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The Telecom Digest for April 21, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 110 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: Please don't change your password (Thad Floryan)
Re: Please don't change your password (Steven)
Re: US school district spied on students through webcams, court told (unknown)
Security (Anonymous)
More teens are texting, 75% have cell phones (hancock4)
Re: batteries (was Waiting for Verizon..) (T)
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Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:39:24 -0700
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Please don't change your password
Message-ID: <4BCD4C1C.7020507@thadlabs.com>
On 4/19/2010 5:18 PM, Steven wrote:
> Thad Floryan wrote:
>> [...]
>> It's worse than that; here are the specific instructions from
>> the SSA (since I just went through this last month and saved
>> to PDF every page during the benefit application process):
For the curious, it's 24 PDFs. Way too many web pages -- probably
could have been on 3 or 4 pages max (but that might have been very
intimidating for non-computer-literates).
> [...]
> Thats it. I have talked to some of their IT people and they fell the
> same thing. I have locked myself out more then once and it requires me
> to start all over getting a new password. My wife's account locked
> itself and to this day no one knows why. It is the most users UN
> FRIENDLY site I have ever used. Medicare is much better.
>
> I used the application for Social Security online and found it to be a
> pain as far as time, but made things much easier in getting it.
What impressed me was how fast it was (2 weeks) to receive my first
benefit auto-deposited into my checking account. Too much of their
online info reflects the old paper-only operation and I was led to
believe it'd take 90+ days.
Here's a tip for anyone else soon applying for benefits: though I did
enter my (cell) phone number on page 3 and specified "Mobile", the
"Remarks" page (19) provides the opportunity to ask for email-only
support so one has a copy(ies) of all communication. What I wrote was:
I'm heard-of-hearing and though I can use a phone, email, if at
all possible, is the best way to contact me.
The hard-of-hearing (in my case) is not a fiction, it's 20dB "flat"
loss in both ears. Email worked fantastically well between me and
the local (not Baltimore MD) SSA office and I think contributed to
the amazingly quick receipt of the first benefit payment.
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 08:36:39 -0700
From: Steven <diespammers@killspammers.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Please don't change your password
Message-ID: <hqkhma$inh$1@news.eternal-september.org>
Thad Floryan wrote:
> What impressed me was how fast it was (2 weeks) to receive my first
> benefit auto-deposited into my checking account. Too much of their
> online info reflects the old paper-only operation and I was led to
> believe it'd take 90+ days.
>
> Here's a tip for anyone else soon applying for benefits: though I did
> enter my (cell) phone number on page 3 and specified "Mobile", the
> "Remarks" page (19) provides the opportunity to ask for email-only
> support so one has a copy(ies) of all communication. What I wrote was:
>
> I'm heard-of-hearing and though I can use a phone, email, if at
> all possible, is the best way to contact me.
>
> The hard-of-hearing (in my case) is not a fiction, it's 20dB "flat"
> loss in both ears. Email worked fantastically well between me and
> the local (not Baltimore MD) SSA office and I think contributed to
> the amazingly quick receipt of the first benefit payment.
>
I was really surprised how fast it worked, it was a little less then 2
weeks. Mine was for SSDI because of an accident. It is very hard to get
approved for that. Right after I did the online application I got a
call from the program manager advising me that I had been approved.
I have since gone back to work on a SSDI to work program, which allows
me 9 to 18 months to see if I can continue working or stay on SSDI
without losing the benefits. I'm 4 months into it now and so far I have
been able to work doing my telecom work with a few restrictions and the
company is working with it since they get tax breaks.
--
The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2010 I Kill Spammers, Inc., A Rot in Hell. Co.
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:11:17 -0400
From: Ron <ron@see.below>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: US school district spied on students through webcams, court told
Message-ID: <31aqs5dsjhe5rgej5s5oq07shgs4i2fbbl@4ax.com>
Update: The school district's lawyer admitted that the web cams on the
students' machines captured about 56,000 surreptitious pictures.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/91542204.html?cmpid=15585797
--
Ron
(user telnom.for.plume
in domain antichef.com)
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:34:52 -0400
From: Anonymous <anonymous@anonymous.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Security
Message-ID: <9911AEFA-5428-440C-88B3-3C2346C81AFE@insightbb.com>
In thirteen years of IT work, I had reason to know things about
different networks. For one, the login/password on EVERY server in
the offices of EVERY agent for a nationwide insurance company is
"Admin/PassWord", or something similar.
For a nationwide retailer NOT based in Bentonville, the same info is/
was, to the best of my recollection, Adm1n/Pass2word.
The CEO of a different (larger) insurer has his login/password on a
Post-It note stuck to his monitor.
(The people who clean his office could surely make a LOT of money
with this little bit of knowledge)
The state of network security is perilous, to put it most charitably.
The ONE system that was relatively secure was a bank for which I did
Y2K - EVERY other system was laughable. (Unless there was one or two
that I can't recall right now).
Surely my experience is roughly typical - unless I just happened to
hit the ONLY insecure systems in the country?
Given that there is effectively no security on many or most of the
networks connected to the Internet - why is there not more havoc
created by either people who wish us ill or perhaps bored teenagers or
Russian cyber-criminals?
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:14:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: More teens are texting, 75% have cell phones
Message-ID: <f84c5107-2297-457f-896f-424eec3543b9@j12g2000vbl.googlegroups.com>
Article on MSNBC about teens and cellphones:
see: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36650790/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:42:15 -0400
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: batteries (was Waiting for Verizon..)
Message-ID: <MPG.263813f1e91d8ffe989ccf@news.eternal-september.org>
In article <hq5ovt$al2$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
diespammers@killspammers.com says...
> The problem with a UPS is that it's not meant to sustain it's loads,
> only to supply them temporarily until they can shut down gracefully:
> if, however, the owner has not taken the time to connect the necessary
> cables and install the vendor's software, then the computers which the
> UPS was supposed to protect will keep going until they exhaust the UPS
> batteries.
>
> Don't ask me how I know.
>
> Bill Horne
> Moderator
Highly dependent on what you specify for the UPS install. For example at
my last regular job I had specified a 15 minute run time for 125 servers
and telecom gear.
We had 70 so that 15 minute limit became 45 minutes of power. Took two
full size racks to do that, one the power controller, the other the
battery bank.
But that was all just belt and suspenders to keep critical apps up and
running. The UPS was backed up by a 125kW natural gas fired generator.
That was spec'd to come on within 10 seconds of power fail and also set
to do monthly exercise, etc.
It always helps when you have several hundred thousand dollars to do a
server room rigt.
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End of The Telecom Digest (6 messages)
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