---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <64E47F2A-FB7C-474B-9FCE-38196E9193BC@roscom.com> Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2016 16:29:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: What's the Right Age for a Child to Get a Smartphone? What's the Right Age for a Child to Get a Smartphone? http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/technology/personaltech/whats-the-right-age-to-give-a-child-a-smartphone.html As more children get phones at 10 and younger, parents face the question of when to allow unfettered access to the internet and all its benefits and perils. ***** Moderator's Note ***** This story has a twofer: forced choices on two key issues. The question of whether children *should* get a cell phone, "smart" or otherwise, isn't even mentioned, let alone explained. Then, we are asked to assume that children will be endowed with Internet access at the age of "10 and younger", and the story implies that parents aren't capable of deciding if access to the big, bad Internet is OK. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <72EB3333-4710-4D77-9958-0132B4F5D6DD@roscom.com> Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2016 20:10:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Edward Snowden to Help Develop a Safer Phone for Journalists CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden said Thursday that he planned to help develop a modified version of Apple's iPhone for journalists who are concerned that they may be the target of government surveillance. The announcement was made during a one-day conference on "Forbidden Research" held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab. Mr. Snowden, speaking from Russia to an M.I.T. Media Lab conference, said the idea was to alert users to electronic surveillance in dangerous areas. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/technology/edward-snowden-to-help-develop-a-safer-phone-for-journalists.html ------------------------------ Message-ID: <A1C3CA35-071A-439A-BB97-6DA36BA94669@roscom.com> Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2016 07:55:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Mobile Usage Statistics per second in realtime Mobile Usage Statistics per second in realtime https://www.dealsunny.com/mobile-usage-statistics/ ***** Moderator's Note ***** Nice eye candy, but not enough detail to be useful IMHO. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <68f5cea5-7768-41e5-b59b-5a2ad60989d9@googlegroups.com> Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2016 17:38:07 -0700 (PDT) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: Microsoft Confirms Windows 10 New Monthly Charge On Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 9:39:29 AM UTC-4, Garrett Wollman wrote: > Bill Horne wrote: > > >If M$ gets away with this, every CEO that ever sold an app for a > >cellphone will be salivating at the thought of getting that annuity. > > "Gets away"? That's the normal way most enterprise applications have > been offered for ages, not to mention most historic enterprise > operating systems dating back to the IBM 360 and beyond. Enterprises > are perfectly willing to accept predictable, periodic operating > expenses for things that they would otherwise have to make periodic > large capital expenditures on -- leasing software is no different from > leasing equipment, cars, or office space as far as the accountants are > concerned. Actually, up to and including System/360, operating system software and application programs were available for free; they were bundled with the purchase price of the hardware. In the System/370 years, IBM unbundled the software from its hardware. For some programs, users continued with the IBM program, but in others independent software houses sprang up and developed competing programs. Examples include SYNCSORT and various database management systems. In any event, there are big differences between operating systems for a PC and a mainframe. (1) The mainframe programs are far more complex and need to be far more reliable. The frequent crashes of Windows or I/E would never be tolerated in a mainframe environment. (2) Many, many more copies of PC software are sold as compared to the mainframe, so the cost of development is spread over far more customers. (3) Historically, PC operating systems have been sold as part of the hardware, and as a relatively minor cost to it. I'm not sure of M/S pricing plans to "lease" software, but my experience is that a price of $20 per year would be reasonable. Another problem that needs to be addressed is that forced obsolescence of older software. Someone who owns Windows XP and other 10-20 year old M/S products will find that they simply don't work anymore, especially in shared applications. No backward compatibility. Users are _forced_ to buy new software. If someone is driving a 20 year old car, as many