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The Telecom Digest for January 8, 2013
Volume 32 : Issue 8 : "text" Format
====== 31 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2013 21:47:32 -0500
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Verizon Announces End of 900 Number Billing
Message-ID: <mqvmmsw4t7m9$.11anz5y1zjzht$.dlg@40tude.net>
On Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:47:41 -0800, Thad Floryan wrote:
> On 1/3/2013 12:11 AM, tlvp wrote:
>> On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:50:36 -0800, John Reiser wrote:
>>
>>> ... Can the billed charge be as low as 0.30 euro?
>>> What do you believe was the US minimum: 2 dollars?
>>
>> As I recall (Thad Floryan can confirm or refute, I suspect), the 900 number
>> set up for accessing the modem pool to GET SouRCeS for at&t's Unix PC
>> typically charged a quarter a minute: 1-900-GET-SRCS. Not that I ever used
>> it, but I kinda' knew it was there if I needed it.
>
> Hmmm, I was unaware of that number for that purpose. I just
> checked the latest 3B1 FAQ (both parts) and it doesn't appear.
>
> A Google search found this page:
>
>
> http://unixpc.taronga.com/comp.sources.3b1/volume01/info1
>
>
> where we see this:
>
> " Site: uunet.uu.net
> " Contact: Dave Brierley (dhb@uunet.uu.net)
> " Location: Fairfax, VA
> " Modems: Telebit
> " UUCP: uunet uucp customers only
> " FTP: anonymous ftp
> " Mail server: netlib@uunet
> " Additional: UUNET is keeping archives in ~ftp/comp.sources.3b1,
> " and I will be maintaining them. You can also use
> " 1-900-GOT-SRCS to access this archive.
>
> but no mention of the cost of the 900 line. I doubt it was very
Thanks for coming through yet again, Thad: I stand corrected: not GET but
GOT (1-900-GOT-SRCS). As for the quarter a minute, I think that's right,
but I won't swear to it with my life :-) . But a 360 KB floppy's worth of
download, taking five minutes, say, in the era of 14.4 Kb/s Trailblazers,
hence costing $1.25 for the toll charge, would compare favorably with the
cost of a proper envelope and postage for such a floppy full of code.
Regardless, Happy New Year, and thanks for the vowel/tense correction :-) .
Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 01:02:55 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: At Disney Parks, a Bracelet Meant to Build Loyalty (and Sales)
Message-ID: <p062408aecd101561a564@[10.0.1.2]>
At Disney Parks, a Bracelet Meant to Build Loyalty (and Sales)
By BROOKS BARNES
January 7, 2013
ORLANDO, Fla. - Imagine Walt Disney World with no entry turnstiles.
Cash? Passé: Visitors would wear rubber bracelets encoded with credit
card information, snapping up corn dogs and Mickey Mouse ears with a
tap of the wrist. Smartphone alerts would signal when it is time to
ride Space Mountain without standing in line.
Fantasyland? Hardly. It happens starting this spring.
Disney in the coming months plans to begin introducing a vacation
management system called MyMagic+ that will drastically change the
way Disney World visitors - some 30 million people a year - do just
about everything.
The initiative is part of a broader effort, estimated by analysts to
cost between $800 million and $1 billion to make visiting Disney
parks less daunting and more amenable to modern consumer behavior.
Disney is betting that happier guests will spend more money.
"If we can enhance the experience, more people will spend more of
their leisure time with us," said Thomas O. Staggs, chairman of
Disney Parks and Resorts.
The ambitious plan moves Disney deeper into the hotly debated terrain
of personal data collection. Like most major companies, Disney wants
to have as much information about its customers' preferences as it
can get, so it can appeal to them more efficiently. The company
already collects data to use in future sales campaigns, but parts of
MyMagic+ will allow Disney for the first time to track guest behavior
in minute detail.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/business/media/at-disney-parks-a-bracelet-meant-to-build-loyalty-and-sales.html
***** Moderator's Note *****
It has started: the "plus" sign at the end of a commercial name is
going to take the place of the "i" in front of ievery iApple iProduct
iName. I wonder if Google+ gets a GoogleCut+.
As we surrender our lives to corporate control+, I'm glad that
everything has been planned by professionals in advance. I have a
better idea: just leave your wallet in your "MyMagic+" room and let
the maid handle all your money for you. It won't hurt a bit+.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2013 22:00:48 -0500
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: MCI Mail, was Verizon Announces End of 900 Number Billing
Message-ID: <11b6hpdkga9ad$.60z70cx0yh48.dlg@40tude.net>
On Wed, 2 Jan 2013 15:00:14 -0800 (PST), John C. Fowler wrote:
>>> Does what's left of MCI still include any MCI Mail, aka mcimail.com?
>> No, they shut it down in 2003, killed by ubiquitous unmetered Internet
>> email.
>
> Those of us who were still MCI Mail customers on the very last day of
> service got a special message from Vint Cerf, who worked at MCI at the
> time. I saved a copy. I just ran a search through Google, and I
> don't see it anywhere else, so with 2013 being the 10th anniversary of
> the demise of MCI Mail (and the 30th anniversary of its start), this
> is probably a good time to share it.
