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Message Digest
Volume 28 : Issue 197 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: Teenager Falls Into Manhole While Texting
Re: Teenager Falls Into Manhole While Texting
Re: 911 service center troubles
Re: 911 service center troubles
Re: 911 service center troubles
Re: The RISK that is Amazon's Kindle
Re: When Texting Is Wrong
Re: When Texting Is Wrong
Re: When Texting Is Wrong
Re: When Texting Is Wrong
Re: Home and small office VoIP services
Re: Home and small office VoIP services
Re: Home and small office VoIP services
Re: RFID's Security Problem / Are U.S. passport cards and new state driver's licenses with RFID truly secure?
Verizon Defends Exclusive Handsets, Except for Small Carriers
Special alloy sleeves urged to block hackers?
Re: Special alloy sleeves urged to block hackers?
Re: A mystery phone
Re: RFID's Security Problem / Are U.S. passport cards and new state driver's licenses with RFID truly secure?
Re: RFID's Security Problem / Are U.S. passport cards and new state driver's licenses with RFID truly secure?
Re: Home and small office VoIP services
Re: Home and small office VoIP services
====== 27 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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===========================
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and the name of our lawyer, and other stuff of interest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:48:59 -0700
From: Steven Lichter <diespammers@killspammers.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Teenager Falls Into Manhole While Texting
Message-ID: <h3r6hh$v71$1@news.eternal-september.org>
Thad Floryan wrote:
> On 7/17/2009 9:07 AM, Steven Lichter wrote:
>> [...]
>> Sounds like a series of TV ads for Mercury Insurance a few years ago; a
>> woman driving an RV, put the vehicle is cruise control and going to the
>> back of it to make coffee, or the guy that was cleaning parts with gas,
>> then putting it down the drain, then sitting in the bathroom and smoking
>> a cigarette.
>
> Hah, hah! That is FUNNY! Fortunately my coffee cup was on the table. :-)
>
> I know this is w-a-y off-topic but I just uploaded 4 videos that are in a
> similar vein; feel welcome to view and/or download:
>
> AGF insurance re: a telescope lens:
>
> http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/AGF_telescope.flv [1.6 MB]
> http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/AGF_lens.wmv [2.6 MB]
>
> Two Ford UK ads:
>
> http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/FordBird.mpeg [1 MB]
> http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/FordCat.mpeg [.9 MB]
>
> On-topic: the telephone excuse machine:
>
> http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/phone_excuse_machine.flv [5.7 MB]
>
You will notice all of your screens at your house have been threaded and
your car has been marked by my wifes cats.*
--
The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2009 I Kill Spammers, inc, A Rot in Hell. Co.
* (The fordcat.mpeg, shows a cat jumping on the car, sticking its head
in the moon roof, moon roof closing, appears to have cut head off of
the cat, cat falling to the ground, very sick ad!!!!!!!!)
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:57:00 -0700
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Teenager Falls Into Manhole While Texting
Message-ID: <4A62371C.8070400@thadlabs.com>
On 7/18/2009 7:34 AM, Steven Lichter wrote:
> Thad Floryan wrote:
>> [...]
>> http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/FordBird.mpeg [1 MB]
>> http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/FordCat.mpeg [.9 MB]
>>
>> On-topic: the telephone excuse machine:
>>
>> http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/phone_excuse_machine.flv [5.7 MB]
>
> You will notice all of your screens at your house have been threaded and
> your car has been marked by my wifes cats.*
Deservedly so. :-)
It's been years since I actually watched some of those videos and I was
thinking of the "trunk monkey car protection system". I added an index
file to that VIDEOS page with a warning about that specific video
("not for the squeamish"). Sorry 'bout that.
Interestingly, cats seem to like my car (they sleep under it) and my
backyard, and I'm the only one in the neighborhood without a mouse,
rat or gopher problem. Even the neighborhood skunk will come over and
sit about 10 feet away when I'm out at night with my telescopes. The
bobcats are about 2 blocks away and the cougar hasn't come closer than
1/2 mile. Two California king snakes, about 5' long, live here, too.
Apologies to all for the off-topic post.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:26:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: 911 service center troubles
Message-ID: <9151dc21-8955-4341-9090-49a2558e384e@r24g2000vbn.googlegroups.com>
On Jul 17, 10:02 pm, Sam Spade <s...@coldmail.com> wrote:
> > Note that in the 1970s Bell needed to add more operators, despite
> > automation, to handle ever more requests for operator services, and
> > was naturally concerned about the increased labor costs. That's when
> > they introduced discounts for dialed direct station toll calls and
> > surcharges for operator handled toll calls. Directory assistance
> > charges came next.
