The Telecom Digest for December 30, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 353 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
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Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 02:08:15 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Is reading wife's e-mail a crime?
Message-ID: <p06240812c9408e5a5460@[10.0.1.2]>
http://www.freep.com/article/20101226/NEWS03/12260530/1318
Is reading wife's e-mail a crime? Rochester Hills man faces trial
By L. L. BRASIER
Free Press Staff Writer
December 26, 2010
A Rochester Hills man faces up to 5 years in prison -- for reading
his wife's e-mail.
Oakland County prosecutors, relying on a Michigan statute typically
used to prosecute crimes such as identity theft or stealing trade
secrets, have charged Leon Walker, 33, with a felony after he logged
onto a laptop in the home he shared with his wife, Clara Walker.
Using her password, he accessed her Gmail account and learned she was
having an affair. He now is facing a Feb. 7 trial. She filed for
divorce, which was finalized earlier this month.
Legal experts say it's the first time the statute has been used in a
domestic case, and it might be hard to prove
...
http://www.freep.com/article/20101226/NEWS03/12260530/1318
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 07:26:10 -0600
From: John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Prepaid SIMs in the USA
Message-ID: <AANLkTimdbBpcj2BTMME8pG03wH6nu_63es7Vz-snUx_=@mail.gmail.com>
On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 2:00 PM, Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> wrote:
> I've heard of people getting a Sprint Blackberry, getting a cheap
> Boost prepaid phone, and putting the SIM card from the Boost into
> the Blackberry. Â Allegedly then you end up with a phone that gets
> voice at the Boost rates, and free data. Â Haven't tried it myself,
> and it's hard to imagine that Sprint wouldn't plug the loophole if
> it does indeed exist.
A SIM card with Sprint?
What you said is more or less what I've heard. But when I go to look
I find absolutely nothing and the braintrust here seems to back that
up. I suppose the old adage is true: if it sounds too good to be
true, it probably is.
John
--
John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
Austin, Texas, USA
Date: 29 Dec 2010 18:41:56 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Prepaid SIMs in the USA
Message-ID: <20101229184156.28634.qmail@joyce.lan>
>> I've heard of people getting a Sprint Blackberry, getting a cheap
>> Boost prepaid phone, and putting the SIM card from the Boost into
>> the Blackberry. Â Allegedly then you end up with a phone that gets
>> voice at the Boost rates, and free data. Â Haven't tried it myself,
>> and it's hard to imagine that Sprint wouldn't plug the loophole if
>> it does indeed exist.
>
>A SIM card with Sprint?
As we all know, there's no SIM card with Sprint phones. (Well, unless
you mean Nextel, but that's not it here.)
Some blog entries I've found say that if you call Boost and ask
nicely, they will agree to move your account to a different compatible
phone, presumably identified by the phone's MEID.
R's,
John
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 12:24:39 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Phone jam-ups stymie fliers
Message-ID: <p0624081bc9411134202c@[10.0.1.2]>
Phone jam-ups stymie fliers
Airlines unable to handle calls after snowstorm
By Katie Johnston Chase and Alexa McMahon
Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent / December 29, 2010
As airlines were scrambling to get flight schedules back to normal
yesterday, stranded travelers were struggling to reach them,
sometimes being left on hold for more than an hour - or worse,
disconnected from the call.
Cali Archon of Portsmouth, N.H., tried calling JetBlue Airways for
four hours yesterday morning to rebook her 15-year-old daughter's
flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. But each time, after about five
minutes of recorded messages, the system told her: "Please try back
at a later time. We are doing the best we can to manage our call
volumes at this time. This call will end now.''
And then it did.
...
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/12/29/for_stranded_travelers_calling_airlines_its_hurry_up_and_wait/
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 19:44:01 -0800
From: Richard <rng@richbonnie.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: ZIP Codes and barcodes
Message-ID: <vlalh6tmhic8cp1h7hmqrpu6fs42djiea6@4ax.com>
On Tue, 28 Dec 2010 07:29:40 -0800 (PST), Wes Leatherock
<wleathus@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>--- On Mon, 12/27/10, Richard <rng@richbonnie.com> wrote:
>> At the opposite extreme is mail handling in my town of Pahrump, NV,
>> 60 miles from Las Vegas. Mail from Pahrump to Pahrump goes to Las
>> Vegas for canceling and sorting, and back to Pahrump for
>> distribution. We get next day delivery for such mail. Apparently,
>> it's cheaper not to do cancellation in Pahrump. We used to have
>> two mail slots in the post office: Pahrump and not-Pahrump; now
>> there is only one.
