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The Telecom Digest for April 18, 2010 Volume 29 : Issue 107 : "text" Format Messages in this Issue: Yet ANOTHER at&t/MI-Bell 1AESS to "Bite-the-Dust" (Mark J. Cuccia) Re: Washington State Approves Sale of VeriZon Exchange Areas to Frontier (Carl Navarro) A question for the readers (Bill Horne) The Truth May Be Out There, But ... (Bill Horne) Physical reason why humans can't drive holding a cellphone and talk (Thad Floryan) Web Coupons Know Lots About You, and They Tell (Monty Solomon) Amazon ignoring VoIP attacks from within its "cloud" (Thad Floryan) ====== 28 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: Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:55:28 -0700 (PDT) From: "Mark J. Cuccia" <markjcuccia@yahoo.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Yet ANOTHER at&t/MI-Bell 1AESS to "Bite-the-Dust" Message-ID: <785973.43579.qm@web31108.mail.mud.yahoo.com> A notice dated today (Friday 16-April-2010) on the at&t-ILEC webpage for technical/network/etc disclosures, http://www.att.com/gen/public-affairs?pid=3137 scroll down to the Midwest (Ameritech) States section (IL/IN/MI/OH/WI) "ATT20100416L.1 AT&T Midwest is announcing that it will be making changes necessary to collapse the existing Alcatel/Lucent 1AESS switch (BRHMMIMNCG0) located in the Birmingham Central Office, Birmingham, MI, into the co-located Siemens EWSD switch (BRHMMIMNDS0). NPA-NXXs 248-258, 248-433, 248-540, 248-642, 248-644, 248-645, 248-646, 248-647, 248-901 and 248-988 will be moved from the BRHMMIMNCG0 1AESS to the BRHMMIMNDS0 EWSD." A doc file of 'ATT20100416L.1" which has a few additional details can be downloaded from: http://www.att.com/public_affairs/regulatory_documents/ATT20100416L.1_Web.doc The WECO/Lucent/Alcatel 1AESS to be discontinued, BRHMMIMNCG0, has SS7-Point-Code 250-050-068. The existing (co-located) Nokia/Stromberg/Siemens EWSD, BRHMMIMNDS0, which is to take-over the 248-NXX codes, loops, customers, etc. from the retiring co-located 1AESS, has SS7-Point-Code 250-050-096. The legacy/ default (OCN:9323 at&t/SBC/Ameritech/Michigan-Bell) 248-NXX codes already associated with BRHMMIMNDS0 Birmingham MI "Main" Stromberg-EWSD are: Birmingham MI ratecenter: 248-203,593,594,723 Royal Oak MI ratecenter: 248-549,554 The 248 NPA split from 810 in 1996. The 810 NPA split from the original 313 in 1993. Does anyone know if the (originally 313-64x, presently) 248-64x c.o.code range presently on the 1AESS (-MNCG0) had an old DIal EXchange NAme? maybe MIchigan, MIdway, MIlton, MIssion, MItchell, NIagara, or some other 'MI', or 'NI', or maybe 'OG', 'OH' (OHio?) ??? The existing co-located EWSD currently has 248-593 and 594, serving the Birmingham MI ratecenter. I don't know how far back these codes exist, but the old 313-593,594 codes (prior to any subsequent NPA splits) were (and are) associated with the Detroit MI "Zone-6" ratecenter, 313-593 with at&t/SBC/Ameritech/Michigan-Bell's DRBRMIFBDS0 313-594 with at&t/SBC/Ameritech/Michigan-Bell's DRBRMIFBDS1 both Nortel-DMS-100, both co-located in the "Fairborn" building (note the 'FB' in the CLLI code 7th/8th characters for the building). The exact date of the migration of the Birmingham "Main" 1AESS c.o.codes over to the already existing/co-located EWSD is not indicated, only that it will take effect by the end of 2010. When I find out exact dates, I'll post something further. So far, there are to be FOUR existing 1As in Michigan Bell territory to be replaced with digitals, either complete replacement with new digital switches, or migration to existing co-located digital switches. This leaves the following 1As still to remain in Michigan -- and also I'm including the two remaining 1As in the Chicago IL area (Illinois Bell) since this is all "Ameritech". However, there could still be further announcements of replacement of these 1As before the end of 2010! PNTCMIWSCG0 Pontiac MI "West" 248-681,682,683,706.738 LNNGMISOCG0 Lansing MI "South" 517-272,393,394,882,887 GDRPMIBL770 Grand Rapids MI "BEll" (the co-located GDRPMIBLDS1 Nortel-DMS-100 has some 616-23x codes, which were known as 'BEll-x' in the 2L-5N days) 616-770 CHCGILAUCG0 Chicago IL "AUStin" 773-261,287,378,379,473,626,854,921 OKPKILOPCG1 Oak Park IL 708-209,366,383,386,445,488,524,660,763,771,848 With the exception of "Grand Rapids: 'BEll'". the other three Ameritech 1AESS offices remaining do NOT seem to have any existing co-located Bell "digital" 5ESS, DMS, EWSD, DCO, etc. switches in their buildings. at&t/BellSouth (Southern Bell, South Central Bell) and at&t/Southwestern Bell both have numerous 1AESS offices (together at least 40 total) remaining. Southwestern Bell's are mostly in the St.Louis MO metro area, as well as scattered about Texas. BellSouth's are MOSTLY all over Florida and Georgia (Southern Bell), but for South Central Bell: one in Nashville TN, four in the Birmingham ALABAMA metro area, two in Shreveport LA, and the two primary Bell c.o.switches here in Lafayette LA. Birmingham MICHIGAN has some interesting history... In November 1953, two years after Englewood/Teaneck NJ, Birmingham MI became the SECOND location to have (limited) customer-originated Direct Distance Dialing. They had customer-originated dial access to the dozen or so metro areas scattered about the US that Englewood/Teaneck NJ already had, as well as some additional locations -- Washington DC (202), Baltimore MD (301), and New Haven CT (203), the latter in CT being a SxS city, while Washington DC