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The Telecom Digest for June 3, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 134 : "text" Format
====== 30 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 Bill Horne 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
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owner.
Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without the explicit written consent of the owner of
that address. 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.
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Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 23:19:43 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Fix your cellphone or iPod for a fraction of the cost
Message-ID: <p0624080ecbef05b90476@[10.0.1.2]>
Fix your cellphone or iPod for a fraction of the cost
Save money on smartphone repairs
CLEVELAND - We've all dropped our cellphone dozens of times. Some of
the more-sensitive smartphones can shatter easily. So what if you
don't have cellphone insurance or you don't want to spend a lot? We
found a few ways to fix your phone at a fraction of the cost.
The do-it-yourself movement has taken over. These days, it's all
about DIY, from fixing your home to fixing your phone.
...
http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/money/consumer/fix-your-cellphone-or-ipod-for-a-fraction-of-the-cost-wews1338560945523
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 23:19:43 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: AT&T: Industry likely to offer data-only phone plans in 2 years; calls counting as data usage
Message-ID: <p0624080bcbef0430a856@[10.0.1.2]>
AT&T: Industry likely to offer data-only phone plans in 2 years;
calls counting as data usage
By Associated Press
June 1, 2012
NEW YORK - The CEO of AT&T Inc. said Friday that cellphone plans that
count only data usage are likely to come in the next two years. In
such a scenario, phone calls and texts would be considered as just
another form of data.
Randall Stephenson didn't say AT&T has such a plan in mind, but he
suggested that someone in the industry will likely offer one.
"I'll be surprised if, in the next 24 months, we don't see people in
the market place with data-only plans," Stephenson said at a Sanford
Bernstein investor conference in New York. "I just think that's
inevitable."
Analysts see such plans as a logical extension of trends in wireless
technology. Smartphones with data service can already use it for
Internet phone calls and texting through services such as Skype.
Phone calls are also taking a back seat to other things people do
with their smartphones. AT&T has been recording a decline in the
average number of minutes used per month.
However, phone companies still make most of their money from calling
plans and texting, which use very little data. That means phone
companies would want to compensate for the revenue fall-off somehow,
perhaps by raising data prices.
...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/atandt-ceo-data-only-plans-likely-for-phones-within-2-years-calls-counting-as-data-usage/2012/06/01/gJQA5no06U_story.html
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 11:45:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Camp Shohola Communications & Technology Center
Message-ID: <be7fe038-891b-420d-8cfe-b840e96da5ca@h10g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>
[referenced from AT&T Archives website.] This camp teaches campers
about radio and television broadcasting and related engineering. Camp
facilities include a fully operational Strowger switching system for
internal communications, an operational Collins model 12H broadcast
console manufactured in 1936, and an amateur radio club (WB3DGR) using
a Kenwood TS-120s,TS-520, and Yeasu FTDX-400, transmitting up to 2,000
watts PEP.
For more details about their equipment:
http://www.shohola.com/kd3fg/
Radio club website:
http://www.shohola.com/wb3dgr/
General camp website:
http://www.shohola.com/
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 19:40:43 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Telemarketing Calls Keep Mounting Up, Along With Consumer Irritation
Message-ID: <p06240806cbef01c61780@[10.0.1.2]>
Telemarketing Calls Keep Mounting Up, Along With Consumer Irritation
By ALINA TUGEND
June 1, 2012
SOMETIMES I just don't know when a column is going to hit a nerve.
But judging from the response to my May 19 piece, annoying
telemarketing calls and robo-calls rank high among the miserable
irritants of everyday life.
Readers said the calls, particularly those that offer lower interest
rates for credit cards and mortgages, are becoming more frequent,
despite using every tool available to block them.
Reporting such calls to the Federal Trade Commission, as I suggested,
was an exercise in frustration and futility, many readers told me.
"I have all four of my phone numbers on the Do Not Call Registry,"
one reader, John Dingman, of Dallas, told me in an e-mail. "When I
report such calls, the F.T.C. site thanks me and there is no other
discernible response. The calls continue, perhaps from other
companies, perhaps from the same companies with a new gambit and/or
phone number. Who knows?"
Readers told me that the Do Not Call Registry seemed to work just
fine at blocking calls when it began in 2003 and for several years
after that. But the number of unwanted calls has steadily increased.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/02/your-money/telemarketing-calls-keep-mounting-up-along-with-consumer-irritation.html
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 23:19:43 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Use Your Cell Phone Carrier's Data Limit Protection to Your Advantage
Message-ID: <p0624080ccbef0524e181@[10.0.1.2]>
Use Your Cell Phone Carrier's Data Limit Protection to Your Advantage
6/1/2012
Children and teens can easily go over their cell phone data limit
playing games, surfing the Internet, downloading music. When it comes
to monitoring your child's cell phone and data use, there are easy
steps parents can take to ensure that their monthly bills don't come
as an unpleasant surprise. Better Business Bureau asked the major
cell phone carriers for tips on overseeing family data usage.