people do, they can continue to drive it as long as it mechanically holds up. No one is told their _working_ vehicle is "obsolete" and not allowed on the roads anymore. But with PC's, people are forced to discard older software and hardware. That's wrong. It should be noted that IBM provides backward compatibility for its software and hardware. There were customers running 1960-era programs as late as 2000 (maybe even later). It was called 1401/7090 emulation. Also, application programs written 30-40 years ago run fine today. So, if we're gonna make comparisons to the mainframe world, we need to include these features, too. In the PC world, MS-DOS programs won't work anymore without a tedious restructure of the PC. Switching to compatibility of the telephone industry, new switches would support older customer telephone sets and systems, such as old key systems and PBX's. My landline still supports my rotary dial phones. I bet the carriers would love for landline customers to run out and buy digital phones so they could modernize their networks, but at least for the moment, old equipment is still supported. ***** Moderator's Note ***** What "digital phones" are available for purchase? Do you mean ISDN? Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <ed0a50d4-9011-4b05-bc32-9b8e54d0271b@googlegroups.com> Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2016 04:59:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> Subject: RE: What happens when fiber breaks? On Tuesday, July 12, 2016 at 9:09:10 AM UTC-5, Neal McLain wrote: > On Monday, July 11, 2016 at 10:18:37 AM UTC-5, Bill Horne wrote: > > The "Baby Bells" are rushing toward an all-fiber infrastructure at > > lightspeed, but IMNSHO they seem unable - or unwilling - to consider > > the long-term costs. > > > > The fiber-based infrastructure that is so seductive to experts looking > > for quick fixes and easy money has a downside that nobody is talking > > about - it's brittle. > > > > Fargo, North Dakota may seem insignificant, but wait until a tugboat > > drags its anchor alone the East river in New York - or an oil trunk > > catches fire in one of the tunnels - and then watch the "experts" run > > for cover and point fingers at anyone else. > > > > Bill Horne I wrote: > > [snip] > > The safest aerial routes use OPGW (optical ground wire) > in which the fiber is encased inside the steel "static > wire" at the top of transmission lines. See, for > example: > > http://tinyurl.com/habjv8j > > The static wire is grounded and is intended to protect > the power conductors from lighting. > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > I thought the extra wires on three-phase transmission lines were used > to carry the imbalance currents, and that the long-haul high-tension > wires were connected in "Wye" fashion and would need the extra wire as > a ground. Not so? > > Bill Horne > Moderator In the United States, high-voltage transmission circuits (>66 Kv) are typically configured delta. One of the challenges facing transmission companies is keeping the currents approximately equal. The static wires (aka ground wires or guard wired) at the top of the supporting structure are intended for lightning protection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmission_tower#High_voltage_AC_transmission_towers Not all transmission lines are carried on towers; many are on wood poles or pairs of wood poles. Many pole-mounted transmission lines also carry other circuits: ---> Three-phase primary distribution circuits. These circuits are configured "wye" (>12 Kv.), with three phase conductors and one ground conductor (often called "MGN" for multi-grounded neutral). ---> Single-phase secondary distribution circuits. Most are 120/240-volt, single phase, for residential and small business customers. Three-phase and/or higher-voltage secondary circuits can be provided for specific customers. ---> Communications circuits (telco, CATV, other purposes). The MGN serves as the primary neutral and all other circuits on the pole are grounded to it: static wires, secondary neutrals, telco strands, CATV strands, fiber strands, guy wires, streetlights, traffic signals, whatever. The MGN is grounded to a ground rod at intervals. Depending on local codes and company policies, grounds may be installed at every pole or at certain specified poles (e.g. every transformer pole, every corner pole, every guyed pole, every tenth pole, etc.). Photos: Single wood pole supporting three-phase transmission (delta with static wire), three-phase primary (wye with MGN), single-phase secondary (in riser), CATV, telco, and fiber of unknown purpose. http://www.annsgarden.com/poles/JP0-Fiber0.jpg Pair of wood poles supporting three-phase delta transmission line with two static wires. http://tinyurl.com/zz7xxzm http://tinyurl.com/zq7uhd4 Neal McLain 2016-07-21 ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Sun, 24 Jul 2016