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The Telecom Digest for December 22, 2011
Volume 30 : Issue 326 : "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
Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Bill Horne and
the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other
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Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
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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.
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Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:03:20 +1100
From: David Clayton <dcstarbox-usenet@yahoo.com.au>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Voice mail auto delete
Message-ID: <pan.2011.12.21.03.00.26.261624@yahoo.com.au>
On Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:24:30 +0000, Ken Wheatley wrote:
> On 2011-12-18 22:36:02 +0000, David Clayton said:
..........
>> I wonder if any UK readers of the CDT have any more info on this?
>
> I used to work for Unisys some time ago, and played with their
> large-scale messaging platforms.
>
> As others have said, these things are configurable, so an operator can
> set them up how they like. In fact there may be more than one
> configuration as there may be several voicemail products or classes of
> service running on the platform.
>
> Normally messages become candidates for deletion when read. That may not
> mean they're deleted at once, but may wait for a batch process to take
> place.
>
> Unread messages are kept until read, deleted by the user or until a
> certain time limit is reached. You obviously wouldn't keep them for
> ever.
>
> Finally, there are message that have been listened to but then saved by
> the user. These, too, have a shelf life.
It would be very interesting to know what the system policies were for the
VM system used in this infamous "hacking" incident now. I suspect that
there are a lot of technical assumptions currently being made by
non-technical people which are "muddying the waters" of the whole saga.
--
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: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:41:33 -0500
From: Telecom Digest Moderator <redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Fwd: net.ham-radio from 30 years ago
Message-ID: <20111221094133.GA20223@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 12:32:14AM -0000, John Levine wrote:
> >
> > http://www.olduse.net
> >
> >
> >The old-style VT/ANSI terminal interface is a nice touch. I don't
> >recognize the software it is emulating. It's not rn, for example. Is
> >it readnews? It appears to closely resemble the Elm mail client.
>
> No, that's notesfiles, which looked nicer but had some internal limitations
> compared to software that used native news formats.
>
> When I visited the site, the first thing it showed was a message that
> I personally posted to net.unix-wizards 30 years ago. Yow.
There's some kind of AI logic in there: I got the first issue of the
Telecom Digest, from 1981.
The "notesfiles" interface has a sidebar "feature" that give other
posts to look at in other groups, but if you click on one, it opens
that post in the sidebar, not the main window, with about twenty
characters per line. I don't know what they called the program back
then, but I know that I've used it before, because I remember that
annoying habit it has of opening post in the sidebar.
--
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: 21 Dec 2011 16:02:41 -0500
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Bloomberg author says FCC needs to change its views
Message-ID: <jcthhh$h9u$1@panix2.panix.com>
Telecom Digest Moderator <redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu> wrote:
>
> Julius Genachowski, the Federal Communications Commission
> chairman, thinks the end is near. His evangelizing isn't
> spiritual but digital: The economy of the future depends on
> smartphones, tablet computers and other wireless devices, and
> yet the U.S. faces a crippling spectrum shortage, he says.
I keep hearing this.
But the problem is that the spectrum is a finite resource. If there
is a true shortage of spectrum, nothing spectrum management can do
will remedy this.
You want spectrum, there's plenty available in the >100 GHz that
nobody is using. What? Don't like the propagation characteristics?
Sorry about that. That's what is there.
You can reallocate use, but you can't just wave your hands and create
bandwidth out of nowhere, and that is what politicians seem to expect
the FCC to do.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:21:47 +1100
From: David Clayton <dcstarbox-usenet@yahoo.com.au>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Bloomberg author says FCC needs to change its views
Message-ID: <pan.2011.12.21.22.21.41.505880@yahoo.com.au>
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:02:41 -0500, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Telecom Digest Moderator <redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu>
> wrote:
>>
>> Julius Genachowski, the Federal Communications Commission chairman,
>> thinks the end is near. His evangelizing isn't spiritual but
>> digital: The economy of the future depends on smartphones, tablet
>> computers and other wireless devices, and yet the U.S. faces a
>> crippling spectrum shortage, he says.
>
> I keep hearing this.
>
> But the problem is that the spectrum is a finite resource.
.........
> You can reallocate use, but you can't just wave your hands and create
> bandwidth out of nowhere, and that is what politicians seem to expect
> the FCC to do.
It is interesting to see these issues where a finite resource that is
(usually) mismanaged by humans finally reaches the inevitable crunch point
where we just can't keep going on with the proverbial "business as usual".
