---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20160818134254.15617.qmail@ary.lan> Date: 18 Aug 2016 13:42:54 -0000 From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> Subject: Re: Old London Telephone Exchange Names >I used to wonder why so many phone numbers start with "0" in Great >Britain, until someone told me that the zero is in the first position >on a dial phone there. ... The only country where zero is one pulse is Sweden. New Zealand had the digits in the reverse order, but zero was ten clicks. The reason that UK numbers generally start with 0 is the same reason that our numbers start with 1 -- it's the escape indicator that means it's not a local number and an area code (known in the UK as STD code) follows. They use codes starting with 1 for special services such as 112 which is similar to the North American 911. R's, John ------------------------------ Message-ID: <f6327e1b69ff6115b774b79e0662f8cc.squirrel@email.fatcow.com> Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2016 12:25:33 -0500 From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> Subject: Old London Telephone Exchange Names On Wednesday, August 11, 2004 at 8:00:41 AM UTC-5, Paul Coxwell wrote: > I received an e-mail recently inquiring about the old > exchange names in London, and thought a general posting > might be of interest. [snip] > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My thanks to Paul for this special > report which will be specifically filed in the Archives history > area. I should point out that Chicago, Illinois also used the 3L-4D > method of numbering until about 1950 when it changed to 2L-5D for > about ten years before going entirely 7-D. Thanks again, Paul. PAT] Back in the 60s I lived in Evanston and worked in Chicago. Even at that late date I occasionally noticed 3L+4D numbers on old signs or in publications.

In most cases the 3L code matched the new 2L+1N code, but there were a few exceptions. In Evanston, what had been GREenleaf became GRreenleaf 5. Neal McLain ------------------------------ Message-ID: <slrnnrbfgt.7f7.Mark@dora.home.misty.com> Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2016 13:54:37 +0000 (UTC) From: Mark G Thomas <Mark@Misty.com> Subject: Re: Sinclair embarks on "Broadcast TV Liberation" tour On 2016-08-16, Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> wrote: > Sinclair embarks on 'Broadcast TV Liberation Tour,' hands out $1M in free antennas > > By Daniel Frankel, FierceCable, Aug 16, 2016 > > After a busy summer for Sinclair, during which it was fined by the FCC > for bad-faith broadcast-retransmission negotiating just before signing > a multi-million dollar retrans deal with top pay-TV operator Comcast, > the nation's largest station group has embarked on a campaign to let > consumers know they don't need the pay-TV ecosystem to enjoy their > local broadcast stations. ... > Neal McLain > > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > This is a "Can't win for losing" story, because those Comcast > customers who were getting phone service via cable and decide to go to > "Over the air" reception would be forced to switch to cellular and/or > copper phone lines - assuming they can get copper or cell service at > their home - and that may mean a higher bill instead of a lower one. > > Bill Horne > Moderator Why would someone be forced to drop their cable Internet and/or voice service, if they choose to drop their expensive cable video programming in favor of over-the-air programming? Mark Thomas ------------------------------ Message-ID: <81508fa9-3c4c-47fe-8e96-fb11f7620604@googlegroups.com> Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2016 11:10:52 -0700 (PDT) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: Old London Telephone Exchange Names On Wednesday, August 11, 2004 at 9:00:41 AM UTC-4, Paul Coxwell wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My thanks to Paul for this special > report which will be specifically filed in the Archives history area. > I should point out that Chicago, Illinois also used the 3L-4D method > of numbering until about 1950 when it changed to 2L-5D for about ten > years before going entirely 7-D. Thanks again, Paul. PAT] New York City was originally 3L-4D, but had to switch to 2L-5D early on (around 1930) because growth was so rapid. Philadelphia had 3L-4D but had to switch to 2L-5D right after WW II. In the 1950s, many small towns could have any number of digits. With the coming of Direct Distance Dialing, every local phone number had to get expanded to seven unique digits, with a unique exchange code within the area code. Sometimes it just meant padding a two or three digit number with zeros, but other times it meant new numbers. Since all dial exchanges back then was electro-mechanical, it meant a great deal of new equipment and re-wiring. All of this was just to handle _incoming_ toll calls. Additional equipment was required to handle outgoing toll calls. ------------------------------ Message-ID: <5DEA63BD-3F7D-499F-AA74-9E05E24016B3@roscom.com> Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2016 18:12:51 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: A Distracted-Driving Ban in New Jersey? A Distracted-Driving Ban in New Jersey? Some Say It Threatens a Way of Life A bill that could fine distracted drivers as much as $800 has led to an outcry among residents for whom driving is more a state of being than an activity. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/nyregion/new-jersey-distracted-driving-ban.html ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Sat, 20 Aug 2016