>
>That happens in a lot of places any more. Sorting out the mail
>manually at the originating post office is very time consuming.
>
>Some of the mail from Pahrump is going to other places. The first
>time-consuming task in sorting the local mail manually to separate
>the outgoing pieces. Is the collection box ouside the post office
>the only place to mail letters in Pahrump?
The main post office lobby used to have 2 mail slots for outgoing
mail, Pahrump only and elsewhere. Mail put into the Pahrump-only box
got postmarked Pahrump. The other mail got postmarked Las Vegas. Now
they have only one slot for outgoing mail. Now there is only one
slot.* I suspect that they decided that it was cheaper to send all the
mail to Las Vegas for sorting.
*Actually, the second slot is still there, but is labeled "Misdirected
mail. Not for your box."
>After all, telecommunications traffic - even local calls from
>landlines - is done that way.
Yup.
Depending on the time of day and year, and the load, toll calls from
New York to Florida might be routed through Denver.
I heard about a situation in Boston. They need another switch in the
downtown Franklin Street office, but had no physical space. So they
used a short-haul microwave link to access the hardware in the
suburbs. Mr. Moderator, you worked at Franklin Street office; did you
ever hear about this?
Dick
***** Moderator's Note *****
I don't think so: Franklin Street did have some "R" carrier microwave,
but only the microwave was there: it went over to an L-carrier
terminal at Bowdoin Square on coaxial cable.
Franklin Street had the WADS office when I was there, which served TWX
for a time after Western Union took it over, but no other Class 5
offices that I know of. Come to think of it, the "743" exchange, which
was the N.E.T. centrex, was also served out of Bowdoin Square, so
maybe that's the "suburban" office you're thinking of.
I supposed there might be/may have been an ORM at "Boston Two" after I
left, but Verizon always runs those on fiber. IIRC, the microwave
antennas on the top of the building have been idle for years: there
may be some links still in service between Hyannis and Martha's
Vineyard, but I'll defer to those still working on them for that info.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:10:51 -0800 (PST)
From: Wes Leatherock <wleathus@yahoo.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: ZIP Codes and barcodes
Message-ID: <52901.43209.qm@web111724.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
--- On Tue, 12/28/10, Richard <rng@richbonnie.com> wrote:
[ ''' ]
> Depending on the time of day and year, and the load, toll calls from
> New York to Florida might be routed through Denver.
There was a considerable article in the Bell Labs Record when somebody
first figured out how to do this. The Wisconsin National Guard went
to summer camp in Washington state, and when they started calling home
in the evening it jammed all the direct trunks, then used the final
route through the Sacramento machine and as a result tied up traffic
all up and down the West Coast. Somebody figured out to punch new
translation cards and put them in at 7 p.m. local time to make White
Plains first choice from Washington state to Milwaukee, figuring
Washington state-White Plains and White Plains-Milwaukee trunks would
not be busy by that time (10 p.m. in the East). It worked like a
charm and even White Plains-Norway (Ill.) final trunks had capacity
for the overlow.
Of course, such reroutes for special occasions, or just hourly
variations, became routine before long.
Wes Leatherock
wleathus@yahoo.com
wesrock@aol.com
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 13:48:28 -0800 (PST)
From: Tas Dienes <tasdienes@gmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: CNAM for toll-free numbers
Message-ID: <ea287588-c7e2-4626-9978-290ec7fe883f@m20g2000prc.googlegroups.com>
I have toll-free numbers from a couple of SIP providers. When I call
someone and send those numbers as my outgoing CID, I want the name
that shows up to be my company name. My SIP providers say that they
cannot set Caller ID Name (CNAM) for toll-free numbers, and as far as
I can tell, the CNAM database does not even support toll-free
numbers. Yet when I get calls from other companies with toll-free
numbers, sometimes I do see a company name (though usually not). So
it must be possible. Does anyone know how to do this?
My initial guess was to try and get my number listed with toll-free
directory services, as someone once mentioned that some carriers may
get CNAM info from that database. I tried that; I got a TF number
from Verizon, and I also tried listing another TF number with AT&T
directory services. Neither worked.
Thanks!
Tas
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 10:53:24 -0800
From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--Eight Digit US telephone numbers?
Message-ID: <_fmdnSxUJ6Y5HobQnZ2dnUVZ_oSdnZ2d@giganews.com>
Lisa or Jeff wrote:
>
> A resident of a such a small town told me the phone company told
> people to use 7 digits and stopped referring to 5 digits. But 5
> digits continued to work until the exchange was cutover to ESS. (He
> hoped to get a switch unit after the cutover but the old gear was kept
> quite secure. I would think its value would only be scrap by that
> point in time.)
