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The Telecom Digest for January 24, 2014
Volume 33 : Issue 18 : "text" Format
====== 32 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
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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: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 05:17:12 +0000 (UTC)
From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Google Glass-wearing movie patron questioned by Homeland Security agents as potential pirate
Message-ID: <lbq8ko$gff$1@reader1.panix.com>
In <p06240844cf04fbcc79d6@[172.16.42.4]> Telecom Digest Moderator wrote:
>What is ICE doing questioning people who aren't crossing a border?
ICE ("Immigration and Customs Enforcement", which is now part
of Homeland Security) is tasked, among other duties, with
investigating ... copyright issues.
Quoting from their web page [a]
"ICE HSI is the largest investigative arm in the
Department of Homeland Security with 6,700 special
agents assigned to more than 200 cities throughout
the United States and 47 countries around the world.
"ICE HSI special agents investigate and enforce
violations of federal trademark, copyright and
patent laws..."
- note that this doesn't have to be "at" the border,
and, for that matter, the "border" extends
a hundred miles from any crossing. Which means
(as currently envisioned), all those Asterisks
that limit the Bill of Rights at the border
crossings can be applied pretty far inland.
[a]
[http://www.iprcenter.gov/partners/ice
[
---
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
***** Moderator's Note *****
I know that ICE is doing it: I just don't understand why. All their
training is about catching lawbreakers at choke points: they're not
equipped, in either equipment or attitude, to apprehend criminals whom
are able to move their operations on a moment's notice.
This should be handled by the FBI.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 08:03:14 -0800 (PST)
From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Wall plug wires?
Message-ID: <ce2e1859-7446-45a4-aace-23cbc5f36e2a@googlegroups.com>
On Tuesday, January 21, 2014 6:09:47 PM UTC-5, tlvp wrote:
> On an old Princess phone here, red/green are ring/tip and yellow/black are
> for 6 VAC (from a Bell Co. wall-wart) for illuminating the phone's lamps.
Older model Princess and Trimline sets had a tiny incandescent lamp to
illuminate the dial* when the phone was in use. As mentioned, this was
powered by a small plug-in transformer. This was for illumination only and
was not necessary in the regular use of the telephone set.
If only one telephone set was powered, usually a power outlet near the phone
was utilized. However, if multiple sets within a home were powered, then a
transformer was plugged in a central location.
Many years ago an alert went out for certain models of that central
transformer being a fire hazard.
Later model (mid 1970s) Princess and Trimline sets used LEDs to illuminate the
dial. These were powered from the telephone line and needed no transformer.
I don't know if rotary dial telephone sets will operate on modern VOIP-based
lines. (In one sense, my guess is that they should because 'flashing'
(sending a 1/2 second pulse for Call-Waiting or 3-way-calling) is still a
standard signal, and the base station would have to accept such signals.)
Rotary sets will not operate on ISDN or digital lines, but these lines require
special sets.
*Back in the 1950s some 500 sets had a little mushroom dial lamp atop the
dial.
***** Moderator's Note *****
Does anyone make phone sets that will connect directly to a two-wire
ISDN line? All the ones I know about have "T" (i.e., four wire)
interfaces, and so require an adapter.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 22:10:23 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Verizon Revenue Climbs on Sturdy Mobile Growth
Message-ID: <p06240820cf04e6f9984f@[172.16.42.4]>
Verizon Revenue Climbs on Sturdy Mobile Growth
By REUTERS
JAN. 21, 2014
NEW YORK - Verizon Communications Inc reported faster subscriber
growth and stronger profits than expected at its Verizon Wireless
venture with Vodafone Group Plc, easing some concerns about
intensifying competition if only temporarily.
Investors are worried market leader Verizon Wireless, which is paying
$130 billion for Vodafone's 45 percent share in their venture, will
cut prices as discounts from No. 4 U.S. mobile service T-Mobile U.S.
have drawn responses from No. 2 service AT&T Inc and No. 3 ranked
Sprint Corp.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014/01/21/business/21reuters-verizon-earnings.html
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:29:59 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Google to acquire Nest for $3.2 billion
Message-ID: <p06240841cf04f993f47c@[172.16.42.4]>
Google to acquire Nest for $3.2 billion
Jon Swartz, USA TODAY 10:13 p.m. EST January 13, 2014
SAN FRANCISCO - Google intends to make even more of a splash in
Americans' homes. On Monday, it reached a deal to buy Nest, the maker
of highly-styled digital smoke alarms and thermostats, for $3.2
billion in cash.
