32 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
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The Telecom Digest for January 23, 2014
Volume 33 : Issue 17 : "text" Format
====== 32 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
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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: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 06:57:02 -0800 (PST)
From: "John C. Fowler" <johnfpublic@yahoo.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Wall plug wires?
Message-ID: <1390402622.55824.YahooMailBasic@web164802.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
Keep in mind all wiring [advice] is [saying] "This is how it SHOULD be
wired" which isn't always reality.
Normally, alarm systems are installed in series with the house wiring
at the front of the line. The reason is to prevent a burglar from
entering, taking a phone off hook, dialing some busy number, and
preventing the alarm system from calling its destination. By being in
front in serial, the alarm system can cut off all the other phones.
Smart burglars could get around this, of course, but this is only to
thwart halfway-smart burglars.
Also, some alarm systems need a special adjustment when they are
unhooked from a genuine 100% POTS phone line. Check with the alarm
company, and be sure to test the system after any changes.
---
John C. Fowler, johnfpublic@yahoo.com
***** Moderator's Note *****
The OP might be talking about a self-installed system his friend
bought at Radio Shack: there might not be any alarm company.
Wired burglar alarms have always been vulnerable to sabotage at the
cable entryway, and that applies to Internet-based services as
well. Mr. Fowler brings up a good point: most "home" type systems are
just "peace of mind" offerings, effective only against "halfway-smart"
attackers.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 09:40:36 -0500
From: "ABLE1" <nospamhere@nowhere.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Wall plug wires?
Message-ID: <VLQDu.225109$gp1.90305@en-nntp-16.dc1.easynews.com>
On Wed, 22 Jan 2014 04:08:40 +0000 (UTC), Bit Twister wrote:
> Other research has indicated the black/yellow from the telephone pole
> is for a second circuit. I assume all current wall socket pins are all
> connected in parallel and to use the second circuit at a particular
> phone I would have to move/jumper the black/yellow wires to the
> Tip/Ring (red/green) pins on that particular socket.
[Moderator snip]
I am sure I may get some flack for this but:
Being an alarm dealer I can safely say that if you go around playing
with phone wiring that is connected to a monitored alarm panel there
are huge liability issues involved. Since you do not know what you
are doing it would be best to have your friend contact his alarm
service provider and have them make the proper wiring connections.
These proper connection are designed so that the alarm panel will
seize the line and make the call in an emergency situation. There is
a specific way that the panel needs to be connected. Diverting from
that will render the system non functional. The price of a simple
service call will pay off in the future. Do it right.
signed
A lurker that needed to speak up.
***** Moderator's Note *****
I have an alarm that stopped working: how about some free advice?
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 19:33:47 -0500
From: "ABLE1" <nospamhere@nowhere.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Wall plug wires?
Message-ID: <zrZDu.39541$bF1.36352@en-nntp-01.dc1.easynews.com>
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> I have an alarm that stopped working: how about some free advice?
>
> Bill Horne
> Moderator
Bill,
I would be happy to help. What is the manufacture and what problems
are you having besides "stopped working"??
Les
***** Moderator's Note *****
Thanks for your offer. Please contact me off-list. TIA.
bill at horne dot net
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 22:05:49 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Aereo's Supreme Court battle may change how you watch TV
Message-ID: <p0624081ccf04e5a4485d@[172.16.42.4]>
Aereo's Supreme Court battle may change how you watch TV The case
against the company that streams over-the-air programming could affect
whether you watch your favorite sports for free and what you can store
in the cloud.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57617087-93/aereos-supreme-court-battle-may-change-how-you-watch-tv/
***** Moderator's Note *****
This is "old news" to some, but cnet's article makes the issue more clear.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 13:46:59 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Aereo's Supreme Court battle may change how you watch TV
Message-ID: <20140122184659.GA23449@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
On Tue, Jan 21, 2014 at 10:05:49PM -0500, Monty Solomon wrote:
>
> Aereo's Supreme Court battle may change how you watch TV The case
> against the company that streams over-the-air programming could affect
> whether you watch your favorite sports for free and what you can store
> in the cloud.
I disagree with CNET's summary: television was never "free", and I
feel it's important to weigh TV's hidden costs along with its obvious
ones.
1. Professional sports have turned many once-proud academic
institutions into multi-million dollar training camps for the pro
circuit. Some academics have gone so far as to condemn their
universities' sports programs for the ways they have cheapened the
value of the diplomas atheletes receive, called into question the
validity of higher education, and drawn money (a LOT of money) away
from research and from academic scholarships.
2. Television, in and of itself, is deceptive: the tall white guy does
NOT always make all the decisions in the real world, and all
problem are NOT solved in 60 minutes with time out for commericals.
3. Mass media is, and always will be, geared to the lowest common
denomitor of public taste and perception. I don't claim to be one
of the elites, or even a professional critic of television, but it
seems to me that TV has been pandering to its viewers preconceived
notions to the exclusion of divergent views, of well-considered
debate, and (most importantly) of any objective views or insights
into our leaders' real lives and backgrounds. The "revelations"
about Chris Christie's bullying tactics should have come as a
surprise to nobody, but the TV networks' distaste for any look into
realpolitik and real economics has left U.S. viewers ill-prepared
for the changing economic landscape of the world and for the
changing strategies elected officials adapt to keep their seats.