In 2011, BBB received 38,420 complaints against cellular telephone
services and equipment, making it the number one complaint category
in the BBB system. While many of those complaints were due to data
billing issues, there are ways to prevent this and the cell phone
carriers are willing to work with consumers to monitor and, in some
cases, lower their bills.
"By being proactive, and aware of the data activity in which your
child engages, you can save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, on
your next cell phone bill," said Rod Davis, senior vice president of
enterprise programs for the Council of Better Business Bureaus. "The
cell phone industry has put together different data plans and
restrictions that parents may want to consider if their child has a
persistent problem of going over their data limit."
BBB has put together a compilation of the major cell phone carriers'
data plans and packages:
...
http://www.bbb.org/us/article/use-your-cell-phone-carriers-data-limit-protection-to-your-advantage-34596
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 23:19:43 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Why your cell phone is ripe for spam texts in 2012
Message-ID: <p0624080dcbef054eeb29@[10.0.1.2]>
Why your cell phone is ripe for spam texts in 2012
By Nancy Scola
June 1, 2012
In the late 1970s, the cutting edge of communications technologies
was the autodialer, a machine capable of calling up scores of people
in one shot, with little human involvement. It was innovative, and
annoying. By the early '90s, Congress had had enough. "Computerized
calls," railed South Carolina Democrat Fritz Hollings from the Senate
floor, "are the scourge of modern civilization."
And so, Congress legislated. But the focus was on commercial calls.
Mindful of the free flow of speech and - let's be honest - interested
in self-preservation, lawmakers exempted political calls from its
Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act. But Congress decided that
some phones were too sensitive to get even autodialed political
calls: those in hospitals, those designated for emergency purposes -
and those in our pockets.
But here we are, some two decades later, and voters across the
country are getting political text messages they never asked for.
...
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2012/06/01/why-your-cell-phone-is-ripe-for-spam-texts-2012/
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 19:40:43 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Research in Motion, Struggling, Ponders a Dim Future
Message-ID: <p06240807cbef02212caf@[10.0.1.2]>
Research in Motion, Struggling, Ponders a Dim Future
By MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED
MAY 31, 2012
After rejecting the idea of a sale for months, Research in Motion
acknowledged on Tuesday that it was considering "strategic business
model alternatives" - or in banker's speak, RIM, which makes the
BlackBerry, said it was pondering a potential deal for all or parts
of the company.
But did it wait too long?
A year ago, RIM, a Canadian company, became the subject of takeover
rumors, after Google's $12.5 billion deal for Motorola Mobility.
Then, analysts believed that RIM would draw interest from Microsoft,
Amazon.com or any number of Chinese phone manufacturers who could
afford what would have been a pricey deal.
The company's executives rebuffed the idea, arguing that RIM was on
the verge of a turnaround. New phones were coming that combined
touch-screens with BlackBerry's e-mail and security features. And the
PlayBook, with an industrial-strength operating system, could stand
toe to toe with the iPad.
But RIM's prospects have withered since. In March, the company
disclosed that its quarterly sales had plunged 20 percent from the
previous quarter, as customers migrated to iPhones and Android
devices. The company warned on Tuesday that it expected another loss.
...
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/research-in-motion-struggling-ponders-a-dim-future/
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2012 14:33:31 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: 32 Innovations That Will Change Your Tomorrow - Interactive Feature
Message-ID: <p0624081fcbf00cd709e5@[10.0.1.2]>
The electric light was a failure.
Invented by the British chemist Humphry Davy in the early 1800s, it
spent nearly 80 years being passed from one initially hopeful
researcher to another, like some not-quite-housebroken puppy. In 1879,
Thomas Edison finally figured out how to make an incandescent light
bulb that people would buy. But that didn't mean the technology
immediately became successful. It took another 40 years, into the
1920s, for electric utilities to become stable, profitable businesses.
(snip)
... That's what this issue is about: all the little failures, trivialities
and not-quite-solved mysteries that make the successes possible. This
is what innovation looks like. It's messy, and it's awesome.
Maggie Koerth-Baker
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/06/03/magazine/innovations-issue.html
***** Moderator's Note *****
The site given in this post does not play well with Opera.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Sat, 02 Jun 2012 12:33:14 -0500
From: Jim Haynes <jhaynes@cavern.uark.edu>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Just got some of those fraudulent calls
Message-ID: <slrnjskjiq.30o.jhaynes@Frances.localdomain>
A woman with foregin accent claiming to be from Microsoft just called
me saying that they have a report that my computer is harboring a virus.
I've heard of these calls, being a way to sucker the user into
installing some malware or disclosing some personal information that
can be used for financial fraud.
So, not having a lot of patience, I cut her off by telling her that
I do not use Windows (well, hardly ever).
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom-
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