31 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
Add this Digest to your personal
or 
The Telecom Digest for December 31, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 305 : "text" Format
====== 31 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
|
Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Bill Horne and
the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other
journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are
included in the fair use quote. By using any name or email address
included herein for any reason other than responding to an article
herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to that person, or email address
owner.
Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without the explicit written consent of the owner of
that address. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk
are definitely unwelcome.
We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we
are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because
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.
|
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 01:26:28 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Apple vs. Google vs. Facebook vs. Amazon
Message-ID: <p06240870cd058ee7d9f5@[10.0.1.4]>
Apple vs. Google vs. Facebook vs. Amazon
The Lines Between Software and Hardware Continue to Blur
By JESSICA E. LESSIN, GREG BENSINGER, EVELYN M. RUSLI and AMIR EFRATI
December 25, 2012
Four big technology fiefs-Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Google Inc.
and Facebook Inc. -have been creeping into each other's turf for
years. In 2013, their war is set to escalate around two fronts:
hardware and search.
With new products and services expected in 2013, the four big
technology giants-Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon-will battle it
out over hardware and search. The WSJ's Yun-Hee Kim talks about what
products to expect from the big four in the coming year.
Software giants including Google and Amazon are interested in ramping
up hardware to boost customer loyalty and to extend control over
their software services and the revenues that flow from them. That is
heightening their collision course with Apple, which is responding by
building more of its own software to make its devices stand out.
Google, with the $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility under
its belt, plans to use the phone maker to release new Android devices
to help knock Apple's iPhone off its perch. And Amazon, which has
upped the ante in the tablet wars with the Kindle Fire, has also been
testing its own phone.
Meanwhile, all four companies see search as a big opportunity for
retaining and profiting off customers. While Google's paradigm of
typing queries in a search box has prevailed for years, now its
rivals want to undercut the Web-search giant through mobile search on
smartphones and other devices, and a slew of search services that
allow recommendations from friends.
...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324677204578188073738910956.html
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 01:07:01 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Latest Netflix Disruption Highlights Challenges of Cloud Computing
Message-ID: <p0624086ccd058a4ec61a@[10.0.1.4]>
'The Cloud' Challenges Amazon
By BRIAN X. CHEN
Published: December 26, 2012
For some on Christmas Eve, "White Christmas" was a blackout on Netflix.
That's because problems with Amazon's cloud computing service, which
provides storage and computing power for all kinds of Web sites and
services, caused Netflix to go down for much of the day.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/technology/latest-netflix-disruption-highlights-challenges-of-cloud-computing.html
-or-
http://goo.gl/T3Hwl
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 12:38:43 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: To Extend a Device's Battery Life, Get to Know It Better
Message-ID: <p06240892cd062c80ca3c@[10.0.1.4]>
To Extend a Device's Battery Life, Get to Know It Better
By KIT EATON
December 12, 2012
As you jet off on a winter vacation or a holiday season trip to see
family, chances are you'll face a 21st-century problem: mobile device
battery angst. It's a never-ending itch at the back of your thoughts.
Though we all love to use our smartphones to stave off boredom, or to
navigate a new city, every moment of use eats precious battery time.
And, particularly during a journey, you never know when you will find
power next.
Thanks to my job, I experience more battery angst than most people,
so I have tried some battery life apps. You may too. But unlike other
types of apps, you need to be wary with these.
Apple's tight control of iOS means battery apps on the App Store,
even popular ones like Battery Life Pro All-in-One (free on iTunes),
cannot automatically control an iPhone or iPad's real-time battery
consumption. This is because of Apple's own systems for protecting
battery life and app security. That said, there are some supposed
best practices you can follow to keep your iDevice's battery healthy.
And there are ways you can manually adjust your phone.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/technology/personaltech/apps-help-extend-the-battery-life-of-devices.html
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 12:41:33 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Simple Tools Help Owners Sift Data for Eager Customers
Message-ID: <p06240893cd062d0eeb60@[10.0.1.4]>
Simple Tools Help Owners Sift Data for Eager Customers
By JULIE WEED
December 12, 2012
Velvet Palate sells artisanal wines that are made in small quantities
around the world and typically not stocked in stores. Selling online,
said Kim Kooren, a co-founder, has allowed the company to zero in on
a niche of geographically diverse customers.
Before helping to start Velvet Palate in New York in January, Ms.
Kooren worked for an online media company that analyzed how
effectively subscription offers and other marketing tools attracted
new customers.
"We could see which Web sites people were coming from when they
arrived on our Web pages, what they clicked, where they abandoned the
process," she said. "And that allowed us to constantly tweak and
improve what we were offering and how we were communicating."
In her new venture, Ms. Kooren said her goal had been to use online
data collection and Web analytics to cater to customers' tastes.
There is nothing new, of course, about paying attention to customer
needs and desires, but there is now far more data available - far
less expensively - through Web analytics and customer-loyalty
programs. Using basic e-commerce software along with free tools like
Google Analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools, small businesses can
perform sophisticated data collection and analysis that can help them
compete with companies that have far greater resources.