>
> Thus, the genesis of Traffic Service Position System (TSPS) (I think I
> got that right.) That is where the "O" calls would be distributed to
> the next available operator in any number of metro service centers. The
> maximum distance at inception was 50 miles via T carrier.
Since the beginning the Bell System sought to improve operator
productivity through automation assist. For example, in manual boards,
the operators had automatic ringing.
Actually, connecting most calls by the 1960s was easy, the operator
would merely dial the area code and number. It was recording the
start/stop/ number from/number to that took up time, then processing
those hand written records. A toll operator spend most of her time
writing up toll tickets, not connecting calls.
TSP/TSPS was to improve operator productivity by having the customer
dial the number and automate AMA recording. The operator no longer
"connected" the call through her switchboard, rather, she merely
directed the equipment to do so. The operator used a push button
console. The console itself had its genesis back in the 1950s with
experiments, and came out in the 1960s. The first mode was "Traffic
Service Position" followed by "Traffic Service Position System", which
was more sophisticated.
On TSP/TSPS, the subscriber dialed 0+ac+number and the operator had
less to do. On station coin calls, the operator got a display of the
cash due and merely asked for the money and counted the coin drops.
By pressing a button the operator could see the call cost, length,
numbers, etc. This seems simple today, but in the 1960s it was
sophisticated.
As an aside, every TSPS operator still had a set of toll tickets and
could manually set up and route a call and record the data if needed,
which they occassionally had to do.
One website has pictures of computer terminals squeezed onto cord
switchboards which apparently were an aid to cord service.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:57:56 -0700
From: Steven Lichter <diespammers@killspammers.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: 911 service center troubles
Message-ID: <h3re3e$cq1$1@news.eternal-september.org>
Sam Spade wrote:
> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>
>>
>> Note that in the 1970s Bell needed to add more operators, despite
>> automation, to handle ever more requests for operator services, and
>> was naturally concerned about the increased labor costs. That's when
>> they introduced discounts for dialed direct station toll calls and
>> surcharges for operator handled toll calls. Directory assistance
>> charges came next.
>>
> Thus, the genesis of Traffic Service Position System (TSPS) (I think I
> got that right.) That is where the "O" calls would be distributed to
> the next available operator in any number of metro service centers. The
> maximum distance at inception was 50 miles via T carrier.
>
That is what it did; it was the death of the cord boards and the local
operators who know the area. In GTE areas they went through one of the
3 Toll offices then to the operator. I spent the better part of a year
converting director system throughout Orange County and The South Bay. I
still can take apart the system make the changes and put it back
together in less then 10 minutes and that was way back in 1973/74.
--
The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2009 I Kill Spammers, inc, A Rot in Hell. Co.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:35:11 -0400
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: 911 service center troubles
Message-ID: <op.uw88sxf7o63xbg@acer250.gateway.2wire.net>
On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:15:34 -0400, jsw <jsw@ivgate.omahug.org> wrote:
>>The 1975 Bell Labs text suggets dial-tone first was a new
>>innovation.
>
> I **KNOW** that Dial Tone First<tm> was around in Ma Bell land
> prior to 1975. At the risk of errors due to rusty memory cells,
> I'm gonna say that I remember it from 1970 on either 212-221 or
> 212-541. They made a BIG DEAL about this, and the phones had
> a big 'This is a Dial Tone First phone' metal placard on them.
>
> One quirk I remember on some of the Dial Tone First<tm> phones
> was that if you dialed a number that was on the same office
> that was busy WITHOUT depositing a dime, you would get a busy
> signal, but if the line was clear to ring you got the 'The
> call you are making requires a 10 cent deposit ...' recording.
>
> It was kind of a quickie test-for-busy test and it only worked
> on some offices (1ESS?) for intra-office calls only.
As for early dial-tone first, dial second, pay third, I remember
one such phone in, or just outside, a RR station somewhere near
Rhinebeck/Red Hook/Rock City in lower upstate New York.
I needed it to phone the summer camp I was going to spend the
next eight weeks in, to tell them to come get me. Having grown up
in NYC, where all the pay phones I ever encountered were pay first,
I was really baffled, and had to get a local to explain it to me.
I may have been, oh, 15 at the time, give or take a year or two.
Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:26:14 -0500
From: John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: The RISK that is Amazon's Kindle
Message-ID: <6645152a0907171926w1752e24dy3d6fee125cb5e8b2@mail.gmail.com>
On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 6:05 PM, danny burstein<dannyb@panix.com> wrote:
> Not a direct telecom issue, but very, very, close
It's information and the Kindle works over Sprint's PCS network, so
I'd call it telecom.
