---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20190125202241.GA3914@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2019 15:22:41 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: 911 outage reported by Centurylink in Schoolcraft County MI By Nicole Walton MANISTIQUE, MI - 911 service is out in the Manistique area. At 3 p.m. Thursday Centurylink contacted Negaunee Regional Dispatch and reported a fiber in their hard line phone system had been cut. The outage affects 2,219 customers. https://www.wnmufm.org/post/911-outage-reported-centurylink-schoolcraft-county#stream/0 -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20190125202837.GA3936@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2019 15:28:37 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Phone service restored in Schoolcraft County MI SCHOOLCRAFT COUNTY - The residents of Schoolcraft County are able to use hard line phones to contact Regional Dispatch and local law enforcement agencies again. Rebecca Baker, a dispatcher at Manistique Public Safety, said the phones seem to be working again and the issue has been resolved. http://www.dailypress.net/news/local-news/2019/01/phone-service-restored-in-schoolcraft-county/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20190125171026.GA20663@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2019 12:10:26 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Google Chrome changes could 'destroy' ad-blockers Blocking ads could become much harder if Google makes proposed changes to its Chrome web browser, warn developers. The changes could "destroy" ad-blockers, said one maker of widely-used blocking software. Others said the update would make it far harder for users to stop firms tracking them online and make it easier for them to be bombarded with ads. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46988319 -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ***** Moderator's Note ***** I've been thinking about this for a few weeks, and now my suspicions are being confirmed: Google is drifting into evil. After purchasing AdBlock Plus, Google installed it by default with its Chrome browser. So far, so good: I've been using it for years. However, in the past ~6 months, I've noticed a resurgence of pop-up ads, or more properly, "slide-in" ads, which are presented a few seconds after a page loads. Most of them want money for a subscription to a site I'm visiting to read about some telecom-related story that I found by searching on - you guessed it - Google. I don't know if the ads are presented with JavaScript, or HTML 5, or some other technology. I don't think that they're using Flash, since I have Chrome set to ask me before Flash runs, although I admit that gets into a truth-telling paradox. AdblockPlus isn't keeping up with the new techniques, and now Google has disclosed that it's thinking of barfing on the competition. That's evil. It gets worse: the "incongnito" mode of Chrome seems to be easily discovered by websites, and some are now demanding that I either pay them or go back to being tracked. ISTM that an "incognito" mode should be very difficult to detect, if not impossible, and that begs the question: since Google's business depends on tracking, how much motivation does it have to make it hard to track people? I'll end with some observations about Google's search results: they have a lot fewer newsworthy references now. Searches for "Verizon" or "AT&T" or "Centurylink" produce page after page of "me too" results showing the same echo of the same press release, or micro-mentions of local circumstances which are redone versions of the "big" story with a local business or politician or charity mentioned for good luck. The notable reports - the actual news - used to be buried on page three or four or ten, but they could be found with a lot of effort. No more: disclosures of 911 failures that cover half the U.S. are easy to find, but almost nothing about layoffs or any 911 problem that's not going to be noticed outside a single town or even state. Google, don't be evil. Please. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20190125203801.GA3963@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2019 15:38:01 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: FCC's 28GHz mmWave 5G auction ends, raising millions but leaving questions By Jeremy Horwitz Though the Federal Communications Commission officially closed its doors more than a month ago, due to the U.S. government shutdown, the agency kept enough staff around for a critical 5G development: Auction 101, the sale of 28GHz millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum licenses covering the United States. After 38 days and 176 rounds of bidding, Auction 101 sold the licenses for just over $700 million - a decent but not amazing sum for the U.S. Treasury. https://venturebeat.com/2019/01/25/fccs-28ghz-mmwave-5g-auction-ends-raising-millions-but-leaving-questions/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Sat, 26 Jan 2019