>
> Date: Mon Jun 30, 2003 9:37 am CDT
> From: Vinton G. Cerf / MCI ID: 105-0002
>
> Subject: MCIMAIL September 27th, 1983 - July 1st, 2003
>
> Dear Friend and Valued Customer of MCI Mail,
>
> This letter is the final commercial email being sent from the MCI
> Mail team to all of its customers. It marks a major milestone in an
> era of electronic communication at MCI that began on September 27,
> 1983. The introduction of MCI Mail transformed MCI from a feisty
> long distance service provider into a complete communications
> company. MCI Mail brought remarkably advanced concepts into being
> including the ability to send postal, overnight courier, and
> conventional email as well as Telex with a single email letter. The
> ability to send fax was added a few years later.
>
> But all good things must eventually come to an end. So we thank you,
> our valued customers, for your loyal support and dedication over
> nearly 20 years.
>
> This message system will self-destruct at Midnight, 30 June 2003.
>
> With warmest wishes,
> Vint Cerf
> Sr. VP, Architecture and Technology
> MCI
>
> [And it did.]
>
> John C. Fowler, johnfpublic@yahoo.com
Curiously enough, the mcimail.com domain as email provider still has some
sort of service activity, as the following transcript of a test SMTP
session initiated recently by a RIM BB PlayBook app named DNS shows:
> 220 horus-10.ni.argfrp.us.uu.net
> ESMTP HELO spamtest.dnssniffer.com
> 250 horus-10.ni.argfrp.us.uu.net
> MAIL FROM:<this.is.not.spam@dnstest.me>
> 250 ok
> RCPT TO:<1234567@mcimail.com> [1234567 is a dummy number, not what I used]
> 250 ok
> QUIT
> 221 horus-10.ni.argfrp.us.uu.net
Can horus-10.ni.argfrp.us.uu.net be serving as a mail collector for
mcimail.com, despite there being no remaining mail service there?
I'm puzzled. Any ideas? TIA. And cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 00:56:05 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: The future according to Google's Larry Page
Message-ID: <p062408abcd1013a73db1@[10.0.1.2]>
The future according to Google's Larry Page
By Miguel Helft
January 3, 2013
Fortune
Google CEO Larry Page envisions a future in which computers plan your
vacations, drive your cars, and anticipate your whims. Audacious?
Maybe. But Page's dreams have a way of coming true.
...
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/01/03/google-larry-page/
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 01:06:52 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Ad Blocking Raises Alarm Among Firms Like Google
Message-ID: <p062408afcd101654de30@[10.0.1.2]>
Ad Blocking Raises Alarm Among Firms Like Google
By DAVID JOLLY
January 6, 2013
PARIS - Xavier Niel, the French technology entrepreneur, has made a
career of disrupting the status quo.
Now, he has dared to take on Google and other online advertisers in a
battle that puts the Web companies under pressure to use the wealth
generated by the ads to help pay for the network pipelines that
deliver the content.
Mr. Niel's telecommunications company, Free, which has an estimated
5.2 million Internet-access users in France, began last week to
enable its customers to block Web advertising. The company is
updating users' software with an ad-blocking feature as the default
setting.
That move has raised alarm among companies that, like Google, have
based their entire business models on providing free content to
consumers by festooning Web pages with paid advertisements. Although
Google so far has kept largely silent about Free's challenge, the
reaction from the small Web operators who live and die by online ads
has been vociferous.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/technology/ad-blocking-raises-alarm-among-firms-like-google.html
***** Moderator's Note *****
THIS is why cellular companies are so closed-mouthed about their
phones and networks. They want to make sure their customers see
everything they intend.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 21:09:15 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Smartphone Addiction Is Rampant in Gen Y
Message-ID: <p062408b6cd112c8d1412@[10.0.1.2]>
Smartphone Addiction Is Rampant in Gen Y
By Dennis McCafferty
Posted 2013-01-03
For Generation Y, the smartphone might as well be considered a
physical appendage. That's because-other than when these individuals
are asleep-there seems to be little or no time when they're not
connecting to these devices, according to a recent survey from Cisco.
The resulting report, the "2012 Cisco Connected World Technology
Report," reveals that Gen Yers throughout the world are tapping on
their smartphones from the first thing in the morning to the end of
the evening. No physical space is considered off-limits either, not
even the bathroom. On the positive side, this level of connectivity
makes them more accountable at work. On the negative, a majority of
survey respondents admit that they wish they didn't feel so tethered
to technology. "There are 206 bones in the human body," according to
the report, "and the smartphone should be considered the 207th bone
for Generation Y." A total of 1,800 Gen Y students and professionals
in 18 countries took part in the research.
http://www.baselinemag.com/mobility/slideshows/smartphone-addiction-is-rampant-in-gen-y/
Cisco Connected World Technology Report
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns1120/index.html
Report Summary on Gen Y and Technology
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns705/ns1120/2012-CCWTR-Chapter1-Global-Results.pdf
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