So, what happens when someone writes a tell-all book about a current
or former president and the powers that be don't like it? Will it
vanish from everyone's Kindles in the middle of the night?
I'm guessing that when you purchase a Kindle and/or books for it, you
agree to grant them full access to do whatever they want. But it's
tales like these that make me thankful for the free and open source
movement.
John
--
John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
Austin, Texas, USA
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:33:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: When Texting Is Wrong
Message-ID: <eed3de03-377a-4483-897f-c0b75e4bd115@p36g2000vbn.googlegroups.com>
On Jul 17, 6:24 pm, John Mayson <j...@mayson.us> wrote:
> >From Palm Pilots to iPhones...
>
> Something I have learned. If you're not organized without a gadget,
> you will never be organized with one. Too many people look to that
> shiny new toy as their salvation from organizational chaos. Owning a
> saw doesn't make me a carpenter. Owning a blood pressure cuff doesn't
> make me a doctor. Owning the latest gadget isn't going to make me
> organized.
Very true.
Likewise, if your company isn't able to properly serve its customers
by phone now, buying a whiz bang telephone system will not help.
If your company is a mess, computerizing it will only make for a
faster bigger mess.
It's like painting over rust or rot; that's not a solution.
After 60 years of postwar technology it amazes me how many people fail
to grasp these simple concepts.
In the railroad newsgroup we've been talking about automated ticket
vending machines and I've pointed out that in some cases they've
caused passengers to miss trains and wait a long time till the next
one, or fail to have a ticket and get arrested by the ticket
inspectors on 'proof of payment' systems.
My feeling is that automation must make things better for the customer
than they were before. As a trolley passenger, in the old days I'd
merely drop my fare in a farebox when I boarded. Now I have to arrive
well in advance and go through a series of menus of a ticket
machine.
If I err I get arrested. I don't consider that an improvment but
apparently I'm alone in that opinion.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:57:53 +1000
From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: When Texting Is Wrong
Message-ID: <pan.2009.07.18.23.57.51.789075@myrealbox.com>
On Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:44:01 -0400, hancock4 wrote:
.........
> In the railroad newsgroup we've been talking about automated ticket
> vending machines and I've pointed out that in some cases they've caused
> passengers to miss trains and wait a long time till the next one, or fail
> to have a ticket and get arrested by the ticket inspectors on 'proof of
> payment' systems.
>
> My feeling is that automation must make things better for the customer
> than they were before. As a trolley passenger, in the old days I'd merely
> drop my fare in a farebox when I boarded. Now I have to arrive well in
> advance and go through a series of menus of a ticket machine.
>
> If I err I get arrested. I don't consider that an improvment but
> apparently I'm alone in that opinion.
In my city a RFID based "chip" fare system for the public transport system
(trams, trains and buses) is currently being rolled out (at a cost of 3+
times the original estimate and 4 years late....) and we already have
draconian regulations that smash users who don't get the current system
100% correct.
What will occur when this new technology mixes with these already tough
regulations is a worry, there could be a lot of ordinary people virtually
turned into criminals because of inflexible technology combined with
an inflexible ideology (expressed by these rules and regulations).
--
Regards, David.
David Clayton
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:49:53 EDT
From: Wesrock@aol.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: When Texting Is Wrong
Message-ID: <d02.5c807055.37933b11@aol.com>
In a message dated 7/18/2009 9:44:10 AM Central Daylight Time,
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
> My feeling is that automation must make things better for the customer
> than they were before.
The usual result nowadays is that it is done to make things better for the
company, not the customer.
--
Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com
wleathus@yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:07:11 -0400
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: When Texting Is Wrong
Message-ID: <op.uw87h9l7o63xbg@acer250.gateway.2wire.net>
On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:21:56 -0400, Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> wrote:
> On 7/17/2009 7:31 AM, tlvp wrote:
>> Quite in passing, on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:11:12 -0400,
>> Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> wrote:
>>
>>> ... [snip] ...
>>>
>>> scarce), and presently a Motorola RAZR V3 (for its tiny size, photo/movie
>>
>> Thad, just out of curiosity: have you found a version of Opera Mini
>> that works well on your RAZR V3? I ask because, while the lofi versions
>> tend to work OK on my own Nokia 6610, none of the hifi versions we've
>> loaded onto my wife's V3 (beyond a really early version whose version
>> number we failed to record) seems to be worth a d..n in the V3's J2ME.