This sort of thing is increasing all over the place with things like
arable land, water resources and energy sources, but for some reason we
believe that there is always some way to make the finite continue on.
Do we have any examples of successful political fixes for issues like this
that the pollies can use to counter those who keep pointing out that the
definition of finite means that that there is a limit?
Perhaps the spectrum "fix" will be along more traditional lines, take
away the resources from those with lesser power or voice and hand it over
to the big-money boys who almost always seem to get what they want?
Just remember, if convenient spectrum becomes so critical to the national
economy - or a matter of "national security" - then there won't be much
that can stop such a valuable resource being allocated to those who are so
important to both of these areas.
--
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 *****
I recommend that all long-distance traffic be handled by telegrams once again.
This will cut down tremendously on spectrum use: one voice channel can
handle the equivalent of about 35 radiotelegraph signals.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:39:07 -0800 (PST)
From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Reframing the Debate Over Using Phones Behind the Wheel
Message-ID: <4f2742e7-a38c-4bcd-90f6-6ffefef79efa@z1g2000vbx.googlegroups.com>
On Dec 18, 7:00 pm, Monty Solomon <mo...@roscom.com> wrote:
> For years, policy makers trying to curb distracted driving have
> compared the problem to drunken driving. The analogy seemed fitting,
> with drivers weaving down roads and rationalizing behavior that they
> knew could be deadly.
The Phila Inqr ran pro and con editorials on this issue:
Con:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq_ed_board/Con-Feds-shouldnt-set-cellphone-rules.html
Pro:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq_ed_board/Pro-No-phoning-while-driving-makes-sense.html?ref=more-like-this
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:34:17 -0800 (PST)
From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Norman Krim, championed transistor, dies at 98
Message-ID: <3d8dfa1e-17aa-43fe-bde5-01071dc132b2@i6g2000vbh.googlegroups.com>
from the NYT:
Norman Krim, an electronics visionary who played a pivotal role in the
industry's transition from the bulky electron vacuum tube, which once
lined the innards of radios and televisions, to the tiny, far more
powerful transistor, died on Dec. 14. He had a long career with the
Raytheon Company and saw the device's potential. He persuaded his
company to begin manufacturing it on a mass scale, particularly for
use in miniaturized hearing aids that he had designed.
for full article please see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/business/norman-krim-who-championed-the-transistor-dies-at-98.html?_r=1&hpw
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:33:52 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Western Electric is selling vacuum tubes
Message-ID: <jctqd1$h5q$1@dont-email.me>
I went and put "Western Electric" into a search engine, and came up with
this site:
http://www.westernelectric.com/products.html
... where the Western Electric Export Company, apparently the new holder
of the "Western Electric" name, is advertising vacuum tubes for sale.
Bill, who could use a cold 807 right now.
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:25:03 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: LightSquared to FCC: it's our spectrum, interference is GPS industry's problem
Message-ID: <jctpsu$etp$1@dont-email.me>
by Matthew Lasar (Ars Technica)
Embattled wholesale satellite broadband contender LightSquared has
taken off the gloves. The company has asked the Federal Communications
Commission for a "declaratory ruling" confirming its right to use
spectrum licensed to the company by the FCC. Not only that, but
LightSquared wants the Commission to confirm that GPS makers - who
have been complaining of interference risks for months - lack any
legal basis to ask for interference protections.
http://tinyurl.com/7zcquqh
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:10:02 -0800
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: LightSquared to FCC: it's our spectrum, interference is GPS
Message-ID: <4EF2917A.9020905@thadlabs.com>
On 12/21/2011 3:25 PM, Bill Horne wrote:
> by Matthew Lasar (Ars Technica)
>
> Embattled wholesale satellite broadband contender LightSquared has
> taken off the gloves. The company has asked the Federal Communications
> Commission for a "declaratory ruling" confirming its right to use
> spectrum licensed to the company by the FCC. Not only that, but
> LightSquared wants the Commission to confirm that GPS makers - who
> have been complaining of interference risks for months - lack any
> legal basis to ask for interference protections.
>
>
> http://tinyurl.com/7zcquqh
>
Just wondering --
If Lightsquared should, by some idiocy, receive permission to continue
their folly, would not the very 4G LTE phones they purport to serve
have their own GPS receivers perturbed by Lightsquared's interfering
signals? :-)
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