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The Telecom Digest for October 22, 2011
Volume 30 : Issue 268 : "text" Format
====== 30 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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Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:49:57 +1100
From: David Clayton <dcstarbox-usenet@yahoo.com.au>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: BlackBerry Outage Linked to Massive Drop in Traffic Accidents
Message-ID: <pan.2011.10.21.04.49.52.150743@yahoo.com.au>
On Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:56:19 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote:
> BlackBerry Outage Linked to Massive Drop in Traffic Crashes
>
> by Brad Aaron
> October 17, 2011
>
> According to data released last week by NYPD, distracted drivers were
> the leading cause of city traffic crashes in August. Of 16,784
> incidents, 1,877 were attributed to "driver inattention/distraction,"
> while an additional 10 were linked specifically to phones or other
> electronic devices.
.........
I love this report - no use whatsoever of the bogus term "accident" that
people have used for years as an excuse for someone doing something wrong
on the roads.
It is no "accident" when someone deliberately takes their attention from
the road to pander to their desire to use a phone or whatever, it is
100% deliberate negligence.
One less use of a "weasel word" in our modern life (maybe), now let's hope
we can also make some inroads on the countless others.....
--
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.
***** Moderator's Note *****
The original subject was written as "traffic crashes", but "traffic"
might mean Internet traffic, and "crashes" might mean a computer
crash, whereas everybody knows what a "traffic accident" is.
Welcome to my world.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:15:42 -0700
From: "Jon Danniken" <jonSPAMMENOTdanniken@yahSPAMhoo.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: BlackBerry Outage Linked to Massive Drop in Traffic Accidents
Message-ID: <j7sjtc$df3$1@speranza.aioe.org>
David Clayton wrote:
>
> It is no "accident" when someone deliberately takes their attention
> from the road to pander to their desire to use a phone or whatever,
> it is 100% deliberate negligence.
It is refreshing to see that I am not the only one to share this
perspective. With the courts allowing law enforcement access to comm
devices, perhaps there will be a way in the not too distant future to
ascertain if a driver was actively using a device at the time of a
collision.
Jon
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:52:46 +1100
From: David Clayton <dcstarbox-usenet@yahoo.com.au>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: BlackBerry Outage Linked to Massive Drop in Traffic Accidents
Message-ID: <pan.2011.10.22.03.52.41.186760@yahoo.com.au>
On Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:15:42 -0700, Jon Danniken wrote:
> David Clayton wrote:
>>
>> It is no "accident" when someone deliberately takes their attention from
>> the road to pander to their desire to use a phone or whatever, it is
>> 100% deliberate negligence.
>
> It is refreshing to see that I am not the only one to share this
> perspective. With the courts allowing law enforcement access to comm
> devices, perhaps there will be a way in the not too distant future to
> ascertain if a driver was actively using a device at the time of a
> collision.
I have seen devices on the market that record video from your vehicle up
to a certain duration and then loop over it (a bit like the "Black Box"
devices in aircraft). How long until someone integrates this sort of thing
into a mobile phone/comms device so that someone, somewhere may be
recording you as the driver and also whatever is happening on the road?
You could become your own "Big Brother"!
--
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: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:30:37 -0400
From: Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Definition of "accident" (was Re: BlackBerry Outage Linked to Massive Drop in Traffic Accidents)
Message-ID: <barmar-2FDBF1.16303721102011@news.eternal-september.org>
In article <pan.2011.10.21.04.49.52.150743@yahoo.com.au>,
David Clayton <dcstarbox-usenet@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
> On Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:56:19 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote:
>
> > BlackBerry Outage Linked to Massive Drop in Traffic Crashes
> >
> > by Brad Aaron
> > October 17, 2011
> >
> > According to data released last week by NYPD, distracted drivers were
> > the leading cause of city traffic crashes in August. Of 16,784
> > incidents, 1,877 were attributed to "driver inattention/distraction,"
> > while an additional 10 were linked specifically to phones or other
> > electronic devices.
> .........
> I love this report - no use whatsoever of the bogus term "accident" that
> people have used for years as an excuse for someone doing something wrong
> on the roads.
>
> It is no "accident" when someone deliberately takes their attention from
> the road to pander to their desire to use a phone or whatever, it is
> 100% deliberate negligence.
>
> One less use of a "weasel word" in our modern life (maybe), now let's hope
> we can also make some inroads on the countless others.....
My dictionary says:
1. an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and
unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury
While taking your attention away from the road may increase the
likelihood of the incident, it doesn't make the incident expected or
intentional.
Perhaps you're thinking of this:
2. an event that happens by chance or that is without apparent or
deliberate cause
I'd agree that accidents due to negligence have an apparent cause, so
they don't fit this definition.
--
Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:52:22 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Skype for iPhone makes stealing address books a snap
Message-ID: <p062408e2cac7a7e02589@[10.0.1.9]>
Skype for iPhone makes stealing address books a snap
Just add JavaScript
By Dan Goodin in San Francisco
20 September 2011
If you use Skype on an iPhone or iPod touch, Phil Purviance can steal
your device's address book simply by sending you a chat message.
In a video posted over the weekend, the security researcher makes the
attack look like child's play. Type some JavaScript commands into the
user name of a Skype account, use it to send a chat message to
someone using the latest version of Skype on an iPhone or iPod touch,
and load a small program onto a webserver. Within minutes, you'll
have a fully-searchable copy of the victim's address book.
...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/20/skype_for_iphone_contact_theft/
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 23:26:40 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Siri lets anyone use a locked iPhone 4S
Message-ID: <p062408e8cac7e8377352@[10.0.1.9]>
Siri lets anyone use a locked iPhone 4S
By Elinor Mills
October 19, 2011
The voice-activated feature on the new iPhone 4S will let anyone use
the phone to send e-mails and text messages and make calls even if it
is passcode locked, security firm Sophos revealed today and CNET has
confirmed.
Try it. Grab a friend's locked iPhone 4S, press the button and ask
Siri to do something. I was able to send a text message, make a call
and send an e-mail, all without knowing my friend's passcode. Another
colleague confirmed that she could get an address and a phone number
out of the phone and even see the calendar.
To be clear, the phone is still locked in the sense that someone
can't just grab it and make calls to any phone number by dialing. And
users are also unable to launch apps. We also weren't able to send an
e-mail to an address that was not in the contact list or find other
data for people who weren't already in the contact list.
...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/19/tech/cnettechnews/main20122681.shtml
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