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Message Digest Volume 28 : Issue 1 : "text" Format Messages in this Issue: Re: Cell Phones and Driving: Research Update Re: Cell Phones and Driving: Research Update Re: Cell Phones and Driving: Research Update Re: Cell Phones and Driving: Research Update Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Re: Testing existing home wiring Re: Testing existing home wiring Re: Home wiring With a Little Help, You Can Trade Yourself Free of Your Wireless Contract City to Pay Doctors to Contribute to Database Re: Restoring a 302-type telephone Re: Medical devices lag in iPod age / Patients' safety is at risk, experts say Text-messaging, 911 use among the many areas affected by new California laws Re: Reduced spam and increased security infrastructure? Re: Cell Phones and Driving: Research Update ====== 27 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ====== 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, and other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 01 Jan 2009 06:20:51 GMT From: David Clayton <dcstar@NOSPAM.myrealbox.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Cell Phones and Driving: Research Update Message-ID: <495c60c3$0$22080$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au> On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:03:19 -0500, Monty Solomon wrote: > Cell Phones and Driving: > Research Update > December, 2008 > AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety ...... > About two- thirds of drivers who use cell phones while > driving believe that it is safer to talk on a hands-free cell phone than > on a hand-held cell phone; however, the overwhelming majority of > available evidence suggests that it is not. Especially when you see people using their hands in a conversation with someone not in their sight. -- Regards, David. David Clayton Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a measure of how many questions you have. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 13:34:31 -0500 From: "MC" <for.address.look@www.ai.uga.edu.slash.mc> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Cell Phones and Driving: Research Update Message-ID: <mX77l.1330$gE4.239@bignews5.bellsouth.net> >> About two- thirds of drivers who use cell phones while >> driving believe that it is safer to talk on a hands-free cell phone than >> on a hand-held cell phone; however, the overwhelming majority of >> available evidence suggests that it is not. > > Especially when you see people using their hands in a conversation with > someone not in their sight. YES! The telephone, by cultural tradition, is a very attention-engaging way to communicate. People expect each other's full attention. In that way it is very different from most kinds of two-way radio (e.g., police radio, aircraft radio), with conversation in very short snips, both parties fully acknowledging that at least one of them is driving. ***** Moderator's Note ***** I think training makes the difference: emergency responders and ham operators are trained to divide their time effectively and to take care of the car first and the communication second. Bill Horne Temporary Moderator ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:24:19 -0800 From: Steven Lichter <diespammers@ikillspammers.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Cell Phones and Driving: Research Update Message-ID: <awa7l.11347$yr3.3328@nlpi068.nbdc.sbc.com> MC wrote: >>> About two- thirds of drivers who use cell phones while >>> driving believe that it is safer to talk on a hands-free cell phone than >>> on a hand-held cell phone; however, the overwhelming majority of >>> available evidence suggests that it is not. >> Especially when you see people using their hands in a conversation with >> someone not in their sight. > > YES! > > The telephone, by cultural tradition, is a very attention-engaging way to > communicate. People expect each other's full attention. In that way it is > very different from most kinds of two-way radio (e.g., police radio, > aircraft radio), with conversation in very short snips, both parties fully > acknowledging that at least one of them is driving. > > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > I think training makes the difference: emergency responders and ham > operators are trained to divide their time effectively and to take > care of the car first and the communication second. > > Bill Horne > Temporary Moderator I agree law enforcement are trained to use radios and drive, even at high speeds, but now many department use VOX so hand are free. I have seen police use Cell phone while driving and I wonder sometimes if they are aware of what is going on around them, I thought about asking, but you never know what they would do, having been a Reserve Sheriff years ago, sometime you bit the public. Has anyone noticed [someone else], or are you, using a cell phone while shopping in super markets? I have been hit several times by persons who feel the need to talk while shopping: most of the time it was just a bump, but once I was down getting a product off a lower shelf and was knocked down and hit my head! I was knocked out for a few seconds: according to others around the woman never even knew she hit me. She was stopped, and got really mad because she was bothered, [but] I wanted her arrested for hit and run. -- The Only Good Spammer is a Dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2009 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot In Hell Co. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:54:48 GMT From: "Tony Toews \[MVP\]" <ttoews@telusplanet.net> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Cell Phones and Driving: Research Update Message-ID: <mbeql49qaeqb4d5ao7hu3fke31aa0bscsq@4ax.com> "MC" <for.address.look@www.ai.uga.edu.slash.mc> wrote: > I think training makes the difference: emergency responders and ham > operators are trained to divide their time effectively and to take > care of the car first and the communication second. I wouldn't see amatur radio operators are trained so much as they are aware of the potential for problems. Amateur radio operators generally are just chatting and aren't concerned about pleasing the person on the other end to the highest degree. I think the problem is much more in the brain listening while we are talking to the other persons nuances. The mild hmm that is a mild form of disagreement or whatever. The "but" as the person disagrees with you. I recall an incident with my sister while driving on a reasonably quiet stretch of four lane highway in Saskatchewan. Quiet meaning one vehicle per mile. She was on the cell phone chatting with a long time friend. Suddenly she reacted to the flag man on the road with a rude word and said "Where did that person come from?" When she got off the phone 20 minutes later I told her that she had missed two sets of two signs on both sides of the road warning of construction and flag man ahead. She stated "Ohhhh, maybe what they say about cell phones and driving is true." However she still took a call just before we hit Regina and chatted all way through the traffic to the other side. A city in which she has driven maybe three times before in her life. Grrrrr. While I'm in favour of a complete cell phone ban while driving I also realize that this is quite impractical for day to day use. However this will be a tool for the police to use for additional charges when the driver does something real stupid. The police can then check the cell phone records to see if a call was in progress or a text message sent or received in the last few minutes. Tony -- Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can read the entire thread of messages. Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:52:02 -0800 (PST) From: David Wilson <mcs6502@gmail.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Message-ID: <ef2d0a72-8bb7-4009-92da-0b3672868b95@n33g2000pri.googlegroups.com> On Jan 1, 5:16 pm, hanco...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > How did they handle the ball drop countdown on Times Square with the > extra second? Unless Times Square has moved to London, the leap second had already happened. According to http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=179 "A leap second was added at 6:59:60 PM local New York time, on Dec 31, 2008." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:40:16 -0500 From: Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Message-ID: <barmar-34CF7E.14401601012009@mara100-84.onlink.net> In article <ef2d0a72-8bb7-4009-92da-0b3672868b95@n33g2000pri.googlegroups.com>, David Wilson <mcs6502@gmail.com> wrote: > On Jan 1, 5:16 pm, hanco...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > > How did they handle the ball drop countdown on Times Square with the > > extra second? > > Unless Times Square has moved to London, the leap second had already > happened. So are there any similar countdowns in England, or other countries in that timezone? Did any of them account for the leap second? -- Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** *** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group *** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 20:55:55 +0000 From: Peter R Cook <PRCook@wisty.plus.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Message-ID: <MO5v7CBb3SXJFwmE@wisty.plus.com> In message <barmar-34CF7E.14401601012009@mara100-84.onlink.net>, Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> writes >In article ><ef2d0a72-8bb7-4009-92da-0b3672868b95@n33g2000pri.googlegroups.com>, > David Wilson <mcs6502@gmail.com> wrote: > >> On Jan 1, 5:16 pm, hanco...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: >> > How did they handle the ball drop countdown on Times Square with the >> > extra second? >> >> Unless Times Square has moved to London, the leap second had already >> happened. > >So are there any similar countdowns in England, or other countries in >that timezone? Did any of them account for the leap second? > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7792436.stm -- Peter R Cook ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 10:11:12 +0000 (UTC) From: Koos van den Hout <koos+newsposting@kzdoos.xs4all.nl> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Message-ID: <gji4s0$h39$5@kzdoos.xs4all.nl> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote in <2f101397-65e3-4d60-b64d-f33dc2693f8b@33g2000yqm.googlegroups.com>: > On Jan 1, 12:04?am, Monty Solomon <mo...@roscom.com> wrote: >> The Associated Press >> Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 >> GMT adjusts for slight slowing of Earth's rotation > How did they handle the ball drop countdown on Times Square with the > extra second? It happened at 23:59:60 UTC, so the ball dropped 5 hours later. Our new year started at 23:00:00 UTC, so we counted down twice: once for new year and once for the leap second. Koos -- Koos van den Hout, PGP keyid DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263 via keyservers koos@kzdoos.xs4all.nl or RSA/1024 0xCA845CB5 -?) Visit the site about books with reviews /\\ http://idefix.net/~koos/ http://www.virtualbookcase.com/ _\_V ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 11:28:30 -0500 From: "MC" <for.address.look@www.ai.uga.edu.slash.mc> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Message-ID: <Y867l.1281$3y5.1255@bignews4.bellsouth.net> <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote in message news:2f101397-65e3-4d60-b64d-f33dc2693f8b@33g2000yqm.googlegroups.com... > On Jan 1, 12:04 am, Monty Solomon <mo...