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The Telecom Digest for April 8, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 89 : "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
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
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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: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 17:38:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mark Smith <marklsmith@yahoo.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Poisson Table
Message-ID: <1333672729.94318.YahooMailNeo@web162102.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
On Thursday, April 5, 2012 6:57PM, Fred Atkinson wrote:
> Can someone here tell me where I can get a Poisson table for trunk
> traffic analysis?
Used copies of the book "Traffic System Design Handbook" are available
from Amazon for as little as $8.45, and it contains the info you're
looking for.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0780304284/ref=sr_1_16?p=S012&keywords=poisson+table&ie=UTF8&qid=1333672591
-or-
http://goo.gl/SA73c
Mark L. Smith
marklsmith@yahoo.com
http://smith.freehosting.net
Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2012 17:37:41 +0000 (UTC)
From: "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Ohio bill could doom landlines
Message-ID: <jlpu15$u21$7@news.albasani.net>
Mark Smith <marklsmith@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>>danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote:
>>>[Ohio news]
>>>[An] Ohio bill could doom landlines. With the steady stream of
>>>innovations to wireless phones, many companies are regarding the
>>>traditional landline as obsolete.
>>>The [Ohio] bill addresses Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligations
>>>that previously required franchises to serve everyone who wanted
>>>service in a franchise territory.
>>I'm confused. What were all the subsidies for universal service for?
>>Will they be returning those subsidies if universal service is no
>>longer provided?
>They're giving out cell phones instead. Tracphone is a major player
>in Maryland. They advertise on TV that if you're getting assistance
>you can have a free phone. Great if you can get cell service.
But the universal service subsidy is in a different pot than the cell
phone subsidy, right?
btw, when I washed my old Motorola V195s quad-band GSM cell phone, I
replaced it with a $5 cell phone AT&T was celling for prepaid service.
AT&T gave me the unlock code. I'd prepaid for a minimum number of minutes,
but it turned out I didn't even need to do that.
I've been using it temporarily, but I haven't bothered shopping for a
better phone. I won't care if I drown this one.
I don't see how the government subsidy can make cell phones any more
available. Anyone can afford a $5 phone without a government program.
Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2012 17:24:58 -0400
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Fax Modem gadgets
Message-ID: <puma4zficdha$.6n42vss4fyp0.dlg@40tude.net>
On Thu, 5 Apr 2012 19:00:41 +0000 (UTC), David Lesher wrote:
> HP made a great gadget called a PrinterPal. It answered your fax line, and printed the
> faxes on your existing laser printer.
>
> Alas, printers now have USB, not parallel ports.
>
> Does anyone make a similar gadget with USB output?
Even the original HP PrinterPal devices had failings you may not recall:
according to the HP page
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&dlc=&docname=bpf01315&lc=en&product=58855
: The HP PrinterPal (C2970A) is compatible with the following HP Deskjet printers:
: HP Deskjet 500, 500C, 520, 540, 550C, 560C, 600, 600C, 660C, and 660Cse printers.
:
: The HP PrinterPal (C2971A) is compatible with the following HP LaserJet, Deskjet, and
: other printers: HP LaserJet III, IIID, IIIP, 4L, 4ML, 4P, 4MP, 4, 4M, 4 Plus, 4M Plus, 5P, 5MP,
: 5L, 5L FS printers, HP Deskjet 310, 320, 340, 850C, 855C, 1200C, 1600C, 1600CM printers,
: HP Copyjet Printer/Copier.
:
: NOTE: ... The HP PrinterPal is not compatible with any Macintosh-only printers,
: such as HP Deskwriter printers or PostScript (R)-only printers.
Not USB, but actual "HP PrinterPal" devices are still available, at prices
ranging, seemingly, from $60.- to $280.- and up, from various resellers,
according to the very frugal froogle.google.com purchasing-search site.
Cherers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
Date: Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:17:03 -0700
From: John David Galt <jdg@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Fax Modem gadgets
Message-ID: <jlqhti$sn5$1@blue-new.rahul.net>
> David Lesher wrote:
>> HP made a great gadget called a PrinterPal. It answered your fax
>> line, and printed the faxes on your existing laser printer.
>>
>> Alas, printers now have USB, not parallel ports.
>>
>> Does anyone make a similar gadget with USB output?
Robert Bonomi wrote:
> "Sort-of".
>
> They're built-in on many/most "multi-function"/"all-in-one" printers.
