---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20191217175423.GA31713@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: 17 Dec 2019 17:54:23 +0000 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Re: History trans-Atlantic cable On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 12:40:15PM -0800, Dave Platt wrote: > There were some other differences, as I recall. Tubes designed for > consumer-electronics purposes are normally operated with the tube > conducting current most or all of the time ("Class A" or "Class AB"). > When used in digital applications, as binary (on/off) devices, tubes > are often "cut off" much of the time (grid driven negative, no anode > current). This cut-off mode can lead to an effect known as "cathode > poisoning", where a high-resistance layer develops within the cathode. > This reduces tube gain and increases noise, thus leading to a short > tube lifetime... not a great thing for a digital computer utilizing > thousands of tubes. OMG, I'm 15-years-old-again! Can we talk about the mu of a 12AX7? No, wait, let's involve everyone: who can name the "All American Five?" Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <005301d5b498$67211e30$35635a90$@nc.rr.com> Date: 17 Dec 2019 00:11:12 -0500 From: "Bob Goudreau" <BobGoudreau@nc.rr.com> Subject: Re: FCC advances plans for 988, a national suicide- prevention hotline > The Federal Communications Commission is moving forward with plans > to make 988 the nation's suicide prevention hotline... The obvious question this prompts is: "how can this be implemented in places where local calls are still dialed with 7 digits and there are existing 988-XXXX numbers?" There are still many places in the US without mandatory 10-digit dialing and many of those NPAs still include 988 exchanges. It would be unwise to rely on timeouts to distinguish between landline calls to the suicide hotline and landline calls to such local numbers. Make the timeout too short, and lots of calls to those 7D numbers will end up going to the hotline by mistake. Make the timeout too long, and precious seconds that might save a life will be wasted, or even cause callers discouraged by the lack of prompt response to hang up. (Of course, this concern does not apply to mobile calls, where the entire "dialed" number is sent en bloc.) Buried deep (page 71 of 138) in [the NPRM], I found the closest thing so far to an answer: "If the 211 code is not expanded, then alternatively, the '988' non-N11 code should be deployed for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system, as long as it is understood that 988 likely cannot be deployed ubiquitously across all networks, and mandatory 10-digit dialing may need to be implemented in area codes where 988 is assigned as a central office code in area codes where 7-digit local dialing is the norm." https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-359095A1.pdf It's disappointing that the report does not seem to include a list of the NPAs which would need to convert to mandatory 10D in order to bring this plan to fruition. Given that absence, I am skeptical that the cost figures mentioned in the report are accurate. I am also com- pletely underwhelmed by the arguments made against the alternatives of using an N11 code (such as 211) instead of 988. All in all, the 988 plan seems somewhat half-baked. Bob Goudreau Cary, NC ------------------------------ Message-ID: <625204F2-E049-4F94-9368-F8F9880EC497@roscom.com> Date: 17 Dec 2019 11:50:00 -0500 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: "Incredibly sensitive" data is open to cyberattack at Mass. tax-collection agency, audit report says "Incredibly sensitive" data is open to cyberattack at Mass. tax-collection agency, audit report says By Victoria McGrane The state Department of Revenue is leaving the "incredibly sensitive" private data of Massachusetts taxpayers exposed to cyberattacks and has not been prepared to respond to an attack or limit the damage if the agency is hacked, Auditor Suzanne M. Bump said in a report released Monday. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/12/16/audit-knocks-state-tax-agency/D6SP1VxV5eGayVRYzZYCTL/story.html ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Wed, 18 Dec 2019