@roscom.com> wrote: >> The Associated Press >> Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 >> GMT adjusts for slight slowing of Earth's rotation > > How did they handle the ball drop countdown on Times Square with the > extra second? A more serious answer: The leap second, at 23:59:59 GMT, occurred five hours before the ball drop. Presumably, an hour or two before the ball drop, they synchronized their clocks with the NBS, and by then, the leap second was already a done deal. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 11:27:10 -0500 From: "MC" <for.address.look@www.ai.uga.edu.slash.mc> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Time will pause a second before leaping to '09 Message-ID: <I767l.1280$3y5.1181@bignews4.bellsouth.net> I recorded the 61-second minute on WWV: http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/michael/blog/0901/#090101Z ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 14:46:40 +0000 (UTC) From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Testing existing home wiring Message-ID: <gjil0g$7h$1@reader1.panix.com> In article <P9udnYOpA9rVJcbUnZ2dnUVZ_tbinZ2d@posted.visi>, Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> wrote: [...] >Don't forget to install the filters they'll give you at your voice >phones, or the DSL may make voice connections staticky. For simplicity, you may want to do as I did with the filters. Instead of having a filter hanging off each phone or TAD in the house/apt, I put one at the NIJ so that all of the house wireing goes thru the one filter. Then I ran a seperate cat3 (cat5 or better could also be used) cable from the NIJ to the location of the DSL modem and plugged it into the modem port on the filter. If all of your house wireing is home run to the NIJ, this is easy. More details and a photo of the NIJ available on request. -- Rich Greenberg N Ft Myers, FL, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 239 543 1353 Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val, Red, Shasta & Casey (RIP), Red & Zero, Siberians Owner:Chinook-L Retired at the beach Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ***** Moderator's Note ***** I do the same thing in my home: you don't need to have "home run" telephone cable to do it. I just opened the wire coming into the house from the NID, and put the filter in there with a double RJ-11 jack. Bill Horne Temporary Moderator ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2009 12:31:11 -0600 From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Testing existing home wiring Message-ID: <BMCdnYyat7E9lsDUnZ2dnUVZ_uSdnZ2d@posted.visi> Rich Greenberg wrote: > Instead > of having a filter hanging off each phone or TAD "Telephony Access Device"? > in the house/apt, I put one at the NIJ I've done that as well. Though in an old house mucking with the wiring can be... interesting. But it sounds like Lisa is in an apartment and does not have the degree of access required. Dave ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:56:32 GMT From: "Gary" <fake-email-address@bogus.hotmail.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Home wiring Message-ID: <Al87l.2566$Es4.473@nwrddc01.gnilink.net> "AES" <siegman@stanford.edu> wrote in message news:siegman-0B5363.18321230122008@news.stanford.edu... > > Just to say, I'm feeling abashed at how well you expressed in a single > trenchant paragraph all the ideas that I needed a lengthy > multi-paragraph post to go through. To be fair, I had read your post and felt it important to reiterate the point about wireless. I had meant to include a statement referencing to other's suggestions; but the kids distracted me from my final edit... By they way, I also meant to include pictures of my 110 block and setup. These are quite old, as I've added a lot more to my panel since these were taken (alarm panel with alarm jack, RJ-45's for network termination, a Leviton voice x-connect, DSL modem & filter for the rest of the house, shelves...), but they do show the basic 110 setup. I've slightly modified the URL to avoid 'bots and other nasties: www [dot] segals [dot] org/110Panel/110Panel.htm -Gary ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 15:37:46 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: With a Little Help, You Can Trade Yourself Free of Your Wireless Contract Message-ID: <p062408cbc582d9d9b859@[10.0.1.6]> Phone Smart With a Little Help, You Can Trade Yourself Free of Your Wireless Contract By BOB TEDESCHI The New York Times January 1, 2009 The last of the major wireless carriers recently made it cheaper to escape your contract by pro-rating early termination fees. But if you bought that new BlackBerry Storm last week, only to find you would rather have something else, you still face $175 in contract cancellation fees. Unless, that is, you can find someone to take over that contract for you. It's a little-known fact that cellphone carriers will let you swap contracts with another person, no matter whether you have one month or two years remaining on your commitment. They just will not help you do the hard work of finding someone who actually wants your contract and the vintage flip phone that came with it. That's the sort of dirty work best left to the Web, where sites like Celltradeusa.com and Cellswapper.com act as matchmakers for those who want to swap spots in the cellular realm. It costs $20 to use Celltradeusa and $25 for Cellswapper, but for those who feel trapped in a contract, that is a small price to pay for freedom. First things first: why exactly would you want someone else's cellphone contract? Simple: you can get fairly new devices and accessories, often free, without having to swallow a two-year commitment or pay an activation fee of $35. This is especially useful to those who are waiting for a new device to hit the market but do not want to spring for a new phone in the meantime. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/technology/personaltech/01smart.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 15:44:32 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: City to Pay Doctors to Contribute to Database Message-ID: <p062408cdc582db64151d@[10.0.1.6]> City to Pay Doctors to Contribute to Database By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS The New York Times December 30, 2008 For Dr. Harvey Benovitz, who graduated from medical school in 1962, it is as profound a shift in the way he treats patients as advances in diabetes drugs. Instead of jotting down notes on charts and filling out prescriptions in his small, meticulous handwriting, Dr. Benovitz, whose patients have always thought of him as a reassuringly old-fashioned internist, tapped a patient's blood pressure and other vitals into a laptop next to the examining table during a checkup the other day. Not only will this new electronic record-keeping system eliminate the rows upon rows of bursting manila folders stuffed into what could be another examination room in the back of Dr. Benovitz's cramped office on the Upper West Side. It allows him to compare the patient's blood pressure management with all his other patients' - and with those in hundreds of private medical practices across New York City. Dr. Benovitz is among about 1,000 primary-care physicians who have given up their doctor's pens over the past year to collect the smallest details of their patients' lives in a database as part of a $60 million city health department project. Experts say it is the most ambitious government effort nationwide to harness electronic data for public-health goals like monitoring disease frequency, cancer screening and substance abuse. It follows the Bloomberg administration's aggressive focus on everyday health concerns - which has included startling anti-smoking advertisements in subways and requirements that chain restaurants post calorie counts - and frequent use of statistics to drive public policy on crime, homelessness and other issues. And echoing the city's cash-incentive experiments in the school system, the health department will soon start offering doctors bonuses of perhaps $100 for each patient who hits specified targets like controlling blood pressure or cholesterol, up to $20,000 for each doctor. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/nyregion/30records.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 13:41:54 -0800 (PST) From: Wes Leatherock <wleathus@yahoo.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Restoring a 302-type telephone Message-ID: <48985.1106.qm@web112224.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> On Tuesday, December 30, 2008 8:56 PM hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > Number cards varied greatly in the Bell System. > [ ...snip ... ] > For historical authencity, the exchange would be of the name that > once served where the phone will be used. However, it's very > possible no such name was assigned there; in the past it may have > been a five digit exchange or newly created. By the time all-number calling was in use, the 302 phone was generally on the way out. Around 1950 I lived in a city (Konawa, Okla.) where telephone had either three or four digits. Area codes were just being introduced and mostly for operators. Most of the public had never heard of "area code" nor knew what the term meant. That was near the twilight days of 302 telephones. Wes Leatherock wleathus@yahoo.com wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:44:36 GMT From: "Tony Toews \[MVP\]" <ttoews@telusplanet.net> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Medical devices lag in iPod age / Patients' safety is at risk, experts say Message-ID: <e5eql4d7n6ossiv025b7shffaprh1okdlv@4ax.com> Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> wrote: >A 32-year-old woman was on the operating table for routine gall >bladder surgery, and doctors needed a quick X-ray. To keep her chest >still while the image was shot, her ventilator was switched off. But >the anesthesiologist, distracted by another problem, forgot to turn >the breathing machine back on. The woman died. >The case is an extreme example of the kind of error that could be >prevented if medical devices were designed to talk to each other, >says Dr. Julian Goldman, a Massachusetts General Hospital >anesthesiologist who has compiled such instances from across the >United States to highlight the need for medical device >"connectivity." In this case, he says, synchronizing the X-ray >machine with the ventilator, so the image was automatically timed to >a natural pause in breathing, would have made it unnecessary to turn >it off. I would suggest that doctor read the comp.risks newsgroup or visit the website at http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks for all the horror stories. I don't quite see how the anesthesiologist could be distracted by another problem for the length of time it would take a woman to die. Tony -- Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can read the entire thread of messages. Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 18:16:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Text-messaging, 911 use among the many areas affected by new California laws Message-ID: <p062408d2c582fec66019@[10.0.1.6]> Text-messaging, 911 use among the many areas affected by new California laws In 2009, messaging motorists will pay. Hospital workers who snoop will face tougher penalties too. By Patrick McGreevy 5:47 PM PST, December 31, 2008 Los Angeles Times Californians must abide by dozens of new state laws taking effect Jan. 1, including bans on text-messaging while driving, electronic bingo machines and bidding on state contracts by companies that do business with the government of Sudan, which the U.S. has accused of genocide. The California Highway Patrol plans no grace period before enforcing the law that takes effect today prohibiting the use of text-messaging devices -- including cellphones, BlackBerrys and laptop computers -- while driving, according to CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader. And a motorist does not have to be caught in a vehicle that is moving to get a ticket. "Motorists may not text at a stoplight," she said. "They are still operating a vehicle and need to focus their attention on the safe operation of that vehicle." Fines are $20 for first offenses and $50 for subsequent violations, Clader said. ... http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-newlawsweb1-2009jan01,0,4589893.story ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2009 00:07:04 -0500 (EST) From: Dan Lanciani <ddl@danlan.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Reduced spam and increased security infrastructure? Message-ID: <200901020507.AAA28559@ss10.danlan.com> dcstar@NOSPAM.myrealbox.com (David Clayton) wrote: |Just because the Internet allows age-old scams to reach millions of more |people along with the new technology based scams threatening all and |sundry, the lack of any really effective technological or regulatory |solutions means that education may be the most effective counter-measure |- however imperfect. There are possible technological and regulatory solutions (or at least palliatives) for some of the underlying scams, and implementing them would reduce the effectiveness of those scams regardless of the delivery mechanism. My social security number should not be the secret key that (along with a few other tidbits of data) provides so-called "identity thieves" with access to credit under my name. Because of the structure of our credit reporting industry, a no-cost, hassle-free, and well-promoted credit inquiry lock would go a long way towards solving this problem. Such a system is not in the best interests of the credit reporting agencies (who would rather sell consumers credit monitoring services) or their business customers who (at least until the economy collapsed) benefited from the ability to offer "instant credit." As a result, even in states where the service is required to be available, it is typically not hassle- or cost-free. My account and routing number should not be sufficient to make otherwise unauthorized withdrawals from my checking account. Consumers should be able to block ACH debits from their checking accounts. This is inconvenient for the banks' business customers so the banks prohibit it even as they offer those same businesses more comprehensive ways to block ACH debits from their own accounts. (N.B. ACH is not Check21.) Zero knowledge proofs offer a computationally secure authentication mechanism that does not involve disclosing anything of value. Instead of such technology we see a push for more personal information, biometrics, RFID, DNA, and anything else that can operate against the consumer for purposes of nonreputability. Of course, regulating financial institutions to protect consumers is not as flashy as regulating the Internet. One might think that recent events would change this, but I don't have high hopes. Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 18:00:26 -0800 (PST) From: Sam Spade <invalid@not.a.valid.email.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Cell Phones and Driving: Research Update Message-ID: <680193.12268.qm@web44803.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> Monty Solomon wrote: >Cell Phones and Driving: > >A substantial proportion of the American public believes that drivers >using cell phones are a serious traffic safety problem and that it is >unacceptable to use a cell phone while driving. Respondents who >express negative attitudes toward cell phone use while driving were >found to be somewhat less likely to use cell phones while driving; >however, a substantial proportion of respondents who express negative >attitudes toward using a cell phone while driving still admit doing >so at least occasionally. About two- thirds of drivers who use cell >phones while driving believe that it is safer to talk on a hands-free >cell phone than on a hand-held cell phone; however, the overwhelming >majority of available evidence suggests that it is not. > The research is too generalized when it comes to hand-free units. They allow both hands to be on the wheel, thus removing one dangerous element; that is, holding a phone to the ear with only one hand on the wheel. The other factor is driver training, experience, and discipline at conducting communications while operating a vechicle. Police do it all the time as do others in public safety. So do professional aircraft pilots. If were possible to factor out these individuals with this type of communications in their professional life I suspect the results would show that hands-free wireless communications is quite safe with these people. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition 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. The Telecom Digest is currently being moderated by Bill Horne while Pat Townson recovers from a stroke. 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