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The Telecom Digest for May 2, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 121 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: On-screen Caller ID with Comcast VOIP? (David Lesher)
Re: On-screen Caller ID with Comcast VOIP? (Adam H. Kerman)
Re: On-screen Caller ID with Comcast VOIP? (Barry Margolin)
Re: India government bans all Chinese telecom gear (David Clayton)
Re: India government bans all Chinese telecom gear (Garrett Wollman)
Re: IEEE article on GSM interference affecting GPS landing systems (Sam Spade)
Re: IEEE article on GSM interference affecting GPS landing systems (David Clayton)
Re: IEEE article on GSM interference affecting GPS landing systems (Sam Spade)
Re: IEEE article on GSM interference affecting GPS landing systems (Steven)
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Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:17:15 +0000 (UTC)
From: David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: On-screen Caller ID with Comcast VOIP?
Message-ID: <hrfodr$o4j$2@reader1.panix.com>
AES <siegman@stanford.edu> writes:
>Just noticed on my latest Comcast bill (Silicon Valley/Palo Alto area) a
>blurb for a Comcast app that will supposedly display Caller ID in an
>on-screen pop-up window any time a VOIP call comes in.
>* Does it work for Macs or only Windows systems?
>* Does it work well?
>* Any likely interference with other apps, or other glitches?
It pops up on the TeeVee screen; not the computer....
--
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: Sat, 1 May 2010 18:26:28 +0000 (UTC)
From: "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: On-screen Caller ID with Comcast VOIP?
Message-ID: <hrhrok$6qf$1@news.albasani.net>
David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com> wrote:
>AES <siegman@stanford.edu> writes:
>>Just noticed on my latest Comcast bill (Silicon Valley/Palo Alto area) a
>>blurb for a Comcast app that will supposedly display Caller ID in an
>>on-screen pop-up window any time a VOIP call comes in.
>>* Does it work for Macs or only Windows systems?
>>* Does it work well?
>>* Any likely interference with other apps, or other glitches?
>It pops up on the TeeVee screen; not the computer....
If the application is downloaded to the desktop computer, and started,
the Caller ID window does indeed pop up on a Windows desktop.
I have no experience using it on a Mac.
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:23:52 -0400
From: Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: On-screen Caller ID with Comcast VOIP?
Message-ID: <barmar-3660FB.23235230042010@62-183-169-81.bb.dnainternet.fi>
In article
<siegman-7432AE.13201530042010@bmedcfsc-srv02.tufts.ad.tufts.edu>,
AES <siegman@stanford.edu> wrote:
> Just noticed on my latest Comcast bill (Silicon Valley/Palo Alto area) a
> blurb for a Comcast app that will supposedly display Caller ID in an
> on-screen pop-up window any time a VOIP call comes in.
It's called Universal Caller ID. It can also display on your TV.
>
> Sounds like a clever and potentially useful gimmick -- but before I
> download and try it, I'd appreciate any feedback from existing users who
> can say:
>
> * Does it work for Macs or only Windows systems?
Both.
>
> * Does it work well?
You might want to ask in the Universal Caller ID forum at
forums.comcast.net.
>
> * Any likely interference with other apps, or other glitches?
>
> Thanks much for any advice.
I don't have Comcast Digital Voice service, but a quick google for
"comcast universal caller id" got me to this page:
http://www.comcast.net/callerid/
>From there you can follow links to get the hardware and OS requirements.
--
Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***
*** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***
Date: Sat, 01 May 2010 11:08:27 +1000
From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: India government bans all Chinese telecom gear
Message-ID: <pan.2010.05.01.01.08.24.151123@myrealbox.com>
On Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:14:43 -0700, Thad Floryan wrote:
>
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/04/29/stories/2010042952880100.htm
>
> Thomas K. Thomas
> New Delhi, April 28
>
> The Government has officially told mobile operators not to import any
> equipment manufactured by Chinese vendors, including Huawei and ZTE.
