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The Telecom Digest for October 25, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 249 : "text" Format
====== 31 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
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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, 24 Oct 2012 08:44:15 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Knowing When It Pays to Upgrade Your Gadgets
Message-ID: <p0624081eccad8d5d0f7c@[10.0.1.13]>
Knowing When It Pays to Upgrade Your Gadgets
By BRIAN LAM
October 17, 2012
If a gadget breaks, gets lost or is stolen, it makes sense to replace
it. But deciding whether to abandon an older, still-working device
for a newer, shinier one can be a soul-sucking dilemma. Succumb to
the temptation to upgrade too early and too often, and you can find
yourself getting a piece of technology that is only marginally
different from the old version, as well as a hefty credit card bill
and the feeling that you played right into the hands of a
corporation's marketing department.
So what's the best way to decide when to upgrade?
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/technology/personaltech/is-it-time-to-upgrade-your-gadgets-do-the-math.html
***** Moderator's Note *****
I know the REAL trick. Don't ride the wave: get in the trough
BEHIND the wave! Let the children who want the latest shiny thing pay
for the research, bug fixes, and software upgrades, and then, when the
marketeers decide to push a different shiny thing, you can buy the old
shiny thing for less than half what the children paid.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:44:15 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Few Winners in Heated Cellphone Wars
Message-ID: <p0624081dccad8c4ccf81@[10.0.1.13]>
Few Winners in Heated Cellphone Wars
BY STEVEN M. DAVIDOFF
OCTOBER 23, 2012
If you are wondering who will be your cellphone provider next year,
so are the cellphone companies. Maneuvers by American cellphone
providers to acquire one another are threatening to erupt into
all-out war. And the question is not only which ones will survive,
but whether the survivors will be ruined by the prey they are rushing
to swallow, leaving consumers by the wayside.
The first move occurred in 2011, when AT&T made a bid to acquire
T-Mobile U.S.A., the American subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, which
had been looking to sell it for a long time. AT&T's move was brave,
considering the well-known antitrust concerns. As part of the deal,
T-Mobile was put in the awkward position of arguing to antitrust
regulators that it might not survive if it wasn't acquired because of
its smaller size and its annual revenue of only $21 billion.
It was a bad move for AT&T. Regulators blocked the deal, and the
company walked away poorer by about $6 billion - the $4 billion it
was required to pay over the failed acquisition plus the estimated
value of the broadband licenses it was required to grant T-Mobile.
...
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/few-winners-in-heated-cellphone-wars/
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:44:15 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: When Free Stuff Leads You Astray
Message-ID: <p06240820ccad8f4982c5@[10.0.1.13]>
When Free Stuff Leads You Astray
By ANN CARRNS
OCTOBER 23, 2012
We all like freebies. But sometimes, free stuff can lure you into
making choices that may not really be best. I learned that lesson
anew last week, while on a road trip that took me through rural parts
of Arkansas and Missouri.
A quick comparison of flying time versus driving time had led me to
choose the automobile for this outing. That meant I'd be behind the
wheel for about six hours, but at least part of the route promised to
include scenic foliage, and the weather looked good.
Since I was driving alone, I decided to use a voice-guided G.P.S.
system, to avoid having to check maps while dodging road kill. I had
recently acquired an iPhone (not the most recent version, infamous
for its map snafus). So I did a quick online search to see what
navigation app might work best. My cellular provider, Verizon,
offered one, for an extra $5 a month. That might not sound so pricey,
but I think my cellphone bill is already outrageous, so I balked and
kept searching.