Nest, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has generated lots of buzz and
sterling reviews for its aesthetic design approach to common everyday
home appliances often overlooked by consumers.
...
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/01/13/google-to-acquire-nest-for-32-billion/4459879/
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 00:51:12 -0500
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Wall plug wires?
Message-ID: <MPG.2d4a77df5ebe2fd5989f36@news.eternal-september.org>
In article <prKdnYkb_rhAqkLPnZ2dnUVZ_oOdnZ2d@giganews.com>,
Retired@home.com says...
>
> On 1/21/14, 6:09 PM, tlvp wrote:
> > On Tue, 21 Jan 2014 10:51:55 +0000 (UTC), Bit Twister wrote:
> >
> >> ... The problem is, I fear the house alarm controller might be in series
> >> between the telco line and the wall sockets.
> >>
> >> Let's say there are 4 wires on an inside phone wall plug, red, green,
> >> black, yellow. What [are] the yellow and black wires for?
> >
> > On an old Princess phone here, red/green are ring/tip and yellow/black are
> > for 6 VAC (from a Bell Co. wall-wart) for illuminating the phone's lamps.
> >
> >> Assuming red/green are the wires for my phone number, which color
> >> would be for tip according to code and which side of the wall plate
> >> should it be connected? Same question for the black/yellow wires.
> >
> > According to the wikipedia page / anchor
> >
> >
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_jack#Powered_version_of_RJ11
> > :
> >
> > : Pins 2 and 5 (black and yellow) may carry low voltage AC or DC power.
> > : While the phone line itself (tip and ring) supplies enough power for most
> > : telephone terminals, old telephone instruments with incandescent dial
> > : lights in them (such as the classic Western Electric Princess and Trimline
> > : telephone models) needed different voltages than the phone line supplies.
> > : Typically, the power on Pins 2 and 5 came from a transformer plugged into
> > : a power outlet near one jack, wired to supply power to just that telephone
> > : (or to all of the jacks in the house, depending on local ... practices).
> >
> > I'd be very shocked to learn the yellow/black were meant for 120 VAC ...
> > very shocked indeed (double entendre intended) :-) . Cheers, -- tlvp
> >
>
> The Y/B pair could also be used for:
>
> RJ-14 = 2 pots lines in one jack
>
> RJ-48 = Receive pair of a 4 wire T-1/DS-1 circuit or subrate DDS
>
> Receive pair of a 4 wire analog modem circuit (Type 3002)
Anyone who was running a T-1/DS-1 over D type wiring should be drawn,
quartered and then shot. The cross talk would be something awful in that
type of wire and do stuttering wonders for a data circuit.
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 15:15:20 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Wall plug wires?
Message-ID: <20140123201520.GB10744@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 12:51:12AM -0500, T wrote:
> Anyone who was running a T-1/DS-1 over D type wiring should be drawn,
> quartered and then shot. The cross talk would be something awful in that
> type of wire and do stuttering wonders for a data circuit.
I was a tech at New England Telephone, and we used shielded twisted
pair for T1 lines on the frame. I remember that it was a PITA to
ground the shields sometimes: we had to solder pieces of wire to the
shield-ends and tie them down under a mounting screw. I don't know
why, but some of the T1 repeater blocks had no ground lugs on them.
For some reason, the techs used to use the same cable - shielded
twisted pair - to connect fault locate circuits and order wires. I dug
out the "T" diagram and showed the foreman that it called for regular
cross-connects, but to get him to believe me, I had to claim that the
third-liner in Engineering had told me about it.
Bill
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Oh, look out kid, it's somethin' you did
God knows when but you're doing it again.
- Bob Dylan
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 22:48:42 -0800 (PST)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Wall plug wires?
Message-ID: <25a2b9e7-6547-481a-9216-fd6ae49b170c@googlegroups.com>
The alarm system interface is USOC RJ-13X defined in 47 CFR 68.502(b)(1). As
described in the FCC Rules and Regulations 47 CFR §68 (1997):
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
68.502(b)(1) Series T/R ahead of all station equipment: 8-position series
jack. Electrical Network Connection: Series tip and right ahead of all station
equipment. Conductors 2,3,6. and 7 are reserved for telephone company use.
Universal Service Order code (USOC): RJ31X. Mechanical arrangement: Miniature
8 position series jack. Wiring Diagram: (wiring diagram appears on the
following page)
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
Source: FCC Rules and Regulations (1997), Part 68 - Connection of terminal
Equipment to the telephone Network. A Copy of the 1997 edition of Part 68 is
posted at:
http://theoldcatvequipmentmuseum.org/200/201/2014/OldPart68/OldPart68.pdf
The text quoted above appears on page 397 (PDF page 137/157).