>> [...]
>
> Sorry, I've never bothered using my V3 for anything other than as a phone
> and to receive emergency email, so I'm not aware of what's available even
> though I do have the complete software "hacker" toolkit for it.
>
> I just checked the "razr_v3" Yahoo group's archives and there's nothing
> pertinent all the way back to 2005 when the group formed. I've had mine
> since 2004. The only thing I've done to it (using the hacker tools) is
> boost the max audio level by altering a few bits since I do have a mild
> hearing loss, and I've been pleased with it since that change.
Thanks, Thad. Pity. I guess one day I'll just have to go through the
Opera Mini old-versions archive and try 'em, one after another, until
I find one that's satisfactory. Opera's own O. Mini forums help less
than I'd have hoped, alas.
Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:24:10 -0400
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Home and small office VoIP services
Message-ID: <op.uw88akdzo63xbg@acer250.gateway.2wire.net>
On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:28:19 -0400, Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> wrote:
> On 7/17/2009 7:36 AM, tlvp wrote:
>> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:26:08 -0400, Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> wrote:
>>> [...]
>>> Earlier this week I received the latest Costco coupon book in the mail
>>> and noticed a "special deal" for the Ooma device, so I thought I'd take
>>> another look at it. The Costco online-only offer (until Aug. 2) is here:
>>>
>>> http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11485914
>>>
>>> and Ooma's web site is here: http://www.ooma.com/
>>> [...]
>>> Just curious: has anyone here used their devices and service and have any
>>> comments about it?
>
> The Costco site has a great collection of reviews, and most of my
> concerns have now been answered except:
>
> 1. how does it obtain its IP address?
>
> I'm guessing DHCP.
>
> 2. is there a web (HTML) management interface?
>
> Unknown. It has an embedded Linux OS, so I'd expect to be able to
> at least ssh/telnet into it. Might have to hack it. :-)
>
> I couldn't find a single complaint about the voice quality; nearly
> everyone stated it was as good as or better than their previous landline
> and/or other VoIP service.
>
> Customer service, however, was THE big complaint, with delays answering
> their 800 number or email topping the list. Most peoples' problems were
> their own -- not following the step-by-step setup instructions.
>
> For most people, the network setup would be straightforward. I understand
> why Ooma wants its device to be at the "head" of one's network for QoS,
> but that's not going to work for me. Best I can determine from available
> docs from Ooma, I could put it on my firewall's (SonicWall appliance) DMZ
> and not have to change anything on my LAN.
>
>> A handful of comments from an interested but wary non-user:
>>
>> 1) "Free calling to any number in the US", OK, and "low-cost international rates
>> starting at a penny per minute" -- but ending at what highest rate?
>
> I finally found their terms of service. Free calling is up to 3000 minutes
> per month. That works out to be just under 2 hours/day. Fine for me since
> it's rare that I'd be on the phone more than 2 hours/month. Ooma service
> is intended for "home" (not business) use.
>
>> 2) "All the features you've come to depend on, like caller-ID, call-waiting,
>> and voicemail" -- and location-aware 911? DA?
>
> Actually, yes. Their "Lounge" website page has options to set the location
> for 911 and, as I learned, the device cannot even be activated until the
> location is set, which is a good idea -- someone was thinking. The Premier
> subscription will route a 911 call over a landline if Internet access is
> unavailable and a landline exists.
>
> Power failures could be a problem for most users who don't have UPSs. Not a
> problem for me since all my stuff (cable modem, routers, switches, etc.) are
> on UPSs. If the cable service itself loses power, one is SOL (Simply Out of
> Luck :-)
>
> Assuming "DA" means Directory Assistance, they have a 411 for that and it
> costs US$0.99 per call.
>
> They provide incoming CID and, via the "Lounge", permit setting the outgoing
> CID name to, typically, one's first and last name.
>
>> [...]
>> 4) And should Ooma meet the same fate as Enron or ALR or SunRocket,
>> what happens to that "free calling" and those "features"?
>
> Per their FAQ http://www.ooma.com/learn/ooma_faq.php?section=company
> they appear to be well-funded. Yeah, famous last words. :-)
>
> I've had two employers go belly-up on me the past 2 years and, in today's
> economy, there are no crystal balls predicting the future. Here in
> Silicon Valley (where Ooma is also located (Palo Alto)) everything's a mess
> and most of my friends are out of work and looking, too.
