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The Telecom Digest for October 10, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 236 : "text" Format
====== 31 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2012 15:41:02 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Verizon collecting old cellphones for victims of domestic abuse
Message-ID: <20121009194102.GA31959@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
I saw this online today:
Verizon Wireless and The Family Place Partner With the City of
Plano to Raise Awareness of Domestic Violence
PLANO, TEXAS, OCT. 9, 2012 . PRNewswire -- Verizon Wireless is
launching a HopeLine® drive across Plano to collect
no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories to benefit victims
of domestic violence as part of National Domestic Violence
Awareness Month. In support of the cause, the city of Plano in
conjunction with Verizon Wireless and The Family Place, has
proclaimed October, HopeLine Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
I'm ususally fairly skeptical about PR like this, but this instance
merits an exception. I'd like to hear from other readers: please tell
me if you feel this program will benefit domestic violence victims, if
it will decrease the rates of these crimes, and if you feel there are
other, better ways to address the problem. TIA.
Bill
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly)
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2012 21:15:34 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Smart phones can provide help for hearing loss
Message-ID: <p06240806cc992abb1953@[10.0.1.7]>
Framingham entrepreneur phones in help for hearing loss
By Bob Tremblay/Daily News staff
The Milford Daily News
Posted Oct 08, 2012
FRAMINGHAM -
The statistics speak loud and clear. The World Health Organization
reports that 693 million people worldwide require hearing assistance.
That's about 10 percent of the Earth's population, and as this
population ages, that number is expected to grow. Also, a recent
survey indicates that 70 percent of baby boomers experience hearing
difficulty in such social situations as bars and parties.
Do not despair, however, as a company with Framingham ties has
dedicated itself to addressing this growing global public health
problem by providing hearing assistance via smartphone. The company,
SoundFest, notes that smartphones are expected to reach 70 percent
penetration by 2016. Thus, SoundFest addresses the problem of hearing
loss by leveraging the power of smartphones to deliver a hearing
solution that it calls "cost-effective, convenient and uniquely
capable."
[Moderaor snip]
The company's website is www.soundfestinc.com.
Copyright 2012 The MetroWest Daily News. Some rights reserved
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/lifestyle/health/x21086760/Framingham-entrepreneur-phones-in-help-for-hearing-loss
-or-
http://tinyurl.com/9ycul75
Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:49:10 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Cisco, Motorola, Netgear Team Up To Expose Wifi Patent Bully
Message-ID: <k51v3m$hel$1@dont-email.me>
Cisco, Motorola, Netgear Team Up To Expose Wifi Patent Bully
Last year, we wrote about a crazy patent troll, named Innovatio, who
had sued a ton of restaurants and hotels, claiming that anyone who
used WiFi was violating its patents. It was even claiming that
individuals who use WiFi at home infringed too -- but that it wouldn't
go after them "at this time." Instead, it preferred to focus on
shaking down tons of small businesses, offering to settle for $2,500
to $3,000 -- which is cheaper than hiring a lawyer to fight it, no
matter how bogus. We noted at the time that Motorola and Cisco had
gone to court to try to get a declaratory judgment to protect its
customers.
Well, it seems that the effort to stop these lawsuits has been taken
to the next level. Cisco, Motorola and Netgear have now filed an
amended complaint which rips Innovatio apart, and doesn't just seek a
declaratory judgment of non-infringement, but outlines a parade of
lawbreaking by Innovatio, arguing that it's actually involved in
racketeering and conspiracy among other things.
http://www.techdirt.com/
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:08:44 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: DHS: Our Reports To Congress Are Successful Lies
Message-ID: <k5208d$pu2$1@dont-email.me>
This is from TechDirt:
> From the "Yeah, we already kinda figured" dept
>
> Okay, it's official. I no longer believe that our Department of
> Homeland Security is an actual government agency with important work
> to do. No, I now believe that it is a series of highly subtle
> performance art pieces designed to make us laugh at the sheer
> audacity of dumb government. We already know about the agency's
> boss, who is in charge of cybersecurity, not bothering to use the
> internet. And then there is the DHS's highly touted fusion centers
> being both a waste of money and a detriment to the very freedoms
> they're supposedly protecting.
For the rest, see:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121004/18132820601/dhs-our-reports-to-congress-are-successful-bullshit.shtml
This is a very interesting insight into the bureaucratic mind, on many
different levels.
Let's see - just off the top of my head ...
1. The Department of Homeland Security believes that not being caught
in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth.
2. DHS feels that members of Congress are just like any other consumer
of their spin-doctored output.
3. DHS did this in an election year.
The actions of a Cabinet-level governmetn agency, taken in the middle
of a presidential election, are a harbinger of the next step in the
downfall of the United States. Our "Civil Servants" have started to
treat the our elected representatives exactly like any other target of
propaganda anywhere in the world. It is ... what's the word I'm
searching for? ...
Kafkaesque.
Bill
- -
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
***** Moderator's Note *****
Relevence to telecom? Yeah, that's a tough one. Well, there are two
kinds of censorship: you can cut off offending views, or you can put
out a boatload of carp that buries what your opponents say and makes
everyone want to ignore it because it is tainted by a vile smell.
The DHS has chosen the later option. It remains to be seen if the
Congress will allow such Bush-league competitors on their turf.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:23:07 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Congress: Be Afraid of the Big Red Menace!
Message-ID: <k5213b$vob$1@dont-email.me>
This is also from TechDirt:
Congress: Fear Chinese Networking Companies! But Ignore That
China Makes All Our Networking Equipment!
from the where's-the-smoking-gun? dept
For years, there have been reports or whispers about how Chinese
networking giant, Huawei, might not be trustworthy. Specifically,
people talked about how China might hide trojan horses in the
equipment for economic espionage or even cyberattack
reasons. These rumors got so loud that Huawei last year flat out
told the US government to investigate it and come to its own
conclusion. Well, the House Intelligence Committee has done
exactly that... and Huawei is not pleased. Despite the
investigation coming at its own request, with its promises to be
as open as it could be, the report slams Huawei and another
company ZTE, and basically says "don't trust these companies."
Now, I'm a red-blooded, right-thinking, gun-^h^h^h^hfreedom-loving
Americun jest like everyone else, and I saw this on thet TV program
"60 Minutiae" so I know it's really true. I'm calling on all you other
patriots to write to your Congresscritter and tell it to vote for more
money for our Nitionel Defens!
Bill, who just looked up the definition of "Stockholm Syndrome" and
read "See 'Tea Party'".
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
***** Moderator's Note *****
Relationship to telecom? Try this: if the government is trying to make
people afraid of having any of the Internet traffic routed through a
foreign country, then that infers that all the traffic in this
country is subject to monitoring. That includes VoIP, of course, but I
think you get the point.
Bill Horne
Moderator
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