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The Telecom Digest for July 11, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 168 : "text" Format
====== 30 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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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
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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: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 09:36:36 +0100
From: "Spyros Bartsocas" <spyros@telecom-digest.zzn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Q.: Coincidence? or Consequence?
Message-ID: <E1C6CCC87B5ADF640A493C939657B8D7@spyros.telecom-digest.zzn.com>
>I've read, "DNSChanger Malware Set to Knock 1,000s Off Internet on
>Monday".
>So is that why T-Mobile's WAP/HTML gateways, or Opera's OperaMini
>proxies, left my T-Mobile handset high and dry while trying to
>browse to google, and netaddress, and wikipedia, and Opera's own
>blogging site today?
>Error messages all read, approximately, "The server timed out.
>You tried to access the address ..., which is currently
>unavailable. Please be sure you have the right URL and have typed
>it correctly. ... Request timed out."
>Just a fluky coincidence? or somehow a consequence of the closing
>of the FBI's temporary replacement DNS host in conjunction with
>"DNSChanger"?
Could it be because of the last bullet in this posting?
http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/spring-cleaning-in-summer.html#!/2012/07/spring-cleaning-in-summer.html
-scb
__________________________________________________________
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:14:21 -0400
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Q.: Coincidence? or Consequence?
Message-ID: <1xfp0i7fnru6g$.udfbet0c7mkr.dlg@40tude.net>
On Tue, 10 Jul 2012 09:36:36 +0100, Spyros Bartsocas wrote:
> >I've read, "DNSChanger Malware Set to Knock 1,000s Off Internet on
> >Monday".
>
> >So is that why T-Mobile's WAP/HTML gateways, or Opera's OperaMini
> >proxies, left my T-Mobile handset high and dry while trying to
> >browse to google, and netaddress, and wikipedia, and Opera's own
> >blogging site today?
>
> >Error messages all read, approximately, "The server timed out.
> >You tried to access the address ..., which is currently
> >unavailable. Please be sure you have the right URL and have typed
> >it correctly. ... Request timed out."
>
> >Just a fluky coincidence? or somehow a consequence of the closing
> >of the FBI's temporary replacement DNS host in conjunction with
> >"DNSChanger"?
>
> Could it be because of the last bullet in this posting?
>
>
> http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/spring-cleaning-in-summer.html#!/2012/07/spring-cleaning-in-summer.html
Only if Google Mini the service and Opera Mini the cellphone browser have
anything to do with each other, I suppose :-) . But thanks for the thought.
> -scb
> __________________________________________________________
Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:24:22 -0400
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Tech Companies Leave Phone Calls Behind
Message-ID: <zqd2ppnfy3ee$.1lwjufrwqi7gk.dlg@40tude.net>
On Mon, 9 Jul 2012 08:31:15 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote:
> Tech Companies Leave Phone Calls Behind
>
> LinkedIn's voice mail lists an alternate customer service number.
> Dial it, and the caller is trapped in a telephonic version of the
> movie "Groundhog Day," forced to work through the original phone tree
> again and again until the lesson is clear: stop calling.
Whatever entity it is that marketed the FF905 model of the "Southwestern
Bell Freedom Phone" (a Malaysian-produced 900 MHz cordless phone) left a
nice, helpful, and permanently imprinted "Toll Free Help Line" number
(reproduced below) on the body of that instrument.
Today I tried learning from it what I'd forgotten: how to program phone
numbers into its "10-Number Dial Memory". Send callers to IVR hell? How
cruel and unfeeling -- just give 'em busy signals every time they call.
In between attempts to reach their 1-800-366-0937 I toyed with conceivable
ways of programming phone numbers into the unit's memory, and, not too many
attempts in, I found the way and no longer needed that Help Line after all.
["And what's that way?" I hear you asking? OK: handset "on-hook" (Talk key
dark); press "Memo" (Talk key should start blinking green); press the
key-sequence for the number you want to store, press "Memo", and press the
digit (0 thru 9) for the location you wish to occupy; the handset should
signal "dih-deet, dih-deet" and the Talk key should go dark again. Done.]
Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 10:39:05 -0400
From: Telecom Digest Moderator <redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Guest Moderator wanted
Message-ID: <20120710143904.GA21358@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
I've just found out that I've been selected for a seasonal job in a
remote region of the U.S., where there is little cell coverage and no
Internet service.
For that reason, I'm looking for someone to moderate the Telecom
Digest for a couple of months: if you're interested, please send me a
resume and tell me why you'd make a good moderator.
Thank you.
Bill
--
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 07:20:07 -0700 (PDT)
From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Aerial vs. underground utility lines
Message-ID: <d09aaf86-e119-4de1-92a8-ce8109436d0f@fr28g2000vbb.googlegroups.com>
Recent major storms knocked out power for millions of people during an
oppressive heatwave. It took up to a full week to restore power to
everyone. The same utility poles also often carry telephone and cable
TV lines.
USAToday has two commentaries on the subject, one in favor of burying
lines underground, and one in favor of the status quo.
Bury lines:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/story/2012-07-09/outages-bury-power-lines/56119492/1
Keep above ground.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/story/2012-07-09/power-lines-underground-Edison/56119160/1
[My housing complex is served by underground utility lines, and they
are not perfect. Repairs are extremely expensive. Underground wiring
can break from a bad freeze/thaw cycle. We relocated our transformers
to above ground for longer life; the inground units tended to have
problems.
FWIW, our old house was served by an underground telephone line, and
later was converted to an aerial line (don't know why.)
It seems to me utilities must be much more aggressive in tree trimming
near power lines, even if homeowners object. As the many communities
developed in the 1950s and 1960s age, their trees get large and not
always healthy, and are at high risk to crash during a storm.]
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:20:29 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Carriers Band to Fight Cellphone Theft
Message-ID: <p06240813cc221c85ed75@[10.0.1.6]>
Carriers Band to Fight Cellphone Theft
By ROLFE WINKLER
April 9, 2012
The nation's major wireless providers have agreed to a deal with the
U.S. government to build a central database of stolen cellphones-part
of a broad effort to tame an explosion of thefts nationwide.
The database, which the wireless companies will build and maintain,
will be designed to track phones that are reported as lost or stolen
and deny them voice and data service. The idea is to reduce crime by
making it difficult or impossible to actually use a stolen device,
reducing resale value.
Currently, Verizon Communications Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. block
phones that are reported stolen from being reactivated. AT&T Inc. and
Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA don't. All four have agreed to be
part of the new database.
...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303815404577334152199453024.html
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