>
It could have continued to work with SPC. A standard feature in the
DMS-100 was 5 digit community dialing; i.e. dial the 5 digets plus the
"#" sign. So far as I know, no LECs opted to implement this feature.
It only saved one digit. But, with the advent of mandatory 10 digit
dialing it would be more desirable today.
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 13:09:12 -0800 (PST)
From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--Eight Digit US telephone numbers?
Message-ID: <f541d716-fb9b-413c-9522-da06fefd107c@w21g2000vby.googlegroups.com>
On Dec 29, 1:53 pm, Sam Spade <s...@coldmail.com> wrote:
> > A resident of a such a small town told me the phone company told
> > people to use 7 digits and stopped referring to 5 digits. But 5
> > digits continued to work until the exchange was cutover to ESS. (He
> > hoped to get a switch unit after the cutover but the old gear was kept
> > quite secure. I would think its value would only be scrap by that
> > point in time.)
>
> It could have continued to work with SPC. A standard feature in the
> DMS-100 was 5 digit community dialing; i.e. dial the 5 digets plus the
> "#" sign. So far as I know, no LECs opted to implement this feature.
>
> It only saved one digit. But, with the advent of mandatory 10 digit
> dialing it would be more desirable today.
I would presume that ESS could easily handle 5 digit dialing. But I
suspect it went away because there were too many other exchanges being
created and the 5 digits weren't enough to make the local exchanges
unique.
For instance, in border areas, residents could call across a state
line to the opposite town using only seven digits. That made the
exchange-codes in the border town had to be unique in both area
codes. That was fine in the old days, but as they began to run out of
exchanges that was no longer workable. So, the border people had to
dial 10 or 11(+1) digits.
As an aside, the Bell history mentions that long ago (1960s) Bell
recognized they were running out of exchange-codes, and built/
programmed switches so that area codes could be an exchange code and
vice versa. I believe this meant that the 1+ prefix would be
necessary in places where it wasn't used before so as to differentiate
the call.
Regarding the previous posts regarding the term Centrex vs. "inward
dialing", it appears from the history that the function was developed
first and given a name later. In the early 1960s there were a few
different combinations of machine types that would support Centrex.
Some users had a 701 dial step-by-step PBX which was modified to
accept digits from the central office; others were served by a step-by-
step central office that was modified; still others were served by No.
5 crossbar or crossbar tandem. The two biggest features were direct
inward dialing and identification of outward dialed calls so as to
track charging and usage by extension. (I was employed at an
organization that had ONI for that.)
As time went on new features were added, such as automatic transfers
and loop access consoles instead of direct trunk. ESS added more
features.
Note that back then the switchgear was located about half at the
central office and half at the user's site. The tradeoff for central
office location--which meant all loops had to come from the CO--was
that repairmen didn't have to go out to the user's site for service.
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 10:55:31 -0800
From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--Eight Digit US telephone numbers?
Message-ID: <_fmdnS9UJ6a-GYbQnZ2dnUVZ_oSdnZ2d@giganews.com>
Harold Hallikainen wrote:
>I always thought they should broadcast 7 digit numbers
> to be useful to the largest number of listeners. Of course, when 7
> digit numbers were broadcast, the prefix was WAlnut 5.
>
I'm amazed at the number of trucks I still see on the road with their
7-digit telephone number.
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:10:24 +0000 (UTC)
From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Area codes would be nice, was: History--Eight Digit US telephone numbers?
Message-ID: <ifg12v$4o4$1@reader1.panix.com>
In <_fmdnS9UJ6a-GYbQnZ2dnUVZ_oSdnZ2d@giganews.com> Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com> writes:
>Harold Hallikainen wrote:
>>I always thought they should broadcast 7 digit numbers
>> to be useful to the largest number of listeners. Of course, when 7
>> digit numbers were broadcast, the prefix was WAlnut 5.
>I'm amazed at the number of trucks I still see on the road with their
>7-digit telephone number.
Even more amazing is the prevalence of 7 digit numbers
in "welcome to mumble mumble" guidebooks...
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:20:51 -0800 (PST)
From: Wes Leatherock <wleathus@yahoo.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--Eight Digit US telephone numbers?
Message-ID: <886182.39839.qm@web111720.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
--- On Wed, 12/29/10, Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com> wrote:
>
> I'm amazed at the number of trucks I still see on the road
> with their
> 7-digit telephone number.
