for gasoline," she said. Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Friday decision to order one-way flow came after the storm, originally on a track south of Houston, changed course and headed toward Houston instead. "It's not perfect," he said. "I wish I could wave a magic wand and somehow transport people magically from Houston, Texas, to Dallas or other points, but that's not the fact when you have the type of congestion that you see in the state of Texas on a daily basis." He added: "I think when you look behind later, it will be almost miraculous that this many people were moved out of harm's way." State emergency management coordinator Jack Colley said 2.5 million to 2.7 million Texans had already been moved out of harm's way, and the governor said 25 buses would canvass Beaumont, looking for people still trying to get out. By midday Friday, lanes were restored to normal traffic. County Judge Robert Eckels said traffic had cleared and authorities needed lanes in both directions for emergencies. Still, many remained stranded beyond Houston's suburbs. Before the late 1990s, emergency management officials were in charge of evacuations, and transportation engineers had little interest. But those engineers have devoted great energy to the problem since Hurricane Georges forced an evacuation of New Orleans in 1998, and Hurricane Floyd an evacuation of the Carolinas in 1999. Rita and her hellish predecessor, Katrina, come in the new age of terror, as authorities try to draw up plans for clearing out cities in the event of deadly strikes with unconventional weapons. Still, experts say the massive coastal zone that needs to be cleared of people before a major hurricane is far larger than the area to be evacuated after an industrial accident or a terror attack. And in this case, there have been a couple days advance notice. What happens when a terrorist attack gives people an hour's warning or less? In the event of a nuclear accident, federal rules require the evacuation of a 10-mile radius around the plant. After a so-called "dirty bomb" nuclear detonation or the release of chemical or biological weapons, only the region immediately downwind of the release point would have to be cleared. "Natural disasters just dwarf anything that's manmade," said Reuben B. Goldblatt, a partner at traffic engineering firm KLD Associates in Commack, N.Y. Brian Wolshon, a professor of civil engineering at Louisiana State University, said Texas officials "will probably see there were things they could have done better." But he added: "It's not economically or environmentally feasible to build enough roads to evacuate a city the size of Houston in a short time and with no congestion. It's just not going to happen." It was a point all too clear to Bruce French, who left his home in Clear Lake, Texas, early Thursday, and ran out of gas just past Conroe, far short of his destination of Dallas. On Friday morning, he was stranded, waiting for fuel. "They're giving $10 worth of gas if you're on empty and $5 if you have some," he said. "That's not going to get you very far." EDITOR'S NOTE - Associated Press writers Kristen Hays in Houston, Liz Austin in Austin and Suzanne Gamboa in Washington, National Writer Matt Crenson in New York and photographer Paul Sancya contributed to this story. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. More headlines and news at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Allen G. Breed Subject: Rita Causes Fresh Floods, Disasters in New Orleans Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 19:48:59 -0500 By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press Writer Hurricane Rita's wind-driven storm surge topped one of New Orleans' battered levees and poked holes in another Friday, sending water gushing into already-devastated neighborhoods just days after they had been pumped dry. An initial surge of water cascaded over a patched levee protecting the impoverished Ninth Ward, flooding the abandoned neighborhood with at least 6 feet of water. As Army Corps of Engineers employees watched with disgusted looks, their 'temporary, emergency repairs' smashed by the latest hurricane. "Our worst fears came true," said Maj. Barry Guidry, a National Guardsman on duty at the broken levee. Leaks beneath another levee that was repaired with rock and gravel after Hurricane Katrina flooded homes with at least a half-foot of water. Meanwhile, wind-whipped waves pushed water from Lake Pontchartrain over a seawall and rain runoff with no outlet pooled in city streets. Evacuees from the misery-stricken city learned of the new flooding with despair. "It's like looking at a murder," Quentrell Jefferson of the Ninth Ward said as he watched the news at a church in Lafayette, 125 miles west of New Orleans. "The first time is bad. After that, you numb up." The flooding came as Rita began lashing the Gulf Coast with rain and wind, and up to 500,000 people in southwestern Louisiana headed north. Some who fought hours of gridlock to get out of Texas were frustrated to find they had to keep going to stay out of the storm, which was expected to make landfall early Saturday. Lake Charles, not far from Rita's predicted path along the Texas-Louisiana line, was a virtual ghost town, as were the coastal parishes. Before nightfall, squalls were flattening sugar cane fields and knocking over trees near New Iberia, about 110 miles west of New Orleans. There were fears the storm would stall after coming ashore, dumping as much as 25 inches of rain over the next several days. In New Orleans, water poured through gaps in the Industrial Canal levee, which engineers had tried to repair after Katrina's floodwaters left 80 percent of the city under water. The rushing water covered piles of rubble and mud-caked cars in the Ninth Ward, rising swiftly to the top of first-floor windows. It spilled east into St. Bernard Parish, where ducks swam down Judge Perez Drive. The storm surge was both stronger and earlier than expected, apparently coming through waterways southeast of the city, said Col. Richard Wagenaar, the Army Corps of Engineers' district chief in New Orleans. Water poured over piles of gravel and sandbags in the damaged Industrial Canal levee despite efforts to build it up. "We believed the 8-foot elevation was sufficient" to protect the Ninth Ward, Wagenaar said. Farther north, water 6 to 8 inches deep was streaming into homes south of Lake Pontchartrain, spouting from beneath two gravel-and-rock patches on the London Avenue Canal levee. Corps engineers said they expected the leaks. "It's a rock levee," said Richard Pinner, who is supervising the levee's repair for the corps. Officials with the corps said other levees around the city appeared secure. The problems would set back repairs at least three weeks, Wagenaar said, but June is still the target for getting the levees back to pre-Katrina strength. In New Orleans, forecasters said the hurricane could bring 4 to 8 inches of rain, enough to put the patched levees at more risk. An added fear was that another strong storm surge would push water through the walls in other places. Still, the city may have escaped worse damage because it was not in the direct path of Hurricane Rita, said Tim Destri of the National Weather Service in Slidell. "It's a combination of wind-driven water and tides," he said. "It's not the sudden storm surge of the hurricane." The water level in Lake Ponchartrain -- about 4.5 above sea level on Friday afternoon - likely will not rise much more but will remain high enough to pose a continued danger to the "flimsy" repairs, said Paul Kemp, a storm-surge expert at Louisiana State University. The additional flooding brought by Hurricane Rita also would complicate the search for the dead left by Hurricane Katrina. "It's going to make it a lot tougher," said Richard Dier, a FEMA group supervisor who oversees hundreds of people searching for bodies. "We'd like to start where we left off, but my men don't submerge or go into houses with deep water. It makes searching almost impossible ..." The search-and-recovery effort was called off Friday morning as the storm approached. On Friday, Katrina's death toll stand at 841 in Louisiana and 1,078 across the Gulf Coast. A mandatory evacuation order was in effect for the part of New Orleans on the east bank of the Mississippi River, including the Ninth Ward. A spokeswoman for Mayor Ray Nagin said officials believed the neighborhood had been cleared of residents. Mark Madary, a St. Bernard Parish councilman, said houses that were under 12 feet of water after Katrina would probably get an additional 3 feet. He accused the Army Corps of Engineers of not rebuilding the levee properly. "Everybody's home's been crushed, and let's hope their dreams aren't," he said. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE - Allen G. Breed is the AP's Southeast regional writer. Associated Press writers Mary Foster, Adam Nossiter and Michelle Roberts in New Orleans, Brett Martel in Lake Charles, Julia Silverman in Lafayette, La., and Janet McConnaughey in Baton Rouge, La., contributed to this report. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Allen Newman Subject: Bell System Phone Label Code? Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 18:41:08 -0500 On the number cards/labels affixed to latter-decades' Bell System phones, there was a letter M stamped like this: ----------------------------- | AREA | | CODE M 555-4321 | | 595 | ----------------------------- What did the M mean? ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? Date: 22 Sep 2005 12:05:40 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Several years ago I signed up for the big PC Expo show in New York City. I included my real email address. Since then I have received many advertisements for subsequent technology shows and from various vendors. Early on I sent in a request to remove my name; that request was ignored. The promotors of PC Expo are not some "fly by night" basement outfit, they are supposedly a legitimate organization. But I am angry that they released my email (which was required) to outsiders and that I continue to get spam from them. The latest spam came from: ITD Holdings Any suggestions? Thanks. [public replies please] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Induction Coil Lamps Date: 22 Sep 2005 13:28:38 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Induction coils have been used in telephones almost since the beginning. Now they are being used as a light source for highway signs. The coil is at the center, surrounded by a electron-ion-plasma material and inert gas. The globe is coated with phosphors. The coil creates UV radiation that makes the globe glow. Lifespan is claimed to be 27 years and used for backlit traffic signs. http://www.quixtraffic.com ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Organization: ATCC Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 16:57:22 -0400 In article , JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com says.: > On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:52:16 GMT, Ken Abrams sbcglobal.net> wrote: >> If this was 7 years ago, I'm guessing it was analog service; it >> certainly was not GSM. I'd be interested to see what happens on some >> of those calls today using GSM service. > Quite the contrary. GSM service was functional as early as January of > 1996 for VoiceStream which is now T-Mobile. The first GSM network in > the USA was turned on in 1995. That's at least 10 years ago. That was OmniPoint which got sucked up by VoiceStream which then got sucked up by Deutch Telecom now know as T-Mobile. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:51:43 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Joseph wrote: > Quite the contrary. GSM service was functional as early as January of > 1996 for VoiceStream which is now T-Mobile. While that is true, I do remember looking at a Nationwide GSM map provided by VoiceStream, and NONE of the GSM systems that one could roam on at the time were adjacent to each other. All were very distant from each other, in major metropolitan areas (and a couple of second-tier locations where PCS spectrum was cheap back in the day). So, unless you made a call in El Paso, Texas on the VoiceStream network, and then instantaneously transported to, say, New York City on the Omnipoint network, there was no chance you were going to be able to test intercarrier handoffs. As such, I would bet real money that no intercarrier call handoffs were set up between the GSM carriers back in '96 ... it just wasn't physically possible to do until much alter, when the networks expanded. Now, AMPS providers there were plenty of in '96. Some did do roaming handoffs, and some didn't. It all depended on how amicable the relationship was between the neighboring cellular companies. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Roaming Charges Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 10:41:07 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@*newsguy.com On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:52:16 GMT, Ken Abrams wrote: > J Kelly wrote: >> On 16 Sep 2005 05:33:58 -0000, John Levine wrote: >>>> This raises a question I thought of recently, but had not bothered to >>>> ask anyone about. Suppose I start a cell call in local but move to a >>>> roaming tower during the call? Does the call get charged as roaming >>>> or not? >>> I doubt you'd get a handoff in a situation like that. It'd drop the >>> call and you'd call back. >> I worked for a small cellular carrier about 7 years ago. I would >> routinely test handoffs from our network to the network adjacent to >> us. > If this was 7 years ago, I'm guessing it was analog service; it > certainly was not GSM. I'd be interested to see what happens on some > of those calls today using GSM service. Often things touted as "new > and improved" aren't. That's my impression of GSM, at least the way > it is being implemented now. While it is hard for a user to tell when > a call is handed off to another site, I don't think I have ever had a > successful hand-off with GSM. I have, however, had a LOT of calls > dropped when moving ... sometimes just a few feet. It was analog. I've used GSM (we got GSM here in 1997, btw). Worked great. Never handed off between networks with it (there is no other network to hand to) but routinely would drive 50+ miles on the same call and not drop. And I know that CDMA can hand off, either soft or hard. I'm guessing here, but it probably has to do a hard handoff between networks (or other MTSOs on the same network) while a soft handoff can occur between sites on the same MTSO. ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Louisiana Official Caught Ripping Off Donations Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 16:51:25 -0600 Organization: Disorganized In message DevilsPGD wrote: > In message Associated Press News > Wire wrote: >> Police found cases of food, clothing and tools intended for hurricane >> victims at the home of the chief administrative officer for a New >> Orleans suburb, authorities said Wednesday. >> Officers searched Cedric Floyd's home because of complaints that city >> workers were helping themselves to donations for hurricane >> victims. Floyd, who runs the day-to-day operations in the suburb of >> Kenner, was in charge of distributing the goods. >> Police plan to seek a charge of committing an illegal act as a public >> official against Floyd, and more charges against other city workers >> are possible, police Capt. Steve Caraway said. > That seems like an odd reaction. Perhaps he should be airdropped just > ahead of Rita and we'll call it even? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If we wish to be consistent here, we > need to remember all the looting in general which took place over > several days there. And the 'city workers' who were helping themselves > to the lately-given donations, etc were not doing much different, > except perhaps it is okay to loot a store with merchandise for sale at > a profit, but not okay to loot merchandise intended for give-away to > the victims. Also recall, many of the city workers involved were also > themselves victims and were entitled to the same help as the other > victims were receiving. My thought would be since the city workers > were staying on the job trying to assist the other victims, perhaps > some 'professional courtesy' reciprocation should be allowed > (i.e. they get first pick of the donations, etc just as they are > getting the first pick of the temporary mobile homes as they become > available.) Just don't get greedy about it or make a big issue of > showing the other victims what is happening. PAT] I'd add most of the looters who stole anything other then basic essentials to the list. However, in my mind there is a large difference between "looting to stay alive" vs "looting from emergency supplies intended to keep others alive". If they were simply taking what was allocated to them as fellow victims, the police wouldn't be involved. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is what I guess they will have to try and detirmine; if the emphasis should be on the 'victims taking needed food, etc' _or_ common variety looter. No one down there has had things very easy in the past month. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 22 Sep 2005 22:08:54 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Vonage Urged to Consider Sale, Float, According to Financial Times Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA In article you write: > Vonage Holdings Corp., which provides residential phone services over > the Internet, is being urged to consider a sale while it presses ahead > with plans for a public float, the Financial Times reported on > Thursday. That's very peculiar. I read today's FT all the way through (it's not that big) and I found no mention of Vonage at all, much less a feature about it. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In separate email I said to John there is sometimes a problem with news items by the time they reach me here being 'out of synch' by a day or so, and he might try 'Thursday' to actually be Wednesday or Friday. He then replied: PAT] On Fri, 2005-09-23 at 13:35 -0400, TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: >> no mention in FT > Did we check the proper FT on the specified date? It said "Thursday" so I looked in detail at yesterday's paper. I flipped through the Weds paper, and I'll look and see if by some chance it's in today's when I pick it up. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I also suggest using the link inside the article on line _at the source_ and seeing if it comes up with a different date sometimes as well. PAT] ------------------------------ From: David L Subject: Re: Motorola Bag phone Date: 23 Sep 2005 15:23:55 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Test calls can usually be made by calling 411, although cellcos are starting to be less friendly to incoming analog calls from unactivated handsets differently as of late, since they take up so much bandwith. I recently was unable to get an analog call to connect to the network to test in N. CA or a credit card call in an emergency. Using 411 or perhaps 922 (which also might connect to 911 in a few areas like N.VA) is a much better choice, since you won't be taking up an emergency call operators time, that they could be used responding to a real emergency. 922 may be either be a 911 test number number OR the telco system may be programed to forward any calls which appear to be an attempt to call 911 Calling 922 from a Verizon GPS enabled phone, even an unactivated one, will allow the toweer to send the GPS coords to the handset's GPSONE debug screen in many areas. As long as it's an urban area with AGPS enabled on the network, and calls don't get forwared to 911, there is a good chance the GPS coords will appear in one of the GPS ONE menu screens. **Calls from activated VZW phones to 922 WILL GET BILLED AS 411 CALLS! So, if you want to play with the GPS function use an unactived phone or be prepared to deal with VZW CS. Likely the billing system is already set up for some GIN GPS pay service, which will use the built in GPS. My usual advice of keeping a bag phone in the trunk for free, emergency 911 calls from a three watt high powered phone, may have some practical limitations when trying access the network for Credit Card calls. Allthough 911 calls will have priority, cellular operators are cutting back analog bandwidth and users have reported trouble in completing calls even with paid analog plans. Unless one is in the middle of Nowhere where the extra power of a 3 watt analog phone might be an advantage to connecting to an old analog cell tower, I would recommend carrying a dualmode A/D handset. Probably something like an older Verizon 800mhz dualmode/trimode model would be a good choice for the those who have no phone, or those using a GSM phone, planning on going into rural areas. GSM is lacking coverage in the mountains and out west especially. So carrying a CDMA/analog (3 watt analog in some areas)phone has a good chance for connecting to any existing tower, for an Emergency call, or credit card call, in case of a car breakdown. Unless one knows they are in or traveling to a CDMA 1900mhz area, a dualmode should be fine. There are a few 1900mhz areas. As of about Aug 1st, no cellular handset will be allowed to be activated unless it has AGPS built in, on VZW. Existing phones are excepted, but once taken off the network, they will not be able to be activated back on. Verizon Wireless is enforcing this new policy, AFAIK, 100%. Since it's an FCC ruling dealing with GPS phase in, I suspect other carriers will follow suite, once they get their activation databases to comply. Dave Lind Davlindi@hotmail.com ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #434 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Sep 24 16:08:45 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id A845A14F11; Sat, 24 Sep 2005 16:08:43 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #435 Message-Id: <20050924200843.A845A14F11@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 16:08:43 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, NO_COST autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Sep 2005 16:08:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 435 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Web Scammers Strike Before Hurricane Does (Brian Krebs) Media Watchdog Tells Bloggers How to Avoid Censors (Timothy Heritage) Rita Pushes Blogs and Rich Maps to Forefront (Anik Jesdanun) Voice Over Internet (VOIP) Both Simple, and Complex (Frank Bajak) Broadcasting Stations and Music Publishers at Odds (Neal McLain) T-Mobile USA Response to Hurricanes Rita and Katrina (Joseph) T-Mobile USA Customer Concessions During Aftermath of Katrina (Joseph) Re: Vonage Urged to Consider Sale, Float, According to FT (John 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: Brian Krebs Subject: Web Scammers Strike Before Hurricane Does Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 12:57:04 -0500 By Brian Krebs Special to The Washington Post Saturday, September 24, 2005; D01 In a spree mirroring the online gold rush that accompanied Hurricane Katrina, online speculators are scooping up hundreds of Hurricane Rita-related Web domain names, and Rita-themed Internet auctions have begun. Scammers often use such Web sites to trick people into making donations, authorities said. The quick proliferation of questionable activities spurred the federal government to work with Internet service providers, computer security companies and anti-spam groups to shut down and prosecute owners of fraudulent sites, according to several participants in the ad hoc task force. The group has already closed more than 40 Web sites falsely claiming to raise money for relief organizations, said Tom Liston, a security consultant with Washington-based Intelguardians.com and an incident handler with the SANS Internet Storm Center, a nonprofit group that tracks online-hacking trends. Internet 'vigilante' groups closed down a few others on the very day they opened for business. Liston began tracking new Web site registrations containing the word "Rita" on Monday and as of yesterday had found more than 1,100 such sites, he said. On Thursday, someone used eBay to begin auctioning off a burnt piece of toast with the meteorological symbol for a hurricane and the word "Rita" scraped onto it, promising to donate 40 percent of the final auction price to storm victims. EBay shut down the auction later that day. An EBay official said that was a very revolting auction item. Several Rita-related domain names were for sale on eBay yesterday, including one for RitaAid.net that started the bidding at $10,000. The auction did not claim that any of the proceeds would benefit relief efforts. "I expect we're going to probably see just as many attempts at fraud with Rita as we did with Katrina, and the fact that both of these hurricanes hit at the same time is going to increase amount of scams out there," Liston said. "Because [the hurricane] is such a newsworthy issue and people constantly have this in front of them, unfortunately that's going to help these lowlifes out there to succeed in what they're doing." Organizations that said they were members of the ad hoc Rita task force working with the Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or US-CERT, include the SANS Internet Storm Center, the Spamhaus Project, the Anti-Phishing Working Group and San Diego Internet-security firm Websense Inc. Officials of the Homeland Security Department did not respond to interview requests for this story. After Katrina, scam artists set up dozens of Web sites asking for PayPal donations but offering little or no information about what they planned to do with the money. As the massive storm neared land, registrations of new Internet domain names containing the name "Katrina" skyrocketed, and hundreds of Katrina-related auctions emerged on eBay that flouted the auction site's rules for charitable giving. Virus writers also took advantage of the disaster by e-mailing malicious attachments posing as photographs of the storm's devastation. "Look what the storm did to our family's home," said one such virus attachment. The scams prompted U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to outline anti-fraud priorities for the FBI and the Justice Department. State attorneys general in Florida and Missouri also sued people who were fraudulently accepting donations for hurricane victims. Krebs is a staff writer for washingtonpost.com. Copyright 2005 The Washington Post Company 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Additional news available at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ From: Timothy Heritage Subject: Media Watchdog Tells Bloggers How to Avoid Censors Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 13:06:17 -0500 By Timothy Heritage A Paris-based media watchdog released a handbook on Thursday to help cyber-dissidents and bloggers avoid political censorship in countries as far apart as China, Iran, Vietnam and Cuba. The guide, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) with the backing of the French government, identifies bloggers as the "new heralds of free expression" and offers advice on how to set up a blog and run it anonymously. "Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure," wrote Julien Pain, head of RSF's Internet Freedom Desk. "Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest." Blogs are personal Web sites that are easy to set up and are often written in the form of an online diary. The name is a shortened form of personal "Web log." The "Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents" can be downloaded from the RSF website (www.rsf.org), and the media organization says it is available in English, French, Chinese, Arabic and Farsi. The guide is based on technical advice from experienced bloggers and experts, and provides personal accounts by bloggers such as Arash Sigarchi, who received a 14-year-jail sentence in Iran last February but is free pending an appeal. "Internet journalism could advance freedom of expression and wider view points," wrote Sigarchi, who faced charges ranging from spying to insulting the country's leaders. "Although I have been convicted by Iranian courts, I have not lost hope and I am sure that in coming years the rulers of my country will have to respect the flow of information and freedom of expression." "TOOLS OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION" "Blogs get people excited. Or else they disturb and worry them. Some people distrust them. Others see them as the vanguard of a new information revolution," RSF said on its Web site. "Because they allow and encourage ordinary people to speak up, they're tremendous tools of freedom of expression." The handbook offers advice on how to establish credibility by observing basic ethical and journalistic principles. One chapter offers advice on technical ways to get around censorship. Others feature bloggers' experiences from such countries as Nepal, Iran, Bahrain and Hong Kong. Publication of the handbook follows moves in some countries to crack down on Internet use. RSF said countries which were trying to control what their citizens read and do online included China, Vietnam, Iran, Iran, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Anick Jesdanun Subject: Rita Pushes Blogs, Rich Maps to Forefront Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 13:08:17 -0500 By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer As Hurricane Rita approached, editors at the Houston Chronicle decided to experiment: They hand-picked about a dozen Web diarists and asked them to post regular dispatches on the newspaper's online blog -- all without any editorial intervention. "One of the benefits to blogs is that they tend to be more personal, they tend to provide more the emotional feel of an event," said Dwight Silverman, the Chronicle's interactive journalism editor. "In traditional reporting you put on your poker face and do your writing. ... It's not supposed to be the writer's emotions." The Chronicle set up a second blog for its own staff writers -- this one edited -- to post anecdotes and other info before they appeared in any stories, print or online. And science writer Eric Berger devoted his regular blog, SciGuy, to the storm. Besides the Chronicle's blogs, Web surfers were able to get firsthand accounts Friday through podcasts and photographs. They could track the storm using Google-powered maps. And they could find housing and other emergency information from government and private Web sites. At the Chronicle's citizen-contributed blog, Stormwatchers, one participant talked of being packed and ready to evacuate, while another wrote of the calm before the storm: "Our dog is happy, running around the yard, and having fun." Silverman said the newspaper picked experienced bloggers from the region, voices it expected would be civil, lively and informative. "We had been looking at doing more of these kinds of things, and this seems like a perfect venue for this kind of experiment," he said. "One of the nice things about the Web is if it didn't work, if it descended into babble, we can turn it off. So far it's been valuable." At The Wall Street Journal's Web site, News Tracker summarized the latest developments in a blog format -- reverse chronological order. The site, re-activated after an initial 12-day Hurricane Katrina run, even links to resources at other news sites -- something common in blogging but still rare for traditional media. Meanwhile, Russell Holliman and a few fellow podcasters from Houston decided to combine the emerging audio-distribution format with traditional Internet radio. They established a live streaming feed called RitaCast and made arrangements to produce a new personal audio dispatch every hour, each about 20 minutes long. The group was even trying to take calls from listeners -- something rare with podcasts. Each dispatch was packaged into an MP3 file and distributed as a podcast through Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes and other networks that automatically distributing free audio subscriptions. "It really just did start out as a technical experiment," Holliman said. "We wanted to see if it can be done. It introduces a new format for podcasts where people can actually get the live interaction with the listener." Some Texas newspapers, including the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, suspended their print editions and turned to the Internet instead. Others, including the Victoria Advocate, asked readers to submit photographs for online posting. Visitors to FLHurricane.com could track the movement of Hurricane Rita on a map, the colors of the markers changing from green to red as the storm intensified. The site combines Google Inc.'s mapping tools with data from the National Weather Service. The site's administrator, Mike Cornelius, has software to automatically pull latitude and longitude coordinates from the government advisories. Resources set up for Hurricane Katrina also have been adapted for Rita. Among them: MoveOn.org's Web site for connecting refugees with those who have housing to spare. On the Net: Stormwatchers: http://blogs.chron.com/stormwatchers RitaCast: http://houstonpodcasting.net Rita map: http://flhurricane.com/googlemap.php?2005s18 MoveOn project: http://www.hurricanehousing.org 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Also see http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Frank Bajak Subject: Voice Over Internet Both Simple, Complex Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 13:09:51 -0500 Voice Over Internet Both Simple, Complex By FRANK BAJAK, AP Technology Editor We have more ways than ever of communicating, but trying to keep up with family and friends can be exasperating. Our overlapping free time seems to shrink. We constantly play phone and voice mail tag. And e-mail, in its tone-deaf impersonality, barely helps. One of the most unorthodox and intriguing among 32 new products launched onstage at this week's DEMOfall conference, a showcase of tech innovation, was a Web-based tool with a mission: to encourage emotional connection via audio messages. Not two-way conversations, mind you. Just me telling you my news. Click, talk and send. The product is called YackPack because the user creates groups, or packs, of people who can be audio-messaged individually or collectively. Each member of your pack gets an icon with his or her picture on it. An e-mail notification tells you when a Yack has arrived. "It turns out that asynchronous audio is the secret sauce for what keeps relationships alive and fresh," said B.J. Fogg, the company founder and chief executive. Much of YackPack's recipe came from the year Fogg spent with a focus group of women over age 50. Unlike Fogg, the typical tech startup CEO will bend your ear with metrics on market potential while spouting technobabble that would befuddle all but us geeks. Such people abounded at DEMOfall, where other promising products pitched to an elite crowd of investors and press also sought to better manage relationships: by turning a cell phone into a conference-call manager, helping eBay users place bids wirelessly, protecting the privacy of online consumers. Fogg, on the other hand, was more apt to be accused of psycho-babble. He is, after all, a Stanford psychologist in addition to being a computer scientist. "We're helping people connect emotionally, and that leads to happiness," he said. Santa Rosa, Calif.-based YackPack goes live in mid-October and will be free while in beta, then cost well under $10 per month, with a free ad-based version, Fogg says. There's no software to download, and Fogg says YackPack even works with dial-up connections. All you need is to get a microphone working with your computer. "Three-year-olds can do it. Grandmas can do it. People who can't read and write can do it," said Fogg. He sees the product as benefiting circles well beyond families -- cancer support groups, for example. DEMO's semiannual shows have been springboards for such industry standouts as TiVo, the Palm Pilot and the Danger HipTop. After six years under the DEMOmobile moniker, this year's fall show got a name change in recognition of our ability to finally go online wirelessly with increasing ease. DEMO show producer Chris Shipley says the legions of ultra-productive but also constantly reachable and thus often harried "always-on people" are driving today's tech market. Shipley calls it the dawning era of "ultrapersonal computing." Software and services thus dominated DEMOfall, with a number of products appearing poised to humble industry giants, especially in telecommunications. One was Mobile Call Manager from Menlo Park, Calif.-based TalkPlus Inc., which uses Internet phone technology over the traditional cellular network. It makes cheap calls available on cell phones while adding such features as the ability to have multiple phone numbers ring on a single handset and on-the-fly conference calling with up to 10 participants. That's something no wireless carrier now offers. CEO Jeff Black claims he'll be able to offer low, low rates -- 2 cents a minute for calls within the United States and Canada -- and he's lining up multiple carriers internationally for a Jan. 1 launch. He wouldn't name the partners. Jingle Networks Inc. of San Francisco sees directory assistance as another huge market -- worth an estimated $8 billion a year in the United States -- that's ripe for the plucking. To bypass the traditional carriers, Jingle connects callers for free to the business, government office or residence of their choice. The trade-off for using 1-800-FREE-411: Callers must first listen to a 12-second recorded pitch. Jingle's success will depend on its ability to sign up local merchants. When I called the service to get my home phone number, the pitch I heard, after following the voice prompts, was for Jingle itself. The cell phone is also the key for Camden, N.J.-based Smarter Agent Inc. Its first service, expected next year, will deliver real estate listings to mobile handsets based on a user's location. If you like a neighborhood but are nowhere near a computer, you'll be able to use a map on your cell phone screen to see what nearby houses are on the market, the asking price and other details. You'll even be able to search to see recent selling prices for comparable homes in the neighborhood. Smarter Agent, a registered Realtor, draws on the Multiple Listing Service used by agents across the nation on their Web sites. Safeguarding privacy online has become an ever more serious concern with identity theft a mounting problem. That was reason enough for a company called UniPrivacy Inc. to build a business on protecting consumers proactively. The company's newly launched DeleteNow product will, for $2.99 per month, remove information about you from more than 100 online sources -- search engines and databases including Google Inc. -- and check those sites daily to make sure the information stays off. However, plenty of sites that might contain personal information about you, such as Claria Corp., aren't cooperating, says chief executive Chaz Berman. The more customers UniPrivacy acquires, the more clout it will have, and Berman says it plans to eventually "out" those sites that refuse to cooperate. After all, "When you join we become your legal agent." Touche! Frank Bajak can be reached at techeditor(at)ap.org On the Net: http://www.demo.com/DEMOfall http://www.yackpack.com http://www.talkplus.com http://www.free411.com http://www.smarteragent.com http://www.uniprivacy.com 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Neal McLain Subject: Broadcasting Stations and Music Publishers at Odds Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 22:01:30 -0400 A friend recently sent me a photocopy of the following newspaper article: ----- start of quoted article ----- The Sunday Oregonian, Portland Oregon, August 26, 1923 BROADCASTING STATIONS AND MUSIC PUBLISHERS AT ODDS Broadcasters Maintain That Stations Help Musical Composition Rather Than Prevent Public From Buying -- Contest Will Determine Influence That Wireless Has Had Upon the Music Purchases of Country By Saul Emanuel Does radio broadcasting help to "make" a song or is it really detrimental to the sale of a new composition in the form of records or music rolls? Several months ago the claim was made by the music publishers and authors that the use of their compositions by the broadcasting stations was proving disastrous to the welfare of their trade. According to Arthur A Freistadt, president of United States Music Company of Chicago, the radio fan who can listen to a musical composition with an inexpensive radio set has no desire to buy the sheet music, piano roll, or phonograph record of the selection. Freistadt is for this reason entirely opposed to the radio broadcasting of music, especially of the popular variety. Royalties Are Asked. To offset this alleged decrease of their business, the publishers now demand the payment of royalties form the stations and declare that they will go to court to enforce such payment. One of their legal advisers recently made the statement that such royalties could also be extracted from certain receiving sets installed in commercial establishments for advertising purposes. The broadcasters contend, according to H. Gernsback, editor of Radio News, that broadcasting of these compositions could have but one effect upon them, an increase of popularity with an according increase in sales. Several instances are cited by Gernsback in which certain songs making an appreciable headway through the usual methods of exploitation were almost instantly popularized when they were sung from several of the large broadcasting stations. The sales of these compositions immediately jumped into the hundreds of thousands, declares the editor of Radio News. Fans Deny Charges. The controversy is attracting the attention of the radio public, now counted in the millions. Letters are being constantly written to different broadcasting stations from listeners who say that they would never have heard of such and such a song had it not been sung from that station. In many cases the listener wrote that he or she purchased a copy of the composition the following day to try it out on the piano. Others bought records of the song, they wrote. The broadcasters have no intention of being held up in this bold manner, according to statements from many of the stations. In fact an organization is being promoted among the stations to boycott the compositions of the musical trust and to broadcast only those from independent authors and publishers. Contest to Prove Point. To prove that radio broadcasting is the most powerful advertising medium for the popularizing of music, the Radio News has stated a contest for the two best compositions written before October 1 of this year. These selections, one of which is to be a march and the other a "jazz" piece, will be chosen in an open competition and promoted entirely by radio. Three hundred dollars in prizes will be awarded in the contest, one half for the best composition in march time and a like amount for the best composition in "jazz" time. The winning contestants will also be paid a generous royalty so that two new popular song writers will also be "made" by radio if the plan of Radio News is successful. Conditions Are Given. The conditions of the competition, as mentioned in the September issue of Radio News, follows: 1. Each composition to be not longer than the usual four pages. 2. Contestants may send in more than one competition. There is no restriction as to number. 3. All compositions to be executed in ink in the usual manner, using the usual musical symbols. 4. Compositions to be entitled "Radio March" or "Radio Jazz" as the case may be. 5. Authors unable to write down music themselves may have a musician do this for them. 6. All manuscripts to be submitted flat, not rolled. 7. All manuscripts not accepted will be promptly returned to the owners at the conclusion of the contest, provided that sufficient postage is enclosed with the manuscripts. 8. All prizes will be paid upon publication. 9. The contest closes in New York on October 1, 1923. 10. Address all compositions to Editor, Radio Music Contest, Radio News, New York. Those who will judge the contest will be Hugo Reisenfeld, conductor of the orchestras of the Rialto, Rivoli, Criterion theaters of New York; Ted Lewis of the well-known Ted Lewis band and Ted Lewis frolics; Vincent Lopez, director of the Hotel Pennsylvania orchestra, New York; Milton J. Cross, announcer of radio broadcasting station AJN, New York, member of the Institute of Musical Arts and of Paulist choristers; Leo R. Riggs, musical director of the Hotel Astor bands, and H. Gernsback, editor of Radio News. ----- end of quoted article ----- The name Milton J. Cross, one of the judges in the Radio News contest, caught my attention. Perhaps a few other elderly TD readers remember him as the "Voice of the Met" from 1935 to 1974. The same page of the Oregonian also contains an article COCKADAY CIRCUIT GIVES EXTREME TUNING SHARPNESS and even includes a schematic diagram (one triode) and instructions for winding the coils (excerpt: "The antenna coil L-4 is wound on another paper tube 3 1/4 inches in diameter and consists of 43 turns of No. 18 tapped every seventh turn."). Apparently then, as now, newspapers reported the latest techno-geek fads. Neal McLain ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: T-Mobile USA Response to Hurricanes Rita and Katrina Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 21:04:17 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com HURRICANE RITA T-Mobile is preparing for the potential impact of Hurricane Rita. The T-Mobile Disaster Recovery Team stands ready at several command centers within close proximity of the areas expected to be hit hardest -- enabling teams of technicians to mobilize, as soon as conditions permit, to work to restore service to cell sites that may be affected by the storm. In the event of widespread power outages throughout the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast, T-Mobile has more than 10,000 gallons of fuel accessible and ready-to-roll into the affected areas to power cell site generators and company repair/transport vehicles, and for other emergency circumstances. T-Mobile also has on-demand access to thousands of gallons of additional fuel from suppliers. To help protect its core network, T-Mobile has fortified its network switch operations serving the greater Houston market, and continues to reinforce its switch in New Orleans, which remained operable through Hurricane Katrina. Microwave equipment has been trucked into the region to facilitate data communication from the cell sites to T-Mobile's network switches, as backup, in the event T1 fixed line service fails. T-Mobile has dozens of generators and several Cells-On-Wheels (COWs) on standby to support wireless communications to areas hardest hit by the storm. The company also is coordinating recovery efforts with local and state officials, as well as with U.S. Homeland Security and the FCC.n T-Mobile Customer Tips In order to better facilitate communication between families and loved ones, and to alleviate anticipated network congestion before, during and after the storm, T-Mobile recommends its customers follow these important tips: Utilize text messaging to communicate instead of voice calls. Text messaging has a greater success rate in getting through the network during high-usage periods versus voice calls. Keep your voice calls short in duration. Make sure your phone is fully charged prior to the storm. Consider obtaining a vehicle charger in the event of power loss. For T-Mobile Customer Care assistance, please visit http://my.t-mobile.com, call 611 from your T-Mobile handset, or dial 1-800-937-8997. HURRICANE KATRINA T-Mobile has restored its wireless coverage in the Gulf Coast areas hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina to either normal service levels or near normal service levels. T-Mobile's Disaster Recovery Team, working around the clock following Katrina's devastation, has repaired or restored service to many of its existing cell sites in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama damaged by the hurricane. If you are a T-Mobile customer in a FEMA-designated disaster area of Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama, click here for a summary of relief steps T-Mobile has taken to support its impacted customers. For questions, please visit a local T-Mobile retail store (click here for the retail store locator), call 611 from your T-Mobile handset, or dial 1-800-937-8997. Deutsche Telekom AG, parent company of T-Mobile, plans to donate approximately $2 million to assist in supporting the educational needs of children affected by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The company said it is exploring the specific form its donation will take and plans to announce those details as they become available. T-Mobile customers who wish to donate to the American Red Cross can easily do so by Text Messaging 2HELP. Through the Text 2HELP campaign, customers of participating wireless carriers can send a text message to 2HELP (24357) containing the message HELP and a $5 tax-deductible donation will be made to relief efforts. Donations will appear on customers monthly bills or be debited from prepaid account balances. The Text 2HELP campaign will continue through October 31, 2005. Contacts Information For Customers: From your T-Mobile phone, dial 611 free of charge. You may also call us toll free at 1-800-937-8997. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: T-Mobile USA Customer Concessions During Aftermath of Hurricanes Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 21:40:00 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com T-Mobile Customer Relief In the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, T-Mobile USA will provide to customers that have been significantly impacted in the affected areas of these states several relief measures to help support them during this time of hardship. These customers must have T-Mobile account locations in the FEMA-designated disaster areas in those states. Among the relief measures, T-Mobile will provide access to its available voice, data, and WiFi networks at no charge to its customers from the impacted areas beginning Aug. 29 until at least Sept. 30. Customers who have relocated outside of the impacted area will also receive the same services during this time, at no charge. [Voice access includes standard access, overages, nationwide long-distance and roaming; data access includes SMS and instant messaging.] In addition, until further notice, T-Mobile will not suspend the service of any customer from the impacted areas for non-payment of open balances. T-Mobile has established a process by which customers from the impacted areas can request a replacement handset, at no charge, for handsets lost, stolen or damaged. T-Mobile also continues to offer free Wi-Fi Internet service to all customers at its approximately 70 available HotSpot locations within Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. T-Mobile is closely monitoring the ongoing disaster recovery efforts and will make appropriate modifications to these policies as circumstances warrant. Customers may obtain more information by visiting a local T-Mobile retail store, calling 611 from their handset, or dialing 1-800-937-8997. http://t-mobile.com/hurricane/hurricane_katrina.asp ------------------------------ Date: 24 Sep 2005 03:29:22 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Vonage Urged to Consider Sale, Float, According to Financial Times Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA John Levine originally wrote: > That's very peculiar. I read today's FT all the way through (it's not > that big) and I found no mention of Vonage at all, much less a feature > about it. I found the article on the ft.com web site, but it doesn't seem to have made it into the printed paper. http://news.ft.com/cms/s/7c536d06-2af2-11da-817a-00000e2511c8.html R's, John ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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 #435 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Sep 25 23:59:00 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 24912150EE; Sun, 25 Sep 2005 23:59:00 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #436 Message-Id: <20050926035900.24912150EE@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 23:59:00 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.5 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, INFO_TLD autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sun, 25 Sep 2005 23:59:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 436 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Internet Helps Speed Stroke Therapy in Rural Areas (Anthony J. Brown, MD) China Imposes New Rules on News Web Sites (Audra Ang) Gulf Coast Emerges From Battering by Rita (Julia Silverman) Mayor Nagin Once Again Plans to Open New Orleans (Michelle Roberts) Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? (nospam4me@mytrashmail.com) Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? (NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info) Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? (A. Berger -- Onlynux) 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: Anthony J. Brown, MD Subject: Internet Helps Speed Stroke Therapy in Rural Areas Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 13:47:57 -0500 By Anthony J. Brown, MD An internet-based network that allows doctors in rural hospitals to consult a stroke expert in real-time can hasten the delivery of clot-busting drugs to treat stroke patients, new research indicates. With the network, known as REACH, doctors at eight rural hospitals in Georgia were able to immediately consult a stroke expert at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG). The system, which incorporates a video feed, allows the consultant to examine the patient and view the CT scan and then decide if treatment with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is needed. A previous report has shown that stroke care at rural hospitals often does not follow published guidelines and that tPA is used infrequently. Lead author Dr. David C. Hess, from the Augusta-based MCG, told Reuters Health that "doctors at rural centers may not feel comfortable reading a CT scan for stroke and may be worried about giving tPA, which carries a 6 percent rate of intracranial hemorrhage." The REACH system "is a way of providing physicians at rural hospitals with immediate access to a stroke consultant at any time." In the new study, reported in the medical journal Stroke, the researchers describe the results of 194 stroke consultations that were delivered with REACH. Thirty of the patients received tPA. The average and median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scores were 15.4 and 12.5, respectively. The time between stroke onset and treatment fell during the study period from 143 minutes for the first 10 patients to 111 minutes for last 20 patients. Sixty percent of patients received tPA within two hours and 23 percent received it within 90 minutes. None of the patients treated with tPA experienced symptoms of cerebral hemorrhage, the report indicates. "We were surprised by the findings -- we never thought we'd be treating patients with tPA in under 2 hours or, in some cases, 90 minutes," Hess said. "Rural hospitals move pretty fast in getting blood work and CT scans done, they just need assistance in interpreting the results and making treatment decisions." Hess said that the REACH system could probably be applied to a number of rural settings across the US. However, he noted that the biggest obstacle to widespread adoption of this and similar telemedicine systems is reimbursement. He explained that Medicare and insurance companies have certain reimbursement stipulations that, at present, do not encourage the adoption of such systems. SOURCE: Stroke, September 2005. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Audra Ang Subject: China Imposes New Rules on News Web Sites Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 13:49:15 -0500 By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer China is imposing new regulations to control content on its news Web sites, the government said Sunday, another step in its ongoing effort to police a rapidly expanding Internet population. The rules, issued by the Ministry of Information Industry and the State Council, China's cabinet, will "standardize the management of news and information" in the country, the official Xinhua News Agency said. They take effect immediately, it said. The report did not give any details on the regulations but said sites should only post news on current events and politics. It did not define what would be acceptable under those categories. Only "healthy and civilized news and information that is beneficial to the improvement of the quality of the nation, beneficial to its economic development and conducive to social progress" will be allowed, Xinhua said. It added: "The sites are prohibited from spreading news and information that goes against state security and public interest." China's population of Internet users has surpassed 100 million and is the world's second largest after the United States, which has 135 million. While the communist government encourages Internet use for education and business, it also keeps an extremely tight rein over online content, usually blocking material it deems subversive or pornographic. Online dissidents who post essays questioning government actions and policies or those who express their opinions in chatrooms are regularly arrested and charged under vaguely worded state security laws. Earlier this month, a French media watchdog group said e-mail account information provided by Internet powerhouse Yahoo Inc. helped lead to the conviction and 10-year prison sentence of a Chinese journalist who had written about media restrictions in an e-mail. Also as part of an ongoing effort to curb potential dissent, thousands of cybercafes -- the main entry to the Web for many Chinese unable to afford a computer or Internet access -- have been closed. Authorities in Shanghai have installed surveillance cameras and begun requiring visitors to Internet cafes to register using their official identity cards to keep tabs on who's seeing and saying what online. The government also recently threatened to shut down unregistered Web sites and blogs, online diaries in which users post their thoughts for others to read. According to Xinhua, the previous set of rules governing Internet news was issued in 2000 and have become obsolete given the development of technology and China's rapidly growing online community. The new rules will "satisfy the public demand for receiving news and information from the Internet as well as safeguard public interest," Xinhua said. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have been advised that since the situation with Yahoo about a month ago which led to the Chinese writer being sent to prison, Associated Press at least has begun giving their writers/reporters in China alias names when something appears in print. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Julia Silverman Subject: Gulf Coast Emerges From Battering by Rita Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 22:32:14 -0500 By JULIA SILVERMAN, Associated Press Writer For the storm-shattered Gulf Coast, the images were all too familiar: Tiny fishing villages in splinters. Refrigerators and coffins bobbing in floodwaters. Helicopters and rescue boats making house-to-house searches of residents stranded on the rooftops. But as the misery wrought by Hurricane Rita came into clearer view -- particularly in the hard-to-reach marsh towns along the Texas- Louisiana line -- the lasting signs that emerged a day after the storm's 120-mph landfall were of an epic evacuation that saved countless lives, and of destruction that fell short of the Katrina-sized fears. "As bad as it could have been, we came out of this in pretty good shape," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said after taking a helicopter tour Sunday. Even with nearly 1 million in the region without electricity, some coastal towns flooded to the rooftops and the prospect of nearly 3 million evacuated residents pouring back onto the highways for home, the news was overwhelmingly positive. Petrochemical plants that supply a quarter of the nation's gasoline suffered only a glancing blow, with just one major plant facing weeks of repairs. The reflooding in New Orleans from levee breaks was isolated mostly to areas already destroyed and deserted, and could be pumped out in as little as a week. And contrary to dire forecasts, Rita and its heavy rains moved quickly north as a tropical depression instead of parking over the South for days and dumping a predicted 25 inches of torrential rains. Most significantly, deaths were minimal -- with only two reported so far -- largely because residents with fresh memories of Katrina heeded evacuation orders and the storm followed a path that spared Houston and more populous stretches of the coast. Along the central Louisiana coastline, where Rita's heavy rains and storm-surge flooding pushed water up to 9 feet in homes and into fields of sugarcane and rice, weary evacuees slowly returned to see the damage. Staring at the ground, shoulders stooped, clearly exhausted, many came back with stories of deer stuck on levees and cows swimming through seawater miles from the Gulf of Mexico. "All I got now is my kids and my motorhome," said Tracy Savage, whose house in rural Vermilion Parish was four feet underwater. The 33-year-old diesel technician was able to salvage a toolbox and a few life vests, but not much more. "We've never had this much water, we've just never seen it." More than 100 boats gassed up at an Abbeville car dealership Sunday before venturing out on search-and-rescue missions to find hundreds of residents believed to have tried to ride out Rita. An estimated 1,000 people were rescued in Vermilion Parish, said Chief Sheriff's Deputy Kirk Frith. About 50 people remained on a 911 checklist, and Frith said authorities would probably conclude rescue operations by Monday and begin damage assessment. Authorities were having trouble keeping residents with boats from entering the parish. "How are you going to stop them from going to their home to check on their dog or something like that?'" Frith asked. During a helicopter tour, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, whose Cajun roots run deep in the region, got her first look at the hardest-hit areas. In Cameron Parish, just across the state line from Texas and in the path of Rita's harshest winds east of the eye, fishing communities were reduced to splinters, with concrete slabs the only evidence that homes once stood there. Debris was strewn for miles by water or wind. Holly Beach, a popular vacation and fishing spot, was gone. Only the stilts that held houses off the ground remained. A line of shrimp boats steamed through an oil sheen to reach Hackberry, only to find homes and camps had been flattened. In one area, there was a flooded high school football field, its bleachers and goal posts jutting from what had become part of the Gulf of Mexico. "In Cameron, there's really hardly anything left. Everything is just obliterated," said Blanco, who has asked the federal government for $34 billion to aid in storm recovery. Added Maj. Gen. Bennett Landreneau, head of the Louisiana National Guard: "This is terrible. Whole communities are gone." Some bayou residents who arrived with boats in hopes of getting back in to survey the damage to their property were turned away by state officials. But all it took was a scan of the Intracoastal waterway to see a hint of the damage: refrigerators and even a few coffins from the area's above-ground cemeteries bobbing in the water. After a briefing with Blanco in Baton Rouge, President Bush said: "I know the people of this state have been through a lot. We ask for God's blessings on them and their families." Just across the state line, Texas' Perry toured the badly hit refinery towns of Beaumont and Port Arthur area by air Sunday. "Look at that," he said, pointing to a private aircraft hangar with a roof that was half collapsed and half strewn across the surrounding field. "It looks like a blender just went over the top of it." He said the region has been secured by law enforcement, but does not have water and sewer services available. He urged residents to stay out for now, though the statewide picture was better. "Even though the people right here in Beaumont and Port Arthur and this part of Orange County really got whacked, the rest of the state missed a bullet," Perry said. In contrast to Katrina, with its death toll of more than 1,000, only two deaths had been attributed to Rita by Sunday -- a person killed in north-central Mississippi when a tornado spawned by the hurricane overturned a mobile home and an east Texas man struck by a fallen tree. Two dozen evacuees were killed before the storm hit in a fatal bus fire near Dallas. In Houston, which along with coastal Galveston was spared the brunt of Rita, officials set up a voluntary, staggered plan for an "orderly migration" with different areas going home Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to avoid the massive gridlock that accompanied the exodus out. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper in the southbound lanes of Interstate 45 north of Houston on Sunday evening, with a seemingly endless stream of charter buses, cars and sport utility vehicles clogging the highway and adjacent access roads. Gasoline containers were strapped to the roofs of many vehicles, while police officers stationed every few miles helped stranded drivers. John Willy, the top elected official in Brazoria County, southwest of Houston, said he would ignore the state's staggered return plan. "I am not going to wait for our neighbors to the north to get home and take a nap, before I ask our good people to come home," he said in a statement. "Our people are tired of the state's plan! They have a plan too and it's real simple. They plan to come home when they want." Crude oil and gasoline futures traded lower Sunday, a response to news that damage to refineries was relatively light. The 255,000-barrel-per- day Valero Energy Corp. plant in Port Arthur appeared to be the most heavily damaged, facing at least two weeks of repairs from significant damage to two cooling towers and a flare stack. Still, a rapid recovery for refiners hinges on power being restored to parts of Texas and Louisiana where facilities are concentrated. The area's primary utility, Entergy Corp., said 271 high-voltage transmission lines were down and 275 substations out of service, and there was no immediate timeline of when power would be restored. Residents of Beaumont have been told it could be as long as a month. Also, most telephone lines in the area are down; no estimates on dates for restoral of service. In New Orleans, the U.S. Corps of Engineers moved rocks and sandbags into the holes that broke open in the Industrial Canal levee as Rita closed in, flooding the already devastated Lower Ninth Ward. Workers believe that once the breaches are closed, the Ninth Ward can be pumped dry in a week, far more quickly than initially projected. With most of the city spared significant new damage from Rita, Mayor Ray Nagin immediately renewed his plan to allow some residents to return to drier parts of the city. Those areas -- including the once-raucous French Quarter -- could eventually support a population of at least half ot its pre-Katrina population of about 500,000 residents. Associated Press writers Liz Austin, Matt Curry, Brett Martel, Erin McClam, Adam Nossiter, Doug Simpson and Tim Whitmire contributed to this report. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Michelle Roberts Subject: Mayor Once Again Plans to Reopen New Orleans Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 22:33:30 -0500 By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer The mammoth tasks of restoring power to much of New Orleans and removing heaps of debris, interrupted when Hurricane Rita rammed the Gulf Coast, resumed Sunday as the mayor pushed his plan to reopen parts of the city this week. Even those areas newly flooded this weekend by Rita could be pumped dry again within a week after levee damage is repaired, far sooner than initially predicted, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman said Sunday. "All indications are all operations are getting back to normal," said Ted Monette, deputy federal coordinating officer for Katrina recovery. Monette said federal officials had been coordinating with Mayor Ray Nagin's effort to begin allowing evacuated residents to return and were supportive of his plan. The signs of renewed life included widespread utility trucks restoring electricity and restaurants seeking customers, such as the Slim Goodies diner in the Garden District. The telephone company was even seen patching more fiber cables. "You wanna burger?" owner Kappa Horn called out to the steady stream of police and others who came by. Horn's diner doesn't have electricity, but she's been using supplies driven in from Baton Rouge and New Orleans' West Bank to serve pancakes and burgers for more than a week. She closed for two days when Rita came through. "The city is not going to survive unless it's got people in it," Horn said. "I want to be part of rebuilding my city." Nagin on Saturday renewed his plans to allow some residents to return to drier parts of the city where utilities have already been restored. Dry districts will eventually support a population of between 250,000 and 300,000, he said. Residents of the Algiers neighborhood, which has working power, water and sewer services, could be allowed to return Monday or Tuesday, followed by people in other ZIP codes, Nagin said. Nagin has suggested that only people who are mobile -- not families responsible for children or senior citizens -- come back. "That's going to be the reality of New Orleans moving forward." However, Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, who is in charge of the federal disaster effort in the city, sounded a cautionary note. The city can continue allowing business operators to return to unaffected areas and letting residents return to the West Bank and Algiers, he said. "Where the mayor needs some thoughtful approach to is the areas that have been reflooded and the areas that may remain uninhabitable for safety, health and other reasons," the admiral said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "And I think a timetable associated with that still needs to be worked out." A handful of evacuees returned to the city aboard a flight from Cincinnati. "You go from joy to disbelief to sadness to just being tired, to just wanting to go home," said Paul Jordan. "Our goal is to help rebuild the city, and we're going to do whatever we can." But not everyone headed back to New Orleans plans to stay. Haney Joudeh has resettled in Chicago and was coming to take photos of his clothing store, which he heard was looted, for the insurance company. "It's like starting a life all over. That's it for me. There's nothing left," Joudeh said. Most of the city was spared significant new damage when Rita struck near the Texas-Louisiana line, but the hurricane's rain and storm surge partially breached levees along the Industrial Canal, causing renewed flooding in the Ninth Ward. That is the section of east New Orleans that was submerged by Katrina and pumped dry just days before the second big storm. The Army Corps of Engineers worked through the night to pile rocks and sandbags in the breaks. Workers believe that once the breaches are closed, the Ninth Ward can be pumped dry in a week, said Mitch Frazier, a spokesman for the corps. Federal officials had estimated Saturday it would take two to three weeks to pump out the water delivered by Rita. Entergy, the state's biggest power company, was assessing new damage that Rita caused for customers in hard-hit southwestern Louisiana, but work continued in New Orleans, said Chanel Lagarde, a company spokesman. More than 200,000 customers still lack power in the New Orleans area, but many are in badly damaged areas. Entergy has restored power to most of the city's central business district, and hopes to tackle work in the French Quarter early this week, he said. Associated Press writer Dan Sewell, airborne between Cincinnati and New Orleans, contributed to this report. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: nospam4me@mytrashmail.com Subject: Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 16:58:21 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > Several years ago I signed up for the big PC Expo show in New York > City. I included my real email address. > Since then I have received many advertisements for subsequent > technology shows and from various vendors. Early on I sent in a > request to remove my name; that request was ignored. About all you can do is contact each individual emailer and tell them you want no more email from them; this is a CAN SPAM Act requirement. As for the promoters of PC-EXPO, perhaps a cease and desist letter from your attorney is the next step. If you note the email address I use for posting here ... that absorbs all the spam generated from usenet harvesters; if you think having a @mytrashmail.com address would be a problem simply make a freemail account on Yahoo, Hotmail etc to give to any unknown/untrusted businesses; although in my case if they don't like @mytrashmail they can ESAD/FOAD! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Herb Oxley Reply-to: address IS Valid. ------------------------------ From: NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info Subject: Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? Date: 25 Sep 2005 17:36:58 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Yes. Next time buy a domain name from GoDaddy. WIth each domain name you can make 100 forwarding Email address. I have one just for contests. Another for tix wife is selling for charity. Then kill as needed and create new ones. Incredibly low long distance phone rates. As low as USA-Canada 1.9CPM! 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/SuiteTreat Code: FREEoffer23 for FREE time. ------------------------------ From: A. Berger -- Onlynux Subject: Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 20:43:07 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com The best way to get rid of spam is always give an email alias to everybody, this way all people will have a different email address and when you want to stop the spammer simply delete the alias, also you will know for sure who the spammer is. When you go to newsgroups, never give any email with your domain, give a gmail, hotmail or yahoo address. To create aliases you need a web hosting, but it's worth the effort. Regards, Andres Berger Garcia Director http://www.Telecom-Marketing.Info Parque Leoncio Prado 285. Magdalena. Lima, Peru Telefax: (511) 261-3760 escribi en el mensaje news:telecom24.434.7@telecom-digest.org: > Several years ago I signed up for the big PC Expo show in New York > City. I included my real email address. > Since then I have received many advertisements for subsequent > technology shows and from various vendors. Early on I sent in a > request to remove my name; that request was ignored. > The promotors of PC Expo are not some "fly by night" basement outfit, > they are supposedly a legitimate organization. But I am angry that > they released my email (which was required) to outsiders and that I > continue to get spam from them. The latest spam came from: ITD > Holdings > Any suggestions? > Thanks. > [public replies please] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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 #436 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 26 14:24:39 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 694DF1516B; Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:24:38 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #437 Message-Id: <20050926182438.694DF1516B@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:24:38 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.5 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:25:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 437 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson UPN Premiers "Everybody Hates Chris" on Google Video (Reuters News Wire) Stealing Your ID Can be as Easy as ABC (Monty Solomon) Cable's Digital Drive Irks Basic Customers (Monty Solomon) Cellular-News for Monday 26th September 2005 (Cellular-News) Re: Gulf Coast Emerges From Battering by Rita (Neal McLain) Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? (Steven Lichter) Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras (Paul Coxwell) Re: Record Labels Sue Baidu for Copyright Infringement (Robert Bonomi) 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: Reuters News Wire Subject: UPN Premiers "Everybody Hates Chris" on Google Video Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 12:39:24 -0500 Television network UPN on Monday said it would run a four-day exclusive screening of the premier of its new comedy "Everybody Hates Chris" on a streaming video site run by Google Inc. -- a first for each company. The entire pilot of the new television show, which is based on the childhood of comedian Chris Rock, is available via Google Video at http://video.google.com/chris beginning on Monday, the companies said. UPN is part of Viacom Inc. unit CBS Television. The announcement comes as Web search companies like Google and rival Yahoo Inc. work to strike content deals with companies that produce news, television shows and films. Some of those media companies are resistant to having their content shown on sites run by the search providers, fearing that their online audience and advertising revenue will shrink. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 01:23:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Stealing Your ID Can be as Easy as ABC By Joe Light, Globe Correspondent Self-proclaimed identity thieves have a message for you: personal information is frighteningly easy to get. Tammy Martin, a 37-year-old instructor at the University of Hawaii, couldn't believe it. "This is wild," she said. "You can't live your life in a balloon, you know? But this is just wild." Her shock was warranted. I had just called her on an unlisted cellphone number and informed her that I had her Social Security number, Visa card number, bank account and personal identification numbers, and eBay account name and password. If I chose, not only could I drain her bank account and rack up charges on the Visa, but with her Social Security number, I could probably open new credit cards -- maybe even a mortgage -- long before she discovered a problem. Ultimately, she would likely not be responsible for the charges, but it might take days -- or months -- to rectify her credit. Martin was not a victim of identity theft. But the information was in the hands of a self-proclaimed identity thief. I received the information during an interview with someone who goes by the online nickname Bart Maza. He said he is an 18-year-old high school dropout in Russia. In total, he gave me the data of 17 people. I'd written several articles about identity theft for the Globe, but this was the first time I attempted to directly contact an apparent identity thief. Although I had spoken to many law enforcement officials, private security investigators, victims, and consumer advocates about the issue, I decided to go to the source to truly understand how the identity theft supply chain operates -- from the time that the data are stolen to the time that information is used fraudulently. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/25/stealing_your_id_can_be_as_easy_as_abc/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 02:02:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cable's Digital Drive Irks Basic Customers By Deborah Yao, AP Business Writer PHILADELPHIA --LaRonika Thomas got upset when Comcast moved the Sci-Fi channel to its digital service this summer, ensuring she couldn't continue to watch her favorite show, "Firefly," without paying $20 more a month. The Chicago resident received The Golf Channel instead on her basic, analog cable service. "I don't watch golf. I would rather have static on than that channel," said the theater director. "It's an awfully big cost," said Thomas. "I haven't canceled my service yet, but I may." Across the country, cable operators have been moving popular channels from analog to digital service, which offers customers better picture and sound but also can handle much larger volume, allowing cable operators to use their networks for more lucrative options such as video on demand and Internet and telephone services. Cable operators such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Cablevision are tight-lipped about the changes, which affect many of the nation's cable subscribers. Markets seeing the change include cities in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, California, Louisiana, Nevada, Colorado, and Texas. "They're trying to reclaim some of the capacity, mostly for HD" or high-definition TV, said Bruce Leichtman, president of the Leichtman Research Group, a research and consulting firm in Durham, N.H. Digital services let cable operators better compete with satellite TV and soon, phone companies, said Jimmy Schaeffler, an analyst with The Carmel Group, a market research firm in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif. Another reason why digital is alluring to cable: "It's hugely more profitable," Schaeffler said. Fees for advanced services can inflate a basic subscriber's bill by 30 percent to 40 percent or more. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/25/cables_digital_drive_irks_basic_customers/ ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Monday 26th September 2005 Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 07:38:06 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com WiMAX trial in Pakistan http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14187.php China's ZTE Corp. has announced a trial of its Pre-WiMAX kit in Pakistan?s capital Islamabad through local operator Telecard. Under the contract, ZTE will build a Pre-WiMAX trial network comprising one six-sector Base Tr... First Arab 3G Roaming Agreement http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14188.php Emirates Telecommunications Corporation -- Etisalat -- has announced the signing of its first roaming agreement for customers of Mubashir, the 3G mobile package. The agreement was signed between Etisalat and Hong Kong's Sm... Hungary Mobile Subscribers Pass 9 Million Mark http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14189.php Hungary's cellular phone market penetration nudged closer to the 90% mark after it reached 89.4% at the end of August and passed the 9 million mark, according to reports from the National Communications Authority of Hung... Jordan has the most Competitive Arab Cellular Market - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14190.php Jordan has overtaken Palestine as the most competitive Arab cellular market, followed closely by Palestine and Algeria. Saudi Arabia's cellular market moved from 12th place in 2004 to the 6th place in 2005 as the Kingdom... Openwave Claims Dominance of the MVNO Market http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14191.php Openwave Systems says that it has over 85% of the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) mobile data market share in the USA. The MVNO market is expected to reach US$10.7 billion in service revenue and amass a total of 4... Qualcomm Embeds WiFi into 3G Chipsets http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14192.php Qualcomm has announced that it's Mobile Station Modem (MSM) chipsets will support Philips' wireless local area network (WLAN) module. This integrated solution will offer connectivity to WLAN networks as well as to existi... Siemens Brand to Appear on BenQ Phones http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14193.php Taiwan's BenQ is to start dual branding its mobile phones with the Siemens brand name from the first quarter of next year, according to a company spokesperson. Under the terms on BenQ's purchase of the Siemens handset di... Telecoms Boss Fired Over Corruption Allegations http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14194.php Vietnam's Prime Minister, Phan Van Khai has fired the boss of the state owned telecoms operator, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corp (VNPT) over allegations of bribery and fraud. The dismissal comes just a few days... 3G on the Underground http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14195.php Vodafone Portugal has extended its 3G (and GPRS) coverage to work on all stations on the new Yellow Line (Line D) of the Oporto Metro. The 3G coverage provided by Vodafone at the sub-surface stations of the Yellow Line -... No Need for SMSC's in New Networks http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14196.php Warid Telecom of Pakistan has chosen Telsis' next-generation messaging solution for its new-build network, instead of an old-style SMS architecture based on conventional SMSCs. Warid's deployment of Telsis Intelligent SM... Lebanon's Investcom Mobile Co To List In London, Dubai http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14186.php Beirut-based mobile telecoms firm Investcom said Sunday it will carry out two initial public offerings, listing shares in London and Dubai. ... ACCS Ex-CEO Charged For Cheating Nokia http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14184.php The founder and former chief executive of Singapore's Accord Customer Care Solutions Ltd. (A27.SG) and 11 other former employees were charged with cheating and dishonesty offenses by the Singapore police, the Straits Tim... Palm, Microsoft To Team On New Treo http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14185.php SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) - Palm Inc. on Monday is expected to unveil a version of its Treo product that combines a mobile phone with a digital organizer, according to a person familiar with the company's plans... Alltel Shares Gain As Options For Wireline Unit Weighed http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14177.php WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- Alltel Corp. on Thursday said it has started a formal process to explore selling or spinning off the company's traditional local phone business, a move that management has considered f... Deutsche Telekom: No Plans Yet For T-Mobile USA IPO http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14178.php German telecommunications operator Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) has no plans for an initial public offering for its U.S. wireless unit T-Mobile USA now, Chief Executive Kai Uwe Ricke said at an investor conference ... Cosmote To Invest Over EUR450 Million To Revamp Cosmorom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14179.php The chief executive of Greek mobile operator Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications (COSMO.AT) Friday said the company plans to invest more than EUR450 million over the next three years to revamp its Romanian mobile phone uni... Nokia Gets Order From Jiangxi Mobile Telecommunication http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14180.php Finland's Nokia Oyj (NOK) said Friday it has signed a contract for the delivery of the Nokia Connect eRefill solution to Chinese mobile operator Jiangxi Mobile Telecommunication Co. Ltd. ... Tiscali Sold 0.3% Of 3 Italy For Around EUR12.5 Million-CFO http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14181.php Tiscali SpA (TIS.MI) sold its 0.3% stake in Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.'s unit (0013.HK) 3 Italy for around EUR12.5 million, Tiscali Chief Financial Officer Massimo Cristori said Friday during an analyst conference call on th... US Cellular To Restructure Customer Service Dept http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14182.php Telephone & Data Systems Inc. (TDS) disclosed Friday that its U.S. Cellular Corp. (USM) unit will restructure its customer service department as a result of the recently announced exchange of cellular properties with All... Ericsson Likely To Appeal Decision To Up Taxable Income http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14183.php Swedish telecommunications giant Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) said it is likely to appeal against a tax authority decision to increase its taxable income by a total 251 million kronor ($1=SEK7.7750) for the three tax y... ------------------------------ From: Neal McLain Subject: Re: Gulf Coast Emerges From Battering by Rita Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 09:29:43 -0400 Julia Silverman , in a long article most of which is snipped here, wrote: > By JULIA SILVERMAN, Associated Press Writer > John Willy, the top elected official in Brazoria County, > southwest of Houston, said he would ignore the state's > staggered return plan. > "I am not going to wait for our neighbors to the north to get > home and take a nap, before I ask our good people to come > home," he said in a statement. "Our people are tired of the > state's plan! They have a plan too and it's real simple. They > plan to come home when they want." I live in Brazoria County. We returned home yesterday after riding out the storm at our daughter's place in northwest Houston. The damage here was minimal -- lots of tree branches on the ground, and some of my wife's flowering plants were blown over, but there was no structural damage. Judging from the status of the digital clocks, there had been a brief power outage. I had boarded up the windows, but that was probably unnecessary. The storm had little effect in northwest Houston either. At our daughter's place, the power (Reliant) and cable TV/internet (Time Warner) never went out. We all slept through landfall (even my daughter's fiance, who wanted to watch it on TV, but fell asleep on the couch). The worst part of the whole experience was trying to follow the state's official evacuation plan -- in our case, go to Brenham, Texas. After a five-hour bumper-to-bumper crawl along SH-36 in 100-degree weather, we abandoned the attempt, split off on a side road, and went to Houston. Which, in retrospect, is what we should have done in the first place. I blogged the entire experience: http://www.survivingrita.blogspot.com/ Neal McLain [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We are all glad to hear that you are safe and sound, Neal. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steven Lichter Reply-To: Die@spammers.com Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc. (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co. Subject: Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 13:47:44 GMT escribi en el mensaje news:telecom24.434.7@telecom-digest.org: > Several years ago I signed up for the big PC Expo show in New York > City. I included my real email address. > Since then I have received many advertisements for subsequent > technology shows and from various vendors. Early on I sent in a > request to remove my name; that request was ignored. > The promotors of PC Expo are not some "fly by night" basement outfit, > they are supposedly a legitimate organization. But I am angry that > they released my email (which was required) to outsiders and that I > continue to get spam from them. The latest spam came from: ITD > Holdings > Any suggestions? > Thanks. > [public replies please] There seems to be no way to get off of legal lists, if that what they call them. Sears and others like them are no problem, but these web sites that need e-mail addresses sometimes sell them to others and then they go from there. I get one very regular, offering me refi on property that I no longer own. In the e-mail it thanks me for contacting them or it was nice talking to you last night and so on. The e-mail address is always forged and when you do a complete header it is always from an IP that is offshore. What is interesting is whoever has written the e-mail must have not gone to school at all or has no grip on English as the words are always spelled wrong, and I don't mean just wrong, but no sense at all. The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:02:06 +0100 From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras Isaiah Beard wrote: >> I'm familiar with the old-style IDs such as "914-1" for White Plains >> etc., but I've never been able to figure out how the current system >> is supposed to work. > It doesn't work, really, and is actually becoming less and less > relevant as the network topology flattens. The New Orleans 4ESS is > probably among the last of its breed, and I remember hearing that AT&T > removed a lot fo them from service long ago as they shifted towards a > decentralized network. Many thanks for the explanations. As you might have guessed, I'm still not fully conversant with the way the North American network was structured even before the modern era, but I'm gradually piecing the story together from various sources. -Paul ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Record Labels Sue Baidu for Copyright Infringement Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 16:26:21 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , Tony P. wrote: > In article , reuters@telecom- > digest.org says: >> The four largest record companies have sued Baidu.com Inc. for >> copyright infringement, alleging the Chinese Internet search engine >> has been illegally providing links to free digital music downloads, >> according to a trade group the represents the music industry. > I wonder what part of the fact that U.S. law doesn't apply in China > thee folks aren't getting. I wonder what part of the fact that the companies involved filed in *CHINESE* courts, for violations of _Chinese_ law on copyrights -- note that China is a "Berne Convention" signatory -- that the responding poster isn't getting. Note: under "Berne Convention" accords 'foreign' works _are_ protected, without need for any explicit filing in each country where they may crop up. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #437 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 26 19:53:34 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id CC13114DFE; Mon, 26 Sep 2005 19:53:33 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #438 Message-Id: <20050926235333.CC13114DFE@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 19:53:33 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.5 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Sep 2005 19:54:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 438 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson More Louisiana Survivors, More Damage (Brett Martel) Web Advertising up 26 Percent in Second Quarter (Reuters News Wire) Microsoft Starts Selling Paid Search Ads on MSN (Reuters News Wire) Huwaei-Marconi Merger Rumors Swirl (USTelecom dailyLead) The Front Lines - September 26, 2005 (Jonathan Marashlian) Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Bell System Phone Label Code? (Brad Houser) 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: Brett Martel Subject: Rescuers Find More Survivors, More Damage Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 17:31:13 -0500 By BRETT MARTEL, Associated Press Writer With Hurricane Rita's floodwaters receding along the Texas-Louisiana coast Monday, rescuers pushed deeper into hard-hit bayous to pull out residents on skiffs, crews struggled to clean up the tangle of smashed homes and downed trees, and Army helicopters searched for up to 30,000 stranded cattle. Basically they had to start over where they had left off with Katrina. The death toll from the second devastating hurricane in a month rose to seven with the discovery in a Beaumont, Texas, apartment of five people -- a man, a woman and three children -- who apparently were killed by carbon monoxide from a generator they were running indoors after Rita knocked out the electricity. While residents of the Texas refinery towns of Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange were blocked from returning to their homes because of the danger of debris-choked streets and downed power lines, authorities in Louisiana were unable to keep bayou residents from venturing in on their own by boat to see if Rita wrecked their homes. "Knowing these people, most of them are hunters, trappers, farmers, they're not going to wait on FEMA or anyone else," said Robert LeBlanc, director of emergency preparedness in Vermilion Parish. "They're going to do what they need to do. They're used to primitive conditions." And many were finding that conditions were, in fact, primitive. Across southwestern Louisiana's bayous, sugar cane plantations, rice fields and cattle ranches, many people found they had no home to go back to. Terrebonne Parish's count of severely damaged or destroyed homes stood at nearly 9,900. An estimated 80 percent of the buildings in the town of Cameron, population 1,900, were leveled. Farther inland, half of Creole, population 1,500, was left in splinters. "I would use the word destroyed," Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore said of Cameron. "Cameron and Creole have been destroyed except for the courthouse, which was built on stilts on higher ground. Most of the houses and public buildings no longer exist or are even in the same location that they were." Houses in the marshland between the two towns were reduced to piles of bricks, or bare concrete slabs with steps leading to nowhere. Walls of an elementary school gymnasium had been washed or blown away, leaving basketball hoops hanging from the ceiling. A single-story white home was propped up against a line of trees, left there by floodwaters that ripped it from its foundation. A bank was open to the air, its vault still intact. A lifeless telephone sat nearby. "We used to call this sportsman's paradise," said Honore, a Louisiana native. "But sometimes Mother Nature will come back and remind us that it has power over the land. That's what this storm did." In the refinery town of Lake Charles, National Guardsmen patrolled the place and handed out bottled water, ice and food to hundreds of people left without power. Scores of cars wrapped around the parking lot of the city civic center. Dorothy Anderson said she did not have time to get groceries before the storm because she was at a funeral out of town. "We got back and everything was closed," she said. Louisiana's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said its teams used small boats to rescue about 200 people trapped in their homes. In Chauvin, a steady stream of people were brought by small boats from flooded sections of Terrebonne Parish. Some cried as they hauled plastic bags filled with their possessions. "This is the worst thing I've ever been through," said Danny Hunter, 56. "I called FEMA this morning, and they said they couldn't help us because this hasn't been declared a disaster area." "Texas is a disaster area!" Jenny Reading shouted. "I guess the president made sure of that, and everyone just forgot about us." A Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman said that Terrebonne Parish was declared a disaster area for Katrina but not for Rita. Officials were checking to see if the residents were eligible for Rita help. With the floodwaters going down, officials turned their attention from rescuing people to saving property, including cattle - many of which were seen swimming in the brown floodwaters. The Army used Blackhawk helicopters equipped with satellite positioning systems to search for cattle amid fears as many as 4,000 may have been killed in Cameron Parish alone, where ranchers on horseback struggled to herd the weak and emanciated animals into corrals attached to pickup trucks. "Take all the coastal parishes, they all had cattle," said Bob Felknor, spokesman for the Louisiana Cattlemen's Association. "It could be more than 30,000 in trouble." Texas put the damage from Rita at a preliminary $8 billion. At least 16 Texas oil refineries remained shut down after Rita, which came ashore early Saturday at Sabine Pass, about 30 miles from Beaumont. A refinery in Port Arthur and one in Beaumont were without power, and a second Port Arthur refinery was damaged and could remain out of service for two to four weeks. "We didn't dodge a bullet with Rita; we took a couple bullets in the legs with Katrina and Rita," said Tom Kloza, an analyst with the Oil Price Information Service of Wall, N.J. "It's still a significant loss, and it's going to create some supply problems through at least mid-October." Early estimates were that Hurricane Rita will cost U.S. refiners about 800,000 barrels a day in capacity, on top of a drop about 900,000 barrels a day because of Katrina. Kloza said the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline could again top $3. In Washington, President Bush said the government is prepared to again tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease any new pain at the pump, and he urged motorists to cut out any unnecessary travel. "We can all pitch in by being better conservers of energy," Bush said. Gasoline and traffic were both flowing smoothly as metropolitan Houston continued its second day of a voluntary, staggered re-entry plan, an attenpt to avoid the epic gridlock that accompanied the exodus of nearly 3 million people last week. "It's not stop-and-go traffic. Everything is flowing," said Mike Cox, a spokesman for the Texas Transportation Department. He said crews were also making progress in clearing trees and downed power lines from major roads. In New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin picked up where he left off before Rita with his plan to reopen the Big Easy, inviting people in the largely unscathed Algiers neighborhood to come back and "help us rebuild the city." About 300,000 customers were without power in Louisiana, and 250,000 in Texas on Monday, a number cut in half since the storm hit. A spokesman for Entergy, a major utility in both states, said it could be more than a month before some customers have power restored, and rolling blackouts are possible if residents in unaffected areas do not cut back on usage. Among the deaths attributed to Rita was a person killed in Mississippi when a tornado spawned by the hurricane overturned a mobile home, and a Texas man struck by a falling tree. Two dozen evacuees were killed before the storm in a bus fire near Dallas. Associated Press writers David Koenig, Julia Silverman, April Castro and Lara Jakes Jordan contributed to this report. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more Associated Press headlines and stories, please go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Web Advertising up 26 percent in Second Quarter Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 17:33:07 -0500 U.S. Internet advertising revenue grew 26 percent to $3 billion in the second quarter, driven by paid search listings and more sophisticated video and audio ads known as rich media, according to a study released on Monday. The data provided by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers bolsters expectations that advertisers are spending more on the Internet as consumers devote more time to the Web and away from other media. Online ad revenue in the first half of the year also rose 26 percent, to $5.8 billion, from a year earlier. "The consistent growth in overall revenues shows marketers may be shifting more of their total advertising budgets to online," said David Silverman, partner at PricewaterhousCoopers. Paid search listings, which allow advertisers to pay to display ads next to relevant search terms, remain the bulk of online advertising at 40 percent, buoying results for Internet companies like Yahoo and Google . Regular display ads, such as Web page banners, represent 20 percent of online advertising, classified ads grew slightly to 18 percent, while rich media comprises 8 percent. The IAB represents 200 online companies responsible for selling nearly 90 percent of Internet advertising in the United States. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Microsoft Starts Selling Paid Search Ads on MSN Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 17:34:11 -0500 Software maker Microsoft Corp. on Monday said it would start selling paid search listings, which allow advertisers to purchase advertising space alongside search results on its MSN Internet site. The widely expected move comes as Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, continues to take on Google Inc. in the Web-based information and services market. At stake is the lucrative income from online advertising, particularly ads that are displayed next to search results, the main driver of search leader Google's revenue. Microsoft, which previously signed up advertisers via Yahoo Inc., launched the paid search service called adCenter in France on Monday after beginning in Singapore on August 31. U.S. testing of adCenter is set to begin in October. Microsoft's paid search system allows advertisers to indicate whom they want to reach based on criteria such as geographic location, gender, the subject of their search and helps advertisers estimate the cost of their ads. According to research firm JupiterResearch, Internet search advertising is set to overtake more commonplace online banner advertising by 2010, as online sales double to $18.9 billion. Growth in search-based ad reflects both rising advertiser confidence in the market, as well as the sophistication of software technology. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more news from the daily press, go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html and also http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html and also http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/morenews.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:16:19 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Huwaei-Marconi Merger Rumors Swirl USTelecom dailyLead September 26, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24894&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Huwaei-Marconi merger rumors swirl BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Verizon Wireless, Alltel mull bids for Midwest Wireless * Q-and-A with Legg Mason's Blair Levin * Music and mobile phones: a good marriage? * Yahoo! remake includes original content * Palm, Microsoft sign Treo deal * AOL rekindles Time Warner flame USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Triple Play Technology: Today and What's NEXT, Sept. 29, 1pm ET TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Broadband providers offer more bandwidth * Forecasting the 3G, WiMAX battle * Videoconferencing event highlights HD's future * Softphone technology untethers VoIP users REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Proposed rules would require European telcos to store call data Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24894&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: Jonathan Marashlian Subject: The Front Lines - September 26, 2005 Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:16:58 -0400 Organization: The Helein Law Group http://www.thefrontlines-hlg.com/ The FRONT LINES http://www.thlglaw.com/ Advancing The Cause of Competition in the Telecommunications Industry FCC RELEASES ORDER EXTENDING CALEA TO ALL BROADBAND PROVIDERS; SETS COMPLIANCE DEADLINE AT 18 MONTHS On August 5, 2005, the FCC announced the adoption of rules extending the application of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) to providers of certain broadband and other information services. On September 23, 2005, the FCC released the text of its Order and adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. In its Order, the FCC concludes that CALEA applies to facilities-based broadband Internet access providers and providers of interconnected voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. The FCC stated that its Order is the first critical step to apply CALEA obligations to new technologies and services that are increasingly relied upon by the American public to meet their communications needs. Of particular note, the FCC found that facilities-based providers of any type of broadband Internet access service, including but not limited to wireline, cable modem, satellite, wireless, fixed wireless, and broadband access via powerline, are subject to CALEA. The FCC also announced that, "[i]n the coming months, [it] will release another order that will address separate questions regarding the assistance capabilities required of the providers covered by [its] Order pursuant to section 103 of CALEA. This subsequent order will include other important issues under CALEA, such as compliance extensions and exemptions, cost recovery, identification of future services and entities subject to CALEA, and enforcement." The FCC is taking a two-step approach in order to focus debate on the implementation rather than the applicability of CALEA to providers of broadband Internet access services and VoIP services. By clarifying the applicability of CALEA to these providers now, the FCC's goal is that affected providers will begin planning to incorporate CALEA compliance into their operations. Another FCC goal is to ensure that the appropriate parties become involved in ongoing discussions among the Commission, law enforcement, and industry representatives to develop standards for CALEA capabilities and compliance. Acknowledging that providers need a reasonable amount of time to come into compliance with all relevant CALEA requirements, the FCC established a deadline of 18 months from the effective date of its Order, by which time newly covered entities and providers of newly covered services must be in full compliance. The FCC also issued a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on two aspects of the conclusions reached in its Order. First, with respect to interconnected VoIP, the FCC seeks comment on whether it should extend CALEA obligations to providers of other types of VoIP services, such as "managed" VoIP service. Second, the FCC seeks comment on what procedures, if any, the Commission should adopt to implement CALEA's exemption provision to exempt certain entities or classes of entities from the requirements of its Order. SBC FILES PETITION ASKING FCC TO DECLARE ACCESS CHARGES APPLY TO CERTAIN PROVIDERS OF WHOLESALE IP TRANSMISSION On September 26, 2005, the FCC released a Public Notice requesting comments on Petitions filed by SBC and VarTec. Both Petitions request clarification regarding the application of access charges to certain providers of wholesale transmission using Internet Protocol (IP). As described below, SBC and VarTec take contrary positions on the issue. On September 21, 2005, SBC filed a petition for declaratory ruling that wholesale transmission providers using Internet protocol (IP) technology to transport long distance calls are liable for access charges. SBC filed its petition after the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed without prejudice SBC's claims seeking payment of access charges for long distance calls that were transported using IP technology. The court found it appropriate to defer the issues raised by SBC to the primary jurisdiction of the FCC. In its Petition, SBC seeks a declaratory ruling that wholesale transmission providers using IP technology to carry long distance calls that originate and terminate on the public switched telephone network (PSTN) are liable for access charges under section 69.5 of the Commission's rules and applicable tariffs. SBC seeks a ruling that providers meeting these criteria are interexchange carriers. VarTec filed a petition for declaratory ruling on related issues. Specifically, VarTec seeks a declaratory ruling that it is not required to pay access charges to terminating local exchange carriers (LECs) when enhanced service providers or other carriers deliver calls directly to the terminating LECs for termination. VarTec also seeks a declaratory ruling that such calls are exempt from access charges when they are originated by a commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) provider and do not cross major trading area (MTA) boundaries. VarTec also seeks a declaratory ruling that terminating LECs are required to pay VarTec for the transiting service VarTec provides when terminating LECs terminate intraMTA calls originated by a CMRS provider. Interested parties may file comments on or before November 10, 2005, and reply comments on or before December 12, 2005. FCC RELEASES TEXT OF WIRELINE BROADBAND (DSL) DEREGULATION ORDER On August 5, 2005, the FCC announced the adoption of an Order to re-classify wireline broadband Internet access as an "information service," consistent with the Supreme Court's NCTA v. Brand X decision. Generally, this affects Digital Subscriber Line services offered by incumbent local exchange carriers. On September 23, 2005, the FCC released the text of its Order. A summary of the actions taken in the Order follows: * Consistent with the Supreme Court's opinion in NCTA v. Brand X, we determine that facilities-based wireline broadband Internet access service is an information service. * Facilities-based wireline broadband Internet access service providers are no longer required to separate out and offer the wireline broadband transmission component (i.e., transmission in excess of 200 kilobits per second (kbps) in at least one direction) of wireline broadband Internet access services as a stand-alone telecommunications service under Title II, subject to the transition explained below. In addition, the Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) are immediately relieved of all other Computer Inquiry requirements with respect to wireline broadband Internet access services. * Facilities-based wireline carriers are permitted to offer broadband Internet access transmission arrangements for wireline broadband Internet access services on a common carrier basis or a non-common carrier basis. * Facilities-based wireline Internet access service providers must continue to provide existing wireline broadband Internet access transmission offerings, on a grandfathered basis, to unaffiliated ISPs for a one-year transition period. * Affirm that neither the statute nor relevant precedent mandates that broadband transmission be a telecommunications service when provided to an ISP, but the provider may choose to offer it as such. Determine that the use of the transmission component as part of a facilities-based provider's offering of wireline broadband Internet access service to end users using its own transmission facilities is "telecommunications" and not a "telecommunication service" under the Act. The Order also addresses other important areas relating to the provision of broadband Internet access services including: * Maintains the status quo for universal service during for a 270-day period pending resolution of the USF Contribution Methodology proceeding. * Ensure no adverse impact on public safety through the continued requirement that voice over IP (VoIP) providers using wireline broadband Internet access facilities comply with E911 obligations. * Confirm that this Order does not affect disability access obligations the Commission has adopted pursuant to its Title I ancillary jurisdiction, and we will continue to exercise Title I authority, as necessary, to give full effect to the accessibility policy embodied in section 255. * Nothing in the Order changes requesting telecommunications carriers' rights to access unbundled network elements (UNEs) under section 251 and related implementing rules. Finally, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on the need for any non-economic regulatory requirements necessary to ensure that consumer protection needs are met by all providers of broadband Internet access service, regardless of the underlying technology. ================= The Front Lines is a free publication of The Helein Law Group, providing clients and interested parties with valuable information, news, and updates regarding regulatory and legal developments primarily impacting companies engaged in the competitive telecommunications industry. The Front Lines does not purport to offer legal advice nor does it establish a lawyer-client relationship with the reader. If you have questions about a particular article, general concerns, or wish to seek legal counsel regarding a specific regulatory or legal matter affecting your company, please contact our firm at 703-714-1313 or visit our website: http://www.thlglaw.com/ The Helein Law Group 8180 Greensboro Drive, Suite 700 McLean, Virginia 22102 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? Date: 26 Sep 2005 13:41:39 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com A. Berger -- Onlynux wrote: > The best way to get rid of spam is always give an email alias to > everybody, this way all people will have a different email address and > when you want to stop the spammer simply delete the alias, also you > will know for sure who the spammer is. I do not have the resources to get multiple email addresses. Indeed, it would be inconvenient to use different addresses every time I did e-business. Usually a company will send a confirmation memo, so I would have to keep careful track of multiple addresses. Too much trouble. Anyway, all of my e-business so far (the little I do since I avoid it) has not had a problem until this particular time. As mentioned, this is not some little fly-by-night outfit, but a large ongoing business. Someone mentioned "Yahoo" offers 'free' email. Are these hard to get? Do you have to give information to Yahoo to get one? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To get a free Yahoo mailbox all you need to do is go to http://yahoo.com and sign up for one, plus answer a few simple questions which are mainly for security purposes. You will have an opportunity at that point to sign up for 'enhanced' service features (re the amount of space alloted, spam filtering, etc, which you can either accept or decline. I have a couple of their mailboxes, and they come in handy. You'll also have an opportunity to sign up for features like Yahoo Groups ( a sort of newsgroup thing; this Digest has a 'group' there), My Yahoo (a home page with news headlines that you choose to format as desired), Yahoo Messenger (which is free group or one-on-one chat), Yahoo Personals (romanticly-oriented personal ads, this last feature is not totally free, you pay to transmit and receive email of a more personal nature.) Yahoo has a lot of good features, all mostly advertiser supported. You do have to give some information, as noted above, mostly for security verification purposes. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Brad Houser Subject: Re: Bell System Phone Label Code? Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:52:28 -0700 Organization: Intel Corporation Reply-To: bradDOThouser@intel.com On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 18:41:08 -0500, Allen Newman wrote: > On the number cards/labels affixed to latter-decades' Bell System > phones, there was a letter M stamped like this: > ----------------------------- > | AREA | > | CODE M 555-4321 | > | 595 | > ----------------------------- > What did the M mean? Ma? (Bell) Brad H ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V24 #438 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Sep 27 14:37:38 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id D24F615212; Tue, 27 Sep 2005 14:37:37 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #439 Message-Id: <20050927183737.D24F615212@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 14:37:37 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.9 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR,NO_OBLIGATION autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Sep 2005 14:38:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 439 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Google to Remove Boast About Index Size (Michael Liedtke) Mediation Begins in Music Copyright Trial (Audra Ang) Cellular-News for Tuesday 27th September 2005 (Cellular-News) Verizon Inks Franchise Deal With Virginia (USTelecom dailyLead) Oakland Calif Conversion From 6 to 7 Digit Dialing? (Lisa Hancock) Don Adams Passing; "Maxwell Smart, Secret Agent 86" (Lisa Hancock) Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? (John) Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? (Barry Margolin) Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? (Dave Garland) Re: Bell System Phone Label Code? (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: Michael Liedtke Subject: Google to Remove Boast About Index Size Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 13:01:33 -0500 By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer Google Inc. will stop boasting on its home page about the number of Web pages it has stored in its index, even as the online search engine leader continues a crusade to prove it scans substantially more material than its rivals. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company planned to remove the index size late Monday. It will mark the first time in more than five years that Google hasn't listed the size of its search index on its sparse home page. When Google started the practice in mid-2000, the index spanned 1 billion pages; as of Monday afternoon, Google's home page said the search index contained 8.17 billion pages. That figure qualified it as the largest in the industry until last month, when nemesis Yahoo Inc. revealed its database included 20.8 billion documents and images. Unlike Google, Yahoo never listed that figure on its home page, disclosing it only in a Web posting by one of its executives. Yahoo's claim nevertheless came under immediate fire from Google executives, who questioned its accuracy before finally concluding that the two companies are counting things differently. Both companies want the bragging rights to the biggest index because it can attract more traffic from less sophisticated Web searchers who equate size with quality. Google's index is bigger than ever, according to company officials, although the breadth of the latest expansion will remain a mystery. Marissa Mayer, Google's director of consumer products, said the index is three times larger than its rivals and 1,000 times bigger than when former Stanford University graduate students Larry Page and Sergey Brin formed the company seven years ago. The index is believed have spanned somewhere between 25 million and 65 million Web pages then. If it's 1,000 times larger today, that would put its current size at somewhere between 25 billion and 65 billion pages. Mayer said that since apples-to-apples comparison are no longer possible, Google decided to stop listing the size of its index and instead invite Web surfers to conduct the equivalent of a "taste test" to see which engine consistently delivers the most results, Mayer said. "We think the absolute numbers have become meaningless, so we are encouraging users to find out for themselves," she said. Yahoo, whose search engine is the second most used behind Google's, welcomed the challenge. "As we've said in the past, what matters is that consumers find what they are looking for and we invite Google users to compare their results to Yahoo," the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said in a statement. On The Net: http://www.google.com http://www.yahoo.com 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more headlines and news stories with no obligation to log in or register, go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Audra Ang Subject: Mediation Begins in Music Copyright Trial Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 13:02:53 -0500 By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer Four music giants and their local subsidiaries have entered mediation with Baidu.com, China's largest Internet search engine, over the recording companies' claims of copyright infringement. No agreement was reached after more than five hours of discussions that began Monday at the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court, the official China Daily newspaper said. A judge would resolve the issue if there is no resolution. It is the second time this month that Baidu, whose share price went as high as $153.98 after an initial public offering at $27 on the Nasdaq Stock Market in August, was in a Chinese court dealing with accusations of copyright violations. Baidu's U.S. shares were up 22 cents at $77.50 in morning trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq. Universal, EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and local subsidiaries claim that Baidu made it easy for its users to illegally download copies of 137 of their songs through the mp3.baidu.com search page. The music companies are seeking 1.67 million yuan, or $206,000, in compensation, the China Daily newspaper said. A man who answered the phone at the court Tuesday said the case was still under mediation but said he was unclear about what progress had made. He refused to give his name. According to the China Daily, Baidu defended itself by saying that it is simply providing basic search functions, not downloading services. The company also says it advocates improving copyright protection on the Internet and promises to provide protection if a company can prove it owns the rights to a song, the newspaper said. Baidu's lawyer, Li Decheng of the Zhonglun W&D Law Firm in Beijing, said Tuesday that he could not comment on the case without his client's permission. Cynthia He, a Beijing spokeswoman for Baidu, said the company had no comment. Baidu's MP3 search page is hugely popular among young, increasingly tech-savvy Chinese. Analysts say it has grown into China's largest search engine, prompting U.S. search giant Google Inc. to buy 2.6 percent of the company last year. On Sept. 16, the People's Court of Haidian District in Beijing ordered Baidu to pay 68,000 yuan, or about $8,400, to mainland music company Shanghai Busheng Music Culture Media for unauthorized downloads of 46 songs. Baidu is appealing. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more news reports, please go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Tuesday 27th September 2005 Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 07:44:54 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com 3 UK Bottoms On Customer Satisfaction Survey http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14207.php 39 million UK adults now own a mobile phone, spending on average US$36.40 per month on their bills. Now that mobile penetration is so high, the future market will be overwhelmingly that of churners rather than subscriber... Could Telefonica Launch a Bid for KPN and O2 ? http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14208.php A new research note from Merrill Lynch's European telecom analyst Jesus Romero, has postulated the idea that Spain's Telefonica could launch a takeover bid for KPN, should the company emerge as a part owner of a split O2... ISP Market Represents Huge Opportunity for African Operators http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14209.php GSM operators in Africa have an opportunity to drive massive growth in average revenue per user (ARPU) and traffic on their networks by offering ISP services such as Internet and e-mail access to their customers. That's ... High Taxes Slowing Phone Sales in Developing Nations http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14210.php High taxes in many developing countries have made mobile communications unaffordable for hundreds of millions of people, holding back social and economic development, according to a study by the GSM Association (GSMA).... Ringtones are Fashion, Mobile Music is Another Gadget http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14211.php M:Metrics has published some new insights on ringtones and mobile music. The measurement firm reports that although ringtones are universally popular among both males and females, there are significant differences betwee... Nokia Twists Again with New Music Phone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14212.php Nokia has launched a new handset that has an unusual keypad twisting design. This unique design twists to transform a traditional phone keypad into dedicated music keys. The Nokia 3250 stores up to 1 Gigabyte (750 songs)... More Than a Third of Mobile Game Downloads Are Free http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14213.php Telephia has reported that 64% of all games downloaded in Q2 2005 are revenue-generating purchases while the remaining 36% are free. Accord- ing to Telephia's Mobile Game Report, Puzzle/Strategy mobile games have the highe... SRI LANKA BUSINESS BRIEFS:CDMA For Lanka Internet, Tritel http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14197.php Sri Lanka communication companies Lanka Internet and Tritel have obtained licenses to sell fixed-line telephones using CDMA technology, a Telecommunications Ministry official said. The ministry had earlier given licenses... Nokia In Push To Talk Deal With Etisalat http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14198.php Finnish mobile communications company Nokia Oyj (NOK) said Monday it has signed a contract with Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (ETISALAT.AD), or Etisalat. ... Nokia Introduces XpressMusic Mobile Music Feature Brand http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14199.php Finland's Nokia Oyj (NOK) said Monday it is introducing Nokia XpressMusic, a feature brand that makes it easy for consumers to identify Nokia's growing portfolio of music-optimized mobile devices. ... Australia's Telstra Plans To Revamp New Zealand Operations, Cut Jobs http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14200.php Australia's Telstra Corp. (TLS) unveiled Monday plans to revamp the structure of its telecommunications business in New Zealand to bolster profits from the operation, but remains noncommittal on building its own mobile p... Nokia To Supply WCDMA Radio Acces Network To TDC Mobile http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14201.php Finnish telecommunications equipment maker Nokia Oyj (NOK) Monday said it has signed a framework agreement to supply a WCDMA 3G radio access network to Danish operator TDC Mobile, part of TDC A/S (TLD). ... KPN To Bring Mobile Brand Simyo To Dutch Market http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14202.php Dutch telecommunications company Royal KPN NV (KPN) Monday said it will launch mobile-phone brand Simyo in the Dutch market. ... O2 Launches i-mode In UK From Oct 1 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14203.php O2 PLC Monday announced the U.K. launch of i-mode(R), a mobile Internet service with more than 50 million users in 22 countries. ... Deutsche Telekom: Not In Talks With Anyone On O2 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14204.php Germany's Deutsche Telekom (DT) Monday denied it is in talks to buy U.K. mobile phone operator O2 PLC (OOM.LN). ... Portugal Telecom Enters Bid For Tunisie Telecom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14205.php Portugal Telecom SA (PT) has presented a proposal to participate in Tunisia's privatization of Tunisie Telecom, a PT spokesman said Monday. ... Microsoft And Palm Launch New Treo Mobile Phone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14206.php SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Microsoft Corp. and Palm Inc. took the wraps off of a long-expected partnership Monday to develop a new so-called smart phone aimed at challenging the dominance of Research In Motio... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 12:20:04 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Verizon Inks Franchise Deal With Virginia USTelecom dailyLead September 27, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24924&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Verizon inks franchise deal with Virginia county BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Analysis: Microsoft-Palm alliance could challenge RIM * Carriers say Rita damage minimal * News Corp. takes aim at mobile content market * Rumor mill: Tellabs eyeing Redback * Motorola wins contract to sell inexpensive phones * Google goes primetime with UPN comedy USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * TELECOM '05 Security Conference to explore communications challenges * Telecom Bookstore: Everything for the Telecom Professional TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Next-generation phones may use multiple networks * Riverstone unveils two low-cost Ethernet routers REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * FCC set to enforce VoIP cutoff deadline Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24924&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: Oakland Calif Conversion From 6 to 7 Digit Dialing? Date: 27 Sep 2005 09:40:30 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com In reading a book about the Key System railway, older schedules had a six-digit phone number (2L-4N) while newer ones had seven-digits (2L-5N). Would anyone know when Oakland converted? Also, was six digit dialing (2L-4N) common in a lot of places? I though most city dial offices were 5 digit for smaller cities and 7 digit (3L-4N) for larger cities. The seven digits were used as part of the panel installation for cities expecting growth and to provide for automatic integrated dialing to/from suburban areas as well. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Don Adams Passing; "Maxwell Smart, Secret Agent 86" Date: 27 Sep 2005 07:22:18 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Actor Don Adams passed away at age 82. He was most famous for his role of a bungling secret agent on the TV show "Get Smart". The show's basic premise was a satire of the many secret agent movies and TV shows popular at the time. It was a very funny, well made show, poking fun at lots of aspects of everyday life, not just the spy business. For example, they had a scene where the spies from opposing sides went on strike and were comparing fringe benefits. Max had a bevy of lines that became part of the national lexicon, just as Seinfeld's did more recently. These included "Sorry about that chief", "Would you believe...", "facing constant danger...and loving it!". As readers of this newsgroup know, the show was heavy into telephone and telephone company satire. Max had his famous shoe phone. We take our tiny cell phones for granted these days, but in the 1960s it was pretty impressive. Max once refused to give his shoephone to the enemy because "I still have 13 message units left!". He often argued with telephone operators: "Operator, I'm going to give you a top secret number, you are to forget the minute you connect me! \ Oh, you mean Control". Max's lab always came up with imaginative secret agent devices, which Max always managed to set off at the wrong time. Bernie Koppel, who played his enemy Siegfried, later played the doctor on Love Boat. When greeting Smart, he always clicked his heels together in the German style salute. Smart responded in kind, and always you heard jangle of him hurting his shoe phone. TV Land used to run reruns of the show, perhaps in honor of Adams' memory it will do so again. I realize some of the humor and certainly the technology will be dated for our younger readers, but it is certainly worth a look. ------------------------------ From: John Subject: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? Date: 27 Sep 2005 10:53:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I am looking for some insight on this VOIP thing. Why is it, seems to me, getting hot now? This thing has been around for many years (I remember using Internet Telephony application almost a decade ago), why is it getting hot now? why does it take so long for it to get some tracking? Is there anything different now that makes it more appealing than a decade ago? John ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? Organization: Symantec Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 23:35:01 -0400 In article , nospam4me@mytrashmail.com wrote: > As for the promoters of PC-EXPO, perhaps a cease and desist letter > from your attorney is the next step. They'd have to be spamming you a hell of a lot! Who's going to pay those attorney fees? Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 03:09:19 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > I do not have the resources to get multiple email addresses. http://www.sneakemail.com Free service, generates (multiple) email addresses @ sneakemail.com, mail sent to those addresses is forwarded to your real address. But you can kill the temporary address. Spam avoidance is one of the purposes it was designed for. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Bell System Phone Label Code? Date: 27 Sep 2005 09:36:30 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Allen Newman wrote: > On the number cards/labels affixed to latter-decades' Bell System > phones, there was a letter M stamped like this: Could it have meant "modular" since that number card was intended for modular phones installed by the customer? They used to give them out at Phone Center stores. I didn't care for them since it was a sticker, not a card. Admittedly, for most people that what was best. However, since I knew how to open a dial, I wanted a card to mount behind it and didn't want some sticker fouling my dial. Also, they used a stamper that was in relatively small type size compared to the bigger size used by traditional installers. Of course all they had was all-number, no letters. In our area, we were still using letters in a limited manner. To this day, the official internal identifier for telephone districts in our area was the old exchange name from way back. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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 #439 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Sep 27 19:35:14 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 0AF8F1508E; Tue, 27 Sep 2005 19:35:14 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #440 Message-Id: <20050927233514.0AF8F1508E@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 19:35:14 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:35:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 440 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Scientists Find Mature Galaxy Eight Times Larger Than Milky Way (AFP) Marsh Rats Vow to Stay and Rebuild (Alan Freeman) Houston Returns to Normal (Maria LaGanga and Lianne Hart) Did You Say Dogging or Blogging? Brits Confused (Jeffrey Goldfarb) Effect of Greenhouse Gasses Rising (Randolph E. Schmid) Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? (John 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: AFP News Wire Subject: Scientists Find Mature Galaxy Eight Times Larger Than Milky Way Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 17:36:26 -0500 US astronomers said they had found a vast, mature galaxy using NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes. They were particularly impressed by the fact stars seemed to have been formed in the galaxy. "This is truly a significant object," says Richard Ellis, of the California Institute of Technology and a member of the discovery team. "Although we are looking back to when the universe was only six percent of its present age, this galaxy has already built up a mass in stars eight times that of the Milky Way." He said the fact such a galaxy had already completed its star formation "implies a yet earlier period of intense activity." "It's like crossing the ocean and meeting a lone seagull, a forerunner of land ahead. There is now every reason to search beyond this object for the cosmic dawn when the first such systems switched on," he said. Bahram Mobasher of the Space Telescope Science Institute, leader of the science team, said the galaxy initially looked "young and small, like other known galaxies at similar distances". "Instead, we found evidence that it is remarkably mature and much more massive. This is the surprising discovery," he said. Though astronomers generally believe most galaxies were built up by mergers of smaller galaxies, the new discovery suggests that at least a few galaxies formed quickly and wholly long ago. For such a large galaxy, this would have been a vastly explosive star birth event. The findings were due to be published in the December 20, 2005, issue of the Astrophysical Journal. Hubble Site Copyright 2005 Agence France Presse. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, AFP News. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Alan Freeman Subject: Marsh Rats Vow to Stay and Rebuild Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 17:22:35 -0500 By Alan Freeman 'Marsh rats' set to rebuild area devastated by hurricane. Wrath of Rita crushes Cameron Parish -- but not its many resilient residents. SULPHUR, LA. -- Dwight Guitry bristles when a stranger suggests that Cameron Parish may not be the best place to rebuild his life after another hurricane shattered the isolated region on the Texas-Louisiana border. "This is my home and this little hurricane ain't going to stop me," said Mr. Guitry, a fishing-camp operator who's desperate to get back home to the nearby town of Hackberry to survey the damage wrought by hurricane Rita. Mr. Guitry and about a dozen other residents of the town have congregated at the northern end of Ellender Bridge, which spans the Intercoastal Waterway and where the Cameron County Sheriff's Department has erected a roadblock to stop anybody but essential service personnel from getting into the parish. Even getting to the bridge along Highway 27 is a dangerous drive across downed transmission lines lying like metal spaghetti on the roadway, the poles that carried it at precarious angles or shattered on the ground. Cameron Parish was ground zero for hurricane Rita, its fishing villages and coastal towns devastated by the wrath of the storm. "Holly Beach is no longer there. The only structure left there is the water tower. Holly Beach is now just a sand flat," said Randy Hunt, an officer with the Sheriff's Department who's manning the roadblock. "In Cameron, the court house survived but the school is destroyed and the library is gone. It's just a big mess." In Hackberry, where Mr. Hunt's own home sustained extensive damage, the Catholic church was virtually destroyed and coffins from the adjacent cemetery have floated away. For Cameron Parish, a marshy region of alligator-infested bayous, oil terminals and fishing villages populated with Cajuns with surnames such as Bergeron, Daigle and Thibodeaux, Rita was not the first uninvited visitor to try and destroy the place. Forty-eight years ago, hurricane Audrey hit the same region, killing 390 people, making it one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history. That was before the days of accurate weather forecasting, so many of Audrey's victims died in their beds. With that knowledge and the collective memory of the 1957 storm, most people evacuated from Cameron Parish on the eve of Rita's arrival and none of its 9,200 residents died. Jeff Moore was one of the few holdouts. "I'm pretty hard-headed," declared the 20-year-old barge employee just after landing here on an aluminum boat from Hackberry; he had ridden out the storm in his home with his work buddy Jack East. "It was pretty intense, pretty rough. You could hear the shingles popping off the roof. You could hear the tin coming off our out-buildings. There was a lot of shaking." Asked if he would repeat the experience, the young man didn't hesitate a moment. "I sure wouldn't do it again." James Devall also rode out the storm in the wheelhouse of one of the tugboats he operates with his three brothers, which they had moored beneath the bridge at the home base of their industrial barge company, Devall Towing. "It sounded like a tornado. It was something else. I prayed a lot of rosaries," said Mr. Devall, who was seven years old when Audrey hit. "It just rang and rang. It was so powerful, I thought something would burst." Ignoring the sheriff's order to stay out of the parish, Mr. Devall snuck into Hackberry and discovered that his home had survived, except with a hole in his living room and water in his kitchen. At the roadblock, the policemen have relaxed their rules and allowed residents with cattle through the line to try and save their animals, many of whom are marooned in the sea water that the storm surge brought in. "I still have five horses in my pasture," said Bodie Jenks, who works at an oil storage depot in Hackberry. "They haven't had any water in three days." Temperatures are hovering at 100 F. Mr. Jenks sees no reason why he and other residents of the parish shouldn't rebuild. "It's either fight the hurricanes here or fight the tornadoes up north." David Reeves, dressed in the blue jumpsuit of the oil-services firm he works for, was also anxious to get through the roadblock to check on his house. Asked if he would rebuild, he smiled and nodded enthusiast- ically. "It's home. We were born and raised here. We're marsh rats." Developments The death toll from Rita reached at least nine after five members of a Texas family were found dead in a Beaumont apartment, victims of carbon-monoxide poisoning from a generator used during the storm, and a 43-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman in Liberty County, Texas, died when a tree crushed their mobile home. A steady stream of people were brought by small boats from flooded sections in Terrebonne Parish, La., where nearly 9,900 homes were severely damaged. The Office of Emergency Preparedness said the floodwaters were going down in most areas. More than 110,000 people living in Beaumont, Tex., were urged not to return home, since water, electricity, telephone and sewer services will not be restored for weeks. About 300,000 customers were without power in Louisiana, and 250,000 in Texas, a number cut in half since the storm hit. At least 16 Texas oil refineries remained shut down, but just one faces weeks of repairs. U.S. President George W. Bush urged Americans to cut back on unnecess- ary travel to make up for fuel shortages. "We can all pitch in by being better conservers of energy," he said, but that didn't mean curtailing his plans to return to the region this week. He also said the government was ready to release fuel from its emergency oil stockpile to alleviate high prices. The army used Blackhawk helicopters equipped with satellite- positioning systems to search for up to 30,000 head of roaming cattle amid fears as many as 4,000 may have been killed in Cameron Parish alone, where ranchers on horseback struggled to herd animals into corrals attached to pickup trucks. Copyright 2005 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. The Globe and Mail Newspaper. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Bell Globemedia Publishing, Inc. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Maria L. LaGanga/Lianne Hart Subject: Houston Returns to Normal Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 17:34:05 -0500 By Maria L. La Ganga and Lianne Hart Times Staff Writers HOUSTON - After being cooped up for four days with two bored teenagers, Jan Odom walked into an Anthropologie store Sunday, surveyed the racks of clothing and made an announcement: "I've got cabin fever." "Golly, we've been holed up since Wednesday night," the 56-year-old attorney said as she shopped in one of the few stores in the River Oaks neighborhood open for business in the wake of Hurricane Rita. "Most of our friends evacuated, got halfway and came back. We braced for the worst and it didn't happen. I've about had it with 16-year- olds. I needed just to get out. How many times can you nap?" As the Houston area began to inch toward normal Sunday, the journey home started in earnest for the million-plus residents who had left town. The return has been less harrowing than their frantic exodus, when the 230-mile drive to Dallas took as much as 24 hours. Still, the region's traffic followed considerably as the day progressed and more impatient evacuees headed back. Some gas stations, restocked with precious fuel, saw long lines and fraying tempers in the enervating heat. Gasoline is the commodity of the hour here in America's Energy Central. Dwindling supplies hampered the hurricane evacuation as residents left their homes, got stuck on crowded freeways and found themselves out of fuel on the side of the road. And it shaped the way they came back. Grocery stores able to staff up, restock and open their doors Sunday faced jams and jockeying that rivaled that on any freeway. Others planned to reopen in coming days as supplies and employees made their way back. Airports resumed service, stranded hotel guests began to check out, and restaurants prepared to reopen. Many Houstonians who ventured out into their reawakening city had a shopping list, a story to tell and an itch to talk. They told of aborted evacuations and the futile search for gas, of stranded loved ones and highway horrors and meltdowns in the grocery aisle as Rita approached. "When I went to the grocery store Wednesday, there was no water," Susan Bryan, 30, recalled as she happily shopped Sunday at Central Market on Westheimer Road. "I put a few cans in my cart. I knew they were things I wouldn't eat. I left the cart. I was overwhelmed. People were pushing and shoving. I left the store. I thought I'd rather get out of town than eat steak and cheese soup." That was pretty much all that was left when Bryan tried to put up supplies in advance of the hurricane. The lack of groceries was one reason that the cancer research assistant and her husband, an accountant, packed their dogs into the car and left for San Antonio at 3:40 a.m. Thursday. They spent 11 hours on a traffic-choked back road, saw an aggressive driver of an SUV hit a good Samaritan trying to help save a dog, managed to drive only 18 miles, gave up and returned to their low-lying home, empty refrigerator and approaching storm. On Sunday, the Bryans filled their shopping cart with produce, meat, beer, wine, milk -- the kinds of things that had been hard to find since many stores shut down Wednesday night. "It felt nice to have things on the shelf and be able to buy them," Bryan said. "I don't think we bought one canned good." Novelist Kathleen Cambor headed straight to the produce section Sunday, when Central Market finally reopened. "We haven't had a green salad in four days," she said. "This is what we really want -- fruit and perishables." Unlike those who hoarded necessities as the storm bore down, Cambor said she found herself "buying too little." During Hurricane Alicia in 1983, she was without electricity for 10 days, and her food-filled freezer became a disgusting swamp. This time "I didn't want to contend with wasting a lot of stuff," she said. "I didn't think we'd starve ... On Thursday, there were people buying incredible things you can't imagine they'd ever eat -- like five boxes of cookies." David Fine, president of St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, was also restocking his family's kitchen Sunday. Unlike most other Houstonians, however, his mind has been on more than feeding just his family. As Rita approached the region Wednesday, the hospital was able to evacuate about 250 of its healthier patients. That left 400 to be fed and cared for - along with staff and their families. But the hospital's final deliveries of food, medicine and other essential supplies never materialized. Fine was faced with a crisis when the hospital's own contractors didn't show. The hospital called another medical supply company, Owens & Minor, which sent four-wheel-drive vehicles filled with warehoused goods. "We had critically ill patients that, without these supplies, would have been terribly compromised," Fine said. Food was trickier and involved a bit of breaking and entering. There is a McDonald's in the neighboring Texas Children's Hospital, but the fast-food outlet had already closed for the hurricane. Grocer's Supply, a nearby wholesaler, had also shut down. "We contacted McDonald's and got permission to break into their freezer," Fine said. Grocer's Supply gave "their permission to break in and take all of the canned goods and dry goods we needed. Our biggest issue now is that a lot of employees would come back but can't get gas. So we're sending vans to rendezvous points to pick them up." Scattered gas stations across Houston had been restocked with fuel by Sunday morning, but widespread supplies won't arrive until the independent contractors who truck gasoline from refineries coordinate with gas station owners, City Councilman Michael Berry said. "It's a Catch-22," Berry said, because the contractors won't deliver gas unless the station owners open their stores, and station owners won't open unless they know the gas will come. Berry planned to meet with trade associations for both groups Sunday evening. Drivers lined up early at a Shell station in Houston's swank Galleria neighborhood, which had ample supplies on this day of deep scarcity. By 9:30 a.m., cars were snaking out of the station up two busy streets, as drivers conserved fuel in the blistering heat by turning off their air conditioners. The day before, police had been called to the station to keep order after long lines snarled traffic and an unruly customer pulled a steel bar to assault a driver who had tried to cut him off, said Khalid Noutfji, Shell's area supervisor. To prove his point, he pulled out his cellphone and scrolled through the pictures he'd snapped of officers at the pumps. Tracee Durst, 28, fanned herself with a piece of paper as she sat in her Chevy Malibu with the windows down, her T-shirt rolled up to cool a stomach beaded with sweat. The National Weather Service pegged Sunday's heat index -- a combination of temperature and humidity -- at more than 111 degrees here. It felt at least that in her car. She yelled into her cellphone to her best friend: "Stacy, I just found gas!" She had been searching for two hours, after a futile hunt the day before. Her gas gauge was "on E," she said. "That's why the car is off. I'm about to die. I may be pushing it in a little bit." Durst was also low on groceries. "We cooked up everything [Friday] night in case the electricity went off, baked a cake for Rita, a toast to her: 'Please, just go around us.' " Apparently it worked, because the storm delivered only a glancing blow to Houston. The city still has extensive power outages, and telephone service is sluggish at best, but the expected wind and flood damage failed to occur as Rita went east instead. Hard-hit East Texas is where Regina Hamilton's husband is stranded. With him away, Hamilton had left her home in a flood zone to stay with a daughter and six other relatives. Even though Rita had come and gone, the extended family remained together to conserve their food. Hamilton, whose battered Oldsmobile Ciera had nearly a full tank of gas, and two grandsons were sitting in the heat at the Shell station to top off, because "we don't know when we'll get any more." She said her husband had no gas for his vehicle. "I need to get some in these two cans in case I have to take it to him so he can get home." To smooth the drive home for the millions who left the Gulf Coast before the hurricane, the state cobbled together a plan to stagger their reentry over several days. But officials acknowledge that there is no way to enforce it. However, school districts are planning to reopen throughout the week, taking pressure off families to get back. "It looks to me like it's working," said Houston Mayor Bill White, talking about the plan during a Sunday morning briefing. "Look, if you're going to have millions of vehicles going on the highways, am I going to predict no traffic jam in the next three days? Obviously not. There will be a bunch of vehicles moving, and all it takes is one stalled or wrecked vehicle to create a backup." Traffic within the Houston city limits was relatively swift throughout the day. The slower going was farther north, stretching from about the Dallas area to around Huntsville, about 160 miles. Luciano Barron, a 28-year-old landscaper, had left Houston on Thursday for Denton, about 40 miles northwest of Dallas, in a seven-pickup caravan with a score of family members. The drive took them 20 hours. Coming back, most of them made it in five hours. What slowing there was had ebbed by Huntsville, Barron said as he waited by the side of Interstate 45 with a flat tire just north of Houston. "My son called and said he's already home. He said the road is clear" in the final stretch, Barron said. "There's no problem." Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, Los Angeles Times. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Jeffrey Goldfarb Subject: Did You Say Dogging or Blogging? Brits Confused Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 17:24:15 -0500 By Jeffrey Goldfarb Proponents of the latest Web trends were warned on Tuesday that the rest of the world may not have a clue what they are talking about. A survey of British taxi drivers, pub landlords and hairdressers -- often seen as barometers of popular trends -- found that nearly 90 percent had no idea what a podcast is and more than 70 percent had never heard of blogging. "When I asked the panel whether people were talking about blogging, they thought I meant dogging," said Sarah Carter, the planning director at ad firm DDB London. Dogging is the phenomenon of watching couples have sex in semi-secluded places such as out-of-town car parks. News of such events are often spread on Web sites or by using mobile phone text messages. More people (56 percent) understood the phrase "happy slapping" -- a teenage craze that involves assaulting people while capturing it on video with their mobile phones -- than podcasting (12 percent) or blogging (28 percent). "Our research not only shows that there is no buzz about blogging and podcasting outside of our media industry bubble, but also that people have no understanding of what the words mean," Carter said. "It's a real wake-up call." A blog, short for Web log, is an online journal, while podcasting is a method of publishing audio programs over the Internet -- a name derived from combining iPod, Apple's popular digital music player, with broadcasting, even though portable devices are not necessary to listen to a podcast. DDB, a unit of New York-based advertising group Omnicom, said the survey results indicate that agencies may be pushing their clients to use new technology -- that is, to advertise on the new media formats -- too quickly. "We spend too much time talking to ourselves in this industry, rather than getting out there and finding out what's really going on in the world," DDB's chief strategy officer David Hackworthy said. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. More news headlines and stories at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Randolph E. Schmid Subject: Effect of Greenhouse Gasses Rising Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 17:28:39 -0500 By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer The effect of greenhouse gases on the Earth's atmosphere has increased 20 percent since 1990, a new government index says. The Annual Greenhouse Gas Index was released Tuesday by the Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide accumulate in the atmosphere as a result of industrial and other processes. They can help trap solar heat, somewhat like a greenhouse, resulting in a gradual warming of the Earth's atmosphere. The Earth's average temperature increased about 1 degree Fahrenheit during the 20th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that continuing increases could have serious effects on crops, glaciers, the spread of disease, rising sea levels and other changes. In its new analysis the laboratory, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, compares the amounts of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons in the air. Those gases have been sampled for many years. The index was set to a reading of 1 as of 1990 and the lab said it is currently 1.20, indicating an increase of 20 percent. "The AGGI will serve as a gauge of success or failure of future efforts to curb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas increases in the atmosphere both by natural and human-engineered processes," said David Hofmann, CMDL director. The index is expected to be updated each April. "This index provides us with a valuable benchmark for tracking the composition of the atmosphere as we seek to better understand the dynamics of Earth's climate," said NOAA Administrator Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr. In the current reading, for every million air molecules there are about 375 carbon dioxide molecules, two are methane and less than one is a nitrous oxide molecule. The CFC's make up less than one molecule in a billion in the atmosphere but play a role in regulating Earth's climate and are a key factor in the depletion of the protective ozone layer, NOAA researchers say. The gases produce an effect known as radiative forcing. It is a shift in the balance between solar radiation coming into the atmosphere and Earth's radiation going out. Radiative forcing, as measured by the index, is calculated from the atmospheric concentration of each contributing gas and the per-molecule climate forcing of each gas. The lab said most of the increase measured since 1990 is due to carbon dioxide, which now accounts for about 62 percent of the radiative forcing by all long-lived greenhouse gases. NOAA said the 1990 baseline was chosen because greenhouse gas emissions targeted by the international Kyoto Protocol also are indexed to 1990. Although many/most countries have agreed to be bound by the standards outlined in the international Kyoto Protocol, United States president George Bush has repudiated it, and refused to participate. On the Net: NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Lab: http://www.cmdl.noaa.gov 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Also see headlines and stories at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ Date: 27 Sep 2005 19:05:40 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I am looking for some insight on this VOIP thing. Why is it, seems > to me, getting hot now? Because there is now enough consumer broadband to make a market on top of which it can piggyback. R's, John ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #440 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Sep 28 15:34:53 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 626E114F0D; Wed, 28 Sep 2005 15:34:52 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #441 Message-Id: <20050928193452.626E114F0D@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 15:34:52 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 28 Sep 2005 15:34:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 441 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FCC Backs Down Again on VOIP/911 (Bruce Myerson) Arizona Court Rules Against Unwanted Text Message Spam (Martin Bosworth) SanDisk Unveils Secure Memory Cards (Reuters News Wire) In Baton Rouge Center, Nothing to do But Wait (Thomas Frank) Louisiana Begins Hefty Task of Cleaning Up (USA Today News Wire) When Students Open Up - a Little Too Much;Colleges Cite Risks (Solomon) Cellular-News For Wednesday 28th September 2005 (Cellular-News) Re: Oakland Calif Conversion From 6 to 7 Digit Dialing? (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Oakland Calif Conversion From 6 to 7 Digit Dialing? (Joseph) Re: Oakland Calif Conversion From 6 to 7 Digit Dialing? (harold@) Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? (Joseph) Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? (beavis) Re: Did You Say Dogging or Blogging? Brits Confused (Paul Coxwell) How Come www Has Number i.e. http://www31.website.com? (strutsng@gmail.com) Can PC to Phone Talk? Is VoIP Only Choice For PC/PC Talk (strutsng@gmail) Re: Scientists Find Mature Galaxy Eight Times Larger Than Milky Way (Dink) 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: Bruce Myerson Subject: FCC Backs Down Again on VOIP/911 Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:58:39 -0500 By Bruce Meyerson, AP Business Writer NEW YORK --The Federal Communications Commission backed off again Tuesday on enforcing a deadline for Internet phone service providers to disconnect all customers who haven't acknowledged that they understand it may be hard to reach a live emergency dispatcher when dialing 911. The agency explained that the status reports required from every Internet phone company last week showed that by "repeatedly prompting subscribers through a variety of means, the majority of providers ... have obtained acknowledgments from nearly all, if not all, of their subscribers." The decision came a day before a deadline that would have required Internet phone companies to cut off at least 10,000 of the estimated 2.7 million users of the service in the United States. The FCC said providers who have received confirmations from at least 90 percent of their subscribers will no longer face the disconnection requirement, but still must continue seeking the remaining acknowledgments. All carriers below the 90 percent threshold will have until Oct. 31 to reach that level and avoid the disconnection requirement. Vonage Holdings Corp., the biggest carrier with more than 1 million subscribers, told The Associated Press on Monday that 99 percent of its customer base have responded to the company's notices about 911 risks. But that still meant that about 10,000 accounts stood to be shut off as early as Wednesday. The deadline, originally set for a month ago before a last-minute reprieve by FCC, was intended as an interim safeguard while Internet phone companies rush to comply with another FCC order that they add full 911 capabilities by late November. The FCC issued the order in May after a series of highly publicized incidents in which Internet phone users were unable to connect with a live emergency dispatch operator when calling 911. Critics had been increasingly vocal in questioning the wisdom of abruptly leaving users without any calling capability, particularly a type of phone service that came through in a pinch in the chaos after Hurricane Katrina. Cut off from traditional and cellular phone service by the floods after the storm, a top aid to the mayor of New Orleans managed to re-establish communications with the outside world -- including President Bush -- using a broadband connection and an Internet phone account. "To have a system where you risk cutting customers off in such a short time frame? It's unintended consequences," Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire said in a speech last week at VON, a conference that revolves around Internet phone technology, which is also known as VoIP or Voice-over-Internet-Protocol. "Cutting someone off from their voice service carries enormous risks," Sununu said. Unlike the traditional telephone network, where phone numbers are associated with a specific location, VoIP users can place a call from virtually anywhere they have access to a high-speed Internet connection. That "roaming" flexibility, while generally viewed as a benefit, can make it more complex to connect VoIP accounts to the computer systems that automatically route 911 calls to the nearest emergency dispatcher and instantly transmit the caller's location and phone number to the operator who answers the call. Most VoIP providers have only been able to offer a watered-down version of 911 service that often directs emergency calls to a general administrative phone number at a local public safety office. In many cases, those lines are not staffed by emergency operators, and some may even play only a recording or go unanswered, particularly during non-peak hours. Cable-based VoIP services have avoided the roaming issue by tying each phone number to a specific location and emergency dispatch center. But VoIP providers who allow their customers to use their numbers in multiple locations face major challenges. They need to adopt a technology that will send their customers into a disparate national patchwork of 911 call-routing systems and databases. That means they must reach an interconnection agreement with each of the more than 1,000 local phone companies who maintain and operate those 911 systems. While most Internet phone companies and industry observers haven't objected to the FCC's goal, many have criticized the agency for allowing only four months for such a young industry with limited financial resources to overcome the assorted hurdles with providing full 911. "I'm not sure what the FCC was thinking when they made up their 120-day timeframe," Sununu said in his speech last week. Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For headlines and stories from New York Times daily with no registration nor login requirements go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ From: Martin H. Bosworth Subject: Arizona Court Rules Against Unwanted Text Messaging Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 19:00:21 -0500 By Martin H. Bosworth ConsumerAffairs.Com Cell phone users frustrated by unsolicited ads and text messages may have some relief at last. The Arizona Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that unsolicited text messaging to a cell phone violates federal laws against telemarketing. The three-judge panel ruled that Arizona-based Acacia Mortgage Corporation violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991 when it sent two unsolicited text messages to local businessman Rodney L. Joffe. The court's ruling stated that text-based short messaging services (SMS) constituted a "call," just as a voice call or "autodialed" message would. Acacia had argued that the TCPA could not have anticipated technological advances such as text messaging or e-mail when it was enacted, and thus did not apply. The judges disagreed, stating in their opinion that, "Congress intended the TCPA to apply to advances in automatic telephone dialing technology and to the use of that technology to disrupt the privacy of residential (and business) telephone subscribers. Protecting the privacy of the home from unwarranted and unrequested intrusions constitutes a significant governmental interest." Joffe filed suit against Acacia in 2001, and was awarded a pretrial judgment which Acacia appealed. Joffe was petitioning the court to grant class action status to his lawsuit at the time of the appeal decision. The case will now return to the trial court. If Acacia appeals the ruling, the case could be taken to the state Supreme Court. Joffe's business ventures have included fighting spam proliferation from direct marketers and establishing ethical guidelines for solicitations. His company, Whitehat Inc., designs marketing structures for companies to advertise without resorting to spam or junk mail. "We make sure companies perform e-mail marketing appropriately and with permission," Joffe told ConsumerAffairs.Com. Companies such as Jamster have come under fire from consumers and anti-spam advocates for sending unsolicited e-mails or text messages to unsuspecting phone subscribers, and in some cases charging the subscriber even if they haven't purchased anything from the service. Joffe commented that since the lawsuit was filed, he has received "1 or 2 spams on his cellphone in the past four years. I think they got the hint I was not the right person to be targeting." Asked if the court ruling might set a precedent against companies sending unsolicited text messages or e-mails, Joffe replied, "I sure as hell hope so!" Copyright 2003-2005 ConsumerAffairs.Com Inc. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Sinead Carew and Lucas van Grinsven Subject: SanDisk Unveils Secure Memory Card Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:46:30 -0500 By Sinead Carew and Lucas van Grinsven SanDisk Corp. on Tuesday introduced memory cards that let consumers move digital video and music among devices like cellphones and computers without violating copyright protection. The first cards to go on the market in November will come preloaded with the Rolling Stones' new CD "A Bigger Bang," said SanDisk, which helped pioneer flash memory storage cards used in phones and digital cameras. Internet media company Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) said customers who subscribe to its digital music service could use the card which will be sold under the name gruvi. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd also said it would support gruvi in its phones. SanDisk's new cards come as the entertainment industry moves content to the Internet and onto devices such as mobile phones. The industry is increasingly protecting its content with software that prevents copying to plain flash memory cards or other non-secure storage mediums. SanDisk, based in Sunnyvale, California, hopes to convince other entertainment companies to sell their content preloaded on the cards, or make it available for secure Internet downloads straight onto the cards. "This enables secure content to be truly portable for the first time," SanDisk Chief Executive Eli Harari said at a press event at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Assocation, or CTIA wireless conference in San Francisco. Harari said that once the cards are widely used by technology and entertainment companies, he expects them to bring in sizable revenue for the company by the end of 2007. "This will take one or two years to become a very substantial business," Harari said on the sidelines of the conference. He said he expects the bulk of sales to come from empty cards that consumers then fill with the content of their choice and that demand will increase as prices come down. He sees preloaded cards such as the 265 Megabyte $40 card that will go on sale in November with a Rolling Stones album on it as an example of how the cards could be used. SanDisk hopes companies would use Sandisk's TrustedFlash technology to implement their own digital rights management systems, Harari said. "It has the potential to change how people view mobile content," said Ted Cohen of record label EMI, adding that the company would see how consumers receive the Rolling Stones product before more similar products for other performers. The TrustedFlash cards will work as normal mass storage cards with capacity of up to several gigabytes of data -- but the movies, music or games on the cards would be protected with digital rights management (DRM) software. The cards can also contain media and game playing software, which make it possible to play content on devices that were not originally designed for those services, though devices must be compatible with the TrustedFlash cards. The new type of storage media is designed to support electronic commerce and enable mobile phones to perform secure financial transactions. SanDisk said it is unique in that it offers the advantage of portability, so consumers will be able to take their legally purchased music, movies and games with them and play them on any compatible device. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Thomas Frank Subject: In Baton Rouge Center, Nothing to do But Wait Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:49:07 -0500 By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY Sometimes when Veronica Joseph wakes up in the middle of the night, she slips outside this city's main emergency shelter, where she's been living for three weeks. She sits on a plastic chair and enjoys a cigarette and the solitude. After sleeping on a cot, sharing communal bathrooms and being fed cafeteria-style meals with up to 1,700 people, Joseph is aching for the privacy of home. But it's not going to be easy to find one. Her former $5.15-an-hour job picking broken breadsticks off a New Orleans bakery assembly line yielded no savings. Fliers on the shelter walls beckon the homeless here to a house in Montana, a church in Oklahoma, an apartment in Brooklyn. But there's nothing available in Louisiana. "We just want to get back to living as man and woman," says Joseph, 47, who lived with her boyfriend in a $300-a-month New Orleans house that Hurricane Katrina destroyed. "But I don't see a way out yet." Nearly 100,000 evacuees remain in shelters a month after Katrina demolished communities across the Gulf region, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says, down from a peak of 250,000. The shelter residents taken together would form Louisiana's sixth-largest city and are the most visible symbol of Katrina's diaspora. Evacuees live in more than 1,000 shelters spread across 26 states and, for all the variety of their locales and circumstances, they mostly do one thing: wait. Some are waiting for their New Orleans neighborhoods to reopen so they can return to homes that were damaged but not destroyed. Some are waiting to see their homes for the first time to determine whether they can be repaired or rebuilt. Some are waiting for money -- from the federal government or from a new employer -- so they can afford a new home, possibly in a new state. And some are so overwhelmed they can't fathom what to do. "I am just waiting right now," says Lou Cooper, 78, slouching on a cot as her husband, Hillary, sleeps nearby, next to his wheelchair. The Coopers and two teen grandchildren moved to the shelter after their Jefferson Parish home was destroyed and a daughter went to Shreveport for her nursing job. When do they hope to leave? "I have no idea," she says. Seeking sites for trailers The federal government is trying to move all evacuees from shelters to temporary housing by Oct. 15, a goal set by President Bush. The core of FEMA's effort is a plan to park 125,000 trailers and mobile homes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to house evacuees until they find permanent residences. But federal inspectors are struggling to find sites with the infrastructure -- water, sewers and electricity -- to accommodate trailers. The FEMA teams fanning out across Louisiana are being greeted warily in some communities. Tangipahoa Parish, north of New Orleans, adopted an emergency ordinance limiting the density of mobile-home parks after FEMA began inspecting local sites. Neighboring Livingston Parish is being cautious in approving trailers because its services "just cannot sustain what FEMA is trying to do," parish president Mike Grimmer says. So far, only 99 trailers are occupied in Louisiana, and about 2,000 more are being prepared in the state. An additional 2,325 trailers are occupied in Mississippi and Alabama. The pace has so alarmed Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco that last week she urged FEMA to move all shelter residents immediately into hotel rooms for 90 days. Ron Sherman, head of FEMA's housing effort for evacuees, said Monday that Oct. 15 is "a challenging goal." FEMA last week offered evacuees $786 a month for three months to pay for any temporary housing, including hotels. Sherman said the payments would "give people other options ... so that trailers don't become the focus of their recovery." State facilities planning director Jerry Jones doubts the Oct. 15 goal will be met. But he says temporary housing is vital to getting evacuees out of shelters and to getting the hundreds of thousands of people who left Louisiana back to the state, which would help restore the Louisiana economy. "We want all those other states to know those are our people and we want them back," Jones says. New housing is necessary because Louisiana faced a severe housing shortage even before Katrina destroyed an estimated 275,000 homes, says state policy and planning director Kim Hunter Reed. Wayne Scardino found that out a week after Katrina washed away his home in heavily damaged St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans, and he took a bus to the Baton Rouge shelter, in a modern arena and exhibit hall in the center of downtown. For three days, Scardino sat at one of the free telephones available inside the Baton Rouge shelter, calling apartment complexes in the region. He even visited a few but didn't bother walking past the "no vacancy" signs. 'You've got to go out of state' "No apartments, no hotel rooms nowhere. Everything's filled," says Scardino, 45, who ran a lawn-service business. "You've got to go out of state to get anything." And that's what he hopes to do. Scardino recently called a phone number he found on a flier in the shelter advertising apartments in Tennessee. The bus to pick him up, he says, will come to the shelter any day. While he waits, Scardino is filling out a FEMA application for money through a program that helps replace uninsured homes in disaster areas. He says his house was worth $125,000. He plans to seek a low-interest loan from the Small Business Administration, which lends businesses money to buy capital items. He says he's serious about using the money to rebuild his life - but not in his old community. "There won't be a St. Bernard Parish for 10 years," Scardino says. "I'll go anywhere." Leon Frederick doesn't find such mobility as easy. He's been in the Baton Rouge shelter with his common-law wife and their three young daughters since a week after Katrina, when they could no longer afford a hotel in Jackson, Miss. "I would like to move somewhere temporarily for a job and for school for the kids," says Frederick, 48, who worked as a security guard. His twin 4-year-old daughters had attended all-day Head Start outside New Orleans, but Frederick couldn't find anything similar in Baton Rouge -- except an unaccredited nursery program at the shelter that runs from 9 a.m. to noon. Frederick's talk about moving to Texas ended when his partner, Chalana Bland, declared herself "dead set on going back" to their townhouse east of New Orleans. "She wants to go home -- into her own house, where she has her own things," Frederick says. Instead of looking for new housing, Frederick drives his customized van 85 miles back to Harvey to check their rented duplex. The roof was sheared off, the first floor flooded, the carpet is mildewed, and furniture and appliances are ruined. "We can't do anything till FEMA looks at it," Frederick says, referring to an inspection to verify and calculate housing losses. Frederick expects to be home in a month, but even that won't end his family's problems. "When we come back, there's really nothing to come back to -- no jobs, no business," he says. "We'll just have to sit there and wait." LaToya Dennis and Calvin Jacob are waiting, too -- for help from the government, the Red Cross and anyone who can get them out of the shelter. The couple, whose New Orleans home was destroyed, has neither the desire to return to a city they call violent nor the money to relocate. Jacob's $8.25-an-hour warehouse job was their only income. They don't have a car. And they don't like the housing options that have come their way. "We really don't have anywhere to go," says Dennis, 20, who's at the Baton Rouge shelter with Jacob and their daughter Sanai, born in early August. Church leaders who flew to Baton Rouge from Colorado and California tempted Jacob and Dennis with offers of shelter in those states, but the couple saw no reason to move to a place where they know no one. Cousins and aunts in Dallas offered to put them up, but the couple declined, not wanting to impose. And when they heard about trailers being set up, the notion of living in a portable dwelling with little or no foundation conjured nightmares. 'We could do better' "It's inappropriate because if we have another storm, where are we going to go?" Dennis says. "I'm not being ungrateful, but I feel we could do better." Jacob, 22, says he's tried to get jobs recently but has been turned away from construction sites that told him they had enough workers. He says many jobs involve nighttime hours that he can't work because of the shelter's 10 p.m. curfew. The Red Cross, which runs the Baton Rouge shelter, says residents can get in after curfew if they've been working. "We just want some housing and to get on with our lives," Jacob says. They'll stay at the shelter, he says, "until we get the assistance we need to get housing." Although Jacob and Dennis hate the shelter -- they call it "a prison" patrolled by National Guard troops toting loaded M-16 combat rifles -- some express no hurry to leave. "I worked so many years and so long and so hard, it's kind of like a vacation," says Jessie Merrell, 54, who was a banquet captain at the Omni Royal Orleans hotel. His family's house is in New Orleans' 9th Ward, parts of which have stood underwater for a month. But even that raises more curiosity than alarm. "The news media -- they tell you it's gone, but I don't believe that," Merrell says, leaning back in a chair. Merrell is in the shelter with his wife, their two daughters, in their 20s, and a granddaughter, 2. Merrell plays with her for hours, drives around Baton Rouge, eats lunch and wonders when he'll be able to get into New Orleans to see the house where he's lived for 30 years. If it's gone, the family will decide whether to rebuild or relocate. "I've got people in Houston," Merrell says, suggesting they might move there. But minutes later, the New Orleans native says, "I don't believe I could actually get adjusted to living anywhere else." He doesn't have to make up his mind now. "Right now," Merrell says, "I'm just waiting to see what happened." Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: USA Today Staff Subject: Louisiana Begins Hefty Task of Cleaning Up Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:50:44 -0500 By Matt Kelley, Richard Wolf and Oren Dorell, USA TODAY Here in Cajun country, where signs in French and English are standing in water and shrimp boats have been tossed onto land, Hurricane Rita brought the Gulf of Mexico right into almost everyone's home. "Now our concern is trying to save what we want to save and clean up and try to find some way to start over again," Tonya Etier said Monday as she stood in her water-stained kitchen. More than 2 feet of water flooded her house Friday night when seawater pushed by Rita's 120-mph winds burst through a nearby levee and swamped the town. Her house smells of bleach. Furniture, CDs and other items are drying on the kitchen table. Similar scenes of cleaning up, tallying damage and hoping for recovery played out Monday along Louisiana's marshy coast. Lake Charles, among the cities Rita hit hardest, remained closed to residents and without power as emergency workers turned from rescue operations to repairs. Trees blocked streets and sprawled across damaged roofs. Power lines lay toppled and gas pumps uprooted. Tall office buildings had shattered windows, and smaller stores were in shambles. An Allstate Insurance office stood exposed to the elements, its walls turned to rubble. To the south in Cameron Parish, home to about 10,000 people along the Gulf of Mexico, floodwaters had not receded. The area, which includes a national wildlife refuge, was "devastated," said Hal McMillin, president of the Police Jury, the county commission in Calcasieu Parish, which includes Lake Charles. Power company officials described damage as worse than that caused by Hurricane Katrina last month. About 120 transmission lines and 125 substations were knocked out in the region, said Renae Conley, president of Entergy Louisiana. She said much of the power system will have to be rebuilt, not repaired. Likewise, telephone company officials say the damage is actually worse than that caused by Katrina, two weeks earlier. The good news was that apparently no one died in Louisiana, and few suffered serious injuries. Officials attributed that to widespread evacuations. An estimated 95% of the residents of Calcasieu Parish got out. "It is very surprising," Lt. Remy Broussard of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement said of the small number of casualties. "It's a direct result of Katrina." His teams searched in boats and helicopters Monday for people trapped in their homes and found none, although some remote areas along rivers remained to be searched. "Without a doubt, there would have been a lot more injuries and deaths had more people remained," Broussard said. Shrimp industry takes hit Rita's storm surge reached about 15 feet in places along Louisiana's coast and blew at least a half-dozen holes in levees amid the lakes, canals and bayous. In Montegut, (pronounced MOHN-te-goo), Rita's floods left shrimp boats marooned on roadways, people perched on roofs and cattle stranded neck-deep in brackish water. A stream of military and civilian helicopters hauled massive sandbags to drop into breaches in levees that normally protect the town from flooding. Residents worry that the flooding will cripple the area's main businesses: shrimp, cattle, sugar cane and oil. "I don't think I'd want to eat what's in that water," said shrimper Darrell Billiot, 58, Etier's father-in-law. The season for white shrimp -- regarded by locals as tastier than brown shrimp, the other dominant species -- should run August through December, but the boats haven't been able to go out much for nearly a month. Authorities warned people to evacuate ahead of the storm, and they warned them again just before and after the levee gave way. Billiot felt he had nowhere to go. "I was raised in this water, and I'll die in it, I guess," he said with a shrug. On a nearby waterway, Bayou Petit Caillou, the town of Chauvin was swamped. Authorities and neighbors evacuated stranded residents by boat Saturday. By Monday, the water had receded, but not enough to leave most homes dry. Robert Taylor, 61, spent most of the day waiting for the water to drop so he could drive to his home and inspect the damage. "That's the Gulf of Mexico right there," he said, pointing at floodwaters flowing over the highway through the town. "This is worse than it's been in 50 years. Places are flooded here that never flooded before." Caught off guard To the west in Lake Charles, Carla Pratt's family had a horrible decision to make when they realized Hurricane Rita was bearing down on their home and they had nowhere to go: To whom should they strap her granddaughter, Sarah, in case a friend's brick home where they sought shelter blew apart? Like many other residents of this low-lying city, they were caught off guard by Rita's turn to the north Friday night and did not have time to flee. They decided to tie the 5-month-old baby to her father, although he was not the biggest and strongest person in the house. "We'd rather her be with one parent in case something bad happened to the other," Pratt said. All the family survived when Rita thrashed ashore early Saturday, but Pratt, 39, and her son lost their newly bought mobile homes. Pratt's was knocked off its cinder block posts, and the roof is leaking. The walls of her son's home came apart from the floor of the trailer, she said. On Monday, the National Guard was distributing a day's supply of food, water and ice to storm victims. Some of those who didn't get out before Rita struck described horrific winds and rains lasting for several hours. "It was kind of scary," said Georgia Kimble, 16, as she waited at Christus St. Patrick Hospital for her mother to be treated for an asthma attack. "Everything just came in at one time, like whoosh." Ray Thisius, 52, helped evacuate the retirement center where he works, then stayed behind with about 15 staff members because of heavy traffic. All night long, windows blew out and trees fell, striking the center's roof and cars parked outside. "It felt like you were in the end of a tunnel, and the wind's rushing at you," Thisius said. "I'm running away the next time, whether I have to ride a bicycle or take a bus. I'm getting out of here." Wolf and Dorell reported from Lake Charles, La. Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 01:07:41 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: When Students Open up - a Little Too Much; Colleges Cite Risks By Sarah Schweitzer, Globe Staff Last school year, Brandeis University junior Emily Aronoff tapped this sentiment into a computer: "I enjoy the festive greens." The reference to marijuana became part of her profile on facebook.com, the online student catalogue that allows Aronoff and tens of thousands of collegians to share photos and idiosyncratic odds and ends of their lives, intended for viewing by other students. But others were reading as well -- including "an individual in the community," she said, who shared the reference with her parents in Marietta, Ga. Eventually, word reached her grandmother. "My bubbe," she said, using the Yiddish word for grandmother, "told me her seniors home was abuzz with the news, and I was like: 'I hate the Facebook.' " As the Facebook has become a phenomenon at schools across the country -- a virtual bible for campus socializing and networking -- the unintended consequences of overly comprehensive, brutally frank, or mischievous entries are surfacing. Colleges and universities are increasingly taking steps to help students avoid pitfalls -- most critically, those that put students at risk for stalking and harassment. At Tufts University this year, freshmen-orientation leaders encouraged students to omit detailed personal information from their profiles, such as dormitory room numbers and class schedules. Boston College plans to do the same next year, and Boston University has instructed residential advisers on offering guidance on Facebook matters. Meanwhile, Brandeis held an hour-long seminar last week on Facebook savvy -- recommending safety tips, but also telling students to consider future employers, professors, or family members who might read Facebook entries. Indeed, some Brandeis administrators said at the meeting -- to open-mouthed reactions of students attending -- that they have begun reading Facebook entries before hiring a student for campus positions. http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/09/26/when_students_open_up____a_little_too_much/ ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Wednesday 28th September 2005 Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 09:16:09 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com Nearly a Quarter of Primary School Children Have Cellphones http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14214.php An Amplitude Research survey of 2,400 American consumers, including 2,000 cell phone users -- conducted over a two-week period ending Sept. 20, 2005 -- revealed strong support of a policy that limits cell phone usage to ... Pull the Udder One ! http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14215.php An Oman newspaper has reported that a cow managed to eat a mobile phone. This was discovered when the phone owner called it to try and locate it by the ringer and found the cow was ringing instead. The phone had been los... Communist Rebels Torch Base Station http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14216.php Communist rebels in the Philippines have destroyed a mobile phone transmission tower as part of their insurgency in the Southern Philippines. Approximately 30 New People's Army rebels disarmed the security guard at a Glo... Consolidation in India's GSM Market http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14217.php Hutchison Telecom says that its Indian joint venture, Hutchison Essar has signed an agreement to buy rival GSM operators,? BPL Mumbai and BPL Mobile Cellular. It also announced that Hutchison Essar has entered into a con... Siemens Wins Swiss GSM Contract http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14218.php in&phone, a new Swiss mobile operator, has commissioned Siemens Communications to set up its central mobile communication systems. Siemens is also responsible for operating and maintaining the systems.... New Billing Platform for Trinidad Operator http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14219.php Intec has signed a contract with Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) for it's service activation and interconnect billing solutions, Inter-activatE and InterconnecT v7. Also included in the contract... Digital TV on Mobiles in Japan http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14220.php Japan's DoCoMo has announced the development of the 3G P901iTV, DoCoMo's first mobile handset to receive terrestrial digital broadcasting signals, in addition to conventional analog signals. The handset was developed in ... Mobile Music Could Prove More Popular Than Gaming http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14221.php Mobile music services -- either in the form of downloadable music files or broadcast digital radio -- have greater interest among U.S. mobile customers than gaming, an application that is now providing some of the greate... Mobile Subscribers to Continue Utilizing a Potpourri of Air Interfaces http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14222.php Mobile operators and vendors will benefit throughout the decade no matter if they are pursuing low-end or high-end mobile strategies, according to a new Visant Strategies study. The worldwide mobile subscriber base will ... 3 Scraps its SMSC http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14223.php Scandinavian mobile operator Hi3G Access AB, under the brand 3, has replaced its SMSC (Short Message Service Centre) technology with Telsis Intelligent SMS Routing. SMSCs have often been seen to limit throughput during h... Improving Communications in the Maldives Islands http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14224.php The Maldives Islands based GSM operator, Dhiraagu has signed a US$ 10.4 million contract with Alcatel to expand and enhance its mobile service. Under this contract mobile coverage will be extended to new geographical are... Billions of Dollars Lost Through Mobile Data Revenue Leakage http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14225.php The premium mobile content industry is incurring billions of dollars in lost revenue through insecure transaction processing, a problem that could reach more than $18 billion by 2009, according to a study authored by mar... Vodafone Testing HSDPA in Germany http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14226.php Vodafone is the first German network operator to start customer trials using HSDPA for business customers at the CentrO Oberhausen shopping centre. Selected business customers can now trial their notebook and data card f... SK Telecom: Exploring India, SE Asian Mkts For Growth http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14214.php SK Telecom Co Ltd. (017670.SE) is looking at India and Southeast Asian markets for expansion opportunities, Shin Bae Kim, the South Korean company's president and chief executive said Tuesday. ... Bharti: No Need For SingTel To Increase Stake http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14215.php Bharti Televentures Ltd. (532454.BY), India's biggest GSM mobile phone company by customer numbers, said there currently isn't scope for Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (T48.SG) to raise its 32.8% stake. ... O2 Raises Fiscal Year Outlook On Strong UK User Growth http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14216.php Wireless operator O2 PLC (OOM.LN) Tuesday upgraded its outlook for U.K. revenue growth and German margin performance after reporting bumper second-quarter subscriber growth in the U.K. ... Ericsson Wins GSM Contract in Libya http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14217.php Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) Tuesday said it will supply its Mobile Softswitch product to Libya's operator Al Madar. ... Motorola Unveils 5 New Handsets Aimed At Mass Market http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14218.php Motorola Tuesday unveiled a new portfolio of products demonstrating its continuing commitment to meet the needs of mass market consumers around the world. ... French Government, Telecoms Cos Agree To Price Cutting Measures http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14219.php Industry Minister Francois Loos said Tuesday the government and the country's telecoms operators have agreed a raft of measures aimed at lowering prices for consumers. ... ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 20:29:01 EDT Subject: Re: Oakland Calif Conversion From 6 to 7 Digit Dialing? In a message dated 27 Sep 2005 09:40:30 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes: > In reading a book about the Key System railway, older schedules had a > six-digit phone number (2L-4N) while newer ones had seven-digits > (2L-5N). > Would anyone know when Oakland converted? > Also, was six digit dialing (2L-4N) common in a lot of places? I > though most city dial offices were 5 digit for smaller cities and 7 > digit (3L-4N) for larger cities. The seven digits were used as part > of the panel installation for cities expecting growth and to provide > for automatic integrated dialing to/from suburban areas as well. There were all kinds of plans in all kinds of cities. Dallas and Houston at one time had 1L-4D numbers (Riverside-4085 in Dallas, for example, was R-4085).. Oklahoma City had 5D and 6D numbers, later changing to 2L-4D. Tulsa at one time had a mixture of 4D, 5D and 6D numbers, all at the same time. It all depended on the circumstances and the history of the numbering plan, growth, expansion of the dialing area, contiguious tiers, and others facts, not least of which was the engieners and the traffic engineers preferences, along with the preferences of higher managers. The president (the title then meant CEO) of Southwestern Bell agreed to allow Wichita Falls, Texas, to be the guinea pig for ANC (all-number calling, that is, 7D). The reaction was so adverse that he declared no other SWBT city would go ANC during his tenure as CEO (quite a few more years), and none di. Eventually, of course, all changed to 2L-5D or directly to 7D. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Oakland Calif Conversion From 6 to 7 Digit Dialing? Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 17:35:58 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 27 Sep 2005 09:40:30 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > In reading a book about the Key System railway, older schedules had a > six-digit phone number (2L-4N) while newer ones had seven-digits > (2L-5N). > Would anyone know when Oakland converted? My guess is Oakland was converted to 2L-5N prior to the introduction of DDD (direct distance dialing.) That's what happened with Seattle which was 2L-4N prior to being converted to 2L-5N. Also, often when converting from 2L-4N to 2L-5N the central office "exchange" code was changed. The change in Oakland was likely done in the early to mid-sixties since that's when DDD was introduced to most of the big city areas. > Also, was six digit dialing (2L-4N) common in a lot of places? 2L-4N was very common except in exceptionally large cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia though I bet that originally these cities had 2L-4N as well. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Chicago was 3L-4N throughout the 1930's and 1940's, (that is, from the start of automated calling through the final cutover of same.) The original third letter (as in ALBany and ROGers Park) became the first number in the new 2L-5N system, (which is to say ALBany became ALbany-2, KEDzie became KEdzie-3 and ROGers Park became ROgers Park-4. That cutover occurred, I think, in 1948 when the final conversion from manual to dial took place in the HUMboldt central office. Operators were spreading rumors that after the final cutover, 'hundreds' of operators would be laid off, out of a job. The fact is _no one_ was laid off, and with the opening of Ohare Airport six or eight months after that, Humboldt had more employees assigned there than it ever had in the manual days. PAT] ------------------------------ From: harold@hallikainen.com Subject: Re: Oakland Calif Conversion From 6 to 7 Digit Dialing? Date: 28 Sep 2005 08:25:18 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > In reading a book about the Key System railway, older schedules had a > six-digit phone number (2L-4N) while newer ones had seven-digits > (2L-5N). > Would anyone know when Oakland converted? > Also, was six digit dialing (2L-4N) common in a lot of places? I > though most city dial offices were 5 digit for smaller cities and 7 > digit (3L-4N) for larger cities. The seven digits were used as part > of the panel installation for cities expecting growth and to provide > for automatic integrated dialing to/from suburban areas as well. I used to ride the Key System railway. I remember when the SF Bay Bridge ran the trains and trucks on the bottom level and cars on the top level. At that time, I lived in Kensington. My home phone number was LAndscape 6-5520. My father's work number in Berkeley was LAndscape 4-1757. So, in the mid-1950s, I think the SF bay area was pretty much all 7 digit. Harold ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 17:37:50 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 27 Sep 2005 10:53:32 -0700, John wrote: > I am looking for some insight on this VOIP thing. Why is it, seems to > me, getting hot now? This thing has been around for many years (I > remember using Internet Telephony application almost a decade ago), > why is it getting hot now? Likely because the technology has improved enough that people are using it on a regular basis. > why does it take so long for it to get some > tracking? Is there anything different now that makes it more > appealing than a decade ago? Sure. It works better than it did a decade ago. Also, it's popular now because of the perceived value as compared to pricing for regular wireline service. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? From: beavis Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 13:27:10 GMT Organization: Road Runner In article , John wrote: > I am looking for some insight on this VOIP thing. Why is it, seems to > me, getting hot now?... Is there anything different now that makes it more > appealing than a decade ago? Two things: Broadband penetration is much greater than it was before (it simply isn't doable on dial-up), and the adapter devices that let you use a real telephone to make and receive calls. Having to sit at my computer, and only being able to call others at their computers, and only if they were running specific software, narrowed the field greatly. Now I can pick up my regular phone and call my parents on their regular phone line. That's a HUGE difference. That didn't exist ten years ago. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Its even gotten better than that. Now from my computer and VOIP adapter box, I can 'plug into' (assuming properly wired) house wiring and use VOIP anywhere I would use a 'regular' phone. In my own instance, for example, I run the VOIP line into a small PBX type unit, and use it from any other PBX-style phone in my house by lifting a reciever, dialing '8' receiving VOIP dial tone and making my long distance calls. I do the same thing for local calls by dialing '9' to get the local (Prairie Stream Comm) line. Ten years ago I would have sat here at the computer, put on my headset, and puttered around starting up the voice-talk program I used on Yahoo Messenger. Not only that, but I can call inter-room in my house by dialing extensions 101 through 105, and have calls ring through to my wireless headset. Considerably more HUGE. People who visit me here at my house by and large have no idea how the system works; nor do they need to know other than telling them 'dial 9 to make a local call. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 13:28:51 +0100 From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: Did You Say Dogging or Blogging? Brits Confused > Proponents of the latest Web trends were warned on Tuesday that the > rest of the world may not have a clue what they are talking about. > A survey of British taxi drivers, pub landlords and hairdressers -- > often seen as barometers of popular trends -- found that nearly 90 > percent had no idea what a podcast is and more than 70 percent had > never heard of blogging. > "When I asked the panel whether people were talking about blogging, > they thought I meant dogging," said Sarah Carter, the planning > director at ad firm DDB London. > Dogging is the phenomenon of watching couples have sex in > semi-secluded places such as out-of-town car parks. News of such > events are often spread on Web sites or by using mobile phone text > messages. Speaking as a Brit, I would have had no idea what "dogging" meant. Now I do know, I wish I didn't. -Paul. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I can tell you and other Brits something of interest also. There is some bird over across the pond in your country running a web site called http://www.sneakypeek.net who uses a tiny little camera (the kind built into a cellular phone) who is taking the most scurrilous pictures of the most intimate moments in men's lives, i.e using toilets or public locker rooms in sports events, etc to take pictures and transmit them all over the net through his 'Sneaky Peek' system. According to _him_, he has 'only been caught doing it' once, and warned not to use his camera/ phone in those places in the future, yet he continues on with it. He mocks the whole system on his home page by displaying a tiny camera with the notation 'watch for me in your locker room, toilet or gymnasium.' I gather he is in Great Britain because the locations he gives for his various picture 'galleries' give UK locations usually. Talk about Big Brother Watching You. PAT] ------------------------------ From: strutsng@gmail.com Subject: How Come www Has Number as in http://www31.website.com? Date: 28 Sep 2005 08:11:22 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com How come I saw some web site has some number after www, how can they do that? i.e. http://www31.website.com, http://www52.website.com If this is the case, then it can be anything? Like http://aaa.website.com ? I know the protocol needs to be http. Usually, it should be just http://www.website.com Please advise. thanks!! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are correct that it usually is just 'www' which means 'world wide web' and years ago, when the web was a new thing, most all files used by it were put in a directory called 'www'. But that is not necessary. You can reach me for example either with or without 'www' on the front. If he is saying 'www some number' then a dot and something else thats just because he chose to use that name, maybe to confuse the issue a little. The computer directories do not care what they are called as long as there are no 'illegal' characters in the name such as / or \ or " or . or , etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: strutsng@gmail.com Subject: Can PC to Phone Talk? Is VoIP the Only Choice for PC to PC Talk? Date: 28 Sep 2005 08:17:23 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com VoIP (voice over IP) is the technology that allows people to talk over the internet (PC to PC talk). Is VoIP the only technology to achieve this? Can PC to Phone talk? For example, I dial some number in internet, and it will call someone on the analog phone? Please advise. Thanks!! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Technologies to allow people to call from a computer to an anaolog phone (or the other way around use the generic name 'VoIP' (Voice Over Internet Protocol). Not all of the vendors of VoIP allow connections between internet and the telephone network although most of them do that. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dink Subject: Scientists Find Mature Galaxy Eight Times Larger Than Milky Way Date: 28 Sep 2005 16:06:21 GMT [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is a follow up to the newswire article which was printed here on Tuesday. PAT] http://tinyurl.com/coa2u US astronomers said they had found a vast, mature galaxy using NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes. They were particularly impressed by the fact stars seemed to have been formed in the galaxy. [...] -- Dink N 30.21, W 97.81 http://snipurl.com/whereiam An armed society is a polite society, as Robert Heinlein noted. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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. 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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 #441 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Sep 28 16:30:19 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 295A51527A; Wed, 28 Sep 2005 16:30:18 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #442 Message-Id: <20050928203018.295A51527A@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 16:30:18 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 28 Sep 2005 16:30:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 442 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Dell Goes Upscale With PCs For Gamers, Enthusiasts (Reuters News Wire) Apple: Small Number of Nanos Have Defects (Greg Sandoval) Google to Build New Campus at NASA Facility (Associated Press News Wire) Report: Ericsson Considering Bid for Marconi (USTelecom dailyLead) Connecticut Motorists Need to Talk Hands-Free Starting Now (Monty Solomon) Re: When Students Open Up - a Little Too Much (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: Reuters News Wire Subject: Dell Goes Upscale With PCs For Gamers, Enthusiasts Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 14:46:21 -0500 Dell Inc. is launching a line of upscale and more expensive computers after aggressive price-cutting led to lower-than-expected revenue growth last quarter. The company on Wednesday is unveiling three high-powered desktop computers and a notebook "aimed at tech enthusiasts, gamers and buyers who prefer the best products, services and individualized support," Dell said in a statement. The new XPS series computers start at $1,099 and a notebook version starts at about $2,700. That compares with desktops selling for as low as $299 on the company's Web site. In addition, Dell is introducing its first high-definition televisions, with a 50-inch model priced at $3,799 and a 32-inch at $1,799. The roll-out comes after the company in August reported second-quarter revenue that rose less than analysts had expected. Chief Executive Kevin Rollins at the time said prices for Dell's PCs were "down more than we would have liked" but added that the industry wasn't experiencing a pricing problem. Dell is offering expanded services to customers who buy the new products, making available "highly trained" agents assigned to individual customers, according to the Round Rock, Texas, company's statement. Customers can also get quick answers through online chats with product advisors. Asked about reports of rising consumer complaints recently, Rollins said his company closely tracks such reports and its data show customer service trends have been improving, not declining. Because Dell sells an ever-greater number of PCs each year, the absolute number of customer service complaints may be growing, but as a percentage of the overall number of customers, Dell's customer service continues to improve, he said. Dell is scheduled to introduce the products Wednesday at a briefing in New York City attended by Chairman Michael Dell. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. See more news headlines from USA Today right here: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/othernews.html ------------------------------ From: Greg Sandoval Subject: Apple: Small Number of IPod Nanos Have Defects Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 14:47:52 -0500 By GREG SANDOVAL, AP Technology Writer Display screens crack easily on a small number of iPod Nano digital music players, Apple Computer Inc. acknowledged Wednesday, saying it would replace flawed units. Apple was responding to a flurry of complaints posted to online forums and community sites about faulty screens on the Nano, the tiny music player the company launched earlier this month to much fanfare. Most of the complaints revolved around screen scratches that made the displays difficult to read. Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said Apple had received few complaints and the only real problem was cracked screens, which would be replaced. "This is a real but minor issue that involved a vendor quality problem in a small number of units," Neumayr said. "This has affected less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the total iPod Nano units that we've shipped. And it's not a design issue." Customer service employees at three Best Buy stores and two Circuit City locations in different parts of the country said Tuesday that they had not received any complaints about the Nano screen. Apple's response appeared to quell some of the anger about the faulty screens. A Web site called flawedmusicplayer.com, which had posted complaints about Nano screens, removed them after Apple acknowledged the problem. "I am very delighted to see Apple take this issue seriously," according to a note on the Web site. "Apple is admitting there was a real issue. I got what I wanted: fixed iPod Nanos for the people who deserve them." 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Also see headlines and news at http://telecom-digest-org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Associated Press News Wire Subject: Google to Build New Campus on Vacant NASA Property at Ames Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 14:49:05 -0500 Google Inc. plans to build a 1 million-square-foot corporate campus on a now-vacant site on NASA property in the heart of Silicon Valley, according to a published report. Google, the Internet's leading search company, is expected to build a campus containing offices, houses and roads at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, which cited unidentified sources. "There is some land at Ames Research Center that could offer logical expansion space for Google," company spokeswoman Lynn Fox said Tuesday. She declined to comment directly on the building plans. The company has scheduled an afternoon news conference with Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Scott Hubbard, director at NASA Ames, a space research center since 1939 that has recently been cutting staff as part of the agency's nationwide restructuring. Rapid growth in Web advertising tied to online searches has fueled Google's stellar performance in recent years. The company has $7 billion in cash from stock offerings and huge profits. It hired 10 employees each business day in the last quarter and has a global staff of nearly 4,200. The company is rapidly outgrowing its current office space, and plans to keep its current five-building headquarters, dubbed the Googleplex, nearby. Some observers say the partnership between Google and NASA Ames could create a new hub of technological innovation in Silicon Valley, an area gutted by the technology bust. Shares of Google fell $5.27, or 1.7 percent, to $308.67 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 13:29:34 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Report: Ericsson Considering Bid for Marconi USTelecom dailyLead September 28, 2005 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/uKvMatagCqhnfBGhhR TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Report: Ericsson considering bid for Marconi BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Wireless executives tout mobility vision * RIM to use Intel chips * Cingular picks RealNetworks for video * EchoStar sees opportunity in Gulf Coast region * Cisco offers new security products * Qwest won't make another run at MCI * Analysis: Telcos unlikely to see profits from TV soon USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Triple Play Technology - Today and What's NEXT, Tomorrow, Sept. 29 TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Asia to lead in WiMAX deployment, report says REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * FCC extends VoIP 911 deadline again * Do Not Call list comes under scrutiny Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/uKvMatagCqhnfBGhhR 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, 28 Sep 2005 15:15:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Connecticut Motorists Need to Talk 'Hands-Free' Starting Saturday Verizon Wireless Reminds Consumers to Take Steps to Comply with New Law WALLINGFORD, Conn., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Motorists in Connecticut have until this Saturday to get ready to comply with a new law requiring drivers to use hands-free devices when talking on their wireless phones. Starting October 1, 2005, motorists could face a $100 fine for talking on wireless phones without using hands-free devices. Verizon Wireless reminds all wireless phone users to take steps now to comply with the law. Similar laws are already in effect in New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C. and Chicago. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=52023505 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: When Students Open up - a Little Too Much; Colleges Cite Risks Date: 28 Sep 2005 13:10:24 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote: > By Sarah Schweitzer, Globe Staff > Last school year, Brandeis University junior Emily Aronoff tapped > this sentiment into a computer: "I enjoy the festive greens." > The reference to marijuana became part of her profile on facebook.com, Is that really a euphemism for mj? I would think it just referred to decorative plants, like ferns or ivy. > intended for viewing by other students. In the interests of privacy and security, these websites should require a logon and be restricted to members of the internal group, ie, those affiliated with the university. > Colleges and universities are increasingly taking steps to help > students avoid pitfalls -- most critically, those that put students at > risk for stalking and harassment. In today's world, where college students are very e-savy, I'm quite surprised they aren't aware of very basic principles of maintaining privacy on-line. Early on, people learned that whatever you type on a computer can be made public. Ollie North got nailed by PROFS backup tapes, an early email system. People learned the hard way that BBS conversations could be risky. By college age, I would presume that they'd know not to give out their real name/phone number/address in an open e-chat room, an unsolicited email, or to a stranger they'd meet in a bar or on the street. I'd think they had gotten some creepy emails and messages. Geez, even in my day kids knew to be wary of strangers, even fellow college students and to safeguard their privacy, and that was before the days of publicized date rape of stalkers. I went to college in the city and right up front they gave us some security/safety tips. I read in the papers some students put out blogs with blatant personal stuff, like intimate details about their sex life, though I've never seen such a site. Indeed, I wonder, given the tendency of kids to brag about the outrageous, if some of those sites are actually fiction just to goof around and shock people. Anyway, it seems strange to me that these kids would be so brazenly open about such personal stuff. In my day plenty of kids smoked pot or slept around, but they were at least a little discrete about it, and certainly didn't want their parents or school officials finding out. Could anyone familiar with the situation elaborate what's going on in the collegiate online world? Anyone actually seen these blatant personal blog sites? [public replies, please] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #442 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Sep 29 00:57:10 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 4BB0915233; Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:57:09 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #443 Message-Id: <20050929045709.4BB0915233@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:57:09 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:57:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 443 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Few Phones, Little Drinking Water, But New Orleans Re-opens (Adam Nossiter) FEMA Under Fire Again, This Time for Rita Effort (Juan Lozano) US Congress Told to Wait on File Sharing Action (Reuters News Wire) Cingular to Sell Nokia Email Phone (Sinead Carew) Can't Trust Spyware Protection? (Andrew Brandt) Who Will Control Mobile Entertainment? (Monty Solomon) 10 Out of 10 For Idea, -1000 For Implementation (Chris Farrar) Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? (Tony P.) Re: Oakland Calif Conversion From 6 to 7 Digit Dialing? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Stealing Your ID Can be as Easy as ABC (Tony P.) Re: How Come www Has Number as in http://www31.website.com (John 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: Adam Nossiter Subject: Few Phones, Little Drinking Water, But New Orleans Re-opens Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 22:05:19 -0500 By Adam Mossiter, Associated Press Writer Areas of New Orleans Reopen to Residents More areas of New Orleans that escaped flooding from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will be formally reopened starting Thursday, Mayor Ray Nagin said. The areas include the French Quarter, the Central Business district, and Uptown with its historic Garden District. Business owners will be allowed in on Thursday, and residents on Friday. "The re-entry started Monday and is going very well -- exceedingly well," Nagin told legislators at a hearing Wednesday at the state capitol. "Everything you hoped to happen is happening. Algiers is alive and well and breathing." On Monday, Nagin opened the Algiers neighborhood, which has electricity, telephones and clean water. Nagin said checkpoints where officers stop people will be pulled back Thursday so that only areas that were flooded will be off limits. Homes in those areas were heavily flooded and most are likely beyond repair. If all goes well, as of Oct. 5 only the Lower Ninth Ward, which was hit especially hard by the flooding, will be cordoned off, Nagin said. Electricity has been restored to some dry parts of the city, but the water is not yet drinkable. The mayor disagreed with the head of the state's Health Department about the condition of the city's water, insisting residents could now wash in it, though they shouldn't drink it. "The two things that are absolutely necessary to ensure public health -- clean drinking water and proper sewage systems -- simply are not available in the east bank area of New Orleans at this time," said Dr. Fred Cerise, secretary for the state Department of Health and Hospitals. "People who re-enter the city may be exposed to diseases such as E. coli, salmonella or diarrhea illness if they do not allow time for the necessary inspections to ensure public health and safety," Cerise said. Many residents of the city have returned ahead of Nagin's official timeline, and the mayor appeared eager Wednesday to get more of them back. Nagin complained that state opposition was feeding a misperception about New Orleans, saying: "We're fighting this national impression that we're tainted, we're not ready." Yet a handout from the mayor's office to returning motorists struck a more cautious tone than Nagin himself. Police and National Guardsmen handed out notices to each arriving vehicle which described the sorry state of affairs: "You are entering the city of New Orleans at your own risk," it reads, before going on to detail potential health hazards from water, soil and air, and advising residents to bring in food and drinking water, batteries and other needed items. Returning motorists were advised to "drive slowly and carefully and be observant to any road obstructions which might block the way; do not drive through water where any utility line (electric or telephone) is laying in the street. Do not touch or try to remove such wires. Stay away from them." Nagin also noted that telephone service was still 'mostly non-existent' in much of the city, and where it existed, service was 'spotty' at best. People who are aquainted with the specifics of telephony said what that meant was that corrosion had damaged much equipment and excessive water from Rita and Katrina caused a lot of 'crosstalk' and noisy lines, in addition to 'traffic jams' on fewer than normal circuits; frequent disconnects, etc. Bell officals told Associated Press that lines were being restored 'on a daily basis'. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Juan A. Lozano Subject: FEMA Under Fire Again, This Time For Rita Effort Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 19:29:39 -0500 By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press Writer Saying they were caught off-guard by the number of people in need, FEMA officials closed a relief center early on Wednesday after some of the hundreds of hurricane victims in line began fainting in triple-digit heat. The midday closing of the Houston disaster relief center came as officials in areas hit hardest by Hurricane Rita criticized FEMA's response to the storm, with one calling for a commission to examine the emergency response. Across southeastern Texas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency delivered ice, water and packaged meals to residents who rode out last week's hurricane, which blew ashore at Sabine Pass in East Texas early Saturday. But the agency was not ready for the roughly 1,500 people displaced by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina who sought help at the Houston center when it reopened Wednesday. The center, offering help from a variety government and private organizations, initially opened for Katrina refugees. It closed last week when Houston was evacuated before Rita. The line started forming Tuesday night, and as temperatures reached record highs, some people fainted and had to be carried off by police and other refugees. FEMA spokesman Justin Dombrowski said the agency closed the center for the day because of the heat and the unexpectedly large crowds. Those already in line were allowed to enter. The center was expected to reopen Thursday morning. Frances Deculus, 65, of Beaumont got in line at 3 a.m. and emerged shortly before the center shut down. She said that all she was able to do was register for FEMA assistance, and that she will have to return to actually get any help. "We don't know what to do. It's frustrating. We have five small children," said Deculus, who is staying in a Houston hotel with 12 other relatives. Dombrowski said FEMA is asking refugees who do not need help right away to wait a few days. He also encouraged refugees to register with FEMA by telephone or the Internet. Local officials, including Port Arthur Mayor Oscar Ortiz and Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith, whose county includes Beaumont, said FEMA's response has been inadequate. Griffith said he has asked Gov. Rick Perry to set up a commission to study the emergency response to Rita. Congress is holding hearings this week on the federal government's response to Katrina. FEMA spokesman Ross Fredenburg in Austin said communications between Austin and rural East Texas have been troubled, in part because of power problems. But he said FEMA had set up 27 distribution points in 27 southeastern Texas cities. "I don't know what could have been done better since the materials were in place before the hurricane," Fredenburg said. "We're doing everything we can to get water and ice to whomever remains." Perry, meanwhile, issued an emergency order allowing the utility Entergy to immediately erect temporary lines and plug into the Houston area's power supply to get electricity flowing to the hardest hit areas. But it could take three to four weeks to restore power to those areas of southeast Texas where nearly all transmission lines are down and homes are so damaged they can't safely receive electricity, said Paul Hudson, chairman of the state's Public Utility Commission. In rural Tyler County, north of Beaumont, volunteer firefighters distributed food, water and ice to hundreds of residents trapped in their homes by fuel shortages or by huge fallen trees blocking the one-lane, dirt roads out. Firefighters are climbing over the trees to get to stranded residents until crews can cut the debris away, said Roger McGee, a firefighter. McGee said the firefighters had been collecting the supplies on their own until Tuesday, when FEMA showed up to give them meals, water and ice to distribute. "We're tired. We're wore out, but we ain't giving up," McGee said. Ortiz said he expects to allow residents back into Port Arthur by the weekend, even though as of Wednesday, the industrial town of about 58,000 had no power, telephone, water or sewer service. Ortiz said it could take three to five weeks to fully restore electricity and phones. Associated Press writers Pam Easton in Tyler County and Abe Levy in Port Arthur contributed to this report. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more news headlines and stories from Associated Press please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: US Congress Told to Wait on File Sharing Action Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 22:07:05 -0500 Congress should probably wait and see how lower courts apply a recent landmark Supreme Court ruling on file-sharing networks before trying to legislate on the subject, the U.S. official in charge of copyrights said on Wednesday. The Supreme Court's decision in June that anyone who distributes a device used to infringe copyright is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by others may well have resolved questions about boundary-setting in file-sharing networks for now, said Marybeth Peters, the U.S. Register of Copyrights. But the Supreme Court also sent the case back to a lower court for further action on whether the file-sharing networks encouraged its users into infringing action. "It may be that legislation should be enacted, but my own preference would be to see how the courts deal with this at this time," Peters told the Senate Judiciary Committee. The ruling to date has caused a ripple effect among file-sharing services. Several have curtailed operations or sought to align themselves with legitimate business partners. The president of the developer of the popular file-sharing site eDonkey testified on Wednesday that he expected all existing open peer-to-peer companies in the United States to cease operating in coming months due to the legal uncertainty surrounding their operations. He warned there was a danger of driving all peer-to-peer networks offshore, but said his company would comply with a cease-and-desist letter it had received from the trade group Recording Industry Association of America. "The direction we're headed in is compliance rather than litigation," Sam Yagan, president of MetaMachine Inc., developer and distributor of eDonkey. "Because we cannot afford to fight a lawsuit, even one we think we would win, we have instead prepared to convert eDonkey's user base to an online content retailer operating in a 'closed' P2P (peer-to-peer) environment," he said in testimony. He told reporters after the hearing he had been talking with Ali Aydar, the chief operating officer of SNOCAP Inc., a company formed by Napster founder Shawn Fanning to enable authorized digital distribution of content through peer-to-peer service. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Sinead Carew Subject: Top US Service Cingular to Sell Nokia E-Mail Phone Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 22:08:20 -0500 By Sinead Carew Nokia, the world's mobile phone leader, said on Wednesday No. 1 U.S. mobile service Cingular Wireless will sell Nokia's top-of-the line computer phone and Blackberry e-mail pager. The deal with Cingular gives Nokia's 9300 line of phones a leg into the U.S. market, where rival Palm Inc. Treos and Blackberry phones from Canada's Research In Motion Ltd. are in hot demand among business professionals. It also helps raise the profile of Finland's Nokia in a region where it trails Motorola Inc., the No. 2 maker of mobile handsets worldwide, but the leading U.S. supplier. "This is extremely important. This takes them out of the airplane magazine and into a great distribution channel," Yankee Group analyst John Jackson said. But he added that the device's success would depend largely on how aggressively Cingular promotes it to its business customers. "It's not something that's going to fly off retail shelves," he said. Nokia's 9300 phone, which was introduced earlier this year and is part of a line that has long been available in Europe, is sleeker and more compact than a bulky predecessor nicknamed "the brick." The device will include Research In Motion's popular Blackberry e-mail software in a bid to compete against an upcoming Treo phone that will run Microsoft Corp. software. It also will compete against "Q," an ultra-slim device due from Motorola that also uses Microsoft software. Nokia's 9300 is based on software from Symbian, a European-centered consortium that is controlled by Nokia. Analysts forecast more than 20 million computer-like phones will be sold this year, a tiny fraction of the more than 700 million mobile phones expected to be sold this year. But this so-called "smartphone" category is expected to grow rapidly to 170 million units a year in about five years. Cingular is the wireless venture of SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp.. Its biggest rival Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc, said this week it would sell the new Treo, which will ship early next year. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Andrew Brandt Subject: Can't Trust Spyware Protection? Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 22:10:44 -0500 by Andrew Brandt The next time you run a scan with your anti-spyware tool, it might miss some programs. Some adware companies, arguing that their software is benign, have petitioned anti-spyware firms to stop warning consumers about their software. Other companies have resorted to sending cease-and-desist letters that threaten legal action. In the past year, at least two anti-spyware firms' products temporarily stopped detecting certain kinds of adware -- a process called delisting. Last year, Lavasoft (maker of Ad-Aware) delisted advertising software WhenU from its detection database. Lavasoft said the delisting happened as the result of an employee error, and the company quickly added WhenU back to Ad-Aware's detection list. Computer Associates, which makes the PestPatrol anti-spyware tool, temporarily delisted adware made by Claria after Claria asked to have its software reevaluated, but Computer Associates later restored detection of Claria to PestPatrol. In most cases, it's difficult for customers to determine whether their anti-spyware tool has delisted anything and, if so, which adware it skips. "When a spyware program gets delisted, users won't be aware of its presence," says Harvard law student and spyware researcher Ben Edelman. The practice, he says, "offers spyware makers a new lease on life, letting them keep users who otherwise would have removed their software." Degrees of Spyware Of course, some spyware apps are worse than others. One spyware program may make severe changes to your computer's settings, while another merely displays ads. Claria and WhenU are making the case that their adware programs don't resort to illegal tactics, such as exploiting security holes, to install themselves. And though this software can be annoying, adware developers argue that merely being listed in an anti-spyware scanner's database tarnishes a company's reputation by linking its relatively benign adware application with far more harmful and intrusive spyware programs. According to Avi Naider of WhenU, though some other adware companies will track your Web meanderings and sell that data, WhenU's privacy policy doesn't permit it to track the search queries that users type or the Web pages that they browse. Each anti-spyware firm uses its own set of criteria to decide whether to remove or detect a file or Registry key related to spyware. Usually even a few bad behaviors suffice to red-tag a file as spyware or adware. One company, Aluria Software, is taking a middle road when dealing with some software that serves advertising. The company, which makes an anti-spyware product called Spyware Eliminator, last year gave WhenU's SaveNow toolbar its "Spyware Safe Certification," and now categorizes WhenU's program as consumerware instead of spyware within Spyware Eliminator. Aluria defines consumerware as "useful applications, often given away free, [which] provide value to the end user, pose no spyware risk, and are easily and completely removed" via the Add or Remove Programs control panel. Spyware Eliminator still gives users the option of automatically removing SaveNow if they choose. Aluria publishes a list of 26 criteria software must meet to be declared Spyware Safe. Other software publishers disagree with that approach. Peter Mackow of PCTools, maker of the Spyware Doctor anti-spyware program, says that his company won't publish the entire list of its criteria for fear that spyware companies will use the information to design a spyware application that skirts every rule. Many others who fight spyware share that position. "The spyware guys want a really rigid set of rules defining spyware so they can then make an end run around [all of them]," says Eric L. Howes, who tracks the spyware business for Spywarewarrior.com and consults for anti-spyware software companies. Experts recommend that you employ two -- or even three -- anti-spyware tools. The more you use, the likelier they are to counter the individ- ual biases of each anti-spyware company. To Delist or Not It's unfair to permanently blacklist a company based on its past behavior, so some delisting is inevitable. But delisting an adware application is a dangerous proposition for anti-spyware developers. In the past, some spyware and adware makers have changed their software enough to get delisted, only to resume the activity that got them flagged in the first place. As a result, the anti-spyware industry has developed a thick skin. Delisting is rare because, Edelman says, anti-spyware firms "stand up to strongly worded demand letters." Adware companies also decry the word spyware itself as inherently negative, so some anti-spyware firms have tried to create terms that mean essentially the same thing, using more-neutral language: "grayware," "potentially unwanted programs," or "potentially unwanted software." But Webroot CEO David Moll argues that matters could get more confusing if the anti-spyware companies try to refer to spyware by other names, just when many people are beginning to understand what spyware can do. Andrew Brandt is a PC World senior associate editor and author of the monthly Privacy Watch column. Copyright 2005 Yahoo! Inc. and Tech Tuesday 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 17:03:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Who Will Control Mobile Entertainment? By Susan Kuchinskas SAN FRANCISCO -- Mobile entertainment is the next hot thing -- and it's been the next hot thing for a good five years now. But phones and mobile devices may finally be growing up enough to support the kind of rich content industry that's developing on the Web. The launch of the Motorola iPod phone earlier this month and the expected release of a Treo smartphone running Microsoft's Windows embedded illustrate that mobile devices may be ready for prime time. The Mobile Entertainment Summit is being held a day ahead of the CTIA Wireless & Internet show, which kicks off on Tuesday. While devices are getting smarter, the business model for mobile content in the U.S. still remains stalled in the "walled garden" model, where network operators limit subscriber access to content, services and wireless Web sites on the operator's wireless Web portal. But this model makes it hard for small content providers that don't have the revenue or business connections to land such a deal. Carriers that enable subscribers to go "off-portal" or "off-deck" to access any available content help grow the mobile content industry, mobile upstart companies contend. In this model, the operator's revenue comes from increased usage, rather than from a slice of revenue from the content. http://www.devxnews.com/article.php/3551571 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 19:28:12 -0400 From: Chris Farrar Subject: 10 Out of 10 For Idea; 1000 for Implementation I was driving down I-95 today from Philly to Baltimore, and for most of the time my GSM phone (which is on Fido/Rogers out of Canada) was showing that it was on AT&T Wireless as the carrier. As I came past the airport, it switched over to showing T-Mobile as the carrier. A few seconds later I received a text message from T-Mobile (subject is "905") welcoming me to the USA and telling me to dial home use 011- or "+" and the number. Its nice to see that T-Mobile is looking for non-US phones and letting you know what to do to "call home", but it isn't set to deal with region 1 phones, as to call back to Toronto from Philly on T-Mobile, you definitely wouldn't dial 011 to start the call. Perhaps someone from T-Mobile will see this and tweak their system so it doesn't send this to Canadian phones when roaming in the USA. Chris ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 18:39:41 -0400 In article , jbradshaw777@yahoo.com says: > Hi, > I am looking for some insight on this VOIP thing. Why is it, seems to > me, getting hot now? This thing has been around for many years (I > remember using Internet Telephony application almost a decade ago), > why is it getting hot now? why does it take so long for it to get some > tracking? Is there anything different now that makes it more > appealing than a decade ago? Because those of us who are VoIP evangelists finally got the message out. I've made a half dozen referrals to Vonage in my office and that's in the last couple of months. When people are paying $45 for basic local loop and find out I'm paying $27 (That includes the damned tax!) and getting unlimited local/ld, plus CLID, three way, call-waiting and voice mail they tend to start looking at Verizon as a bad company. Granted, Verizon is a bad company and I'll do anything I can to drive the last nail into their tariff ridden coffin. In article , JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com says: > On 27 Sep 2005 10:53:32 -0700, John wrote: >> I am looking for some insight on this VOIP thing. Why is it, seems to >> me, getting hot now? This thing has been around for many years (I >> remember using Internet Telephony application almost a decade ago), >> why is it getting hot now? > Likely because the technology has improved enough that people are > using it on a regular basis. >> why does it take so long for it to get some >> tracking? Is there anything different now that makes it more >> appealing than a decade ago? > Sure. It works better than it did a decade ago. Also, it's popular > now because of the perceived value as compared to pricing for regular > wireline service. In my case it was $88 a month to Verizon vs. $27 a month to Vonage. Big difference. It's the only thing that hasn't inflated in the last year or two. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Oakland Calif Conversion From 6 to 7 Digit Dialing? Date: 28 Sep 2005 13:25:48 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor noted in reply on this topic: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Chicago was 3L-4N throughout the 1930's > and 1940's, (that is, from the start of automated calling through the > final cutover of same.) The original third letter (as in ALBany and > ROGers Park) became the first number in the new 2L-5N system, (which > is to say ALBany became ALbany-2, KEDzie became KEdzie-3 and ROGers > Park became ROgers Park-4. When Philadelphia converted from 3L to 2L-N, the third dial pull was definitely NOT the third letter in almost all cases. That is, WAVerly (928) became WAverly 4 (924) and WAverly 7 (927), WALnut (925) became WAlnut 2 (922), BARing (227) became BAring 2 (222), BALdwin (225) became BALdwin 9 (229). In other words, in effect almost everyone got a new phone number. I suspect they did that intentionally to make the change clear. I forgot the year Philadelphia changed, but it was very close to or even within WW II. At that time the Bell System absorbed the competing Keystone Telephone company (which served only business customers with flat rate service and some outlying towns) and had to create more lines from them. In 1943, Philadelphia cut over to the first #4 Crossbar for toll switching. I'm surprised this happened during the war, but perhaps it happened because of the war and the need for faster switching and efficiency. Someday I'll have to search newspapers if there's any mention. There is no index of those years and it requires a manual search through the microfilm. The above 3L to 2L merited only a very brief newspaper mention the day after and nothing the day before, to my surprise. (To show how priorities changed, the introduction of new el cars in 1960 was full front page major news, with numerous side bar articles. Suppliers of car components had ads in the paper. In contrast, a 1982 replacement of subway cars had far less coverage, still front page, but much smaller and no sidebars. New buses get no coverage today but in 1954 got a full page ad by the transit company.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In Chicago, the third 'L' nearly always became the first 'N' _except_ in a few cases from pre-dialing days when there was a conflict. Then, some other first 'N' was chosen. As certain exchanges filled up with customers but geography dictated retaining the same name (such was the case with GRAceland-2 and a few years later GRaceland-7; Graceland Cemetery on the north side of town is a major place; quite a historical spot.) But generally they very cleverly worked around those problems, as with MIChigan-2 and MIDway-3 and MItchell-6. (MIChigan is both the lake and the street downtown while MIDway Plaisance is the main thoroughfare criss-crossing the University of Chicago. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Stealing Your ID Can be as Easy as ABC Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 18:35:40 -0400 In article , monty@roscom.com says: > By Joe Light, Globe Correspondent > Self-proclaimed identity thieves have a message for you: personal > information is frighteningly easy to get. > Tammy Martin, a 37-year-old instructor at the University of Hawaii, > couldn't believe it. > "This is wild," she said. "You can't live your life in a balloon, > you know? But this is just wild." > Her shock was warranted. I had just called her on an unlisted > cellphone number and informed her that I had her Social Security > number, Visa card number, bank account and personal identification > numbers, and eBay account name and password. > If I chose, not only could I drain her bank account and rack up > charges on the Visa, but with her Social Security number, I could > probably open new credit cards -- maybe even a mortgage -- long before > she discovered a problem. Ultimately, she would likely not be > responsible for the charges, but it might take days -- or months -- to > rectify her credit. > Martin was not a victim of identity theft. But the information was in > the hands of a self-proclaimed identity thief. I received the > information during an interview with someone who goes by the online > nickname Bart Maza. He said he is an 18-year-old high school dropout > in Russia. In total, he gave me the data of 17 people. > I'd written several articles about identity theft for the Globe, but > this was the first time I attempted to directly contact an apparent > identity thief. Although I had spoken to many law enforcement > officials, private security investigators, victims, and consumer > advocates about the issue, I decided to go to the source to truly > understand how the identity theft supply chain operates -- from the > time that the data are stolen to the time that information is used > fraudulently. > http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/25/stealing_your_id_can_be_as_easy_as_abc/ What this means is all the data held by the credit bureaus is bunk. They can't even tell if identity theft has happened or not until it's far too late. Of course as I've said before, banks are notoriously insecure. But they spend an awful lot of money making sure you or I never see news that they have serious flaws in our banking and financial systems. Best option is to just use real cash for everything. Of course it makes it inconvenient to buy online, etc. Oh, and never, ever, write a check. ------------------------------ Date: 29 Sep 2005 04:13:00 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: How Come www Has Number as in http://www31.website.com? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA In article you write: > How come I saw some web site has some number after www, how can they do > that? > i.e. http://www31.website.com, http://www52.website.com It's just a name, which can be anything the site owner wants. The www prefix is a convention but there's no technical requirement that a site have www in its name. When you see sites named wwwNN, that invariably means that they have a bunch of web servers sharing the load, and when you first visit the site as www.example.com, it redirects you to one of the numbered servers picked either at random, or picking one with a relatively low load. R's, John ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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 #443 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Sep 29 13:51:58 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id B7F35151F8; Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:51:57 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #444 Message-Id: <20050929175157.B7F35151F8@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:51:57 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:52:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 444 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Conditions Primitive in Texas After Rita (Pam Easton) Life Beyond Earth (Peter N. Spotts) We Swim in an Ocean of Media (Gregory Lamb) Cellular-News for Thursday 29th September 2005 (Cellular-News) Vonage Chooses Banks for IPO (United States Telecom Daily Lead) Change MAC Address can Change IP Address of a Machine? (jrefactors@hotmail) Electric Powerlines to be Used for Broadband (Lisa Hancock) WEP Cracking Tools (apngss@yahoo.com) Skype Signals Online Video Plan (Monty Solomon) Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? (harold@hallikainen.com) Re: Can't Trust Spyware Protection? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Stealing Your ID Can be as Easy as ABC (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: Pam Easton Subject: Conditions Primitive in Texas After Rita Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 10:21:47 -0500 By PAM EASTON, Associated Press Writer Five days after Hurricane Rita came ashore, conditions remained primitive in parts of Texas, where some residents were taking baths and brushing their teeth using water from the Neches River and others were sleeping in tents. The plywood sign outside the home in East Texas where eight Beaumont families had sought refuge from Hurricane Rita carried a simple message: "Help Needed. Ice and Water. 43 People." The evacuees had no electricity, no phones and little water or food after the storm. As temperatures neared triple-digits, adults used paper towels dampened with bottled water to keep children from overheating. A campfire was built to keep mosquitoes away. "The only thing we could think of to survive was to put out that sign," said Tiffany Moten, 24, who was staying at the home near Livingston. "Luckily, we were blessed, and we have a lot of friendly people who came up and brought us water and ice and things like that. We are trying to make it." The Federal Emergency Management Agency delivered ice, water and packaged meals Wednesday to residents who rode out the storm, but some officials in hard-hit areas criticized the agency's response, with one calling for a commission to examine the emergency response. In Houston, FEMA closed a disaster relief center just hours after its doors opened when some of the hundreds of hurricane victims in line began fainting in the heat. FEMA officials said they were caught off-guard by the roughly 1,500 people who showed up, but said it would reopen the center Thursday morning. Local officials, including Port Arthur Mayor Oscar Ortiz and Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith, said FEMA's response has been inadequate. Griffith said he has asked Gov. Rick Perry to set up a commission to study the emergency response to Rita. Congress is holding hearings this week on the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. FEMA spokesman Ross Fredenburg said communications between Austin and rural East Texas have been troubled, in part because of power problems. But he said FEMA had set up distribution points in 27 southeastern Texas cities. "I don't know what could have been done better since the materials were in place before the hurricane," Fredenburg said. "We're doing everything we can to get water and ice to whomever remains." Meanwhile, local officials and volunteers were trying to help residents and evacuees any way they could. In Woodville, Dam-B Volunteer Fire Department Chief Thomas Eller tried to coax elderly residents to leave their homes Wednesday. "A lot of them don't want to leave, but I don't want to give them a choice," Eller said. "I would rather move them out of here kicking and screaming then have to put them in a (body) bag." Eller had persuaded Joseph Robinson, 90, and his 75-year-old wife, Wanda, to ride out the storm at the firehouse but they wanted to go home after the storm passed. "There ain't no place like home," said Joseph Robinson, who has emphysema. "We got winter coming on. We'll have cool weather. We'll be all right." Farther east in Jasper, Jeff Sargent, vice president of an Arizona- based ambulance company that helped evacuate a Texas nursing home, helped run a makeshift triage center out of a church. He said it was difficult for many residents, trapped behind miles of downed trees, to get medical care, food or water. So far the triage center has seen about 300 patients and treated everything from heart problems to heat-related illnesses, he said. Some rural residents said they felt forgotten after the storm. "They are still stuck on Katrina, and Rita's done some hellacious damage up in these woods," said Sharon Lakey, a 49-year-old Farrsville resident who sat in a long line of vehicles waiting to get gas in Jasper. Associated Press writers Juan A. Lozano in Houston, Liz Austin in Austin and Abe Levy in Port Arthur contributed to this report. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Peter N. Spotts Subject: Life Beyond Earth Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 10:29:47 -0500 http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0929/p02s01-stss.html By Peter N. Spotts, Staff Writer, Christian Science Monitor Life beyond Earth? Potential habitats in the solar system keep popping up. 'Munchkin' moon of Saturn is the latest spot that has researchers buzzing. It's an ice-encrusted munchkin of a moon, only 314 miles in diameter. Its face is so smooth and nearly crater-free that it probably got a facelift. It's a satellite of Saturn, called Enceladus, and the latest hot spot in the quest to answer one of astronomy's most intriguing questions: Is there life in the solar system beyond Earth? Where once scientists set their sights on Mars as the most likely place to hunt for such evidence, their list of potential habitats now includes at least five others: three moons of Jupiter and now Saturn's Titan and Enceladus. This expanding list is due, in part, to more data coming from spacecraft scouting Earth's extended neighborhood. It also stems from a better understanding of how life can exist in extreme environments. To be sure, any inhabitants scientists find would most likely be microbes, not little green men. And the case for such biological havens is far from ironclad. "There's always a big caveat," says David Grinspoon, a planetary geologist at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colo. "We're profoundly ignorant about what makes a good habitat, since we only know of one place for life" -- Earth. Still, researchers have learned a great deal about the weird environments harboring life on Earth. Thus, "when we explore in depth with an orbiter and really hang out and get to know the place, we find pockets in the system that might be promising for life," Dr. Grinspoon adds. "The Saturn system is turning out to be surprisingly fecund." The list of potential habitats began to expand with the Galileo mission to Jupiter in the 1990s. That mission added three Jovian moons to the list: Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Now, the US-European Cassini mission to Saturn has added the moons Titan and Enceladus. For astrobiologists, the Cassini mission's biggest surprise yet is Enceladus. Researchers had already inferred from Voyager 2's flyby in 1981 that its smooth surface meant it had gotten a facelift, perhaps 100 million years ago. Fresh material from beneath its icy crust welled up and spread across the moon. But that in turn implied heat to generate slush or liquid water -- and no one could figure out its source. Fast forward to 2005, when Cassini stunned researchers with infrared images of a hot spot on the surface at the moon's south pole. Hot, in this case, is still frigid: minus 183 degrees Celsius (minus 297 degrees F.). But that's 20 degrees warmer than the surrounding area. The polar area also is scarred with cracks that release water vapor and tiny ice crystals. Researchers estimate that some of the formations are only 10 to 1,000 years old. Changes on the surface of the Jovian moons, by contrast, look far older, perhaps 100 million years or more. And Cassini scientists have uncovered simple organic molecules in the cracks of Enceladus. To this day, the heat source remains an enigma, says John Spencer, an SwRI scientist whom colleagues credit with discovering the hot spot. What's generating the heat? "That's what we're all scratching our heads over," he replies. No matter. Enceladus apparently has the fundamental chemical recipe for life, says University of Arizona planetary scientist Robert Brown, who heads the team using Cassini's mapping spectrometer. The moon has simple organic molecules, such as methane, ethane, and ethylene. Scientists see tantalizing hints of nitrogen. It hosts liquid water below the surface. "Add a pinch of phosphorous," Dr. Brown says, and you have all you need to make DNA - or perhaps some other DNA-like molecule capable of carrying information. At Enceladus, this stew would have had plenty of time to simmer for 4.5 billion years and "form some of the most basic building blocks of life," he adds. It's not clear that's happened at Enceladus, he says. "But if we're going to run all over the solar system looking at places where those constituents have been for the past 4.5 billion years and where the cocktail might have cooked into something interesting, then Enceladus has to be part of that mix." As does Titan, adds Grinspoon. Until the Cassini mission and the successful touchdown of the European-built Huygens probe, many researchers held that the hydrocarbon-rich moon was a chilled look-alike for Earth before life emerged. The quest was for clues to the origins of life, not a search for life itself. That view is changing, at least for Grinspoon. "What do you need for life? You need an energy source, liquid reservoirs, and you need some basis for complex chemistry," he says. "Does Titan have what it takes? The answer is: yes." www.csmonitor.com | Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To read CS Monitor and New York Times on line each day, please go to 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, in this instance, The Christian Science Publishing Society. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Gregory M. Lamb Subject: We Swim in an Ocean of Media Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 10:36:06 -0500 http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0928/p13s01-lihc.html By Gregory M. Lamb | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor The media "ecosystem" surrounding Americans -- not just TV, radio, and newspapers but also the Web, PDAs, MP3 players, cellphones, video games, and more -- keeps getting more widespread, personal, and diverse. The world is seeing "a Cambrian explosion" of media usage, says Paul Saffo, a director of the Institute for the Future, a think tank in Palo Alto, Calif. A new study bears that out, providing data to back up the feeling many have that they're immersed in some form of media nearly every waking moment. That's close to true, says a report from the Center for Media Design at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. Researchers watched the behavior of 394 ordinary Midwesterners for more than 5,000 hours, following them 12 hours a day and recording their use of media every 15 seconds on a hand-held device. About 30 percent of their waking hours were found to be spent using media exclusively, while another 39 percent involved using media while also doing another activity, such as watching TV while preparing food or listening to the radio while at work. Altogether, more than two-thirds of people's waking moments involved some kind of media usage. Using more than one medium at once "The extent that we saw that was quite remarkable," says Michael Bloxham, a Ball State researcher who helped prepare the report, which was released Monday at a media convention in New York. What's more, of the time spent using media, nearly one-third was spent consuming two or more forms at once, such as watching TV and surfing the Internet, or listening to music while playing a video game. One theory the study lays to rest, Mr. Bloxham says, is that this media multitasking, which the researchers call Concurrent Media Exposure, "is the province of only the young or the tech savvy." All age groups multitask, he says, though the pairings may differ. Those over 50, for example, were more likely to combine TV viewing with newspaper reading. Younger people might listen to music while sending instant messages. Watching television remains by far the most popular media-related activity. More than 90 percent of those studied viewed TV, for an average of about four hours per day. About three-quarters used a computer, for a little more than two hours per day. While much has been written about how computer use may be eating into TV watching, the report suggests that the reverse may be true as well. "As, over time, the computer becomes a vehicle for more rich media content (often related to TV programming), the line between the two media is likely to blur further, calling into question the TV-centric mindset," it says. Surprisingly, 18-to-24-year- olds were found to spend less time online than older age groups, perhaps because many older people go online as part of their workday, as well as during free time. "The overall amount of time spent in a day with media is enormous," says Jane Clarke, a vice president for Time Warner Global Marketing, who attended a presentation on the study. The study, she says, represents "the best approach I've seen for measuring all combinations of concurrent media usage." Observing how people use media isn't new, Ms. Clarke says, "but quantifying observed media behavior - in 15-second intervals - for a large sample is a breakthrough." The lesson for advertisers: You'll need a "holistic" view of media. "If you're advertising in one medium, you can complement the message by combining it with another medium," Clarke says. "The findings suggest creative ways to combine and package media for advertisers to get their messages to consumers." Advertisers might want to look more closely at less-conventional forms, such as computer software and mobile phones, as new advertising media, Bloxham says. Overall, the study concludes, "From an advertising perspective, there is good news and bad -- both an array of new media outlets along with the challenge of more outlets competing for attention." Defining media broadly, including mobile phones, was definitely the right approach for the study, Mr. Saffo says. "A cellphone is no longer just a communication device, it's a media device," he says, one on which people enjoy music, share photographs, and even view video clips, suggesting that the new industry might be called "Cellu-wood." Still in the midst of a revolution "I think what we're in now is still every bit a media revolution ... but it's a personal media revolution," Saffo adds. Media are becoming more intimate and two-way, he says. "We can answer back if we want." Despite all the competition, today's leading medium, television, won't go away, Saffo predicts (though he admits to being a fan of watching AP news video clips online, which he finds most easily at a Japanese website). Movies didn't disappear when television arrived. And radio adapted when TV came along. "Radio, which had been the centerpiece of American living rooms, reinvented itself as audio wallpaper," he says. The report, "Observing Consumers and Their Interactions With Media," is the second on media usage produced by the four-year-old Center for Media Design at Ball State. It follows in the tradition of the "Middletown Studies" of the early 20th century, in which sociologists observed the inhabitants of Muncie, Ind., which they considered to be a typical American community. www.csmonitor.com | Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To read CS Monitor headlines and stories each day along with headlines and stories from New York Times, please go to: 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, in this instance, The Christian Science Publishing Society. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Thursday 29th September 2005 Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 07:28:02 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com GSM Arrives on the Falkland Islands http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14231.php Cable & Wireless is spending US$1.5 million to bring a GSM network to the Falklands Islands (also known as Islas Malvinas), in the South Atlantic. The company has contracted with Alvarion to deliver a compact GSM system,... Component Order for Chinese Handset Vendor http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14232.php Comtech Group has expanded its relationship with China's ZTE for the supply of LCD module interfaces for ZTE's handsets. The ZTE order from China Unicom will be for approximately one million CDMA units. Comtech's dollar ... German Operators Start Blocking Adult Content http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14233.php Germany's mobile phone networks have published a Code of Conduct designed to prevent access to adult content by children. The code of conduct describes uniform standards for mobile operators to ensure that such content g... Local Search on Mobiles Not That Popular - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14234.php JupiterResearch says that consumer demand for paid wireless information services remains low. With just 20% of consumers willing to pay for directory enquiries information and only 7% willing to pay for local search on t... Orange Offers Best Music Download Portal - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14235.php Strategy Analytics has released a new report which concludes that Orange has the Best in Class Full Music Track Download service in the UK, with a 15-plus point performance gap over O2 and Vodafone. These results are bas... One in Five Wireless Phone Users Subscribe to Data Packages http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14236.php Telephia reports that wireless data package adoption among the top five of the USA's service providers showed a 22% penetration rate for the first half of 2005. According to Customer Value Metrics, Telephia's new wireles... GSMA Hosts Interoperability Testing http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14237.php The GSM Association (GSMA) and its partners have successfully completed a series of interoperability trials in both Europe and Asia -- a major step towards ensuring that the next generation of multimedia services, based o... China Tops Cellular Subscriber Top 15 Ranking http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14238.php The worldwide number of cellular subscribers will surpass 2 billion in 2005, up from 11 million in 1990 and 750 million in 2000. China is the clear leader in cellular subscribers and will reach nearly 400 million at year-... Asia Pacific Will Represent 45% of WiMAX Market by 2009 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14239.php Though WiMAX faces several key challenges in the Asia Pacific market, its subscriber base will grow from more than 80,000 in 2005 to more than 3.8 million by 2009, reports In-Stat. In 2009, Asia Pacific WiMAX subscribers ... Toshiba Launches 3G Handset http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14240.php Toshiba has launched the Toshiba 803, Vodafone exclusive mobile phone, its first combined 3G phone and music player. The Toshiba 803 features an external music player, allowing users easy access to music on the move. The... Vodafone Closing UK Call Center http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14241.php Vodafone is closing one of its UK call centers with the possible loss of up to 650 jobs. The call center, based in Birmingham will close next February when its fuctions will be absorbed by cell centers in Warrington and ... Tunisie Telecom Shortlist Delayed A Few Days -Source http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14227.php The Tunisian government is likely to delay the selection of candidates for a 35% stake in Tunisie Telecom in order to get more detailed offers from some bidders, a person familiar with the sale process told Dow Jones New... Telefonica Moviles Mexico To Issue MXN5.5 Billion In Local Notes http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14228.php The Mexican unit of Spanish mobile phone operator Telefonica Moviles SA (TEM) plans to sell up to 5.5 billion pesos ($1=MXN10.8955) Wednesday in medium-term notes on the Mexican market. ... Mexico's Telmex: Open To Other Investments In Colombia http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14229.php Mexican phone giant Telefonos de Mexico SA (TMX) said Wednesday it is open to new investment opportunities in Colombia, but unsure whether it will bid again for Colombia Telecommunicaciones (CTMC.YY) after the state comp... RealNetworks Unveils New Wireless Media Push http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14230.php SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) - Stepping up its long-running competition with Microsoft, RealNetworks unveiled a new partnership Wednesday designed to boost its presence in the growing market for mobile phone-based... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 12:41:31 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Vonage Chooses Banks For IPO USTelecom dailyLead September 29, 2005 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/uQkIatagCqlDyVApjk TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Vonage chooses banks for IPO BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * RIM Q2 profits up 57% * Verizon inks carriage deals with four cable networks * Report: Cable to maintain broadband lead * Samsung execs see mobile WiMAX U.S. launch in 2006 USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Reserve your TELECOM '05 room now! TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * RealNetworks CEO sees huge opportunity in mobile content * Skype launches Windows update REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Advocacy groups to challenge CALEA expansion Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/uQkIatagCqlDyVApjk ------------------------------ From: jrefactors@hotmail.com Subject: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? Date: 29 Sep 2005 08:10:37 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Is there any way to change the MAC address of a machine? IP address is assigned by ISP. My understanding is that IP address is based on the MAC address of a machine, is that correct concept? Please advise. Thanks!! ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Electric Powerlines to be Used For Broadband Date: 29 Sep 2005 08:44:17 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Recently this newsgroup debated the barriers for entry for new communications carriers. Well, now they are working to use power lines to bring in broadband service, so consumers will eventually have a third independent choice of communications providers. The ability of power lines to carry comm signals has been known since the 1930s. Apparently some practical ways to utilize that have been developed and there have been several pieces in the press about it. One such article is at: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BROADBAND_SOCKET?SITE=KYWAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT ------------------------------ From: apngss@yahoo.com Subject: WEP Cracking Tools Date: 28 Sep 2005 23:25:40 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Many people say WEP is not secure in wireless networking, and easy to crack the WEP key. Are there any tools out there to do the WEP cracking? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 09:30:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Skype Signals Online Video Plan By Rhys Blakely Skype, the internet telecoms company owned by eBay, today moved closer to becoming a major platform for digital content and hinted it could soon offer online video services. Underscoring how rapidly the media landscape is shifting, the news came the day after BT revealed that it will move into television next summer. The telecoms group will launch a set-top box that will enable users to download programmes over broadband internet lines. Skype's foray into content distribution starts today with the launch of Personalise Skype, a feature that means that callers can receive and send pictures, sounds and ringtones over the Skype network. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9076-1803303,00.html ------------------------------ From: harold@hallikainen.com Subject: Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? Date: 29 Sep 2005 07:53:55 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com > In my case it was $88 a month to Verizon vs. $27 a month to > Vonage. Big difference. It's the only thing that hasn't inflated in > the last year or two. Of course, Vonage does not have to pay for the local loop, so there's some savings there. How much are you paying for "last mile" connectivity (cable modem or DSL or whatever)? I'm currently paying Verizon about $25 per month for local dialtone. I'm paying about $3 per month in long distance to another company (about 5 cents per minute, probably much of that is compensation to the terminating carrier). I'm paying $70 per month to cyberonic.com for DSL (6Mbps per second AND they let me run my own servers). I pay $0 per month to http://www.sipphone.com . I also pay about 1 or 2 cents a minute to them for calls into the PSTN. SIP calls (within siphone, to FWD, Google, etc.) are free. I use http://www.ipkall.com to get a POTS number on SIP for free (though the number is in Washington). There certainly are LOTS of options. Harold ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Can't Trust Spyware Protection? Date: 29 Sep 2005 08:02:41 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Andrew Brandt wrote: > Claria and WhenU are making the case that their adware programs don't > resort to illegal tactics, such as exploiting security holes, to > install themselves. And though this software can be annoying, adware > developers argue that merely being listed in an anti-spyware scanner's > database tarnishes a company's reputation by linking its relatively > benign adware application with far more harmful and intrusive spyware > programs. Those companies claiming their spyware is "benign" ought to be shut down and its management thrown in prison. No one should have any right whatsoever to go onto our computers without our expressed (not implied or default) consent. "Annoying" is NOT "benign"; annoying is harassment. The analogy would be demanding the right to sneak into your living room and claiming it's ok because they'll just sit there and not steal or touch anything. They'll still in your living room. Can anyone defend these companies? Why can't the operating systems be set up to block them out? > According to Avi Naider of WhenU, though some other adware companies > will track your Web meanderings and sell that data, WhenU's privacy > policy doesn't permit it to track the search queries that users type > or the Web pages that they browse. So this guy is peaking in my window, and promising he won't share the pictures of me naked? I'm supposed to feel better about that? > It's unfair to permanently blacklist a company based on its past > behavior ... Why is that so unfair? If an individual committed a crime, that crime remains on their record for life and will blacklist them from a great many jobs places to live for life. Why should a company not suffer the same consequences for sleazyness? (And companies don't go to jail.) > Delisting is rare because, Edelman says, anti-spyware firms "stand up > to strongly worded demand letters." We need computer privacy laws so that such 'demand letters' would be laughed at. [public replies, please] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Stealing Your ID Can be as Easy as ABC Date: 29 Sep 2005 08:21:26 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Tony P. wrote: > What this means is all the data held by the credit bureaus is > bunk. They can't even tell if identity theft has happened or not until > it's far too late. Although they wield a tremendous amount of power of us, they have virtually no regulation. They can do as they please. Since it isn't their problem if you get whacked, they don't care. Until very recently, you had to PAY THEM to see your OWN information! > Of course as I've said before, banks are notoriously insecure. But > they spend an awful lot of money making sure you or I never see news > that they have serious flaws in our banking and financial systems. About 10-20 years ago, before the big bank mega-mergers, many modest sized banks (ie 10 branch offices) balanced their books to the penny every day. Every bad transaction was chased down and researched. But when these small banks were bought out into the huge ones, they stopped getting down to that level of accuracy. Once you do that, the opportunity for fraud, either against the bank or a customer becomes much greater, esp if the thief is smart enough to keep it below the radar threshold (and many thieves do just that). > Best option is to just use real cash for everything. Of course it > makes it inconvenient to buy online, etc. Oh, and never, ever, write a > check. I was recently on a day trip and spent about $200 in buy stuff. Most I put on my credit card. I didn't really want to (per the above), but I didn't have that much free cash on me. One transaction was only $4 for subway but the cash machine wasn't working so I had to use a card to get in. If one goes into a bank to check on intermediate transactions they will CHARGE you a service fee; even though you're saving them from fraud charges. Banking deregulation, which was passed in 1979 under the Carter Adm, was the dumbest thing. More recent law relaxations, such as the end of Glass-Stegal will hurt things even more. The Savings & Loan scandal of the 1980s pretty much passed over most of us because, unlike New Orleans, there were no tearful mayors crying "help us! help us!" on camera. The liberals ignored it since they're clueless about money and business issues and their pet groups weren't involved. The conservatives ignored since they didn't want prying eyes into their world. In the 1930s, the business community utterly despised Franklin Roosevelt for his numerous reform laws. Yet it was FDR who SAVED the business community from ruin since it couldn't regulate itself and the control was ripe for a revolution that would've destroyed everything. I just wish today's liberals and unions* would stop fighting the battles of the 1930s and recognize the issues of the modern day. Memoirs by Eleanor Roosevelt and aides of LaGuardia clearly show the mistakes liberals made in the 1930s and 1940s, but today's activists completely ignore that experience. *A union activist came to our worksite to organize and talked to us -- office workers -- as if we were coal miners of the 1800s. She didn't realize the days of the Molly Maguires were gone and we already had things like a steady salary, many fringe benefits, air conditioning, breaks, flex time, etc., and didn't have mining tunnels collapsing on us. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #444 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Sep 30 15:02:55 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 383C114FA6; Fri, 30 Sep 2005 15:02:55 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #445 Message-Id: <20050930190255.383C114FA6@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 15:02:55 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Fri, 30 Sep 2005 15:03:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 445 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Katrina and BellSouth; Interview With Duane Ackerman (Reinhardt Krause) BellSouth New Business Service Center in Gulfport/Biloxi (Michael Walker) Cellular-News for Friday 30th September 2005 (Cellular-News) Bell Labs Details 100-Gbit Ethernet (USTelecom dailyLead ) VOIP Service Providers? (Dan) Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? (Gordon Burditt) Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? (Geo Mitchell) Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? (John Levine) Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? (Barry Margolin) Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? (Jim Hatfield) Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? (Robert Bonomi) Re: WEP Cracking Tools (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: WEP Cracking Tools (John McHarry) Re: WEP Cracking Tools (Gerard Bok) 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: Reinhardt Krause Subject: Katrina and BellSouth Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:31:22 -0500 Katrina Packed A Powerful Punch: Too Much For Any Phone System BY REINHARDT KRAUSE INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Hurricanes, even a Katrina, eventually blow over. BellSouth (BLS) has a lot of work to do to recover from Katrina. The Atlanta-based phone company also faces long-term challenges that are here to stay. One is the rise of Internet-based phone services called voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP. Another is wireless competition, even though BellSouth owns 40% of the nation's No. 1 wireless carrier, Cingular, while SBC owns the rest. Wireless growth reduces the need for wirelines, which can be more profitable. And BellSouth risks being dominated by the two bigger local Bells. SBC (SBC) is buying AT&T (T)and Verizon (VZ) is buying MCI. (MCIP) Those deals are expected to close soon. BellSouth Chief Executive Duane Ackerman recently spoke with IBD about all that's on his busy plate nowadays. Here are some excerpts from that interview: IBD: How well-prepared is the telecom industry to handle a national emergency such as Katrina? Ackerman: I don't know of a hardened architecture capable of withstanding a Category 4 or Cat 5 hurricane. There's going to be structural damage. Those are tornadic-force winds. That's going to twist towers, break bridges, knock down highways, put the lights out and damage communications. I don't think we can build an expectation in the public's mind that somehow that (damage) is not supposed to happen. That would be dangerous. We shouldn't expect that there'll be no infrastructure (damage). We've got to do the best we can to prepare and recover. Being in the Southeast, there's a great deal of preparation we always undertake. Last year we had four hurricanes. This year Katrina hit us twice, in Florida as a Category 1 and then again as a Cat 4 on the Gulf Coast. Year after year, we're involved in (natural disasters). I've been in this business 42 years. There's been something like 53 hurricanes that have hit the Southeast during that time. What's important is the ability to recover networks as fast as you can. IBD: Some BellSouth executives have talked about using a rebuilt New Orleans as a showcase for new technology. What's the business case for doing that? Ackerman: Everyone says (the city is) going to be rebuilt and I certainly wouldn't argue with that. I think whatever they do, and the way they do it, and the sequence in which they do it, is going to have an impact on our engineering. If you look at the network switching fabric, when Betsy hit New Orleans in '65, we had water but not to the extent of this time around. We learned from that. All of our switching fabric (this time) was on the second floor (of buildings) or higher. The switching fabric is in good shape; it's dry. From a switching point of view, the network looks recoverable. (Switches are devices used to route voice and data traffic.) Then, there are our interoffice links. We lost some 17% to 20% of interoffice facilities. But we believe that, too, is recoverable. If you look at the central business district of New Orleans, the French Quarter, a large part of Jefferson Parish, and the Garden District, a lot of it is in pretty good shape. But a lot of the city has been underwater. Will we replace everything in New Orleans? No. We'll fix what is fixable. In some cases, where the outside plant (wiring) is damaged or not recoverable, then surely our facility of choice would be fiber (optics, which transmits much faster than normal copper phone wiring). We will be looking at it from an economic point-of-view. When we do put in new (equipment), how can we further our agenda as it relates to building a broadband platform. It has to be done pragmatically and reasonably -- and it will be. IBD: Does eBay's (EBAY) purchase of Internet phone service provider Skype say anything about the long-term threat VoIP poses to phone companies? Ackerman: My sense of VoIP today is that I don't think the stand-alone VoIP provider -- and by that I mean the nonfacilities-based VoIP provider (companies such as Skype and Vonage that don't own DSL or cable modem broadband lines) -- is (going to destroy) the landline phone business. I think there are places where VoIP can help the eBay, Yahoo, (YHOO) Google (GOOG) search business. The cable companies are different because they have landline facilities. They're able to add it to their video package. When I look at competition, the first and most effective competitor I see is wireless. Second, I would say cable with VoIP. I would put stand-alone VoIP providers today at a fairly distant third. IBD: How will the competitive landscape change for BellSouth after SBC buys AT&T and Verizon buys MCI? Ackerman: I think about that. When I sit down today for a competitive bid, or RFP (request for proposals), from a business user, we have SBC at the table, Sprint's there, AT&T, BellSouth is there, MCI, and usually one of the third-party integrators. I suspect that at least two of those players won't be there the next time we sit down. We've been competing against AT&T and MCI for a long time in our territory. I believe they carry the specialized talents that address the high end of the market. I wouldn't expect that to change. Will we see more competition? I don't think so. We'll continue to bring what we have to offer to the table. Large businesses in our territory represents about 8% or 9% of our revenue. The high-high end of (the business market) is probably another half of that. We don't control (have) those accounts today. But we provide services to many of the state governments, hospitals, regional banks. There are portions of the market where we're well-positioned. IBD: Some analysts say that SBC's acquisition of AT&T will create a business conflict with BellSouth. They say SBC will try to sell Cingular's wireless services along with AT&T's products to business customers in BellSouth's region. Are you concerned about that? Ackerman: Let's talk about the wireless joint venture. Cingular is a big business. It has 53 million customers. If it were a stand-alone business, it would probably be in the Fortune 30, Fortune 35. That's too big a business for me to let fail. Given that scale, it's too big for SBC to want to fail. We're committed to making sure it succeeds. The governance of Cingular is 50-50. What we (SBC and BellSouth) have to say about how it's run is equal. We both have a significant interest in seeing to it that Cingular continues to grow and improve its margins. I don't see anything that would create an environment where we would let Cingular fail. That's not going to happen. Will there be conflicts at the enterprise (corporate) table? There are conflicts there today. SBC has been in our territory a couple a years now (competing for business customers). So has Verizon. In some cases, we work with other carriers or partner with them, depending on the customer. I think the industry is mature enough to realize there are places where you compete, and you compete like crazy, and there are places where it makes sense to partner. You do what makes sense and you don't go around getting mad. IBD: Lawmakers in Congress are introducing new telecom legislation. It's unclear what will pass or when. What would BellSouth like to see in telecom reform? Ackerman: We'd like to see less regulation. When I look at where we'd like to go -- whether it's video franchises or any aspect of this business -- if it doesn't need to be regulated, forbear. We've got cable out there competing. We've got the VoIP providers in this game. We've got all kinds of competition. We're losing (customer) lines to competition. Why in the world do we need to continue all these rules and regulations? Will it get done in 2006? I don't know. Based on what I've seen (in proposed bills), we've got a lot of work to do. IBD: There's plenty of talk about wireless broadband. BellSouth has some radio spectrum it could use for that. What are your plans? Ackerman: We're testing a version of wireless broadband in Athens, Ga. We're going to test it in a few more places, mostly rural, where you may not have (DSL, the phone companies' wireline broadband) available. I'm inclined to believe that if the costs are right, we could get a very effective (wireless broadband) capability in areas that don't have other forms of broadband. Whether it'll compete effectively with a DSL, a cable-modem (broadband) product or fiber connectivity is less clear to me. We'll have to see how the technology does in the marketplace in these tests. Copyright Investor's Business Daily, Inc. 2000-2005. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Michael Walker Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com Jordan Handset Imports Soar http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14246.php BIS Shrapnel has forecasted the number of handset shipped to Jordan by the end of 2005 to reach 1.5 million units (including re-export). The mobile handset market is expected to continue exhibiting phenomenal growth out ... Changing Times in the Smart Mobile Device Market http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14247.php Canalys research indicates that the trends observed within the EMEA mobile device market in 2004 have accelerated during the first half of 2005. Shipments of converged smart mobile devices, namely smart phones and wirele... Nigerian Operator Plans US$2 Billion Network Expansion Plan http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14248.php Nigeria's Vmobile has selected Ericsson as a strategic partner for its 'Roll Out Service Everywhere' (ROSE) project estimated at US$2 billion over the next 2 years. This initiative will see the Nigerian operator add 3,00... Buy ringtones on Skype http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14249.php Skype has signed an agreement with Qpass to start selling ringtones and other mobile content on the Skype web site. The Personalise Skype service allows Skype users with the latest version of Skype for Windows 1.4 to dow... EU Promotes European Radio Spectrum Standardization http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14250.php The European Commission has presented a new EU strategy for an optimal use of radio spectrum in Europe. The proposed EU strategy aims to lower the barriers to access radio resources and to take advantage of the synergies... Portuguese SMS Proves to be Reliable http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14251.php The SMS service of the three Portuguese networks, TMN, Vodafone and Optimus has a very good performance, according to a quality study by ICP - ANACOM. Of the 51,538 attempts to send test messages, over 99.9% were success... "Top ten" in Mobile Phone Sales in Telia Stores in September http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14252.php Two new phones from SonyEricsson debuted on the list of best-selling mobiles in Telia's retail stores during September. The models were the K700i and Z800i, which placed No. 9 and No. 10. In other respects, the list chan... Research In Motion Not Seeing Pressure On Selling Prices http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14242.php Shares of Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) dropped immediately after the BlackBerry maker reported tepid second-quarter subscriber growth but later recovered somewhat as investors absorbed its increase in third-quarter gui... Singapore Mobile Phone Penetration Rises To 98.1% In Aug http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14243.php Mobile-phone penetration in Singapore climbed to 98.1% in August from 97.5% in July, driven by the adoption of third-generation services, while use of fixed-line services continued to decline. ... eAccess In Talks With Goldman Sachs On Cellphone Operations Tie http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14244.php Japan's eAccess Ltd. (9427.TO) said Thursday that it is in talks with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) to cooperate in cellular phone operations. ... Ericsson Signs 3-Year Contract With SeaMobile http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14245.php Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Telefon AB L.M Ericsson (ERICY) Thursday said it has signed a three-year contract with SeaMobile Inc. ... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 13:01:45 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Bell Labs Details 100-Gbit Ethernet Over Optical Fiber USTelecom dailyLead September 30, 2005 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/uUvMatagCqqewhnTeu TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Bell Labs details 100-Gbit Ethernet over optical fiber BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * BT sets 2006 launch date for IPTV * Marketing to mobile phones * Verizon inks Weather Channel for TV service * Report: Cingular to forge ahead with FMC * Liberty Global snaps up another European cable operator USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Reserve your TELECOM '05 room now! Deadline is today! TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * The future of the Web VOIP DOWNLOAD * Some VoIP customers run into number portability snag * Analysis: VoIP business model likely to change REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Ebbers files appeal * Motorola exec calls for better emergency communications system Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/uUvMatagCqqewhnTeu ------------------------------ From: Dan Subject: VOIP Service Providers? Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:13:18 -0500 Hi, I currently have Vonage for the last 4 months and have noticed the quality degrade and problems increase. I am thinking of switching to Packet8, but would like to hear others' opinions. Thanks, Dan ------------------------------ From: gordonb.ian3f@burditt.org (Gordon Burditt) Subject: Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 18:33:34 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com > Is there any way to change the MAC address of a machine? Sometimes, depending on the network card and the OS software. For example, in FreeBSD you might use: ifconfig de0 ether 01:23:45:67:89:ab I understand Linux has a similar ability, and I think Windows XP can do it in a much more GUI-ish way. Some routers have a "clone MAC address" ability. This won't change the MAC address kept in the ROM, so the command has to be re-done every time the machine boots. > IP address is assigned by ISP. My understanding is that IP address > is based on the MAC address of a machine, is that correct concept? When using DHCP or BOOTP, the IP address may be assigned based on the MAC address due to the configuration of the DHCP server (or it might just take an available currently-unused one from the pool). Note that an unrecognized MAC address might be denied service entirely rather than given a different IP. This depends entirely on how your ISP set up the DHCP server. If a machine is manually assigned an IP address or it is being assigned an IP address from a DHCP server that YOU control, you may assign any IP address. There's no magic formula that you can use to calculate an IP address from a MAC address. Gordon L. Burditt ------------------------------ From: George Mitchell Subject: Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 11:50:15 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com jrefactors@hotmail.com wrote: > Is there any way to change the MAC address of a machine? IP address is > assigned by ISP. My understanding is that IP address is based on the > MAC address of a machine, is that correct concept? > Please advise. Thanks!! At the lowest level, they are completely unrelated. In a practical sense, methods exist for assigning IP addresses based on MAC addresses, but your ISP almost certainly has assigned your IP address to your physical line, and changing your MAC address is unlikely to have any effect on your IP address. Changing your MAC address is as easy as buying another ethernet card and substituting it. For a PC, that makes it pretty trivial. For a router, it's as simple as buying another router. But neither of these will have any detectable effect outside your local net. -- George Mitchell (obfuscated email address) ------------------------------ Date: 29 Sep 2005 21:36:35 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Is there any way to change the MAC address of a machine? IP address is > assigned by ISP. My understanding is that IP address is based on the > MAC address of a machine, is that correct concept? No. Your IP address has nothing whatsoever to do with your MAC address. Your ISP assigns it from their pool of available addresses. On my tiny network, when someone plugs in a new computer, it just assigns the lowest numbered unused IP address. R's, John ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? Organization: Symantec Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 18:41:16 -0400 In article , jrefactors@hotmail.com wrote: > Is there any way to change the MAC address of a machine? IP address is On Windows I think you may have to edit the registry to do it. On most home broadband routers, you can do it from their web-based configuration system. > assigned by ISP. My understanding is that IP address is based on the > MAC address of a machine, is that correct concept? Sort of. The ISP's DHCP server typically remembers the IP address that it previously assigned to a MAC address. When that MAC address requests an IP address later, it tries to give it the same address if it's still available. So on broadband ISPs, the IP address usually stays the same when the MAC address stays the same. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: Jim Hatfield Subject: Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 18:10:01 +0100 Organization: Insignia Solutions Reply-To: jim.hatfield@insignia.com On 29 Sep 2005 08:10:37 -0700, jrefactors@hotmail.com wrote: > Is there any way to change the MAC address of a machine? IP address is > assigned by ISP. My understanding is that IP address is based on the > MAC address of a machine, is that correct concept? The Mac address is a property of the Ethernet interface, so if that is provided by a card such as a PCI or PCMCIA card, changing it for a different one will change the Mac address. The IP address is not necessarily based on the Mac address. If you get IP assignment by DHCP (and maybe PPPoE but I'm not familiar with that) you will get a free address from a pool assigned at random. You may then get to keep the same IP address so long as the Mac address of your PC does not change but this is not guaranteed. For example my girlfriend's PC will get a different IP address if she power cycles her cable modem, even though her PC's Mac address does not change. This is a pain because my firewall is set up to allow her IP address to connect to my POP3 server and so I have to change the setting whenever she does this. -- Jim Hatfield ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 12:51:54 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , wrote: > Is there any way to change the MAC address of a machine? Yes. > IP address is assigned by ISP. My understanding is that IP address > is based on the MAC address of a machine, is that correct concept? Maybe. depends on the ISP. > Please advise. Don't mess with what you don't understand. :) ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: WEP Cracking Tools Date: 29 Sep 2005 18:12:18 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , wrote: > Many people say WEP is not secure in wireless networking, and easy to > crack the WEP key. > Are there any tools out there to do the WEP cracking? Yes, there are. Are you asking us to help you crack someone else's secured network? John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: WEP Cracking Tools Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 01:22:12 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Wed, 28 Sep 2005 23:25:40 -0700, apngss wrote: > Many people say WEP is not secure in wireless networking, and easy to > crack the WEP key. > Are there any tools out there to do the WEP cracking? Yes. Any other questions, grasshopper? ------------------------------ From: bok118@zonnet.nl (Gerard Bok) Subject: Re: WEP Cracking Tools Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 12:21:57 GMT On 28 Sep 2005 23:25:40 -0700, apngss@yahoo.com wrote: > Many people say WEP is not secure in wireless networking, and easy to > crack the WEP key. > Are there any tools out there to do the WEP cracking? Yes, there are. But it wouldn't be wise to point anyone to them :-) Kind regards, Gerard Bok [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since no one wishes to help apngss on this question I am giving him three sources for him to review. These are all easily obtainable from Google. http://popupblocker/no-ip.info/wep/cracking/programs/ (and also) http://freevirusscan.hopto.org/wep/cracking/programs/ (and also) http://spamfilter.zapto.org/cracking/wep I hope these help you in your research on the topic. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #445 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Sep 30 17:01:49 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 81A1515062; Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:01:49 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #446 Message-Id: <20050930210149.81A1515062@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:01:49 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAD_CREDIT, BAYES_00,NIGERIAN_BODY1 autolearn=no version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:02:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 446 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update #499, September 30, 2005 (Angus TeleManagement Group) Toshiba Delays Launch of HD DVD Players (Monty Solomon) Look at TV To See Who is Calling (Sanford Nowlin) San Francisco and Oakland Exchange Numbering (Anthony Bellanga) 2L-4N, 3L-4N, 2L-5N Numbering (Anthony Bellanga) Site Survey Shows Lots of Info on Nearby Wireless Networks (apngss@yahoo) Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address (Dave Garland) Re: VOIP Service Providers (John Levine) Re: Can't Trust Spyware Protection? (George Berger) Re: Can't Trust Spyware Protection? (beavis) Re: Electric Powerlines to be Used For Broadband (Jim Haynes) Re: Electric Powerlines to be Used For Broadband (Daniel AJ Sokolov) Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? (Tony P.) Re: When Students Open up - a Little Too Much (Jim Haynes) Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? (John McHarry) Re: Bell System Phone Label Code? (Allen Newman) Re: Life Beyond Earth (Brad Gut) 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, 30 Sep 2005 11:37:04 -0700 Subject: Telecom Update #499, September 30, 2005 From: Angus TeleManagement Group Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 499: September 30, 2005 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** 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/ ** NEC UNIFIED SOLUTIONS: www.necunifiedsolutions.com ** ROGERS TELECOM: www.rogers.com/solutions ** VONAGE CANADA: www.vonage.ca ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Carriers Debate Local Deregulation ** Telus and TWU Resume Negotiations ** Alberta SuperNet Now Complete ** Bell Buys Quebec Integrator ** RIM Shareholders Hard to Please ** Nortel Reorganizes Again ** Ottawa Updates PCS Spectrum Availability ** Telehop Intros Business VoIP Service ** Yak Sales Up, Profits Down ** Telemarketing Scammers Shut Down ** Allstream Launches Hosted IP Contact Centre ** Most U.S. VoIP Customers Accept 9-1-1 Limits ** Report Sees Phone Gains for Cablecos ** Conference Adds Telecom Management Tutorials ============================================================ CARRIERS DEBATE LOCAL DEREGULATION: This week's CRTC hearings on criteria for deregulating the incumbent telcos' local telephone service went into overtime: the commission held evening sessions and extended the sitting to Friday in order to hear all the submissions. As expected, the contentious issues were what percentage market share loss would trigger deregulation, and how large an area should be included in calculating the percentage. ** Full transcripts of the hearings are posted at http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/process/2005/sep26_t.htm TELUS AND TWU RESUME NEGOTIATIONS: On Tuesday, for the first time in three months, Telus and the Telecommunications Workers Union met at the bargaining table. CEO Darren Entwistle has agreed to participate personally, and both parties have imposed a news blackout on the talks, which are being held in the Toronto area. ALBERTA SUPERNET NOW COMPLETE: Alberta SuperNet is now connected to 4,200 learning and health facilities, and to government offices in 529 communities. Prime contractor Bell Canada says SuperNet's focus is now shifting to the development and delivery of multimedia applications. BELL BUYS QUEBEC INTEGRATOR: Bell Canada has acquired The Createch Group, a Quebec-based information systems integrator that specializes in business process optimization. Createch's 160 employees will work with Bell's enterprise wireless data group. RIM SHAREHOLDERS HARD TO PLEASE: This week, Research In Motion made a deal to use a new Intel processor in future BlackBerry devices, obtained another favorable ruling from the U.S. Patent Office in its dispute with NTP Inc, and released second quarter results that showed sales up 58% and profits up 57%. Despite that, RIM shares fell more than 10%. NORTEL REORGANIZES AGAIN: Nortel has reorganized its product, technology, services, operations, and sales groups into two product divisions -- Enterprise Solutions and Packet Networks led by Steve Slattery, and Mobility and Converged Core Networks led by Richard Lowe -- as well as four region-based marketing divisions. ** Malcolm Collins, who has been president of the Enterprise Division, is leaving the company. OTTAWA UPDATES PCS SPECTRUM AVAILABILITY: Interested in becoming a cellular carrier? There's unused PCS spectrum in parts of B.C., Saskatchewan, Quebec, and New Brunswick: it will be assigned to applicants on a first-come-first-served basis. Industry Canada has posted an updated summary at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf08451e.html. TELEHOP INTROS BUSINESS VoIP SERVICE: Toronto-based Telehop Communications, known primarily for dial-around (1010) long distance service, has introduced a business version of its VoIP-based telephone service. Starting at $53.99/line/month, the SOHO version of Broadtalk includes a 416 number, unlimited calling to most of Ontario and the Montreal region, 1,500 Canada/U.S. LD minutes a month, and various calling features. YAK SALES UP, PROFITS DOWN: Another dial-around operator, Yak Communications, reports revenue of US$92.7 million for the year ended June 30, 15% higher than the previous year. Net earnings declined 16% to $4.18 million. Between April and June, 905,000 customers used the service. TELEMARKETING SCAMMERS SHUT DOWN: Telemarketing operations at four locations in Toronto and Calgary were raided and shut down on September 22 and 27, and criminal charges have been laid. The Competition Bureau says the boiler rooms ran scams that offered pre-approved credit cards to American consumers with poor credit history. ALLSTREAM LAUNCHES HOSTED IP CONTACT CENTRE: Allstream has introduced a managed IP contact centre service based on Cisco technology that allows agents to interact with customers voice, email, web chat, and fax. MOST U.S. VOIP CUSTOMERS ACCEPT 9-1-1 LIMITS: Most of the 2.7 million U.S. Internet phone subscribers have said they understand and accept the limitations of 9-1-1 service on these phones. The Federal Communications Commission had ordered VoIP providers to disconnect any customers who had not responded positively by September 28; it has now extended this deadline again, by another month. REPORT SEES PHONE GAINS FOR CABLECOS: A new report from the Convergence Consulting Group predicts that Canadian cable TV companies will capture 16% of residential phone lines by the end of 2007, and 27% by 2009. By contrast, the report says, the telcos will get only 4% of the TV market by 2007 and 9% by 2009. ** For more information on the report, see http://www.convergenceonline.com/reportE.html CONFERENCE ADDS TELECOM MANAGEMENT TUTORIALS: The first day of year's Telemanagement Live conference (Toronto, October 17-19) features six new in-depth tutorials for managers of enterprise telecommunications and networking. Topics: ** IP-Based Convergence How to Make the Right Decision ** Telecom Cost Control Reducing Your Bills Without Sacrificing Service ** Single or Multiple Vendors Selecting the Better Approach ** Transitioning to IP The Megatrade Story ** Managing Change in the Telecom Industry ** IP Security The Threat and Risk Assessment Telecom Update subscribers who register online now will receive a $200 discount on an All Access pass, including all sessions and meals and a ticket to the Telecommunications Hall of Fame Dinner. To qualify, register at Telemanagement Live website http://www.telemanagementlive.com and enter AMBP95 in the "promotional code" field. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-mail ianangus@angustel.ca and jriddell@angustel.ca =========================================================== 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 http://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 jriddell@angustel.ca. 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. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 16:54:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Toshiba Delays Launch of HD DVD Players By PETER SVENSSON AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- In an apparent tactical retreat in the high-stakes battle for the next generation of video discs, Toshiba Corp. has delayed the U.S. launch of the first players supporting its HD DVD format. Instead of being available late this year, the players will launch next year, probably in the first quarter, said Toshiba spokeswoman Jodi Sally. That brings the launch of the HD DVD closer to the expected U.S. debut of its main competitor, the Blu-ray disc, which is backed by Sony Corp. Sony's next-generation videogame console, the PlayStation 3, is expected next spring and will read Blu-ray discs. The HD DVD delay is due to marketing considerations, not manufacturing problems, Sally said. The consortium behind the disc wants to avoid repeating 1997's slow launch of the DVD, for which only a few titles were initially available. Studios and manufacturers also want more time to develop interactive features like games, extra audio tracks and Internet tie-ins. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=52057675 ------------------------------ From: Sanford Nowlin Subject: Look at TV To See Who is Calling Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:37:29 -0500 by Sanford Nowlin, Express-News Business Writer Time Warner next month will flash caller ID on customers' TV screens when they get a phone call, a sign that the cable company is taking SBC Communications Inc.'s television aspirations seriously. Time Warner will make the new feature available Oct. 10 to all San Antonio customers who subscribe to both its digital phone and digital cable service. It will be free, and customers have the option of turning it off. The on-screen caller ID concept is something San Antonio-based SBC has touted as a perk of the video-over-Internet television service it plans to launch in major markets about the end of the year. "This just shows that where there's competition, the customer wins," said Jeff Kagan, an Atlanta-based telecom analyst. "When you've got the phone company getting into the TV business, you'll see the prices drop and the innovation start to go up." SBC is spending $4 billion to provide video service over its broadband Internet lines. It hopes to reach 18 million of its customers -- or about half its service area -- by mid-2008. All along, the company has said it wants the added features made possible by its Internet-based system to be a prime selling point. San Antonio will be the first of Time Warner's 31 U.S. cable divisions to get on-screen caller ID. The rest will follow over the next two months. Time Warner officials said they selected San Antonio because it's one of the cable giant's best phone-service markets. Since launching digital phone service here a year ago in competition with SBC, it has signed up more than 50,000 households. "We think SBC will notice that it's being launched here and in a big way," Time Warner Vice President Jeff Henry said. "This is just the tip of the iceberg." Time Warner will introduce other high-tech features in coming months, Henry said. Among them is a service that lets customers keep track of their bids on the eBay online auction service via a TV set. SBC officials said they're not surprised a major competitor wants to introduce perks such as on-screen caller ID as the company gets closer to breaking into the TV business. But they questioned whether the cable company could duplicate other planned features - from the ability to record a favorite program via cell phone to picking your own camera angle for basketball games. "Caller ID has been around since the '80s, and the ability to bring it to the screen isn't necessarily new either," SBC spokesman Selim Bingol said. "There are lots of other features of our service that will make it stand apart." snowlin@express-news.net Online at: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/stories/MYSA092905.1E.TimeWarner.1633ed e1.html Copyright 2005 San Antonio Express News 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 19:07:55 -0600 From: Anthony Bellanga Subject: San Francisco and Oakland Exchange Numbering In an ongoing effort to TRY to eliminate or at least reduce $pam, please REMOVE my email address from display in the "from" line, AS WELL AS in the "reply to" line. Regarding Lisa Hancock's post on Oakland and San Francisco and 2L-4N numbering ... Los Angeles had mixed 2L-4N and 2L-5N from the 1920s thru the mid/late 1950s. Toronto ON was 2L-4N and began phasing to 2L-5N in the early 1950s thru mid-1950s. and so forth ... Wes Leatherock posted about all kinds of mixed numbering/dialing plans in various cities. There was no real consistancy to numbering plans until the later 1950s when the Bell System began plans to introduce customer originated Direct Distance Dialing. San Francisco and Oakland were 2L-4N thru at least the end of WW-II (i.e., mid-1940s). I don't know if the entire area was flash-cut to 2L-5N or if it were phased, and if it were phased over, how long it would have taken. BTW, when I say "phased", I am *NOT*, repeat *NOT* referring to a permissive dial period. NO, "phased" means that each individual c.o.building would covert all of its own c.o.names into a "common name", or add a new "third digit" to existing names in the same building, on a FLASH-cut basis. Maybe two or three exchange buildings would "flash cut" to 2L-5N on the same Saturday night / Sunday morning.... But it could take a year or several years (five years in the case of the some metro areas, 1955-60) for ALL exchange buildings to each individually FLASH cut their 2L-4N numbering over to 2L-5N. San Francisco / Oakland would have fully cutover to 2L-5N by 1950 (if not 1949 or 1948 or so). Remember that SF/Oakland was one of the 15 or so metro areas that were customer-dialable from Englewood NJ starting in November 1951. ALL of those areas that were customer-dialable from Englewood NJ were on a full 2L-5N basis, just look for the booklet instructions that was posted to the Telecom Digest Archives some years ago. All of the SF/Oakland Bay area (except for some of the more outlying communities which were also part of the customer dial plan) dialed each other on a 2L-4N basis prior to the "cut" in the later 1940s, and then on a "standard" 2L-5N basis afterwards. There were *NO* code/name/letter conflicts! (The more outlying areas that were customer dialable with SF/Oakland had special one/two/three-digit "access codes" or prefix codes that needed to be dialed before the 2L-5N number). I don't have any documentation for the "exact" reason, but for the Englewood NJ customer dialing program staring in Nov.1951, San Francisco and west bay communities (including those north of the Golden Gate) were dialed from Englewood NJ by customers as 318+2L-5N. Oakland/East Bay customers were dialed from Englewood NJ by customers as 415+2L-5N. I don't know if this difference in NPA codes was for routing purposes, or for discrete ratings purposes, or a combination of both. HOWEVER, OPERATORS who called the Bay Area, regardless of which side of the Bay the desired called customer was located in, was reached as 415+2L-5N. I don't know exactly "when" Bell reclaimed 318 from use by Englewood NJ customers though ... I guess by the mid-1950s (maybe as early as 1953?) they started dialing 415+2L5N for ALL Bay Area numbers that could be reached by CUSTOMER dialing. Bell System journals of the early 1950s which dealt with Area Codes, DDD, etc. always referred to JUST 415 if there was a map included in the article. The use of 318 was only for instructions for Englewood NJ customers. But again, the use of 318 *AND* 415 for this situation was *NOT* because of any potential duplication of c.o.codes/names/letters ... since both sides of the Bay could already "locally" dial each other on a "pure" 2L-5N basis (and quite possibly a "pure" 2L-4N basis prior to the mid/late 1940s). By 1957, 318 was officially assigned to the (first) split of 504 in Louisiana. 318 covered all of northern and southwestern Louisiana, until 337 split off from 318 in 1999. 318 now covers only northern and central Louisiana (Shreveport/Alexandria/Monroe), while 337 covers south-central (Lafayette) and southwestern (Lake Charles) Louisiana. - Anthony ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 19:42:33 -0600 From: Anthony Bellanga Subject: 2L-4N, 3L-4N, 2L-5N Numbering In an ongoing effort to TRY to eliminate or at least reduce $pam, please REMOVE my email address from display in the "from" line, AS WELL AS in the "reply to" line. Further, re, Lisa Hancock's post on Oakland and San Francisco and 2L-4N numbering ... Numerous cities and large towns throughout the US and Canada developed with 2L-4N numbering, sometimes mixed with 2L-5N as previously mentioned. Only the largest of cities actually had 2L-5N numbering from the earliest days of local dialing within those cities or metro areas. As for 3L-4N, only four cities in the US (none in Canada) ever used 3L-4N: New York City during the 1920s had 3L-4N, but changed to 2L-5N around 1930 or 1931. I don't know how consistant New York Telephone was regarding the third dial pull letter being converted to a digit, i.e., was it the actual digit that the original letter corresponed to, or was it something different, and if the latter, were there some few cases where the third letter actually did convert to the corresponding digit. Philadelphia changed from 3L-4N to 2L-5N shortly after WW-II, either 1945 or 1946. In MOST cases, the third letter changed to a numerical digit that did NOT correspond to the original letter. But there were a few cases where the conversion to a digit did correspond to the original third letter. Chicago changed from 3L-4N to 2L-5N around 1948; Boston changed from 3L-4N to 2L-5N around 1949. My understanding for both Chicago and Boston, is that in most cases, the third dial-pull letter did changeover to the corresponding digit, but there were some exceptions. There were a handful of cities in the United Kingdom which had 3L-4N numbering. Every other place in the UK had less-than-seven digits (or dial pull) local numbering throughout the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s. These UK locations that did have 3L-4N were the "director" cities, the largest of all metro areas, and also had the shortest STD codes ending in a '1' (or having the only digit of '1'). (0)1 London (0)21 Birmingham (0)31 Edinborough (SCOTLAND) (0)41 Glasgow (0)51 Liverpool (0)61 Manchester. Note that (except for London with just the digit '1' as its significant STD code digit), that the first digit of the STD code also corresponded to the first letter of the town: (0)B-1 Birmingham (0)E-1 Edinborough (0)G-1 Glasgow (0)L-1 Liverpool (0)M-1 Manchester Circa 1990, London split into "inner London" (0)71, and "outer London" (0)81. Circa 1994/95, most STD codes in the UK had an extra digit '1' tacked onto the front (following the leading '0' indication digit), although some completely changed to new STD codes with a '1'. Starting circa 2000, the largest cities in the UK changed their local numbering plans (and dialing plans in some cases) as well as their STD Code -- particularly London: (0)171 + NXX-xxxx (inner London, seven-digits) changed to (0)20 + 7NXX-xxxx (note the first new digit of the eight-digit number begins with '7', that '7' signifying the old 1990s era STD code) (0)181 + NXX-xxxx (outer London, seven-digits) changed to (0)20 + 8NXX-xxxx (note the '8' in the old STD code and the '8' as the first digit of the new eight digit local number) Paris FRANCE also had 3L-4N (later seven-digits) at one time, the change to 7-digit ANC (All Number/figure calling/dialing) took place in the early to mid-50s. I think that ANC format numbers corresonded exactly to the previous letters of the exchange names. In the UK (at least London), they actually numbered previously named EXChanges with totally different numerics, possibly to "force" people to think of telephone numbers now as numericals, not with letters. I can't think of any other places in the world ever having had 3L-4N. - Anthony [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Didn't London, England also use WEATHER (seven letters, seven digits) for the recorded weather forecast at one time? I know that Chicago used WEAther-1212 for the recorded forecast at one time. Chicago began their conversion to dial from manual in 1939, doing one or two exchanges at a time. Then in 1942, with the advent of the war, when the United States government nationalized Bell System for the duration of the war, conversion was halted to be resumed again in 1946. However, in 1939 when conversion first began, some changes in the numbering was done to have 'consistency' for everyone in the 3L-4D scheme of things. Throughout the war, Chicago was partially dial and partially manual. Manual customers could reach dial customers by just asking the operator for the number; for dial customers to reach manual customers, there were three digit codes which connected them 'as though they were manual customers' to the desired central office, ie, '311', '511' 711' etc. After dialing the desired three digit access code, they then spoke to the operator and gave their request. During the war, in addition to '211' being used for 'long distance', '811' was used for 'priority long distance', that is, for government employees, usually military personnel who were allowed to take over needed circuits for calls when circuits were otherwise all busy. When the war ended and things got back to normal, '811' was kept as an alternate way of reaching '211' when 'time and charges' were needed by the customer. PAT] ------------------------------ From: apngss@yahoo.com Subject: Linksys Site Survey Shows Lots of Info on Nearby Wireless Networks Date: 30 Sep 2005 10:23:51 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am using a Linksys Wireless Adapter. On site survey, I am able to see the list of nearby wireless networks. For each wireless network, I am able to see the SSID, wireless mode, channel, security mechanism, and MAC address. It is quite scary because we could see MAC address too? That means people can hack the system? I have seen some SSID that doesn't use any encryption at all. Does it mean I am able to login to that wireless network without any security? But I tried and it says couldn't find the access point. I am confused because that wireless network can be scanned on site survey, then how come it says couldn't find the access point? Please advise. Thanks!! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: First, I want to apologize that no one seemed willing to talk about this to you yesterday when you first wrote me, asking about WEP encryption. I provided you with a few links to examine, they were easily found through Google with the search key 'WEP Encryption Tools'. I hope that helped you out some. Perhaps why it displays these places to you on site survey yet claims it is unable to reach them is because although encryption is a powerful tool to keep people out of your business (I use 64-bit encryption with my wireless card) there are a couple other lines of defense: One is to tell your router/adapter/whatever "do not broadcast my name" leaving intruders to guess at whatever name you call your wireless link and/or your computer, and two, telling your router/adapter "do not respond to anyone but myself (MAC address, etc). By using 64-bit encryption along with 'do not broadcast' and 'do not respond' you do make things more difficult, essentially if not totally, private. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 15:27:26 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when jrefactors@hotmail.com wrote: > Is there any way to change the MAC address of a machine? What they said. There are also Windows programs, both shareware and freeware, that will change a computer's MAC address (check repositories such as http://www.tucows.com). ------------------------------ Date: 30 Sep 2005 20:27:49 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: VOIP Service Providers? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I currently have Vonage for the last 4 months and have noticed the > quality degrade and problems increase. I also gave up on Vonage after the quality plummeted and there was no customer service to be had. After looking around, I switched to Lingo and have been reasonably happy with them. See my page at http://net.gurus.com/phone/ which has a discussion of VoIP providers and links to sign up and give me a kickback. R's, John ------------------------------ From: George Berger Subject: Re: Can't Trust Spyware Protection? Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 16:46:42 -0400 Organization: Heller Information Services In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > Why can't the operating systems be set up to block them out? They can, and they exist. They're called Mac Panther (OS 10.3.x) and Tiger (OS 10.4.x). George I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. -- Robert McCloskey, State Department spokesman (attributed) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Can't Trust Spyware Protection? From: beavis Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 15:54:31 GMT Organization: Road Runner In article , wrote: > Those companies claiming their spyware is "benign" ought to be shut > down and its management thrown in prison.... > Why can't the operating systems be set up to block them out? They can: http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/security/ ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Electric Powerlines to be Used For Broadband Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 22:24:57 GMT In article , wrote: > Well, now they are working to use power lines to bring in broadband > service, so consumers will eventually have a third independent choice > of communications providers. Have you been hiding under a rock? This activity has been hotly debated for a couple of years at least. The fact is that power lines are not designed to conduct high frequency signals, so they work more as antennas than as conductors. The result of broadband over power lines (BPL) is to create a high level of pollution of the high frequency radio spectrum. Radio amateurs have made the most noise about this, since they stand to lose the use of the HF spectrum; but shortwave radio listeners and business and government users of the spectrum are also complaining. The FCC seems to be taking a position that it is OK to foster the growth of a new business rather than to protect the existing radio users. Field trials have been done here and there and have shown that the radio interference potential of this activity is serious. There is also the possibility that nearby radio transmitters will disrupt operation of the BPL system. It's not something you want to invest your savings in. jhhaynes at earthlink dot net ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 02:29:34 +0200 From: Daniel AJ Sokolov Subject: Re: Electric Powerlines to be Used For Broadband am 29.09.2005 17:44 schrieb hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com: > Recently this newsgroup debated the barriers for entry for new > communications carriers. > Well, now they are working to use power lines to bring in broadband > service, so consumers will eventually have a third independent choice > of communications providers. > The ability of power lines to carry comm signals has been known since > the 1930s. Apparently some practical ways to utilize that have been > developed and there have been several pieces in the press about it. And it is a technological dead end. First, the effort to make it happen is big. You have to lay fibre to the transformation substation closest to the user. Still, the bandwith isn't very good. And, last but not least, the wires are unshielded. So they are acting like *huge* antennas - emitting a lot of garbage waves and flooding big parts of the frequency spectrum. Radio traffic often is disturbed, and, of course, you neighbours can easily listen in on what your doing - more easily than with Wi-Fi. Daniel AJ My e-mail-address is sokolov [at] gmx dot net ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Why is VOIP Getting Hot Now? Organization: ATCC Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 17:37:26 -0400 In article , harold@hallikainen.com says: >> In my case it was $88 a month to Verizon vs. $27 a month to >> Vonage. Big difference. It's the only thing that hasn't inflated in >> the last year or two. > Of course, Vonage does not have to pay for the local loop, so there's > some savings there. How much are you paying for "last mile" > connectivity (cable modem or DSL or whatever)? I'm currently paying > Verizon about $25 per month for local dialtone. I'm paying about $3 > per month in long distance to another company (about 5 cents per > minute, probably much of that is compensation to the terminating > carrier). I'm paying $70 per month to cyberonic.com for DSL (6Mbps per > second AND they let me run my own servers). I pay $0 per month to > http://www.sipphone.com . I also pay about 1 or 2 cents a minute to > them for calls into the PSTN. SIP calls (within siphone, to FWD, > Google, etc.) are free. I use http://www.ipkall.com to get a POTS > number on SIP for free (though the number is in Washington). > There certainly are LOTS of options. > Harold I justify it by the fact that I've had the net connection and paid the $35 a month for it for several years. So not only do I get to use the phone but I get to play on the net. Could it get any better? ------------------------------ Subject: Re: When Students Open up - a Little Too Much; Colleges Cite Risks Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 22:12:33 GMT Some years back I worked in computer administration for a university. At that time we allowed students to pick their own login names. At first the accounts were created by a manual process, so the secretaries who handled the work were given veto power over names they considered too raw. Which turned it into a game of just how spicy a name you could invent and still get it past the secretaries. Later the process was automated. Students were warned at the outset that it was very hard to change a name -- later we instituted a fee of something like $25 for name changes. And still every year we would get several requests for name changes, along the lines of "My parents just got email capability, so I don't want them to see the name I have been using among my friends." We also quit doing file backups on the mail server machines, figuring that people have the expectation that when they delete email it is gone. If they store it in their home directories and later delete it, then it will be on the backups for their home directories prior to deletion; but at least if they deleted it immediately on reading it it would indeed be gone. jhhaynes at earthlink dot net ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 00:06:48 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 12:05:40 -0700, hancock4 wrote: > Several years ago I signed up for the big PC Expo show in New York > City. I included my real email address. > Since then I have received many advertisements for subsequent > technology shows and from various vendors. Early on I sent in a > request to remove my name; that request was ignored. > The promotors of PC Expo are not some "fly by night" basement outfit, > they are supposedly a legitimate organization. But I am angry that > they released my email (which was required) to outsiders and that I > continue to get spam from them. The latest spam came from: ITD > Holdings > Any suggestions? Kill file them and their vendors. Report them as spammers to your email provider and to the various blacklist maintainers, if you feel like it. Just because they are a large outfit doesn't mean they don't carry on some sleazy business practices. Being wealthy doesn't mean you aren't trash. Nor does being poor and unknown mean you are. ------------------------------ From: Allen Newman Subject: Re: Bell System Phone Label Code? Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 06:42:35 -0500 That's a pretty good guess. I saw a touch-tone wall phone that's still hard-wired (non modular) where Ma Bell put it and still has its original number card (this one happens to be a card, not a sticker), and sure enough there's no M on it. This phone is in Northwestern Bell territory and was probably installed between 1967 and 1969 based on it being touch-tone and not having the 1969-present Bell logo on it. If it stands for Modular, I wonder if it's sort of a disclaimer, since the reality of a modular phone is that it's far easier to move it, therefore there's more of a chance that the number card/sticker could be wrong if the customer connected the phone to a different line. I don't think all telcos used the M, though. I'm seeing the non-M layout on some modular phones on ebay. In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > Allen Newman wrote: >> On the number cards/labels affixed to latter-decades' Bell System >> phones, there was a letter M stamped like this: > Could it have meant "modular" since that number card was intended for > modular phones installed by the customer? They used to give them out > at Phone Center stores. > I didn't care for them since it was a sticker, not a card. Admittedly, > for most people that what was best. However, since I knew how to open > a dial, I wanted a card to mount behind it and didn't want some sticker > fouling my dial. Also, they used a stamper that was in relatively > small type size compared to the bigger size used by traditional > installers. Of course all they had was all-number, no letters. In our > area, we were still using letters in a limited manner. To this day, > the official internal identifier for telephone districts in our area > was the old exchange name from way back. ------------------------------ From: Brad Guth Subject: Re: Life Beyond Earth Date: 30 Sep 2005 08:18:11 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Peter N. Spotts, This "Life beyond Earth?" is yet another very nicely composed article. However, I've also noticed as to how nicely you've avoided the nearest of such orbs as having been perfectly good for another chapter or two within your "Life beyond Earth" topic, that are by far the most humanly accessible and should perhaps remain as keen interest to humanity for less than a penny on the dollar. Not that most folks these days have been all that media focused but perhaps you'd be, in the potential of such other life that's highly ETI worthy about Venus or, perhaps closest to home being that of our own DNA/RNA and thus microbe worthy aspects as to the icy proto-moon of sequestered life that was obtained from our very own moon? Therefore, instead of further suggesting to your readers that we should be looking and thus funding into the sorts of places that are so gosh darn far away and thereby nearly if not entirely inaccessible to humans, and certainly otherwise horrifically spendy and time consuming even for robotics, it seems that another message could be shared as to where our vast oceans most likely came from, and of the vast numbers of extremely complex life within which needs another honest look-see as to whatever an icy proto-moon could have easily accomplished. Are you and of your readers up for the task of an icy proto-moon or that of Venus? Of course, scientifically and probability wise there's been yet another strong possibility that's entirely within the lines, that the origin of our moon and Venus could have once upon a time been closely related to one another. Regards, Brad Guth ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 #446 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Oct 1 16:33:08 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id C38E0150BE; Sat, 1 Oct 2005 16:33:07 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #447 Message-Id: <20051001203307.C38E0150BE@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 16:33:07 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.7 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, BODY_ENHANCEMENT,DIET_1,DRUGS_ERECTILE autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 1 Oct 2005 16:33:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 447 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson State of the Internet, 2005 (TELECOM Digest Editor) 'Ethical Hacker' Reveals Trade Secrets (Daniel Sieberg) Hackers Shift to Financial Gain (Daniel Siedberg) EU Wants Shared Control of Internet (Aoife White) United States Says No! Internet is Ours (Bradley S. Klapper) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: State of the Internet, 2005 Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 14:28:36 EDT From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) A look at the internet as it stands now, in 2005, from a compilation originally prepared by CNN.com: Spam: "Spam," a slang term for unsolicited e-mail, is a multimillion-dollar business and a daily nuisance to people the world over. E-mails with subject lines such as "Miracle weight loss drug!" and "Get Viagra cheap!" flood inboxes -- along with e-mail to enlarge your penis -- waste time and irritate Internet users. Spam now accounts for 80-95 percent of all e-mail, depending on whose estimate you wish to accept. Despite the passage of anti-spam laws, the volume of spam has overtaken other e-mail. According to IBM, three in four e-mails sent in February 2005 were spam, inventive spammers constantly change their methods to defeat even the most sophisticated e-mail filters, so the ratio of spam to. Hoaxes, rumors and urban legends Bill Gates is giving away free money! Muggers at malls are using perfume to render victims unconscious! A cafe at an upscale department store charged a woman $250 for a cookie recipe! Urban legends like these make the rounds of inboxes every day, and every day someone is duped into believing the rumor and forwarding it. According to Snopes.com, which identifies and tracks urban legends, the Bill Gates rumor, which began making the rounds in 1997, is still the most circulated urban legend on the Internet. Experts advise checking your facts before forwarding messages to your friends and family. Want to know if an item is true? Check out one of the many Web sites devoted to investigating and debunking urban myths and legends. Chain letters "Forward this message to 10 people and DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN!" the writer implores. Messages like these have been pouring into inboxes since the inception of e-mail -- taking the old-fashioned chain letter from the post office to cyberspace. Chain letters are a particularly annoying form of spam because they often come from friends and promise negative consequences for not forwarding the message (bad luck or a lost chance at riches, for example). Choosing to forward a message, however, could get you in trouble. Many people don't know it is illegal to start or forward an e-mail chain letter that promises any kind of return. Anyone doing so could be prosecuted for mail fraud. Pop ups/pop unders: It's practically impossible to surf the Web without encountering some form of advertising. It's big business, totaling more than $2.8 billion in just the first quarter of 2005. Many savvy surfers have strategies to tune them out or ignore them, but when the ads are unexpected or disruptive, tempers flare. The advent of pop-up blockers has some predicting the death of this form of advertising. Until that happens, software to block ads and pop-ups is available, but advertisers are constantly inventing new ways to circumvent techniques intended to block their ads. How-to Lessons: Want to know how to grow cannabis? What are the ingredients for a Molotov cocktail? What's the best strategy to successfully shoplift? Web surfers can get just about any kind of information, including bomb-making manuals, recipes for illegal drugs and even a step-by-step guide to becoming anorexic. To date, efforts to regulate controversial sites like these have failed. The lack of regulation may be a victory for free speech, but is it compromising public safety? As technology improves and more people embrace the Internet, the question of freedom of speech versus public safety is sure to persist. Piracy (file sharing): Internet piracy first entered the public's consciousness when Napster burst on the scene in the late 1990s. Napster allowed users to download songs without paying for them, which rankled the music industry. The members of Metallica were among those who sued Napster (the case was settled out of court). According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, a nonprofit research group focusing on the Internet, some 17 million Americans are using the Web, e-mail and other technology -- like their friends' iPods -- to get bootlegged music. Online extremism: Hate groups have been around a long time, but widespread use of the internet has enabled extremist groups to get their messages to a worldwide audience. The relative anonymity of the Internet allows fringe groups to flourish. Hate groups and everything in between use the Internet to recruit members and promote their agendas. The U.S. Constitution protects the freedom of speech of most of these groups and, as long as no crime is being committed, there is little that can be done to regulate them. Pornography: Sex sells, so it's no surprise that Internet pornography is big business. Now, instead of an embarrassing trip to buy pornography, users can just log on the Net and access millions of racy images -- all in the privacy of their homes. Pornographers keep pushing the limits, catering to just about any taste, fetish or proclivity. The ease of accessing porn has long worried parents, but efforts to regulate the industry have largely failed. Internet and spam filters aid those who want to avoid pornographic material, but pornographers are constantly creating new ways to circumvent them. Terrorist groups: Terror has gone high-tech. In recent years, terrorist groups have set up Web sites to issue messages, recruit followers and share information. Some have even shown video of hostages being killed. On the Web, terrorist groups can reach millions, while hiding in the anonymity of cyberspace. Identity masking and other techniques allow groups to post their messages with little fear of being tracked down. Phishing: The messages look official, down to the spoofed e-mail addresses in the from line, but if the message asks for personal information such as credit card or Social Security numbers, chances are it's a fake. Phishing schemes trick users into revealing personal information, and scammers use this data to steal the identities of their victims. A 2004 study by the Internet Crime Complaint Center found that e-mail and Web pages are the two primary ways in which fraudulent contact takes place. The Federal Trade Commission recommends avoiding filling out forms that come in e-mail messages and that users never e-mail personal or financial information. The Internet has been fertile ground for scammers and con artists. According to the FBI, in 2004 scammers tricked Americans out of more than $68.14 million, with a median dollar loss of about $220 per complaint. The FBI recommends that users closely guard their personal information. The FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center has more tips on avoiding online fraud. Harassment/cyberstalking: The popularity of the Internet has given stalkers a new medium to torment their victims. Cyberstalkers track their victims online, making threats and harassing them. This virtual stalking can be difficult to prosecute, as some states have not yet adopted cyberstalking laws. According to Working to Halt Online Abuse, a volunteer organization focused on fighting online harassment, 69 percent of cyberstalking victims are women, while 52.5 percent of harassers are men. To avoid becoming a victim, WHOA recommends that users select a gender-neutral username and e-mail address, keep primary e-mail addresses private and don't give out personal information online. Spyware: Spyware is a type of software that gathers and reports information about users without their consent. Users acquire these unwanted programs -- often without their knowledge -- by downloading free software or through e-mail or some instant message applications. Efforts to rein in spyware have started to pick up steam. A year ago, Utah became the first state to enact anti-spyware legislation. In March, the U.S. House of Representatives got into the act, passing the Internet Spyware Prevention Act of 2005. Despite these measures, spyware continues to plague Internet users. Child pornography: According to the Department of Justice, the trafficking of child pornography in the United States was all but eliminated in the 1980s. The Internet boom changed that. The new technology has enabled purveyors of child porn to create and disseminate images and video, while remaining almost anonymous. Fraud in General: The Internet has been fertile ground for scammers and con artists. According to the FBI, in 2004 scammers tricked Americans out of more than $68.14 million, with a median dollar loss of about $220 per complaint. The FBI recommends that users closely guard their personal information. The FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center has more tips on avoiding online fraud. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of 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, CNN.com Cable News Network. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Daniel Sieberg Subject: 'Ethical Hacker' Reveals Trade Secrets Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 12:52:04 -0500 By Daniel Sieberg ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- What comes to mind when you think of wireless Web surfing? It may not be security, or lack of it. There are nearly 30,000 public wireless "hot spots" in the United States at places such as parks and cafes, but there's more to consider than just where to log on. The convenience comes with a caveat. "Understand that the information you're sending is very similar to standing up here in the park and shouting out all the information -- would I normally do that?" said Richard Rushing, a wireless expert with security firm Air Defense who visited an Atlanta park to show security vunerabilities. Rushing is considered an "ethical hacker" and works with companies to strengthen their wireless networks. He said many people don't realize they could have all their personal data stolen while checking out their checking account. "It's great to be able to sit somewhere and work without having any wires attached, no nothing attached, but you have that risk that it comes back to," Rushing said. At the park, Rushing was able to log onto an unsecured hotel wireless signal in a matter of seconds. To illustrate how vulnerable such networks can be, Rushing then sent an e-mail and intercepted the entire contents of the message. He could've done the same thing to any of the dozens of people sitting nearby in the park. "At any point in time, I can reach out and touch everyone's laptop at the hot spot, and there's usually not any way of preventing that -- from me touching and looking at other people's stuff at the hot spot itself," Rushing said. He also demonstrated a growing concern called "evil twins" -- fake wireless hot spots that look like the real thing. For example, he said, a hacker could be sitting around the corner sending out a wireless signal. It may look like a legitimate one, even offering people a chance to sign up for service. But if you log on, the hacker then would have complete access to your machine. He said anybody with some tech know-how and the right tools can break into the basic level of wireless security that's commonly used. There are even how-to video instructions online. Rushing said people need to imagine that nothing is truly private at a wireless hot spot. "A lot of the time you really want to stay away from doing certain things at the hot spot that you would normally not do if you knew somebody would be watching," he said. Nevertheless, Rushing doesn't discourage using wireless. He tells people to be aware of what they're sending and the potential for theft. In other words, it's a good chance to read the baseball scores, but even if you're sitting by yourself, it doesn't mean you are all alone. There may be no wires attached, but the convenience still comes with strings. Copyright 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Daniel Sieberg Subject: Hackers Shift to Financial Gain Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 12:54:04 -0500 By Daniel Sieberg, Staff Writer for CNN.com Internet criminals not content to just wreak havoc online (CNN) -- Internet criminals want your computer, your money and your identity. And their tactics are becoming increasingly refined and organized, according to security experts. The prime objective for hackers and online thieves has shifted from largely hitting major corporate networks to gaining control of home desktops, both to steal data and collect processing power. "Attackers are increasingly seeking financial gain rather than mere notoriety," said Vincent Weafer, senior director at Symantec Corp. "During the past year we have seen a significant decrease in the number of large scale global virus outbreaks and, instead, are observing that attackers are moving towards smaller, more focused attacks." Symantec this week released its Internet Security Threat Report. The company says it is compiled from data from 500 Symantec customers, 20,000 sensors that monitor network activity around the world and Symantec's database of vulnerabilities, which includes about 11,000 entries. The report echoes what many analysts say is a rise in malicious code for profit; in other words, stealing your sensitive data and selling or using it. The report's authors also worry that with this tempting opportunity to make money, virus writers will find stealthier ways to disable firewalls and other security measures. "Criminals today view home computers as resources for committing crimes," writes Jason Milletary, Internet security analyst at the CERT Coordination Center. "One resource is the increasing amounts of information of value that we store on our computers, including user names and passwords for online banks and commerce sites, e-mail addresses, instant message IDs, and software licensing keys. This information can be used directly or sold for monetary gain." Online organized crime It's that monetary gain that has many security analysts concerned that the coordination and sophistication behind recent worms and viruses has escalated to the level of organized crime. Gone may be the days when it was mostly about kids experimenting with their newfound hacking skills, though that tendency remains. With the global nature of the Internet, it's difficult to track down offenders who hide behind countless networks and often erase their digital footprints. High-level criminals could be anywhere on the planet and may recruit younger computer hackers half a world away to carry out their plans, each one getting a cut of the action, say law enforcement and security experts. While terms such as "worm" and "spam" have become part of the Internet-user vernacular, people should also become familiar with "bots" and "phishing." Symantec's Weafer explains bot networks as computers controlled by an attacker or attackers to launch harmful activities, such as spam, fraud, extortion and spyware. Symantec's report found that bot network activity has doubled in the past six months, and these bot networks often are used for illegal financial gain and are readily available for third-parties to purchase or rent. Phishing e-mails appear to be from a reputable source or company, complete with logo and language, and often ask for personal data. Symantec found the volume of phishing messages also has doubled in the past several months, from 3 million messages a day to almost 5.7 million. Often, phishers simply are identity thieves looking for victims. And the money can add up. Profits from online scams can range from a few dollars to several thousand and in some cases, much more. In 2004 the average loss to consumers who reported Internet-related fraud to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center) was $240 for credit card fraud and $907.30 for identity theft. In June 2005, two men in the UK were sentenced to four to six years in prison for conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to launder money. Their operation was connected to phishing scams, which netted them at least $11.8 million over a couple of years. Dan Clements, who runs CardCops.com, a service that helps consumers and companies deal with identity theft, said many phishing e-mails are designed to get people to launch a virus by opening an attachment or clicking on a link. If the hidden program, or Trojan horse, is launched, it could then look for keywords on your computer, such as "password," "username" or "login," and send them to the thief's e-mail account. In some cases the phishing messages contain key-logging software that will enable a thief to record all your keystrokes, Clements said. Your data can then end up for sale online in underground chat rooms. Clements recommends changing passwords and logins every 90 days, and getting new credit cards every four to six months. If you receive an e-mail asking to confirm your personal information, he says do not click on the link in the message. Instead, Clements says to open a new Web browser window and type in the link. And then delete the message. Beyond money, the motivations for hackers or computer criminals can vary. George Spillman is a computer security expert and the event coordinator for ToorCon, an annual gathering that attracts both hackers and security professionals. Spillman said hackers sometimes break in to networks simply because they can; to gain credibility within the hacking community or because they see it as a puzzle or challenge. But many times it's more predatory and profitable. Securing your computer "The most obvious aspect is trying to steal things like your credit card number or your passwords to important accounts or, even more general, just trying to steal 'you' by being able to take your identity," Spillman said. "Most people don't think much about securing their computer. They lock their front door when they leave the house but don't bother to lock their computer." So what's the best defense? Howard Schmidt, former White House cyber security advisor, and president and CEO of R&H Security Consulting, says it's not enough for people to install a few security programs and move on. Schmidt offers these tips: a.. Install security patches and keep security software updated; b.. Do not click on unexpected e-mail attachments; c.. Secure your wireless networks at home by turning on encryption features; d.. Be cautious when using any peer-to-peer products, such as file-sharing networks; e.. Educate family members on how to use the Internet safely; f.. Be aware of taking a potentially infected laptop between home and work; Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/09/26/identity.hacker 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Aoife White Subject: EU Wants Shared Control of Internet Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 12:39:13 -0500 By AOIFE WHITE, AP Business Writer The European Union insisted Friday that governments and the private sector must share the responsibility of overseeing the Internet, setting the stage for a showdown with the United States on the future of Internet governance. A senior U.S. official reiterated Thursday that the country wants to remain the Internet's ultimate authority, rejecting calls in a United Nations meeting in Geneva for a U.N. body to take over. EU spokesman Martin Selmayr said a new cooperation model was important "because the Internet is a global resource." "The EU ... is very firm on this position," he added. The Geneva talks were the last preparatory meeting before November's World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia. A stalemate over who should serve as the principal traffic cops for Internet routing and addressing could derail the summit, which aims to ensure a fair sharing of the Internet for the benefit of the whole world. At issue is who would have ultimate authority over the Internet's master directories, which tell Web browsers and e-mail programs how to direct traffic. That role has historically gone to the United States, which created the Internet as a Pentagon project and funded much of its early development. The U.S. Commerce Department has delegated much of that responsibility to a U.S.-based private organization with international board members, but Commerce ultimately retains veto power. Some countries have been frustrated that the United States and European countries that got on the Internet first gobbled up most of the available addresses required for computers to connect, leaving developing nations with a limited supply to share. They also want greater assurance that as they come to rely on the Internet more for governmental and other services, their plans won't get derailed by some future U.S. policy. Policy decisions could at a stroke make all Web sites ending in a specific suffix essentially unreachable. Other decisions could affect the availability of domain names in non-English characters or ones dedicated to special interests such as pornography. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. More AP headlines and news reports at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html (also) http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Bradley S. Klapper Subject: United States Says No! Internet is Ours! Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 12:40:32 -0500 By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER, Associated Press Writer A senior U.S. official rejected calls on Thursday for a U.N. body to take over control of the main computers that direct traffic on the Internet, reiterating U.S. intentions to keep its historical role as the medium's principal overseer. "We will not agree to the U.N. taking over the management of the Internet," said Ambassador David Gross, the U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy at the State Department. "Some countries want that. We think that's unacceptable." Many countries, particularly developing ones, have become increasingly concerned about the U.S. control, which stems from the country's role in creating the Internet as a Pentagon project and funding much of its early development. Gross was in Geneva for the last preparatory meeting ahead of November's U.N. World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia. Some negotiators from other countries said there was a growing sense that a compromise had to be reached and that no single country ought to be the ultimate authority over such a vital part of the global economy. But Gross said that while progress was being made on a number of issues necessary for producing a finalized text for Tunis, the question of Internet governance remained contentious. A stalemate over who should serve as the principal traffic cops for Internet routing and addressing could derail the summit, which aims to ensure a fair sharing of the Internet for the benefit of the whole world. Some countries have been frustrated that the United States and European countries that got on the Internet first gobbled up most of the available addresses required for computers to connect, leaving developing nations with a limited supply to share. They also want greater assurance that as they come to rely on the Internet more for governmental and other services, their plans won't get derailed by some future U.S. policy. One proposal that countries have been discussing would wrest control of domain names from the U.S.-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, and place it with an intergovernmental group, possibly under the United Nations. Gross dismissed it as unacceptable. "We've been very, very clear throughout the process that there are certain things we can agree to and certain things we can't agree to," Gross told reporters at U.N. offices in Geneva. "It's not a negotiating issue. This is a matter of national policy." He said the United States was "deeply disappointed" with the European Union's proposal Wednesday advocating a "new cooperation model," which would involve governments in questions of naming, numbering and addressing on the Internet. In 1998, the U.S. Commerce Department selected ICANN to oversees the Internet's master directories, which tell Web browsers and e-mail programs how to direct traffic. Internet users around the world interact with them everyday, likely without knowing it. Although ICANN is a private organization with international board members, Commerce ultimately retains veto power. Policy decisions could at a stroke make all Web sites ending in a specific suffix essentially unreachable. Other decisions could affect the availability of domain names in non-English characters or ones dedicated to special interests such as pornography. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For the life of me, I do not understand why United States insists on keeping total control of Internet for itself, rather than at least sharing control with other countries. I do not think other countries could make any more of a mess out of Internet than ICANN and Vint Cerf have already made. I mean, just consider how much spam, scam, illegitimate advertising, viruses, spyware, etc -- in aggregate total about half of the internet -- ICANN has fostered since its inception. Since ICANN refuses to do anything about it at all, maybe the Europeans could do better. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #447 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Oct 1 17:34:09 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 7F038150F0; Sat, 1 Oct 2005 17:34:08 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #448 Message-Id: <20051001213408.7F038150F0@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 17:34:08 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 1 Oct 2005 17:34:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 448 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Google Proposes Free Wi-Fi For San Francisco (Eric Auchard) Google Wins Age Discrimination Case; Old People Need Not Apply (AP News) Call For Papers (Lionel Garth Jones) Re: Electric Powerlines to be Used For Broadband (Danny Burstein) Re: Electric Powerlines to be Used For Broadband (Tony P.) Re: Linksys Site Survey Shows Info on Nearby Wireless (William Warren) Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? (Steve Sobol) Re: 2L-4N, 3L-4N, 2L-5N Numbering (Paul Coxwell) For Sale: NEAX 2400 IPX (justinsmith354@hotmail.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: Eric Auchard Subject: Google Proposes Free Wi-Fi For San Francisco Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 12:37:35 -0500 By Eric Auchard Marking its biggest step into the wireless communications market to date, Google Inc. said on Friday it has proposed to provide free wireless Internet services across the city of San Francisco. The Web search company said it has responded to a request for information by the City of San Francisco to test local Internet services via Wi-Fi, the short-range wireless technology built into most new laptop computers. "Google has submitted a proposal to offer free, wireless Internet access (Wi-Fi) to the entire city of San Francisco," Google said in a statement. The Wi-Fi access could be funded through online advertising, a Google spokesman said, "Ads would easily cover all the expenses." The service aims to test a range of new services and applications around the hilly city, which is home to more than 700,000 residents. Offering free wireless communications could thrust Google into competition with entrenched local suppliers of broadband Internet access, including telephone network SBC Communications Inc. and local cable operator Comcast Corp. No word yet whether SBC will allow the proposal or not. An effort by the city of Philadelphia to offer municipal Wi-Fi Internet access services has met with stiff opposition from phone company Verizon Communications. Chicago and New York are among other cities considering similar plans. Verizon and SBC are fighting furiously against these proposals, as SBC is doing in Kansas also. "This proposal is limited to San Francisco and we don't have any plans to expand this community service beyond the (San Francisco) Bay Area," the Google statement said. Confirmation of the Google proposal came after a public "request for information and comment" by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom for ideas on creating a universal, affordable, city wireless network. The wireless proposal aims to reach handheld organizers, computers or mobile phone devices, from the financial district to low-income neighborhoods, the city said in a statement. In July, Google confirmed that it had began a limited test of a free wireless Web service, called "Google WiFi" with tests at a pizza parlor and gymnasium near its Mountain View, California headquarters. The company began sponsoring a Wi-Fi "hotspot" in a downtown San Francisco shopping district in April, working with a start-up outfit called Feeva. If it is chosen for the project, Google is working with a variety of partners to help it set up and manage the wireless service, said Google spokesman Nathan Tyler. Google would work with partners to build and operate the wireless service, including Wireless Facilities Inc., a San Diego company that helps run networks, the Wall Street Journal reported late on Friday. Other companies that responded to San Francisco's request for information include Internet service provider EarthLink Inc. of Atlanta, the Journal said. "If accepted, we believe Google can bring to bear its expertise managing complex computer networks combined with years of online consumer product development, to benefit the people of San Francisco," Google said of its proposal. (Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York) Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Associated Press News Wire Subject: Age Discrimination by Google; Old People Need Not Apply for Work Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 12:42:29 -0500 Google Prevails in Age Discrimination Suit A California judge has sided with Google Inc. in an age discrimination lawsuit filed by a former manager who alleged the online search engine leader had fired him because he didn't fit in with the company's youthful culture. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge William Elfving granted Google a summary judgment on all the case's key issues in a Sept. 21 ruling. The judge concluded that Brian Reid, formerly Google's director of operations, hadn't presented enough evidence to prove Google fired him in February 2004 because of his age. Reid, who was 54 when he filed the suit more than 14 months ago, said one of Google's executives told him that he lost his job because he didn't fit into Google's youthful atmosphere. He also contended that Google discriminated against him for having diabetes -- another allegation that Elfving found to be meritless. Amy Lambert, Google's senior employment counsel, said the Mountain View, Calif.-based company was pleased with the outcome. "Google values the diversity of our work force. The accusations in this case were completely without merit and the judge's ruling unequivocally affirms that," she said. Lorraine P. Ocheltree, Reid's attorney, didn't return calls seeking comment Friday. Since its start in a Silicon Valley garage seven years ago, Google has blossomed into one of the world's best known companies on the strength of its renowned search engine. The company employs nearly 4,200 employees and expects to hire thousands more in the next few years. Reid's firing cost him an annual salary of $200,000 and 119,000 Google stock options with an exercise price of 30 cents per share, according to his lawsuit. Those stock options would have been worth $37.6 million Friday, based on Google's closing price of $316.46 per share on the Nasdaq Stock Market. On The Net: http://www.google.com 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more headlines and stories, see: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html (also) http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/other-news.html (also) http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 15:27:57 -0700 From: Lionel Garth Jones Subject: Call For Papers Call For Papers: 3rd Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation (NSDI '06) May 8-10, 2006 San Jose, California, USA http://www.usenix.org/nsdi06/cfpa Sponsored by USENIX, in cooperation with ACM SIGCOMM and ACM SIGOPS Submissions Deadline: October 10,2005 NSDI '06 focuses on the design principles of large-scale networks and distributed systems. Systems as diverse as scalable Web services, peer-to-peer file sharing, sensor nets, and distributed network measurement share a set of challenges. Progress in any of these areas requires an understanding of how researchers are addressing the challenges of large-scale systems in other contexts. Our goal is to bring together researchers from across the networking and systems community -- including operating systems, distributed systems, and computer networking -- to foster cross-disciplinary approaches to our shared research challenges. NSDI will provide a high-quality, single-track forum for presenting new results and discussing ideas that are relevant to these disciplines. The NSDI '06 Program Committee seeks a broad variety of work that furthers the knowledge and understanding of the networking and systems community as a whole, continues a significant research dialog, or pushes the architectural boundaries of large-scale network services. We solicit papers describing original, previously unpublished research. Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to: * Scalable techniques for providing high availability and reliability * Security and robustness of highly complex systems * Novel architectural approaches (e.g., for specific application domains) * Network measurements, workload, and topology characterization * Autonomous and self-configuring network, system, and overlay management * Network virtualization and resource management * Distributed storage, caching, and query optimization * Network protocols and algorithms for complex distributed systems * Operating system support for scalable network services * Application experiences (e.g., in sensor networks, peer-to-peer systems, overlay networks, pervasive computing, and content distribution) Also taking place again this year is the NSDI Poster Session. Do you have interesting work in progress you would like to share? Poster sessions introduce new or ongoing work. The NSDI audience provides valuable discussion and feedback. We are particularly interested in presentations of student work. To submit a poster, please send a proposal, one page or less, by March 29, 2006, to the poster session coordinator at nsdi05posters@usenix.org . We will send back decisions by April 17, 2006. Important Dates: -- Paper titles and abstracts due: October 10, 2005 -- Full paper submissions due: October 17, 2005 -- Notification of acceptance: January 13, 2006 -- Papers due for shepherding: March 13, 2006 -- Final papers due: March 29, 2006 -- Poster proposals due: March 29, 2006 -- Poster notification: April 17, 2006 For more information and submission guidelines, please visit http://www.usenix.org/nsdi06/cfpa We look forward to receiving your submissions! Larry Peterson, Princeton University Timothy Roscoe, Intel Research NSDI '06 Program Chairs SAVE THE DATE! 3rd Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation (NSDI '06) May 8-10, 2006 San Jose, California, USA http://www.usenix.org/nsdi06/cfpa Sponsored by USENIX, in cooperation with ACM SIGCOMM and ACM SIGOPS ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Re: Electric Powerlines to be Used For Broadband Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 22:12:23 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Daniel AJ Sokolov writes: > First, the effort to make it happen is big. You have to lay fibre to > the transformation substation closest to the user. Which is _already_ in the cards. Utilities want/need better remote control options for their distributed network of transformers, in addition to billing and other functions, so many of them are (hoping to ...) extend(ing) fiber-carrying SCADA [a] to them. Once that glass is in place, you're within a few thousand feet (or less) of ninety something percent of the proposed end users. [a] SCADA Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition _____________________________________________________ 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: A couple things I do not understand about voice communication over electrical power lines: Some say it will not work; others say it is okay. My own experience has been that (a) Chicago Transit Authority for many years (has?) used the third- rail for telephone conversations between control towers/trains/station agents. (b) I personally have tried so-called 'wireless intercoms' between different locations nearby; sometimes they worked (although in a rather piss-poor way; other times not at all. I have no personal experience with (a) but have been told the connections are very 'noisy' many times, and (b) when they worked, they seemed to have a lot of 'hum' in the background. When they did not work (all I got was hum with no audible voice at all) I am told this was because the two intercom stations involved were on opposite 'legs' of the transfomer. Can anyone explain this better to me? I know that the third-rail seems like an awful way to transmit voice communications. On the one occassion I had to see the CTA system in action, I called into the CTA main headquarters phone number (MOHawk 4-7200) and the operator switched me to a supervisor in one of the control towers several miles away for whom I had a question. The connection, frankly, was not all that good. Once I also called Grand Central Station in downtown Chicago to the Lost and Found; she switched me to the Lost and Found in Baltimore, OH, also via the trackside phone lines. That connection sounded pretty bad also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Electric Powerlines to be Used For Broadband Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 19:43:52 -0400 In article , haynes@alumni.uark.edu says: > In article , > wrote: >> Well, now they are working to use power lines to bring in broadband >> service, so consumers will eventually have a third independent choice >> of communications providers. > Have you been hiding under a rock? This activity has been hotly > debated for a couple of years at least. > The fact is that power lines are not designed to conduct high > frequency signals, so they work more as antennas than as conductors. > The result of broadband over power lines (BPL) is to create a high > level of pollution of the high frequency radio spectrum. Radio > amateurs have made the most noise about this, since they stand to lose > the use of the HF spectrum; but shortwave radio listeners and business > and government users of the spectrum are also complaining. The FCC > seems to be taking a position that it is OK to foster the growth of a > new business rather than to protect the existing radio users. Field > trials have been done here and there and have shown that the radio > interference potential of this activity is serious. There is also the > possibility that nearby radio transmitters will disrupt operation of > the BPL system. > It's not something you want to invest your savings in. > jhhaynes at earthlink dot net And if I'm correct, BPL will be a part 15 service while amateur radio is a part 97 service. Part 15 services have to accept interference. So get ready for the fun. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 19:07:03 -0400 From: William Warren Subject: Re: Linksys Site Survey Shows Lots of Info on Nearby Wireless Networks apngss@yahoo.com wrote: > I am using a Linksys Wireless Adapter. On site survey, I am able to > see the list of nearby wireless networks. For each wireless network, I > am able to see the SSID, wireless mode, channel, security mechanism, > and MAC address. > It is quite scary because we could see MAC address too? That means > people can hack the system? > I have seen some SSID that doesn't use any encryption at all. Does it > mean I am able to login to that wireless network without any security? > But I tried and it says couldn't find the access point. I am confused > because that wireless network can be scanned on site survey, then how > come it says couldn't find the access point? > Please advise. Thanks!! Even if the SSID you're seeing is not encrypted, the Access Point may be configured to associate only with certain clients, as Pat mentioned. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: First, I want to apologize that no > one seemed willing to talk about this to you yesterday when you first > wrote me, asking about WEP encryption. I provided you with a few > links to examine, they were easily found through Google with the > search key 'WEP Encryption Tools'. I hope that helped you out some. Pat, the reason those "in the know" about WEP and its weaknesses don't like to talk about it is that we sometimes use it for our customers. The problem is that WPA, although it has much better security, is notoriously hard to get running, especially between nodes made by different manufacturers. I've had occasions where I promised to encrypt a customer's WiFI network and was forced to use WEP rather than admit I couldn't get WPA to function. > Perhaps why it displays these places to you on site survey yet > claims it is unable to reach them is because although encryption > is a powerful tool to keep people out of your business (I use 64-bit > encryption with my wireless card) there are a couple other lines of > defense: One is to tell your router/adapter/whatever "do not broadcast > my name" leaving intruders to guess at whatever name you call your > wireless link and/or your computer, and two, telling your router/adapter > "do not respond to anyone but myself (MAC address, etc). By using > 64-bit encryption along with 'do not broadcast' and 'do not respond' > you do make things more difficult, essentially if not totally, private. > PAT] I'm tempted to admonish you to switch from 64 bit to 128 bit WEP, but it's just a reflex, akin to wishing I had used a code when the teacher caught me passing a note in class and read it aloud. The fact is that _any_ WEP encryption is really just a "No Trespassing" sign placed on an access point: a lock designed only to keep honest people honest, not to keep out thieves. WEP is the "Beware of Dog" sign of the WiFi biz: it's just window dressing for those who don't know any better, and we don't like to talk about it because sometimes it's all we have. William Warren (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Change MAC Address Can Change IP Address of a Machine? Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2005 09:14:55 -0700 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com John Levine wrote: >> Is there any way to change the MAC address of a machine? IP address is >> assigned by ISP. My understanding is that IP address is based on the >> MAC address of a machine, is that correct concept? > No. Your IP address has nothing whatsoever to do with your MAC > address. If you're using DHCP, an IP address X is assigned to the card with MAC address Y and changing the MAC then renewing your lease is almost guaranteed to change your IP address. If the DHCP server is set to assign a static address to your computer, it does so by associating the static address with the MAC address. > Your ISP assigns it from their pool of available addresses. > On my tiny network, when someone plugs in a new computer, it just > assigns the lowest numbered unused IP address. Yes, but while you have that address it IS associated with your MAC address. I think we're discussing two different OSI layers, though. Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Company website: http://JustThe.net/ Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/ E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2005 20:23:22 +0100 From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: 2L-4N, 3L-4N, 2L-5N Numbering > There were a handful of cities in the United Kingdom which had 3L-4N > numbering. Every other place in the UK had less-than-seven digits > (or dial pull) local numbering throughout the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s, > 80s. Local numbering plans with 3, 4, 5 and 6-digits were all in widespread use into the 1980s. All of these were straight numbers, with no letters involved. Up until at least the very early 1970s there were even some old UAX5 offices (Unit Automatic eXchange) in rural areas with 2-digit local numbers. The UAX5 is quite a fascinating system in its own right, and in fact I've just acquired a GPO manual for it dating from 1930, but that's another story! > These UK locations that did have 3L-4N were the "director" cities, > the largest of all metro areas, and also had the shortest STD codes > ending in a '1' (or having the only digit of '1'). > (0)1 London > (0)21 Birmingham > (0)31 Edinborough (SCOTLAND) > (0)41 Glasgow > (0)51 Liverpool > (0)61 Manchester. > In the UK (at least London), they actually numbered previously named > EXChanges with totally different numerics, possibly to "force" people > to think of telephone numbers now as numericals, not with letters. The changeover to all-figure numbers occurred during the 1966 to 1969 period. British dials of the time differed from American in having the letter "O' on the digit zero. That resulted in the disadvantages of not being able to use any office name beginning with "O" and that it was impossible to come up with anything for the 66x prefixes (or n66 for that matter). On the plus side, it meant that a zero could be used as either the second or third digit of a prefix, and allowed certain combinations of names which would not be possible under the American system. For example, London had both MONarch (606) and MOOrgate (600) exchanges. In London, most of the older offices had names which related to some geographical feature in the neighborhood, such as the name of a suburb, a road, a park, a river, or other well-known building or landmark. Toward the end though, exchange naming had to become more creative, and names which were of no particular significance were assigned. The poetical/literary series of office names is a good example, such as BYRon (297), DICkens (342), and WORdsworth (907). At the end of the 3L-4N era, there were approximately 250 prefixes assigned to offices in the London director area. Another handful were used as 3-digit service codes, e.g. DIRectory (347), TIMe (846), and TELegrams (835). The GPO even used UMPire (867) for recorded cricket scores at one point -- You'd KNOW you were in England then! Of the 250-ish assigned C.O. prefixes, about 100 remained unchanged during the conversion to all-figure numbering, including many (but by no means all) of the offices serving the "City" and "West End" -- the central financial and business districts of London. For example, CHAncery, FLEet Street, GERard, and MAYfair all just went to their numerical equivalents of 242, 353, 437, and 629 respectively. The other 150-odd offices were assigned completely new prefixes with a limited grouping of codes within a district. In the part of north London where my family lived, there were offices named ENField (363), ENTerprise (368), KEAts (532), and LABurnham (522). ENField and ENTerprise kept their existing prefixes, while KEAts and LAburnham became 366 and 360 respectively, putting all the 36x prefixes into the district. Similarly, BARnet (227) and HADley Green (423) became 449 and 440, putting them in the same 44x grouping as the nearby exchanges HIGhgate Wood (444) and HILside (445), both of which kept their original prefixes. The new prefixes were assigned such that no new code conflicted with a 3L prefix which was being taken out of service, and in fact there was a permissive dialing period. The hitherto unused prefix groups such as 55x provided scope for changes where a whole bunch of offices was to be renumbered. In fact under the 3L-4N system the following "groups" were completely empty: 55x, 59x, 65x, 66x, 67x, 69x, 85x, 95x, 96x, 97x, 98x, and 99x (excluding the 999 emergency number). A further eight such "groups" had only one prefix in use, e.g. 46x had only IMPerial (467) and 56x had only KNIghtsbridge (564). The 3L service codes migrated to the 1 level, e.g. 192 for directory and 151 for fault reporting. (And in fact the former ENGineers fault-reporting number was later used as the new 364 prefix serving Winchmore Hill, a part of north London in the 36x grouping I mentioned above.) I'm not too familiar with the exchanges in the other director cities, but I know they also changed some prefixes during the transition to all-figure numbering. Birmingham, for example, renumbered some offices so that north/south/east/west/central districts were determined by the first digit of the prefix. They had an easier time making new assignments outside of London though as fewer prefixes were in use. Birmingham had, I believe, less than 50 central-offices at the time of the changeover. I'm not sure of the figures of the changeover arrangements for Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, or Manchester. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Didn't London, England also use > WEATHER (seven letters, seven digits) for the recorded weather > forecast at one time? I know that Chicago used WEAther-1212 for > the recorded forecast at one time. I don't recall ever seeing that number used in London, but it's possible. Sometime after the change to straight 7D numbering, and certainly by the early/mid 1970s the GPO was using the 246 exchange for a range of recorded announcements in London (and some of the other director cities). The most commonly used numbers were of the form 246-80x1, i.e. 246-8021, 246-8091, etc. I can't remember all the assignments offhand, but they included local London weather, national weather, theatre information, and various recorded information lines for tourists. In a lot of advertising in the 1970s, the GPO would use a 246 number on the phone dial, in much the same way as the Bell ads used 555-2368. I know that "WEather 6-1212" (936-1212) is still used in a few U.S. cities, including Washington D.C. (202), Philadelphia (215), and Milwaukee (414). The days of the phone company providing recorded weather information on a local number have gone over here. You can access it on an 09 premium-rate number from various private enterprises these days, but given the easy access to weather information from various other sources, you'd have to be pretty desparate to pay the equivalent of a dollar per minute or more to do so. -Paul. ------------------------------ From: justinsmith354@hotmail.com Subject: For Sale: NEAX 2400 IPX Date: 30 Sep 2005 14:41:59 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com If anyone needs one ... let me know. I work with one of the largest NEC distributors in the country. We offer a 1 year advanced replacement warranty on all refurbished products we sell. We sell new and used NEC equipment. This unit comes with all the bells and whistles. Or just tell me what you want in it. It currently has 300 users ACD. Call Justin @ 800-628-7491 Ext. 7759 US ONLY ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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 #448 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Oct 2 23:53:23 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 136D41503E; Sun, 2 Oct 2005 23:53:21 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #449 Message-Id: <20051003035321.136D41503E@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 23:53:21 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR,MORTGAGE_PITCH autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 Oct 2005 23:53:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 449 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson How to Prepare for One Really Quick Getaway (Monty Solomon) For Victims, Repairing ID Theft Can Be Grueling (Monty Solomon) On Television, Brands Go From Props to Stars (Monty Solomon) Note to Drivers: Lose the Phone and Lipstick (Monty Solomon) Free 411 (Joseph) What is Area Code 113? (IMAFriend) Re: 10 Out of 10 For Idea; 1000 for Implementation (obsidian) Re: Linksys Site Survey Shows Info on Nearby Wireless (Thor Lancelot Simon) Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? (A. Berger -- Onlynux) Re: United States Says No! Internet is Ours! (Garrett Wollman) Re: State of the Internet, 2005 (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: State of the Internet, 2005 (Henry) Re: Age Discrimination by Google; Old People Need Not Apply (B. Margolin) "DHCP Client Cannot Obtain an IP Address" (Patrick 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 15:17:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: How to Prepare for One Really Quick Getaway By DAMON DARLIN What is the first thing you will grab from your home if your house floods, catches on fire or comes tumbling down in an earthquake? Family photos? The pets? The Hummel figurines? It probably will not be your financial and medical records, the very things you will need to rebuild your life after a disaster. If you are like most people, you have documents stashed in various places throughout your home, perhaps some under lock and key. And with your mind racing as danger hits, you are not going to have the time or wherewithal to figure out which ones you need. In any case, your financial and medical records would be such a large and unwieldy pile that you would just say forget about it, grab Fluffy and scramble out of there. Indeed, that is probably your reaction any time someone suggests you get your records organized. But wait. Do not run away yet. New technology is making this tedious task less odious, and surprisingly, it is not that expensive. All told, you can secure your records in a weekend afternoon. Even better, doing all this has a wonderful side effect: it can put you in better financial shape to survive a disaster because you will end up a lot smarter about how you spend and save money. For instance, one of the first things to do is compile a list of where everything is -- account numbers and the locations of important documents. The list will help you or anyone in your family locate things you need for the insurance adjuster or relief worker. (Download a template for this information that you can place right on your computer.) This is really the "if hit by a bus" list that financial planners have been recommending you compile for your heirs. If you think of the list that way, you will be reminded of your mortality and you will not want to write it. But think of the families displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita or by California wildfires, and the psychological barrier collapses. The list becomes a much easier sell now, said Brent Neiser, a director for the National Endowment for Financial Education. "It forces you to think," he said. Here is what else you have to do to protect your records and yourself: ... http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/01/business/01docs.ready.html?ex=1285819200&en=afb8b0c8f19b21aa&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 15:25:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: For Victims, Repairing ID Theft Can Be Grueling By TOM ZELLER Jr. Paul Fairchild, a 34-year-old Web developer in Edmond, Okla., has never spent $500 on fine tobacco. He has never slaked a shoe fetish with $1,500 charges at Manolo Blahnik and Neiman Marcus, nor has he ever bought diamonds online, furs in SoHo, or anything at e-Luxury.com. He has never owned an apartment building in Brooklyn, and he has never peddled flesh. Over the last two years, however, his credit report has suggested otherwise. In retelling his ordeal with identity theft, Mr. Fairchild has developed the acid sarcasm and droll nonchalance of a standup comic - a defense mechanism, his wife, Rachel, says, that belies two years of hell. "Once this happens, you can't believe how deep the rabbit hole goes," Mr. Fairchild said. Indeed, in a year of prominent cases of stolen or lost consumer information -- from the hacking of university computers and the disappearance of backup tapes at Citigroup, to fraudulent downloads from the databases of companies like ChoicePoint and LexisNexis -- the rabbit hole seems to be getting deeper. About 10 million Americans fall victim each year to identity theft, according to the Federal Trade Commission. And in about a third of those cases, victims see far more than their existing credit card accounts tapped. Their private information is used by thieves to open new accounts, secure loans and otherwise lead parallel and often luxurious lives. For victims like Mr. Fairchild -- and two others who recounted their troubles and shared their sometimes vast paper trails -- it can be an unnerving, protracted whodunit, with collection agents demanding payment for cars they have never driven, credit card accounts they never opened, loans they never obtained, and myriad other debts accrued by shadowy versions of themselves. Prosecutions are rare, and police investigations -- when they do happen -- are time-consuming, costly and easily stymied. A 2003 study by the Gartner Inc. consulting firm suggested that an identity thief had about a 1 in 700 chance of getting caught. "It's a crime in which you can get a lot of money, and have a very low probability of ever getting caught," Mari J. Frank, a lawyer and author of several books on identity theft, said in an interview. "Criminals are now saying, Why am I using a gun?" Just how many of the millions of new cases each year stem from the widely reported cracks in the nation's electronic data troves is impossible to know. A study by Javelin Strategy and Research indicated that the most frequently reported source of stolen information, at least among those who knew how it happened, was decidedly low-tech: a lost or stolen wallet or checkbook. And some experts have suggested that consumers are much more likely to fall victim to a rogue employee -- at a doctor's office, say, or a collection agency -- than to a gang of hackers infiltrating a database. But however their information is obtained, victims are still left with the unsettling realization that the keys to their inner lives as consumers, as taxpayers, as patients, as drivers and as homeowners have been picked from their pockets and distributed among thieves. "Once it happens, you can never be certain that it won't happen again," said Beth Givens, the director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a consumer advocacy group. "You can never let your guard down." Mr. Fairchild, Kenneth Wasserman and Toshka Cargill -- each from different parts of the country and from varying economic backgrounds -- know precisely what Ms. Givens means. Their experiences with identity theft follow. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/01/technology/01theft.html?ex=1285819200&en=442e59c391c4c42c&ei=5090 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is a good article in the New York Times Tehcnology Section, and I suggest you may want to look for it in the paper and read more of it: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html (see tchnology section). Also I want to mention a relative of mine who has had identity theft problems in recent months. He says the bank has been on his case about a 'house he owns' (he owns no such thing) which has a mortgage payment overdue. He told them several times he was not the owner (as a result of ID theft someone bought it in _his_ name) and telling the bank is like talking to a brick wall. I suggested to him since it is 'your building' (as per the bank statement) just tell them to go ahead and foreclose on it; take it back. (wink!) It should be interesting if bank decides to do that. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 17:40:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: On Television, Brands Go From Props to Stars By LORNE MANLY LATER this month on "The Office," Michael Scott, the painfully clueless regional manager of a paper supply company, will embrace casual Fridays in his own inimitable style. Eager to show off his newly trim physique, particularly his backside, the character -- played by Steve Carell -- will proudly model his new jeans to his alternately befuddled and appalled employees. And to anyone who will listen, he will proclaim something along the lines of "I love my new Levi's." This cringe-inducing bit of comedy will have been made possible in part by Levi Strauss. The company and the creators of "The Office," the NBC critical darling, are willing participants in the next generation of product placement. No longer are brands mere props on the set or the supporting stars of reality shows. Advertisers and their representatives are increasingly working with a show's writers and producers and the network's ad sales staff to incorporate products into the story lines of scripted shows as part of more elaborate marketing deals. What Hollywood and Madison Avenue euphemistically call "brand integration" was hard to miss last season. Gabrielle Solis, Eva Longoria's character on ABC's "Desperate Housewives," found herself hard up for money and reluctantly agreed to don an evening gown and extol the virtues of a Buick LaCrosse at a car display. Amanda Bynes's character on the WB's "What I Like About You" raved about Fruity Pebbles and competed against a friend to be in the next Herbal Essences commercial. And the producers of "Bernie Mac" on Fox wove mentions of Rolaids throughout an episode as they unleashed the dyspeptic Mr. Mac to rant about life's injustices and his stomach pains. Network, advertising and production executives say that this season, more and more brands will venture outside the confines of 30-second ads. They may have no choice: As technology and clutter blunt the effectiveness and reach of the commercial spots that have underpinned the television business for nearly 50 years, the various players are scrambling to adapt. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/business/yourmoney/02place.html?ex=1285905600&en=232cbf3a10ec701a&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 21:47:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Note to Drivers: Lose the Phone (and Lipstick) By DAMIEN CAVE GREENWICH, Conn., Sept. 29 - When a new state driving law goes into effect here on Saturday, Will Suarez will have to put down his Treo 650 cellphone and stop digging into his briefcase while cruising Connecticut's streets and highways in his Audi sedan. The new law, one of the toughest in the nation, goes beyond just prohibiting drivers from using hand-held cellphones while behind the wheel. Those pulled over for speeding or other moving violations can be fined $100 for any behavior that distracts them from driving -- glancing at a newspaper, typing on a BlackBerry, applying lipstick while looking in the rearview mirror or turning to yell at the kids in the back seat. It is a prospect that Mr. Suarez, 42, like many drivers across Connecticut, can hardly believe is possible. "I'm in sales, so I work out of my car a lot," he said Thursday, after driving into a parking lot here with his phone pressed against his ear. "It's an infringement of my personal freedoms." Drivers nonetheless will have to get used to it. Four years after New York passed the nation's first cellphone ban, 22 states and Washington have limited cellphone use while driving. And in the last year, many of those states have gone beyond merely regulating cellphone use among drivers, cracking down on distractions inside cars. Tennessee and Virginia, going further than most, have passed laws prohibiting the display of pornographic videos in vehicles. In Nevada, lawmakers recently increased penalties for drivers who kill someone while eating, putting on makeup or using a cellphone. In Washington, district lawmakers have banned driving while "reading, writing, performing personal grooming, interacting with pets or unsecured cargo" or while playing video games. At least a half-dozen other states, including Alaska, Louisiana, Delaware and Wisconsin, are considering bans on activities that pull drivers' attention away from the road. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/01/nyregion/01cell.html?ex=1285819200&en=29aaf3a7b8603881&ei=5090 ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Free 411 Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2005 19:43:30 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com New ad supported directory assistance. 1-800-FREE-411 (1-800-373-3411) Before the number is given you have to listen to a ten second advertisement. The service also has auto connect to the number given. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I tried it, it is a national service, handled as much as possible by interactive voice recordings. But their voice recognition software does not seem to be very good. After three or four attempts to find out what I wanted "a radio station, KOSN in Stillwater, OK" it gave up and transferred me to an operator. PAT] ------------------------------ From: IMAFriend Subject: What is Area Code 113? Date: 2 Oct 2005 15:59:36 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I keep getting a phone call from area code 113. Does anyone have any idea what that is? Thanks, DougB [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is bogus, as far as 'area codes' are concerned. It is either some sort of number for special billing purposes, or a deliberatly misprogrammed entry as is sometimes done by companies such as telemarketing firms or collection agencies to prevent you from knowing their real number. PAT] ------------------------------ From: obsidian Subject: Re: 10 Out of 10 For Idea; 1000 for Implementation Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 15:23:30 +0200 Organization: -= Belgacom Usenet Service =- Coming from UK to France on the Eurostar train, unleashes a flood of SMS messages (with accompanying audible alerts) to each GSM to the like of "Bienvenue aux reseaux xxx". Bloody annoying! And unnecessary since we _know_ we are in France. obsidian Chris Farrar wrote in message news:telecom24.443.7@telecom-digest.org: > I was driving down I-95 today from Philly to Baltimore, and for most > of the time my GSM phone (which is on Fido/Rogers out of Canada) was > showing that it was on AT&T Wireless as the carrier. As I came past > the airport, it switched over to showing T-Mobile as the carrier. A > few seconds later I received a text message from T-Mobile (subject is > "905") welcoming me to the USA and telling me to dial home use 011- or > "+" and the number. > Its nice to see that T-Mobile is looking for non-US phones and letting > you know what to do to "call home", but it isn't set to deal with > region 1 phones, as to call back to Toronto from Philly on T-Mobile, > you definitely wouldn't dial 011 to start the call. > Perhaps someone from T-Mobile will see this and tweak their system so > it doesn't send this to Canadian phones when roaming in the USA. > Chris ------------------------------ From: tls@panix.com (Thor Lancelot Simon) Subject: Re: Linksys Site Survey Shows Lots of Info on Nearby Wireless Networks Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 16:16:02 UTC Organization: Public Access Networks Corp. Reply-To: tls@rek.tjls.com In article , William Warren wrote: > Pat, the reason those "in the know" about WEP and its weaknesses don't > like to talk about it is that we sometimes use it for our customers. > The problem is that WPA, although it has much better security, is > notoriously hard to get running, especially between nodes made by > different manufacturers. I've had occasions where I promised to > encrypt a customer's WiFI network and was forced to use WEP rather > than admit I couldn't get WPA to function. This strikes me as gross, willful negligence -- with an attempt to conceal the same from your client ("rather than admit I couldn't get WPA to function"). If one of your clients suffers for it, I think it would be entirely just for you to suffer the consequences. Real network security professionals do not behave as described above. William, please don't tar us all with the sticky brush of your own behavior. 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: A. Berger -- Onlynux Subject: Re: Getting Rid of "Legal" Spam? Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 16:29:00 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com To get multiple email addresses you only need a domain and hosting and you can get both for $29 per year. After this, you can create unlimited aliases for free and if you follow this system (and some other recommendations) for spam prevention you will never receive automated spam and very few "legal" spam. Regards, Andres Berger Garcia Director Onlynux.com Parque Leoncio Prado 285. Magdalena. Lima, Peru Telefax: (511) 261-3760 http://www.onlynux.com -- email: aberger@onlynux.com escribió en el mensaje news:telecom24.438.6@telecom-digest.org: > A. Berger -- Onlynux wrote: >> The best way to get rid of spam is always give an email alias to >> everybody, this way all people will have a different email address and >> when you want to stop the spammer simply delete the alias, also you >> will know for sure who the spammer is. > I do not have the resources to get multiple email addresses. > Indeed, it would be inconvenient to use different addresses every time > I did e-business. Usually a company will send a confirmation memo, so > I would have to keep careful track of multiple addresses. Too much > trouble. > Anyway, all of my e-business so far (the little I do since I avoid it) > has not had a problem until this particular time. As mentioned, this > is not some little fly-by-night outfit, but a large ongoing business. > Someone mentioned "Yahoo" offers 'free' email. Are these hard to get? > Do you have to give information to Yahoo to get one? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To get a free Yahoo mailbox all you > need to do is go to http://yahoo.com and sign up for one, plus answer > a few simple questions which are mainly for security purposes. You > will have an opportunity at that point to sign up for 'enhanced' service > features (re the amount of space alloted, spam filtering, etc, which > you can either accept or decline. I have a couple of their mailboxes, > and they come in handy. You'll also have an opportunity to sign up for > features like Yahoo Groups ( a sort of newsgroup thing; this Digest > has a 'group' there), My Yahoo (a home page with news headlines that > you choose to format as desired), Yahoo Messenger (which is free group > or one-on-one chat), Yahoo Personals (romanticly-oriented personal > ads, this last feature is not totally free, you pay to transmit and > receive email of a more personal nature.) Yahoo has a lot of good > features, all mostly advertiser supported. You do have to give some > information, as noted above, mostly for security verification > purposes. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wollman@khavrinen.csail.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: United States Says No! Internet is Ours! Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 22:58:46 +0000 (UTC) Organization: MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory In article , PAT writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For the life of me, I do not understand > why United States insists on keeping total control of Internet for > itself, rather than at least sharing control with other countries. I do not understand why the United States Government remains under the illusion that it has any such thing. > I mean, just consider how much spam, scam, illegitimate advertising, > viruses, spyware, etc -- in aggregate total about half of the > internet -- ICANN has fostered since its inception. I also do not understand why PAT remains under the illusion that ICANN has anything whatsoever to do with any of these things. Is NANPA responsible for the sleazy MCI marketing campaigns of yesteryear? -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. 558 (2003) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I will try to explain this once again. To say "United States has control of the internet" is a short way of making a longer statement, to wit: "The internet is controlled to a large extent by the 'root servers'; the computers which direct the requests for connections to one place or another. Since the 'root servers' are by and large in the United States, or under the supervision of the United States, therefore, for all intents and purposes the internet is controlled by the United States." Only instead of making that longer statement, we often times just abbreviate it by saying, "United States has control of the internet". Yes, there are exceptions to that, but they are inconsequential. When we say "ICANN runs the internet" that also is a short way of telling a longer story, to wit: "Every person or company or organization in the United States who wishes to have an internet address in one of the traditional suffixes for addresses such as '.com', '.org', '.net' or others is required to deal not only with an ISP or a registrar to obtain the desired address (that is, if they wish to have recognition of that address and some way for others to see their pages or reach them by email), but they must also agree in writing to a very one-sided 'contract' presented to them by ICANN and make an annual extortion payment required by ICANN which goes to fund the overseas trips and other friviolities in which ICANN engages itself. If you fail to sign the required one-sided contract and/or fail to make your annual extortion payments then you do _NOT_ get your domain name (in effect a domain name allows for two way conversation with the outside world.) This contract you are required by ICANN to sign tells about all of ICANN's rights; how _they_ if they choose to do so can revoke your right to use the name, and the rules _you_ have to follow. Of course it has nothing to say about you having any rights such as the right to be free of others sending spam or scam or viruses or the right to protect your domain name except through some sort of feeble arbitration which they (ICANN) control. Basically, when you deal -- as you must! -- with ICANN in order to be on the net, you do it their way or you don't do it at all. And no, NANPA is or was not responsible for the sleaze which oozes out from MCI each day, since NANPA never required any contracts pertaining to behavior of its users the way ICANN does. ICANN _could_ have written contracts for users with some protections for users built in if they had wanted to, but Vint Cerf did not and does not want that to happen. So when we make the statement "ICANN controls Internet", that is a short form of the longer proceeding paragraph. If NANPA were to require contracts from users -- telco or otherwise -- which outlined standards of behavior required (**as ICANN could do if they were anything other than a tool of big business**) then in that case, yes, NANPA would have some responsibilty for MCI's sleazy activities. So before you take umbrage or exception to the statements "United States controls Internet" or "Internet is controlled by ICANN" go back and fill in the blanks _entirely_ with the realities of life. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 20:01:55 EDT Subject: Re: State of the Internet, 2005 In a message dated 10/1/05 14:28:36 EDT14:28:36 EDT, editor@telecom-digest.org writes: > Hoaxes, rumors and urban legends > Bill Gates is giving away free money! Muggers at malls are using > perfume to render victims unconscious! A cafe at an upscale department > store charged a woman $250 for a cookie recipe! Urban legends like > these make the rounds of inboxes every day, and every day someone is > duped into believing the rumor and forwarding it. > According to Snopes.com, which identifies and tracks urban legends, > the Bill Gates rumor, which began making the rounds in 1997, is still > the most circulated urban legend on the Internet. > Experts advise checking your facts before forwarding messages to your > friends and family. Want to know if an item is true? Check out one of > the many Web sites devoted to investigating and debunking urban myths > and legends. Urban legends far predate the internet. The hoax or urban legend about the Neiman-Marcus restaurant charging $250 for a cookie recipe goes back at least a generation or two before the internet. > Chain letters > "Forward this message to 10 people and DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN!" the > writer implores. Messages like these have been pouring into inboxes since > the inception of e-mail -- taking the old-fashioned chain letter from the > post office to cyberspace. Chain letters are a particularly annoying form of > spam because they often come from friends and promise negative consequences > for not forwarding the message (bad luck or a lost chance at riches, for > example). > Choosing to forward a message, however, could get you in trouble. Many > people don't know it is illegal to start or forward an e-mail chain letter > that promises any kind of return. Anyone doing so could be prosecuted for > mail fraud. Chain letters were common at least as far back as the Depression years (1930s) and were just as illegal then, proliferating by U.S. mail. > Phishing: > The messages look official, down to the spoofed e-mail addresses in > the from line, but if the message asks for personal information such > as credit card or Social Security numbers, chances are it's a > fake. Phishing schemes trick users into revealing personal > information, and scammers use this data to steal the identities of > their victims. > A 2004 study by the Internet Crime Complaint Center found that e-mail > and Web pages are the two primary ways in which fraudulent contact > takes place. The Federal Trade Commission recommends avoiding filling > out forms that come in e-mail messages and that users never e-mail > personal or financial information. Studies focusing not just on the internet but on the world as whole indicate that stealing personal information by other means, especially "dumpster diving" and other stealing of information on paper or by personal contact are seven or eight times more prevalent than fraud by "phishing." Frauds and annoyances did not start with the internet. The internet just provided another medium for carrying them out. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are quite correct that all of these evils did not begin with internet; all the internet did was increase their velocity; make them easier to pull off and remain aloof from where punishment is concerned. And I was one of the first people, twenty or so years ago, when people -- parents let's say -- were fussing about the junk on the internet and how their kids were getting 'more educated and mature' (to put it politely) than was appropriate for their ages to defend the internet. I told people, if you can get the information in a library, then there is no reason you ought not to be able to get it on the internet. Of course, the catch was, no one would go to the library and spend hours in dusty stacks and shelves looking for material not age appropriate when they could spend five minutes or less and a few key strokes to get the same information, and I _still_ feel that way; but even the library does not allow folks to just walk in and deface the place, leave junk all over, as people to willingingly on the internet these days. PAT] ------------------------------ From: henry999@eircom.net (Henry) Subject: Re: State of the Internet, 2005 Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 12:24:40 +0300 Organization: Elisa Internet customer TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > A look at the internet as it stands now, in 2005, from a compilation > originally prepared by CNN.com: > Chain letters > "Forward this message to 10 people and DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN!" the > writer implores. Messages like these have been pouring into inboxes since > the inception of e-mail -- taking the old-fashioned chain letter from the > post office to cyberspace. Chain letters are a particularly annoying form of > spam because they often come from friends and promise negative consequences > for not forwarding the message (bad luck or a lost chance at riches, for > example). > Choosing to forward a message, however, could get you in trouble. Many > people don't know it is illegal to start or forward an e-mail chain letter > that promises any kind of return. Anyone doing so could be prosecuted for > mail fraud. 'Anyone doing so could be prosecuted for mail fraud.' ??? How can that possibly be correct? First of all, it suggests that the post office has some sort of jurisdiction over e-mail, which it clearly does not (mail fraud is investigated by postal inspectors). But secondly, '_anyone_ doing so...' is preposterously Americano-centric. Cheers, Henry [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You don't think other countries besides the United States have laws against postal fraud; that postal fraud/ other crimes involving the mail and the investigation of same is purely an American custom? Many countries investigate it intensively. Even Nigeria has laws against postal fraud. Further, American postal inspectors at least, have claimed jurisdiction over certain kinds of email fraud, as well they should. The United States takes the position -- and has been backed up in court a few times -- that _you_ need not make a deposit in a a mail receptacle to commit fraud, nor remove something from a mail receptacle; *inducing someone else to do so as part of a fraud scheme* makes you culpable. For example, you fill out an application on line for some product or another, but do so fraudulently, and as a result, some innocent third person person puts something in the mail to you or to someone else. Postal inspectors claim if even some small portion of the transaction takes place via US Mail and there was fraud involved, then the rest of the transaction -- even the 90 percent or better which was handled totally 'online' comes under their jurisdiction as well. Here is an example: I go on line and give your email name, real name and street address for a magazine subscription. The magazine arrives, the publisher in good faith asks you to pay for it. I committed fraud by causing that to happen. Postal inspectors can investigate it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Age Discrimination by Google; Old People Need Not Apply for Work Organization: Symantec Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2005 20:23:00 -0400 In article , Associated Press News Wire wrote: > Google Prevails in Age Discrimination Suit > A California judge has sided with Google Inc. in an age discrimination > lawsuit filed by a former manager who alleged the online search engine > leader had fired him because he didn't fit in with the company's > youthful culture. What's with the clearly biased subject line of the posting? The article says that the court found that Google does *not* practice age discrimination. How does that translate into "Old People Need Not Apply"? Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I guess not everyone agrees with the judge's decision in that ruling, particularly when the man's supervisor _did_ make the statement (to the terminated employee) "You do not fit in the youthful culture here at Google." PAT] ------------------------------ From: ptownson Subject: Help Needed with DHCP on Remote Laptop Date: Sun, 02 Oct 2005 21:00:00 CDT Help wanted: I have a laptop computer here running Win NT from 1997. I have a NetGear Wireless card in a slot. It seems to be correctly installed; that is, the drivers are there, the little green light on the 'television icon' is present, it _says_ it has a very good link, and should be working fine. But the laptop reports "The DHCP client could not obtain an IP address". Furthermore, no one else on the network can see the laptop. The laptop cannot connect to the internet nor see anyone else on tne network either. Yet it claims the link is present and very strong. Can anyone tell me what is wrong? Why is it unable to obtain an IP address via DHCP? Thanks for the help. PAT ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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 #449 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Oct 3 15:02:09 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id A8CA61515F; Mon, 3 Oct 2005 15:02:08 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #450 Message-Id: <20051003190208.A8CA61515F@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 15:02:08 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 Oct 2005 15:02:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 450 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson The Ad-Averse: Finicky and Opinionated (Monty Solomon) New Video Search Sites Offer Glimpse of Future TV (Monty Solomon) By Tearing Open That Cardboard Box, Are You Also Signing (Monty Solomon) Return of the Junk Fax (Monty Solomon) To Truants in Rome, SMS is the Enemy (Monty Solomon) Verizon Wireless V710 Settlement (Monty Solomon) NTL, Telewest to Merge (USTelecom dailyLead) Re: Age Discrimination by Google; Old People Need Not Apply (jmeissen) Re: United States Says No! Internet is Ours! (Thor Lancelot Simon) Re: United States Says No! Internet is Ours! (Garrett Wollman) Re: What is Area Code 113? (Robert Bonomi) Re: State of the Internet, 2005 (Robert Bonomi) Re: Help Needed with DHCP on Remote Laptop (Dave Garland) Re: Help Needed with DHCP on Remote Laptop (William Warren) Re: Help Needed with DHCP on Remote Laptop (Robert Bonomi) Re: Note to Drivers: Lose the Phone and Lipstick (Eric Friedbach) 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 Oct 2005 02:34:06 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Ad-Averse: Finicky and Opinionated By ALEX MINDLIN The online marketing research firm Intelliseek released data last week suggesting that so-called ad-skippers -- those who avoid ads on TV or the Internet, either by installing pop-up blockers, by recording shows and skipping the spots or by changing channels when commercials come on -- behave differently in other ways as well. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/business/03drill.html?ex=1285992000&en=b4c7d0a0c08ca32d&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 02:33:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Video Search Sites Offer Glimpse of Future TV By BOB TEDESCHI FOR those tired of navigating hundreds of television channels to find shows worth watching, the Web sends this message: let us do the work. Oh, and by the way, a computer screen will do nicely. A handful of new Internet companies have recently introduced Web sites that aim to sift through millions of online video clips and instantly splice them together according to the viewer's stated or implied tastes. Right now, that includes a fairly meager selection of mainstream media selections - and, yes, you sometimes have to watch it through a subpar Internet connection. But more network-quality shows are coming online, and Webcasting technology is fast improving to the point where you can now catch glimpses of what TV could look like in the not-too-distant future. "You can debate what you should call it, but in the coming world, it's going to be a user-controlled environment," said Allen Weiner, an analyst with Gartner, a technology consulting firm. "I watch what I want, when I want." The most recent version of this customized Internet TV idea comes from Blinkx, a San Francisco online search company that plans to activate MyBlinkx TV today at www.blinkxTV.com. The site is supposed to work much like a standard search engine, prompting users to type words or phrases into a search box. But when the user types in, say, "big wave surfing," instead of displaying links to Web pages, the site starts rolling a string of video clips most relevant to that topic. Users can fast-forward, rewind, pause the video and click a button to save the channel. When they return to it, the technology refreshes the channel with newer, more relevant clips. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/business/03ecom.html?ex=1285992000&en=e0a3ccafd7100f44&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 02:34:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: By Tearing Open That Cardboard Box, Are You Also Signing? By Tearing Open That Cardboard Box, Are You Also Signing on the Dotted Line? By J. D. BIERSDORFER Pay attention next time you rip open a cardboard box -- you may be entering into a contract without realizing it. A recent decision in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reinforced the right of companies, in this case Lexmark International, the printer maker, to legally limit what customers can do with a patented product, given that the company spells out conditions and restrictions on a package label known as a box-top license. Clickable license agreements are common practice in software, where the buyer agrees not to tamper with the code or copy the program. But slapping postsale regulations on patented goods could deny buyers the ability to make modifications or seek repairs on other products as well. Box-top licenses could also theoretically hinder third parties from offering replacement parts or supplies for fear of a patent-infringement lawsuit (meaning, for example, that a lighter might have to be refueled only with the manufacturer's brand of butane). In the lawsuit, the Arizona Cartridge Remanufacturers Association, a trade group of companies that sell refilled printer cartridges, claimed that Lexmark was engaging in unfair and deceptive business practices by promising price discounts on its laser cartridges if the customer promised to return the empty cartridge to Lexmark. Lexmark's packaging for laser cartridges sold under this system (called the Lexmark Cartridge Rebate, or the Prebate program) includes a label on the outside of the box stating: "Opening this package or using the patented cartridge inside confirms your acceptance of the following license agreement." Cartridges that are not part of the Prebate program and not subject to the restriction are available to customers as well, but without the discount. At the time of the case, Lexmark estimated that cartridge returns had increased 300 percent since the Prebate program began. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/business/03inkjet.html?ex=1285992000&en=52eef2f74aed472b&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 02:43:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Return of the Junk Fax By DAN MITCHELL IN the hierarchy of annoying advertisers, the porn spammers and the pump-and-dump stock promoters dwell at the bottom. Not far above them are junk faxers, who spew unsolicited advertisements to your fax machine, using your phone line, your ink and your paper in the process. Most junk faxes have been illegal since 1991. Since then, a federal law and Federal Communications Commission regulations have kept most machines free of unsolicited ads. But that may be changing. Why? "Because Congress just pumped new life into the junk fax industry," according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (epic.org), which issued a communication on the subject this week. This summer, Congress passed and President Bush signed the Junk Fax Prevention Act. The "Orwellian-named" law removes one of the few protections against fax abuse, writes Chris Jay Hoofnagle, director for the center's West Coast office in San Francisco. In a loophole similar to one in the Can-Spam Act, which has done essentially nothing to stem the tide of unsolicited commercial e-mail, businesses are allowed to junk-fax anyone with whom they have an "established business relationship." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/01/technology/01online.ready.html?ex=1285819200&en=2218b825b0cbd37b&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 02:54:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: To Truants in Rome, SMS is the Enemy By Elisabetta Povoledo International Herald Tribune MILAN Students in Rome are becoming guinea pigs in an experiment that uses cellphones to deter truancy. Starting on Monday for about six months, when students fail to show up for class and the school has not been previously notified, a text message will be automatically sent to their parents' mobile phones. "We haven't invented anything new -- what's new is the instrument," said Ornella Bergamini, the school board official who coordinated the experimental project, which covers students aged 14 to 16 at four middle schools and eight technical institutes in one school district. That, she said, is "the most critical age for dropping out" and is usually preceded by repeated absenteeism. The program is part of a larger interactive online portal for her school district. Text messaging, Bergamini said, lets parents know when their children were skipping school in real time. "It should be a useful deterrent," she said. As cellphones have increasingly become a must-have for minors, cellular technology has rapidly evolved to intersect with many aspects of teenage life. Banned in many Italian schools during exam time because of their potential as a cheating device, cellphones, like other cellular and satellite technology, are now used to allow parents to monitor where their children are, and even how fast they are driving a car. http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/02/business/wireless03.php ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 03:51:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless V710 Settlement http://www.verizonwireless.com/V710Settlement http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/footer/legalNotices/v710.jsp Settlement Agreement http://www.verizonwireless.com/pdfs/v170settlement/V710_Settlement_Agreement.pdf Preliminary Order http://www.verizonwireless.com/pdfs/v170settlement/Prelim_Order.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 12:26:23 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: NTL, Telewest to Merge USTelecom dailyLead October 3, 2005 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/vakIatagCquRcNMRgO TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * NTL, Telewest to merge BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Google bids to offer free Wi-Fi in San Francisco * R.H. Donnelley buys Dex * Meriton snaps up Mahi * Cable, telecom companies launching new video services USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Broadband Deregulation: Win-Win for Carriers and Customers? Tuesday, Oct 4, 1:30 p.m. (ET) HOT TOPICS * Huwaei-Marconi merger rumors swirl * Bell Labs details 100-Gbit Ethernet over optical fiber * Analysis: Telcos unlikely to see profits from TV soon * Report: Ericsson considering bid for Marconi * Q-and-A with Legg Mason's Blair Levin TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Spirent unveils triple-play tester * Forrester: Viewers take a shine to Internet video REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Supreme Court ruling puts pinch on P2P companies * Analysis: Licensed spectrum is key when it comes to WiMAX Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/vakIatagCquRcNMRgO ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Age Discrimination by Google; Old People Need Not Apply for Work Date: 3 Oct 2005 04:06:37 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , [TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > I guess not everyone agrees with the judge's decision in that > ruling, particularly when the man's supervisor _did_ make the > statement (to the terminated employee) "You do not fit in the > youthful culture here at Google." PAT] You can't make that statement. All you know is that the person who filed the suit alleges that the comment was made. He stood to lose a lot of money, which can be a powerful reason for claiming things that are untrue or half-truths. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: tls@panix.com (Thor Lancelot Simon) Subject: Re: United States Says No! Internet is Ours! Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 04:50:50 UTC Organization: Public Access Networks Corp. Reply-To: tls@rek.tjls.com In article , PAT wrote: > Since the 'root servers' are by and large in the United States, or > under the supervision of the United States The quoted statement above is essentially false. The root servers *your* DNS requests happen to terminate on may be in the United States, but that's just an artifact of particularly clever and effective use of DHCP. The root servers are distributed around the world -- many mirrors of each -- and are controlled by a diverse group of entities which are not, in fact, "under the supervision of the United States". 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@khavrinen.csail.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: United States Says No! Internet is Ours! Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 04:04:06 UTC Organization: MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Garrett Wollman by writing: > "The internet is controlled to a large extent by the 'root servers'; No, it is not. The Internet is controlled to a large extent by thousands of system administrators, who set up the servers on which Internet applications run. One of configuration choices they make is the set of root name servers. Currently, at least in the developed world, they choose to use a set of root name servers some of which happen to be operated under contract to the U.S. government. There is no law requiring them to do so; they are free to use any set of root name servers they wish. My guess is that the ultimate result of the USG intransigeance on this issue will be for other countries to start up their own root name servers (or to co-opt those already located on their territory) and require ISPs to use those servers rather than the USG-sponsored ones. (I would be surprised if the likes of China and Iran were not already doing so. Certainly the Golden Shield makes it trivial for the PRC government to spoof or redirect any DNS traffic they choose.) This would not be a disaster, although it would be a distinctly suboptimal outcome, since the DNS works best when there is a single, consistent answer for every query, and every user has the same view of the world. But it is emphatically not necessary (and for peer-to-peer applications it is entirely irrelevant). > writing to a very one-sided 'contract' presented to them by ICANN and > make an annual extortion payment required by ICANN which goes to fund > the overseas trips and other friviolities in which ICANN engages whine, whine, whine... > Of course it has nothing to say about you having any rights > such as the right to be free of others sending spam or scam or viruses Perhaps because you have no such right, and it would not be in ICANN's power to give it to you even if they wanted to. > ICANN _could_ have written contracts for users with some protections > for users built in if they had wanted to, No, it could not have. (A trademark lawyer would argue to the contrary, that in fact all those requirements that you decry are in fact put there to protect users from mistaken identity on the part of the site they think they're communicating with, just as trademark law protects consumers who buy a brand-name product from getting something else. It is certainly not ICANN's role to be the enforcer of morality, or even of good business practice, on the 'net -- I'm certain you'd be bellyaching about that if they tried! Governments are the appropriate bodies to regulate such behavior, if anyone is.) -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. 558 (2003) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You said above that ICANN could not have written contracts; in fact they have written contracts have they not? Otherwise, what do you call those things we have signed and the money we pay to ICANN? What prevents them from making those things (which I and most reasonable people refer to as 'contracts') from being so one-sided; making them a bit more even handed? PAT] ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: What is Area Code 113? Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2005 14:22:04 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , IMAFriend wrote: > I keep getting a phone call from area code 113. Does anyone have any > idea what that is? > Thanks, > DougB > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is bogus, as far as 'area codes' are > concerned. It is either some sort of number for special billing > purposes, or a deliberatly misprogrammed entry as is sometimes done > by companies such as telemarketing firms or collection agencies to > prevent you from knowing their real number. PAT] If something is truncating the leftmost digit of the read-out -- limited display, maybe, or something in the telco itself -- it could be a call from the Netherlands. ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: State of the Internet, 2005 Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2005 14:38:21 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , Henry wrote: > TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: >> A look at the internet as it stands now, in 2005, from a compilation >> originally prepared by CNN.com: >> Chain letters >> "Forward this message to 10 people and DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN!" the >> writer implores. Messages like these have been pouring into inboxes since >> the inception of e-mail -- taking the old-fashioned chain letter from the >> post office to cyberspace. Chain letters are a particularly annoying form of >> spam because they often come from friends and promise negative consequences >> for not forwarding the message (bad luck or a lost chance at riches, for >> example). >> Choosing to forward a message, however, could get you in trouble. Many >> people don't know it is illegal to start or forward an e-mail chain letter >> that promises any kind of return. Anyone doing so could be prosecuted for >> mail fraud. > 'Anyone doing so could be prosecuted for mail fraud.' > ??? > How can that possibly be correct? In the United States, that statement _is_ correct. > First of all, it suggests that the > post office has some sort of jurisdiction over e-mail, which it > clearly does not (mail fraud is investigated by postal > inspectors). You are, in fact, *WRONG* on that count. The post office _does_ have jurisdiction over certain activities conducted by means other than postal mail. The USPIS handles investigation/enforcement of 18 USC 1342. Which includes frauds that _induce_ victims to send money _via_the_mails_. If the 'scheme to defraud' involves the use of the postal mail system *in*any*way* then the crime of 'mail fraud' applies. > But secondly, '_anyone_ doing so...' is preposterously Americano-centric. The exact same jurisdictional rule (post office has jurisdiction (albeit not necessarily 'exclusive' jurisdiction) over anything that uses mails as _any_ part of the fraud) applies in Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, Australia, (those places I have specific knowledge of) and most of the rest of the world. Even Nigeria. ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Help Needed with DHCP on Remote Laptop Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2005 00:54:40 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when ptownson wrote: > Why is it unable to obtain an IP address via DHCP? Perhaps the DHCP server (perhaps a router, or other computer on the LAN) is disabled or not functioning (or for some other reason refusing to cooperate)? It does not sound like the problem is in the laptop. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But the other four computers on my little network all work correctly. They all see each other and they see the internet. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2005 09:47:04 -0400 From: William Warren Subject: Re: Help Needed with DHCP on Remote Laptop ptownson wrote: > Help wanted: I have a laptop computer here running Win NT from 1997. > I have a NetGear Wireless card in a slot. It seems to be correctly > installed; that is, the drivers are there, the little green light on > the 'television icon' is present, it _says_ it has a very good link, > and should be working fine. But the laptop reports "The DHCP client > could not obtain an IP address". Furthermore, no one else on the > network can see the laptop. The laptop cannot connect to the internet > nor see anyone else on tne network either. Yet it claims the link > is present and very strong. Can anyone tell me what is wrong? Why > is it unable to obtain an IP address via DHCP? Thanks for the help. > PAT Pat, Check the encryption key and be sure it matches the one in your Access Point. William William Warren (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Help Needed with DHCP on Remote Laptop Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2005 14:45:29 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , ptownson wrote: > Help wanted: I have a laptop computer here running Win NT from 1997. > I have a NetGear Wireless card in a slot. It seems to be correctly > installed; that is, the drivers are there, the little green light on > the 'television icon' is present, it _says_ it has a very good link, > and should be working fine. But the laptop reports "The DHCP client > could not obtain an IP address". Furthermore, no one else on the > network can see the laptop. The laptop cannot connect to the internet > nor see anyone else on tne network either. Yet it claims the link > is present and very strong. Can anyone tell me what is wrong? Why > is it unable to obtain an IP address via DHCP? Thanks for the help. 1) because there is no DHCP server running on the LAN 2) because the DHCP server "doesn't know about" that machine, _and_ is configured to give addresses *only* to machines it DOES know about. 3) because the network is using encryption, and the laptop is not set up in a compatible manner. 4) "something else". Until the DHCP client on the laptop _can_ get an address, the machine does not have an IP address. Thus the facts thet no one else on the network can see the laptop, and that the laptop cannot connect to the Internet, nor see anyone else on the network -- these are all _entirely_ expected and "normal" behavior in that situation. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: On my LAN, the other computers all get numbers like '192.168.0.x' and can communiate with each other and with the internet. In the past, plugging a new computer into the router was a sort of automatic thing: Plug in the new computer, reboot the router, the new computer takes an IP assignment like 192.168.0.3 or whatever. The wireless link appears to be good. Why won't this ancient laptop accept such a number when the router is rebooted? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Re: Note to Drivers: Lose the Phone (and Lipstick) Date: 3 Oct 2005 11:18:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com So I guess that means no more talking on the ham radio while driving as well. Or would being licensed by the FCC preclude state or local laws? Eric Friedebach /And now it's time for: Jaromir Weather/ Monty Solomon wrote: > Those pulled over for speeding or other moving violations can > be fined $100 for any behavior that distracts them from driving -- > glancing at a newspaper, typing on a BlackBerry, applying lipstick > while looking in the rearview mirror or turning to yell at the kids in > the back seat. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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