........
> The order was sent out by the DoT on Tuesday to some of the operators that
> were planning to buy equipment from Chinese manufacturers. The ban order
> follows concerns raised by the Home Ministry that telecom equipment from
> some countries could have spyware or malware that gives intelligence
> agencies across the border access to telecom networks in India.
........
> The biggest gainers from the move could be European and American vendors
> that have been losing market share to aggressive Chinese equipment-makers.
One wonders if these governments have has a close look at ALL the
equipment provided by other vendors from other countries over the years.
What guarantee is there that the Cisco IOS (as an example) does not have
various "back-doors" and other disguised monitoring code buried in it for
ready access by US intelligence agencies?
Unless you have access to the source code any - and that means *any*, like
Windows as another example - closed source system could have all sorts of
surreptitious stuff built into it just waiting for the day someone wants
to activate it.
I am quite willing to believe that stuff from China could well have a few
surprises included, and I am also quite willing to believe that this is
not a new thing.
--
Regards, David.
David Clayton
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.
Date: Sat, 1 May 2010 17:07:09 +0000 (UTC)
From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman)
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: India government bans all Chinese telecom gear
Message-ID: <hrhn3t$s0i$1@grapevine.csail.mit.edu>
In article <pan.2010.05.01.01.08.24.151123@myrealbox.com>,
David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com> wrote:
>Unless you have access to the source code any - and that means *any*,
>like Windows as another example - closed source system could have all
>sorts of surreptitious stuff built into it just waiting for the day
>someone wants to activate it.
Even if you do have access to the source code, and audit it
carefully, that's still the case.
I believe the canonical reference here is Ken Thompson's Turing Award
lecture, "Reflections on Trusting Trust".
-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | What intellectual phenomenon can be older, or more oft
wollman@bimajority.org| repeated, than the story of a large research program
Opinions not shared by| that impaled itself upon a false central assumption
my employers. | accepted by all practitioners? - S.J. Gould, 1993
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2010 18:43:44 -0700
From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: IEEE article on GSM interference affecting GPS landing systems
Message-ID: <BuudnfMtV_zNGkbWnZ2dnUVZ_tOdnZ2d@giganews.com>
Thad Floryan wrote:
> L-o-n-g article here (with pictures, graphs, etc.):
>
> http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/aviation/unsafe-at-any-airspeed/0
>
> Quick summary: "Our [IEEE] data and the NASA studies suggest to
> us that there is a clear and present danger: cellphones can render
> GPS instruments useless for landings."
>
> I believe the NASA study alluded-to in the article is this one:
>
> http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20010066904_2001108092.pdf
>
A slightly less quick and more accurate summary:
"Yet our research has found that these items can interrupt the normal
operation of key cockpit instruments, especially Global Positioning
System (GPS) receivers, which are increasingly vital to safe landings."
Date: Sat, 01 May 2010 11:23:05 +1000
From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: IEEE article on GSM interference affecting GPS landing systems
Message-ID: <pan.2010.05.01.01.23.02.94491@myrealbox.com>
On Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:15:27 -0700, Thad Floryan wrote:
> L-o-n-g article here (with pictures, graphs, etc.):
>
> http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/aviation/unsafe-at-any-airspeed/0
>
> Quick summary: "Our [IEEE] data and the NASA studies suggest to us that
> there is a clear and present danger: cellphones can render GPS
> instruments useless for landings."
.........
So when the terrorists eventually figure out that taking a doctored
phone/DVD player/Laptop on board a flight (something designed to blast out
interference at the press of a button) is a potentially effective way of
bring down an airplane, then perhaps all that stuff at the airports
scanning for explosives will be effectively obsolete?
As the article says, people won't accept a total ban on electronic devices
so how are the authorities going to stop anything like this?
--
Regards, David.
David Clayton
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.