The wiring diagram appears at the top of page 398 (PDF page 138/157).
The 1997 edition of the FCC Rules is the last edition in which the FCC
published wiring diagrams. Since 1998, wiring diagrams have been published by
the Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments.
http://www.part68.org/
Neal McLain
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 22:08:19 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Verizon Plans to Buy Intel Media Division to Expand Its Television Services
Message-ID: <p0624081ecf04e64b6f7b@[172.16.42.4]>
Verizon Plans to Buy Intel Media Division to Expand Its Television Services
By BRIAN X. CHEN and QUENTIN HARDY
JAN. 21, 2014
SAN FRANCISCO - Verizon Communications wants to make TV available
whenever customers have an Internet connection, and on whatever screen
they are looking at. On Tuesday, the company announced a shot in the arm
for those ambitions.
The company said it planned to buy the intellectual property and
assets of Intel Media, the digital TV division of the chip maker Intel, which
developed a solution to offer channels over the Internet to screens of
different sizes, from smartphones to big-screen TVs
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/22/technology/verizon-to-expand-tv-services-with-intel-media-purchase.html
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:27:52 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: What you need to know about the court decision that just struck down net neutrality
Message-ID: <p06240840cf04f8fbd0ca@[172.16.42.4]>
What you need to know about the court decision that just struck down
net neutrality
by Mathew Ingram
JAN. 14, 2014
SUMMARY:
On Tuesday, an appeals court in Washington, D.C. struck down the
FCC's rules regarding net neutrality, which are designed to prevent
ISPs from giving preferential treatment to certain kinds of data.
Here's what you need to know about the decision and its potential
impact
...
http://gigaom.com/2014/01/14/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-court-decision-that-just-struck-down-net-neutrality/
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 22:38:59 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Theft of Data Fuels Worries in South Korea
Message-ID: <p06240830cf04eda32837@[172.16.42.4]>
Theft of Data Fuels Worries in South Korea
By CHOE SANG-HUN
JAN. 20, 2014
SEOUL, South Korea - A string of senior executives at three credit
card companies in South Korea offered to resign on Monday after a
huge theft of client data that may have affected 20 million people in
this nation of 50 million.
The case became known this month when prosecutors arrested a
39-year-old technician hired by the Korea Credit Bureau, a ratings
firm that the credit card companies had hired to help improve their
systems to protect client data. It was subsequently disclosed that
the man stole personal information on 104 million credit cards issued
by the KB Financial Group, the NongHyup Financial Group and Lotte
Card.
The man, identified only his last name, Park, stole the data from May
2012 to December 2013, copying it onto a USB device, prosecutors
said. The data included the names, phone and South Korean social
security numbers, email and residential addresses, salaries, monthly
card use and other credit-rating information of clients, the
Financial Supervisory Service, a regulatory agency, said in a
statement. In many cases, card numbers were stolen as well.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/business/international/theft-of-data-fuels-worries-in-south-korea.html
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 21:37:38 -0800 (PST)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
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: <df4963d7-490e-4ddc-8fcd-168f29156d0d@googlegroups.com>
Bill Horne wrote:
> Mass media is, and always will be, geared to the lowest common
> denominator 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...
Bingo. I've long thought that CNN could regain some of its original "news"
brand by actually covering national and world news. Instead of live
actualities of stuff like the latest Hollywood dustup, how about a one-hour
daily report from the front lines of the endless wars going on in the Middle
East and Africa? They certainly have the talent and the facilities --
remember their coverage of the early days of the First Iraq War.
After all, when it was founded CNN stood for Cable News Network.
Neal McLain
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 15:21:50 -0500
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Google Glass-wearing movie patron questioned by Homeland Security agents as potential pirate
Message-ID: <1ejkrki4y4c2k.1oqcq4alu8y1r.dlg@40tude.net>
On Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:39:32 -0500, Moderator asked:
> What is ICE doing questioning people who aren't crossing a border?
Well, in NM and AZ, at least, they're ascertaining whether people about 250
north of the Mexican border, and aimed north, might perhaps *have crossed*
a border illegally. Nothing to worry about, if you're a US citizen, 'cuz US
citizens require no documentation -- unless ICE won't readily believe
you're a US citizen, in which case it's helpful to have with you the sort
of documents US citizens are said not to require, e.g., US birth
certificate, or US Citizenship/Naturalization paper, or US Passport.
In cinemas, on the other hand, I'm not entirely sure :-) . Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom-
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