Based on the experiences of business owners, this guide offers
suggestions on how both Web-based businesses and traditional
retailers can use data.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/business/smallbusiness/data-analysis-helps-stores-compete.html
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 12:05:38 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Keeping Loved Ones on the Grid
Message-ID: <p0624088fcd06248eed8e@[10.0.1.4]>
Keeping Loved Ones on the Grid
By FARHAD MANJOO
October 22, 2012
THEY say if you love something, set it free. Good advice, but you
still might want to keep your eye on it.
So the other day, I slipped a GPS tracking device into my wife's car
before she headed off to work. I put another tracker in my
2-year-old's diaper bag and sent him off to the nanny for the day. I
still had a few trackers left, and my parents were in town, so I also
threw one into their vehicle while they took my son out to the park.
Of course, I had never suspected any wrongdoing and, later on, when I
reviewed the trails left by these GPS devices, they turned up nothing
untoward. My spying was meant only as an experiment, but I still felt
like a heel.
As well I should have. It's precisely because of mischief like mine
that tracking devices get a bad rap. These small gadgets work by
connecting to GPS satellites and cellular networks to follow subjects
and report back their locations to their masters. Once I sent them
out into the world, I could look up the trackers online, either on
the Web or through a smartphone app. They could also be configured to
send me alerts based on various criteria. If my wife's car left her
office parking lot during the day or my parents' vehicle broke the
speed limit, I might get a text alert. If your mind reels at the
universe of Maury Povichian possibilities contained within these
gadgets, you're not alone.
Yet after chatting with representatives at several GPS tracking
companies and trying out their products, I learned that there are
many less icky, entirely defensible uses for such devices. For
example, some parents use trackers to make sure their children get to
school and back safely each day. Others build them into their teenage
drivers' cars so they can be alerted if the kids drive recklessly.
There's also the elder-care market - GPS trackers embedded into
medical-alert devices can help locate and provide emergency help for
parents with Alzheimer's.
And don't forget the dog: a tracker attached to its collar can let
you know if it wanders out of your yard, and help you find it if it
doesn't come back. The more I heard about these devices'
applications, the less unseemly they began to feel; indeed, for many
people, GPS tracking could soon become a regular part of life.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/garden/tracking-family-with-gps-dont-forget-the-dog.html?pagewanted=all
***** Moderator's Note *****
Can I use one to find out if my mechanic is using my car for parts runs?
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 14:57:08 -0500
From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Verizon Announces End of 900 Number Billing
Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.64.1212301452170.24430@panix5.panix.com>
(I thought I had seen a similar post in c.d.t., but can't
find it now. So if this is a dupe, feel free to fold,
spindle, and mutilate.)
Verizon, which still handles a hefty chunk of landline calls,
will no longer accept any bills from "900" service providers.
That's pretty much the final nail in that coffin.
- Most, perhaps all, cellular, VOIP, cable "phone" services,
have blocked this "area code" for quite some time, pretty
much speeding it into history. And now it'll be deader
than Jimmy Hoffa.
http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2012/12/24/900-number-billing-ends/
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 13:58:34 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: New Online Privacy Rules for Children
Message-ID: <p06240897cd063f2c2a8a@[10.0.1.4]>
New Online Privacy Rules for Children
By NATASHA SINGER
December 19, 2012
In a move intended to give parents greater control over data
collected about their children online, federal regulators on
Wednesday broadened longstanding privacy safeguards covering
children's mobile apps and Web sites. Members of the Federal Trade
Commission said they updated the rules to keep pace with the growing
use of mobile phones and tablets by children.
The regulations also reflect innovations like voice recognition,
location technology and behavior-based online advertising, or ads
tailored to an individual Internet user.
Regulators had not significantly changed the original rule, based on
the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, or Coppa. That
rule required operators of Web sites directed at children under 13 to
notify parents and obtain their permission before collecting or
sharing personal information - like first and last names, phone
numbers, home addresses or e-mail addresses - from children.
The intent of that was to give parents control over entities seeking
to collect information about their children so that parents could,
among other things, prevent unwanted contact by strangers.
The new rule, unveiled at a news conference in Washington,
significantly expands the types of companies required to obtain
parental permission before knowingly collecting personal details from
children, as well as the types of information that will require
parental consent to collect.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/technology/ftc-broadens-rules-for-online-privacy-of-children.html
Date: 30 Dec 2012 16:21:14 -0500
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: The End of the Public Phone Network
Message-ID: <kbqb8a$573$1@panix2.panix.com>
John David Galt <jdg@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us> wrote:
>On 2012-12-27 20:46, Colin wrote:
>> The End of the Public Phone Network
>>
>> More and more businesses and households are trading their traditional
>> switched telephone service for voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP,
>> services.
>
>So when is AT&T going to make the change possible for people like me (who
>have to pay them for POTS service as a condition of getting broadband)?
As soon as they can figure out how to charge you more money for going
to VoIP.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom-
munications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in
addition to Usenet, where it appears as the moderated newsgroup
'comp.dcom.telecom'.
TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational
service offered to the Internet by Bill Horne. All the contents
of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in
some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work
and that of the original author.
The Telecom Digest is moderated by Bill Horne.
This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm-
unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and
published continuously since then. Our archives are available for
your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list
on the internet in any category!
URL information: http://telecom-digest.org
Copyright (C) 2012 TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved.
Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA.
Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.
Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing
your name to the mailing list.
All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the
author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only
and messages should not be considered any official expression by the
organization.
End of The Telecom Digest (8 messages)
Return to Archives ** Older Issues