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The Telecom Digest for April 26, 2013
Volume 32 : Issue 89 : "text" Format
====== 31 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
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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, 25 Apr 2013 06:59:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: Joseph Singer <joeofseattle@yahoo.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Why Don't Cell Phones have Dial Tones?
Message-ID: <1366898374.93671.YahooMailClassic@web121903.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
Phones have come a long way since the old landline days. Our
smartphones are light, fast, and have more computing power than NASA
used to put a man on the moon.* Some advances came not by adding
things to the phone, but by taking things away. Noticeably missing for
anyone of a certain age is the dial tone. What happened to it? We
don't need it anymore. Or, at least the phones don't.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/50185/why-don%E2%80%99t-cell-phones-have-dial-tones
or
http://goo.gl/Jk5TW
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:14:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Wireless access expands in NYC subway
Message-ID: <338cbe33-7f67-45df-8350-e4242e778ff8@z8g2000yqd.googlegroups.com>
The New York MTA announced that thirty additional subway stations now
have wireless voice and data communication capability allowing New
York City subway riders to make and receive cell phone calls, send and
receive texts and e-mail and access Wi-Fi underground.
Wireless carriers who have contracted with Transit Wireless to provide
voice and data service to their customers in underground New York City
subway stations co-locate their Base Stations with Transit Wireless'
Optical distribution equipment at a Transit Wireless Base Station
Hotel, which is a resilient, fault-tolerant commercial facility with
redundant air-conditioning and power. Base Stations are provided by
wireless carriers for all FCC-licensed cellular bands. These Base
Stations connect to Transit Wireless' Radio Interface and Optical
Distribution System in the Base Station Hotel. Radio signals are
combined, converted to optical signals and distributed on Transit
Wireless' fiber optic cable through ducts under city streets to subway
stations where the optical cables connect to multi-band Remote Fiber
Nodes.
for the full press release which includes additional technical and
contractual details please see:
http://new.mta.info/wireless-service-has-arrived-30-additional-underground-subway-stations
IMHO, this is not a good idea. Subway stations now have a liberal
complement of pay telephones for emergency or urgent phone calls.
When trains pass through the stations become very noisy making
conversations almost impossible. Passengers talking on their phones
will be very distracted and at risk for taking the wrong train,
blocking the path of other passengers, falling down the many
staircases, falling into the platform gap, or even falling into the
tracks. Between trains stations are usually quiet giving a brief
oasis from the noise and hustle of the streets above, yakkers on their
cell phones will disturb that.
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:24:04 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Breaking News Is Broken
Message-ID: <p0624086dcd9eec955f3c@[10.0.1.5]>
Breaking News Is Broken
Don't watch cable news. Shut off Twitter. You'd be better off
cleaning your gutters.
By Farhad Manjoo
Posted Friday, April 19, 2013
Inspired by the events of the past week, here's a handy guide for
anyone looking to figure out what exactly is going on during a
breaking news event. When you first hear about a big story in
progress, run to your television. Make sure it's securely turned off.
Next, pull out your phone, delete your Twitter app, shut off your
email, and perhaps cancel your service plan. Unplug your PC.
Now go outside and take a walk for an hour or two. Maybe find a park
and sit on a bench, reading an old novel. Winter is just half a year
away-have you started cleaning out your rain gutters? This might be a
good time to start. Whatever you do, remember to stay hydrated. Have
a sensible dinner. Get a good night's rest. In the morning, don't
rush out of bed. Take in the birdsong. Brew a pot of coffee.
Finally, load up your favorite newspaper's home page. Spend about 10
minutes reading a couple of in-depth news stories about the events of
the day. And that's it: You've now caught up with all your friends
who spent the past day and a half going out of their minds following
cable and Twitter. In fact, you're now better informed than they are,
because during your self-imposed exile from the news, you didn't
stumble into the many cul-de-sacs and dark alleys of misinformation
that consumed their lives. You're less frazzled, better rested, and
your rain gutters are clear.
Breaking news is broken. That's the clearest lesson you can draw
about the media from the last week, when both old- and new-media
outlets fell down on the job.
...
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/04/boston_bombing_breaking_news_don_t_watch_cable_shut_off_twitter_you_d_be.html
***** Moderator's Note *****
De facto motto of most local TV stations' news managers here in the
U.S.: "If it bleeds, it leads."
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:21:36 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Speak out now on full-body scanners
Message-ID: <p0624086bcd9eebfc3b52@[10.0.1.5]>
The Navigator: Speak out now on full-body scanners
By Christopher Elliott, Published: April 18
It's been almost five years since the Transportation Security
Administration quietly began installing its so-called Advanced
Imaging Technology (AIT) - better known as full-body scanners - at
airports nationwide. And now the government wants to know what you
think of the machines.
In 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit ordered the TSA to engage in what's known as
notice-and-comment rulemaking on its use of the technology. You can
share your opinion on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at the
Federal Register Web site (www.federalregister.gov) until June 24.
In other words, air travelers can finally give the government a piece
of their mind about the controversial scanners and the way they're
used at airports. Depending on how the public responds, the TSA could
either double down on its multibillion-dollar scanner program, or it
could decommission the machines and impose alternate standards,
including using metal detectors and explosive-trace detection
screening.
The TSA hopes that passengers will approve of its current screening
practices. "AIT is the best technology available to detect both
metallic and non-metallic objects hidden on a passenger, and is an
important part of TSA's multi-layered security efforts," says agency
spokesman David Castelveter.
Still, the agency assigned to protect America's transportation
systems promises to listen and respond to the public comments. "TSA
will review and analyze the public comments to develop a final rule
related to the screening process using AIT," says Castelveter.
But critics question both the agency's claims and its sincerity.
...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/the-navigator-speak-out-now-on-full-body-scanners/2013/04/18/bf52c568-a5ea-11e2-8302-3c7e0ea97057_print.html
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