>
>> 5) Getting a cable ISP is prohibitively expensive where I am; and
>> all these "Save the cost of your current local loop provider" deals
>> come with the catch-22: to get telephony service out of the Ooma
>> or MagicJack or whatever after I "cut" my ties to the phone co.,
>> I've got to reinstate my ties to the phone co. for the sake of DSL,
>> typically at no savings over the DSL + local loop rates I pay now.
>>
>> But your coast may have different pricing, or you may have a non-telco ISP.
>
> I had Sprint Broadband (microwave) since the late 1990s providing 6Mbps until
> July 2008 when the spectrum was reallocated for other purposes by the FCC. You
> can see the antenna setup here: http://thadlabs.com/PIX/LX200/. Though I'm
> in the heart of Silicon Valley, neither DSL nor cable was available until
> recently (past several years), thus the Sprint Broadband. My only other option
> was dialup (56K).
>
> I was quite fortunate finding this: http://www.comcastoffers.com/ which is
> not well known and the offer changes every month; in June 2008 I received free
> installation, a free Motorola SB5101 cable modem, and about $250 in rebates,
> and a few months ago an auto-upgrade to DOCSIS 3.0 (meaning I could have 50-100
> Mbps service but I'm "stuck" at 22Mbps due to the modem being only DOCSIS 2.0).
> After the 6 months at US$19.95/month, I'm now paying the same for Comcast as I
> paid Sprint, just under $50/month. Heh, took only about 17 minutes to download
> the Windows 7 RC DVD ISO (3.5GB) from Microsoft.
>
> My only gripe with Comcast after 1 year of service now is they NEVER send any
> email or other alerts when they "play" with the network. I'm a night owl and
> when they go offline at 2am when I'm doing home banking that's a pain. Lucky
> for me, it's only happened 3 times and I suspect it was solely for the upgrade
> to DOCSIS 3.0.
>
>> [...]
>> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>>
>> I think most users are blind to the cost of the DSL (or other
>> transport), because they assume they'd have to have it anyway.
>
> Precisely! :-)
Thanks, Thad. Lots of juicy facts and information here, all very welcome.
As for ISP pricing, $50/mo for Comcast internet access is (a) less than
Comcast would want in CT (where I am), and (b) more than I currently pay
for local loop and DSL (*and* taxes, fees and surcharges) together.
And Comcast here has just managed to mangle our cable TV settings, and
seem unable to get us back to the channel offerings we're subscribed to.
So, while I envy you your DL speeds through them, i'm unlikely to switch.
Still, thanks for all that information: very helpful.
Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP
------------------------------
Date: 18 Jul 2009 09:40:53 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Home and small office VoIP services
Message-ID: <20090718094053.56088.qmail@simone.iecc.com>
Ooma looks like a reasonable product, but it's nothing special compared
to its competitors.
The VoIP service I use, Lingo, has a deal where you prepay $195 for a
year plus $45 startup and shipping so it's about the same price as
Ooma. What you get is the same, a box that plugs into your broadband
router with an RJ-11 into which you can plug ordinary phones. The
voice quality is fine, their "unlimited" is capped at 5,000 minutes
per month, and their international rates are reasonable, including
free calls to Canada, Puerto Rico, and USVI. Their customer service
can be a little frustrating since you are talking to people in India
reading scripts, but they answer the phone 24/7 and they've always
managed to solve my problems, even fairly obscure ones with a dead
channel on the adapter (they remotely reprogrammed it to use the
builtin spare) and routing problems making calls to my rural ILEC.
I haven't looked at other bundled (i.e., box plus inbound plus
outbound) VoIP providers lately, but I'd expect to find other similar
deals.
R's,
John
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:44:34 -0700
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Home and small office VoIP services
Message-ID: <h3tg3u$5at$1@news.eternal-september.org>
On 7/18/2009 7:46 AM, John Levine wrote:
> Ooma looks like a reasonable product, but it's nothing special compared
> to its competitors.
>
> The VoIP service I use, Lingo, has a deal where you prepay $195 for a
> year plus $45 startup and shipping so it's about the same price as
> Ooma. What you get is the same, a box that plugs into your broadband
> router with an RJ-11 into which you can plug ordinary phones.
> [...]
There is one difference, though. Ooma is a one-time-only cost for the box
assuming one doesn't exceed 3000 minutes/month and/or incur international
calling fees or use their 411 service at $0.99/call.
The one-time-only cost for the standalone box is what caught my attention.
You mentioned "prepay $195 for a year" which implies an ongoing expense;
looking just now at www.lingo.com, the residential rate is $195/year.
Ooma does have a "Premier" service with a monthly fee (IIRC $12), but the
basic service appears to be everything a POTS has with no additional fees
ever (with the usage limit, international calling and 411 exceptions).