4. Even if only for this reason, television can never be "free": every
unforgiving minute spent in front of the tube is time robbed from
from community involvement, from personal reflection and future
planning, and from teaching our children.
FWIW. YMMV.
Bill
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:39:32 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Google Glass-wearing movie patron questioned by Homeland Security agents as potential pirate
Message-ID: <p06240844cf04fbcc79d6@[172.16.42.4]>
Google Glass-wearing movie patron questioned by Homeland Security
agents as potential pirate
By Adi Robertson
January 21, 2014
Wearing Google Glass recently proved perilous for a movie patron in
Columbus, Ohio. On Monday, The Gadgeteer posted a frightening story
apparently from a member of the Glass Explorer program. An hour into
watching Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit wearing his prescription version
of Glass, he said, he'd been abruptly pulled from the theater and
interrogated at length by "feds," who accused him of attempting to
pirate the movie by recording it.
What followed was over an hour of the "feds" telling me I am not
under arrest, and that this is a "voluntary interview", but if I
choose not to cooperate bad things may happen to me (is it legal for
authorities to threaten people like that?). [...] They wanted to know
who I am, where I live, where I work, how much I'm making, how many
computers I have at home, why am I recording the movie, who am I
going to give the recording to, why don't I just give up the guy up
the chain, 'cause they are not interested in me. Over and over and
over again.
After going through the photos on his device, the man says, the
officers concluded that there'd been a misunderstanding, and theater
owner AMC called a man from the "Movie Association," who gave him
free passes to see the film again. But the man described himself as
shaken by the incident, especially because he'd worn Glass to the
theater before and had no trouble. The story initially seemed too
dramatic to be true, but both AMC and the Department of Homeland
Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division have
confirmed it. Here's what AMC public relations director Ryan Noonan
told The Verge:
...
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/21/5331748/google-glass-wearing-movie-patron-questioned-for-piracy
-or-
http://goo.gl/8SYfcb
***** Moderator's Note *****
What is ICE doing questioning people who aren't crossing a border?
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:42:45 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: White hat hacker says he found 70,000 records on Healthcare.gov through a Google search
Message-ID: <p06240847cf04fc9daad7@[172.16.42.4]>
White hat hacker says he found 70,000 records on Healthcare.gov
through a Google search
By Adrianne Jeffries
January 21, 2014
The federal health insurance marketplace at Healthcare.gov still has
major security issues according to some experts, including a flaw
that allows user records to show up in Google results.
At least 70,000 records with personal identifying information
including first and last names, addresses, and user names are
accessible by using an advanced Google search and then tweaking the
resulting URLs, according to David Kennedy, founder of the security
firm TrustedSec. Kennedy notes that he never modified any URLs, just
that he noticed that it was possible.
Kennedy first testified about the issue before a Congressional
committee in November, he says, but it still hasn't been resolved.
It's just one of several issues he's identified with the site, and
it's actually one of the easier ones to fix: Kennedy estimates it
would take just a few days to hide the records.
...
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/21/5331756/white-hat-hacker-says-he-found-70000-records-on-healthcare-gov
-or-
http://goo.gl/7LehRA
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 15:09:17 -0500
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: TDoS -- a new ransom wrinkle
Message-ID: <rgvupwrt8zod$.1firxd3mq8ttk.dlg@40tude.net>
A recent email bulletin from Sophos Security brings this word:
> ... scammers are posing as debt collectors seeking repayment on loans
> purportedly taken out by individuals or employees at places such as hospitals.
>
> When they meet resistance, the scammers are again threatening to bring down
> phone lines, and then they flood the lines with repeated calls sent automatically
> over the internet, knocking ... agencies' phones offline for legitimate callers.
More (pardon the long URLs, but I disapprove of bit.ly-ization) at:
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2014/01/22/tdos-extortionists-jam-phone-lines-of-public-services-including-hospitals/
-or-
http://goo.gl/pla7AN
and
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/technology/swindlers-use-telephones-with-internets-tactics.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
.
-or-
http://goo.gl/qud3wf
Cheers, -- tlvp
---
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
***** Moderator's Note *****
I don't care for "shortened" URLs when they're used in place of the
long ones, but when a URL is "wrapped" to the next line by an email
client, the result is often shown with added characters that confuse a
browser, so I like to show a shortened URL in /addition/ to the long
one. That way, readers get to make a choice.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:32:06 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: How Netflix won CES
Message-ID: <p06240842cf04fa0a1046@[172.16.42.4]>
How Netflix won CES
It's not the TVs, it's what you watch on them
By Bryan Bishop
January 10, 2014
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/10/5291068/how-netflix-won-ces-4k-streaming
***** Moderator's Note *****
OK, what's "4K" and when is it going to replace HDTV?
Bill Horne
Moderator
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