...
http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/when-free-stuff-leads-you-astray/
***** Moderator's Note *****
"Apps" are never free: that's a fact of electronic life. No matter
what the out-of-pocket expense, downloaded software comes with
compromises. New applications require users to climb a learning curve,
adjust their habits, and accept a new set of limitations on what they
are able to do.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:11:58 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Americans Paying More for LTE Service
Message-ID: <p0624081cccad8b6c9ae9@[10.0.1.13]>
RAW DATA
Americans Paying More for LTE Service
By KEVIN J. O'BRIEN
Published: October 15, 2012
BERLIN - Does LTE, the superfast wireless service based on Long Term
Evolution technology, cost too much in the United States? A recent
study by the research arm of the GSM Association, a group based in
London that represents mobile operators, suggests that may be the
case.
The LTE network run by Verizon Wireless, the U.S. market leader, went
live in 2010, shortly after Sweden turned on the world's first LTE
networks in December 2009.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/technology/americans-paying-more-for-lte-service.html
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:44:15 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Credit Card Data Breach at Barnes & Noble Stores
Message-ID: <p0624081fccad8dd62bf6@[10.0.1.13]>
Credit Card Data Breach at Barnes & Noble Stores
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and NICOLE PERLROTH
October 23, 2012
WASHINGTON - Hackers have stolen credit card information for
customers who shopped as recently as last month at 63 Barnes & Noble
stores across the country, including stores in New York City, San
Diego, Miami and Chicago, according to people briefed on the
investigation.
The company discovered around Sept. 14 that the information had been
stolen but kept the matter quiet at the Justice Department's request
so the F.B.I. could determine who was behind the attacks, according
to these people.
The information was stolen by hackers who broke into the keypads in
front of registers where customers swipe their credit cards and enter
their personal identification numbers, or PINs.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/business/hackers-get-credit-data-at-barnes-noble.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/24/business/24barnes-and-noble-store-list.html
http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/481338/barnes-and-noble-store-list.pdf
***** Moderator's Note *****
If the crooks stole PIN numbers along with the "Credit Card" numbers,
then they weren't targeting credit cards: they were targeting DEBIT
cards, which often have higher per-day limits, and may lack the legal
protections that credit card users enjoy.
I'm surprised that the New York Times would get the two types of card
confused.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:56:55 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Verizon Starts Android OS Upgrade for LG Lucid Smartphones
Message-ID: <k67sen$3tq$1@dont-email.me>
Verizon Starts Android OS Upgrade for LG Lucid Smartphones
Published on: 22nd Oct 2012
Verizon Wireless has confirmed that it has started rolling out an
Android OS upgrade for owners of the LG Lucid smartphone. The upgrade
delivers Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) to the smartphone via a 348MB
download.
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/56961.php
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:11:33 -0400
From: Pete Cresswell <PeteCress@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Voter surveys difficult due to cell phones
Message-ID: <3j0g88d89anmln99g8pjp8jf0ktgfgmrdh@4ax.com>
Per T:
>It's even a problem on cell phones lately. I just installed the Android
>app called BlackList - with it the phone never rings if your number is
>in the list.
Both my Samsung candy bar phone and my Samsung smart phone have a
built-in "Reject List". You select a number from "Missed Calls"
or "Received Calls", and then select the option that adds it to
the Reject List.
It mitigates the robocalls, but is not a complete solution bc you
have to first establish that the number is one that sb rejected.
Also, the robocallers tend to change numbers... and there are
always new ones cropping up.
FWIW, I read somewhere that the FCC has offered $50,000 to the
winner in a contest to develop a technical means of avoiding
robocalls. Seemed kind of pinchey to me.... Maybe 5 mil would
get some attention...
>Now if I could only do something about the spam texts.
I disabled texting entirely after being burned by some
third-party player that started sending me "Diet Tips" and
reaping dollars for it by charging against my unused minutes.
Went round-round with tMobile support on that one and came away
with the understanding that anybody with texting capability is
vulnerable to these scams. They key seems tb the scammer
harvesting one's mobile phone number from somewhere.
It sounded so safe and so lucrative that I actually caught myself
wondering if I could get into it myself.... But only for a
moment.... -)
--
Pete Cresswell
***** Moderator's Note *****
It was the FTC that made the offer, not the FCC.
Bill Horne
Moderator
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