It seems VoIP has finally entered the mainstream and become ubiquitous;
I see it everywhere.
The only real "gotchas" are the dependence on an Internet connection
and the need for a UPS serving the VoIP box and the Internet CPE to
achieve equivalent reliability as we've enjoyed with POTS.
In the almost 60 years I've been using POTS across the USA (both coasts
and TX/NM), there was only one time I ever had a problem, and that was about
15-20 years ago when a new switch was cut over at midnight on a Friday and
modems were affected due to a clock/timing problem which was fixed several
days later after 1000s of complaints to PacBell.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:08:37 -0700
From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: RFID's Security Problem / Are U.S. passport cards and new state driver's licenses with RFID truly secure?
Message-ID: <9qf8m.5123$vp.1701@newsfe12.iad>
Monty Solomon wrote:
> RFID's Security Problem
> Are U.S. passport cards and new state driver's licenses
> with RFID truly secure?
>
> By Erica Naone
> Technology Review
> January/February 2009
>
> Starting this summer, Americans will need passports to travel to
> Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean--unless they have passport
> cards or one of the enhanced driver's licenses that the states of
> Washington and New York have begun to issue.
[Moderator snip]
> But not everyone is convinced that the new IDs are a good idea. The
> passport card and the enhanced licenses contain radio frequency
> identification (RFID) tags, which are microchips fitted with
> antennas. An RFID reader can radio a query to the tag, causing it to
> return the data it contains--in this case, an identification number
> that lets customs agents retrieve information about the cardholder
> from a government database. The idea is that instant access to
> biographical data, a photo, and the results of terrorist and criminal
> background checks will help agents move people through the border
> efficiently. RFID technology, however, has been raising privacy
> concerns since it was introduced in product labels in the early 2000s.
[Moderator snip]
> http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/21842
>
Motorola Speed Passes have had RFID for perhaps 10 years now. And, a
few customers have had their Speed Pass info read at the gas station by
crooks.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:58:35 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Verizon Defends Exclusive Handsets, Except for Small Carriers
Message-ID: <p06240819c687cb48e3b3@[10.0.1.3]>
July 17, 2009, 12:22 pm
Verizon Defends Exclusive Handsets, Except for Small Carriers
By Saul Hansell
Verizon Wireless is defending AT&T's right to keep the iPhone
to itself.
The company today announced a policy that it says will give small
wireless carriers more access to phones that Verizon had the
exclusive rights to sell. From now on, when Verizon strikes a deal
with a manufacturer for exclusive sale of a handset, it will let any
carrier with fewer than 500,000 customers sell the phone after six
months.
There has been increasing interest in Congress over whether wireless
carriers are hurting consumers by shutting out rivals from hot
phones. Of course, the hottest phone right now is Apple's iPhone,
which is sold only by AT&T in the United States.
It may not be a consumer issue. Much of the political pressure on the
issue is coming from smaller wireless carriers that worry that they
are being shut out from all the cool phones by a giant carrier.
...
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/verizon-defends-exclusive-handsets-except-for-small-carriers
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:42:33 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Special alloy sleeves urged to block hackers?
Message-ID: <p06240815c687c41d3593@[10.0.1.3]>
Special alloy sleeves urged to block hackers?
By TODD LEWAN
The Associated Press
Sunday, July 12, 2009 2:57 AM
-- To protect against skimming and eavesdropping attacks, federal and
state officials recommend that Americans keep their e-passports
tightly shut and store their RFID-tagged passport cards and enhanced
driver's licenses in "radio-opaque" sleeves.
That's because experiments have shown that the e-passport begins
transmitting some data when opened even a half inch, and chipped
passport cards and EDLs can be read from varying distances depending
on reader techonology.
The cover of the e-passport booklet contains a metallic sheathing
that can diminish the distances radio waves travel, presumably
hindering unwanted interceptions. Alloy envelopes that come with the
PASS cards and driver's licenses do the same, the government says.
The State Department asserts that hackers won't find any practical
use for data skimmed from RFID chips embedded in the cards, but "if
you don't want the cards read, put them in an attenuation sleeve,"
says John Brennan, a senior policy adviser at the Office of Consular
Affairs.
Gigi Zenk, a spokeswoman for the Washington state Department of
Licensing, says the envelope her state offers with the enhanced
driver's license "ensures that nothing can scan it at all."
But that wasn't what researchers from the University of Washington
and RSA Laboratories, a data security company in Bedford, Mass.,
found last year while testing the data security of the cards.