Why? In many placess with only one area code 10-digit dialing of a local number generates and error message to the caller.
Wes Leatherock
wleathus@yahoo.com
wesrock@aol.com
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:53:12 -0600 (CST)
From: jsw <jsw@ivgate.omahug.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--Eight Digit US telephone numbers?
Message-ID: <201012282153.oBSLrCDE097953@ivgate.omahug.org>
>I am aware the SBC actually deployed some calling features on a No. 5
>XBAR on the north side of Kansas City, MO. A friend of mine subscribed
>to them circa late 1960s.
This then confirms some rumors and speculation among 'enthusiasts'
that Ma Bell had developed some kind of a 'stored program engine'
for the #5 Crossbar that would replace the relay-logic markers and
senders and such, and give the #5 Crossbar the ability to do the
fancy Custom Calling Features<tm> just like the 1E.
This is the only first-person account I've heard of anything like
this actually happening. I assume that it was never really
rolled out simply due to the ESS deployment plans.
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:23:40 -0800 (PST)
From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--Eight Digit US telephone numbers?
Message-ID: <5ad48e70-9d0a-444d-9754-c2064b9a2f1e@c2g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>
On Dec 28, 4:53 pm, jsw <j...@ivgate.omahug.org> wrote:
> >I am aware the SBC actually deployed some calling features on a No. 5
> >XBAR on the north side of Kansas City, MO. A friend of mine subscribed
> >to them circa late 1960s.
> This then confirms some rumors and speculation among 'enthusiasts'
> that Ma Bell had developed some kind of a 'stored program engine'
> for the #5 Crossbar that would replace the relay-logic markers and
> senders and such, and give the #5 Crossbar the ability to do the
> fancy Custom Calling Features<tm> just like the 1E.
> This is the only first-person account I've heard of anything like
> this actually happening. I assume that it was never really
> rolled out simply due to the ESS deployment plans.
I checked the Bell Labs History 1925-75 and it does not appear that
they hda replaced the relays with electronics in the common control
unit. They considered it:
"In 1970 a committtee studied the possibilities of modernizing the No.
5 crossbar by adapting stored-program control techniques. At that
time, electronic technology was not low enough in cost for the new
services to be provided at tariffs comparable with the ESS family and
for administration cost reductions."
It should be noted that about the same time Western Electric developed
a new electro-mechanical (crossbar) PBX, the 770A, that was more cost-
competitive than certain low-end ESS designs by Bell Labs. "Even
though electronics was clearly the way to the future, the 770A enjoyed
a number of years when it was the economic choice on a first-cost
basis over comparable designs."
(In 1970 I don't recall any electronic stand-alone cash registers, and
I don't believe they became commonplace--more cost effective--until at
least 10-15 years later. The cheap electronics we take for granted
today was still in the laboratory in 1970. Anyone know when NCR
ceased making stand-alone electro-mechanical and all-mechanical cash
registers?)
They used electronics and mini-computers to aid in translation, AMA
recording, and in signaling and timing circuits.
One innovation for No. 5 was the use of "wire spring" relays,
replacing the U and Y type flat spring relays in 1953-54.
They did experiment with custom calling features on No. 5 crossbar in
Columbus Ohio 1963-65, Iowa and Mass 1966, and Ohio 1971. They found
that those services were too expensive to be done in crossbar, so
rollout had to wait until ESS. They used piggyback twister memory in
some cases.
The book is a bit vague on whether these tests were by an electronic
or relay common control. I think the basic "logic" was still relay
circuits, especially because it was done in the early 1960s when ESS
itself was still under development. Further, the other comments above
suggest electronics were still too new. I suspect that if they had a
true electronic front end the cost of crossbar implementation would
not have been excessively expensive.
Last, all-new installations of No. 5 crossbar ended in 1976.
[I am condensing a considerable number of pages from the book for this
post. The footnotes refer to numerous Bell Labs Record articles for
the feature trials; I'll post the specifics if anyone is interested in
further research.]
But let's note that when it comes to machine "logic", a relay performs
the same function as a transistor or vacuum tube, it's only bigger and
slower. In the 1940s, IBM built sophisticated _programmable_
digital computers--the Harvard Mark I and its own SSEC using mostly
relay logic, and Bell Labs had a relay computer, too. Also in the
1940s, railroad switch control machines were deployed that used push-
button control to automatically route trains and avoid all conflicting
movements; these utilized extensive relay logic to test choices for
safety and then execute the commands to switches and signals on the
tracks. Thus, by the 1960s it certainly was possible for relay logic
to handle features like call waiting.
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