---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20190428215552.GA8849@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2019 21:55:53 +0000 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Congress needs to start holding corporations accountable for promises made By Chris Shelton, Opinion Contributor One of the earliest lessons we are taught in life is to never make a promise that we can't keep. A promise is a moral contract that binds us to our word. Before the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, CEOs of some of America's largest companies made promises that they would use their tax savings to invest in their workforce establishing a moral contract with the American people. It was based on those promises that President Trump stated that the tax bill would result in a minimum annual increase in American household wages of $4,000. The White House and Republican congressional leaders proclaimed that the legislation would end incentives for offshoring jobs. A parade of corporate executives pledged a raft of new investment and job growth. https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/439394-congress-needs-to-start-holding-corporations-accountable -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20190429134933.GA13702@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2019 13:49:33 +0000 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: T-Mobile Continues to Kill It, Which Can't be Said for Verizon and AT&T By Kellen T-Mobile isn't really close in terms of the total number of customers when you compare them to Verizon and AT&T. Those two are so far ahead that it would take years of massive gains before T-Mobile catches them without the help of Sprint's customer numbers being added on top. Still, that shouldn't take away from the fact that T-Mobile has continued to kill it quarter after quarter, year after year, while Verizon and AT&T are struggling to convince new customers to switch over to their networks. In some ways, they are struggling to convince them to stay. This week, all three carriers put out their first quarter 2019 numbers and only T-Mobile had a good one on the wireless side. John Legere's company added 656,000 phones on postpaid plans, while AT&T only added 80,000. Verizon, if you can believe it, lost (lost) 44,000. https://www.droid-life.com/2019/04/26/t-mobile-continues-to-kill-it-which-cant-be-said-for-verizon-and-att/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <110f9debd41ce7b94971ae79ed1756d0.squirrel@webmail.mishmash.com> Date: 28 Apr 2019 15:16:49 -0600 From: "Fred Atkinson" <fatkinson.remove-this@and-this-too.mishmash.com> Subject: Re: What are "Short Code concatenated messages"? > Doug McIntyre <doug@themcintyres.us> wrote: >>I searched Google for a definition of the term, "Short Code >>concatenated messages" but could only find references to the service >>issue mentioned in the Sun, 21 Apr 2019 Telecom Digest. > >Short Code SMS messages are premium numbers, shorter than the normal >10 digit phone numbers, that you can SMS a text message to; like >"text 12345 to give $5 now to blah blah blah." > >The Wikipedia article on SMS has a section devoted to them (under >Premium-rated short messages). > >The 'Concatenated SMS' part is as you suspect. > >I'm sure its only an outage notice out because companies pay for this >service above what the unwashed masses do. Not all services support short codes. I am currently using Callcentric. They do not officially support them. They clearly stated this when they started offering the service. But I found that while I could not send messages to short codes, I did receive a number of messages from them over Callcentric SMS services. That is a good thing since a lot of Web sites (especially financial sites) are using two factor authentication for security. The text messages they send for this purpose come from short codes. Example: When logging onto a Web site, they text a message that gives you an authentication code to enter on the Web site to complete your log in. They send you this after entering your user name and password [so you can enter it into a subsequent login prompt on your Web site]. Most of you have experienced this. When I previously tried to send messages to short codes, they would bounce. But I just tried tweeting one to [short code removed - bh]. It actually replied to me. So perhaps they've since implemented it and not said anything about it. Regards, Fred +--------------------------------------------------------------+ Who is John Galt? ------------------------------ Message-ID: <147eb03965ce2ea639956936e93dca1d.squirrel@webmail.mishmash.com> Date: 28 Apr 2019 15:06:23 -0600 From: "Fred Atkinson" <fatkinson.remove-this@and-this-too.mishmash.com> Subject: Re: You Can't Stop Robocalls. You Shouldn't Have To. > Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu wrote: >> The robocalls come when you are driving and they bother you at >> night. It doesn't matter if you're in bed or in a meeting. > >I guess I've been lucky. I practically never get robocalls outside >business hours. I've heard that one of the reasons for this is that most >of them are done using hijacked office PCs, and these are usually turned >off at the end of the day. > >Today was a rare exception, my cellphone got a robocall on a Saturday >afternoon. > >A few weeks ago I discovered the setting on my cellphone to not ring if >the call is from someone not on my contact list. That's been a blessing. My Callcentric service has been a blessing in that regard. They use True CNAMS to determine if the call is from a known source of SPAM callers. And I can customize how I want them to handle it if it is. When I initially got the service, I optioned it to give it the 'three tones' disconnect and a recording saying that the number is no longer in service. Even if they call back, my phone will never ring. If it happens to be from a number that is not on that list, I can add the number to my blacklist so that Callcentric treats it the same way or a different way, if I want. I had to spend a fair amount of time setting up the call treatments so my calls would be handled the way I wanted them to. This can be based one the number called, the calling number, the day and time, and other options. I can make it ring my office phone during the day. I get a 'Press 1 to accept this call' message when a call made to my home number rings into my office phone. So I know to answer it like a residential call after I press 1 to accept it. I do the same with my cell phone. I have a Grandstream four port VOIP box (four analog extensions on one VOIP device) so I can receive calls through their service at home. They have voice mail and texting services as well. And many other features. If you get just their basic services, it will cost about sixteen dollars per month. They are very cost effective. Look them over at http://www.callcentric.com. Stopping SPAM calls is only the tip of the iceberg with them. Fred +--------------------------------------------------------------+ Who is John Galt? ***** Moderator's Note ***** I'm leery of posts that praise a single vendor, but I use Callcentric myself, and so I'm allowing this one. Let's not make a habit of it, OK? Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Tue, 30 Apr 2019