The PASS card "is readable under certain circumstances in a crumpled
sleeve," though not in a well maintained sleeve, the researchers
wrote in a report.
Another test on the enhanced driver's license demonstrated that even
when the sleeve was in pristine condition, a clandestine reader could
skim data from the license at a distance of a half yard.
...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/11/AR2009071101929.html
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:20:10 +0000 (UTC)
From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Special alloy sleeves urged to block hackers?
Message-ID: <h3teaa$gop$1@reader1.panix.com>
In <p06240815c687c41d3593@[10.0.1.3]> Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> writes:
>Special alloy sleeves urged to block hackers?
>-- To protect against skimming and eavesdropping attacks, federal and
>state officials recommend that Americans keep their e-passports
>tightly shut and store their RFID-tagged passport cards and enhanced
>driver's licenses in "radio-opaque" sleeves.
>...
>< href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/11/AR2009071101929.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/11/AR2009071101929.html
Which would, if memory serves me correctly, get into direct conflict
with NY State laws. Although I coulfn't find it on a web search
just now, I'm pretty sure that about a decade ago New York State
outlawed these types of linings so as to prevent people from carrying
a shopping bag with it, and blocking "anti theft" tags.
(Yes, it's one of "those laws" that criminalizes ninety five
percent of ordinary citizens walking down the street with that
new computer card or disk drive in its anti static bag....)
c
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:19:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Fred Goldstein <ionary@gmail.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: A mystery phone
Message-ID: <3834b00b-2dad-4114-8f5a-55d9177d440f@k1g2000yqf.googlegroups.com>
On Jul 16, 11:49 pm, David Lesher <wb8...@panix.com> wrote:
> So I have a WECO 51000BA30M phone, circa 1968.
>
> (It's also known as a 5805-087-9765).
>
> It's brand new....
>
> The downside is: it's sealed in mil-spec packaging. I do not want to rip
> it open until I have a use for it, if ever.
>
> I seem to recall that number but can't match it. Does it strike a bell
> with anyone here?
>
Not specifically, but it's a standard-format part number. Other
manufacturers use it too; you can find examples in the KGP Logistics
catalog. Let's parse it
510 = A standard desk set with two lines, using a "turnbutton
pushbutton key" on the front left. See
http://www.porticus.org/bell/pdf/c38.595.02.pdf
for details. See http://phonebooth.us/phones/phones.htm for a
reference of basic model numbers. The latter claims that a 510 is one
line with a special function key and a 515 is two lines, but the 1963
BSP on porticus shows a two-line (or one-line, depending on which one)
510.
00 = color code. 00 is black. 44 is ash. 09 is ivory, 13 is beige.
45 is brown.
BA = non-modular. QBA is quarter-modular (fixed modular plug on wall
cord); FBA full modular. I never did know what the "BA" stands for
otherwise. Base? Current phones use VBA.
30 = feature code. 20 is ordinary, 27 has a message waiting light, 44
has A-lead control, 57 has data port and message light. I don't know
about 30 though; it's not in the current catalog.
M= Metro dial. The numbers have letters on them (the standard ones).
(y'all know my real email.)
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:36:31 GMT
From: "Tony Toews \[MVP\]" <ttoews@telusplanet.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: RFID's Security Problem / Are U.S. passport cards and new state driver's licenses with RFID truly secure?
Message-ID: <vt8465p3uakeb1o1u2olvmoaigase1h8m1@4ax.com>
Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> wrote:
While I do have RFID concerns I'd like to clarify the following paragraph
>Starting this summer, Americans will need passports to travel to
>Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean--unless they have passport
>cards or one of the enhanced driver's licenses that the states of
>Washington and New York have begun to issue.
To pick nits, Americans will require a passport or an enhanced driver's license to
return to the USA. This is a requirement of legislation passed by Congress and not
by the other countries.
Tony (A Canadian)
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Tony's Main MS Access pages - http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/
Granite Fleet Manager http://www.granitefleet.com/
***** Moderator's Note *****
I wonder what will happen to those who forget? Do they have to live in
the customs shed until their bona fides can be confirmed?
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:41:59 -0500
From: John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: RFID's Security Problem / Are U.S. passport cards and new state driver's licenses with RFID truly secure?
Message-ID: <6645152a0907181441n37cde13ahf2a00118635217b4@mail.gmail.com>
On Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 2:36 PM, Tony Toews [MVP]<ttoews@telusplanet.net> w
rote:
> To pick nits, Americans will require a passport or an enhanced
> driver's license to return to the USA. This is a requirement of
> legislation passed by Congress and not by the other countries.