Date: Sat, 01 May 2010 09:54:51 -0700
From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: IEEE article on GSM interference affecting GPS landing systems
Message-ID: <ffednYKnasNFwUHWnZ2dnUVZ_gidnZ2d@giganews.com>
David Clayton wrote:
> On Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:15:27 -0700, Thad Floryan wrote:
>
>
>>L-o-n-g article here (with pictures, graphs, etc.):
>>
>>http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/aviation/unsafe-at-any-airspeed/0
>>
>>Quick summary: "Our [IEEE] data and the NASA studies suggest to us that
>>there is a clear and present danger: cellphones can render GPS
>>instruments useless for landings."
>
> .........
>
> So when the terrorists eventually figure out that taking a doctored
> phone/DVD player/Laptop on board a flight (something designed to
> blast out interference at the press of a button) is a potentially
> effective way of bring down an airplane, then perhaps all that stuff
> at the airports scanning for explosives will be effectively
> obsolete?
>
> As the article says, people won't accept a total ban on electronic
> devices so how are the authorities going to stop anything like this?
It just won't happen. First, most of the instrument approaches made
by airliners today are Instrument Landing System (ILS) approaches,
which are ground-based and have nothing to do with GPS.
Second, where GPS is used the integrity and alerting modes would
provide a warning in no uncertain terms to not rely on the GPS as the
primary source for navigation.
Finally, the RF from a cell phone is highly unlikely to affect the GPS
receivers, which are isolated from the cabin. The incidents referred
to in the report were extremely isolated and the cause and effect were
never determined with certainty. As I recall, the most likely suspect
was a laptop in use by a passenger seated directly over the
electronics compartment in an aircraft where the electonics
compartment extended back past the flight deck to the first class
cabin.
Date: Sat, 01 May 2010 15:18:04 -0700
From: Steven <diespammers@killspammers.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: IEEE article on GSM interference affecting GPS landing systems
Message-ID: <hri9av$ce3$1@news.eternal-september.org>
Sam Spade wrote:
> David Clayton wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:15:27 -0700, Thad Floryan wrote:
>>
>>
>>> L-o-n-g article here (with pictures, graphs, etc.):
>>>
>>> http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/aviation/unsafe-at-any-airspeed/0
>>>
>>> Quick summary: "Our [IEEE] data and the NASA studies suggest to us that
>>> there is a clear and present danger: cellphones can render GPS
>>> instruments useless for landings."
>>
>> .........
>>
>> So when the terrorists eventually figure out that taking a doctored
>> phone/DVD player/Laptop on board a flight (something designed to
>> blast out interference at the press of a button) is a potentially
>> effective way of bring down an airplane, then perhaps all that stuff
>> at the airports scanning for explosives will be effectively
>> obsolete?
>>
>> As the article says, people won't accept a total ban on electronic
>> devices so how are the authorities going to stop anything like this?
>
> It just won't happen. First, most of the instrument approaches made
> by airliners today are Instrument Landing System (ILS) approaches,
> which are ground-based and have nothing to do with GPS.
>
> Second, where GPS is used the integrity and alerting modes would
> provide a warning in no uncertain terms to not rely on the GPS as the
> primary source for navigation.
>
> Finally, the RF from a cell phone is highly unlikely to affect the GPS
> receivers, which are isolated from the cabin. The incidents referred
> to in the report were extremely isolated and the cause and effect were
> never determined with certainty. As I recall, the most likely suspect
> was a laptop in use by a passenger seated directly over the
> electronics compartment in an aircraft where the electonics
> compartment extended back past the flight deck to the first class
> cabin.
>
Last year while a friend was driving with me, he got a call on his AT&T
phone, right after he answered it my TomTom GPS went nuts. I'm not sure
if it was the phone as there were major power transmission lines
crosssing the highway, so it could have been those, but in the past I
never noticed it. He was on the phone just a short time so the next
time he is with me I'll have him make a call and see what happens, my
phone is Sprint and I have never had problems like that at all.
--
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.
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End of The Telecom Digest (9 messages)
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