>
> As a 'true stand-alone device', I don't know of any. Unless it sits
> 'in line' between a computer and printer, with 'pass through' of
> data from the computer to the printer, it would just be a way to turn
> an 'expensive' (not a dumb 'winprinter') printer into a dedicated fax
> machine. Cheaper to buy a 'real' fax machine, or o 'all in one".
Every "all-in-one" I've seen, including the one I use today, is really a
"not-quite-all-in-one". The gadget can take documents from the PC and
print them or fax them someplace; it can copy a paper document; or it can
send or receive a fax to/from a paper document. It can even scan a paper
document and send it to the PC. But it canNOT receive a fax and send the
result to the PC. I have to receive the incoming fax as a paper document,
then scan it in manually before the PC will accept it.
Why are there no true All-in-Ones?
Date: Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:08:52 -0700
From: John David Galt <jdg@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Ohio bill could doom landlines
Message-ID: <jlqhe6$sfd$1@blue-new.rahul.net>
>> danny burstein wrote:
>>> [An] Ohio bill could doom landlines. With the steady stream of
>>> innovations to wireless phones, many companies are regarding the
>>> traditional landline as obsolete.
>>>
>>> The [Ohio] bill addresses Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligations
>>> that previously required franchises to serve everyone who wanted
>>> service in a franchise territory.
> Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>> I'm confused. What were all the subsidies for universal service for?
>> Will they be returning those subsidies if universal service is no
>> longer provided?
Mark Smith wrote:
> They're giving out cell phones instead. Tracphone is a major player
> in Maryland. They advertise on TV that if you're getting assistance
> you can have a free phone. Great if you can get cell service.
That would make sense only if the USF is going to pay to extend cell coverage
to the many places that don't have any (including a few where local politicians
have made the decision not to allow it). How likely is that?
And will it address areas that have some but not all of CDMA/TDMA/GSM coverage?
Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2012 15:52:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: NYT: Spam and cellphones
Message-ID: <e34b12c2-7a24-4f5f-afb9-73cdb7a16894@l14g2000vbe.googlegroups.com>
Two articles discuss spamming to cell phones from the New York Times:
"Cellphone customers received roughly 4.5 billion spam texts last
year, twice as many as in 2009, and remedies to the growing menace are
few."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/technology/text-message-spam-difficult-to-stop-is-a-growing-menace.html?ref=technology
"The Haggler revisits the subject of cramming -- the act of tacking on
an unrequested service fee to a phone bill. Why, he asks, can't
cellphone carriers do more to thwart it?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/your-money/cellphone-cramming-gets-a-second-look.html?ref=technology
Also:
"In airports, laptop computers get special attention from the T.S.A.
Similar devices don't. The reasons are a mystery."
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/travel/the-mystery-of-the-flying-laptop.html?ref=technology
NYT Technology Section (index to many tech articles):
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/technology/index.html
Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2012 22:41:29 +0000 (UTC)
From: David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Fax Modem gadgets
Message-ID: <jlqfqp$o0k$1@reader1.panix.com>
"John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com> writes:
>>Does anyone make a similar gadget with USB output?
>The usual thing these days is an all in one printer/scanner/fax with
>USB, wired Ethernet, or wifi. They can generally be configured to
>print incoming faxes, or send them to the computer.
The idea is to not have to buy, power & make room
for Yet Another Printer. But thanks to all the responders.
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
Date: 07 Apr 2012 20:18:16 -0300
From: Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: SaskTel ending rotary dial service
Message-ID: <87zkan2ksn.fsf@nudel.nodomain.nowhere>
HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> writes:
> I don't think rotary service costs any more to provide in a modern
> exchange. An exchange still requires the ability to detect line
> pulsing for things as on/off hook supervision and 'flashing', and this
> is done by a signal processor. Since that capability is already in
> place, it's simple for the software to count up the dial pulses as
> they come in. (The ESS literature on BSTJ explains all of this.)
>
We developed 60 hz hum on the POTS line 8 years ago when the Aliant
line and service guys were on strike. Several visits from "crews"
composed of accountants, marketing guys and managers failed to solve
the problem. Finally, one manager type went tearing off in the truck
to the big cabinet 5 miles away on the main road. Claimed to have
yanked out a circuit board and stuck in a new one. The hum was
gone. Off they go, happy and proud of theirselfs.
Only now our dial phones no longer work. Oy.
Well, I'd been collecting up Nortel 2500 sets from junk stores for a
few years so we just swapped a couple of them in and all was well.
Returned two 500-type phones to Aliant. Our bill went down. No new
charge for "touch-tone" but no longer rental for the dial sets.
--
Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada
Clinging robustly to the trailing edge of technology.
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