A nit pick of mine too. Too often I get asked (for some reason people
think I'm the flesh and bones version of Google) "Do I need a passport
to go to Mexico?" or something similar. The answer is "No". What
they don't ask is "Will I need a passport to reenter the United
States?"
> Tony (A Canadian)
John (An American who keeps up with the important things and not the
latest on the Michael Jackson saga)
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> I wonder what will happen to those who forget? Do they have to live in
> the customs shed until their bona fides can be confirmed?
I have often wondered. It's so easy to enter Mexico. Every single
time I have ever driven into the country I'm greeted by a border guard
who is simply sitting on his stool waving people through. I even once
had passengers in my vehicle not realize we crossed a border as it was
seamless. I have no personal experience with it, but I'm told if
you're traveling on I-10 through El Paso it's easy to accidently enter
Mexico. The description I have heard is it appears you have to exit
I-10 to stay on I-10 otherwise you're dumped into Mexico.
Given those above examples I have to assume someone, somewhere will
unknowingly leave the country, have no passport, and have a difficult
time reentering the country.
John
--
John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
Austin, Texas, USA
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:23:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Home and small office VoIP services
Message-ID: <508ace21-3e98-431e-8dd8-4e390dc5f74c@t13g2000yqt.googlegroups.com>
On Jul 17, 6:28 pm, Thad Floryan <t...@thadlabs.com> wrote:
> I finally found their terms of service. Free calling is up to 3000 minutes
> per month. That works out to be just under 2 hours/day. Fine for me since
> it's rare that I'd be on the phone more than 2 hours/month. Ooma service
> is intended for "home" (not business) use.
For a busy family, especially if a person is home during the day,
3,000 minutes a month is not quite enough. If something special is
going on, eg planning a vacation, illness, school issues, etc., the
phone will be in heavy use easily three hours per day.
***** Moderator's Note *****
3,000 minutes per month = 50 hours per month, and One and Two-Thirds
hours per day. Surely that's enough for any family that doesn't have a
teenager at home.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:49:09 -0700
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Home and small office VoIP services
Message-ID: <4A6289A5.10808@thadlabs.com>
On 7/18/2009 6:45 PM, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> On Jul 17, 6:28 pm, Thad Floryan <t...@thadlabs.com> wrote:
>> I finally found their terms of service. Free calling is up to 3000 minutes
>> per month. That works out to be just under 2 hours/day. Fine for me since
>> it's rare that I'd be on the phone more than 2 hours/month. Ooma service
>> is intended for "home" (not business) use.
>
> For a busy family, especially if a person is home during the day,
> 3,000 minutes a month is not quite enough. If something special is
> going on, eg planning a vacation, illness, school issues, etc., the
> phone will be in heavy use easily three hours per day.
>
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> 3,000 minutes per month = 50 hours per month, and One and Two-Thirds
> hours per day. Surely that's enough for any family that doesn't have a
> teenager at home.
My thinking, too, but each person/family needs to evaluate their own
requirements and situation.
My own calls are seldom more than 5 minutes, typically 2 minutes or less,
and only 20 seconds to order a pizza (tell them my phone number, simply
say "repeat the last order", done (would be faster if they had CID :-))
Additionally, in my case, I'm looking for a service to complement my
cellphone in case it should break. I've been cellphone-only for over 8
years now, but "stuff happens".
What I'm starting to appreciate with the Ooma offering is no additional
costs whatsoever (in my situation) after the one-time-only equipment
purchase. There might be other free services "out there", but Ooma is local
to me and I know where they are if I have to bang on their door, :-)
I was paying over $125/month to PacBell for four lines that I seldom used:
main voice line with a Bogen Friday voice mail system, FAX line, and 2 modem
lines. I don't believe I used the modem lines even once after 2000 except to
test some services for clients; they were in constant use before then for two
purposes: connecting to a dialup ISP (before I got Sprint Broadband), and for
receiving incoming calls to BATS (Bay Area Time Service) which I ran for a
l-o-n-g time free to all callers to time-sync their computers with my NIST
time receiver. Once NTP became ubiquitous, BATS became superfluous and I
ceased operating it.
Given the apparent widespread acceptance of VoIP, I wonder what's going to
happen with all the TelCos? I haven't seen any innovative new services from
any local ones in decades. The big thing for me way back when was Touch Tone
in the mid-1960s in New Mexico. I gave myself Touch Tone service when I moved
to California by "accidentally" reversing the green and red wires. :-) :-) :-)
------------------------------
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