Metro and Baltimore MD were Panel/#1XB and probably now some #5XB. Apparently both Washington DC and Baltimore MD had completed their conversions from 2L-4N to 2L-5N by late 1953, since CUSTOMERS in Birmingham MI were now able to place dial calls to these locations. Washington DC did their conversions in several staged phases, while Baltimore MD did their conversion in a single city-wide cutover. I assume that Englewood/Teaneck NJ now had originating customer-DDD access to these three locations as well by late 1953. I do NOT know if San Francisco/westbay/north-of-Golden-Gate CA was still uniquely indicated with 318 (while Oakland and eastbay CA was separately indicated by 415), or if the entire San Francisco/Oakland CA Bay Area was together referenced with 415 "only", by late 1953. Birmingham MI is a suburb of the Detroit MI metro area, and would have already been part of a "7D" (straight 2L-5N) metro message-unit or short-haul toll dialing area, so the use of 313+ before the 2L-5N numbers would NOT have been dialed back then for any customer-dial calls to Detroit MI and other suburbs, from Birmingham MI back then. Mark J. Cuccia markjcuccia at yahoo dot com Lafayette LA, formerly of New Orleans LA pre-Katrina Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2010 04:18:06 -0400 From: Carl Navarro <cnavarro@wcnet.org> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Washington State Approves Sale of VeriZon Exchange Areas to Frontier Message-ID: <0iris5l5urm6bdnpkdgmole5us4vreeof4@4ax.com> On Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:09:48 -0700 (PDT), "Mark J. Cuccia" <markjcuccia@yahoo.com> wrote: >Today, Friday 16-April-2010, the Washington (State) Utilities and >Transportation Commission has approved (the Washington state portion) >of the sale of most remaining GTE and Contel still retained by VeriZon >exchange areas, to Frontier, with numerous conditions applied, see the >following from the WUTC website: > >http://www.wutc.wa.gov/webimage.nsf/0/BD97957114A730D4882577070078F3D2 > >I have not yet read through all of this, for all of the >"numerous conditions applied" details, however. Take this with a grain of salt, but the receivers of Verizon fortune have not fared very well http://district13.cwa-union.org/news/verizon-sale-to-frontier-communications.html Carl, wondering what my couple of shares of Idearc are worth now :-) Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:51:10 -0000 From: "Bill Horne" <telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.remove-this.telecom-digest.org> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: A question for the readers [nfp] Message-ID: <hqcotu+ate8@eGroups.com> Since Usenet traffic has been declining, I'm curious if the readership would be interested in having the Telecom Digest available from Yahoo Groups. I've created the TelecomDigest group on Yahoo Groups, and I'm thinking of using it to "gateway" messages from Yahoo users into the Digest. Please let me know if you think this is a good idea. Bill Horne Moderator Date: Sun, 18 Apr 2010 01:12:06 -0400 From: Telecom digest moderator <telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.remove-this.telecom-digest.org> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: The Truth May Be Out There, But ... Message-ID: <20100418051206.GA7677@telecom.csail.mit.edu> I just looked up and realized that it's 12:30 in the morning and if I don't get some sleep I'll be dead tomorrow. I just had to write this first. I've just spend about four hours going from one video to another on You Tube, and I can't even remember why I went to the site in the first place, or what I saw there that led to where I wound up. There was a guy from New Hampshire who was jailed for having a couch in his yard. There was an ex-marine who was trying to tell me that the best thin to do after the apocalypse was to start up a generator at a hospital so I can charge a battery to get a diesel car started, and how I could make diesel fuel by boiling fat out of a grease trap and get around in the city by using the sewers. There was another guy who told me what an idiot the ex-marine is for trying to make people believe what he put on tape: I had noted some "huh?" moments myself, such as the idea that a cab company would have a CB transceiver hanging around, or that CB and Amateur operators are the same thing, so I tended to agree with the other guy. There were several other home videos of people railing against the Income Tax, or the Social Security Tax, or whatever else they were hot about. One guy was talking about Hitler and the Holocaust and asking his viewer, again and again and again, at what point they would act if it started up again. After that, there came a rash of links showing something about "Kinetic Typography", with several Hitler speeches thrown in as examples, although the typography was in English, go figure. I hit the "Back" button until I could get back to the survivalist and his critics, and, as I said, all of a sudden it's almost One A.M. Well, everyone gets to take their soapbox to the town commons. I'm just surprised, somehow, that so many people feel the need to tell everyone else how soon they think the sky will fall. Bill -- (Filter QRM for direct replies.) Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2010 15:11:58 -0700 From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Physical reason why humans can't drive holding a cellphone and talk Message-ID: <4BCA322E.9070008@thadlabs.com> The ol' "can't walk, talk and chew gum at the same time" adage seems to have a basis in reality". I found this article earlier today: " For those who find it tough to juggle more than a couple things " at once, don't despair. The brain is set up to manage two tasks, " but not more, a new study suggests. " " That's because, when faced with two tasks, a part of the brain " known as the medial prefrontal cortex (MFC) divides so that half " of the region focuses on one task and the other half on the other " task. This division of labor allows a person to keep track of two " tasks pretty readily, but if you throw in a third, things get a " bit muddled. " " "What really the results show is that we can readily divide " tasking. We can cook, and at the same time talk on the phone, and " switch back and forth between these two activities," said study " researcher Etienne Koechlin of the Université Pierre et Marie " Curie in Paris, France. "However, we cannot multitask with more " than two tasks." " " The results will be published this week in the journal Science. " [...] " Essentially, the brain behaved "as if each frontal lobe was " pursuing its own goal," Koechlin said. " [...] " subjects perform as if they systematically forget one of the " three tasks," Koechlin told LiveScience. Full article here: http://www.livescience.com/health/brain-multitasking-limit-100415.html Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2010 21:11:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Web Coupons Know Lots About You, and They Tell Message-ID: <p0624082fc7f00c15d1ce@[10.0.1.4]> Web Coupons Know Lots About You, and They Tell By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD April 16, 2010 For decades, shoppers have taken advantage of coupons. Now, the coupons are taking advantage of the shoppers. A new breed of coupon, printed from the Internet or sent to mobile phones, is packed with information about the customer who uses it. While the coupons look standard, their bar codes can be loaded with a startling amount of data, including identification about the customer, Internet address, Facebook page information and even the search terms the customer used to find the coupon in the first place. And all that information follows that customer into the mall. For example, if a man walks into a Filene's Basement to buy a suit for his wedding and shows a coupon he retrieved online, the company's marketing agency can figure out whether he used the search terms "Hugo Boss suit" or "discount wedding clothes" to research his purchase (just don't tell his fiancée). Coupons from the Internet are the fastest-growing part of the coupon world - their redemption increased 263 percent to about 50 million coupons in 2009, according to the coupon-processing company Inmar. Using coupons to link Internet behavior with in-store shopping lets retailers figure out which ad slogans or online product promotions work best, how long someone waits between searching and shopping, even what offers a shopper will respond to or ignore. The coupons can, in some cases, be tracked not just to an anonymous shopper but to an identifiable person: a retailer could know that Amy Smith printed a 15 percent-off coupon after searching for appliance discounts at Ebates.com on Friday at 1:30 p.m. and redeemed it later that afternoon at the store. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/business/media/17coupon.html Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:14:33 -0700 From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Amazon ignoring VoIP attacks from within its "cloud" Message-ID: <4BCA6B09.7070902@thadlabs.com> Irresponsible behavior on Amazon's part. " Complaints of rampant SIP Brute Force Attacks coming from " servers with Amazon EC2 IP Addresses cause many admins to " simply drop all Amazon EC2 traffic. Generally, SIP brute " force attacks attempt to register various peer names to a " system and/or attempt to guess passwords of known/guesses " peers or endpoints. Article continues here: http://www.voiptechchat.com/voip/457/amazon-ec2-sip-brute-force-attacks-on-rise/ " The complaints mentioned this weekend show an excessive " amount of traffic; with some providers claiming 6GB of " traffic dedicated to such attacks. Since we ourselves " received an attack from an Amazon hosted server, we also " reported and complained to the Amazon NOC/Abuse depts. " " There are various techniques to assist with minimizing " DDoS and Brute Force attacks, such as limiting access " via the public internet, using strong passwords, not " mapping extension name to peer/endpoint name, limiting " simultaneous calls, and aggressively monitoring usage. " Automatic blocking of abusive IP's (fail2ban, blockhosts, " etc.) can also assist with minimizing damage. Article continues here: http://www.voipusersconference.org/2010/amazon-ec2-flood-attacks/ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom- munications 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 Bill Horne. 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 moderated by Bill Horne. Contact information: Bill Horne Telecom Digest 43 Deerfield Road Sharon MA 02067-2301 781-784-7287 bill at horne dot net Subscribe: telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=subscribe telecom Unsubscribe: telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=unsubscribe telecom 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 Copyright (C) 2009 TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 The Telecom Digest (7 messages)